Marine recalls ‘Walking Dead’

By

News

May 26, 2012 - 12:00 AM

Richard Habiger describes himself as someone who managed to get only seven miles away from home. The truth is that might be where Habiger ended up, but a detour along the way took him places he never thought he would go.
Born Oct. 28 1946, Habiger grew up in Piqua. His memories of life then were of simple times doing normal things.
“I didn’t do a whole lot out of the ordinary, really,” Habiger said. “I mostly played baseball, though we didn’t play if the kids in the fields didn’t come into town because we didn’t have enough players.”
What happened at age 19 would turn the next couple of years into anything but run-of-the-mill.
“I was drafted,” Habiger, said. “I’d gone down to the station where you went for that kind of thing. I was talking to a friend, Kenny Sinclair of Iola, who had just signed up with the Marines and I told him ‘there’s only two kinds of Marines; the ones going to Vietnam and the ones who survived coming back.’ About that time a Navy fella walked in the door and he called my name off and I stood up and said, ‘yes, sir.’ He said, ‘congratulations, you’ve just been drafted into the Marine Corps.’ Kenny still likes to give me a hard time about that one.”

The two-year in the military for Habiger began as he reported for duty in San Diego, Calif. He then moved on to nearby Camp Pendleton to go through basic training. Despite being more than 1,500 miles from home a little piece of home seemed to follow Habiger no matter where he went.
“Sinclair and I flew to California together, did 12 weeks of boot camp together. It was quite an experience,” Habiger, said.
June 10, 1966, Habiger arrived in Vietnam and was immediately plugged in to Delta Company 1st battalion 9th Marines, known unoffically as, “The Walking Dead” alluding to the unit’s 77.25-percent casualty rate during the Vietnam War. The unit was initially stationed at a place called Hill 55 south of Da Nang, Vietnam.
“There wasn’t much for us to do there,” Habiger recalled. “We’d get shot at maybe once a day. There was some farmer out there and he never did hit anything.”
Habiger’s unit remained in the field before returning to an assault ship offshore. The unit then received leave in the Philipinnes over the Christmas holiday before heading back for the rest of their tour in 1967.

During his remaining year in the service, Habiger spent time actively engaging North Vietnamese forces in the field.
While his primary duty was to man the 79 mm grenade launcher in his unit, Habiger also had the unpleasant task only a choice few ever did in Vietnam. The enemy were well known for their extensive labryinth of tunnels running throughout the countryside. When discovered, Habiger was called upon to crawl down into the tunnels, root out enemies hiding inside and place explosives to collapse the entrance. These select few soldiers and Marines became known as “tunnel rats.”
“I only had to do that maybe 10 or 12 times,” Habiger, said. “I went in there with my little red flashlight. It always made me nervous because they would put snakes in there. the worst was the Bamboo Pit Viper. It was a two-step taker. That’s about how far you would get before you fell over dead from a bite.”
Despite his subterranean experiences, Habiger found himself in plenty of contact with enemy forces above ground. On one occasion in particular, Habiger was in the middle of intense fighting along the border with North Vietnam.
On April 5, 1967 Habiger’s unit was caught in the middle of a North Vietnamese ambush coming out of a treeline. Despite being wounded, Habiger along with a fellow Marine, exposed themselves to further enemy fire to retrieve a wounded member of his unit. Habiger was awarded the Bronze Star with combat “V” and a Purple Heart for his actions that day.
“You know we were never expecting that kind of thing,” Habiger, said. “We were just doing our jobs out there. It was dangerous sure, but we didn’t think anything about it.”
Habiger went on to earn one more Purple Heart for his actions a month later. Afterward, Habiger managed to “keep his head down” as he puts it, and get through the remaining term of his service.

Related
May 25, 2017
November 2, 2016
August 12, 2016
July 6, 2010