ORONO, Maine — Two days before Memorial Day, students at Orono High School heard about the horrors of the Vietnam War from someone who had first-hand experience.
Frank Jordan of Veazie served a three-year stint in the U.S. Army as a member of the Kilo Company, 75th Rangers.
Vietnam was a gruesome war, and Jordan didn’t hold back on details of combat and the psychological effect it had on the men. He recalled working with a handful of men as they were on the run from a chasing group of Viet Cong, trying to survive while carrying a soldier who had been shot through both legs.
“There’s nothing scarier than an 18- or 19-year-old man who just lost his buddy,” Jordan said.
“How old are you?” Jordan asked one of the students.
“Eighteen,” the student replied.
“[In the Vietnam War], you have one year to live,” Jordan said.
Orono High School English teacher Don Joseph has known Jordan for a long time and had him speak in front of the students in his War and Human Experience class Friday. This is the second time Jordan presented to this particular class, which educates students on the impact of war throughout human history.
“I was on the draft list [in the ’60s]. My number didn’t get called. I graduated high school and went on to graduate college,” Joseph said. “[Jordan’s story is] a good perspective for these kids. He’ll speak from the heart. I want him to tell the truth: good, bad or indifferent. It’s what people need to hear.”
Jordan himself is a member of the Orono High School Class of 1963, and his homeroom was the very one in which War and Human Experience is taught.
As part of his presentation, Jordan brought boxes of war memorabilia, including combat knives, grenades, Vietnamese flags, medals and uniforms from both the U.S. and Vietnamese forces.
“This was a prize: If you got this, you got the prize. It’s a black beret,” Jordan said, lifting the decorative hat off the table. “Today, everyone in the Army’s got one, [even though] everyone in the Army [hasn’t earned] one.”
Jordan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which has required heavy doses medication to suppress. Although his dosage has lessened over time, Jordan still struggles with PTSD.
“I still struggle with [PTSD]. I’m 100 percent disabled — 70 percent of that is PTSD. I’m crazier than a duck shot in the ass,” Jordan joked.
When asked whether he would do it again, Jordan gave a loud, “Hoorah!”
“I would have a different outlook on it, but I sure as hell would’ve been there,” he said.
Time has changed Jordan’s perspective on the war. He now has a number of Vietnamese friends and feels the reasons for fighting weren’t justified.
“As bad as we feel losing 58,000 men, we raised hell over there. We killed a lot of people who didn’t need to be killed,” Jordan said.
The presentation also changed some students’ perspectives of war.
“When I put myself in the shoes of an 18- or 19-year-old whose friend has just been killed, I can totally see the other side of the coin,” 17-year-old student Anna Ellis said. “I think it’s important to hear from veterans to hear where they’ve been and what they’ve seen before you judge their service.”
Katherine Daries, also a 17-year-old junior, has a boyfriend who has been in South Korea for nine months in the U.S. Infantry. When Jordan heard this, he said to her as she was leaving for lunch, “Tell that man to be careful and come home. We’ve got all the heroes we need down in Arlington.”