Minnesota veterans reflect on the Vietnam War, 50 years later

A Vietnam War veteran took the podium at Fort Snelling National Cemetery on Monday to offer his reflection 50 years after the fall of Saigon marked America’s defeat.

Everett Doolittle fought in the infantry in Vietnam and now arbitrates disputes for the National Guard and Army Reserve. He didn’t know, in hindsight, what the United States was fighting for in that conflict.

“I’m not proud of the Vietnam War,” he said. But still, “I’m proud I served my country.”

Doolittle spent much of his Memorial Day address at the cemetery discussing the mental health struggles he and other service members suffered after the war. He recalled watching the movie “Platoon,” he said, and left the theater before the film ended, shaking.

Admitting a mental illness at the time could lead to deep shame, or even make it hard to find a job, he added. Now, while a stigma still exists, Doolittle said many more services were available to veterans to help them process trauma after their service.

“It’s a very, very hard for somebody to say, ‘I need help,’ and they really do need to say it before it’s too late,” Doolittle said.

Under a clear blue sky at the cemetery, with a small American flag placed at every bright white headstone, a packed crowd of veterans and their families also heard Sen. Amy Klobuchar tell the story of Max Beilke, who graduated from high school in Alexandria, Minn. An Army master sergeant, he had already been serving for 20 years by the time he was dispatched to Vietnam.

There, he ended up as the last U.S. combat soldier to leave Vietnam. His departure was captured on TV on March 29, 1973.

“When you are responsible for moving the people out of here, I think it’s nice to know you’re the last man out,” Beilke reportedly told a CBS News correspondent after the evacuation. “I had to do the job.”

Beilke went on to serve as a civilian employee of the U.S. Army and advocated for the veteran healthcare plan TRICARE. He was meeting with other veterans at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, to discuss benefits for service members when a a hijacked American Airlines plane hit the building.

Beilke was one of the first reported missing. He died in the attack.

“Max dedicated himself to finishing the job that … every American who gave all started,” Klobuchar said.

Several speakers also hailed Hmong and other Southeast Asian people in Vietnam who had aided American service members. Klobuchar noted that more recent Afghan refugees who helped U.S. forces in the country’s longest war were not being given the same protection.

The Trump administration decided last month to end protected status for Afghan refugees in the United States, meaning Afghans who helped the military but had not yet gained permanent residency are at risk of deportation. The administration has said it believes conditions in Afghanistan have improved enough that it is safe to return.

“We must keep our covenant to others who have served with our troops, including the Afghans, who stood by our troops in Afghanistan and deserve to be treated with respect in this country,” Klobuchar said.

There was a solemn tone during the day’s celebrations, and one couple in attendance from Minneapolis said they try to come to the cemetery every year to reflect on Memorial Day.

Air Force veteran Glen Bellefuil, 91, said he felt overwhelmed at the many manicured rows of gravestones when he entered the cemetery. “It’s just so many [people],” he said.

Starting in 1951, Bellefuil was a mechanic who worked on B-36s, the bomber designed to carry nuclear bombs.

Bellefuil’s wife, Karen, 87, also came from a military family, and she said her father, mother and brother were all buried at the cemetery. Her father also had a high-stakes job, as the sailor who monitored sonar on a submarine during World War II.

Karen Bellefuil said she remembered clearly how many families had sent children to fight in that conflict, and the rations and other efforts at home to support the war. “That was a war that really took a community,” she said.