A Vietnam Vet and the Toll and Sorrows of Battle: A Memorial Day Story

By Michael Gold

John Fratangelo suffered two grievous blows during his Army service in Vietnam in 1967. His cousin Tony was killed in combat. A few months later John was shot in the leg and four members of his squad were killed.

Tony was his best friend.

“We read comic books, went on hikes, made a little fort in the vacant lot near the gas station” where they lived in the Bronx, Fratangelo told me recently at a Mahopac diner close to where he lives.

“We’d do anything for each other.”

They were drafted about the same time, in 1966. Four of John’s other cousins were drafted, too.

John served in the legendary Big Red One, the Army’s first infantry division. Assigned to a reconnaissance platoon, “we would scout and secure landing zones for battalions to come. We went in by helicopter, made a foxhole and went on patrol at night,” he said.

“You don’t know how long the night is (in the jungle). You can’t see your hand,” he said.

Three months into his deployment, Tony was killed. He served in the 25^th Armored Division. The personnel carrier (PC) he was riding in hit a mine on a bridge.

John said he knew Tony had been killed.

“I knew he got blown up. Naturally, I cried and thought of all the things we did together.”

He experienced a vision of Tony visiting him in his barracks, after his patrol was over.

“I hear footsteps outside the barracks. My cousin steps in front of my bed. Then he vanished,” Fratangelo recalled. “My cousin and best friend couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”

Tony’s mother told John that Tony had visited her, too. He said, “Look at me, I’m fine.’”

The Army assigned John 15-day temporary duty to bring Tony’s body home to the Bronx. He escorted Tony from Vietnam to St. Raymond’s Cemetery.

Six weeks after returning to Vietnam, John’s patrol was ambushed.

“One night, it’s raining. We were waiting for the damn sun to come up. They called me ‘Pizza.’ I was the only Italian in the squad. The lieutenant says, ‘You alright, Pizza?’

“All hell broke out. We got hit with gunfire. They (the North Vietnamese) opened up. The lieutenant was trying to get on the radio. A good friend of mine was killed instantly – Craig Verlinden. He was shot in the chest, probably with an AK-47,” about 150 feet away.

“I turn around, Parker, my ammo guy, is gone. Lieutenant Murphy comes over, says ‘Pizza, go set up a machine gun over there.’ My gun jammed. Now there’s shooting. I couldn’t get my machine gun to work.

“The medic goes out to help Parker. The medic (nicknamed Doc) got shot in the back. I picked Doc up. He said, ‘I can’t feel my legs, it hurts, I’m cold.’ I told him I’m gonna get you out of here. Another wounded guy (nicknamed Canuck because he was Canadian) screamed, ‘I need help.’ He had a big open chest wound.

“I cradle Canuck in my arms and carry him to the rescue area. I pick Doc up on my shoulder. So many bullets going back and forth, the trees would disintegrate. I’m kneeling to catch my breath. Schneider got shot in the gut, the worst place to get shot. You bleed like a fountain. I get up to pick up Schneider. I got shot in the back of the thigh. It knocked me off my feet. I called for the medic. I started rolling” to get to the rescue area.

“All my veins collapsed from the loss of blood. They got me on a chopper.”

His fellow soldiers put John in a helicopter with Schneider, who died. Of the 17 men in the platoon, three had been killed and 11 wounded. His squad was credited with killing 250 North Vietnamese.

John’s wound got infected with staph, and the doctors had to take some muscle out of his left leg. After six months in Vietnam, his tour was over. He was sent to Japan, then a VA hospital in Queens for treatment and rehabilitation.

He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart and got promoted to sergeant.

After his discharge, John became a plumber and drove a taxi at night. He married and had many children and stepchildren.

On Vietnam, John said, “My friends were killed at such a young (age). They never had a chance to have a life. We were the guys who went to fight. Not the rich guys.”

He’s read the Bible 18 times.

“It teaches sense and common sense, and the way people should treat each other – love, peace and sacrifice for others. I love Jesus.”

John has written a book about his war experiences, titled, “The Last Goodbye.” The book is being sold by Amazon and other booksellers.

Michael Gold has had articles published in the New York Daily News, the Albany Times Union, the Hartford Courant and other newspapers, and The Hardy Society Journal, a British literary publication.