- Meyersdale Area School District
- Overview
Vietnam Veteran honored
MEYERSDALE - Last year, the Meyersdale Area High School began an oral history project to interview local veterans for the annual Veterans’ Day Program. This year, a video tribute was completed honoring David Woy.
Dave Woy was just 19 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. The year was 1967 and the United States had more than 500,000 American troops in Vietnam and the number of casualties was growing. Between 1964 and 1973, more than two million men were drafted by the U.S. military.
Woy knew his number was going to be drawn to be drafted and decided to take matters into his own hands, asking his parents to accompany him as he enlisted in an office in Pittsburgh.
“I enlisted because I knew I was going to be drafted and I knew I would have no choice about where and how I would serve if I waited to be drafted,” he explained. “It was in October and after I signed up up, I realized it was my dad’s birthday.”
By Christmas, Woy had completed his initial training and within just a few months, this young man from Somerset County found himself in a completely foreign land, both literally and figuratively. Woy had requested a job in Communications, but found himself assigned as a company clerk.
“I didn’t get what I wanted, but at that time I was glad I had not ended up in Infantry. I regret that now,” Woy said.
He was assigned to an aviation outfit and quickly settled into his role as company clerk, but found himself fascinated by the work of the pilots taking supplies to the front lines.
“I volunteered to be a door gunner on a CH 47 Chinook providing support for the 4th Infantry,” Woy explained. The 4th Infantry served more than four years in Vietnam. Woy’s unit was inland approximately 13 miles inland and flew support into the Qui Nohn province.
In the early part of the war, door gunners were enlisted men, with a designated and specially trained crew chief. However, as the war progressed, the position was sometimes filled by a non-aviation trained soldier, like Woy.
“I was young and foolish,” he said with a laugh. “But I loved it, I got to see so much of the country from the air and I was fortunate to have never been fired on while flying. I did some crazy things and I volunteered for everything I could.”
Too humble to boast about his work, Woy faced grave danger as he flew support for the Infantry. As a door gunner, Woy manned a machine gun, held in the helicopter by a simple harness or lap belt, as he flew unprotected as he kept watch from an open door.
“We did have a couple of close calls with one of our pilots, the CH 47 was a big chopper and there were times when the tree-tops were right there and we barely had just enough room to get it down,” Woy explained. “Thank goodness we were strapped in and there were many times we helped guide her in and tree tops were at the blades.”
Woy’s time, like so many, had an indelible effect on him as he watched men killed and injured as the destruction increased. “We had a CH 47 come and roll over on the flight line, killing all the men aboard, I watched those men burn to death,” he said with tears in his eyes.
Woy spent a total of 18 months in Vietnam and said he was forced to grow up and become a man in a country and war that was so very far from his home.
“I was 19 when I joined, I was 20 when I finished training and I spent my 21st birthday in Vietnam,” he explained. “I had to grow up fast, we all did over there. We didn’t get to be kids for long.”
Woy said he will never forget a night when he was literally bounced from his bunk by an explosion.
“The South Koreans staged an ambush in the valley that we did not know about and we got caught up in the fire. There were shots and claymore mines going off, I had run to the perimeter and it was bad.”
Following his discharge, Woy returned to Somerset County, but his experiences were never far from his mind or his memories. He had progressed from a Private First Class to a Specialist 5, or Master Sergeant.
“I had some tough times and I didn’t understand how we were treated when we came back, it was really hard sometimes. We didn’t have much support and I think many of us had PTSD,” he explained.
Woy said in some of the first days back he was helping his Dad pick up coal and hear da shot, causing him to throw himself on the ground.
“It was hunting season and I knew that but when I heard that shot,m I was right back in Vietnam and I got down, because that's what you had to do to survive over there,” he explained.
Woy had several jobs before he began work with the local telephone company, where he worked for the next 38 years. Many know him through his involvement in local baseball and softball programs.
He suffers many health ailments as a result of his time in the Vietnam War and still struggles with his memories and scars, those visible and hidden.
“I am proud of my time in the Army, I am proud to have served my country. I learned to think for myself and make quick decisions and solve problems,” Woy explained. “But it hasn't been easy and I can never forget many things.”