Middle Georgia Vietnam War vet remembers life-changing moment
In the jungles of Vietnam, a young man from Macon was bleeding.
Elmer Wallace had been shot in the gut on a seek-and-destroy mission in Phu Bai.
He remembers thinking, "Wait a minute, Lord. If you want to get my attention, we don't have to go this way. I'm listening."
Fresh out of Ballard-Hudson High School, Wallace spent a few months in training with the Marine Corps before flying to Vietnam in October 1966.
He was raised in church, but he said he didn't really believe in God until the moment in that far-off country that changed his life. He thought he was too young and too far from home to die.
"I told him if you help me get out alive, if you want me to go to church, then I'll go to church. If you want me to serve you, I'll serve. I kept that promise," said Wallace, who had to leave Vietnam because of the gunshot wound in 1967. He was medically discharged from the Marines in 1972 due to lingering problems with the wound.
Wallace now attends Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Macon where he has driven the church bus to pick up members to take them to services.
"He's just always been Elmer," said Ruth Parker, wife of Jacob Parker, the church's pastor. "He's just been a nice, normal person."
Before he was shot in the stomach, Wallace volunteered for another six months in Vietnam on top of a yearlong tour.
He said he felt more comfortable in Vietnam than going back to life in the states where he'd have to abide by the expectations of a normal society.
"You get used to getting shot at every day," said Wallace, who expects to attend a ceremony Tuesday hosted by the Macon-Bibb County Commission to honor Vietnam veterans.
The first time Wallace was shot was less eventful. A bullet struck his shoulder in May 1967, but only a serious injury or death prevented someone from not going back to combat, he said.
"At the time I got shot, it wasn't a big deal," Wallace said. "You get your mind programmed that you're in war and it could happen to anybody, every day. They just patch you up and send you back out."
The moments of clarity stand out during a time when most days in Vietnam blended together. "You don't keep up with Sunday to Monday. You keep up with sunup to sundown. If I live from sunup to sundown, then I've made it," Wallace said.
Wallace has been married to Delois Wallace for 47 years and they have a daughter, Phyllis. He fought for decades to receive disability benefits, but the most serious medical complication stemming from his time in the military didn't happen until Dec. 3, 2003.
Wallace said he was working at Robins Air Force Base that day when pain surged through his body. He said it felt like he was being stabbed in the stomach with a knife. He doesn't remember how he got back home to Lizella, but his daughter was there and able to take him to the hospital.
"I actually came home to die because if nobody hadn't been here, I was in no shape to drive myself to the hospital," Wallace said.
He would have surgery for an infected stomach cavity and leaking intestines, but he eventually recuperated. Wallace describes his recovery as a miracle.
He said he feels fortunate that he hasn't dealt with as much trauma after leaving the military as other veterans have. The 67-year-old still has occasional nightmares about Vietnam.
"It's like I'm doing the same thing (in Vietnam), but I don't have the weapons," Wallace said.
VIETNAM VETS EVENT
The Vietnam War hits close to home for Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Elaine Lucas, who would see the death toll reported in the news daily while her brothers Leon and Rubin Huckabee fought in the war.
"The numbers got to be so huge, it brought home the fact that both my brothers were over in Vietnam," said Lucas, who sponsored a resolution to have a ceremony for Vietnam War veterans. It is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday. "We were just overjoyed that they came back alive."
While both brothers went on to successful post-war lives, Leon Huckabee has also dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder, she said.
"There are many Vietnam veterans that were injured and suffered illnesses because of that war, and it's time to do right by them," Lucas said.
As Vietnam veterans get older, there remains a strong need to support them, said Michael Lynch, treasurer of Vietnam Veterans of America Middle Georgia Chapter 443, which has 85 members.
One method of outreach has been through nine benches placed throughout the region with the chapter's contact information on them.
"A lot of veterans just don't know what's available for them," Lynch said. "A lot of them just need someone to hang out with them and to talk with. Everybody can't understand the situation they're in. That's of one of the reasons we're there."
To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter
If you go
On Tuesday, Vietnam War veterans will be recognized by the Macon-Bibb County Commission. The ceremony starts at 4 p.m. at the Macon-Bibb County Government Center, 700 Poplar St. Veterans are asked to contact Macon-Bibb County at 751-7170 to provide their name and service information for certificates that will be given out at the event.
For more information
For more information on Vietnam Veterans of America Middle Georgia Chapter 443 visit www.vva.org, call 785-1777 or email Maconauction@yahoo.com. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 6711, Macon, GA, 31208.
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Middle Georgia Vietnam War vet remembers life-changing moment ."