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Columnists - Columnists: Jeff Jardine

Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

Jardine: Buddies find more in common than Vietnam

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OAKDALE — They became close friends during their year together repairing and maintaining Army aircraft in South Vietnam.

They survived frequent night raids by the North Vietnamese, who crept past security and into the bases to blow up buildings, aircraft and equipment.

So as their respective tours of duty ended 41 years ago, Oakdale's Bill Hummer and Dave Rainsburg of Ohio shook hands.

"We said, 'Goodbye, buddy, and good luck,' " Rainsburg said.

Hummer boarded a plane and returned to California, where he finished the final seven months of his Army hitch at Fort Ord near Monterey. A week or so later, after bolting into a bunker because the enemy attacked the Cam Rahn Bay air base during the Tet Offensive, Rainsburg flew to Fort Benning, Ga., to complete his last year of service.

They kept in touch through cards, family photographs and a phone call each Christmas, typical seasonal good wishes without much in the way of details.

Their handshake in 1968 was "the last we'd seen of each other," Rainsburg said. "Until Wednesday."

To Hummer's delight, Rainsburg had called in January to say he would come to Oakdale in the fall.

"He's been antsy for the last nine months," said Hummer's wife, Sally.

In the late afternoon Sept. 23, Rainsburg and wife Teresa pulled up in front of Hummer's ranch home, fulfilling their dream of vacationing in the western United States.

"(The trip) was one of the things on my bucket list," Rainsburg said.

The men shook hands again to begin a two-day visit, which suddenly took an amusing turn.

In just a few hours of conversation, Hummer, 63, and Rainsburg, 62, learned they had far more in common now than they did four decades ago. Back then, they were just a couple of awestruck regular Army twentysomethings, with full heads of hair, trying to get by in Vietnam until it was time to come home. Since then, as they learned during their reunion, they've lived parallel lives.

"We've both been married to the same women all this time," Hummer joked. "That's pretty good."

He and Sally, have two children — a girl and boy born seven years apart. The Rainsburgs have two children — a girl and boy born seven years apart.

"We named our son Bill, after Bill (Hummer)," Rainsburg said.

Both men are the proud and loyal owners of Ford F-250 pickups. And when Hummer took Rainsburg to the garage to show him the 1966 Ford Mustang he bought last spring, Rainsburg was stunned.

"I've got one at home," he said. "A '66 Mustang in my garage."

They even have the exact same Mustang T-shirts.

"Mine's at home in the dresser drawer," Rainsburg said.

"We started laughing about it," said Hummer, who was wearing his.

The men also discovered they are both self-employed and live in rural areas. Hummer owns HCF Tractor Service, disking and mowing primarily on ranches and ranchettes. Rainsburg owns a steel equipment company in East Sparta, Ohio, just a few miles from his home in the small town of Magnolia.

And get this: Their wives even have the same sign — "Mom's Bed & Breakfast" — on their kitchen walls.

Of course, the conversation eventually drifted to the Vietnam War and their time at Nha Trang and Tuy Hoa. Both men enlisted. Hummer spent time in Panama but volunteered for Vietnam duty.

"I got there (Nha Trang) a week before he did, so I took the bottom bunk," Hummer said. "When he got there, he took the top."

They repaired fixed-wing aircraft, including the Bird Dog, an observation plane that would glide silently at treetop altitude to guide artillery units.