By KIRBY ROSSReview Staff Writer

He served with the famedBig Red One in a battalionknown as the “BlackScarves,” so-called becauseof the embroidered garmentthe unit left behind on itsfields of battle to let theenemy know who had beenthere. Dick Trent grew up inPhillipsburg and went toschool with the Class of ’66.Going from schoolboy to warveteran while he was still ateenager, he was leading asquad of American soldiers inthe jungles of Vietnam wherehe was decorated once forwounds and five times forheroism.

Wanting to follow in hisfather’s footsteps by servingin the military, Trent enlistedduring his senior year of highschool. In an era whenfathers and sons often had adifference of opinion onwhether to serve or not, DickTrent Sr. and Dick Trent Jr.had a dispute of there own---Trent Sr. wanted Trent Jr. tobe a navy-man like he hadonce been himself. Trent Jr.had his own way and insteadjoined the army for threeyears.

After enlisting the youngerTrent was sent for basic train-ing at Ft. Bliss, Texas.Regarding his time in bootcamp, Trent remembers“actually I enjoyed it--wewere the first group--becauseof the growing war they hadjust started it back up so wehad it easy.”

From there he went to Ft.

Ord, California, where hespent a little over a year train-ing to be in communications.Afterwards stationed at Ft.Sheridan, Illinois, for anothersix months, this time as a mil-itary policeman, Trent states“I thought I had it made. Itdidn’t look like I was goingto end up in Vietnam becauseI only had a year and twomonths to go. But then theycalled me up....”

Departing from Oakland,California, in January 1968,Trent was supposed to be incommunications when hearrived in Vietnam. And if hehad left a little later in theday, he very well may havebeen.

However, the 1st InfantryDivision--the Big Red One--had suffered heavy losses afew weeks earlier near itsbase camp of Quan Loi fiftymiles north of Saigon. Beingshort of men for the division,the military determined thebest way to replace them wasto recruit them from the menwho were coming in.Consequently, the troops onthe first three planeloadsarriving in Vietnam that dayfound themselves convertedto infantrymen.

Trent recalls goingthrough three days of “j.d.school”--jungle devil school.Here the new troops weretaught how to survive in-country. They learned aboutbooby traps, what to eat, whatnot to eat, and so on. Schoolwas supposed to last forseven days, but because ofthe shortage of troops it was

cut short after just three andTrent then found himself tobe on a plane en route to thedivision. “They flew us toQuan Loi--that same day wewere out in the field humpingthe boonies. The next day Isaw my first combat. It wasan ambush on us, a small one.All I remember is that I didn’tknow what the hell I wasdoing.”

Trent learned quickly.Going in he was a Spec. 4 inrank. Within two months hewas promoted to sergeant andseven months after that hewas made staff sergeant.

“We were constantly goingout on patrol,” he says. “Wewould stay out one or twodays sometimes. The longestwe were out was 22 days.That was without a shower,hot meal or anything. Theywould fly in supplies viachopper. We would clear a

National Vietnam Veterans Recognition Week, May 1-7

Nam vet Trent and the ‘BlackScarves’ of the Big Red One

M-60 MACHINE GUN -- Thistattered photo shows DickTrent and the weapon he car-ried during his earliest daysin Vietnam.

landing zone and they wouldfly in supplies and take outour wounded.”

“The officers were givencertain check points to go to,”he continued. “During thenight would sleep on theground--we’d dig a fox holeif we could. While on themove we would check outvillages and Viet Congroutes. If we encounteredfire we would keep ongoing.”

“We would go back to basecamp long enough for a

shower and a hot meal. Afterone day or five or six days,then we’d go right back outagain.”

Trent originally was armedwith an M-60 machine gunwhen he first arrived. Afterhe was promoted to sergeantand squad leader he beganusing an M-16, but by the endof his tour of duty he was car-rying a captured Soviet-madeAK-47 as his primaryweapon. Regarding hischoice, “it was reliable andyou never had any trouble

finding ammo for it,” Trentsaid.

Trent also remembers a petmonkey named Nero he hadthroughout most of his tour.Another soldier who wasgoing back to the U.S. gavehim to Trent. “When I wasusing the 60 he would sleepon it at night. He could smellthe enemy and would warnthe squad when they werearound. His warnings would-n’t reveal us to them becausethat was how the junglesounded, but he sure saved

ON PATROL -- Armed with an M-16 rifle and a bandolier of spare ammunition, nineteen-year-old Sgt. Dick Trent, right, is pictured in this 1968 photograph out on patrol searching forViet Cong during the monsoon season 50 miles north of Saigon near the Cambodian border.

us.”When it came time to

return home, Trent recalls “Itried so hard to take him backwith me, but I couldn’t do ’er.I had to hand him down toanother guy when I left.”

Trent spoke of how theViet Cong would lay outambushes for the Americans.“One was in what was calleda ‘spider-hole,’ which wasaround 6-feet-deep. He hadus laid down for quite a whilebefore we got him. He washolding down a whole com-pany.”

Other V.C. would “tiethemselves into trees. If youcould spot ’em you werealright--but spotting ’em wasthe problem.”

Remembering the men thatdidn’t make it home, Trentsaid “we lost a lot. I lost areal good friend of mine.” Anewspaper report from theera speaks of how “in anengagement, Richard and oneof his buddies were the onlysurvivors in his platoon, rid-dled by enemy fire, and hewas in a hospital in Japan forfive weeks.” Trent alsobegan recounting a storywhere his entire company--over 100 men--was involvedin an especially bloody battle.Only 11 made it back physi-cally unscathed. Still affect-ed by this particularly har-rowing encounter, Trent stat-ed “I’ve never talked muchabout that before. I don’tknow why I am now.Sometimes it’s good to get itout.”

Trent was complimentarytoward the men he foughtwith. “In the service therewere some good guys andbad guys. In my squad I hadabout the best guys there was.They knew what they weredoing. A problem mightcome up when one wouldrotate out and a new onewould come in, but they wereall good.”

The Viet Cong and NorthVietnamese regulars weren’tthe only enemy out in thefield. “There was always oneguy in our squad armed witha shotgun loaded with dou-ble-ought buck. That was forcobras. There were some bigones there. Then there wasthe time a squad-mate ofmine sat down and a big rootnext to him started moving.It turned out to be a ten to 12-foot-long python. Youshould have seen that guyjump. And there was somuch vegetation, you spent alot of time slumped over.Sometimes you would hit atree with black ants that stunglike bees.”

“There were also the waterbuffalo. They were used bythe villagers to plow, andnine out of ten of them wereokay, but some of them werepretty bad. Then there wererumors of what was called a‘three minute vipers.’ I don’tknow if they were true or notbut none of us wanted to findout.”

Trent spent 368 days inVietnam. “After the firstmonth or so over there, you

get to thinking that maybeyou might be able to make itthrough,” Trent said. “Butwhen your time there is com-ing to an end and you becomea short-timer, that’s when youget real goosy.”

With his tour of duty inVietnam finally coming to anend in January of 1969, heboarded a plane full of othersoldiers headed back towardthe U.S. He remembers that“once the plane was on itsway and we were sure it was-n’t going to turn backaround,” that a bit of a partystarted up.

After a 16-hour flight, theplane landed back inOakland, California, hisdeparture point a year earlier.Within 24 hours he receivedhis discharge papers and wentover to the San Francisco air-port to fly back towardsKansas and Phillipsburg.While sitting in the bar wait-ing for his flight, a war pro-tester threw a drink on him.

Speaking without anger,Trent mentioned that eventand noted that “the DesertStorm veterans got a heroeswelcome. We didn’t get that.All we got was callednames.”

While fighting in Vietnam,only to have a drink thrownon him hours after his returnhome, Dick Trent was award-ed two bronze stars, an armycommendation medal withthree clusters, as well as apurple heart. And he was just19-years-old when he earnedthem.