Page 6 - Italian American Herald - February 2020

6 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | FEBRUARY 2020 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD
IT’S ALL GOOD
A ‘gentle savior’ touched this wounded veteran for life
By Charlie Sacchetti
He only saw her for a few minutes but she earned a place in his heart forever.
Ed Hochberger, my friend and
co-worker of over 30 years, was only 20 years old when he arrived in Dau Tieng, Vietnam, on New Year’s Day 1968. As a draftee, he completed Basic Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He was a highly intelligent young man, and the Army deemed him a good prospect for O.C.S., Officer’s Candidate School. Eddie was more than willing to attend. And then, after 15 weeks of the 23-week course, the Army decided that there was an overabundance
of Second Lieutenants, the rank earned by O.C.S. grads. In its “infinite wisdom,” the Army decided to abruptly end the candidacy of many of the students, and Eddie was one of those cut. Being infantry trained, with the rank of Specialist 4th class, Eddie would be assigned to serve on an armored personnel carrier in the 25th Division, 22nd Battalion, Bravo Company, and was sent on his way
to Vietnam.
To call the vehicles “armored” was a
bit of a stretch. They were built for speed. Let’s face it, when you are moving troops through hostile territory you want to get to your destination as quickly as possible. So, that meant these vehicles were constructed of mostly aluminum, the lightweight metal ideal for providing speedy trips. However, there was a big trade-off. The aluminum offered practically no protection to the occupants, and if an armored personnel carrier were to be hit by a rocket-propelled grenade or R.P.G., or detonate a land mine, the results were usually deadly to those inside. This fact caused the crew assigned to the vehicle, eight to 10 soldiers, to find it safer to ride on the roof as they deployed to the next assignment.
By now, Eddie was in his third week “in country.” This day, his carrier would be part of a group of eight others as they all departed in single file on the joint mission. After a mile or so, the lead vehicle was hit
and immobilized while driving into an ambush, and all of the following vehicles were stymied on the narrow road. About
to engage in a fierce fire fight, the soldiers jumped off the roofs to take up their firing positions. As Eddie jumped off, he was shot in the right calf. With his leg mangled and unable to stand, he rolled under his vehicle and fired his weapon until it jammed. He would find out that he was hit by a sniper, who inflicted multiple casualties until
he was “neutralized” after four of Eddie’s buddies emptied their rifles into the nearby trees where the sniper had set up. As the
fire fight continued, Eddie did his best to stay conscious, wiggling his toes to reassure himself that his leg was still attached and working. It all went blank moments later and Eddie found himself on a chopper being medevacked to a mobile army surgical hospital, or M.A.S.H. unit.
As he faded in and out of consciousness, he arrived at the hospital in Cu Chi. After being carried into the surgical tent, with his leg shattered and the shock of the injury
Gently cutting away his bloodied pant leg, she spoke in a way that was angelic in its calming and reassuring tone. He could only see her eyes, due to her surgical mask, but that was enough. In this time of desperation, she had been his gentle savior.
He would never see her again.
Fast forward about 30 years. I was given the privilege to have Eddie become one of my guys. As district sales manager of our Industrial Chemical Co., I would work closely with him as he serviced the territory of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. At the time, I knew that Eddie was a wounded Vietnam vet but was not privy to the whole story. He always amazed me
in a couple of ways. First of
all, he had wonderful product knowledge and his demeanor made him a welcomed visitor to
Ann Cunningham, Army nurse
shared with me something he did to deal with the stress of everyday life. When times were tough, he thought of Army Nurse Ann Cunningham and those lovely, calming eyes that came upon him at his most vulnerable moment. Just remembering that brief interaction gave him peace.
A few weeks ago, for some unknown reason and after all these years, Eddie decided to do a Google search on that lady who had given him so much in only a matter of minutes. When he did, he found that Ann had passed away, in 2007, at
the age of 63. She had died in Lexington, Kentucky, ironically, while attending a reunion of the Army’s 25th Division. She had become an accomplished surgical nurse and the Director of Perioperative Services for the Cardiac Surgery West Medical Group in Sacramento, California, before moving to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and working at the University of Virginia hospital. She retired in 2006.
I would only hope that she somehow realized the gift that she was to my friend. IAH
Charlie Sacchetti is the author of the book “It’s All Good ... Times and Events I’d Never Want to Change.” Contact him atworthwhilewords21@ gmail.com
As the fire fight continued, Eddie did his best to stay conscious, wiggling his toes to reassure himself that his leg was still attached and working.
overcoming the adrenalin rush, he was anything but calm. His mind was racing in every direction and he was truly lost in this frightening moment.
And that’s when he saw her.
An Army nurse, 24-year-old old Ann Cunningham, approached Eddie with a tenderness that eased his panic and fear.
his customers. More interestingly, he was always calm. He never showed signs of stress, even when things weren’t going really well for whatever reason. In hindsight, I now understand that compared to his ordeal as a youthful soldier, routine on-the-job aggravation was a piece of cake (or maybe
I should say shoo-fly pie). But, recently he
SUBSCRIBE TODAY ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD $27 ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION
Name
Address
City State Zip Telephone E-mail
(12 ISSUES) DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS
Please mail completed form, along with check in the amount of $27, to Delaware Valley Italian American Herald, c/o Today Media, 3301 Lancaster Pike, Suite 5C, Wilmington, DE 19805.