BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — "An officer and a gentleman" is not a surprising description for those that have met Earle Cooper, unless they consider what he went through in the jungles of Vietnam in 1969.
U.S. Army Captain Earle Cooper was a kid from Ames, Iowa who graduated from Creighton University in 1966 before enlisting in the Army. He entered officer candidate school, destined for a job in logistics and supply.
"[In the} ninth week of officer candidate school, they came out, the commander came out and said 'you're all going to be commissioned infantry and that's what it is,'" explained Cooper.
Earle was part of the 82nd Airborne Division originally but switched to the 101st, volunteering to go to the front lines. He says the "screamin' eagles" had a reputation by the time he got there.
"They were afraid of the 101 because they [the Army] told them [the Vietnamese] 'these people will kill you before they would even do anything.'"
He landed in the city of Hue as a platoon leader. Cooper says he was supposed to have three dozen men in his command.
"You were lucky to have 25," said Cooper. "Sometimes it was just 20 and you break them up into three squads. One squad out on ambushes, one squad that would patrol, and another squad for rear duty."
Cooper says he wanted to go into the field to learn. It wasn't long until he got his wish, landing in the Ashau Valley, an enemy stronghold for North Vietnamese troops. Cooper and his men were ordered into a battle on Hill 937. The men who fought there called it "Hamburger Hill."
"I've never seen so many helicopters lined up," said Cooper. "We were the first unit in and the last unit out. Jet fighters had already hit the targets, artillery was going in and just pounding the hell out of them, then you got the helicopter gunships coming in."
"So they dropped us off at Fire Base Airborne and they just got overran the night before," he continued. "They were able to hold it and they were murderous at night right before sundown. They took some mortars and just blown up the whole mountain, just missing us."
Cooper has a room in his house where he keeps all his memories. A shadow box holds his medals and citations, including two silver stars, a bronze star, and a purple heart. Like most veterans, he doesn't call his actions "courageous," just "lucky."
Cooper had been hit by shrapnel near his armpit. He considers himself lucky, however, as he "didn't have [his] head blown off." According to him, RPGs missed him by close amounts.
When the battle for Hamburger Hill ended, 72 Americans were dead and another 372 were wounded. The hill was then abandoned two days later, drawing criticism for what many would call "a senseless loss of life."
Major General John Wright of the 101st Airborne Division did an interview on Hamburger Hill with ABC News in 1969. When asked the reason for withdrawing, Wright said "Our mission is to find NVA units and destroy them."
"I think about all of them," said Cooper about his deceased brothers-in-arms. "I think 'My God, I made it and these guys didn't.' Most of them probably weren't even recognized with awards or anything. It's kind of a shallow feeling when I was, you know? But I wanted to get out alive. I wanted to do the job and do it to the best of my ability and get the hell out of there."
Cooper moved to Bakersfield in 1977 to work for Tenneco. He had several family members enter the service and recently applied for a trip on the Honor Flight. Cooper visited the Vietnam Wall, an emotional moment for most veterans, more than 50 years after he was discharged on Halloween 1969.
He is now replacing some of those memories with new ones.
Cooper and the rest of Honor Flight 46 are scheduled to return to Meadows Field Airport around 7 p.m. on Thurs, April 20. The public is invited to come to the airport and welcome the veterans home.
