Members of the “Charlie Company Second Platoon” gather during one of their two yearly meetings to enjoy Vietnam War ration delicacies — peaches and pound cake. From left, Sgt. Dave Schoenian, Lt. Charles Rousey, Sgt. Henry Gregory and Sgt. Roy Moseman. (Photo Provided)

GLEN DALE — Peaches and pound cake, a delicacy when found in Vietnam War rations, are now enjoyed every spring and fall by a group of veterans who beat the odds to survive their service in the U.S. Army Ninth Infantry Division.

Glen Dale veteran Dave Schoenian serves as the local representation within the group of five. As he drove to South Carolina for the fall gathering of his brothers-in-arms, Schoenian reflected on his path to meeting and surviving the war with the members of the “Charlie Company Second Platoon.”

Schoenian was drafted for the Vietnam War at 19. At the time, he worked with his father at a construction company in Illinois. Schoenian took his physical in Chicago, returned to Marshall County, and was inducted into the U.S. Army in July 1968.

Schoenian traveled to “Tigerland,” or Fort Bragg in North Carolina, to complete his basic training and receive his MOS, which was Army Infantry. From there, Schoenian completed Non-Commissioned Officers school and graduated as a buck sergeant.

“I was sent to NCO school because the army was running out of non-commissioned officers,” Schoenian said. “The NCOs were getting killed, wounded and many of them were too old to handle the jungle warfare. They needed to train people to take these jobs quickly.”

Schoenian was sent to the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam with seven other officers to serve in the Ninth Infantry Division. Schoenian was the only one of these seven to come home, which still makes him emotional today.

Schoenian was assigned to the second platoon of the U.S. Army Ninth Infantry Division, attached to the U.S. Navy as the River Assault Force. According to Schoenian, the group performed amphibious landings and “a whole bunch of different jobs in the army tree,” including entering the Vietnam jungle to eliminate enemies.

“My little group was nicknamed the Raiders,” Schoenian recalled. “We were given various jobs throughout my tour to eliminate certain areas for various reasons, and that’s what we did.”

Schoenian’s 12 months in Vietnam were “rough,” as he was wounded the second month he was there. While his group was on a Navy Armored Troop Carrier, the boat was hit with rockets that exploded.

The officers Schoenian was with on the boat when the rockets hit are now his “blood brothers.” The “Charlie Company Second Platoon,” nicknamed for the platoon’s Lt. Charles Rousey, now gathers twice a year in the fall and spring.

The “Charlie Company Second Platoon” comprises Schoenian, Lt. Rousey from South Carolina, Sgt. Roy Moseman from Georgia, Sgt. Henry Gregory from Virginia and Sgt. Tony Garvey from New York.

The group gathered at Rousey’s residence in Chester, South Carolina, this fall. While making the trip to Rousey’s home on Thursday, Schoenian was excited to meet his brothers-in-arms again.

“I’m an only child, and these guys are my family,” Schoenian said. “I also have brothers-in-arms at home, but these guys, we fought to live together. We didn’t know it then, but we became warriors.”

Rousey was the group’s leader in Vietnam and mentored Schoenian when he arrived as a buck sergeant.

Schoenian recalled Rousey taking him aside to inform him that he would replace the platoon sergeant, who was killed a month and a half after Schoenian got to Vietnam.

“Charles told me, ‘We know you don’t have any experience, so we’re going to put you with these guys to get you the experience,'” Schoenian said. “That was a turning point in my career because they teamed me up with these guys, and I’m still here with them today. They trained me and went home long before I did.”

When he first returned from the Vietnam War, Schoenian recalled thinking that once his uniform was off and tucked away in his closet, he’d “never have to deal with the war again.”

“I thought I could walk away, but I quickly found out that’s not true because that uniform never comes off,” Schoenian said. “Once you have gone through the trauma of war, it’s with you forever.”

Though Schoenian says he is “not the same for a couple of weeks” after leaving “Charlie Company Second Platoon” meetings, he finds them vital to help work through his trauma from the war.

The group does not meet specifically to discuss the war, but Schoenian said moments and memories will often come forward. Combat situations where the group survived against all odds come up during their meetings. Members frequently ask the question, “How did we survive?”

“I’m so proud of these guys, they fought to live and became upstanding citizens and leaders after the war,” Schoenian said. “A warrior fights to live and finds a way when it’s impossible.”

Schoenian said every member of their group has survivor’s guilt for making it back home from Vietnam when so many other their fellow officers did not. Schoenian said he has met family members of officers killed in his platoon who have asked him why their relative did not return home.

“There’s no answer to that question,” Schoenian said. “I am just fortunate enough to have spent time with those fallen soldiers and be able to answer the family member’s other questions about them.”

To honor those who did not survive the war, group members make an effort to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., on Veterans Day to honor their fellow veterans.

“I started going to the Vietnam Memorial Wall in the early ’90s,” Schoenian said. “I place my hand upon the wall and feel the souls of my fallen brothers.”

The “Charlie Company Second Platoon” is now down to four members, as Garvey passed away a year and a half ago. Before his death, Garvey encouraged the group to meet more often as they grew older. Every time they gather, they make sure to call Garvey’s wife.

“Tony was a big reason a lot of us survived because we were overrun one night and all about to die, and he stood up with his machine gun and took them all on,” Schoenian said. “Charles took a heavy hit, so when Tony stood up with that machine gun, he saved our lives because everyone else had run out of ammo. We honor his memory every year now.”

Schoenian said health problems can sometimes throw wrenches in their reunion plans as the group ages. He was thrilled all four platoon members could make their fall gathering this weekend.

“This evening, we’re going to head to a little seafood restaurant up the street called the Wagon Wheel,” said Schoenian. “Charles will say grace, we’ll honor the fallen and then enjoy our meal together.”

When the meal comes to a close, Schoenian looks forward to cracking open the cans of peaches and digging into the pound cake. The dessert hearkens back to their time in Vietnam when those foods were delicacies in rations.

Schoenian added that the group’s wives also participated in the practice. He thanked his wife, Ella Schoenian, for her support and love.

“The peaches and pound cake were such a treat in the jungle whenever you had time to eat something,” Schoenian said. “It means so much that we close our little gatherings by eating it because, in Vietnam, we were just lucky to sit there together and eat it for just a few minutes.”