BROOKHAVEN, Miss– Roffie Burt, 75, tells News Mississippi what he did in Vietnam, what he thinks of that time, and where he is all these years later.
The Fall of Saigon was April 30, 1975, forty years ago today. Roffie Burt did his time in Vietnam long a few years before that.
“Well for two months I was a platoon leader,” says Burt, “then I got promoted to captain, and then… civil engineer and officer.”
Burt says he didn’t see time on the front lines, but he spent his time protecting his base and projects.
“Those were long hours,” Burt says. When asked how he felt about the Vietnam War, Burt said it was grim.
“Well,” he chuckles, “seemed like a wasted effort at the time. But they were fighting communism. So that’s good,”
Burt came home and went back to work. For three decades he worked at Mississippi State teaching civil engineering. Burt retired in 2002.
Burt says even though he didn’t see a lot of the violence, he learned a lesson he hopes to teach to younger generations. And that’s the importance of hard work.
“Long hours, protecting our projects,” says Burt.
And Burt still puts in hours to serve his country today, but in a different way.
“We have a military museum here in Brookhaven,” says Burt, “I volunteer here.”
