ST. PETER — “I have no stories of my heroism,” the keynote speaker for St. Peter’s annual Vietnam War Veterans Day said prior to his presentation Friday afternoon.
When John E. Ahlstrom enlisted in the U.S. Army, he was not looking for military glory.
“I was part of a group of guys who were looking to stay out of harm’s way,” said Ahlstrom, explaining his decision to sign up instead of being drafted.
“1968, the year I graduated from college, had been the bloodiest year of war in Vietnam,” he said.
A graduate of St. Peter High School, he had just completed his degree requirements at Gustavus Adolphus College when the 22-year-old received notice that Uncle Sam wanted him.
Ahlstrom and a hometown buddy, Greg Theuer, enlisted together to serve three-year stints. Draftees generally committed to two years of military service.
The St. Peter pair tried for, and were accepted into a field that would likely keep them in the States, Ahlstrom said. However, they weren’t the only ones who wanted to be in Army intelligence.
When the department informed Ahlstrom of his assigned field of training, he realized eventually he was headed overseas.
“They sent us to Vietnamese language school for one year,” he said.
Ahlstrom served with the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group, a unit responsible for all manner of reconnaissance, special operations and psyops in Vietnam during the war.
Ahlstrom was promoted to the rank of Sgt. E-5 before he boarded a plane to Southeast Asia. After arriving in Saigon, his Army intelligence duties included fingerprinting Green Beret participants in “top secret” missions and inspections.
At that time then-President Richard Nixon had begun talking about drawing down the number of troops.
“He wanted the South Vietnamese to take the brunt of the fighting. We knew when he was saying that we were sending U.S. soldiers into Cambodia and Laos,” Ahlstrom said.
Information about soldiers Ahlstrom considers real heroes was stored one floor above his office.
“That’s where the records of the SOGs who were POWs or missing in action were kept.”
After he completed his military service, Ahlstrom went on to enjoy a career in the food and restaurant business. He also worked as a sportswriter for the St. Paul Voice.
Dave Johnson, a member of the local organization for veterans who served during the Vietnam era, had been looking forward to hearing Ahlstrom’s story for more than a year. The two grew up together in St. Peter.
“We were classmates since first grade,” Johnson said. “He was scheduled as our speaker last year but had to cancel.”
National Vietnam War Vets Day is observed on March 29. The date is significant, the Veterans of Foreign War says, because on that date more than 50 years ago, the last combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam and the last prisoners of war held in North Vietnam arrived home on U.S. soil.