Beetle: AN UNUSUAL VIETNAM STORY A LIFE GIVEN BACK BY HIS GRACE

By Robin Kopf

I needed God’s grace the morning of May 6, 1968. Mortar and sniper fire came raining down on us in the A Shau Valley, Vietnam. I threw my food in the air, grabbed my weapon, and ran to a bunker. I stood in the doorway. I did not want the enemy to sneak up and frag me. One mortar was over, second mortar short, the third mortar, I started stepping back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890438478

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Beetle

AN UNUSUAL VIETNAM STORY A LIFE GIVEN BACK BY HIS GRACE

Robin Kopf

ISBN 979-8-89043-846-1 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-847-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Richard Knoll&Robin (Knoll) Kopf

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All biblical citations were taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

I want to be a voice for all the guys that never had a chance to come home and have a life. Let us not ever forget these precious souls.

Vietnam War Casualties

1955–1975

Nearly 60,000 KIA

Over 150,000 wounded

Some 1,600 missing

687 US POWs

I would like to dedicate my story first and foremost to the glory of God for bringing me through this time in my life.

To my wife, Sharon, my sweetheart, my love of over fifty years for staying with me through all this whole ordeal.

To my best friend, my brother, Donny, aka Chester.

To my kids, my grandkids, and great-grandkids. I have been able to give you wonderful memories and more to come. You now have my missing story that is certainly part of your own story, a life given back by the grace of God for you.

To my best friend, Mouse. To my fellow veterans. To the medic that saved my life!

A special dedication to my namesake, my grandson, Sergeant Alexander Richard Kopf, who died of combat-related injuries from Afghanistan at the age of twenty-nine.

Here are a few pictures of my beloved grandson, Alex.

I gave Alexander a nickname: I called him Alfred.

Sgt. US Army, Iraq, Afghanistan

Prologue

1

Beetle and the Train

2

I Am Not a Clown

3

Hope Ya Get Killed

4

Planes and Technology

5

Vietnam—5/7th First Cav Air Mobile (What's That?)

6

First Day in the Jungle—First Fight

7

Flying in and out of Hot Spots

8

Sorrow and Burning Hate

9

Hard Fight

10

Much-Needed Break?

11

Mortared in the A Shau Valley

12

Pain and Camp Zama, Japan

13

Earthquake, Pain, and a Bit of Hope (TV Card)

14

Missing Pieces

15

Sorrowful Reunion

16

Leave and Andy's TV

17

They Said No!

18

Treatment Frustrations/AWOL/Short on Money

19

You Do Not Deserve the Gold Medical Mouth Brace

20

Fort Carson Detention/Fearing for My Life

21

Escape and Caught

22

Boot Party/Why Am I Even Here?

23

Fort Sill Stockade/A Place of Racial Violence and Hateful Men

24

Sharon Visits

25

Condemned to Hard Labor/You Can't Be Serious!

26

The Letter

27

Honorable Discharge

28

Today

About the Author

I want to be a voice for all the guys that never had a chance to come home and have a life. Let us not ever forget these precious souls.

Vietnam War Casualties

1955–1975

Nearly 60,000 KIA

Over 150,000 wounded

Some 1,600 missing

687 US POWs

I would like to dedicate my story first and foremost to the glory of God for bringing me through this time in my life.

To my wife, Sharon, my sweetheart, my love of over fifty years for staying with me through all this whole ordeal.

To my best friend, my brother, Donny, aka Chester.

To my kids, my grandkids, and great-grandkids. I have been able to give you wonderful memories and more to come. You now have my missing story that is certainly part of your own story, a life given back by the grace of God for you.

To my best friend, Mouse. To my fellow veterans. To the medic that saved my life!

A special dedication to my namesake, my grandson, Sergeant Alexander Richard Kopf, who died of combat-related injuries from Afghanistan at the age of twenty-nine.

Here are a few pictures of my beloved grandson, Alex.

I gave Alexander a nickname: I called him Alfred.

Sgt. US Army, Iraq, Afghanistan

Prologue

My name is Richard Knoll, but people just call me Beetle. My daughter asked me to tell my Vietnam story as it has a very unusual ending. I have mostly held everything in for about fifty years. The story I am about to tell you, my friends, is the truth, to the best I can remember and the documents I have kept locked away for decades.

Get ready. This story is an unbelievable roller-coaster ride.

My daughter, Robin, whom I call Rob, with me at the KC racetrack

1

Beetle and the Train

As a child, I saw the Vietnam War on our small black-and-white TV. I asked my mother how long wars usually last. Mom told me not too long, maybe four to five years, so I should not worry about having to go war.

As time went on, the war had not stopped or ended. I grew up and had become a young man of nineteen years. When I received my draft notice, the famous greeting: You are hereby ordered for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States. I was ordered to report to my local draft board. This building happens to be our old post office and still stands today