Vietnam War still vivid for combat engineer

Vietnam is half a world away from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and 1968 is more than a half-century removed from 2021.

But that locale and that year are never far from Jack Trickey Jr.

"There are things that still bother me to this day. A lot of this stuff is still very vivid," the former specialist said. "It doesn't seem like it was very long ago. I suffered a little PTSD [Posttraumatic Stress Disorder]. I couldn't sleep or do a lot of stuff. I get nervous talking about it now."

Jungle training in the desert

The Cape Girardeau native's draft number came up in 1966, and by the time 1968 rolled around, he found himself at Fort Bliss, Texas, preparing to deploy to Vietnam.

Jack Trickey poses for a photo while serving as a combat engineer in Vietnam.Courtesy Jack Trickey Jr.

"I got my jungle training in the desert," he joked.

After a two-week journey by ship, Trickey arrived in country for his eight-month tour. A combat engineer by training, Trickey's unit was responsible for building things — roads, various buildings and sleeping quarters commonly referred to as "hooches" — and blowing up others.

"Whatever we had to do, we did," he said. "In my particular MOS [military occupational specialty], we were everything."

Trickey said the nature of the war made most any situation dangerous.

"You didn't know if you were going to run into [the enemy] on patrol or if a mine would blow up," he explained, noting that shortly into his time in Vietnam five members of his unit died as they tried to disarm a bomb.

Trickey spoke to the mental fatigue of living moment to moment in a war zone.

"I went over there and came back, thank goodness, a lot of my buddies didn't," he said. "The possibility of getting killed was always there. It was on my mind all the time. ... Whatever happened, you still had to think about what you needed to do to survive and protect you and your brothers the best you could. After that first shock of what happened to us in that first go-round, it just automatically kicked in that you had to watch what you were doing and take care of each other."

He noted the universal nature of becoming brothers in arms.

"It didn't matter what color you were. You took care of each other. It didn't make any difference over there," he said.

After long days, Trickey and his fellow soldiers would unwind at a makeshift bar.

"We used to sit around at night, drink a few beers and tell stories. Being engineers, we build our own little bar out back," he said. "We had a couple refrigerators full of chilled adult beverages, and when we would get in off the road, we would go out, sit down, have a few beers with each other and blow the steam off. We did a lot of talking. That was all good."

Coming home

Trickey fondly recalls returning to the United States. A flight took him to Hawaii and then to St. Louis and, finally, Cape Girardeau, where his parents were waiting for him at the airport.

He arrived home mere days before classes began at Southeast Missouri State University, where he earned a degree in business administration.

Though he had traded jungle warfare for coursework, Trickey was still close to combat.

"I was going from the jungle and things blowing up to sitting in class. Back then, if you heard a loud noise, it would get to you. I was in class one time, and someone dropped a book. I hit the floor," he said. "Thank God we had the Vet Corps back then."

The corps was an informal student-formed group active during the Vietnam era. Trickey said the veterans were able to assist each other through their mutual experiences.

"That was one thing that helped immensely — talking to guys who were going through the same thing you were," Trickey said.

After graduating, Trickey took over his father's men's store in Jackson. About 11 years ago, he started substitute teaching in the Jackson school district. He said he has an ordered approach in the classroom.

"I think the kids respect the fact that I am a little more strict. I think they respect that type of supervision," he explained. "I love these kids. They are great."

Trickey said he believes his military service has helped him focus on what's important.

"I don't worry about the little stuff. I look at the big picture. The little stuff will kill you," he said.

When asked his proudest military achievement, Trickey needed no time to search for an answer.

"I served my country."