In the late 1960s, U.S. forces fought to protect the South Vietnamese from being overrun by communists to the north of the country. The 101st Airborne Infantry was setting up a fire support base in the Ho Bo Woods in Củ Chi, Vietnam, when soldiers from Unit B left to ambush a contingent of the North Vietnamese Army.
“I was on radio watch,” said John Alberghini, a U.S. Army Specialist 4, with Unit A.
Those on radio watch called for support when their unit was under fire, asking for “Huey” (helicopters) and Cobra gunships. Alberghini said enemy forces targeted the radio and everyone around it, and always knew where it was.
The leaders of Unit B underestimated the size of the North Vietnamese unit and soon had to return, as the North Vietnamese force pursued them and tried to overrun the base.
At the base, three U.S. soldiers on radio watch were struck and killed around Alberghini in the fire fight that ensued, and a rocket propelled grenade detonated nearby.
“My right arm was paralyzed from the shrapnel,” Alberghini, now 79, said during an interview in the dining room of his Monroe, Conn., home last Saturday morning. “It went into my chest, elbow and upper arm. It severed some nerves. Even now, this is all numb,” he said running his fingers over an area down from his wrist.
That was at 11 p.m. and he wasn’t medevaced until 5 a.m. the next morning. Shot up with morphine by medics for the pain, two soldiers helped Alberghini walk to a helicopter.
“I was losing a lot of blood,” he recalled. “We were still under fire. It felt like warm water went through my leg.”
Doctors later told Alberghini they believed a bullet hit him in the leg and went out through the other side.
His unit took out 175 North Vietnamese in the battle and went on to receive a Presidential Citation.
Alberghini was later awarded with a Purple Heart, the oldest, most recognized military decoration honoring service members wounded or killed in combat. It was originally given to servicemen by general and former president, George Washington, during the Revolutionary War. The purple heart-shaped badge has the profile of George Washington laid over it.
Alberghini and Theresa, his wife of 55 years, live in a ranch-style house they bought in Monroe in 1972. The couple has two adult children, Sarah and Joshua, and two grandchildren, from their son, Dominic and Isabella.
The Purple Heart Patriot Project recently chose Alberghini as one of the honorees for a multi-day tribute to the courage and sacrifice of America’s combat wounded. He will represent Connecticut.
“It is an honor,” he said. “It’s a great honor.”
Alberghini grew up in Stratford. His mother divorced his father when he was five-years-old, then remarried when he was 13 and his family moved to Newtown.
The country was divided over the Vietnam War and a number of young men tried to evade the draft, but when Alberghini’s number was called in March of 1968, he went.
“My father fought in World War II, and I felt it was my obligation to go when I was drafted,” he explained.
Alberghini spent eight weeks training at Fort Dix in Burlington County, N.J., then went to Fort Polk (now called Fort Johnson) in Louisiana for another eight or nine weeks.
Tigerland was a part of Fort Polk, where infantry men trained in swamps and tunnels in sweltering heat to prepare for Vietnam.
“Everybody who trained at Fort Polk went to Vietnam,” said Alberghini, who began his tour there in 1968.
After he was wounded in Củ Chi, the helicopter took him to a hospital in the city of Vũng Tàu, Vietnam.
“I was operated on. They took out shrapnel, but couldn’t get it all,” Alberghini said. “I had another operation in Japan. They got the motion back in my arm.”
He looked at a copy of an old black and white photo on his dining room table. The picture showed a younger Alberghini sitting up in a hospital bed in Vietnam after his first operation, smiling for the camera — his right arm and leg bandaged.
“This was to show my mother I was okay,” he said.
“I weighed 127 pounds,” Alberghini recalled. “I didn’t like the C-rations, canned food left over from the Korean War, so I ate hot dogs and beans. My mother sent me little bottles of hot sauce to hide the taste of what I was eating. Everyone had bottles.”
When Alberghini was in Japan, a Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) was used, enabling him to assure his mother directly of his well-being.
While he was recovering, Alberghini’s unit fought in the Battle of Hamburger Hill and suffered heavy losses. He recovered after two months of care and was shipped back to Vietnam, where he finished his tour as a door gunner with the 1st Aviation.
“The day I was supposed to come home, my mother passed away,” Alberghini said. “I went to the funeral. I was in Vietnam for a year, so they didn’t send me back. They shipped me to Fort Hood in Texas.”
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Alberghini was looking for a car in Texas, when his sergeant told him his stepdaughter was selling her ’66 Ford Fairlane Convertible.
“I met my wife,” Alberghini said. “It was Theresa’s car. The engine was bad. It was an oil burner.”
“I had a loan on it,” Theresa recalled.
When Alberghini’s stepfather died, he had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving, so his sergeant invited him to his family’s house for dinner. Theresa and Alberghini didn’t like each other right away and nothing clicked that holiday.
“He never invited men over,” Theresa said of her stepfather. “Then John came for Christmas dinner. Things started to change. We started to go out in January and we just knew. He left for Connecticut when he was out of the service in April. We talked all the time about getting married, though we were only dating a short time.”
“It was either ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ or ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ Theresa said. “He came back in June and we got married in a chapel on June 6, 1970.”
The couple had a small rental in Newtown, before moving to a house on Route 110 in Monroe, across from Whitney Farms, then to their ranch on Old Newtown Road in 1972.
Anger issues
“When I came home, I was angry and had PTSD,” Alberghini said of post traumatic stress disorder. “I didn’t talk about my time in Vietnam. It bothered me to be around people.”
“He kept himself physically busy,” Theresa said of her husband trying to keep himself from thinking of the past.
Vietnam veterans did not get the hero’s welcome U.S. soldiers coming home from past military conflicts enjoyed, due to strong opposition to the country’s involvement in the war.
“Hare Krishnas were throwing dog doo at us at the Oakland airport and calling us baby killers,” Alberghini said. “They told us to travel him in civilian clothes, because you never know how you’re going to be treated.”
Alberghini worked as a project manager for a construction company, before retiring at age 62.
“The worst thing when you retire is your mind goes back to it,” Alberghini said of Vietnam.
Alberghini’s daughter was taking psychology courses at Sacred Heart University, when she told him he should talk to somebody.
“I had a lot of anger issues from Vietnam,” Alberghini said.
“But he has a good heart,” Theresa said.
During therapy, a psychiatrist told Alberghini losing a loved one before coming home, like he lost his mother, is one of the biggest triggers of PTSD. And Alberghini said group sessions made him and other veterans realize they were not alone in their suffering.
“Once they got the medication right with me, it’s a good life,” Alberghini said. “My wife said nothing bothers me anymore.”
“He’s a big Teddy Bear,” Theresa said with a smile.
Helping fellow veterans
Alberghini decided to get involved with veterans organizations. He joined Monroe’s Sippin-Winspur American Legion Post 176, and went on to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in Newtown, before transferring to VFW Post 10059 in Trumbull, where he is the veterans liaison.
Alberghini is treasurer of Post Chapter 1 of the Purple Heart in Derby and senior vice commander of Chapter 13 of the Disabled Veterans.
He is on the board of Hooks for Heroes and is on the Operation Gift Card Committee, which has given nearly $3 million worth of gift cards to wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, and the hospital at Fort Belvoir in Virginia over a period of more than 20 years.
Alberghini also drives the Disabled American Veterans vans for Take a Vet Fishing, which is based in Branford. The vans provide transportation for taking veterans being cared for at Walter Reed hospital fishing. Local rod and gun clubs sponsor a breakfast and lunch during the day.
Take a Vet Fishing also sponsors chartered fishing trips in New London.
Once a year, its volunteers take veterans from Walter Reed for an all expenses paid day of fishing in Branford, Alberghini said.
Hooks for Heroes brings veterans from Walter Reed out for three days, with all-expenses-paid fishing at the Stamford Halloween Yacht Club and free stays at hotels in Stamford. One of the days features a visit to Ground Zero and to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. Then the group goes to the top of the Observation Tower, where they eat lunch.
“The following day we have a big picnic,” Alberghini said.
This year, Purple Heart George Washington Post Chapter 1 gave a total of $4,000 to food banks throughout the state, including $500 to the Monroe Food Pantry.
A welcome home veterans deserve
Alberghini and other Vietnam veterans participated in the Honor Flight out of Bradley Airport, a program in which veterans visit historic military sites including Arlington Cemetery and the Vietnam Memorial.
On the way to their journey, family members, friends and other supporters cheer them on, giving them the hero’s welcome many never had when they came home from their service overseas.
“It was televised,” Theresa said. “It was so touching.”
“They emailed my wife, son and daughter to write something about me,” Alberghini said “When we waited for our flight, they called us by rank like they did in the service when we got our mail. They gave me an envelope with their letters in it.”
The Purple Heart Project will be held from April 27 to 30. It will include visits to historic sites, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, Stewart Air National Guard Base, and a tour of the West Point Visitor Center and Museum to name a few of the destinations.
The program will include a wreath laying ceremony and a cruise around Manhattan.
Alberghini served from 1968 to 1970, earning numerous honors for his dedication and resilience.
In addition to the Purple Heart, he received the Vietnam Service Ribbon, the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, the National Defense Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Connecticut Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantry Badge, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, three bronze service stars and a Presidential Unit Citation.
He also earned expert rifle and expert machine gun designations.
“My time in the military helped to shape my character, instilling discipline, resilience and a deep appreciation of service and sacrifice,” Alberghini said.
“I am super proud of him every day,” Theresa said of her husband. “We’ll be married 56 years in June and I never regretted a day. He has a big heart.”
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Thank you Mr. Alberghini for your service and sacrifice and for all of your volunteer work. It should serve as an inspiration to all us. We can only imagine the number of people you have positively impacted through your service and volunteer efforts over the years. Thank you, Sir.
Brgds
Sean O’Rourke
What an impressive and honorable write up on John Alberghini. Thank You, John, for your service and sacrifices to keep our country safe. We are honored to call you and Theresa friends..