Jeanne Sexton-Brown
Dean M. Seelig grew up in Lisbon, the oldest of five boys and one girl, the children of Duke and Lorraine Seelig. Dean was drafted by the Army in February, 1966 and sent to basic training at Fort Ord, California. He served as a communication specialist/teletype IBM specialist with the 69th Signal Company. He saw time at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. Seelig served until November, 1967.
The Tet Offensive began in January, 1968. He was located just three blocks from the Palace occupied by the President of South VietNam in Saigon, which was one of the main targets of the Tet Offensive.
“I was very proud that all my messages went to the Army, Special Forces, Air Force, Marines, and Navy went through the 69th Signal Company,” said Seelig. “Those messages saved lives.”
Seelig went on to say, “My clearance was Top Secret. I couldn’t write home about it or call home. All correspondence home was censored. We couldn’t even talk to each other, for fear of a plant by the military to make sure we weren’t talking about what we did with the military secrets. I kept all those messages in my head. It took a terrible toll on my health over the years. The trauma has affected everything from my feet up to the top of my head.”
Seelig is on total disability due to the war. He suffered from night terrors among other things.
“I saw the Viet Cong coming in under the house,” recalled Seelig. “My first marriage ended due to the suffering of my mind and the things I just couldn’t get over. I finally found a doctor that found the right medications to fix my mind, but I deal with issues in the rest of my body. It has caused problems with all of my organs.”
While serving in VietNam, Seelig was allowed two R and R (Rest and Recreation) in country trips. One for each year he was in-country.
“I never took any trips,” said Seelig. “My Commander wanted me to reenlist, but I wouldn’t. Just before I got out, he offered me my own helicopter to take me to Camron Bay for R and R. I wouldn’t take it. There is no way I could have gotten out once the Tet Offensive started.”
Seelig said he was lucky because he was drafted and only spent two years in the service. He was sent to all of the training that others received only if they were in for four to six years. His Commander wanted him to stay in and use all that knowledge.
Seelig has a letter of appreciation from his Commanding Officer, John H. Capicik written on 10 November 1967. In part it said: “Your dedication to duty, technical knowledge, sound judgement, and outstanding soldierly bearing have been of great consequence in the successful accomplishment of the missions of Company A.”
“Two of my brothers were drafted as well,” said Seelig. “Boyd was already in-country up north of where I was stationed, when our next younger brother, Darrell, was drafted, he wanted to come to VietNam also. He was off the coast on an island.”
Seelig went on to say he was in his Commander’s office when the message came through that his younger brother wanted to come to VietNam. Seelig said he thought about it and he remembered the Sullivan brothers from Iowa.
(*All five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa brothers George, Frank, Joe, Matt and Al enlisted in the US Navy less than one month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. All five brothers died when the Japanese torpedoes sank the USS Juneau in 1942, according to the US National Archives. Smithsonian National Postal Museum copyright USPS, all rights reserved.)
Knowing about the Sullivan brothers he told his Commander not to let his brother come in country with him or Boyd.
“I had to make that decision,” said Seelig. “I just had to.”
The aftermath of war haunted Seelig.
“The boys knew not to come into my room at night or there would be a battle,” remembered Seelig. “I would throw beds, bunks, anything. At night, I was still in the war. Still in VietNam.”
After his time in the Army was up, Seelig worked in retail management, then at an ADM plant. Followed by working as a security guard at Bobcat, and ultimately as the State Security Officer for the ND Veterans Home.
Seelig married his wife Doris in 1995. They have one daughter, Dean’a.
“Who we just love to pieces,” Seelig says. “Our grandson is Ezra Dean Murphy, not quite a year old, his dad, Jordan Murphy and Dean’a live in Gwinner.
The Honor Flight was very important and special for Seelig who, like most VietNam Veterans, was never properly welcomed home following their time of service.
“Groups would sing religious songs and then spit on us,” recalled Seelig. “There was a big billboard along I-94 outside of Bismarck that called us ‘baby killers’.”
The Honor Flight did not cost the Veterans anything for travel, meals or lodging. There was a volunteer who trained by walking her dog three miles a day for weeks in order to push Seelig’s wheelchair during their time in Washington, DC.
The two planes from North Dakota flew out of Fargo on Sunday, September 28. They stayed two nights and three days touring the monuments in Washington, DC.
Many things stood out to Seelig, Fort McHenry where the battle that inspired The Star Spangled Banner was fought; the Army museum which is the largest of all military museums in DC; and the VietNam Wall Memorial.
“I couldn’t get all the way through it,” recalled Seelig. “I just couldn’t quit crying. It broke me. I even had my volunteer and my roommate crying.”
The flight was an honor for Seelig that meant the world to him. He is proud of his service and to be recognized in this manner was a wonderful experience.
“I’m not telling my story to bring notoriety,” said Seelig. “So many people don’t understand, you don’t have to have wounds on your body to be wounded in war. They just don’t realize that some injuries leave invisible scars.”
