Navy Vietnam War Chicago, IL Flight date: 10/19/22
By Vince Kelly, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer
QM3 E-4 Daniel Walter Tatar grew up on the South Side of Chicago with a brother and a sister. He worked from a very young age: first delivering papers for a news stand in grammar school, then at Sears after school in high school.
After only speaking with Dan for a short time, it’s easy to tell he is very intelligent and knows how to get what he wants. Or as most people have told him growing up, “You can do whatever you choose, and you will be good at it.”
Dan comes from a large military family. His father was one of 13 kids, 12 of which served in the military!
His Dad was a staff sergeant in WWII.
When Dan was about to turn 18, his aunt who worked for the draft board suggested he enlist before he was drafted to have more of a choice in what he does and where he goes. If you get to know Dan, you will know how important it is to him to be able to make those decisions. Dan has a quiet confidence and an aura of content. For him, that has served him well over the years. Dan knew what he had to do, he just had to figure out how to go about it. His aunt’s neighbor was in the Navy and recommended it highly to him. He went to the Marines and Navy recruitment centers. After talking to both, the Navy offered many more options, which appealed to Dan. Four friends signed up with him. Three went to the Marines, one went to the Navy.
Dan started his military career at Great Lakes Naval Academy where he spent 12 weeks in training. He signed up to be an air traffic controller, navigator, or radio man. He was accepted as a navigator.
“Today’s navigation is all satellite and computers. We used radar, visual sites and a L.O.R.A.N.” Dan informed me, L.O.R.A.N. being long range radio and navigation. It was extremely user intensive and difficult. Many times, using the stars just like sailors hundreds of years ago.
Dan served our country in 4 consecutive tours of Vietnam.
- 1965-1966 in the Gulf of Tonkin, on a destroyer that provided gunfire support.
- 1967-1968 Vung Tau, on a destroyer that provide gunfire support
- 1968-1970 river patrol boat Mekong Delta
- 1970-1971 river patrol boat Mekong Delta
During his second tour of duty, Dan saw his first river patrol boat. They were fast and maneuverable, extremely useful, and far more intimate than a destroyer. Dan put in for a transfer to serve on one. Problem was, Dan was very good at his job. His superiors kept denying his requests.
Dan sent his transfer request directly to Washington. Upon reviewing his stellar service and numerous 4-star reviews, they had no choice but to grant his request.
The new assignment was exactly what he wanted. Dan was made captain of the Betty Boop river boat and patrolled the Mekong Delta., escorting larger ships into the Delta and engaging in gunfire on shore. The ship had a crew of four. It only required 18” of water and could go 0-35 knots in 8.6 seconds.
At the end of his third tour, Dan was home on leave. His brother was drafted into the Marines. So, to prevent his brother from being sent to Vietnam, he extended his tour another year.
In his 4th tour Dan was sent for S.E.R.E. training:
- Survival
- Evasion
- Resistance
- Escape
They take away your weapons and equipment and bring you to multiple different climates, he said. No food to speak of, but the first climate was the ocean which was warm and allowed for fishing. They were given a place they needed to get to in a certain time without getting caught.
The next climate was the mountains, where it was cold, and food was scarce.
He and others wore camouflage and waited for the “enemy” to pass them by.
The “enemy” yelled out, “We see you, come on out!” Half his group gave themselves up. Dan and others remained quiet. The remaining members of the group followed the tracks to the compound. He was promised food and water if he made it to the compound before dark, which he did. Having not eaten in days, he asked for the food and water he was promised. Dan and all his men were taken into custody. They took their clothes and blasted them with a water hose and were bound. Dan was interviewed by a person they said was from the Red Cross. They knew personal information about him and asked him to sign and verify info, which he refused.
He broke 3 pencils pretending to sign it and asked for a fourth. They asked him what his mother’s maiden name was. He replied as instructed, “My country won’t let me answer that.”
His hands and feet were bound as they approached a hot box with a basket next to it. In the basket was a snake. They threw him into the box where he had to remain in a crouched position. They threw a rope on him to fool him to think the snake was in the box with him. He spent a lot of time in the hot box, then was taken to a tiger cage. Then finally back to the compound where he got his clothes back, but no food. They made him do chores and found reasons to punish him for doing something wrong. From there he was taken with a group to an underground cave. They were thrown to the ground while shots were fired over them. Many ended up confessing to crimes they didn’t commit just to get out of the situation.
They woke up the next day and were told they didn’t pass. They would have to do the training all over again.
But first you had to salute our flag. They raised the North Korean flag. All the men refused to salute it.
They then raised the American flag. Told them it was over and began debriefing them.
Dan enjoyed serving on the Betty Boop as it was always a new adventure. One day you are stopping and boarding a ship suspected of enemy activity. Other days escorting large ships or engaging the enemy on shore was often made more difficult as many villages were considered “friendly.” They had to get permission prior to returning fire. Dan said most of the time you could tell when there would be enemy activity in a village. The normally busy villages would go quiet. No one would be out and about doing daily chores.
Dan enjoyed visiting the villages and bringing supplies to them. “Vietnam is a beautiful agriculturally based country,” Dan said as he talked about one trip to a village. They had asked for a chicken coup. Dan and his team built quite a substantial and sturdy coup. When they returned a few weeks later, the villagers were living in the chicken coup and put the chickens in their huts.
“Saigon was like Paris, with lots of French influence and outdoor cafes. It was a no fire zone and there were always enemy soldiers there. As soon as you left the city limits, it was totally up for grabs.”
The end of his service was not an easy transition. While on patrol, he was told in 20 minutes he was leaving for home!
In 24 hours, he went from being in an active war zone to back home in Chicago. Naively I said, that must have been a pleasant surprise. Dan told me that they normally send them stateside at least 30 days before discharging them. It is extremely difficult going from fighting for your life, to normal life again. It’s a stark contrast and a difficult transition.
The welcome he got at home didn’t help matters either. He arrived at protesters throwing rocks and bricks, yelling insults.
When Dan got settled in, he took advantage of the GI Bill and got an associates degree at Moraine Valley Community College.
Initially Dan was going to be an architect but decided against it. At the unemployment office, they reviewed his military record. They told him something he had heard before. With your skills, you will succeed in whatever you choose to do. And he did just that. Dan became a carpenter;working his way up through the years with multiple companies. Dan is now a senior superintendent healthcare division for Redwood Builders; one step below Vice President. During that time working his way up the ladder, he was fortunate enough to get an office next to a lovely lady by the name of Janet. She was dating someone else at the time. Over a year of going to company functions together, getting to know each other, they started dating, and they did, for 10 years. I remarked that Janet was a patient woman; He laughed and said, “oh no, she’s the one that made me wait!”
They were married in 1988.
They love traveling together, especially to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina where they own a home they have been going to for 44 years.
Thank you, Dan, for your courageous and dedicated service to your country. Enjoy your well-deserved day of honor as a member of Honor Flight Chicago’s 106th flight…and WELCOME HOME!!!