Always shining a light… Pruitt’s role in Vietnam provided security to those around him
Published 6:00 am Saturday, June 29, 2019
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
It was not always the man that shot the largest caliber of gun or served as the point man for his platoon working their way through the jungles covering the land in the Vietnam War who played the vital role in making sure those around remained safe.
That was something Carter County native, SPC. 4 M.B. “Boyd” Pruitt, found out as a young man who voluntarily tried to join the Air Force prior to the war but failed the entrance test to enter.
Uncle Sam wasn’t about to let Pruitt off the hook and when the Vietnam War launched, he was drafted in early 1965 and then sent to Vietnam in early 1967 in a new division called the Search Light Unit attached to the “Big Red One.”
It was a long journey even to reach the war as it took 21 days on a ship to just get to Vietnam and the war — a trip that kept Pruitt sick and unsettled the entire trip until reaching the China Sea where waters calmed.
Pruitt thought he would be in communications running wire in the field, but once he arrived, his MOS changed.
The Search Light unit pulled guard duty as the light was mounted on the back of a jeep. Pruitt had little training on the light and learned much on his own while pulling guard duty from dusk to dawn every night.
Even though not looking down the barrel of a rifle, Pruitt found himself setting up with the artillery and the infantry where his unit took on mortar fire as he helped to scan for approaching enemy which proved invaluable to the units he was assigned to.
“The guys were always around to take on the enemy, but it was still a scary time,” Pruitt said. “A lot of times bombing took place near us and the shrapnel from those bombs came close to where we were dug in a fox hole.
“They were bombing us with white phosphorus and I had to take cover behind the little trailer we were using and several pieces of shrapnel landed very close to us.”
Pruitt also shared a story about a young man that sat down on a land mine just outside a wire fence on patrol where he was on duty and was blown up right in front of him with another soldier taking a lot of shrapnel from the explosion.
There were always two guys on the searchlight scanning the area around them looking for the enemy through infrared glasses and that was the only way the light could be seen was with the glasses.
Right before the TET Offense, Pruitt was also on heavy standby as reports came in that there were 600 North Vietnamese Regulars headed their way.
With his weapons and grenades lying at hand’s reach, a call came that the enemy had changed their direction, bringing a welcomed relief.
Pruitt was often relocated from location to location by a Chinook helicopter which required pulling his jeep and spotlight into the chopper.
Aside from the enemy, the weather played a considerable role according to Pruitt.
“They had what they called monsoon season,” Pruitt said. “When you were set up with a tank unit, they went in and out with those tanks for maneuvers and after coming back, you would find yourself walking in mud from knee to waist deep because of the rain and conditions there.”
After spending a year in Vietnam, Pruitt came home but looking back he said being a part of the United States military was a great experience and he wouldn’t take anything for being able to serve his country.
“All the experience that I got out of it, I wouldn’t take nothing for it,” said Pruitt. “It was a senseless war.
“They said we were baby killers but I didn’t see any babies killed while I was there.”
Pruitt still carries a remnant of the war with him as he now suffers from the effects of Agent Orange, a spray that was sprayed over the densely vegetated Vietnam countryside by airplanes to kill out the thick jungles so the enemy could be seen.
The effects now are carried by many of the servicemen who fought in the conflict and has been responsible for many deaths.
“It affects you everywhere — it affects your whole body,” Pruitt said. “It has affected my kidneys. It harmed the men more than anything.
“My diabetes is traced to Agent Orange along with a place on my lungs and liver. It just starts eating on you after a while. There’s not much that can be done to stop it but they try.”
Pruitt was recently blessed to go to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., thanks to Sharon and Kim Eggers, to find the names of soldiers he knew who gave their lives in the war.
When Pruitt was asked if time was rolled back if he would go back and go through what he did in Vietnam, Pruitt said that he absolutely would do it all over again as would most of those that served.
After all, it was a matter of honor and pride to those who wore the uniform of the United States military.
