By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
With Veterans Day coming up on Monday, local Vietnam veteran Mike Bagley hopes that people will “think about all the veterans who have served, my dad, my uncles, young guys nowadays, and just give them their due respect.”
Bagley’s family moved to Sitka in 1951, when he was two.
Drafted into the Army in 1969 at 20, Bagley served for two years in the artillery as “cannon crew and fire direction” at a fire base in Vietnam. He returned to civilian life in 1971.
The first thing he noticed upon his arrival in Vietnam was “the heat and the smell, it smells real bad.”
Bagley noted that “back in the day, being a Vietnam vet, you may have been considered a bit of a loser.” He added that anti-war sentiment was strong, even among U.S. service members. Bagley was personally opposed to the conflict as well, but said that when he was in Vietnam, he was “trying to make the best of a bad situation.”
Despite the rough strategic and political situation, he said, the men in his artillery battery were “great, top flight.”
Bagley had no desire to serve in the stateside Army. He said that “the day I got back from Vietnam, I got out of the Army. I extended my tour, I did a long tour so I could get out immediately.”
The Vietnam War has made many appearances in popular culture. Stanley Kubrick’s famed film ‘‘Apocalypse Now,’’ Bagley said, “is pretty much over the top, but a certain amount of that was true. I mean some of it (in Vietnam) was just surreal.”
Mike Bagley (Photo provided)
Bagley recounted stories of modifying rifle ammunition to hunt rats, observing the vast array of Vietnamese insect life, and bunker guards who “did so much speed – the amphetamines came in these sealed glass vials, kind of like old morphine ampules - the area around our bunkers would sparkle from all the broken glass.”
When he returned to Sitka from Vietnam, Bagley began working at the Alaska Pulp Co. mill. He was employed there until the mill closed in 1993, after which he worked at the Sentinel. He’s currently retired, but still living in Sitka.
In honor of Veterans Day, a veterans dinner will be hosted at the Elks Lodge on Sunday, from 6 to 8 p.m. Guests pay $15 a plate, but veterans eat for free.
Also on Sunday, the local Marine Corps League invites Marine veterans to the Marine Corps’ 244th birthday party, also at the Elks Lodge. The event begins at 4 p.m. All Marines, former Marines, spouses and guests are welcome. The prime rib dinner is free for Marines, $15 for guests.
The Marines also are invited to take along photos of their travel experiences to show fellow leathernecks. Those wanting more information may call Bernie Gurule at 966-3202 or Jack Greenhalgh at 738-0675.
Then on Monday the traditional Veterans Day parade will be held. The lineup begins at 11 a.m. at Crescent Harbor. All are invited to march. A luncheon will follow the parade, at the American Legion Hall.
On Wednesday, an Honoring Our Veterans luncheon, sponsored by Sitka Tribe of Alaska, will be held noon to 2 p.m. at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi.
The parade’s starting time, 11 a.m., is highly symbolic in its association with Veterans Day. The holiday originated as Armistice Day, and celebrated the 1918 armistice that ended fighting in the First World War. It went into effect at “the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” of 1918.
President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day holiday for Nov. 11, 1919. According to the Library of Congress, Wilson said “Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice.”
Congress passed a resolution for an annual Armistice Day observance in 1926 and Congress made it a national holiday in 1938. The name was changed to Veterans Day in 1951.
As for Bagley, he said that at the time of his draft notice he was in Australia, where he had gone on a travel adventure, and briefly considered dodging the draft before deciding to accept his draft notice.
While believing the Vietnam War wrong, Bagley said, he’s not sorry he went.
“I look back at the guys I knew and the experience – there’s no other way to get that experience, be it good or bad. And for the most part, the final outcome (of the war) was a waste, but the friendships and the experience were not.”
