Honoring Our Veterans: Dave Kampswerth — U.S. Army, Vietnam War veteran
For as long as he can remember, Dave Kampwerth’s mother was in the family way. He was the third eldest of 16 children born to Benedict and Amelia Kampwerth July 23, 1947, in rural Highland.
With 10 sisters and five brothers, mealtimes were carefully orchestrated with two dining tables. Amelia would preside at one table over the youngest bunch of kids, while Benedict oversaw a second table with the older children.
“It was always a big deal when you got to graduate to the big table,” recalls Dave.
There was not much time left for recreation inasmuch they lived on a farm and all had chores to do. When they did have any free time, it was spent hunting or fishing.
Dave said his mother was a good manager of the family finances and would sell her chicken’s eggs in town. On one such afternoon when she was taking Dave to get his driver’s license, she had about 30 dozen eggs in her trunk. Like most, Dave was a bit nervous with the examiner on board and inadvertently hit his brakes too hard; later he and his mom realized they had a trunk full of scrambled eggs.
Dave recalls with fondness the close-knit family who worked together as a team and were taught to be responsible.
“There was never a dull moment,” said Dave. “Us boys were either milking the cows or feeding the hogs. The girls mostly assisted our mother.”
As a student at Highland’s St. Paul Catholic School, Dave was interested in accounting and bookkeeping. He graduated in 1965 and began working for Basler Electric for about one year and was then drafted into the U.S. Army. He completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and was then sent to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for advanced training with 11B Infantry.
Only eight weeks later and after a one-week leave to home, Dave found himself in War Zone C in tunnel complexes north of Saigon during the Vietnam War. He was an ammunition bearer for two months and a machine gunner for four months; the belt alone weighed 40 pounds.
The Monsoon Season ran seven months, which subjected the soldiers to red ant bites, leeches, and a relentless assault by mosquitoes. They wore towels around their necks due to heavy perspiration, but after only one week the wraps turned white after such intense sweating.
No roof overhead, ponchos as cover, ambushes
For eight months they had no roof overhead; they had to use their ponchos for cover whether they were traversing rice paddies or the jungle. Dave was heavily involved in guerrilla warfare during search and destroy missions.
During one such skirmish in Vietnam, 600 enemy bodies were outside their perimeter and, after several days, Dave said the stench was overwhelming. On another occasion, while walking through mine fields, Dave remembers “the legs of two fellow comrades were blown up and we had to make a cloverleaf security area for a helicopter to get the rest of us out of there.”
As Dave and his squad of eight to 10 men were on a mission one day, Dave was walking point. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, they were ambushed. Two of the Viet Cong immediately attempted to fire at Dave, but for whatever reason, their weapons would not fire. Dave said he had to shoot and kill both of them.
“It was then followed by my throwing up and I began smoking cigarettes,” he said.
Dave insists his mother wore out her rosary praying for his safe return.
“She never failed to send a letter every week,” said Dave.
On Christmas morning in 1966, Dave, then a staff sergeant, had only one day left of his deployment before being sent home. He climbed aboard a chopper and flew to the rear and took out an ambush. The next day he landed in Oakland, California, and changed into civilian clothing due to protesters and rioters.
End of service, life after the military
Dave then spent the remaining seven months of his military duty at various locations and ultimately wound up at Fort Knox. In April 1968, the Baltimore Riots began and Dave was sent there to control the protesters after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Approximately 125 cities in America were embroiled in this conflict.
Out of the service by December 1969 and back home in Highland, Dave returned to Basler Electric and one day observed “a very pretty little red head be-bopping around the time clock gathering time cards.” Her name was Barbara Ann and Dave wasted no time asking her for a date. After a four-month courtship, the couple married Aug. 8, 1970.
Their family grew to include three daughters, Jennifer, Deborah and Amanda. Dave worked for 14 years for Baslers, 23 years at Jakel Inc., and then retired after two years with Ford Motor Co. Dave and Barbara Ann now have seven grandchildren.
Dave is a member and active participant of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5694 in Highland. He has been their quartermaster since 2010 and handles the organization’s bookkeeping. Additionally, he assists with and organizes the VFW fish fry events.
When Dave is not busy bettering the VFW and spending time with comrades, he enjoys gardening, mushroom hunting and making wine.
For his service, Dave earned a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars.