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  !! Warning -- Sections in Red Italics Contain Graphic Stories of Combat -- Warning !!
Stories read well even without these sections.		  

Homer TodayHomer  Click on my nose ...
Robert Robbins has some excellent 7.25 diagonal 4th Infantry Patches for sale for the back of your jacket.
See his guestbook entry for details.

1SGT David McNerney Honored.

SUICIDE  !!!   Combat Deaths still happening forty years later.  The hidden enemy   !!!   SUICIDE!!!
  Hit Counter:                        


Memories of an Infantry Small Unit Commander in Viet Nam, with B/1/8 and D/1/8, 4th Infantry Division, AUG 1968 - MAR 1970.
Here you will experience life among the Grunts, who slept in the mud of the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the Cambodia/Laos Border.  There are stories of unsung heroes, bravery, regrets, and haunting mistakes.  I was a Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, Headquarters Commander in base camp, and a Company Commander in the field.  Come along as I recall courage, death, anger, fear, sadness, and red Pleiku mud.



 
Ivy Leaf Shoulder Patch of the 4th Infantry Division
        Click Here for More on Patch Symbolism.

Bullets was the nickname of 1/8th Infantry. We wore a bullet in the camouflage band of our our steel pots.

Arriving a Second Lieutenant and leaving a Captain after two consecutive tours, nearly destroyed me psychologically.  After more than a quarter century, I finally have the courage to face the aftermath of being only too human. This is my story, as I remember it.  It is also the story of some most remarkable, ordinary young men called forth by their country. May we all learn something about the horrors of war from this site and work to prevent such insanity in the future.

Above - Me as XO of B/1/8 on run from Dak To to Pleiku  during the dusty dry season.

Below - Bathing in a stream at Polei Kleng, just minutes before a mortar attack and my departure to join Task Force Alpha.



 

    "Thou Shalt Not Kill." 

Someone I deeply regret KILLING, was a young NVA Medic, Hoàng Ngọc Đảm.

This photo of Dam is on an Altar in his family's home. To view other Personal Documents carried by this heroic Medic, the story of our deadly encounter, and the impact of returning these personal documents to his family and village, nearly 35 years later, click on the photo.  This simple act resolved only one of the nearly 200,000 missing in action cases Vietnam is still desperately investigating.  In May 2008 I returned to Vietnam and aided the Hoang family in locating and returning Dam's remains to the family cemetery.

Nation Books released Wandering Souls: Journeys With the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam late in September 2009.   On March 19, 1969, then young First Lieutenant Homer R. Steedly, Jr., shot and killed a North Vietnamese Medic, Hoàng Ngọc Đảm, when they met on a jungle trail. Nearly forty years later he returned to locate and bury Dam's remains in the village cemetery.  This book tells that emotional journey with details from both sides. It is a captivating story written by Wayne Karlin, a former Marine Corp helicopter door gunner in Vietnam, who has written extensively on the Vietnam War and visits the country often. The "Thou Shalt Not Kill" section above tells of his aid in my journey. My version of the story pales in comparison to Wayne's.  Everyone should read this story. It will touch your very soul.  I spent Veteran's Day 2009 doing an interview about the book for Carly Yuenger's program "Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders" on Wisconsin Public Radio. Just click Listen next to Wandering Souls entry for November 2009.

To read my complete story, click My Combat Stories.  To read about the other units, who served with me in the 4th Infantry in Vietnam, click on 4ID Unit Pages. These links also appear on the floating menu for Java equipped browsers.

Any of you who served with me, please contact me and tell me what you remember of these events.  I can't be sure my memories are accurate after over all this time and I know each of you have different viewpoints and memories.  You all have stories to tell, many that I was too busy to even notice.  Write, email, send photo's, video, audio tapes.  I will incorporate all stories into this site's guestbook and return your precious materials to you safely.  I want to tell our story from all our perspectives.  It's time everyone found out about us and what we did over there.  Not all heroes got medals, in fact most did not.  I do not remember all your names, but I do remember your courage every day, when I wake up alive and free, and again every night before I fall asleep.  Help me to keep the memories of those we left behind alive for future generations.   As John Lennon so aptly said in his 1969 single, lets just "Give Peace a Chance".

Anyone who served with, or in support of the 4th Infantry in Vietnam is welcome to contribute to this site.  That includes the family members of those who served.  Your story about how their service changed them and your lives is just as significant as the tales of your loved ones service overseas.  We were all changed by the Vietnam experience. Click Here for more information about how to help me build this site and tell the complete story....

I need lots of assistance in filling in the stories of all the other unit pages.
If you know sources of information please email me at the address below.

    Never Forget The Price Paid by Veterans For Our Freedom    

Please Visit  www.tibart.com, a wonderful nature photography site designed by my wife, Tibby.  (Some of my photos are shown there also.)

All Email addresses are in picture format only to discourage web bots from harvesting for junk mail lists.  You will have to write them down and type them into your mail manually.
Site designed for Internet Explorer Version 6.0 or higher,  viewed with text size medium and desktop resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels.  JAVA Script really adds  functionality.
New Material Added on 07/28/2010.

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 Homer R. Steedly Jr.          (Email:  )        Copyrighted 07/28/2010.        Commercial Use of material on this site is prohibited.