Henry M. Perrine Jr., U.S. Army
Henry M. Perrine Jr. was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1943. He joined the U.S. Army at 17.
He was sent to signal school and then to Germany, where he met Erika. They were married in 1966, and became parents to a son and daughter.
In 1969, Henry was deployed to Phu Bai, Vietnam, as a courier taking verbal and written messages to command centers through I Corps (northern South Vietnam). Phu Bai is located a few miles south of Hue, a place where the Tet Offensive triggered fierce fighting. The years 1968 and 1969 had America’s highest casualty rates of the war.
While in Phu Bai, Henry adopted a scrawny dog, always hanging around his quarters, seeking and accepting any human kindness. One day, the dog disappeared. For days, he searched the camp, asking questions but no trace could be found. It was not until much later when sharing old photographs with a friend, that he became reacquainted with his long-lost friend.
Scanning across one picture was his comrade and his smiling dog. It seems his buddy had noticed the dog, alone and afraid, and decided to give this little dog a new home. Lucky dog to have stumbled on two caring soldiers, in the middle of a war, who loved and cared for him.
During this same time, while visiting an orphanage delivering food, clothes and medicine, he met a 7-year-old girl. They were drawn to each other and became friends. Before long, he learned to love the little girl and asked his wife if they could adopt her. He wanted to give her a safe home, away from all danger, where she could grow up cared for and in peace.
When he returned to the orphanage some days later, she was no longer there. Did a relative claim her? Did she run away? Was she taken by the Viet Cong (they often entered villages recruiting young girls and boys). He never forgot her, and her smile toward him when he came to visit. Often throughout the long years ahead he would wonder about what had happened and about what could have been.
After Vietnam, Henry and other soldiers like him, were not welcomed back. He found it difficult to find work. For a while, he worked at a school. Later, he decided to try his luck in Arizona.
While traveling west his family stopped in Gallup, where became employed at a KOA Campground. He found not only a new job, but a life-long career.
In the early 2000s Henry was diagnosed with Agent Orange, a defoliant used to kill jungle vegetation. Unfortunately, this toxic chemical would get on skin and in the water supply, affecting many who served in Vietnam. He passed away at the Veteran’s Hospital in Albuquerque and was laid to rest at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, ending his journey through life.
For some like Henry, the war in Vietnam had lasting effects that were with him until the end.
(Editor’s Note: Each month the Belen Veteran’s Memorial committee will select one veteran from Valencia County to be honored.)
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April 19, 2024
