U.S. Army Vietnam War Alsip, IL Flight date: 08/18/21
By Deborah Joyce, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer
Charles Solis was drafted in 1970 and served from 1970 to 1972 in the Army. He was working in a paper factory at the time and fortunately, he was able to return to the same job when he finished his service.
After Basic Training at Fort Lewis, Washington followed by artillery training, Charlie was assigned to B Battery of the 3rd Battalion 82nd Artillery Division, stationed near Chu Lai in Vietnam. He was an artilleryman for 105 howitzers and was also a radio operator in the bush. His buddies referred to him as “Chitown” or “Taco Bender.”
Charlie has some very emotional memories of Vietnam and prefers not to talk about the 12 months he spent in the bush. He does, however, recall some of the more unusual things that living in the field and manning an artillery gun exposed him and his company to. He recalls that they ate C-Rations from 1950 (yes 20 years old but still good) and cooked it using a little C4 explosive in their helmets.
Handling artillery shells can be very dangerous in more ways than one. Unfortunately Charlie severely injured his hand, peeling his skin off to his knuckle. He also lost movement of his hand from the injury. The only bright side was that he was able to get out of the bush for three weeks while he recovered.
A humorous story now, but not so much at the time, was when a scorpion got up in Charlie’s pant leg while out in the bush. His buddies gave him a hard time about his “toughness” but the scorpion incident caused him to have a fever of 104-105 degrees. In addition, his right side went numb from his hip all the way down his leg.
Living in the bush sometimes provides you with time to think and be creative. Charlie and his fellow servicemen came up with a better way to use the containers that the artillery rounds came in. They decided they could be used as drinking cups!
When Charlie was discharged in 1972, he returned to his job at the paper factory. Eventually he was hired by the Ford Motor Company and worked at their assembly plant as an electrician until his retirement. He and his wife Lucy have been married for 38 years; they have two sons and three grandchildren.
As you can see from the photographs in this document, life in the bush was challenging and very hard on the men who served there. Imagine what Mr. Solis and his fellow soldiers must have experienced that makes it so hard to discuss even 50+ years later!
Thank you for your service and bravery, Charlie. Honor Flight Chicago salutes you and your fellow heroes on your day of honor to Washington D.C.