Brothers (and Vietnam veterans) came together to form non-profit museum in Minneota.
By Patricia Buschette
Three young men, sons of Agnes and Floyd Hettling of Minneota, Minn., served in the Armed Forces of the United States in succession. Charlie enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam from 1966–1967. Dan was drafted by the Army, and was stationed in Germany from 1968-1969. The youngest, Royal, served in Vietnam from 1970–1971, having enlisted in the Air Force.
About 30 years after the Vietnam War (about 10 years ago), these three Minneota brothers/veterans decided to establish a museum in Minneota to help educate and raise awareness for current and future generations, as well as honor those who were lost in the Vietnam War. The non-profit museum is called the Vietnam Memorial & History Center.
Charlie’s Story
When Charlie graduated from Minneota High School, the draft influenced his opportunities. The possibility of being called to serve rendered him unemployable, so a counselor asked him whether he had considered joining the Marines. “It was either enlist or wait to be drafted, so I enlisted,” he said.
In March of 1965, just as the U.S. sent combat units to Vietnam, he left for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in California.Charlie’s experience with Marine Drill Instructors at the San Diego Recruit Depot was discouraging. “Nothing you could do was right, or done fast enough.” His training included Mechanic’s School to learn to maintain the M274, a motorized cargo and weapons carrier, known as the Mule, used for hauling ammunition.
Charlie’s first personal connection to the people of Vietnam was the children. He asked his mother to send packets of Kool-Aid and Fizzies that he passed out to children, hungry and looking for food. Children would come running to see him. When he returned to Minneota, this experience contrasted with the charge that he was one of those “baby killers.”
Charlie went to war to make the world safe for democracy. Now he works to create understanding.
Royal, the youngest of the three, explained, “When you grew up in Minneota, you didn’t often travel more than 40–50 miles away from home, and the service was one way to see the world,” The Air Force had a recruiting song, “They took the blue from the sky, a pretty girl’s eye, and a touch of Old Glory too, and they gave it to the men who wear Air Force blue.”
Royal was sent to Patrol Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. There was a family dog on the Hettling farm, but there was much to learn about military dogs. On Aug. 21, 1970, he began his journey to Vietnam and Cam Ranh Bay Air Force Base. Royal learned the value of service dogs.
“Lab retrievers serve as trackers, tracking the enemy down in villages or wherever they are hiding, following their scent. Scout dogs are German shepherds that scout as the handler walks in front of infantry patrols warning of booby traps, ambushes, and snipers,” said Royal. “Sentry dogs were German shepherds, the meaner the better. They helped secure perimeters, fuel dumps, bomb dumps, landing strips – anything of high value to the enemy.”
Each dog was assigned to one handler who learned the dog’s alerts. “Some have subtle alerts; some are more pronounced,” Royal explained. “I was assigned to Thunder, a 100-pound purebred German Shepherd. “We worked well together. Thunder saved my life on at least one occasion.”
The first step for Royal was learning Thunder’s body language. “A dog naturally pants, and when the dog stops panting, closes his mouth, and cups his ears, you know there is something. If the intruder came closer, Thunder would look back. If the intruder got closer, he softly growled. He was trained for uncontrolled aggression and I would pet him to keep him calm while whispering, ‘Where is he?’ Thunder wanted to attack. I had to keep him at my side, because if I released him, I lost my advantage. He was worth more than one or more guys with you.”
Royal said he learned how to control and best use Thunder the more he worked with him. “We had 12 weeks of training; basic obedience, scouting, tracking,” he said. “When we got to Vietnam, we had to fine tune.”
Royal explained that the military’s training was from WWII and the Korean War. Vietnam was not a conventional war and he had to function in an unconventional manner. He changed his tactic to that of his adversary.
“First thing, I would patrol the area and assess environmental conditions; which way the wind was blowing, the cloud cover. I considered the phase of the moon, lighting conditions, shadows falling, and ask myself what was different from the last time. I walked into the woods to pick spots that were darkest and had the most shadows, and camp there. My radio was set low so I could barely hear it and not give me away.” He kept his mind clear. “One would hear wind in shrubbery and hear voices. You trust the dog. If the dog is not alerting, there’s nothing there.”
Dogs were so effective that the Vietnamese had a bounty on both dogs and handlers. About 350 dogs were killed in combat and another 500 died of disease and other causes.
When Royal left Vietnam he had the option of choosing Thunder’s next handler. Later, when Cam Ranh Bay Base was turned over to ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam), Thunder’s handler relayed that Thunder looked at the soldier, looked back at the handler and then at the soldier. He attacked the Vietnamese soldier and was pulled off. The news was devastating; Thunder was put down. He was an effective soldier and a loyal friend.
In light of America’s disdain of those who served in Vietnam, Charlie was drawn by memories of the camaraderie he experienced in Vietnam, and his compassion for the civilians whose suffering he witnessed. “Caught between forces, their homes were blown up, and they were forced from their villages,” he said. “The people were so poor, they had absolutely nothing, and what they had, was destroyed.”
Charlie has worked through his wartime experiences through his 33 trips back to Vietnam. When the country opened up in 1980, he traveled with a tour company for four trips. Later, he learned that if he traveled on his own and stayed in less expensive accommodations, he could stay longer and travel more frequently. He found an interpreter and traveled with her on her motorbike. She weighed 80 pounds; he weighed 200, and the bike needed to be repaired!
His interpreter, Tam, who survived horrendous wartime experiences, is a friend. His trips have connected him with those he fought against. “Some of the former Viet Cong are my best friends now,” Charlie said. “When we came home, nobody liked us. That year was so emotional. Nobody wanted to talk about it, and I needed to talk about it.”
Royal found voice through authorship of the book Ten: Five Five, named for the radio code for a canine alert indicating presence of a threat. The book serves as a historical record of the Vietnam experience, and was possible through encouragement and participation from other Vietnam vets.
About 10 years ago, Carlie and Royal, with the help of their brother Dan, established the Vietnam Memorial History Center in Minneota.
The heart of the museum and history center is the tribute to area men killed in action. There is also a display of photographs of the fallen, along with their last letter to their family. Letters tell of anxiety to return to their family, and acknowledgement of the horror of war told in their own words.
Through his connections, Charlie found artifacts, including rare original Viet Cong propaganda posters. It is the museum that helps Charlie and Royal come to terms with difficult days in Vietnam as they honor those who died, and educate those who visit the museum. Marble panels tell the story of the dangers and hardships soldiers faced, and horrors experienced by civilians.
There is also an educational component. Royal asks visitors when they believe the United States became involved, to learn of the decades-long complexity of conflicting international policies that resulted in the war.
The idea to establish a museum in Minneota really started when a traveling wall exhibit came to Minneota. On Veterans Day 1996, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) unveiled a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., designed to travel throughout the United States. Since its dedication, “The Wall That Heals” has been displayed at nearly 700 communities throughout the nation.
The main components of The Wall That Heals include The Wall replica, and the mobile Education Center. This allows the names of those honored to find a place with their family and friends in a familiar place. The exhibit, a three quarters scale replica of the original, was on the road for more than 13,000 miles and visited 26 communities from coast to coast during its 2021 season. One of those stops was Minneota.
The visit to Minneota in 2006 was possible only by a concerted fundraising effort. Following the development of a business plan, meetings with potential donors grew into a community supported effort. Through individual donations and corporate contributions, a contract was signed. The exhibit was held at the Minneota school.
According to Royal, after the wall exhibit, they wanted to do something to remember those who fought. “This was our generation,” he said. “We wanted to do something for them so their names are not just on a bulletin board somewhere.”
The purpose of the museum is primarily to tell the history of Vietnam and the war that took place there. Teachers have a limited time to cover the war so the museum is there to provide more detailed information.
More information on the museum can be found at https://minneota.com/Memorial/.
The future of the museum is not determined, but Royal explained that they are in the early stages of setting up a foundation.
The Vietnam Memorial & History Center is located 112 East 1st Street in Minneota.
It has been nearly 40 years since the United States withdrew from Vietnam. There is much that has been lost to the American consciousness. Charlie Hettling and Royal Hettling do what they can to remedy that.
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