Baby Boomer Heroes
Mike and Carmen

Much has been written about “The Greatest Generation”[TGG]. Tom Brokaw has made a fortune so doing. They saved the world with their heroic efforts on all fronts in WW II. Statistics tell us that a thousand of them are dying every day. The children of TGG are not held in the same high regard. In fact, much of the ills of today’s culture are laid at the feet of the Baby Boomers [BB]. And the war of the BB’s became a tension point for the entire generation. Viet Nam was a galvanizing event, socially and politically.

But, like TGG, the BB’s also had their war heroes. Two of them from my hometown passed into eternity recently: Mike Hochrein and Carmen Parziale. Mike graduated from DuBois High School a year ahead of me. He wrestled and played football. He was a “standup guy”. He graduated from West Virginia University with a forestry degree. He was an avid outdoorsman and hunter. It was his outdoor skills that came in handy in Viet Nam.

Mike was a member of the all volunteer 75th Infantry’s Company F (Rangers). He was one of the 60 odd Rangers who worked in highly trained six man teams, each with a Vietnamese scout or combat tracker. They did reconnaissance missions, looking for signs of the Viet Cong [VC], and ambush missions, interdicting the VC after detection was made. Their work in the dense jungles of Viet Nam required great skill, patience, care and strength. The six men carried as much weaponry and ammunition as a line unit. And, they had to be skilled in first-aid. Wounded men could not be medivaced out. The six man teams were dependant on each other totally.

Staff Sergeant Mike Hochrein was a team leader for the Rangers in Viet Nam. The Tropic Lightening News of 08 February 1971 reported that Hochrein’s team accounted for five enemy kills in the prior two months [Tropic Lightening News, Vol. 6 No. 3]. Rangers had responsibly only smart, resilient, tough men could perform. Captain Jay Hickey the Rangers CO described the men in his unit and their duty as follows:

The credit actually belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood; who knows great enthusiasm: great devotion, the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly; that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat. For those who have had to fight for it, life truly has a flavor the protected shall never know.

This was the kind of man Mike Hochrein was. The Viet Nam war became a “quagmire” because the will to win of politicians and the public melted away in the heat of protest. But, the will of men like Mike Hochrein never wavered. They did their jobs by following orders and performed valiantly and courageously in difficult circumstances. They were heroes even though unrecognized as such.

Carmen Parziale graduated the same year as Mike Hochrein, except Carmen attended DuBois Central Catholic. I knew Carman, everyone did, because of his engaging personality and wonderful sense of humor. He earned a B.S. and M.S. from Penn State in Rehabilitative Counseling. He was a caring and compassionate man, one who wanted to help others. And, that he exhibited in his service in Viet Nam.

He was not drafted, but joined the US Army! This at a time when so many were scrambling to stay out of military service. He was a medic, trying to save lives in the jungle battlefields of Viet Nam. As his dear friend of a lifetime, Richard Levine, remarked in his eulogy for Carmen:

He tended to wounded comrades, delivered babies of Vietnamese peasants, was shot at by the Viet Cong and bagged bodies.

Like the Rangers, it was not duty for the weak and fainthearted. Carmen was a courageous soldier facing danger often without a weapon.

Carmen bore the name of a forbear war hero from TGG. Carmen Parziale from Bennett’s Valley was killed in action near the Aleutian Islands in WW II when the Japenese sunk the submarine he served on, the USS Grunion. Sergeant Carmen Parziale of DuBois was also a war hero who served his county with distinction being awarded the Bronze Star, the National Defense Award and the Medic Award.

These two brave sergeants have now passed from this earth. And, while they did not serve in a war that was popular or one that could be embraced by some sort of “just war” theory, they were brave soldiers. Those of us who are Baby Boomers can recall the revulsion and disdain shown returning veterans of the Viet Nam war. They were seen in many quarters as part of the problem. But, they were not…they were but brave young men who did their duty in the jungles of Viet Nam in the face of grave and often unknown danger. A salute to the late Sgt. Mike Hochrein and Sgt. Carmen Parziale, for their courage, service and sacrifice…true Heroes of the Baby Boomer generation.