TOPEKA (KSNT) - Drafted into the Army and serving in the Vietnam conflict, Stephen Williams spent his year in the jungle adapting at every turn.
“They didn’t have frontlines in Vietnam, it was hotspots," Williams said. "Being involved with the 101st Airborne and the Currahees they had a reputation of being very good warriors, and so they ended up making us the task force of the whole middle section or the two corps of Vietnam.”
Overseas, Williams held quite a dangerous responsibility.
“One of my main jobs I did was I became a point man," he said. "When you’re in a platoon of 30 men it’s the first guy on the trail. You’re looking for mines on the trail, you’re looking for tripwires, you’re looking for snipers in the trees, you’re looking for an ambush down the trail so you had to be looking all over.”
His curiosity led him to undertake another pivotal role.
“Depending on what we found in the jungle I also became a tunnel rat," Williams said. "You really needed to try to check out to see if the enemy is there or did they have supplies there. You also had to watch out for trip wires, for snakes, spiders, scorpions. You know there are all these things that you had to concentrate on.”
With the day-in-day-out operations his platoon undertook; that adaptability was pivotal.
“Everybody had to be looking and thinking, how can we solve this problem?" he said. "We were mostly on search and destroy missions. We were looking for the enemy, we were trying to capture their supplies, capture their weapons, and capture them as well.”
After his service came to an end, Williams was encouraged by his father, a World War II veteran, to talk about his experience openly. It was such a healing experience for him, that sharing the therapeutic benefits with fellow veterans has become quite a passion for the Infantryman.
“I didn’t die, so I'm going to serve my fellow vets," Williams said. "I want to do what I can to encourage them, give them hope, let’s work together. You’re worth it to heal, to get better. You’re also worth it to share with others what you went through, because most people don’t know.”
Williams continues that work through the Pointman Ministries, where he's helped fellow service members for almost 30 years.
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