Photo by LEXEY SWALL-BOBAY
John Kirchner, 54, will be receiving four awards Saturday, Aug. 22, from Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, including the Bronze Star with Valor. The awards come almost 35 years after the Marine Sgt. fought in Saigan in the final days of the Vietnam War. The award ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. at the VFW Post 7721 on 800 Neff's Way. R.S.V.P. is requested: 230-455-7721. Lexey Swall-Bobay/Staff
Submitted
A photo of Sgt. John Kirchner when he served with the U.S. Marine Corps during the fall of the consulate in Can Tho.
What: U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Florida, will present John Kirchner with four awards
NAPLES — Vietnam War veteran John Kirchner is finally getting his due from the U.S. government — 34 years after the fact.
The Golden Gate resident who served as a U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant during the war has never received full recognition for his combat valor and harrowing escape from the South Vietnam city of Can Tho, home to a U.S. consulate, during the fall of Saigon on April 29, 1975.
On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, will present Kirchner, who turns 55 in October, with four awards at a ceremony at VFW Post 7721 in Golden Gate.
Kirchner will receive the Bronze Star with valor, the Navy Achievement Medal with valor, the Korean Defense Service Award and the Humanitarian Service Award.
The recognition so late is bittersweet for Kirchner, who fulfilled his duty to his country as he was taught as a Marine.
“A little bit, maybe,” he said. “But I look at it, I had a lot of friends ... I figure I’ll accept these (awards) for them, not for me. I’d love to pass something on to my kids.”
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In 1971 when he was 17, Kirchner dropped out of 10th grade at Naples High School. A close family friend, who happened to be Collier County Sheriff Doug Hendry, gave the rambunctious kid a few stern words.
“He said ‘What are you going to do with your life, boy?’” Kirchner said. “He said, ‘You are going into the military.”
His deployment to Can Tho in South Vietnam in September 1974 was his second tour of Vietnam. The first was in the North. In Can Tho, he was part of a six-man team protecting the consulate there and other military installations.
When word came about the evacuation, they went to the consulate building to pull out the American flag.
They found one CIA operative in the vault burning classified documents. He, too, had been forgotten by the CIA during an aborted evacuation.
Military choppers that were supposed to come for them were diverted by the CIA to Saigon, leaving the consulate military detachment to evacuate before the coming onslaught of the North Vietnamese.
“Three hundred Vietnamese and 13 Americans we had to get out,” he said. “Those 300 Vietnamese would not be alive today, they were CIA and they would have been killed.”
With no helicopters coming for them, they were left with no choice but to load up in landing craft to go down the Mekong River, travelling 60 miles along the enemy-controlled river.
“I think we were probably out there 14 to 15 hours before we hit the first boat,” he said. “I was in the bow shooting off flares. The first boat was a Japanese tug boat.”
They tied up to the tug boat and were pulled out until a Korean ship came along. By then, it was the next day, April 30, and they were loaded up in the Korean ship by cargo nets.
“We were dressed in black pajamas so we didn’t look like regular Marines,” he said. The next day, they were taken by helicopter to the U.S.S. Blue Ridge.
“Then we knew we were safe,” he said.
He was 20 years old at the time, focused on survival and the survival of his war buddies. That always is what kept them going.
“There was a lot of emotion, a fluttering of emotion just like any of the military guys who served in combat,” he said. “We always worried about your buddies. The six of us got out and there were no casualties.”
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Their experience later came to be called “The Other Evacuation” by CBS News, after garnering scant attention back home. All eyes, at the time, were on the chaotic military evacuation of Saigon 150 miles to the north.
“Nobody knows the last combat action out of Vietnam wasn’t fought in Saigon,” Kirchner said. “It was fought at Can Tho by us.”
After years passed, Kirchner pursued his military records and recently received notice he was entitled to the four awards. Earlier, he had received the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat Valor and Good Conduct Medal with one Bronze star.
My wife, Suzie, said I had a little tear drop in the corner of my eye,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not sure about that.
“It just blew me away. I was shocked when they sent me the paperwork that was in my files. I was amazed,” he said. “It just opened up the floodgate of emotions. It brought a lot of stuff back.”
They contacted Diaz-Balart’s office asking him to present the awards and were notified 12 days ago that the Congressman had accepted.
“John Kirchner put his life on the line to protect our freedoms and our democracy,” Diaz-Balart said in a statement. “This week, in front of family, friends and the community, he will be recognized for his valor, selflessness, and service to our nation in the Vietnam and Korean wars. It is an honor for me to take part in this celebration and to personally thank John for his courage and dedication.”
Kirchner said he is honored Diaz-Balart will be “pinning these medals on me.”
Jack Mischung, Vietnam veteran and commander of VFW 7721 in Golden Gate, said it often took time after the war for Vietnam veterans to learn what awards they are entitled to, but that the VA wouldn’t come looking for them. They had to do it on their own.
“Many of us over the years had stuff coming to us that we never got,” Mischung said. “You get forgotten about.”
Many of Kirchner’s friends and family will attend Saturday’s ceremony.
“I think, despite the passing of time, it is just like getting the award the moment it happens, “ said Michael Viechec, past commander of Post 7369. “Sometimes it’s more appreciated.”
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