A Vietnam Veteran in Iraq

Time and experience has given DeWayne Browning a unique insight to the wars in Iraq and Vietnam. He served in both as a helicopter pilot.

Today, as 20,000 additional US troops prepare to deploy to Iraq under a new push from President George W. Bush the comparisons between the current war and Vietnam are flying. As one of the few Americans qualified to make those comparisons, Chief Browning shared his experiences with the BBC offering a glimpse of both conflicts through the eyes of a double-duty veteran.

In 1969, Browning signed up for helicopter training and served with the Americal Division. He flew Huey troop carriers and Cobra gunships in Vietnam.

In 2004, the 55-year-old reservist in the California Army National Guard was asked to go to Iraq. His experience ranked him as a higher staff officer but his mission soon became a repeat of history. He found himself transporting soldiers on a Black Hawk, the Huey's successor.

Browning's civilian service as a tractor dealership manager led to a post as the base's field ordering officer. He was given a budget and a Humvee to carry out securement of supply orders which he would fulfill through Iraqi businessmen outside the base's gate.

The assignment led to a personal humanitarian mission.

While discussing procurement of supplies one day, Browning was approached by a 5-year-old Iraqi boy. Browning said "He looked me right in the eyes and asked 'Why did you shoot my brother?'"

Mr. Browning went with the child and his family to visit the older brother in the base's hospital. The 12-year-old had been shot when a vehicle he was traveling in was shot at by a US convoy. The boy was paralyzed from the waist down and no wheelchair was available for him to use.

Browning phoned his business partner in the US and had a wheelchair sent over. Browning's company went on to deliver 46 more wheelchairs for wounded Iraqi civilians.

Chief Browning began to visit injured Iraqis off the base, bringing US medical staff with him. Other projects developed and Browning included non-medical American soldiers as well.

The efforts allowed troops to meet the local population, something that most never get the chance to do. Over the course of his service, more than 50 soldiers accompanied Browning on his humanitarian missions.

The active veteran said "The big mistake we made in Vietnam was not understanding the people."

There are other differences in the pilot's experiences of the two wars. He never came under fire in Iraq but lived through some "pretty intense ones" while in Vietnam.

Another difference is that in Vietnam, Browning served with only men. In Iraq his battalion had 60 female soldiers, including some pilots. He also notes the changes in technology, both in his helicopter and positioning systems as well as for correspondence with home. In Vietnam, his communication with family while serving was limited to just two phone calls. In Iraq, he could phone or email home nearly every day.

The other big difference Chief Browning notes is that during Vietnam "There was nobody there to greet you back in the US during that war."

In contrast, Browning sees coming back from Iraq as a very different experience. "Whether or not people agree with the war, the support they have given the soldiers is something special and it's particularly heart-warming for me, an old Vietnam veteran."

Chief Browning is recently retired from service and lives in Paradise, California. He spends some of his time giving slide-show presentations featuring the Iraqi children and civilians he met.

He told the BBC "I cannot say if the war in Iraq is justified - I think time and history will answer that for us, as it has in Vietnam. In Iraq, I was given a rare opportunity to learn about the culture and the people, and an understanding of their heart."

Source: "One Vietnam vet's Iraqi mission" Patrick Jackson, BBC News, Nov 15, 2006, reprinted Jan 11, 2007