“We Kept Us Alive”: A Squad Leader Forging A Team In Vietnam

Jesse Ramey was born in 1946 and grew up in Chickamauga, Georgia, for his first six years before moving to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, and finally ending up in California in 1961. His favorite place to live was California because he loved surfing and diving. His father was a laborer at Vandenberg Air Force Base and years later he worked for Jesse (after his Army service, Jesse became a builder and general contractor), and his mother was a waitress. Jesse loved high school and felt that he attended a good one. Where he lived in California, agriculture and tourism drove the economy. Before Jesse volunteered for the draft in 1966, he was aware of the war in Vietnam. Kennedy had been the President who created the Special Forces, and SGT Barry Sadler’s song was popular. Jesse also followed the news of the war. Figuring that “I was going to go sooner or later,” he volunteered for the draft for a two-year hitch instead of three years. He completed Basic Training at Ft. Ord, California, and enjoyed all of it, even though the most memorable part was getting meningitis. In AIT (Advanced Infantry Training) at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, the NCOs made them do a lot of push-ups and Jesse was in the best shape of his life. When he reported to Airborne School and the Black Hats discovered that his platoon could do a lot of push-ups, the training became very easy. Even though he enjoyed training, he felt that the NCOs did not teach them much based on their combat experience. On September 1, 1966, he deployed to Vietnam on a Pan Am 707. He recalls looking out the windows of the airplane and seeing bomb craters full of water, but he thought that Vietnam was a beautiful country. Arriving in country, he received his jungle fatigues and boots, and at Phan Rang, he went through “P-Training” for familiarization with patrolling and serpents. After a day of training, he remembers drinking beer in the evening. On patrols, Jesse typically walked point, which was comfortable for him. He experienced fighting both the black pajama wearing Viet Cong who carried bolt action rifles and the khaki clad North Vietnamese Army armed with AK-47s. Before the Tet Offensive he began noticing the enemy wearing fresh uniforms and carrying new weapons. He was impressed with the abilities of the North Vietnamese Soldiers. October 27, 1967, was a beautiful but tragic day when his unit suffered 13 KIA and WIA. In that battle, where they had to navigate a rice paddy in a cross-fire, “everybody did their job.” Jesse states, “WE kept us alive,” and he describes developing a team. Reflecting on some of his young Soldiers, he notes, “Wiley wanted to learn fast,” and “Babbitt looked like a nerd but was a dangerous man, a crack shot.” The Platoon had rules: no smoking, nobody sleep on watch, and keep your weapons clean. Jesse carried a “famous machete” which he later handed off to another Soldier along with his map when he returned home. Jesse describes falling asleep in the grass on a sunny afternoon, and waking to find a bamboo viper crawling across his bare chest. Somehow, he leapt to his feet and, using that machete, instantly cut that viper into several pieces in the air. Jesse describes a two-week patrol around Tuy Hoa and learning how to walk point from SGT Melendez, a Puerto Rican natural-born jungle fighter. “He was a pro,” Jesse recalls, adding “he taught me.” He describes walking slack for SGT Melendez until he learned enough to walk point. SGT Melendez taught him to follow the blood trails, and Jesse notes, “We always found the wounded Soldier.” Jesse became very comfortable walking point, and he describes using his nose to smell for cooking fires and smoke. He listened for the critters and birds while also looking for trip wires and bent grass. It was important to pass on the lessons he learned. Jesse liked having Wiley near him with the M-60 and Babbitt close behind. When they encountered an enemy base camp, they’d discuss their options and conduct a reconnaissance before taking action. He realized that he “had to let go,” and Eric Johnson took over point. When Jesse went on R&R, Eric was killed, and Jesse vowed to train everyone to walk point. In fact, he extended to train people, recalling, “I couldn’t leave without training new men.” He describes leaving Vietnam as being in the jungle one day, and arriving the next day in Seattle in the snow, walking a quarter mile in the cold, wearing jungle fatigues. He received a new Class-A uniform with no patches, insignia, or ribbons, and was snubbed at the airport. A little kid, who reminded him of Kennedy’s son at the funeral, stepped up to salute him, but his mother jerked him back and hissed “don’t talk to that man.” He has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress, and even though he “left the war over there,” he still thinks “about my buddies.” Sometimes he has a recurring dream in which he is facing a human wave assault and he’s “swinging my machete,” but he feels no guilt or shame. His younger brother Joe, a decorated helicopter crew chief, was killed in Cambodia in May 1970. Jesse is proud to be a paratrooper and “proud to be with my people” at reunions. He “never thought [he’d] see these guys again,” but 40 years later, he saw SGT Melendez. Jesse likes attending reunions and seeing his Soldiers like Wiley and Babbitt, and they remember “lots of battles. Lots of good time and bad time.” Reflecting on his service, he states, “When I was a kid, I played Army and wanted to be Airborne.” He got that chance.