Photo Gallery
Veterans Remember
Southern Wisconsin veterans remember their experiences this Veterans' Day.
Veterans Remember
Southern Wisconsin veterans remember their experiences this Veterans' Day.
A young Steve Cameron holds a little Vietnamese girl at the orphanage his unit started in 1965. Read story
MILTON TOWNSHIP — Steve Cameron left his family farm in New Milford, Ill., and joined the Marines in June 1965.
He was 20 years old, and the Vietnam War was raging a half a world away. If he didn’t enlist, he knew he’d be drafted.
“If your country needed you, there were no excuses, no cowardice and no second thoughts in serving your country,” he said.
Cameron met his would-be wife, Patricia, in July 1965 shortly before he went to San Diego for 13 weeks of boot camp. He proposed when he returned home, and they married in February 1966, just 17 days before Cameron boarded a troop ship headed for Vietnam.
Cameron was assigned to 1st Force Service Group in Da Nang, where he supervised 14 South Vietnamese civilians working on the Marine base.
Within a few months of their arrival in Da Nang, Cameron’s unit and a group of Catholic nuns started an orphanage in abandoned buildings on China Beach.
“There were so many children there who had lost their parents,” he said.
The Marines brought the orphans clothing, toys and candy. They paid regular visits—at least once a week—to the children.
In addition to repair work, the Marines fed the children, played with them and acted as role models in the absence of their parents.
“They thought we were great,” he said with a chuckle. “Of course, we had things for them.”
Cameron’ tough Marine exterior housed a generous, loving heart that melted when he met a 6-year-old Vietnamese girl who had lost her leg.
“It was just the smile she had on her face,” he said. “For someone losing their leg in a war zone, losing their mother and father, my heart just opened up to her.”
Cameron sent pictures home to his family, planting the seed of adoption. His wife was supportive of the idea, but at the time no adoptions of Vietnamese children were allowed.
It wasn’t until 1985 that the couple adopted a 7-year-old Korean girl, whom they named Julie.
Cameron said his unit’s relationship with the children at the orphanage revealed an often-overlooked aspect of the war.
“It was something we could be a part of, some place we could feel loved,” he said.
But the adoring eyes of the orphaned children weren’t enough to block out the disheartening stories of anti-war protests and riots that filtered to the soldiers serving in Vietnam.
“Whether they returned on their own two feet, in a wheelchair ... or in a body bag, they were met with taunts, jeers and derogatory name-calling,” Cameron said. “Over there (in Vietnam), it was out of sight, out of mind.”
En route back to the United States, the Marines were warned of the unpleasant homecoming ahead. The higher-ups told them to stay out of the way of protesters, not to talk back to rioters and to wear civilian clothes.
“It bothers me,” Cameron said. “When I went in, I was proud to serve my country. And when I came home, I was still proud, but I could not display it by wearing my uniform.”
Cameron was discharged in 1969 as a staff sergeant. He and other Vietnam veterans learned it was better to keep quiet about their service.
“When we came home, we were the bad guys,” he said. “So I tried to forget about it.”
Cameron, 63, of Milton Township remained silent for almost 35 years until the traveling Vietnam Memorial was brought to Janesville in 2000. While standing in front of the memorial, a business acquaintance shook his hand and thanked him for his service.
His voice shakes when he tries to describe the meaning of that brief exchange. He said it was the first time someone other than his family members had thanked him.
Now when he meets a fellow Vietnam veteran—or any veteran, for that matter—Cameron makes it a point to extend his hand in thanks.
“I go out of my way to do it,” he said.
