PFC Jerry Augustino
US Army – Infantry
196th Light Infantry Brigade
3rd Batallion 21st Infantry
Tay Ninh – Dua Tieng, Vietnam
10/5/65 – 8/4/67
US Army – Infantry
196th Light Infantry Brigade
3rd Batallion 21st Infantry
Tay Ninh – Dua Tieng, Vietnam
10/5/65 – 8/4/67
Jerry Augustine was born July 29th, 1945, in Middletown Connecticut. Both of Jerry’s parents were both orphans. His father dropped out of school and worked in many of factories in the industrial Middletown area. In 1941 he was working in a factory and a huge storm came through and the roof developed leak. This led Jerry’s father to start the No Leak Roofing Company.
Jerry graduated Woodrow Wilson High School in Middletown in 1964. Jerry was not part of any athletic teams, which will be very ironic later in this story. Jerry went on to attend the University of Connecticut and while he was on his summer break in July 1965, he received his draft notice. Jerry was in the first draft for Vietnam, and he did not seek a deferment because he felt it was his duty to serve his country. On October 5thhe boarded a bus and headed to Fort Dix, New Jersey. After a two week wait for the rest of the recruits that would become part of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, they all headed from Fort Devens near Lowell, Massachusetts. During the next 10 months the recruits went through basic training and were told they would be part of a police action in Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It was a very cold winter that year in Massachusetts and there seemed to be no logic to training in the cold and the snow for a deployment to the Dominican Republic. With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, the recruits were sent to Fort Drum near Watertown, New York where winter was still raging. “The snow was up to our chest.” While at Fort Drum Jerry spent a lot of time at the gym lifting weights and transformed himself from 190 pounds to 214 pounds. Finally, they headed to Camp Edwards in Cape Cod and warmer weather.
One night at Camp Edwards all 4,000 recruits were assembled and were informed they would be going to Vietnam. Jerry said everyone was shocked by the news. They thought they were going to the Dominican Republic. The troops were given the opportunity to compete for the position of Colonels Orderly. This would entitle the winner to fly to Vietnam as part of the advanced party rather than take a troop ship through the Panama Canal which would take 30 days. In May of 1966 Jerry was married. While he was home his mother said to him, “why don’t you take a camera?” Jerry said sure and he packed a 1949 Brownie Hawkeye camera. “I kept it in my front canteen pouch. I took 200 photos while in combat and I never knew what the significance of these pictures would be. I would send them to my mother, and I never saw them until I got home. Every chance I had I took a photograph.”
On August 2nd Jerry and the advance party headed for Vietnam. After stops in Alaska and Japan they touched down at the Tan Son Nhut Airbase near Saigon, South Vietnam. What struck Jerry as he walked off the plane was the smell of rancid air and the incredible heat and humidity. It was nothing like Fort Drum. “It was 96 degrees at 11 o’clock at night.” They arrived during monsoon season and every day at 4pm there would be torrential downpours. Jerry’s father had bought him a barbell and a set of weights his senior year in high school. Jerry planned to continue his training regimen while on deployment and he brought them along to Vietnam. Jerry became close friends with Wayne Luzza and they became training partners. When his duffle bags were being loaded on to the trucks one soldier who was loading the bags yelled, “hey, who’s bring a bowling ball to Vietnam?”
After a few days Jerry in Tan Son Nhut Jerry hopped on a C 130 that took him to the Tay Ninh Basecamp where he reunited with his buddies who had come by troop ship. “Our mission was to quell the NVA and Viet Cong coming down the Ho Chi Mihn Trail.” The enemy troops were crossing into Vietnam from Cambodia to attack and then retreat into Cambodia at night because they knew that the US rules of engagement prohibited US troops from entering Cambodia. The tactics used by the 169th were helicopter assaults, ambush patrols and search and destroy missions deep in the jungles. The 169th became very close during their 10 months of training. Whenever one of them died, it was devastating to the rest of the unit.
Jerry spent most of his deployment in the jungles where the daily temperature was more than 100 degrees. “We never had a dry spot on our uniforms. It was all sweat.” Jerry recalled his first ambush patrol which was a night patrol. These ambush patrols were dreaded by the men. They kept their gear to a minimum so they could travel light and fast. With 35 pounds of gear, the patrol headed out. SGT Figueroa (SGT. Fig) wisely instructed the troops to stay off the well-worn trails. The patrol went through the backyards of the various villages. “All of a sudden, I disappeared. I went down an open well. I threw my M16 up in the air. I had 35 pounds of gear on and I was going underwater. SGT Fig pulls me out. I stunk.” Luckily there was no enemy contact that night.
Jerry recalls another patrol that took place during the day. They were patrolling through a rice paddy and keeping 10 meters between them so the enemy couldn’t easily take out multiple soldiers. Suddenly a Viet Cong (VC) soldier emerged from a “spider hole” and fired one shot, which hit SGT Fig. Everyone hit the ground. As quickly as the VC appeared, he disappeared. The round went through SGT. Fig’s canteen and into his hip but was not life threatening. A medevac helicopter was called, and SGT. FIG was headed home with his “million dollar wound”.
One night five months into his tour Jerry and the men were on patrol as part of Operation Junction City. They built a defensive position in preparation of a 30 day stay. An LZ was cleared so they could be resupplied by C 130’s. One night Jerry was on watch and at 1am there was a huge explosion and Jerry was thrown through the air. That was the only explosion. A warrant officer came by to check on the troops in the area and he dug out a chunk of shrapnel right next to where Jerry’s head had been and it weighed close a pound. The next day they learned that they had been the victim of friendly fire.
Jerry recalled what he refers to as the worst day of his life. The company was on a sweep through a dense jungle on a search and destroy mission and Jerry was carrying the M60 machine gun. SGT Durfee, who didn’t care for Jerry, told him to “take the point”. Jerry said being a 'tunnel rat’, being on ambush patrol and walking the point were the most dreaded duties in Vietnam. The rest of his unit stood in amazement and told the Sargent, Jerry was the machine gunner and he shouldn’t be on the point. The Sargent ignore them and told Jerry to pick up a machete. Jerry grabbed a machete and traded his machine gun for a rifle and took the point. At one point Jerry recalls the jungle becoming dead quite “like in a horror movie.” Suddenly Jerry heard a “swish” and he looked down at his feet and there was a rocket propelled grenade that did not detonate. The patrol had walked into an enemy temporary base camp. Two NVA or VC had been left behind and attacked the US troops. After a quick attack they turned and ran down a trail and right into the 25thinfantry division who “chopped the hell out of them.” SGT Durfee later claimed he lost his mind, and he was relieved of his position and was never seen again. “That’s the closest I came to death.”
Jerry was transferred to “C” Company of the 12h Infantry headquartered at Dau Tieng in the Michelin Rubber Plantation. Jerry recalled being involved in the Battle of LZ Gold, also known as the Battle of Suoi Tre. The battle started at 6am and Jerry’s unit was called in as reinforcements. The LZ was being overrun and there was a fierce fire fight with massive casualties taken by both sides with the US holding their ground. 647 VC killed and 37 American dead.
For the next three and a half months 90% of Jerry time was spent living in the jungle. There was no change of uniforms and their meals consisted of C rations, except for those rare occasions when hot meals were helicoptered in. During this time Jerry and his buddies were wondering about the slime being sprayed overhead. At that time there was no discussion of Agent Orange.
As Jerry’s tour progressed, he began counting the days. Each day he would write the number of days remaining on his helmet. With 30 days remaining, Jerry was moved to guard duty on the base camp’s main gate. No dangerous ambush patrols, clean uniforms, and hot meals in the chow hall. On August 4th, 1967 Jerry boarded a C-130 to Tan Son Nhut air base. From there he boarded a commercial flight to California and then on to Fort Dix.
While he was in Vietnam Jerry’s mother told him his wife was having an affair with his best friend. As soon as he arrived home Jerry got a divorce and proved his wife an unfit mother and was given custody of his son. He took a job with Pratt & Whitney as an engineering draftsman. He competed the 12 week training program and went to work on the JT 90 engine for the 747 aircrafts. He worked there for five years but he missed being outdoors and decided to go to work with his father as an apprentice roofer. Two years later his father retired, and Jerry took over his company.
Jerry brought home his personal gear from Vietnam. Jerry’s sons played with his canteens and helmet and clothing. Soon both Jerry and his son were coming down with skin boils. It was from the Agent Orange that was sprayed on the canopies of the jungle and landing on the troops.
Jerry developed anxiety, had problems sitting still and had problems focusing. He didn’t know it at the time but PTSD from his time in Vietnam was creeping into his life. To keep his mind occupied Jerry became a workaholic. He also began to get heavily involved in bodybuilding. Jerry competed in the Mr. New England Body Building Competition in 1968 and placed 5th. This success motivated Jerry to enter many of the competitions in the northeast and he placed in several of them. In 1975 he won the title of Mr. New England. He went on to win the title of Mr. Northeast America. Jerry was now hob-knobbing with the kings of body building including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Mike Katz, Lou Ferigno and Joe Weider.
By 1982 Jerry’s PTSD was getting worse and he was suffering from uncontrollable temper tantrums. Jerry had remarried and had two more sons. His wife told him that if he didn’t seek treatment, she would divorce him. He wanted to save his marriage and went to the VA seeking treatment. They told him he had a mood disorder and suggested he join a day treatment group. PTSD was not widely recognized at this time. The group meetings did not help and the VA prescribed Prozac. The Prozac made him feel like a Zombie. He mentioned this to a friend, and she suggested he stop taking the drug and start running. Desperate for a solution Jerry started running. After a while his friend entered him in his first road race and he finished 3rd in the over 40 year old division. Running became an obsession. Over the next 17 years he averaged one road race each weekend. Jerry was focused, healthy and able to avoid most PTSD outbreaks.
Jerry was addicted to physical fitness. He was involved biathlons and in the Empire State Building Run Ups from 1996 to 2002. He was also involved in competitive indoor rowing and hiking. On July 20th, 2019 at the age of 74 Jerry was setting the American and World record time for rowing 6,000 meters in the over 70 year old class.
Jerry attributes his PTSD to the extreme stress and sites of combat. “We were scared to death all the time.” Jerry still suffers from PTSD. It is usually triggered by pressure. He is prone to outburst that last about a minute and still attends meetings at the Veterans Center. He also suffers from back pain from injuries sustained jumping out of helicopters in Vietnam.
Jerry ran his business for 45 years before he retired. He is a very proud father and he “poured his heart and soul” into his three boys. Today Jerry is involved with many veterans’ groups. He is the co-founder of the Elk’s Veteran’s Kayaking Program, the Greater Middletown Military Museum, the local VFW and America Legion Post, Catholic War Veterans, and the Disabled American Veterans to name a few. Jerry is the Chaplain of many of these groups. Jerry is also a member of the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, was named Veteran of the Year and is involved with raising awareness for suicide prevention.
As if all these accomplishments were not enough, Jerry is the author of the book Vietnam Beyond. The story of his life including a detailed history of his time in Vietnam along with many of the photos that he took.
Jerry, the people of the United States thank you and your family for your many sacrifices and service to your country. We can never understand what you experienced in combat and the injuries that you sustained, both visible and invisible. To quote Jerry’s book, “Not all wounds are visible.”
Jerry graduated Woodrow Wilson High School in Middletown in 1964. Jerry was not part of any athletic teams, which will be very ironic later in this story. Jerry went on to attend the University of Connecticut and while he was on his summer break in July 1965, he received his draft notice. Jerry was in the first draft for Vietnam, and he did not seek a deferment because he felt it was his duty to serve his country. On October 5thhe boarded a bus and headed to Fort Dix, New Jersey. After a two week wait for the rest of the recruits that would become part of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, they all headed from Fort Devens near Lowell, Massachusetts. During the next 10 months the recruits went through basic training and were told they would be part of a police action in Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic. It was a very cold winter that year in Massachusetts and there seemed to be no logic to training in the cold and the snow for a deployment to the Dominican Republic. With the arrival of spring and warmer weather, the recruits were sent to Fort Drum near Watertown, New York where winter was still raging. “The snow was up to our chest.” While at Fort Drum Jerry spent a lot of time at the gym lifting weights and transformed himself from 190 pounds to 214 pounds. Finally, they headed to Camp Edwards in Cape Cod and warmer weather.
One night at Camp Edwards all 4,000 recruits were assembled and were informed they would be going to Vietnam. Jerry said everyone was shocked by the news. They thought they were going to the Dominican Republic. The troops were given the opportunity to compete for the position of Colonels Orderly. This would entitle the winner to fly to Vietnam as part of the advanced party rather than take a troop ship through the Panama Canal which would take 30 days. In May of 1966 Jerry was married. While he was home his mother said to him, “why don’t you take a camera?” Jerry said sure and he packed a 1949 Brownie Hawkeye camera. “I kept it in my front canteen pouch. I took 200 photos while in combat and I never knew what the significance of these pictures would be. I would send them to my mother, and I never saw them until I got home. Every chance I had I took a photograph.”
On August 2nd Jerry and the advance party headed for Vietnam. After stops in Alaska and Japan they touched down at the Tan Son Nhut Airbase near Saigon, South Vietnam. What struck Jerry as he walked off the plane was the smell of rancid air and the incredible heat and humidity. It was nothing like Fort Drum. “It was 96 degrees at 11 o’clock at night.” They arrived during monsoon season and every day at 4pm there would be torrential downpours. Jerry’s father had bought him a barbell and a set of weights his senior year in high school. Jerry planned to continue his training regimen while on deployment and he brought them along to Vietnam. Jerry became close friends with Wayne Luzza and they became training partners. When his duffle bags were being loaded on to the trucks one soldier who was loading the bags yelled, “hey, who’s bring a bowling ball to Vietnam?”
After a few days Jerry in Tan Son Nhut Jerry hopped on a C 130 that took him to the Tay Ninh Basecamp where he reunited with his buddies who had come by troop ship. “Our mission was to quell the NVA and Viet Cong coming down the Ho Chi Mihn Trail.” The enemy troops were crossing into Vietnam from Cambodia to attack and then retreat into Cambodia at night because they knew that the US rules of engagement prohibited US troops from entering Cambodia. The tactics used by the 169th were helicopter assaults, ambush patrols and search and destroy missions deep in the jungles. The 169th became very close during their 10 months of training. Whenever one of them died, it was devastating to the rest of the unit.
Jerry spent most of his deployment in the jungles where the daily temperature was more than 100 degrees. “We never had a dry spot on our uniforms. It was all sweat.” Jerry recalled his first ambush patrol which was a night patrol. These ambush patrols were dreaded by the men. They kept their gear to a minimum so they could travel light and fast. With 35 pounds of gear, the patrol headed out. SGT Figueroa (SGT. Fig) wisely instructed the troops to stay off the well-worn trails. The patrol went through the backyards of the various villages. “All of a sudden, I disappeared. I went down an open well. I threw my M16 up in the air. I had 35 pounds of gear on and I was going underwater. SGT Fig pulls me out. I stunk.” Luckily there was no enemy contact that night.
Jerry recalls another patrol that took place during the day. They were patrolling through a rice paddy and keeping 10 meters between them so the enemy couldn’t easily take out multiple soldiers. Suddenly a Viet Cong (VC) soldier emerged from a “spider hole” and fired one shot, which hit SGT Fig. Everyone hit the ground. As quickly as the VC appeared, he disappeared. The round went through SGT. Fig’s canteen and into his hip but was not life threatening. A medevac helicopter was called, and SGT. FIG was headed home with his “million dollar wound”.
One night five months into his tour Jerry and the men were on patrol as part of Operation Junction City. They built a defensive position in preparation of a 30 day stay. An LZ was cleared so they could be resupplied by C 130’s. One night Jerry was on watch and at 1am there was a huge explosion and Jerry was thrown through the air. That was the only explosion. A warrant officer came by to check on the troops in the area and he dug out a chunk of shrapnel right next to where Jerry’s head had been and it weighed close a pound. The next day they learned that they had been the victim of friendly fire.
Jerry recalled what he refers to as the worst day of his life. The company was on a sweep through a dense jungle on a search and destroy mission and Jerry was carrying the M60 machine gun. SGT Durfee, who didn’t care for Jerry, told him to “take the point”. Jerry said being a 'tunnel rat’, being on ambush patrol and walking the point were the most dreaded duties in Vietnam. The rest of his unit stood in amazement and told the Sargent, Jerry was the machine gunner and he shouldn’t be on the point. The Sargent ignore them and told Jerry to pick up a machete. Jerry grabbed a machete and traded his machine gun for a rifle and took the point. At one point Jerry recalls the jungle becoming dead quite “like in a horror movie.” Suddenly Jerry heard a “swish” and he looked down at his feet and there was a rocket propelled grenade that did not detonate. The patrol had walked into an enemy temporary base camp. Two NVA or VC had been left behind and attacked the US troops. After a quick attack they turned and ran down a trail and right into the 25thinfantry division who “chopped the hell out of them.” SGT Durfee later claimed he lost his mind, and he was relieved of his position and was never seen again. “That’s the closest I came to death.”
Jerry was transferred to “C” Company of the 12h Infantry headquartered at Dau Tieng in the Michelin Rubber Plantation. Jerry recalled being involved in the Battle of LZ Gold, also known as the Battle of Suoi Tre. The battle started at 6am and Jerry’s unit was called in as reinforcements. The LZ was being overrun and there was a fierce fire fight with massive casualties taken by both sides with the US holding their ground. 647 VC killed and 37 American dead.
For the next three and a half months 90% of Jerry time was spent living in the jungle. There was no change of uniforms and their meals consisted of C rations, except for those rare occasions when hot meals were helicoptered in. During this time Jerry and his buddies were wondering about the slime being sprayed overhead. At that time there was no discussion of Agent Orange.
As Jerry’s tour progressed, he began counting the days. Each day he would write the number of days remaining on his helmet. With 30 days remaining, Jerry was moved to guard duty on the base camp’s main gate. No dangerous ambush patrols, clean uniforms, and hot meals in the chow hall. On August 4th, 1967 Jerry boarded a C-130 to Tan Son Nhut air base. From there he boarded a commercial flight to California and then on to Fort Dix.
While he was in Vietnam Jerry’s mother told him his wife was having an affair with his best friend. As soon as he arrived home Jerry got a divorce and proved his wife an unfit mother and was given custody of his son. He took a job with Pratt & Whitney as an engineering draftsman. He competed the 12 week training program and went to work on the JT 90 engine for the 747 aircrafts. He worked there for five years but he missed being outdoors and decided to go to work with his father as an apprentice roofer. Two years later his father retired, and Jerry took over his company.
Jerry brought home his personal gear from Vietnam. Jerry’s sons played with his canteens and helmet and clothing. Soon both Jerry and his son were coming down with skin boils. It was from the Agent Orange that was sprayed on the canopies of the jungle and landing on the troops.
Jerry developed anxiety, had problems sitting still and had problems focusing. He didn’t know it at the time but PTSD from his time in Vietnam was creeping into his life. To keep his mind occupied Jerry became a workaholic. He also began to get heavily involved in bodybuilding. Jerry competed in the Mr. New England Body Building Competition in 1968 and placed 5th. This success motivated Jerry to enter many of the competitions in the northeast and he placed in several of them. In 1975 he won the title of Mr. New England. He went on to win the title of Mr. Northeast America. Jerry was now hob-knobbing with the kings of body building including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbo, Mike Katz, Lou Ferigno and Joe Weider.
By 1982 Jerry’s PTSD was getting worse and he was suffering from uncontrollable temper tantrums. Jerry had remarried and had two more sons. His wife told him that if he didn’t seek treatment, she would divorce him. He wanted to save his marriage and went to the VA seeking treatment. They told him he had a mood disorder and suggested he join a day treatment group. PTSD was not widely recognized at this time. The group meetings did not help and the VA prescribed Prozac. The Prozac made him feel like a Zombie. He mentioned this to a friend, and she suggested he stop taking the drug and start running. Desperate for a solution Jerry started running. After a while his friend entered him in his first road race and he finished 3rd in the over 40 year old division. Running became an obsession. Over the next 17 years he averaged one road race each weekend. Jerry was focused, healthy and able to avoid most PTSD outbreaks.
Jerry was addicted to physical fitness. He was involved biathlons and in the Empire State Building Run Ups from 1996 to 2002. He was also involved in competitive indoor rowing and hiking. On July 20th, 2019 at the age of 74 Jerry was setting the American and World record time for rowing 6,000 meters in the over 70 year old class.
Jerry attributes his PTSD to the extreme stress and sites of combat. “We were scared to death all the time.” Jerry still suffers from PTSD. It is usually triggered by pressure. He is prone to outburst that last about a minute and still attends meetings at the Veterans Center. He also suffers from back pain from injuries sustained jumping out of helicopters in Vietnam.
Jerry ran his business for 45 years before he retired. He is a very proud father and he “poured his heart and soul” into his three boys. Today Jerry is involved with many veterans’ groups. He is the co-founder of the Elk’s Veteran’s Kayaking Program, the Greater Middletown Military Museum, the local VFW and America Legion Post, Catholic War Veterans, and the Disabled American Veterans to name a few. Jerry is the Chaplain of many of these groups. Jerry is also a member of the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, was named Veteran of the Year and is involved with raising awareness for suicide prevention.
As if all these accomplishments were not enough, Jerry is the author of the book Vietnam Beyond. The story of his life including a detailed history of his time in Vietnam along with many of the photos that he took.
Jerry, the people of the United States thank you and your family for your many sacrifices and service to your country. We can never understand what you experienced in combat and the injuries that you sustained, both visible and invisible. To quote Jerry’s book, “Not all wounds are visible.”