Veteran Spotlight: Telling Heroic Veteran Stories One Soldier at a Time

A true honor to interview this month's Veterans Spotlight feature. Bill “Hawk” Albracht served his country in the United States Army in Vietnam from 1966 – 1970 and was discharged as a Captain. He grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, attended Catholic grade school, Catholic high school, then it was off to basic training at Fort Campbell, KY. He would be selected for the prestigious Infantry OCS (Officer Candidate School). After turning (19) in mid-August he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. Green Beret training would follow in North Carolina then he was off to Thailand to train the Royal Thai Army. He would volunteer one more year with Special Forces, then was promoted to Captain in August of 1969. He would go on to be one of the youngest Captains to serve in Vietnam with combat troops.

I asked Captain Albracht the qualities of a good leader. “I like to break it down to the (3) M’s – Mission: Accomplish at all cost, Men: Take care of your men at all times, Me: Feel free to accept any promotion or accolade after you’ve taken care of your men. Never ask anybody to do something that I would not do or hadn’t done.” Was he afraid in Vietnam? “Yes, absolutely…..we were at Firebase Kate….1st time in combat…..did well because the Army trained me well….all the things I learned, I followed those tenets.” He continued; “We were critically low on water and ammunition and were waiting on support from “Spooky to attempt a breakout through enemy lines…we were about to be overrun….hit me, that we were going to die….guys are saying goodbye and to tell ‘mom and dad this for me if you make it’ I wasn’t getting a response on my radio, then a soldier said to me that my hand was white-knuckled on the receiver…..said I needed to release the button….had to make peace right there with the Big Ranger in the sky….’Dear Lord, I know you’re going to take me, but please let me get as many of my men out’.

Captain Albracht also shared an extremely powerful story; “I was calling in an air strike in October when 1st Lieutenant Ron Ross arrived at the firebase. Next morning we were in the bunker and he came in….short, lean and had the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen….never seen blue eyes like that and I’ve met Sinatra….said he was going on R & R but they sent him here….I said, ‘who did you piss off?’ said he was from Appleton, WI….wife just had a baby….took a picture out and showed me his son….suddenly, we were in a bad situation and started to take on rocket fire…..told him we were going to run to another bunker…..I’ll run and draw the fire….don’t start running until I get there…..took off and heard foot steps behind me…..Lt. Ross got hit……went and dragged him back to the bunker….had a shrapnel wound in the throat and was bleeding profusely…..his blue eyes were looking up at me….held him in my arms as he died…..promised myself, when I got out, I was going to go to Appleton, WI and find his mom, dad, wife and his boy and tell them about their son/father…..life gets in the way and it wasn’t until many years later that I found his son and family…..the son had the same exact blue eyes as his dad…..had a huge reception, 4-500 people….brought in a 3-Star (General)….it was awesome…..told Lt. Ross’ son that his dad didn’t die alone....didn’t die in vain…..held him as he died….died in the arms of a new friend…..it’s a tribute to him that I can tell that story…..couldn’t before, now I can” he said.

Captain Albracht would also go onto serve his country in another fashion – protecting the President of The United States. He served in the Secret Service for 25+ years and, in one way or another, protected President’s from Gerald Ford to George W. Bush. Though he is not able to share many details when asked about tense moments of Secret Service protection, he would say this; “We did our job so well, we eliminated the threats and were extremely thorough in our advance.” I was able to procure one classic story of his service as a young agent. “I was quite new and on the protective detail for Vice President George H.W. Bush. I was at his residence with another senior agent at around 3am…..hadn’t brought anything to eat and was starving……the agent suggested I go down to the main kitchen and see if there’s anything in the large refrigerator…..said the stewards always made cookies….completely against regulations….could have lost my job…..go downstairs and am looking in the refrigerator, next thing I sensed someone behind me….voice says ‘anything good in there?’ I turned around to find Vice President Bush looking for an early morning snack….we started scouring for the cookies and he says ‘I got’em!’…. he took some with a glass of milk and gave me some and went upstairs” he remembered with a chuckle. Thoughts on service? “I’m very proud, as are all Vietnam Veterans, of their service…..we served with honor….President Reagan even said it” he said. Captain Bill “Hawk” Albracht, thank you for your service to our great country.