John Charles Stevens: A Proud Member of The 101st Airborne Tradition

By Marilyn Lucas, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

When asked about his response to receiving his draft notice at the age of 22, John smiled and said “I went kicking and screaming“ on September 12, 1966. Before his tour of duty ended, he was the recipient of two bronze stars and a Purple Heart and sent several Viet Cong “kicking and screaming.”

John was born March 21, 1945 at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, Illinois. His family moved to Homewood, Illinois where John attended Willow Grade School, James Hart Junior High, graduating from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in 1963. 

His only brother was the pharmacist at Southgate pharmacy in Homewood for several years.  John has a daughter and a son who served in Iraq. He and his wife Ingrid are extremely proud of their four grandchildren.

John began his military service with Basic Training at Fort Campbell Kentucky. A sign there reads “Rendezvous with Destiny.“ Fort Campbell is the headquarters for the 101st Airborne, 3rd Battalion of the 506th Infantry. The 101st Airborne Division has a rich history dating back to World War II most notably the D-Day invasion.  The 101st Division holds the impressive achievement of 17 Medals of Honor for bravery in Vietnam combat.  Over 20,000 men from this battalion were lost in Vietnam, more than twice the number lost in World War II. 

John is honored to be a part of the 101st and proudly displays the medals he received as part of his service. Both the United States and South Vietnam governments recognized his service and in some cases the medals were awarded twice during his service. Captain Stevens, like so many combat veterans, was extremely humble during the discussion of his medals which include: Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, two Army Commendation Medals, National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, Republic of Vietnam Wound Medal, Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal 

After Basic Training, John was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for Officer Candidate School (OCS) and he graduated August 15, 1967. He was immediately assigned to Fort Lewis as a training officer. John attended “jungle school” in Panama and was later assigned to Phan Thiet in Vietnam.

Like most war veterans,  John does not speak in any great detail of the tragedies he witnessed during his time in Vietnam. He did comment on how young and often ill prepared so many of the young men were. He relayed an amusing story about a platoon and their leader who were dropped into his area. When command radioed to the platoon leader trying to verify his location, there was dead silence on the radio. Obviously, the platoon leader did not know the coordinates needed to convey his position. He responded with a number and was asked by command several times to verify. The platoon leader kept insisting, quite angrily, this was the correct location. Command finally asked him how his pontoon boats were holding up. It was quite apparent he had given the location of the middle of the sea. This mistake created a great deal of laughter.

According to John, “they called us Currahees.” Their mission in January, 1969 was named Operation Double Eagle lV. Task force 3rd Battalion along with the 2nd Battalion conducted operations north and  northwest of Phan Thiet. The operation supplied a fire support base and employed both reconnaissance in force and “Bushmasters” tactics against the enemy. Double Eagle lV proved to be the most successful of all the double eagle operations in terms of enemy body counts and enemy equipment captured. With very little detail, John said his mission was search and destroy. (This particular part of the interview was emotional for both John and his wife, Ingrid.)

John was wounded on Valentine’s Day, 1969 and flown to a mash unit in Xuan Lu. The images of the bullets removed from John’s chest only begin to tell the story as John mentioned that his stitches were removed in the field. These events were the precursor to the numerous medals that would be received by John for his service. John was only allowed to recover from his wounds for thirteen days and then he returned to Phan Thiet as supply leader. That assignment lasted for only a few days, as on March 2, 1969 he was reassigned to Bravo Company 2nd  Platoon, his first command.

John says he has had a very diverse post-military career: Expediter, Purchasing Agent, Dock Superintendent, Terminal Manager, General Manager, Business Owner, Court Certified Expert Witness, Director of Government Affairs, Director of Risk Management and most recently a Senior Manager. He served on the board of directors for several organizations regarding highway safety, as well as serving a term as Vice President for the ATA Safety Management Council. In John’s own words…“I finally retired in January 2012, however, I was asked to return in October, 2012. I actually loved working for L–31 (a large government contractor) and finally retired for good on my birthday March 3, 2014.”

John and Ingrid have spent a great deal of time traveling throughout Mexico, Panama, Brazil, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Sweden, Norway, Chile, Hawaii, Russia, Estonia, England, Scotland, Finland, Canada, and nearly all of the Caribbean with no desire for another tour of Vietnam.

John mentioned several times throughout the interview how sad the return to America was for the veterans from Vietnam. He was glad to see that in current times, men and women returning from wars and conflicts will be greeted with respect deserved for the time they served. Proudly, they will return home in their uniforms and not in their civies. 

“SCREAMING EAGLES” 

“There is a destiny that makes us brothers

None goes his way alone.

All that we send into the lives of others

Comes back into our own.”

From the men of Bravo Company
Vietnam 1968-1969

Thank you , John,  for your courageous military service to your country. Your bravery is an inspiration to us all! Honor Flight Chicago is proud to honor you!