BALTIMORE — WMAR-2 News highlights veterans throughout area all year long so Veteran's Day is even more of a special day.
WMAR-2 News met Vietnam Veteran, Frank Maher. He was drafted in the Army in 1968 while he was a student at the University of Baltimore. He said, "that was an eye opener." He didn't want to go into the military but he did his job well and everything he could to help his fellow soldiers.
Maher had 12 weeks of training and then was sent straight to Vietnam to work in the communications center, stationed at Bien Hoa (about 15 miles northeast of Saigon).
He explained how he was responsible for coordinating where bombs would drop on the enemy. He said, "everything had to be broken down and it had to be exact. It had to be exact. Whenever I did them, I’d double and triple check them to make sure I wasn’t making an error and I never did the whole time I was there."
During his time in Vietnam, he only saw serious action one time. It was the one year anniversary of the Tet Offensive. Maher explained how the night before the attack he saw his buddy in one of the bunkers on guard duty. Then, "the next morning it when all hell broke loose. There were shots going everywhere. You can hear it hitting off the tin roof and stuff."
When that happened, grabbed his gear without thinking twice and immediately went to help his friend.
"When I heard the firing I rushed down to help. I didn’t tell anybody where I was going. My buddy was there!"
He spent days out on the battlefield, alongside his friend. He was almost court marshaled for not being at his post but they give him an Army Accommodation Medal instead.
Maher served two tours in Vietnam then when he came home, the Army paid for him to go back to school. He went back to the University of Baltimore, got his degree in accounting and still goes Baltimore home.
