Edward Waters, Vietnam War Veteran, U.S. Navy

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By Missy Klatt

Edward “Ed” Waters grew up in Glenwood City and graduated from Glenwood City High School in May of 1966. Waters enlisted in the United States Navy, instead of being drafted into the Army during that time. 

At the time the draft was down to 18 and half and since he had just turned 19 in April of 1966, he listened to his dad, who was in the Navy, that having a roof over your head was better than looking at the stars all night from a fox hole. 

Waters enlisted for a four-year term but actually was able to cut that short by five months as he had just returned from Vietnam and they were decommissioning the ship that he was on. He started his service in May of 1966. “Graduation was Thursday night and Monday morning I was in the service.” noted Waters.

Waters completed his basic training in San Diego. He jokes that he joined the Navy to see the world but after basic training they sent him to the desert at Fallon, Nevada for two years. Fallon is where the jet pilots got their training.

At Fallon he was in the Range Division and it was his job to tell the fighter pilots the coordinates for where their practice bombs fell. Basically it was a big practice area and Waters helped the pilots pin point their accuracy when dropping bombs.

From there he received his orders to go on a ship, an LPH 8, the USS Valley Forge. It was a WWII aircraft carrier that had been converted over to helicopters.

This was where he finally got to see a bit of the world with liberty in Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Guam, and a stop in Hawaii on the way over.

When he first went over, the Marines were with them on the ship. They picked up some CH46 Helicopters which were the double-bladed kind. Waters worked on the flight deck, first as a spotter on the deck which required him to be on the phone giving instructions. Later he drove a little yellow tractor to move the helicopters around. “The guy come up to me and was a first class and he said to me ‘hey Waters have you had any experience with backing things up?’ and jokingly I said no, not really. The only thing I’ve ever backed up is a sh** spreader underneath the barn cleaner and he said, ‘you got the job.’”

Waters noted that he saw one crash when one of their helicopters went over the side. He said that when the blades get out of sync, they get tangled up and can be quite deadly as the blades break apart and go flying like shrapnel.

When they got into an operation Waters talks about how they were very coastal, stating that the bigger ships were 25-30 miles out to sea. Those were the ships that had the jets on them and Waters said they never saw them.

Waters’ ship’s main job was getting close enough so that the Marines could fly into combat. They also had to take their wounded back. Waters helped unload the wounded soldiers and get them below deck to the medical team. In some cases they would have to send the injured to a hospital ship that was better equipped. Waters stated that he saw enough wounded soldiers that he’s told his grand-kids (when they asked about his time in the war); “There’s not a war, any war fought that’s worth it because when you stop and think about the innocent people that get hurt and killed including children and everything else. So there’s really nothing to brag about.”

Waters states humbly “I don’t claim to comeback as a war hero or anything like that, but I worked in the combat area all the time I was over there.” The worst thing for Waters during his time in the military was experiencing the war. The best was the opportunity to travel. He also mentioned making lasting friendships. “And as far as the war part of it, I think you just wipe that out of your memory the best you can.” stated Waters

As mentioned, Waters’ dad was in the Navy. He served during WWII but never went overseas. Waters’ youngest brother, Larry also enlisted in the Navy but his middle brother, Wally was married, and they were expecting a child, so he was deferred from the draft. 

Waters is a member of the VFW and the Curry Ainsworth American Legion.