By his friend, Jasper A. Campise
June 2003
Much can and has been written and said about those who served in Vietnam. We have worn many labels; most of which, I find offensive to the memories of so many great people who served and died in Vietnam.
I had the honor and privilege to have served with Sgt. Somers and to become a friend. Like many of us early on in the war, he had volunteered to serve in Vietnam. One evening I asked him why he had volunteered; he unflinchingly stated it was because, “He owed the United States.” At the time I accepted his answer but continued to wonder, what possible debit could he be retiring? What debit would necessitate putting his life on the line? My curiosity got the best of me and I had to ask what possible debit would bring you to a combat zone?
The story amazed me in its simplicity, shocked me with its genuine and sincere love, and fills me to this day with pride and admiration for American fighting men.
It seems that when the U.S. Forces liberated his hometown in Holland during World War II, they brought not only liberty, but also the food that kept Sgt. Sommers from starving to death. Being a soldier in the United States Army wasn’t sufficient retribution. He would receive retirement pay after twenty years for being a soldier. He had to measure up to the men he so admired as a child.
Sgt. Somers you owed this country nothing.
The soldiers of your youth did what all U. S. Combat Forces have always done; they fought our wars with a fierce tenacity that often frightens our own general population. And then these same combatants turn right around and exhibit the greatest acts of caring, concern, and love that mankind has ever seen on a battlefield.
What label do we affix to man of Sgt. Somers stature and character? This man who gave all that man has to offer, his life.
You got so little in return Sgt. Somers.
Be assured, you and your selflessness in service to our country will never be forgotten.
Historians and critics of the Vietnam War will have to search long and deep to label a soldier like you.