VOLUSIA: MY WORD
Vietnam experience forged lifelong bond

By Max Cleland | My Word
Posted September 7, 2003

Sometimes a young man comes along in your life that you cannot forget. Such a man was Joe Markert, late of DeLeon Springs. He was struck by a car and killed the night of the Fourth of July while he was walking on the shoulder of the road. Joe was killed instantly, and his legs were severed by the impact. His loss I feel personally and very painfully.

My body was almost severed in Vietnam 35 years ago by a grenade explosion. I lost both of my legs and my right arm. But it never severed my relationship with Joe Markert. In fact, that relationship grew stronger.

Joe Markert was a member of my U.S. Army platoon in Vietnam. I was his lieutenant, his platoon leader. He became very quickly in combat a young sergeant.

Markert, as I always called him, was a classic GI. He was not in love with the Army. As a matter of fact, he told me years later he never saluted me in Vietnam. He was kind of proud of that. But I never really noticed that, and it never made a difference to me. I never cared about that. Neither did Markert. We cared about each other.

Markert also cared about his fellow platoon members. It is why I put him in charge of a team of radio operators to go on numerous dangerous missions ahead of the main body of the troops. He was always a man of courage and honor. His response for assuming a mission was always, "Done yesterday, sir!" This was our platoon's motto.

Years later, in the late '70s, long after the war in Vietnam, Markert looked me up during a speech I had in Pennsylvania while I was head of the Veterans Administration. As the door of the car opened, there stood Markert in full uniform saluting and saying, "Sergeant Markert reporting for duty, sir. Done yesterday!" My jaw dropped. I was struck by this unexpected and wonderful surprise. We hugged each other and a little moisture filled our eyes. From that moment on we stayed in touch.

Once, when I had a party in Atlanta celebrating the day I was wounded in Vietnam, the day I called Alive Day, Markert got on his motorcycle in Florida and rode all the way in the rain to the party to celebrate both of us being alive. Later in the '80s and '90s, I began to visit my beloved Stetson University in DeLand more and more. As I hung out at Bob Cook's great Holiday House, Markert was my constant driver, companion and friend. We bonded with each other more and more through the years. He took me fishing, and he worked to create a handicap-accessible fishing pier south of Daytona Beach.

Markert loved his life, his fishing, his friends, his work as a steeplejack and his country. On the night he was killed he was wearing his favorite Fourth of July uniform -- red, white and blue shorts. His loss is a loss to me, his family and his country. For those who say, "They don't make them like that anymore," they do. His name was Joe Markert.

He now lies at rest in the U.S. National Veteran's Cemetery in Bushnell. Next time you visit that hallowed ground, look up the name of Sgt. Joe Markert, 1st Air Calvary Division, Vietnam, 1967-68. Salute his marker and say, "Done yesterday, sir!" I will.

Max Cleland, the former head of the Veterans Administration and a former U.S. senator from Georgia, is a 1964 graduate of Stetson University and serves on its board of trustees.

Mike, me again.  Again as always thanks for all you do for us ex grunts.  Doug Ritchey, A Co, 2/12, 69-70

Thank you Doug, for sending this to me!  Joe, Done yesterday, sir!