Vietnam War Biography

Vietnam War Biography
The Vietnam War was arguably one of the most controversial wars the United States has gotten involved in. Not only did many men not have a choice about whether they joined the military during this time, but much of America was against getting involved with this war, especially college students. People and college students all over the country protested and picketed against the United State’s involvement. This was waged on from 1954 to 1975, but the U.S. was only fully involved with the fighting from about 1965 to 1973. This Vietnam War biography tells the story of a young Lowell Rogne, who served in the Marines during this time.
Lowell Dean Rogne was born in the year 1949, just less than twenty years before he got drafted into the Vietnam War in 1969. He lived in Linn Grove, Iowa, a little farming town, which is located about 35 miles south of MIlford, settled almost exactly halfway between Storm Lake, Iowa, and Spencer, Iowa. He lived with his family on a farm. He had three brothers, one older and two younger. His older brother was drafted into the war like he was, but his younger brothers were young enough to not be drafted. He had a mother and a father as well, and he worked on the family farm with them and his brothers. He also had a second job as a heavy construction worker and helped build a few of the buildings that are still up today in Spencer, like the Spencer YMCA and the Catholic Church. Lowell received a full education, meaning we went to school for all twelve years (grades k-12), although he never attended college. While in school he met his wife Debra. They were high school sweethearts and to this day they are still married and going on forty-five years this coming October. He never got much...

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..., most people did not like you, even though most of the servicemen didn’t even volunteer and were required by law to participate in the war.
When Lowell came home, there was no fanfare like there is today when servicemen come home. The people in his hometown were pretty much indifferent. His family was glad to have him home, but the rest of the town weren’t fans of the war, so they didn’t show much support. Lowell was lucky when it came to his war experience. He never had to participate in the intense fighting on the frontlines like many servicemen, or even see any of the fighting, but it was still a tough time for him to go through. To this day he isn’t very fond of talking about his experiences in Okinawa, or even in Virginia. He’s just grateful to never have to go through that experience again and to be home enjoying retirement with Debra and his grandchildren.