2023 50th Vietnam War Cadet Essay Contest

By COL, Ret. Arthur N. Tulak, Chair, 50th Vietnam War Commemoration Comm.

This was the 10th year of the Vietnam War Cadet Essay Contest, which provides Cadets the opportunity to write an essay for publication in one of 3 categories.

The purpose of the essays is to challenge the JROTC Cadets and CAP Cadets to appreciate the sacrifices made by Vietnam Veterans who served their country in an unpopular war, and to discern lessons of citizenship, loyalty to country, and commitment to duty and service. This effort encourages the Cadets to identify and share these lessons with their own generation, while simultaneously honoring the Vietnam Veterans who continue to serve their local community, and who fill the ranks of many Veterans and Civic organizations in Hawaii, and the nation at large.

The first place essay is published in full in the June edition of the Commandery News, and all the winning essays are shared with other Veterans Organizations in Hawaii and the DoD 50th Vietnam War Commemoration Commission, who will also provide certificates. Winning essayists received a certificate from the Hawaii Commandery MOFW, along with cash prizes from the Commandery, and a certificate from the Hawaii Chapter of AUSA. The top 3 essayists receive d these awards at AUSA’S Land Forces in the Pacific (LANPAC) Symposium on 18 May at the Sheraton Hotel in Waikiki in front of the main audience. Prize funds were provided by AUSA and the Federal Business Council, both Commandery sponsor organizations. Here are the 2023 contest winners:

1st place Cadet Mitchell Johnson, Maui CAP Squadron

2nd Place Cadet Abigail Dinh, Punahou High School Army JROTC

3rd Place Cadet Elizabeth Gillaspie, Maryknoll CAP Squadron

Honorable Mention to Cadet Khervin Sales of Farrington High School for Best Essay in Category 1, which asks “What lessons can we learn from the Vietnam War about the roles and duties of the citizenry to its military in time of war?”

Here are some excerpts from the 2nd and 3rd place essays:

2nd Place: Cadet Abigail Dinh’s essay, titled “The Sacrifice of a Soldier” told the story of service of her grandfather an officer in the Republic of Vietnam Navy, who conducted security patrols until he was captured by Communist north Vietnamese forces and sent to prison. He survived imprisonment and migrated to the U.S.A. where he started a new life in his adoptive country.

“My ông nội (grandfather) served in the Vietnam War as an officer. The war stole his life from him. It stranded him from his wife and newborn and completely tarnished his career as a professor in Vietnam. He and many others suffered this fate. Before the war, my grandfather was living in the central region of Vietnam and working as a professor. As war dawned on the area, he was forced to draft into the Navy. Unlike other war stories, he didn’t spend much time on the front lines. His role in the war consisted of teaching officers math and patrolling the ship. He was sent out as a naval officer. He spent the majority of the war on land as the Communist Party would typically plan their attacks on the neighboring villages. Because of this, my grandfather spent most of his days patrolling the ship and rescuing people from nearby villages. Unfortunately, one day in 1970, the communists captured him on his ship and he was sent to prison. The conditions at the prison were appalling, and prisoners were frequently tortured. Communists tortured captive soldiers from both the Allies and civilians. Screams would often wail through the night alongside the deafening symphony of chaos. He fell extremely ill after enduring the hardships of prison. He and many others lived through this fate. The conditions of this prison were not ideal. The brutal blows raining down upon their body in prison made them feel powerless and helpless as they would struggle to endure the physical pain and fear for their safety. When they weren’t viciously tortured, they were crammed together into small cells to “rest”. The accumulation of maltreatment and the harsh environment led my grandfather to fall extremely ill. Because of this, the prison decided to set him free to prevent their death toll from increasing. After his release, my grandfather spent a few months in Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon. (continued on next page)

It wasn’t until a program opened for former prisoners of war to fill out a form to come to the states that he applied. After coming to the states, he was sponsored by a family in Florida where they paid his tuition for university. While at university, he was juggling a night-shift job as a janitor, being a dad, and completing his studies.

In third place is Cadet Elizabeth Gillaspie of the Maryknoll CAP Squadron, for her essay which recounted the story of service of her grandfather LTC Richard Gillaspie, who served with the U.S. Military Advisory Command Vietnam (MACV) from 1968 to 1969 and survived the war. Here is an extract:

“...on Feb 2, 1968 he received orders assigning him to the Military Advisory Command Vietnam (MACV). He received six weeks of training on how to be an advisor and Vietnamese language training at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. In April 1968, he boarded an Air Force plane headed to Vietnam. He was assigned to Advisory Team 65 headquartered in the city of MyTho, Tien Giang Providence with Teams in each District of the providence. This is in the southern delta region of Vietnam about 50 miles south of Saigon Their mission was to advise and provide support for the district chief who also commanded the local Popular Forces (PF) and Regional Forces (RF). He arrived at Cai Be on a Sunday, his predecessor had been gone for several weeks so he was warmly welcomed by the team and the district chief. Their hutch was a concert block building with a tin roof. ... His first night there at about midnight they heard gunfire and someone yelled "get in the bunker" … His main job was to go with the RF and PF troops to protect Highway 1 the main way rice got to Saigon. Another part of his job was weeding out corruption.”