Under His Wings Mission Vietnam

By Stephen Lehmann

This is a love story. It is not a story about a man and a woman, even though that was a small part of the story. The missionaries who died that day were devoted to their love of God and their love of the Montagnards. They were not perfect, but they reinforced the idea that serving God is worth the price.

Tet 1968 was coming.

South and North Vietnam had a truce for the holidays. Eight missionaries in Ban Me Thuot were celebrating at home. Ruth Wilting loved her life, the people surrounding her and the Central Highlands of Vietnam. But the truce was a ruse, before Tet was over there would be martyrs. Behind the headlines are dramatic stories
of love and devotion.

In “Mission Vietnam - Under His Wings” you will discover:
• The little known story of the longest held American POWs in Vietnam
• Insights into the birth of South Vietnam
• The daily hardships of living 9,000 miles from home
• True tales of working with the leprous
• Humane work done by the U.S. Military in Vietnam
• Lives joyously spent working every day for God’s glory

Expand your horizons, feed your soul and answer lingering questions as you read this
explosive story.

This is a love story. It is not a not story about a man and a woman, even though that was a small part of the story. The missionaries who died that day were devoted to their love of God and their love of the Montagnards. They were not perfect, but they reinforced the idea that serving God is worth the price.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Lehmann
• Release date: Feb 27, 2012

Stephen Lehmann

STEPHEN LEHMANN brings dramatic, insightful writing to tell this buried story. A retired air traffic controller, Stephen’s talent for historic novels shines as he delves into the details of Ruth’s life that must be heard. Stephen has three children. He lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his dog, Lady.

Book preview

Mission Vietnam

Stephen Lehmann

COPYRIGHT c 2011 by Stephen Lehmann.

All rights reserved.

Copyright c 2011

All photos from the archives of Ruth Wilting unless otherwise noted.

Scripture taken from the New King James VersionR. Copyright c 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Published by Serenity Book Publishers at Smashwords

This book is available in print at www.serenitybookpublishers.com

Cover Photograph: Richard B. Robinson

Cover and Layout Designer: Delaney-Designs

ISBN 978-1-937190-02-1

This book is dedicated to my mother, Nola Lehmann.

I only wish you were still alive to tell me if this book made you proud.

Acronyms

AHC: Assault Helicopter Company. An attack helicopter company is a group of military helicopters with the primary role of an attack force. They possess the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored vehicles.

AID: [United States] Agency for International Development. USAID’s history goes back to the Marshall Plan reconstruction of Europe after World War II and the Truman Administration’s Point Four Program. In 1961, the Foreign Assistance Act was signed into law and USAID was created by executive order. Since that time, USAID has been the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, or engaging in democratic reforms.

APC: Armored Personnel Carrier. A lightly armed tracked vehicle designed to rapidly transport infantry to the battlefield. An APC is often confused with a tank by civilians, but it usually has only a .50 caliber machine gun. The rear of the APC drops open for rapid deployment of infantry.

ARVN: Army of the Republic of Vietnam. The ARVN was the land based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam, which existed from October 26, 1955, until the fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975.

BMC: The Bible and Missionary Convention at Beulah Beach. The 90th anniversary was held in 2011. The old barn/tabernacle still stands, overlooking Lake Erie. The BMC is usually held the beginning of August.

BMT: Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam. The city is sometimes spelled Banmethuot. However, spaces are most often found. Recently, a new spelling has emerged – Buon Ma Thout. They are all the same city. The name means Village of the Father of Thuot.

C&MA: The Christian and Missionary Alliance. The Alliance (C&MA) is a light-bearing, Jesus-centered missions and church-planting movement with the deeper life at its heart. The Alliance movement began in the 1880s when its founder, Dr. A. B. Simpson, witnessed the physical and spiritual plight of New York City’s homeless, downtrodden, and marginalized populations. Moved by his great love for Jesus and lost people, Simpson devoted his life to sharing Jesus’ light – in word and deed – with the city and, ultimately, the nations. For more information about the C&MA’s history, visit http://www.cmalliance.org/about/history/

MAC V: Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. The U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, MAC V, (pronounced mack vee), was the United States’ unified command structure for all of its military forces in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

MCC: Mennonite Central Committee. The Mennonite Central Committee is a relief, service, and peace agency representing 15 Mennonite, Brethren in Christ, and Amish bodies in North America. The MCC formed when representatives of various Mennonite conferences met July 27-28, 1920, in Elkhart, Indiana, and pledged to aid hungry people, including Mennonites, in Russia and Ukraine.

NVA: North Vietnamese Army. The NVA, also known as Vietnamese People’s Army (VPA), was the military force for North Vietnam. POW: Prisoner of War. A person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.

PX: Post Exchange. In the U.S. Armed Forces, the PX/BX is a common name for a retail store operating on United States military installations worldwide. Originally akin to trading posts, they now resemble department stores or strip mall stores.

R.N.C.M. Registered Nurse, Certified Midwife

SOP: Special Operations, or special ops. Special operations, usually conducted in a low-profile manner, which aim to achieve the advantage of speed, surprise, and violence of action against an unsuspecting target. Special ops are typically carried out with limited numbers of highly trained personnel. They are able to operate in all environments, utilize self-reliance, are easily adaptable and able to overcome obstacles. They also use unconventional combat skills and equipment to complete objectives.

VC: Viet Cong (or Vietcong). The Viet Cong, or National Liberation Front (NLF), were a political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought the United States and South Vietnamese Armed Forces during the Vietnam War (1959–1975). It had both guerrilla and regular army units, as well as a network of cadres that organized agricultural laborers in the territory it controlled.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Though the Night Deepens

Chapter 2 The Vicissitudes of Life

Chapter 3 Spanning the Globe

Chapter 4 Metamorphosis

Chapter 5 There’s Something in the Water

Chapter 6 Balloons to Bayonets

Chapter 7 Lady in Waiting

Chapter 8 Gooooood Morning Vietnam!

Chapter 9 Mercy!

Chapter 10 News Travels Fast

Chapter 11 Together in Life, Together in Death

Epilogue The Price

The Long View From the Author

Acknowledgements

Part II In Her Own Words

H’Dlue and Y’Blim

H’Kiat

Cil A Faithful Jarai

Because of a Woman

Leprosy

History of Leprosarium

Mnong Work

A Vision

Plei Mrong

Culture and Customs

Villa Alliance Dalat to Malaysia

What Does Christmas Mean?

My Testimony

Appendix

DISCLAIMER

This book is a historical novel. This simply means that the story is true, but artistic license was used to tell parts of the story.

This is the story of Ruth Wilting. In the text the name Ruth refers to her unless otherwise noted. The story is based on thousands of pages of documents and many interviews. Parts of this book are based on the viewpoints of three or four participants, and then logic was used to present the best accounting of what really happened. At times conversations were added to help tell the story better. With very few exceptions, everything happened as depicted.

Chapter 1

Though the Night Deepens

Three o’clock in the morning … sleep would not come to Ruth Wilting. Weather was the dominating factor in the jungle. Yesterday had been only around 90 degrees – little humidity with a slight breeze, quite pleasant. In the central highlands of Vietnam, the end of January was the heart of the dry season; it had not rained for the past three months. The weather had caused many restless nights, but could not be blamed for tonight’s lack of sleep. It was no surprise that sleep evaded Ruth. The night reverberated with the sounds of exploding mortar rounds and a barrage of AK47 fire. Because Ruth had been living in war torn Vietnam for 14 years, she had become immune to the noise of battle. Tonight’s sounds were markedly different and much angrier.

I wish we had brought blankets.

I know. My family in Cleveland would laugh at the idea of needing blankets with the temperature near 60 degrees in the middle of winter. They won’t see 60 for three more months.

Do you think we were too hard on Bob? We cut him off without giving him a chance to explain his idea.

Ruth pondered her young friend’s question. No. He may have talked us into escaping and I could never live with myself if Carolyn died.

Well, 1968 is the Year of the Monkey, right?

Yep. Why?

The Monkey is starting out with a bang!

Three American women and several Vietnamese tribesmen lay in one of two rooms of the former servants’ quarters. The building, now used for storage, was no more than a shed at the rear of the missionary compound in Ban Me Thuot. Just inches away from Ruth, critically-wounded Carolyn Griswold lay moaning. Any attempt to move her broken body would send her into shock.

She needs to be in a hospital.

She needed to be there yesterday! We know what treatment she needs, but we don’t have the freedom, Ruth. We’re doing no more than trying to put out a raging fire with a tea cup.

Carolyn’s wounds stretched Betty Olsen and Ruth’s skills to their limits. They were both missionary nurses, specializing in treating the leprous, but they were also experienced in dressing wounds of battle.

The house occupied by Carolyn and her father Leon had imploded, trapping them under the debris. Leon had succumbed to the trauma of the explosion before any rescuer could uncover him. Still suffering from her injuries, Carolyn struggled through the night.

Two days! All we can do is give her a saline drip and try to make her comfortable! It’s been a long two days, Betty.

And to think, two days ago we were looking at your wedding dress.

Lying in the dark, dusty shed, the image of her white wedding dress could not come into focus. Ruth’s mind wandered to thoughts of Dan Gerber, her young fiancé and the love of her life. She should be cuddling next to him, happily married. She yearned for the long walks they had taken in the early evenings on the grounds of the jungle leprosarium, several miles from where she now lay. Those had been invigorating days, planning their wedding. The future had seemed bright and unlimited as they prepared for their life together. She could hardly believe that six years had passed since she had last seen him. Oh, to feel the comfort of his arms cradling her in this cluttered storage shed! As Carolyn writhed in agony, Ruth’s thoughts drifted from Dan to her colleague Dr. Ardel Vietti, a gifted surgeon. If only Ardel was here with them, Carolyn might survive. But the jungle had swallowed Ardel and Dan.

An explosion rocked the storage shed, louder, and closer than the mortar rounds that had punctured the normal peace of the jungle for the past two days. Carolyn groaned and struggled to move as debris showered down on their safe haven.

That reminds me of hail pelting a metal roof when I was a kid, said Ruth.

That must have been the Ziemer home, Betty said. It’s blown apart now.

They’re getting closer.

Bob and Marie Ziemer, along with Ed and Ruth Thompson, lay in the second room of the storage shed with the other tribesmen. They could hear nothing but the sounds of the AK47s and M16s. Bob and Marie had nothing left.

Ruth understood having few things. Growing up poor, her family had struggled through the Depression. One of the other sisters had also been called to a foreign mission field, serving at this moment in Nigeria. Ruth had heard stories of the unrest in that country, and prayed daily for Myrtle’s safety; she understood about God’s calling to places that were not always safe. Her poor mother, so much to worry about, and now she would hear of these attacks in Ban Me Thuot and worry even more, then pray. Worry. Pray. In other religions, her mother’s fingers would have been worn to the nub from rubbing beads. Ruth knew that her Mom was praying now.

It was hard to believe that it had been less than 48 hours since the attack had begun. When the first light on Tuesday morning had shown the destruction of the Griswold house, the plan for the day had been to bury Leon. That plan quickly changed after everyone realized that a place of safety would be needed. Bob and Ed had accomplished the exhausting task of converting an old garbage pit into an emergency bunker. The rotting garbage eased the digging through the hard Vietnamese clay, but the stench sickened the men. Was it time to find their last refuge? To do so meant leaving Carolyn in the shed or risking her life by moving her.

Ruth began softly singing to herself, unaware if Betty or Carolyn could hear her. Six years before she had sung when facing the Viet Cong bayonets. The words and melody of her favorite hymn flowed easily from her memory.

"Under His wings I am safely abiding,

Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,

Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me,

He has redeemed me, and I am His child."

Though somewhat ironic in her current situation, the words comforted her as she lay in the shed, the noises of battle reverberating. There was a terrifying whistle sound as each mortar round returned to earth. Then, too, were the echoing swishes of AK47s and M16s. As Ruth’s night deepened, the Viet Cong emerged from the jungle; they owned the night.

"Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!

How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!

Often when earth has no balm for my healing,

There I find comfort, and there I am blessed."

Oh, Dan, where are you? The heartache of not being by his side had been almost unbearable for the past six years. Only the comfort of being under God’s wing had sufficed. Ruth found her refuge during these continuous years through her faith, and now she looked for His comfort once more.

"Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,

Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore."

Ruth was hiding, but not from God. She knew that He did not need an SOS flag; He heard her prayers and saw her in the shed. Ruth knew where to put her trust, and it was not in the shed. The shed offered shelter from rain and wind, but these were bullets and bombs. Evil could not touch her – God was still in control, even in the midst of this chaos.

"Under His wings, under His wings,

Who from His love can sever?

Under His wings my soul shall abide,

Safely abide forever."

Ruth, Betty, said Bob from the doorway, it’ll be light soon and I think that it’s time to go to the bunker.

What about Carolyn? questioned Betty.

We’ll check on her as often as we can, but we need to go.

Return to Table of Contents

Chapter 2

The Vicissitudes of Life

(The Ups and Downs of Life)

Tina Wilting stood by the front door as Ruth, three, and Stanley, five, stepped off the porch. You two have fun, their mother said, but Stanley, you stay with Ruth and don’t go near the road.

The children were soon missing. The house was searched. The barn was searched. As panic began to overtake the household, a neighbor drove into the yard.

I saw two little ones down the road eating strawberries – are you missing a couple?

An increasingly upset Tina led a parade of children down the road, each step adding to her ire. Born on November 15, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio, Ruth Margaret Wilting had become child number eight in the family of Al and Tina Wilting. The marriage produced many children: Louise, Alice, Elmer, Delpha, Dorothy, Florence, Stanley, Ruth, Myrtle, Nola, and Edith. Today, Tina wished that her two preschoolers would learn to mind her better.

As the parade approached the tots, their older siblings could see strawberry juice covering Ruth and Stanley’s satisfied faces.

Stanley was confused, but he obediently marched back to the house. Little Ruth refused to move. She had no idea why anyone should be excited except for the discovery of the berry patch. Kicking and screaming, she was lifted onto the shoulders of her siblings and carried back to the house.

Stanley looked confused. Why are you so upset, Mom?

What do you mean? You disobeyed me, young man. Just wait until your father gets home!

Mom, I didn’t disobey you.

I told you to watch your sister and not go near the road.

But Mom, she was with me the whole time, and I made sure we stayed close to the fence, away from the road.

Tina was stunned. She knew what she had meant. She also knew that Stanley was correct. The Wiltings established new and better guidelines, which Stanley followed. At three, Ruth had a much harder time understanding. All she knew was that she liked strawberries, and they were right down the road. The family learned early on that when Ruth set her mind on something, she worked hard to get it. The older children had to keep a close eye on their little sister.

In the summer of 1929 the Al Wilting family was doing well. Al had built three houses, planning on selling them for a profit. Al and Tina worked at his parents’ candy store. Al’s presents to Tina were generous, including a full set of furs the previous Christmas.

The Great Depression hit the Wilting family hard. Like many, they were ruined financially. The candy store, the houses, the furs disappeared. Just feeding their growing family was difficult. Three pounds of hamburger cost a quarter. Tina turned the fat from the cooked hamburger into gravy and added rice or macaroni to feed the family. At times, neighbors would give them bread that had begun to mold. Tina would cut off the mold and serve it to the family.

Al looked for work, but there was none to be found. The children helped as much as possible, even collecting pop bottles to turn in for the deposits. The Wilting family was not the only family going through hard times, but that did not make it easier on the children.

Tina was pregnant at the time. She gave birth to premature twins in February 1930; Lilly Rose was stillborn and Nola Faith was born with spina bifida. After six months, Nola was still unable to lift her head and was carried around on a pillow.

One day during the winter, Al went to the store. Returning home, he fell on the icy steps and broke his back. Al was never able to return to construction work.

Al and Tina were at a