Veteran Spotlight: Sergeant Don Silvia

Don Silvia served his country with bravery in the United States Army in Vietnam from January 15, 1970 – August 18, 1971. He was a member of the 23rd Infantry Division/Americal Division, B-Battery 6th Battalion-11th Artillery and D-Battery 6th Battalion-11th Artillery seeing heavy combat on all fronts. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant.

A 1968 graduate of Lawrence HS he was sent to Fort Dix, NJ for basic training then to Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Still, OK. He holds the distinction of being the first person in Massachusetts to be picked for the 1970 draft. “I was a nervous wreck when they called me up to the front of the line…..all the big Boston news stations were there…..channel 5, channel 7…..all of them” he remembered. Sgt. Silvia also went through boot camp with high honors and had the 4th highest rating out of (200) guys.

He landed in Vietnam in Da Nang. “I got out of the plane and it stunk like you can’t believe…..a mildew smell and very humid” he remembered. His 1st assignment was to San Juan Hill. About 1,300 miles above sea level, the hill was next to the China Sea and (12) miles from Duc Pho. The Hill absorbed heavy fire from the Viet Cong enemy. “We had (6) guns on the hill with (60) guys….(102) Howitzers….you could fire in (360) degrees….guns were 50ft. apart….infantry was down at the lower level of the hill and every night we had guard duty…..every two hours we rotated…..had barbed wire and spotlights and barrels of kerosene to hold off an enemy advancement” he recalled. Was he ever afraid? “Of course! You could see the incoming mortar rounds coming…..the VC shot from the villages…..we couldn’t fire back at the villages because they had civilians.

Sergeant Silvia also share this story. “We were Jump Battery, supporting the infantry….it was monsoon season….had to abandon our guns and position in the field….the VC knew there would be flooding….we followed the ARVN’s (Army Republic of Vietnam) up the mountains…it rained all night long….we had tents but nobody slept…..the next day we went back and all our guns were sunk in the mud.” He continued; “Nights were the worst….the VC always came out at night….slept in a bunker 4ft. down….hot too…..had guns that could shoot (7) miles away….a couple of millimeters off and you could kill somebody.”

Holidays? “They were just like any other day….you make a lot of good friends and you share it with them…..I wrote back and forth to my parents and got lots of care packages” he said. Sgt. Silvia cited Sgt. Jim Ashwell as his mentor. “He was just a good guy…..took me under his wing….came to Falmouth to visit me after Vietnam. He was also injured while serving his country and received extreme facial and 2nd & 3rd degree burns on his hands. “My lungs are still bad from all the Agent Orange we dropped in the mountains” he said. Sgt. Silvia share this memory on coming home; “When you get on that plane everyone is quiet…..when we got airborne, everyone went crazy with applause” he recalled. He was awarded the Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal, (2) Army Commendation Service Medals and the Vietnam Service Medal. “It was a great honor to serve my country….worthwhile going and helping other people….much different from today” he said He also served his community for 30+ years as a Firefighter/EMT. Sergeant Don Silvia, thank you for your service to our great country and welcome home.