Drafted into a profession - Vietnam War service exemplifies career of local veteran

Retired Missouri National Guard Sgt. Maj. David Mauldin reflects on his military career, which began with being drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War in 1970 and eventually spanned 38 years of service. Courtesy of Shawn C. Johnson

For Jefferson City resident David Mauldin, the decision to enter military service was not entirely his own. During the height of the Vietnam War, thousands of young American men were drafted into the armed forces through the Selective Service System, a process that profoundly shaped an entire generation.

What began for Mauldin as an unwanted obligation eventually evolved into a military career spanning nearly four decades. And despite his youthful disillusionment with certain aspects of the Vietnam-era Army — particularly what he viewed as a lack of mentorship and concern for younger soldiers — Mauldin ultimately found purpose and fulfillment through years of service in the Missouri National Guard.

Born in 1950 in Wichita, Kansas, Mauldin was raised in a patriotic household. His father had served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War, helping instill in him an appreciation for military service and love of country at an early age.

The family later settled in Reed Springs, Missouri, where Mauldin graduated from high school in 1968 before enrolling at the School of the Ozarks in Point Lookout. While attending college, Mauldin married his wife but soon found himself losing interest in academics.

“I found that school really wasn’t for me at that time,” Mauldin recalled, “and wound up losing my college deferment.”

At the time, many college students avoided immediate military service through educational deferments. Once a student left school, however, he again became eligible for the draft. In February 1970, Mauldin received the letter many young men feared during the Vietnam era.

“I got a letter of greeting from President Nixon in the mail,” he joked, referring to his draft notice ordering him to report to the Kansas City Military Entrance Processing Station for an induction physical. “I knew I would be going to Vietnam, so it really wasn’t too big of a shock,” he added.

After successfully completing the entrance requirements, Mauldin was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he underwent eight weeks of basic combat training.

“All of the initial training we received was geared toward service in Vietnam,” Mauldin explained. “Our drill instructors knew we all would be going.”

He remained at Fort Leonard Wood for additional advanced individual training as a personnel specialist.

“I didn’t choose that MOS,” Mauldin laughed. “They just informed me during the last week of basic training that’s what I was going to be.”

As his training neared completion, Mauldin was informed he would soon deploy overseas.

“I was told I couldn’t have a weekend pass to go home and see my wife before shipping out,” he recalled.

According to Mauldin, the first sergeant warned him he would be marked absent without leave if he left post without authorization.

“I told him I was going,” Mauldin said with a grin. “What were they going to do to me — send me to Vietnam?”

He received the pass.

At the end of June 1970, Mauldin departed for Vietnam after first spending several days in Oakland, California, where troops received jungle warfare orientation and transition training before deployment overseas.

“At the base, they could simulate the heat we would experience in Vietnam and had built a jungle village for us to train in,” Mauldin recalled. “We learned to clear areas and check for booby traps. It gave us at least some idea of what to expect.”

After a stop in Yokohama, Japan, Mauldin arrived in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, near Saigon.

“The heat hit you like a blast furnace stepping off the plane,” he remembered.

Following in-processing, he was assigned to the 1st Field Force Headquarters and flown aboard a C-130 transport aircraft to Nha Trang. There, Mauldin received what soldiers jokingly referred to as their “hero gear,” including his M-14 rifle and combat equipment. He was then assigned duties as a courier responsible for transporting important documents throughout various regions of Vietnam. The assignment required him to travel dangerous and often unprotected routes, including areas near Cam Ranh Bay.

“You’d routinely encounter enemy fire, but you just kept going,” Mauldin stated. “I didn’t know the nature of the documents I carried — only that they had to be delivered to a certain person at a certain place.”

After serving approximately six months as a courier, Mauldin transferred to headquarters operations, where he provided clerical support and drove for the adjutant general. While serving there, he suffered a severe knee injury.

“It turned out to be much more serious than I first thought,” he explained. “I had to be evacuated to the 483rd Air Force Hospital at Cam Ranh Bay.”

Even while hospitalized, the dangers of war remained ever-present. Mauldin recalled lying in traction as medical staff threw mattresses over patients during enemy rocket attacks in an effort to protect them from flying shrapnel.

“I never felt so helpless in my life,” he admitted. “Every other time I had come under attack, I at least had my rifle.”

Eventually evacuated back to Fort Leonard Wood, Mauldin underwent surgery and spent approximately three months recovering. In June 1971, he was assigned to a medical company where he tracked and accounted for soldiers assigned to medical hold status. Later that year, despite repeated encouragement to reenlist in the active Army, Mauldin chose to separate from military service.

“I really wanted nothing more to do with the military when I got out,” he stated candidly. “As far as I was concerned, I had left a good knee in Vietnam.”

But military life would not entirely leave him behind. Introduced to the Missouri National Guard by his brother-in-law and able to retain his rank, Mauldin enlisted in the Guard in 1972. What followed was a lengthy and rewarding military career far different from his early experiences during the Vietnam War.

Over the years, he rose through the ranks and eventually attained the rank of sergeant major before retiring in 2008 with 38 years of military service.

“I enjoyed my time in the Guard and was proud to see that it was much more family-oriented — with a focus on mentoring and career development,” Mauldin said. 

He added that helping younger soldiers became one of the most rewarding aspects of his later career.

“Over the years, I watched many of the ‘pups’ I mentored move through the ranks and accomplish great things,” he reflected. “I’d like to think I somehow helped them in their careers.”
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Jeremy P. Amick is author of "Dinner Music in a Combat Zone," biography of the late Vietnam veteran Roger Buchta. 

David Mauldin stands outside his “hooch” while serving in Nha Trang, Vietnam, circa 1970. Drafted during the Vietnam War, Mauldin served as a courier and headquarters soldier before later continuing a lengthy career with the Missouri National Guard. Courtesy of David Mauldin