How MLK Assasination Affected Vietnam Soldiers
April 3, 2008
The sign said “Veterans of Foreign Wars: Post 2205.” It sat in the middle of a small parking lot next to a long brown lodge just off of University Drive. Inside the lodge was a smoky bar to the right and convention hall to the left. Signs of patronage were posted up everywhere:
“Welcome home to our HEROES serving in Foreign lands. Thank you for helping to keep us safe and free!”
When I asked to speak to someone regarding the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of civil rights legend Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr. – Wayne Trebathan, post Commander, came to my call.
“The Vietnam war was a terrible time for it to happen,” begins Trebathan.
Trebathan was in Vietnam at the time of the assassination and remembers what he was doing when the news of Dr.King’s death arrived.
“I was at Quinnon on the flight line, I was taking blood off planes and taking them to the hospital – It was a great shock.”
A shock that was shared amongst his comrades and soon caused turmoil within the unit. Black soldiers started to ban together afraid of being mistreated. Misinformation circled around the unit that blacks and whites would revolt against each other. Sensationalist media was the only source of news feeding the far away soldiers. The assassination of Dr.King “tore them up.”
“So many divided people,” Trebathan said with a shake of the head.
He recalls a night in the flight lines’ bar, of a black soldier who had heard the news of the assassination, “He said, ‘I don’t know why I’m over here. I should be back in the U.S. to help kill white folks.’ A fight broke out and my commander stood by him and said,’This man is my brother.’ “
It took weeks for things to settle down. But Trebathan was proud of his unit and their brotherhood.
“I watched my people pull together,” he smiled, “it has moved American people into a mode were they work together.”
Although Trebathan is safe in Denton, socializing with his fellow V.F.W members, his unit left a part of history back in Vietnam. The constructed a small memorial for Dr.King at Quinnon.
“We weren’t elaborate but we left a message,” said Trebathan.
And his favorite part about Martin Luther King, Jr.,
“He never said anything that was detrimental to the community.”
