Stephen Eugene Laier

Specialist Four
A CO, 1ST BN, 16TH INF RGT, 1 INF DIV
Army of the United States
01 July 1947 - 15 February 1966
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Panel 05E Line 038

1 INF DIV

16TH INF RGT
Distinguished Service Cross

CIB

Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Stephen Eugene Laier

28 May 2005

Tiede in Viet Nam

GET OVER HERE! I'M ALIVE!
by Tom Tiede, Lai Khe, Viet Nam

This war is no place for softies. One who sees much of the horror and the heroics should perhaps develop emotional armor against the miseries of these gallant, lonely soldiers.

Most observers, however, can not.

Not with kids like Steve Laier.

He was an 18-year-old infantryman from Fort Wayne, Ind. A handsome lad with a puppy-dog crewcut, eyes that lit up like lamps, and the confidence and enthusiasm that only youth generates.

A lot of guys met him here on a hospital bed.

He always smiled at them and apologized for not getting up.

He could not, of course. His legs had been blown off.

In Minefield

The boy and a couple dozen companions from the First Infantry Division were on an ambush patrol when it happened. The Viet Cong sprang their favorite suprise (sic) -- ground mine detonations.

If a man is lucky he may escape in one piece.

But Steve Laier wasn't lucky.

He was carrying the patrol's radio set when the explosion turned his world to hell. He must have been right on top of the blast for one of his legs was severed and the other reduced to ribbons.

Blood shot in all directions, but there was no pain save that of witnessing his own mutilation, Around him scores of wounded groaned and screamed. Two of them died instantly. The rest pleaded for help and water.

The boy himself was near death, yet he refused to die.

In fact, he refused even to pass out and instead began to work his telephone for help. "We're hit, we're hit," he blurted into the radio. "Choppers, we need choppers. Help us, please help."

Shortly, the nauseous realization of what had happened over-powered the boy and he dropped the phone to the ground and raised his legs to the air. He held them up to slow the flow of fluid from his weakening body.

Then he prayed and cursed.

The patrol around him was in human ruin. Virtually everyone was bleeding and a single medic moved from man to man as rapidly as possible. When he finally reached the young trooper, he winced, turned away and muttered:

"He's gone, I can't help at all."

Laier heard.

"Get over here," he called, "I'm still alive!"

The medic obeyed quickly.

Keep Joing (sic)

"Don't give up, GI," somebody stammered.

"I ain't giving up, sir," the youngster replied.

"You can make it."

"Yessir," Laier said, "I hope so anyway."

Moments later he was evacuated. He was placed in the hospital with the entire lower half of his body brutally ripped, large holes in his abdomen, dime-sized punctures in his arms and face, and over a hundred smaller wounds covering the whole of his front side.

He struggled for life for two weeks.

And he clung to optimism.

"I've been praying a lot and thinking of home," he told visitors, "I know I look in bad shape, but I'll be O.K. I'll get by. I'll be out and around in no time."

Then Steve Laier died.

And a lot of the softies here wept unashamed.

(Tacoma Times Tribune, Tacoma WA, 25 May 1966, pg C-1)

From a researcher,
Darilee Bednar
bookstorelady@facesfromthewall.com

A Note from The Virtual Wall

Alpha Company, 1/16th Infantry, lost at least nine men as a result of the 04 Feb 1966 engagement described above. In addition to the seven men killed in the action, at least two more died of injuries received:
  • SSG Paul R. Setzer, Colma, CA
  • SSG Charles E. Strader, Lexington, KY
  • SGT Arnold E. Ison, Viper, KY
  • SP4 Stephen E. Laier, Fort Wayne, IN (DoW 02/15/1966) (Dist Svc Cross)
  • SP4 John H. Thompson, Homer, LA
  • SP4 Stanley J. Thompson, Ann Arbor, MI
  • PFC Antonio Barbosa-Villafane, Rio Piedras, PR
  • PFC William A. Bason, Huntsville, AL
  • PFC Samuel L. Dellos, Worland, WY (DoW 02/06/1966)
Steve Laier's actions after he was wounded undoubtedly saved the lives of many of the other wounded. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Army's second highest award for valor in combat.




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Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
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