Mike Mohr
Mike was born February 16, 1950 and has spent three quarters of his life living in Forest Park. He comes from a long lineage of family who have served in the Navy which included his father, his uncles and his brothers. One uncle was killed in WWII when his plan was shot down in Germany. Mike was drafted at the age of 19 and served in the U.S Army and was deployed to Vietnam. He was always interested in the Army because a close friend, a Marine, was killed in Vietnam near the DMZ. Badly wanting to set foot on the location where his friend was killed, Mike learned that he could do this if he became a member of the Army’s 101st airborne. He got his wish and did set foot on that hill where he was able to receive a sense of peace regarding his friend’s death. For specialized training, Mike was sent to the big artillery school in Ft. Sill, OK where he was trained to operate 105 and 155 Howitzers. In Vietnam, Mike ran a mortar platoon and received a Bronze Star for actions involved in fire support for infantry troops. He also received a Letter of Commendation for his diligent work as Mortar Section Chief and as section chief in the transportation and ammunition platoon. Although Mike lost friends in combat from incoming mortar attacks, he was able to escape without injuries. To this day, Mike still thinks about the friends he lost. As a Vietnam Veteran, Mike still continues to recall his first days there when he witnessed the battered condition of the troops he was replacing. He speaks eloquently to the lack of psychological and emotional care for Vietnam Veterans and is happy to see younger veterans having opportunities to receive the care they need. Mike credits his military training for his strong work ethic as he believes it provided the internal discipline that has supported his careful attention to his work over the years. Mike remains connected to a number of friends he served with in Vietnam and agrees that those bonds hold life-long ties.
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U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division
Served in Vietnam 1969 Family history of military service EARLY TRAINING BEFORE DEPLOYMENT Basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood Mississippi Specialized training at Ft. Sill Oklahoma |
“Well, my experience is that we literally grew up overnight and the training we went through we were young men and we were pretty, I feel we were very good soldiers.” |
A SENSE OF GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION IN COMBAT
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A very good friend, a Marine, was killed in Vietnam June 1st, 1967 in Northern Vietnam, I COR near the DMZ – Hill 881 North
Setting foot on that hill was a life changing and guiding event “...just the luck of the draw that I got what I wanted. I just felt a sense of peace that I set foot on the hill that he died on. “ |
DESIRED ASSIGNMENT
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Arrived in Vietnam just prior to Christmas 1969
Landed in Tan Son Nhut Air Base Assigned to the 101st airborne and immediately went to Camp Evans, the 101st’s main camp near Khe Sanh. During training, a soldier got killed on a patrol when he hit a booby trap that was “...very frightening and a real eye opener to what we were going to experience.” |
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARRIVING IN VIETNAM
“...when our plane landed in Vietnam as we hit the runway what I remember is the pilot announcing over the speaker system, “Take your last breath of clean fresh air..
I could still see the looks on these young soldiers faces, and what they were going through ...you could just see they went through hell. Just their uniforms were all raggedy, old and beat up and worn out, and we all have brand new uniforms on and I’ll never forget that!
I remember when it was my turn, seeing the young kids off...Those sights in my head will be with me forever. I can still see them like it was yesterday.”
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY
Served on multiple firebases and ran a mortar platoon
"That was quite a job because if you had wet powder, the rounds would not go the distance they were supposed to, so you would have a short round and during Monsoon seasons, it was very tough to fire those mortars.”
"That was quite a job because if you had wet powder, the rounds would not go the distance they were supposed to, so you would have a short round and during Monsoon seasons, it was very tough to fire those mortars.”
LIFE-LONG BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP & MEMORIES
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Pictured with his friend, Alfonso, a citizen of Panama.
Eight close friends he sees on a regular basis Built life-long bonds “When you’re living together with a group of guys 24 hours, you really become close, really close, and it’s very hard when you see one of your close friends get killed. To this day I still think about many friends that I’ve lost.” |
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“Most of the people that we lost were from incoming rocket mortar attacks on our position. And, it’s just the luck of the draw that I escaped without injury.” “A lot of the people came back and turned to drugs...We lost...a lot of young kids from drug overdoses.” “...today’s soldiers are a lot better trained than we were. When the Vietnam war was going it’s like they pushed us after 4 months of training, boom, you’re in combat.” “I feel so sorry for some of these young kids today that serve 2 and 3 and 4 terms in combat and it’s like nobody could be normal after going through that.” “ ...I’m very proud of serving our country and at the time we felt we were on a mission and we felt we were doing the right thing. Our government asked us to serve; we just respected the government, and just assumed that we were doing the right thing.” |
Full Interview - Transcript
| mike_mohr_interview_transcript.pdf |
Interviewing, research, writing and design by Nancy Cavaretta