Robert Chandler sits at the wheel of a “tug,” a tractor-like machine used to move items around the base near Da Nang, South Vietnam, in 1971.
Press Release
BENTON, Ky. – Long-time Benton resident Robert Chandler had a number of close encounters with death as a 20-year-old in Vietnam.
“God had His hand on me several times. I think He had other plans for me,” said Chandler.
One thing in Chandler’s future was a bit of formal recognition for his military service and for more than four decades of preaching the Gospel in Marshall County. Chandler, 75, has been named Grand Marshal for the 181st Tater Day celebration.
“It’s a great honor,” he said.
After he was drafted in 1970, Chandler, a native of Hohenwald, Tenn., went to Nashville for initial processing. It was there that he was among those who were assigned to branches of the U.S. armed forces other than the Army, which took most of the draftees. Chandler ended up in the Air Force.
At age 20, he was perceived by the 18- and 19-year-old draftees as “the old man,” he said, and his frequent displays of spiritual faith resulted in references to him as “the preacher.” He arrived in country in a nighttime landing at Da Nang, in the northernmost area of U.S. military operations (I Corps of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam) in South Vietnam.
He says there was regular contact with the enemy. On Feb. 1, 1971, Chandler’s barracks came under rocket attack in the early morning hours. The young sergeant was dumped out of his bunk by an explosion in the building.
“All we knew was something had hit,” Chandler said. “It turned my bunk over on me, turned my refrigerator over on me. All the guys run to my room. ‘Sgt. Chandler, what’re we gonna do? What’re we gonna do?’ The steps to the barracks were destroyed. I said, ‘Get me four sheets. We’ll tie’em together and climb down.’”
More than 40 men made their evacuation and attempted to head for a bunker, but immediately confronted an obstacle.
“We ran around the corner of the barracks and found a 24mm shell in the ground,” Chandler said. The shell was unexploded.
Chandler cleared the area and called for an explosive ordnance disposal team. There was no reported cause of the failure to explode, but Chandler’s religion got the credit from his troops.
His most disturbing duty, Chandler said, involved the collection of HR – human remains – from the battlefields.
“First time I flew in a helicopter was to Phu Bai (near the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, in the vicinity of city of Hue),” Chandler said. The purpose was to pick up human remains.
“They was shootin’ at us,” he said. “We returned fire until they stopped shooting. We picked up four bodies that day.”
The next day, Chandler said, on another HR recovery mission, the area where they landed was a wasteland.
“The whole area was sprayed with Agent Orange,” Chandler said, referring to the powerful herbicide used by the U.S. military to kill foliage that North Vietnamese and Viet Cong used for cover and concealment. “There was not a green leaf anywhere. It killed trees, grass, everything. It was bad stuff.”
The dangers of Agent Orange were not widely known at the time. Upon his rotation home, Chandler underwent a medical exam at Fort Dix, N.J. That gave him his first confirmation of exposure. He has dealt with the effects ever since.
“I’ve had cancer three times, twice in my mouth. Last time they had to take my bottom gum out. Half my chest is gone,” he said.
He underwent reconstructive cosmetic surgery to restore his face. After one procedure, he was told he might never be able to talk again.
“I said, ‘The heck I won’t.”
The statement was in keeping with Chandler’s ever-positive attitude. He draws a disability pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs and said, “The VA pays all my medical bills. They took good care of me. I’ve got no complaints.”
There were positive stories from his time in Vietnam.
“I was probably the only man in Vietnam that got 365 letters,” he said. “Every day, my wife wrote me a letter.”
One of the letters informed him that Marilyn was expecting to deliver their first child on Jan. 8, 1971. Chandler’s commanding officer surprised him with a leave of absence and an airline ticket to Nashville. Chandler showed up at home unannounced, and was present for the birth of daughter Kimberly, the first of the couple’s four children.
By 1970, when Chandler was drafted, America was deeply conflicted about involvement in the war in Vietnam. U.S. casualties were already approaching 50,000 killed in action. In calendar year 1970, there were 6,173 combat deaths; in 1971, that number was down to 2,414.
“I didn’t want to go,” Chandler admitted. “In 1970, a lot of boys had gone to Canada” to avoid the draft.
But Chandler’s father, an Army veteran who drove a tank in World War II, told him, “Son, you’re not going anywhere except where you’re supposed to go.” His mother chimed in, “Junior Chandler, quit crying!”
“She was the one that held us together,” Chandler said.
Chandler has spent decades working on behalf of veterans with the American Legion Post 236 in Calvert City and Disabled American Veterans Chapter 118 in Benton. He is a two-times past commander of Post 236 and has served as chaplain of the Legion and DAV units.
In the 53 years since he came home from Vietnam, Chandler has led a full and satisfying life, with 55 years of marriage, four children, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. And on Monday, April 7, he’s looking forward to riding on a Scorpion, a retired light tank from the British Armed Forces, in the Tater Day Parade.
“The Lord has really been so good to me,” he said.
