Posted on 12/20/2019 9:36:41 AM PST by Perseverando
William Ebeltoft shipped off to Vietnam a state championship-winning trap shooter, a quick-witted lover of parties and Schlitz beer, and able to relate as readily to gruff ranchers as he did to teens who watched him work on his motorcycle and clean his shotguns. He came home a different man.
Every so often, a newspaper publishes an obituary that will break your heart.
One of those ran this week, in Dickinson, N.D. (pop. 22,000)
William Ebeltoft, 73, was a war hero who "died 50 years after he lost, in Vietnam, all that underpinned his life."https://t.co/44JljzDSaG
— Bill Grueskin (@BGrueskin) December 17, 2019 Burdened by war memories he rarely shared, the North Dakota native and accomplished Army helicopter pilot struggled to regain his footing after he left the service in the early 1970s. After a period in which he seemed to have adjusted to the rhythms of civilian life, his drinking tipped into addiction. He suffered a series of psychotic episodes and spent nearly three decades in a Montana veterans home, where he lived in a sort of pleasant confusion, beloved by the staff who cared for him.
He died there on Sunday, 73 years old.
"It is difficult to write about Bill," his younger brother, Paul, wrote in an obituary. "He lived three lives: before, during and after Vietnam."
The poignant and unusually candid tribute was published Monday in the Dickinson Press, a small newspaper in a western North Dakota city of 25,000. But in its eloquent and affectionate telling of the impact of war in one man's life, the obituary resonated widely. It was shared across social media, bringing hundreds of emails to Paul's inbox from others who had lost something to war and prompting a story in the Forum News Service, a North Dakota news
(Excerpt) Read more at roanoke.com ...
Blurry monitor.
Rest in His arms brother.
May this world care for your family well until you’re reunited
RIP, Bill.
Welcome home, soldier. You are a great American.
“The Mansions of the Lord” was written for him.
“...the one stew said “I have something for you, hold out your hand” Being young and stupid, I did. She proceeded to deposit a cigarette butt in my outstretched hand and the three of them laughed as they walked away.”
I was lucky, I guess. Came back in August 1972, landed in Travis AFB & took a bus to SF Intl. No incidents. But I never will understand why people hated us even though we weren’t volunteers except that Jane Fonda called us war criminals & babykillers. Bitch just turned 82, proving that some people are alive only because it is illegal to kill them.
As for the stews who insulted you, if it’s fifty years ago for us, it’s d@mn sure fifty years later for those b*tches. Imagine what they must look like now. Probably in assisted living.
Anyway, thank you being there in case you were needed. The 101st came home in December 1971 except for helicopter pilots who had less than six months in country; they came to our unit to serve out their full year. FWIW.
Yeah, 983rd Engineering Battalion out of Ohio. We were combat engineers but I think the only reserve unit that was ever activated was out of California.
My problem was our TOE changed while I was away at AIT. I was originally slotted as a 13B20 (Field Radio Repairman) when I got back I didn’t have a slot. But you adjust.
I never gave it a thought about the stews being 50 years older, I still remember the hot blonde that dropped the cigarette butt.
Thank you for your service. I have deep respect for those who had to serve in-country. I was “lucky” to maintain a civilian job and be a citizen/soldier, but the hate for all of us was real and palpable. It’s too bad the recognition for those who served in combat back then took so long to develop.
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