End of an Era: Vietnam vet's service spans four decades

  • Published
  • By Bryan Magaña
  • 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah --  May 1972 - Nixon was president, soul singer Roberta Flack topped the charts, and gasoline was 36 cents a gallon.

In San Francisco, oversized vans decked with flowers and peace signs lined the streets outside the airport where Ken Payne, fresh off a year-long deployment to Vietnam, stepped back onto U.S. soil. The 20-year-old Airman and his comrades plowed through crowds of people armed with taunts and tambourines. Having fought in a war linked with protests and politics, some men were prouder than others to have worn the uniform.

Ken Payne is still wearing it.

Now a master sergeant and Air Force Reservist in the 419th Fighter Wing, Sergeant Payne has racked up nearly 40 years in the munitions career field. On the brink of military retirement, he continues to assemble, maintain, test and deliver munitions - only now for high-tech F-16 aircraft.

"Some of our younger Airmen are amazed that I've been an ammo troop the entire time, doing the same thing I did when I was in 'Nam," Sergeant Payne said. "Most of what they know about Vietnam is from history books."

Growing up in the 1960s, footage from Vietnam filled the airwaves, and eventually curiosity got the best of him, Sergeant Payne said. The Oklahoma boy - the proud owner of a '57 Chevy - met with a recruiter the day after his 18th birthday.

Just over a year later, Sergeant Payne got word he was headed to Vietnam. The young Airman said goodbye to his fiancée, Ann - now his wife of 38 years - and headed to Phan Rang Air Base. He joined his fellow troops in the jungle, where he was met with a warm welcome - literally. Temperatures hovered around 100 degrees, and it wasn't uncommon for Airmen to work 16-hour days in the sweltering heat and humidity.

Of course, heat was the least of their concerns, as it was routine to get hit with 30-40 mortar attacks in a night. Sergeant Payne would sleep with his feet to the wall, just in case something blasted through the barracks, made of two-by-fours, topped with tin roofs and surrounded by sandbags. Better to lose a limb than your life.

"You can come close to being killed, and you don't have time to dwell on it," he said. "Your environment has a lot to do with your attitude, but there are certain things that have stuck with me."

Even though the hours can be long, conditions dangerous and mission requirements tough, Sergeant Payne said he's still serving because of his experience in Vietnam.

"Because I was a younger Airman working with older Airmen, some who had been wounded once or twice, the things they taught me as they took me under their wing - there was no other place to learn that, no other way to get that education."

He learned the importance of people working together to meet the mission, making any sacrifice required to do so, and wanted to pass it on, he said.

The AF Reserve gave Sergeant Payne that opportunity. After eight years on active duty and a break in service, he joined the 419th FW in 1984. He's deployed six times since, most recently to Iraq.

His Vietnam experience is markedly different from his more recent deployments. For starters, troops had little communication with family. While today's Airmen use email or video chat, Vietnam vets used pen and paper. Sergeant Payne always looked forward to love letters from Ann, which she sent almost daily.

Technology hasn't just helped Airmen stay connected; it's also made their weapons "smarter."

"The explosive composition has changed," he said. "It's gotten safer to a degree, but it's also gotten a lot more powerful and precise."

There's also a shift in the way Americans treat the troops.

"All these [Vietnam vets] did was follow policy. They got a set of orders, went to Southeast Asia, did what they had to do to survive, then they came home. They often came home to awful remarks. The guys coming home from Iraq today, people in the airport will stop and clap, and that's been a positive change."

When he's not in uniform, Sergeant Payne wears a black Vietnam veteran hat. A curious neighbor recently asked him why.

"There may be some Vietnam veterans who are not proud of their service," he said, grasping the brim of his cap. "But I am."

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