Ted Engelmann bio 13 March 06

My Father was in WW II and recalled to duty at Ft. Devens, MA, during the Korean War. Born in Bloomington, IN, I grew up in the mid-west, New England, and Upstate NY. In February 1966, I went to Albany, NY, and enlisted in the Air Force, to avoid being drafted and being sent to Viet Nam.

As an air force sergeant trained in ground-to-air radios, I went to Viet Nam in March, 1968. I was assigned to the 3^rd Brigade, 1^st Infantry Division, at the base camp village of Lai Khe, on highway 13, about 40 miles north of Saigon. My job was to work the radios and help direct air strikes with air force pilots (Forward Air Controllers). We flew Cessna O1-E “Bird Dogs” (Korean War era) with a pilot and back-seater, and four White Phosphorous (Willie-Pete, WP) smoke rockets under each wing to mark targets for the jets.

In October 1968, I was reassigned to Advisory Team #55 in the west coast village of Rach Gia in the Mekong Delta doing the same job. There were about 100 US navy and army troops supporting the Vietnamese in the Kien Giang Province.

I returned from my year tour of duty in March 1969, and finished my enlistment with the 5^th Mobile Communications Group in Robins AFB, outside Macon, GA. I was honorably discharged in December, 1969 with an “early-out,” as I had been accepted by a community college and was in no mood to re-enlist.

Since that time, I have been involved with veteran support activities and the materials used in the US to teach about the American War in Viet Nam. In 1979, as the first Veteran Service Advocate for the Dept. of Colorado DAV, I helped establish one of six pilot Vietnam Vet Outreach Program centers in Denver, Colorado. We addressed everything from gas and bus tokens to scheduling PTSD counseling (before it was recognized by the VA). We helped the Denver VA Vet Center when they opened in 1980.

Since the early 1980s, my educational and photographic documentary work has been based out of Denver (US), Ha Noi (Viet Nam), Seoul (South Korea), and Sydney (Australia), in order to understand the effects of the American War in Viet Nam on those who were affected. Also, I teach about the topic, being interested in how we tell the story to our children. I am working on two books about my experiences. My goal is to help others, especially veterans and their families, find resolution with the past.

I have a BA in earth science and biology and secondary education, and an MA in curriculum & instruction and international relations. I’ve taught classes from middle school through college-level in four countries. I’m the first (and only) American War vet to teach international high school students about the “Vietnam War” in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.

I am concerned we are creating a new group of victims (American and others) from the war against Iraq, along with issues facing the Gulf War vets. While Agent Orange (AO) is still a problem, we now have Depleted Uranium (DU), along with the emotional fallout. It’s almost like déjà-vu all over again.