Glyn Haynie Memorabilia
Haynie & Dankert Promoted to Sergeant
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My mother gave me a Norelco battery operated shaver
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My good luck Charm given by Paul Ponce
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Seiko watch was purchased in the Chu Lai PX
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Photographs of my time with 1st platoon.
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This is my favorite photograph. Sitting on the ground left to right was Dwight Anderson, Danny Carey, Bill Davenport and Ray "Alabama" Hamilton. Standing to the rear of the seated squad members, left to right, was Mike Dankert, Ronald Owens and Jerry Ofstedahl. Unknown to us, during the next three days, three squad members would be killed and three wounded in the photograph taken that day, August 12, 1969.
Glyn Haynie Video Interview
Dr. Preston Jones, professor of history at John Brown University, interview (August 26, 2021) for The War and Life: Discussions with Veterans project. The YouTube link below is part one of two parts of the interview.
Dr. Preston Jones, professor of history at John Brown University, interview (August 26, 2021) for The War and Life: Discussions with Veterans project. The YouTube link below is part one of two parts of the interview.
Click on Image
I wrote this Poem many years ago before writing my Memoir. August 13, August 14, and August 15 would turn out to be the worst days of my life. After the 15th, much of what happened blurs into darkness. Some things I witnessed and did remain unspoken, even to Dankert. But I must write something, because those three days would come to define my entire existence.
Fear and Dread
August 13
The day started like any other.
Then enemy fire shattered the morning calm.
Second squad went down—too many, too fast.
I saw the enemy through my sights and pulled the trigger.
Held the dead in my arms.
Treated the wounded—felt their pain in my own body.
Crawled through the dark to recover my gear.
Fear and dread settled in beside me.
August 14
The next dawn came, but the world was different.
I led patrols through hostile ground.
Felt eyes on us that we couldn’t see.
Searched enemy bodies—my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
The smell of them lingered in the air.
It clung to my uniform, to every breath.
We passed through empty villages—doors open, nothing inside.
Fear and dread dug in deeper.
August 15
The morning felt wrong from the start.
We moved through the rice paddies.
I could feel we were being watched.
I shouted a warning—but it came too late.
The blast ripped the world open.
Dirt and metal filled the air.
Half the platoon went down in seconds.
I saw a bright light.
Then I heard Mike yelling, dragging me back.
Smoke, screams, blood everywhere.
I pulled the wounded together,
gathered what was left of us.
Held my brothers before they were gone.
And fear and dread finished what they'd started.
August 13
The day started like any other.
Then enemy fire shattered the morning calm.
Second squad went down—too many, too fast.
I saw the enemy through my sights and pulled the trigger.
Held the dead in my arms.
Treated the wounded—felt their pain in my own body.
Crawled through the dark to recover my gear.
Fear and dread settled in beside me.
August 14
The next dawn came, but the world was different.
I led patrols through hostile ground.
Felt eyes on us that we couldn’t see.
Searched enemy bodies—my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
The smell of them lingered in the air.
It clung to my uniform, to every breath.
We passed through empty villages—doors open, nothing inside.
Fear and dread dug in deeper.
August 15
The morning felt wrong from the start.
We moved through the rice paddies.
I could feel we were being watched.
I shouted a warning—but it came too late.
The blast ripped the world open.
Dirt and metal filled the air.
Half the platoon went down in seconds.
I saw a bright light.
Then I heard Mike yelling, dragging me back.
Smoke, screams, blood everywhere.
I pulled the wounded together,
gathered what was left of us.
Held my brothers before they were gone.
And fear and dread finished what they'd started.
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When I Turned Nineteen: A Vietnam War Memoir is a true story that chronicles Haynie’s long journey as a nineteen-year-old who was sent by his country to fight an unpopular war.
The cover photograph of Glyn Haynie was taken by Don Ayres in October or November of 1969 in the mountains west of Hill 4-11. |