Bringing Jerry Zimmer Home

If a picture tells a thousand words, then the attached says a lot about retired Marine Lt. Col. Jack Wells and his long-time penchant for helping children succeed in life—no matter where they live. While there was not much that Jack could do back in his Vietnam days (1968-69) when he was assigned as forward observer (FO) for Alpha & Bravo, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment (1/7), he and his Basic School Class (TBS 6-67), along with 18 other TBS classes have more than made up for lost time.

For several years, Jack and TBS 6-67 collected thousands of dollars in donations from fellow classmates and friends to help the children of a small village in the Central Highlands of Vietnam—not far from where the regimental CP for the 5th Marines and a 155mm howitzer battery were located during the Vietnam War. As you can imagine, the fighting was extremely heavy in that area.

Today, the village is a warm and friendly place, especially towards Americans—maybe in part because of former Marine 1st Lt Tom Wannamaker’s donation of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls—pure Americana–to some lucky students at the village’s primary school. But more likely because Mac Dinh Chi School was built with donations from TBS 6-67 classmates and a lot of good friends (Tom and wife Joni were in the latter category, since he went through TBS 4-67 with my other friends, former Marine 1st Lt. Mike West and retired Marine Brig Gen Mike Neil). In fact, the second largest donation came from a lieutenant in TBS 5-68, who served as a motor transport officer in Vietnam. And then Jack’s barber and sister — both Vietnamese — stepped forward, and the list of goes on.

Working with East Meets West (EMW), a first-class facilitator for humanitarian efforts in country, Jack and his classmates decided that a school was the perfect way to honor 43 Basic School classmates killed in the Vietnam War—the highest number of losses ever to come out of Quantico’s Basic School, since the Korean War. He has chronicled classmates’ wartime experiences in his recently released book, “Class of ’67,” after conducting years of introspective interviews.

Last month, Jack returned from his umpteenth visit to Vietnam, after delivering another check from the faithful back home, to assist with a dental outreach program for students at Mac Dinh Chi—the dentists and assistants work gratis, but nearly everything else comes with a price tag. “Over 700 students at Mac Dinh and a couple of surrounding schools received dental care that included 357 fillings, 259 extractions, 21 X-Rays, approximately 700 applications of sealants/fluoride and enough antibiotics for students who had extractions,” said Jack.

The TBS school project, along with thousands of other humanitarian efforts, continue to help bridge a long-time psychological gap between America and Vietnam, providing crucial help to the country’s needy, especially to children in rural areas. But there’s a special bonus. Humanitarian projects come with an olive branch, demonstrating that we are serious about assisting the Vietnamese in their wartime recovery efforts. In turn, they are increasing their efforts to help us recover MIAs, like my first husband, Jerry, and his RIO, Al Graf. Thank you, Class of ’67, and all others like you!

Word gets around quickly within the Marine Corps and, of course, the rural villages of Vietnam. Stepping up to the plate on behalf of FedEx was its in-country director and the managing director of licensees. It comes as no surprise that FedEx founder, former Marine Capt Fred Smith, would get behind a humanitarian project in Vietnam where he served in 1968-69. FedEx employees delivered 1,500 notebooks to the children gathered at Mac Dinh, as well as $1,500 in seed money for a dental outreach program to be conducted at a FedEx constructed school next year, near Chu Lai. Way to go, FedEx!