Editor's note: Some details in this story may be disturbing to some readers.
Simon Sandoval is 80 years old and has lived a full life — known for his devotion to his family and his love of fixing things. But decades before the life he lives today, he was a soldier in one of America's most defining and divisive conflicts.
As America marks its 250th birthday, Sandoval is reflecting on his time as a Vietnam War veteran — and the memories he says are still as vivid today as they were more than 60 years ago.
"I have good days and bad days," Sandoval said.
Sandoval joined the Army at 18 years old in April of 1965. He served as an artilleryman and a paratrooper.
"I love jumping out of a C-130 because when you go up, you don't go down, you go like this straight back. You can see the tail section," Sandoval said.
He was sent to Vietnam in October of that year to support the infantry.
"I can remember being one of the first to step out the door. They opened the door. I said, oh my God, it smells like a pig pen, and I got to live here for a year. Oh my, I never forgot that. So we got out and eventually we were taken to our unit, which was the 173rd Airborne Brigade separate — which after the jump they made in Vietnam, the Viet Cong calls the sky soldiers," Sandoval said.
Four months later, his life flashed before his eyes.
"February of 1966. Our truck hit a mine. Threw me 20 feet from the truck. And I tried to get up to get away because the truck was on fire burning up and all the small arms ammo was going off. They finally picked me up, put me in front of the convoy because we were the first vehicle," Sandoval said.
Without knowing, he was placed on another live mine, but luckily it did not go off.
"I spent about two weeks in the hospital. All patched up, put back together and back on my gun again," Sandoval said.
The explosion left lasting damage on his body.
"I have a bad back. That's one of the worst things. I mean, I have my lower, mid and upper. I have constant, sometimes I wake up with pain in both hips. The knee and feet or on my neck, I can't move. I can't usually turn to the left," Sandoval said.
In October of 1966, Sandoval returned to the United States to recover. He was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the 82nd Airborne Division. After being injured in the explosion, he was reassigned as a photographer because he was no longer cleared for combat.
"They gave me the job of being the photographer for our newspaper so I could go in my lab, put the sign out, no bother. I was the only one with the key. I could go to sleep and go relax and sometimes, you know, get out of a lot of things, but my job was to do the photography. Somebody else always did the writing," Sandoval said.
He says he enjoyed himself in Fort Bragg, making some money where he could — selling alcohol.
"I used to buy the cheap stuff and sell it for three times as much. In my locker, I always had five or six bottles and I only got burned by one person, a sergeant from the second tour in Vietnam. He owed me like $260," Sandoval explained.
He said you never want to go jumping when you've got a hangover.
"And being a soldier, going out and drinking was the thing to do, and I did that once. Oh my God, you never want to get that plane dirty, so you take your steel pot off and burp in it and take it down with you," Sandoval added.
Though it wasn't long before he was back in the war zone. Sandoval went back to Vietnam in November of 1967.
"And that time they sent me to what we call, a leg unit, which is regular Army. In other words, you weren't a paratrooper and I was mad for the seven months I was there," Sandoval said. "That's the Army for you. They don't always do what you want. They do what they want."
He said he was curious about being a door gunner, so he asked to try it out.
"I went up three days with them. I went up in Hueys and I went up in Chinooks. Every helicopter took hits but we didn't go down. And when we got to the end of the third day, the major says, Mr. Sandoval you've already been wounded once, I think you should go home. I said sir, I think you're right," Sandoval said.
When he returned home in April 1968, the trauma of combat was not the only weight he carried. He also learned that one of his friends had been killed in action.
"I didn't know he was killed until I got home. I ran into his sister, but I think that's one of the worst ones that always gets me and sometimes I wake up and it's on my mind," Sandoval said.
He said his drinking got worse.
"I drank more after I came back from Vietnam. I didn't drink during the day. When I worked, I never, never had any liquor, but when I came home, I had two big, maybe three glasses," Sandoval said.
He worked for the wastewater treatment plant in Santa Barbara. He then moved to Flagstaff, worked for the police department and got back into hunting.
Sandoval said he had a good wife named Cristine that supported him, but she unfortunately passed away after their 48th anniversary from a heart attack. They have one daughter and four grandchildren.
He says though it's been over 60 years, he'll never forget the images of what happened on the battlefield.
"When I got on the detail of picking up four wounded combat soliders, infantry and they were all shot in the head or neck. All shot by a sniper and that was the only time in my life when I was there that made me sick to my stomach. We had to pick them up and put them in body bags and load them on a helicopter to take them back," Sandoval said in tears.
His courage and sacrifice in the Vietnam War earned him a Purple Heart — a medal he looks at with pride.
"God has taken good care of me. I may have taken a beating in my body, but he kept me alive," Sandoval said.
Today, Sandoval has a different kind of platoon by his side — his second wife, Ginger, and his service dog, Maggie. He met Ginger at a Halloween party in 2019.
"She was dressed as Wonder Woman and I was dressed as a cowboy and you know what, she has seven kids and a number of grand and great grands and that family is wonderful. They accepted me so much. All the boys said, we're glad you married my mother," Sandoval said. "It's been wonderful and I do enjoy her. I love her very much."
Sandoval recently went on an Honor Flight in June to witness respective national memorials in Washington DC. He said it was amazing.
"It was just fantastic and being with camaraderie with other soldiers was something else because everybody is different. Everybody has a different story. There's nothing that's the same," Sandoval said.
He said he's thankful for the 13-year-old girl that greeted him in D.C., wrote him a letter and made him an American flag blanket
"To go out of your way and do all this, it was so nice," Sandoval said.
Sandoval says he's lived a full life and is happy with what he's accomplished.
"When it's time to go, I have no regrets. I'm ready," Sandoval said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
