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MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - In October of 1969, Lance Cpl. Charlie
Kanehailua crawled up Hill 953 in the Que San Mountains of Chu Lai,
Vietnam.
The 18-year-old Marine and his squad were to join
another squad to assault two enemy bunkers at the top of the hill.
There was only one way back down because the other side of the hill
was a steep cliff.
Kanehailua had already been fighting in
the war-torn country for six months. He was all too familiar with
the blood spilt atop Hill 953, having previously spent an entire day
carrying his lieutenant through slippery mud with only one other
Marine to the base of the hill for a medical evacuation.
Without hesitation, he advanced forward. His comrades, however,
hesitated before finally joining him.
“They told me later
they had thought I was crazy, and they were scared, because they had
only been in Vietnam for a week and this was their first time under
fire,” he recalled. “Fear is good for everybody. Fear keeps you from
getting cocky.”
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Charles
"Charlie" Kanehailua looks through his old photos and
clippings from his Marine Corps days and reunions with his fellow
Marines at his home in Nanakuli, Nov. 4, 2013. (U.S. Marine Corps
photo by Kristen Wong)
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As Kanehailua and the two squads made their way up the
hill, a Chinese communist grenade called a “chicom,” landed
in their midst.
“It landed right in front of us, me
and my men, and I told them to run,” he said.
But before he could throw the
grenade back, it ignited in his hand. Kanehailua landed on
his back, staring up at the sky. He couldn't feel the right
side of his face, nor could he see out of his right eye.
“I thought, ‘so this is what it's like to die,'” he
said.
The unit corpsman performed triage on his head
and hand, but Kanehailua would have to wait nearly a day
before he could be carried down the hill and medically
evacuated. That day earned him his third Purple Heart — and
a trip straight home from the war.
Today, Kanehailua
is a father of five, and grandfather of 10, retired from the
U.S. Postal Service, and lives with his wife in Nanakuli,
Hawaii, currently caring for his aging mother. He enjoys
making Hawaiian crafts, surfing and sharing his story with
students at the University of Hawaii.
He has led a
busy life; also coaching canoe paddling for many years,
earning his pilot's license and traveling. He has paddled
with the wounded warriors of Wounded Warrior Battalion
West-Detachment Hawaii, paddled in British Columbia twice
with the Native Americans of the Squamash Nation and is
planning a third trip. But the effects of six months in
Vietnam will always linger in his body, and his heart.
Born in Honolulu and raised in Nanakuli, Hawaii,
Kanehailua was the fourth of eight children. After
graduating from Waianae High School, he looked forward to
joining the military like his grandfather, uncles and elder
brother. During the summer of 1968, he and his friends spent
the night at a beach after having a potluck in honor of his
brother's return from boot camp, only to be arrested by the
police for vagrancy.
While in court, the judge said
Kanehailua had two choices: go to jail or enlist in the
Marine Corps within the next five days. Kanehailua enlisted
in August of 1968 and attended boot camp at Marine Corps
Recruit Depot San Diego. He became part of the all-Hawaii
Marine Platoon 2206 in 1968, made up of 80 young men from
the Hawaiian islands. Of that platoon, 10, including
Kanehailua, were assigned to Golf Company, 2nd Battalion,
7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and sent to
Vietnam.
Golf Company provided security for Cobb
Bridge, surrounded by the Rocket Belt. The Rocket Belt is
described as an arc extending from Hai Van Pass to Marble
Mountain and enclosing Da Nang Air Field, according to “U.S.
Marines in Vietnam: High Mobility and Standdown 1969,” by
Charles R. Smith from Headquarters Marine Corps. In August
of 1969 Kanehailua said his unit left Da Nang for Chu Lai,
assisting Army troops in two new areas of operation: Landing
Zones Baldy and Ross.
During his six months in
Vietnam, Kanehailua said the men not only fought the
Vietcong and the North Vietnamese troops, but also Chinese
allies. Because of Vietnam's monsoon season, they endured
rain and muddy terrain. They patrolled carrying heavy packs
of ammunition and other supplies. Sometimes supplies didn't
arrive in time and food was scarce, though to some, that was
not a priority.
“When you're scared, you don't (feel
like) eating,” he said.
Kanehailua's first injury was
a result of friendly fire. While in the midst of a battle,
an artillery round shot from the Marines' side failed to
reach its mark and instead landed on Kanehailua's squad,
sending them to a makeshift hospital nearly eight miles from
their base camp. He was awarded his first Purple Heart medal
in the hospital, June 16, 1969.
His second award
would come when he was burned by white phosphorus, which
came from mortar rounds, again from friendly fire.
After receiving his third Purple Heart, Kanehailua was
ordered to return home from Vietnam and was given the
opportunity to leave active duty early. After working a few
civilian jobs, he decided to reenlist in 1971.
“I
kept having nightmares and I couldn't readjust back to
civilian life,” he said.
He served a short time at
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, and moved to
Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, based at
Marine Corps Base Hawaii. He then became a military police
officer at Camp H.M. Smith.
To this day, Kanehailua
experiences occasional dizzy spells and black spots among
other health problems. Like many combat veterans from the
Vietnam War, he suffers adverse effects from a widely-used
herbicide known as “Agent Orange.” There are still remnants
of metal shrapnel embedded in his skin, and has
post-traumatic stress disorder.
But said he treats
each day as if it were his last, and remains active in the
community, counseling others, lecturing at UH, and attending
church. He calls his experience in the Marine Corps
“bittersweet,” because despite the physical and emotional
injury, the Corps still taught him discipline and
independence. He plans to write a book about his
experiences, and shares his story with the young men and
women preparing to join the military.
“It's not easy
to put emotional words down onto paper,” Kanehailua said.
“It's a struggle because as you write you get flashbacks,
and you try and put two and two together and then you try to
validate your stories with other people's stories. But you
can have five guys in one incident and you're going to get
five different stories.”
The war and the Corps are
still very much a part of Kanehailua today. He annually
attends gatherings with the remaining members of Golf
Company, 2nd Bn., 7th Marines, as they share stories and pay
tribute to their fallen.
“(Reunions are) good because
you can almost put the little pieces (of the puzzle)
together, because those are the guys (who) were with you and
these are the guys that can help you validate your stories,”
he said.
His comrades also visit him from time to
time, enjoying music and song. But they never forget the war
that brought them together. Though their scars from this war
may never completely heal, Kanehailua always lends an ear to
his fellow Marines, when they need closure.
“You
don't need to ‘medicate' yourself with drugs or alcohol,”
Kanehailua said. “Talk about it, let it out.”
By USMC Kristen Wong
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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