Vietnam vet writes second book on war

In the beginning of the Iraq War, people told Eastern history professor Robert Topmiller what war was about. They also called him things that would make many cringe. But Topmiller had seen combat, 77 days of the closest thing to hell on earth, he said.

His experiences came from the siege of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War and other trips to Vietnam. Those experiences, combined with the Iraq War, compelled him to write Red Clay on my Boots: Encounters with Khe Sanh, 1968-2005, a book about war and its aftermath. The book is in the process of being published.

"We have a population who thinks they know what's going on; few do," Topmiller said. "So I wrote this book to tell people what my war was all about."

And other history professors at Eastern gave the book their stamp of approval.

"The way his story is constructed is the way he has encountered it since then," said Carolyn Dupont, a history professor. "He was involved in 1968, but it is his ongoing battle."

Topmiller wrote first book, The Lotus Unleashed: The Buddhist Peace Movement in South Vietnam after studying the Buddhist movement during Vietnam for his doctoral degree.

But Topmiller's books are not the only reminders of the war. Topmiller's office in Keith Hall serves as a display of his youth in Vietnam. On the shelves are scores of books on Vietnam, plaques he won for his service, and photos of Vietnam and the people he met there.

The memorabilia is a daily reminder of the war.

Topmiller's path to Khe Sanh was a roundabout one. Born in Cincinnati, Topmiller intended to join the Marines right out of school, but his plans changed. Topmiller joined the Navy. He was going to be a hospital corpsman, which is a medic. So his fellow Marines called him "Doc."

Still, before he went to Vietnam, Topmiller went through two months of jungle training. But in 1968, Topmiller made the trip to Vietnam. He arrived nine days after the North Vietnamese Army launched its first attack on an American base in Khe Sanh.

"That first day really put everything in perspective," Topmiller said. "I woke up at five in the morning and heard those whistling sounds. I didn't know what it was; somebody said rockets."

He was in the aid station at the time and he was ordered to evacuate to a bunker. Topmiller and his fellow corpsmen weren't there long when they encountered a new horror.

"We were there five minutes when we got hit with tear gas," Topmiller said. "We ran back to the aid station to get our gas masks; it was just excruciating."

In the end, the siege cost the Marines 3,000 casualties.

But that doesn't even begin to tell the story, Topmiller said.

While in Vietnam, Topmiller experienced the plague and many more deaths.

"On one of the worst days, the NVA poured more than 1,500 rounds into the base, a round a minute," he said. "It was a grim, grim period. We didn't have enough to eat because everything had to be flown in. We were short on water; we had to ration water all the time. Most of the clothes rotted off of us."

Topmiller left in April 1968 and the base itself was given up in July.

After working for Buy-Mart for 20 years in Oregon and Washington, Topmiller decided to go back to school. He went to Central Washington University, where he earned his B.A. and master's. He then came to get his doctorate at the University of Kentucky, where he studied under George Herring, who is considered the country's leading expert on the Vietnam War.

The man the Marines called "Doc" Topmiller is now Dr. Topmiller.

"What I've discovered is the incredible impact violence has on human beings," he said. "Violence is like a conduit; we transmit all of these terrible things to other people when we treat them with violence."

And in 1996, Topmiller went back to Vietnam, starting his tour in Saigon. Altogether, he visited the country 10 times.

"It was really eerie to be back there," Topmiller said. "I thought if I could get back to Khe Sanh that I could get over it, but I didn't. It left me more confused about the battle, why so many people had to die."

History professor and colleague, Brad Wood, said, "He sees it as his personal mission, something that he wants to do because he thinks it makes a difference. As a researcher, he works harder than anybody in the department or at least as hard.