November Veteran Of The Month

Dennis Zabel was honored as Jefferson County’s veteran of the month for November by the county commissioner at their meeting Tuesday morning, November 2.Zabel grew up on a farm near Daykin and attended a one room grade school and graduated from Fairbury High School in 1965. He graduated from Fairbury Junior College in 1967 and the University of Nebraska in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture with emphasis in soil, water and wildlife conservation. He married Rebecca Hudson in 1967. They have one daughter, Sara, and five grandchildren.Zabel received his draft notice in September 1969 but enlisted in the Army a few days before he was to report for induction. He eventually reported for duty in late November. He graduated from Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) in Ft. Lewis, Washington.After AIT, Zabel was sent to Ft. Benning, Georgia for Infantry Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Training, only to find that it had been canceled. The choices were either go directly to Vietnam for combat duty or wait two weeks for an Operations and Intelligence Leadership course to begin. Zabel opted to wait. His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) changed from Infantry to Operations and Intelligence and he was promoted to Candidate (Corporal) E-4. The training was difficult and upon completion he was promoted to Sergeant E-5.After a short assignment working with classified documents and security clearances at Ft. Carson, Colorado, Zabel received orders to Vietnam.Zabel was assigned to a reconnaissance “Recon’ platoon with the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Recon worked in teams of six, 12 or 18 men. It was multiples of 6 because 6 men plus equipment and a 4-man helicopter crew was a normal load for a “Huey” (helicopter). Recon probed deep into enemy territory, moving as quietly as possible. Engagements with the enemy were at the discretion of the platoon’s leadership since the enemy didn’t know Recon was there. It was Recon’s job to find the enemy, not necessarily to fight him. However, engagement by ambush was often used when there were small numbers of enemy.They were flown into the “bush” by Huey pilots, escorted by Cobra gunships in case an enemy welcoming committee was waiting at the landing zone. They ate freeze dried rations reconstituted with water. Because they couldn’t carry enough water for a typical 6-day mission, they obtained water from rivers and streams. With weapons, ammunition, hand grenades, claymore mines, water and food, each man carried 75 to 80 pounds of gear and some carried heavy belts of M60 machine gun ammunition over their shoulders. They slept on the ground, or in the mud during the monsoon season, and had no change of clothes for days or weeks at a time. Zabel described it as being, “Disgustingly filthy all the time. The ‘bad guys’ downwind could smell us coming!”After nine months of field duty Zabel was awarded a safer mail clerk position at the platoon’s rear headquarters at Bien Hoa Army Base, South Vietnam. He returned home in November 1971.Zabel spent his adult civilian life working in the related fields of agriculture. His hobbies include travel, photography, visiting grandchildren and showing “Ghost Towns” and “Back Roads” slide programs to interested groups. He is a member of the Lincoln Camera Club.While on active duty, Sergeant Zabel was awarded: National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal w/2 Stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal w/60 Device, Combat Infantry Badge, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry w/Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal w/2nd Award and ‘V’ Device for Valor, Good Conduct Medal and Air Medal w/2nd Award.

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