WELLESLEY "WILLY" EASTMAN • VIETNAM WAR
Wellesley “Willy” Eastman, 79
Gloucester, MA
Born: 3/13/46
Born/Raised: Gloucester
Rank: Specialist E-5
Service: US Army, 101st Airborne Div.
& 173rd Airborne Div.
Bien Hoa & Dak To, Vietnam
Dates of Service: 1965-1968
Commendations: Air Medal with 22 Oak Leaf Clusters
The son of a WWII Navy veteran, Willy initially wanted to join the Air Force in 1965 to learn a trade. Because the recruitment office was closed, the 1964 GHS graduate ended up signing with the Army in 1965. He did his basic training at Ft. Dix, NJ and a stint at Ft. Eustis in Virginia where he trained as a helicopter mechanic. The next step for him was Ft. Benning and paratrooper jump school then off to Dak To, Vietnam assigned to the 101st Airborne Division.
After serving for a short while as a mechanic in Bien Hoa, he eagerly volunteered to be a crew chief on a helicopter gunship because he wanted to fly. As part of the 173rd Airborne, he would man the M-60 machine guns for a year aboard a helicopter that escorted “slicks” or troop transports. In addition to escorts, they would clear LZs (landing zones) so the slicks could land and drop off or pick up troops.
He and his crew survived a mechanical failure that ended up with his helicopter crashing deep into the canopy of trees. After regaining consciousness, he realized that a big chuck of the helicopter engine was occupying the seat where he’d been sitting. The helicopter crew that finally found them had to lower a rope down and individually pluck each crewman to safety.
Upon his return to Gloucester, his friend Bob Grover talked him into going into the construction business. He thought he would join the fire department and continue with construction, but the deadline for the exam had passed. He ended up taking the police exam at age 34. He served as a Gloucester Police officer for 32 years before retiring.
In August 1969 he married Catherine Schmorrow and the couple would have three children: Ann-Marie Luster, Jennifer Marshall and Aaron Eastman, and eight grandchildren. This year they will celebrate their 55th year together.
Before leaving Dak To, Vietnam in 1968, Willy took a clump of mud from his boots and tucked it into a Sucrets box as a memento. He held onto that tiny bit of Vietnam until 2023 when he quietly dug it into the flower bed surrounding the newly dedicated Vietnam Memorial in Stage Fort Park.