362 ENGR. CO. (L.E.)
The Deuce

Photo Page #4

(deuce home page) (Message Board)

more Photos Compliments of Jim fleck

The remains of the 290 near Thien Gnon that one of the Deuce was taken POW in 2/68             (Editors Note)
    And I was there when he escaped and we found him about 400 yards down river from his machine. It was a little over a year later. He only weighed about 80 lbs. when we found him, I was told he was near 200 when he was captured. I guess they really made him crazy, rumor had it that he reuped and volunteered for Nam again. (But who knows)
    Get the real story from News Clippings More info on John Hirsch's site

       Below is a letter from Steve Bentley received 8/30/00

Bentley again - Van Putten was the man who was given the task of training me
on the Rome Plow after I volunteered. I was with him about a month in the
Hobo Woods and then he retired from the field. A few months he came back to
the field for operation Yellowstone and we worked the same Rome Plow together
at Thien Ngon. (Plow Operators had a day on and a day off). Tom had 7 days
left in country and I told him he was to short to operate and took the Plow
on this fateful day. Since he had no assignment he was picked to ride shotgun
on a Scraper as part of a convey going about 5 miles south to gather laterite
for the Air Strip we were building at this Special Forces Camp we we're also
building. The VC we're laying in ambush and 11 American's were killed. Mostly
25th Infantry. Van Putten weighted roughly 260 lbs on capture and about 150
when he escaped. He was used as a mule most of the time, although he said
later that they generally treated him well. He also said that this wasn't
true of some other captives. I called him about 3 years ago. He's lost a leg
and at that time was only being compensated 50% by the VA. I said, "For
Christ sakes Tom you were a POW, why aren't you a 100%. He said he didn't know
why, except that one VA person had once told him that in order to prove his
duress he would need to get a letter from the VC acknowledging what he went
through (Tom's inability to get passed this idiot and get what he deserved is
not only an indication of how fucked the process, but also further
confirmation of how badly damage he was mentally and psychologically).
Needless to say, at that time being on the National Board of Vietnam Veterans
of American, and chair of the PTSD committee, I went Postal. It turned out
that his service officer in Michigan was also a regular attendee at VVA
National Board Meeting. We had quite a talk and I don't believe Tom is any
longer at 50%. Tom put me in touch with a man living just outside of Georgia
who had trained him on the Plow. He lived just outside Atlanta and I had
occasion to go and visit him (although I can't remember his name, I would be
willing to call Tom and chase it down if your interested). This man was
missing an arm and a leg. Home life was a shambles. Goddamn that fucking war.

Below is an e-mail from Elaine Smith.

Page #4 of the pictures - Story on Thomas Van Putten

My husband, Alfred Garland Smith, is the one who trained Van Putten on the Rome Plow, and the one that Steve Bentley visited outside of Atlanta.  He served from October, 1966 to July 7, 1967, when he was hit.  Garland passed away on 8/30/1997 from lung cancer after fighting it for 20 months.  We were married for 3 years before Vietnam, and 31 years after Vietnam.  Home life was a shambles for some of the last years before his diagnosis, but during the 20 months of his second battle for his life, we found some peace, and he died peacefully and at home. He spent only one night in a hospital over the entire 20 months.      Sometime in the early 90's we visited Van Putten and his family in Michigan.  The letter from Steve Bentley brought back many memories.  Even though Vietnam caused great turmoil in our life, that was the plan the Lord had, and he knows best.  My greatest regards and admiration to all who died in Vietnam, served in Vietnam, and those who served and really never returned home.

 

Wiley O. Flowers (Cajun) relaxes near FSB Lanyard

The Deuce's dog "Head"

Hicks and Fletcher in company area at Cu Chi just after the move south from Tay Ninh

Everyone called him "Pop" and he was from WV.   Remember his name?
(Otis Zellars)

More to come soon

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