Gustine resident Watson served in defense of freedom – West Side Index & Gustine Press-Standard

(Editors note: This is the third in a series of weekly stories on West Side veterans. The series will continue through Veterans Day. Gustine resident Mike Watson, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, is featured.)

GUSTINE - With his life on a troubled path and following a family tradition of service to the nation, Mike Watson enlisted in the military at 17 years of age.

The Cincinnati, Ohio teen was already in Vietnam when he marked his 18th birthday.

His military service, Watson reflected, instilled in him skills needed for success later in life - but also left deep scars of war and the added trauma of coming home to a nation which vilified its returning soldiers.

I came from a military family, Watson explained. I actually signed up for the Navy but ended up in the Army. It was what they needed. I wanted to break the mold, but as my Dad said, Every Watson will be in the Army.

He had dropped out of high school during his senior year.

I was a hard-core dude back then, recalled Watson, who served in the Army from 1964-68. You couldnt get me to read anything in school. When I got into the service, I couldnt put a book down.

The weapons specialist served more than two years in Vietnam, where his duties in part involved training others.

The horror of war remains etched in his memory.

Watson saw his best friend killed in Vietnam.

He was wounded as well.

A medic fixed me up in the field, Watson said.

Returning to civilian life was a struggle as well.

Soldiers coming through the airport in Oakland were repeatedly jumped, Watson recalled.

I went through three uniforms just trying to get through the airport, he said. The third time we had state police as escorts. I did not expect that.

Watson struggled to find steady employment, bouncing around between jobs.

I had one job that I really liked, and the supervisor really liked me....but the people in the office found out that I was a Vietnam vet and told him to get rid of me, Watson said.

He wrestled with post traumatic stress disorder and nightmares.

If somebody wanted to fight after learning that he was a veteran, Watson remarked, I was more than happy to oblige.

Watson, who got his GED after returning from Vietnam, found a career as a respiratory therapist for a few years and then was a long-haul truck driver for nearly five decades before retiring.

He was on the road and staying over in Santa Nella when he met his wife Mary Ann. They have lived in Gustine for more than 40 years.

Today, Watson said, his PTSD is largely under control. As far as myself, Im okay. If you go after my wife, I blow up, he explained.

And, years after the fact, Watson and fellow Vietnam veterans are being acknowledged and thanked for their service.

My wife and I were out in a restaurant. A guy walked over, shook my hand and paid for my food. That just blew me away, Watson commented. That has happened probably five times in the last 10 years.

Watson is involved in the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.

Simply being around other veterans who have endured the same circumstances is beneficial, he reflected.

We understand each other on a level that other people cannot, Watson commented. My wife understands me, but there are times I feel like I am alone. (Sometimes) you just want to talk to the guys.

Watson regularly takes part in veterans events and processions to show respect for those who have served and honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The thing that bothers me the most when I am doing a parade is when people do not stand up for the flag, he told Mattos Newspapers. That really hurts.

His military years were life-changing in other ways as well.

It made me grow up, Watson said. The benefits I got from the training and all of that made me who I am now. I think Im a pretty decent guy. I help people out as much as I can.

While he went into the service at a time when he was facing other problems and was trying to get away, Watson said, he is proud to have served in defense of the nation and freedoms the flag represents.

I helped protect my country, he said of being a veteran. Upon joining the military, Watson said, they told us that if we didnt stop communism there it would slowly come across the islands to us. I did not want that in my country.

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Gustine resident Watson served in defense of freedom - West Side Index & Gustine Press-Standard