U.S. Army Col. Patrick H. Downing (Ret.) of Mobile was destined to be a soldier. His father was a World War II Marine who had lied about his age to join the military at 15 years old. Although he would endure unimaginable conditions and experience two near-death experiences in Vietnam, Downing was able to emerge from war mostly unscathed.
It all started when he was only 17 years old. Downing knew what he wanted to do, so his mother reluctantly approved his joining the Army.
"Just about everyone's parents had served in World War II in some capacity," Downing told 1819 News. "Also, it was more accepted then than I think it is now. For example, Elvis Presley. I think he went in in 1958 and served two years in Germany. He did not want to go in and serve in what was called the special services where he would entertain people."
"He wanted to be a soldier in the Army, and that's what he did," Downing continued. "I always had a lot of respect for Elvis Presley for that. So, it was accepted."
"And the other thing was I was not doing well in high school," he admitted.
In 1960, Elvis's "G.I. Blues" comedy musical was released, and Downing was shipped off to the Army. Downing completed basic training and advanced infantry training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. His high school sweetheart, Patricia, stayed in Mobile, but he never forgot about her.
While the teenage boy was unsure what he was getting into, he said the physical part of basic training was the most difficult, just as others had told him.
From South Carolina, he went to Sand Hill in Fort Benning, Georgia. He and five other privates were diverted to the infantry school, and we were named assistant instructors.
He was 18 when he volunteered to go into Special Forces, even though a First Sergeant told him, "You don't want to go in there with those guys. They parachute in behind enemy lines, and half of them get captured and the other half get killed."
Following extensive Special Forces training and enlisted medical training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, it was time for a life change. Downing married Patricia on October 3, 1964, in a chapel on Smoke Bomb Hill, Fort Bragg.
In March of 1965, Downing was deployed to Vietnam for the first time. He was a junior medic with Special Forces 18. At 22 and with a pregnant wife at home, Downing was nervous but also excited to go to war.
He didn't have to wait long to see some action. On their first night overseas, the troops received mortar fire.
Other than the terrible scents of rice fields and fish products, Downing remembers when mail and a movie came to the camp. One of his favorites, "One-Eyed Jacks" with Marlon Brando, was brought in for the soldiers to enjoy. He looked forward to getting one to two letters a week from Patricia and always took time to write back.
After a 12-month deployment, Downing returned home to a nine-month-old baby girl.
After that first deployment, Downing was sent back to Fort Bragg to be an Advanced Medical Training School instructor.
At 26, Downing was sent for a second year-long deployment to the Ho Bo Woods area of Vietnam. This time, he had completed Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning and went to war as a First Lieutenant.
"I was a platoon leader, which a platoon has about 40 soldiers," he said. "I was a platoon leader in B Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Airborne Infantry, 3rd Brigade 82nd Airborne Division."
"And I served as a platoon leader for four months," Downing continued. "And then I was a company commander for four months, and then I was on staff for four months."
During his time in the wet, low-lying area, Downing remembers soldiers developing skin ulcers from wet socks and feet. He remembers dealing with many snakes, leeches, centipedes and other "critters."
They got used to the conditions because they had to. Even rockets fired into their camp were a regular occurrence. About three months into the deployment, the soldiers were asleep in their bunker when a lieutenant invited them to stay in a nearby tent. That night would be one Downing would remember for the rest of his life.
"Well, the bunker was a lot more protection than the tent, but we took him up on it," Downing remembered. "That night, we had some rockets come in, and one of those rockets blew that bunker to pieces. If we had been in that bunker, we would all have been blown to pieces."
Another near-death experience for Downing was when he went up in a plane to circle nearby areas to let allies know they were in the area. When the pilot throttled up to get out of the area, the engine on the plane went out.
"And if you talk about, you know, you've heard the expression, 'the silence was deafening," he said. "That's the way it was that day, and he was pulling and pushing everything he could up there in the front and I couldn't exactly see what he was doing."
"He said, 'I think we're going in,' and we were in what they called triple canopy jungle, which meant if the airplane had crashed, it would have probably crashed into a tree and we would have been 100 feet up in the air probably if we would have survived," Downing continued. "And so finally, the propeller turned over a couple times, and the engine sputtered, and then it cranked up. And it was probably only two or three minutes, but it seemed like forever that we were up there."
"I mean, for a while there, we were just a glider; that's what we were," he added. "And he hot-footed it back to the airfield where we were. I remember that. I'll never forget that day. I thought we were going in. I really did."
But they didn't go into the trees, and Downing survived his second deployment. He did not suffer any physical permanent injuries and said the only issue he had on return was learning how to sleep again.
When he returned to the U.S., Downing didn't slow down. He was an instructor at the Army Ranger School at Fort Benning for over a year.
"Then the Army sent me to the University of Tampa for two years to get my undergraduate degree, and later I was able to get a master's degree in management, and then finally, in 1990, the Army sent me to Harvard on what they call the National Security Fellowship," Downing explained.
"Let me just say one of the good things about the military is if you want to further your education in the military, you can do it," he said.
Downing said the military and having a family forced him to grow into a man.
His last assignment in the Army was as an advisor to the Army Reserves in Birmingham. After 37 years in the Army, Downing retired in 1996. He then worked for the University of South Alabama for 20 years.
Downing has also served on the Alabama Board of Veterans Affairs.
He is now on the Battleship Commission in Mobile, serves as the vice president of the South Alabama Veterans Council and is on the Mobile Bay Area Veterans Commission.
Downing said in his spare time, he enjoys spoiling his seven grandchildren.
For anyone considering joining the military, Downing advises doing research and speaking to someone other than a recruiter about their experiences.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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