In Service to America, Profile 17: Sgt. William Hagerty and lessons learned in the ‘fog of war’

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“I was with the US Army, 4th Infantry Division,” says Bill Hagerty, “We were working the Central Highlands in Vietnam in 1969 – 1970 – a group of about 100 men, that’s four platoons, conducting search and destroy missions. Helicopters would transport us from a base into the bush. Our mission might be as long as a month. Then we had to create another LZ (landing zone) where the helicopters would pick us up for three days off. Then we did it all over again. That was life for an infantry soldier in Vietnam.”

While the men were on a mission, helicopters would periodically fly in to a meeting point where they would drop off rations, ammo, water, and other essentials to continue the mission. During one mission, for whatever reason, Hagerty’s men were not resupplied for over a week. The men were forced to eat corn that they found growing wild that they cooked in their helmets, and drink water from a stream which may or may not have been drinkable. The parents of one of the men apparently had some inside connections in Washington D.C. He wrote to his folks, told them that his platoon was not being resupplied properly. His mother immediately went to Capitol Hill to complain. Apparently, she was told by a member of Congress that something like that would never happen – that she must be mistaken. He said the government always took good care of their soldiers in the field.

Hagerty continues about spending time in the bush, “It was interesting to see what guys took in their rucksacks for an extended field mission, even though we were periodically resupplied. Keep in mind that whatever you have in your rucksack, you have to carry wherever you go. Some guys carried six canteens of water, and two bandoliers of ammunition. I opted for six bandoliers of ammo, and two canteens of water. I figured, no one would deny me a drink of water, but I sure didn’t want to run out of ammo in a firefight.”

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The weather in Vietnam always gets talked about in any discussion of the war. “Monsoon season in Vietnam is unbelievable,” says Hagerty. “…it rains constantly. You’re wet all the time. I had jungle-rot on both feet because I couldn’t keep them dry. Some of the guys there had cameras, but between the rain and humidity, the cameras got wrecked.”

Asked about some of the odd or ironic things he saw in Vietnam, Hagerty replied, “We were one of the first Army platoons to enter Cambodia. Our mission was to stop the flow of arms, food, and materiel coming from the north down the Ho Chi Minh trail to resupply the VC in the south. There were about 50 choppers in a huge field with the rotors whirling, ready for us to load up to take us to the Cambodian border. This was going to be an especially dangerous mission and six guys refused to board the choppers. They were told to either board, or be taken to the brig. They chose the brig, and probably a military tribunal, a few months behind bars and a dishonorable discharge.” 

Under the heading of “ironic things” that happened in Vietnam, Hagerty relates what has become an all-too familiar war story. He said, “We would occasionally see ‘freshly minted’ Second Lieutenants, right out of West Point put in charge of a platoon. The smart ones would depend on their Sergeant, or other men who had been in-country a while, to show them ‘how the game was played.’ Some were smart like that – others, not so much. In one case, we had a new 2^nd Lt who thought he knew everything and was going to win the war all by himself. While on patrol, we came upon a US Army rucksack just sitting by itself on the trail. The Lt ordered one of the men to check it out. The man advised the Lt that it was probably booby trapped by the VC. The Lt dismissed the man, and went to inspect the rucksack himself… which exploded.” Hagerty continues, “The father of the Lt was some Washington politician. He wanted an investigation into why his son was killed. It was so tragic.”

When Hagerty arrived “in-country” the first thing he did was befriend a Sergeant. Hagerty explains, “Sergeants were usually ‘in-country’ for at least six months, so they got to know in the ins and outs of jungle warfare.”  

One of the things he learned straight away was to be “politically correct.” It was not uncommon for US personnel, in Vietnam, or any battle situation, to be killed by friendly fire. It is unfortunate, but a part of the “fog of war.” Hagerty continues, “But, because Vietnam was such an unpopular war, and the politicians didn’t want to upset their constituents any more than they already were, the term ‘killed by friendly fire’ could not be used. Soldiers were always simply ‘killed in action.’”  

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Friendly fire can harm American troops any number of different ways. Hagerty tells of one such incident that could have easily taken him out: “I was on patrol through the jungle and I happened to turn around to look at the guy behind me. He had his weapon (M-16) set on ‘rock-n-roll’ – that’s fully automatic, with the safety in the off position. To say I was not happy with him was an understatement. I explained to him that if he trips and pulls the trigger by accident, I could get a minimum of two rounds in the back before he realized what was happening and released the trigger. I instructed him to put the safety on and if need be, simply switch it to fire.”

After being in Vietnam for a few months, Hagerty made Sergeant and was a squad leader, leading men of his own. He continues, “We had some guys who were gung-ho and couldn’t wait to get out in the bush to tangle with the VC. Real Rambo types. Others, knew the real score. They knew that this was a political war. The battles were being fought in Washington, DC. We were only their pawns. As far as I was concerned, we would do our job, but I didn’t want to be a hero, and I didn’t want any of my guys to be heroes. My job, was to get them home standing up, not in a bag.”

Bill Hagerty is a Nashua native. He graduated from Nashua High in 1966 and then went out to California to work construction. It was during a vacation trip back home to Nashua that he discovered he had been drafted.

Hagerty went to Ft Dix, NJ for basic training, then spent another two weeks at Ft Benning, GA at what was colloquially called “E-5 School.” This was four weeks of training that was supposed to turn a Private into a Sergeant. Hagerty continues, “I hated the school. It just seemed like a continuation of basic training. I wanted out of it. I figured I could make Sergeant on my own merits. But I was told I had to stay for at least two weeks… which I did. Then it was off to Vietnam… and I made Sergeant a short time later anyway.”

The normal tour of duty for Vietnam was one year – 365 days. Hagerty did his 365 and stayed ten days longer, not because he liked it so much; but because that would mark exactly five months left of his Army service. And, at that time, anyone returning from Vietnam with five month or less left of active duty could take an early leave. Hagerty chose the early leave.

With his active duty completed, Hagerty decided to take a year off to decide what to do next. He was offered his old job back working construction in California. The work paid well but was sporadic. He wanted something with a steady income. He found it at the Nashua Post Office where he worked for the next 40 years. Hagerty is now retired, still lives in Nashua near Greeley Park, and owns the home he grew up in off Broad Street, purchasing the house from his parent’s estate.