NEWS

Vietnam veterans reunite in Frazeysburg

Eric Lagatta
Reporter

FRAZEYSBURG - Fifty years ago, Robert Toporek and Mark Mitchell spent Thanksgiving day together in the jungles of Vietnam.

As part of the first U.S. Army ground combat troops deployed in the country in May 1965, their squad, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, saw heavy combat and lost more than half its men to injury or death.

The war left its mark on both men who, years later, are still haunted and scarred by their experiences. But it also built an unbreakable bond between the men and the rest of their squad.

"It was a great experience, and I wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends," said Toporek, 68. "I'm glad of the people I met. They shaped my life."

Toporek left the military in 1967 and didn't talk about the war for 20 years. But then, in the late 1980s, the Charleston, South Carolina, native embarked on a quest to find the men from his squad.

"I'm on a personal mission to find those people, including any of the spouses of those who got killed," he said.

The search led him to Mark Mitchell seven years ago, the sixth man Toporek has located from the 173rd. In 2008, Mitchell drove to Philadelphia, where Toporek now lives, and the pair met again in October in Chicago for a 173rd reunion, marking 50 years since they were deployed in Vietnam.

And for the first time since their 1965 deployment, Toporek made the more than 400-mile drive from Philadelphia to Frazeysburg to visit his old squad member for Thanksgiving day. Toporek met Mitchell's wife of 49 years as well as his children and grandchildren.

"I was proud to see what he's accomplished," Toporek said as he sat at the kitchen table in Mitchell's rural home last week.

Books of old photographs of their time in the service were spread across the table as the men recounted war stories.

Stories about the time Mitchell, awaiting an impending troop of Vietcong forces, fell asleep holding a live hand grenade.

Stories about the period​ of time when Toporek, who reinlisted in 1966, headed the battalion civil affairs program, helping to build schools and feed orphans as part of a pacification effort in the country.

And they recalled their fallen comrades; their squad included Milton Olive III, the first African-American to be awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War after he smothered a live hand grenade, saving four people.

"It wasn't an enjoyable experience, but it was an experience, and we grew up really quick," said Mitchell, 69.

Both Toporek and Mitchell volunteered for the Army at just 17 years of age. In 1965, they were deployed to Bien Hoa Air Base, southeast of Saigon, where they fought on the front lines. As part of the 173rd, they saw their fair share of combat around the area, including in Cambodia.

"I would say three quarters of the time we were either in combat or on a combat mission," Toporek said. "We weren't fighting all the time, but we were in the jungle all the time."

But the men feel as if their service is all but forgotten, or worse, scorned, by a public vehemently opposed to U.S. involvement in the southeast Asian country. It in part spurred Toporek to find the men in his squad years later and get their stories told.

"We did not come back to a welcoming country, and Vietnam veterans were not honored veterans, and still really aren't," Toporek said. "I call it the untold stories, the unfinished mission."

The fighting left both men war-weary and racked with survivor's guilt. Mitchell struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, and Toporek became opposed to war.

Mitchell, who is originally from Columbus, worked odd jobs in the years since he left the Army. He worked for an oil company, drove trucks and was a corrections officer at a minimum security prison. He's received disability checks from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since 1999.

At the same time, Toporek "went from killer to healer," joining the Human Potential Movement in 1968, which promoted the development of individuals through psychotherapy and other techniques. He wrote a book on Rolfing, an alternative medical treatment that finds its origins in the Rolf Institute of Structural Integration.

But as the years saw the men diverge on different paths, nothing could sever the bond they formed while on the front lines of war.

"Nothing has been more interesting or important than coming out here this weekend and getting together in Chicago," Toporek said. "You hear about brotherhoods, but we were brothers."

"And still are," Mitchell said.

Robert Toporek, left, and Mark Mitchell, who served in the 173 Airborne Division during the Vietnam War together, talk about their experiences. Toporek, who lives near Philadelphia, visited Mitchell's home in Frazeysburg for Thanksgiving.
Mark Mitchell talks on the radio during his deployment in Vietnam in the 1960s.
Robert Toporek lights a cigarette during a quiet moment during the Vietnam War.

elagatta@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com

740-450-6753

Twitter: @EricLagatta