'Most memorable year of my life.' Vietnam vet and Stark State recall fallen in documentary

JACKSON TWP. – Gerald Fox evaded death around a dozen times during his service in the Vietnam War in the late 1960s.

Close calls came in firefights in the jungle. Mines and booby traps lurked. Flying in helicopters a thousand feet above the ground also posed risks.

Soldiers he knew were killed in action. Friends from Stark County never made it home alive.

Tens of thousands of young men took their last breaths in combat while he returned to Stark County to begin a career, get married and raise children.

When recalling his military service, Fox's voice was direct and measured. A day never passes when he doesn't think about those who died, including his close friends Marvin Dale Banar of Perry High School and Ronald Keith Weister of Jackson High School.

"It was the most memorable year of my life," he said. "I remember everything, and I've remembered it for 50 years."

'Just One Soldier's Story' premieres at Stark State College

Fox chronicled his Vietnam War experience in a booklet/memoir and slideshow as a way to preserve family history.

But he wanted to tell the story more fully, and share it with more people, including younger generations. That's why he partnered with the digital media technology program at Stark State College, where he graduated with an associate degree in mechanical engineering technology in 1967, when it was named Canton Area Technical School.

More: Perry Purple Heart recipient is there for fellow vets

Aided by Stark State College faculty and students, Fox's story will be told in a slideshow-style documentary.

"Just One Soldier's Story" premieres at 4 p.m. Thursday at Silk Auditorium at Stark State, 6200 Frank Ave. NW, Jackson Township. The free screening is open to the public.

"It's just my story," said Fox, who goes by Jerry. "I wrote things down the way it was. So the young folks today gain an appreciation of what going into combat really is like, not only in terms of personal sacrifice, and that it's an unglorified version."

More: Remembering Sgt. Ronald Poland, Stark County's 100th Vietnam War casualty

Citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Fox said: "The story actually becomes very relevant even though (the U.S. military) is not in Ukraine. It's an example of what it would be like if American troops all of a sudden (were in combat). It's nothing to look forward to — all blood and guts."

'We cried a few times.'

Fox grew up in Perry Township and graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1965 before he was drafted to serve in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968.

He was assigned to Bravo Company, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment, 198th Brigade, American Division. Fox served as both a rifleman and a radio telephone operator.

Kevin Collins, 72, directed and edited the documentary.

The Jackson Township resident said he was moved by his friend's original 350-page memoir with photos.

"We cried a few times," recalled Collins, who served in the U.S. Navy in the 1970s.

Todd T. Taylor, a former radio disc jockey in Northeast Ohio, serves as the documentary's narrator.

More than 40 songs from the era are featured in "Just One Soldier's Story." Among them are "She Loves You" by The Beatles; "Travelin' Man" by Rick Nelson; "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire; "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones; "Down in the Boondocks" by Billy Joe Royal; " and "Get Together" by "The Youngbloods."

'Just to go out and tell war stories was not the purpose.'

The project was broadened from the original concept of recording his story for relatives.

"Just to go out and tell war stories was not the purpose," said Fox, noting he also plans to use the documentary as a fundraiser for military causes, including the Wounded Warrior Project and Tunnels to Towers Foundation.

"I think of this as a little time capsule," he said. "And that is how it is written."

"It was my duty," the 75-year-old Fox said of his time in Vietnam. "But (the documentary) isn't what we'd call a rah-rah presentation. We try to present the facts of what the war was like."

Fox said he would like to find other outlets where "Just One Soldier's Story" can be viewed.

"My goal is to reach out to veterans' organizations, schools, museums and other groups interested in hearing such a story."

'He has a lot of brushes with death.'

After becoming aware of Stark State's digital media technology program, Collins and Fox sought its expertise in hopes of enhancing and refining the memoir.

Ralph Lumley, an instructor with the program, said the documentary is in a slideshow format with sound effects added. Photos of Fox in uniform and with fellow serviceman in Vietnam are shown throughout the roughly two-hour piece; he also reads from his memoir.

Anecdotes include both difficult times and comforting moments. An example of the latter is the Christmas care packages he received.

While some other soldiers in his unit received nothing, Stark County residents saw Fox's name and address in the Repository and sent him boxes containing baked goods in sealed containers, meats, candy bars, toothbrushes, hot sauce and other items, along with notes wishing him a Merry Christmas and praying for his safety.

So many care packages were sent that he shared them with fellow soldiers. "I was overwhelmed with kindness from so many people who I didn't even know," Fox recounted.

Such memories pull viewers into the story, Lumley said. Especially when "he has a lot of brushes with death," the professor added.

Working with his alma mater and students has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the project, said Fox, who retired in 2013 as chief technologist for wind energy for the Timken Co. He also praised Stark State and the digital media program for their support and talents.

"If it wasn't for them," Fox said, "we might just have a book and 350 slides."

Added Collins: "It was tremendously gratifying. They were all in on the project from the very beginning."

'They'll understand better what it's like to be a soldier.'

Stark State student Josh Metzger, who assisted with audio recordings and other technical aspects of "Just One Soldier's Story," recalled hearing Fox recount an emergency landing in a helicopter.

"It definitely brought it to life more," Metzger said. "I find Vietnam very interesting because a lot of the citizens didn't respect the soldiers.

"Any kind of story from times like that, I kind of hold near and dear, because my generation hasn't seen those times," the 21-year-old said. "I have utmost respect for those who played any part or served, whether you were on the front lines or a medic or any part of it."

Another student, Brett Tipton, assisted with video editing on the project; he also was in the Army Reserve in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The documentary illustrates the brotherhood of soldiers, said Tipton, 52, of Akron.

"I feel like this project is almost like a capstone project in his life," he said of Fox. "... And to be a part of that feels like I've been part of something significant, even in a small way.

"I think it's going to touch everyone in a little different way," he said. "... I think it will have impact, and for people who had never been in combat ... they'll understand better what it's like to be a soldier."

Learning Fox's story was "incredible," said William Landis, another student who assisted with the many audio recordings featured in "Just One Soldier's Story."

"I just got lost in it," said the 23-year-old Akron area resident.

Students met the veteran in the recording studio.

"It was a wonderful moment," Collins said of when the young men shook Fox's hand.

At least 10 men in Fox's company didn't make it back home.

"The day after I left my platoon, my platoon leader, Lt. Onchi was killed by a landmine watching what had been my radio," he said.

"So it boils down sometimes to luck," Fox said. "Just being in the right place at the right time or in the wrong place at the wrong time."

More than 50 years has passed, "and their story never gets told," he said of the fallen.

Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com

and on Twitter @ebalintREP

If you go

What: "Just One Soldier's Story," a slideshow documentary about the Vietnam War experience of Stark County native Gerald Fox. Stark State College's digital media technology program assisted with the project.

When: 4 p.m. Thursday

Where: Silk Auditorium at Stark State College, 6200 Frank Ave. NW, Jackson Township

Admission: Free

This article originally appeared on The Repository: 'Just One Soldier's Story' premieres at Stark State College