Seven former Westminster students died in the Vietnam conflict.
On May 15, a group of current Westminster students, professors and interested others went there to remember them.
The 40-member group was led by history professor Mark Boulton, and included senior and history major Kelsie Slaughter. They carried with them seven stuffed blue jays, one for each of the fallen.
“What struck me the most was how different, and yet how similar our lives are,” Slaughter said of the people she met in Vietnam. “‘Same, same, but different’ is a classic saying over there.”
The group flew through Houston where they encountered several eight-hour delays on the way to and from. They flew into Taipei (Taiwan) and then into Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
“The airport was modern but the traffic — when you get into the traffic …,” Slaughter said. “They don’t have a lot of traffic laws, if any.”
Cars are beyond the budgets of most Hanoi residents but motor bikes were everywhere, she added.
“All you hear is beep, beep, beep, beep,” she said.
Members of the tour group were coached on getting around by Boulton, who traveled to Vietnam previously.
“You literally walk right out in front of them and just keep walking; they’ll find their way around you,” he said.
The food was an adventure. Boulton and Slaughter had varying opinions of durian, a notorious Asian fruit that smells so bad it’s banned on some mass transit systems.
“It’s the worst thing in the world,” Boulton said.
Durian’s rind has a spiky texture, and opens in sections. Some people think it smells like sulphur and turpentine. Others think it’s heavenly.
“I think it’s good,” Slaughter said. “I think it smells sweet and creamy.”
All the people means less personal space than Americans are accustomed to. Propaganda posters of Ho Chi Minh are plastered everywhere, honoring the former revolutionary leader.
“They are a Communist government but they have a free market economy,” Boulton said.
Two of the stuffed blue jays — symbolizing the mascot of Westminster College — were left on the beach at Da Nang to memorialize two former Westminster students.
“We put them down close to where we thought they were killed,” Boulton said.
Another was left on a C-130 airplane in Caisson. When they couldn’t reach a spot where a soldier died, they found children and gave them one of the seven blue jays.
The Westminster Seven were:
• Harmon L. Remmel III was born Jan. 21, 1943, and from Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was in the Westminster Class of 1965 and was a first lieutenant in the Army. He died Feb. 7, 1968, at age 25 in Phu Bon Province.
• Philip Howard Sauer was born July 6, 1942, and from Coronado, California. He was in the Westminster Class of 1965 and was a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He died April 24, 1967, at the age of 24 in Quang Tri Province.
• Ross Whittier Livermore was born Nov. 18, 1945, and from Germantown, Tennessee. He was in the Westminster Class of 1967 and was a first lieutenant in the Army. He died Jan. 4, 1969, at the age of 23 in Dinh Tuong Province.
• Christopher “Pod” Podmaniczky was born Dec. 25, 1946, and from St. Louis. He was in the Westminster Class of 1969. He was a private first class in the Marines and died April 21, 1967, at the age of 20 in Quang Nam Province.
• Patrick Lawrence Purdin was born March 17, 1948, and from Long Beach, California. He was in the Westminster Class of 1970. He was a medic in the Navy, attached to the Marines, and died Nov. 22, 1969, at the age of 21 in Quang Nam.
• John Vernon Taylor Jr. was born March 24, 1940, and from Fulton. He was in the Westminster Class of 1962. He served as a captain in the Army and died Nov. 4, 1967, at the age of 27 in Kontum Province.
• Claude L. Curtice Jr. was born Dec. 7, 1926, and from St. Louis. He was in the Westminster Class of 1952. Formerly a soldier, at the time of his death he worked with refugees in Vietnam and was U.S. Deputy Chief for Refugees at Da Nang. He died Jan. 30, 1968, at the age of 44. He choked to death while eating.
When making their plans, the Westminster group decided to work with Vietnam Battlefield Tours.
“They were all Vietnam vets,” Boulton said.
Numbers vary on how many people — soldiers and civilians — died in Vietnam. Some report about 1,118,000 people died in the Vietnam War between 1965-74. American deaths numbered 58,220, according to the National Archives, but of those, about 41,000 were killed in action, 9,107 died by accident and others died from other causes.
Like the Korean War, Americans never declared war in Vietnam. The last American-declared war was World War II. The Department of Defense reported the U.S. spent approximately $168 billion over 14 years in the Vietnam conflict — that’s $950 billion in 2011 dollars.
The Westminster Seven project began with study and research conducted by Slaughter and Thomas Boreman, who also went on the trip. He will continue to research details about the Westminster Seven with the hope of building an on-campus memorial in their h0nor, Boulton added.
In several years, Boulton said he intends to lead another trip over.
“People can join our tour,” he added.