Charles Edward Heine

Charlie and I met when we were both students at the Armor Officers' Advanced Course at Ft Knox. At that time neither of us had served in Viet Nam, but we both knew we would be going there as soon as our studies were over. One particular night of partyin' we got serious and talked about what would happen if one of us ..."were to buy the farm in RVN;" each of us wanted the other to escort our remains back to the States,if our worst fear happened, but it wasn't something we worried about or thought would ever happen. When the Advanced Course was over, several of us couples had decided to go to Florida for some beach time before we would go to the war., except that Charlie and Clair decided to save their money, and they would "vacation" after the war. The last time we saw Charlie alive was when our trips split somewhere on I-65( in Alabama).. In early '69, I was commanding Troop A, 1-10 Cav in the Highlands of Viet Nam, when my RTO received a message that ," a friend of mine had been killed in the war and that his family had requested that I escort the remains home." The Army had me out "of the field within 24 hrs. Sometime during this period, I learned that the "friend" was Charlie, and that I would be flying with him to Charleston to link up with Clair. I called my wife, Anita, who was living in Michigan, so that she could meet us in Charleston. We all made it through some hard days, after which I returned to the war. Several years later, while I was assigned to Ft Benning ,we visited Clair, and her daughter, Caroline, while they were living in Augusta GA. A few years later, when I was assigned to the Pentagon, they visited us in Springfield, VA, during which we all visited the Viet Nam Memorial. By this time ,Caroline had grown into a beautiful teenager. We have had no contact with them since the mid-80's. BR.

My Friend Charlie My friend and high school classmate who gave his life for his country.

Charlie was my friend and high school classmate. We spent a lot of time together. He went to college at the Citadel and I joined the USMC. I am also a Vietnam Veteran and will NEVER forget the service that my fellow veterans, men and women, gave to their country. Semper Fi, Roy Gehris