In September 1968, David Kelley received orders to ship off to Vietnam. He had just graduated high school and had enlisted in the army with five of his best friends, all of whom were uncertain of what they wanted out of life and how they ought to be spending their time; the army seemed like a good temporary path.
Six weeks and a high school love story later, Kelley found himself training in boot camp. Shortly thereafter, he was stationed in South Vietnam's Tuy Hoa Air Force Base working as a chef, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for kids in military uniform who were just as new to what they were doing as he was.
This week, Kelley will be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for another set of individuals around the same age but with fewer dehydrated food packages and far better hours at Carmichael Dining Center, where Kelley has served the Tufts community for 28 years and is now unit manager.
"This time 42 years ago, I landed in Vietnam, and our first meal was Thanksgiving. I fed thousands of servicemen and women every day, seven days a week. Meals were 24 hours a day, whenever the troops came in and out, so you're always on call," Kelley said.
Of the many meals he cooked for service people in the '60s, and of the many meals he has cooked for Tufts students over the past three decades, Thanksgiving always evokes a certain sense of déjà vu for Kelley.
"We have our Dining Services Thanksgiving menu [this] week, so I'm going to be dealing with the same group, 19−to−20−olds, serving them the same meal. Different country, but same meal," he said. "It keeps you young and brings back good memories. It brings awareness and thankfulness that this generation of kids has a great outlook on life."
As a 20−year−old soldier, Kelley's life sped up fast. But his war story was infused with a love story from its very beginning. At training camp in New Jersey, right before he was sent overseas, Kelley got a phone call from his high−school sweetheart Lorraine, who was back in Massachusetts with her parents. Lorraine, 19 years old at the time, asked him what he was up to the following weekend. Then she asked him to marry her.
"Her family really felt like they didn't want a soldier going away without someone waiting for their return," Kelley said. "It was a surprise. She was crying. Her being 19 and [my] being 20 at that time, it was very emotional. We were married within that next week, and within a month, I was overseas."
Throughout Kelley's time in Vietnam, any overseas communication was a luxury. Sometimes he received letters and packages. More often, he would line up to talk on the phone for mere minutes.
"We were allowed to call once a month. You end up waiting in line about an hour or two and speaking for a certain number of minutes. You'd feel grateful if you got something from home, even if it's just something practical like a can of shaving cream," he said.
Kelley kept in contact with his wife and other family members, including his twin brother who was stationed in Alaska, working as a photographer. At the time, brothers were not permitted to be stationed together in combat zones, he said.
Kelley's love story continued while abroad and, upon his return, resumed with full force. In Vietnam, Kelley received a letter from the United Services Organization informing him that his daughter was born, but the good news came with some bad; he left Vietnam on early discharge because his wife was experiencing health complications. He flew back to Boston and finally met the daughter he had gotten to know through photographs, stories and letters.
"When I landed at Logan airport, I met my daughter, a beautiful redhead, for the first time. You know when some leave families behind, unfortunately a lot of them don't come back," he said.
After Kelley's return, he attended college and received a degree in culinary arts and restaurant management. He had two more sons and just recently celebrated the birth of his fifth grandchild on Wednesday. But the Kelleys' celebration was twofold last week, as the day after his grandchild's birth, the family celebrated Veterans Day — an important holiday in Kelley's calendar.
Kelley was not the first in his family to serve in the U.S. military. Since his childhood, he was instilled with a great respect for servicemen and women. His late father−in−law, a World War II veteran, spoke at Veterans Day programming held at local schools, which Kelley attended annually with his children — and now his grandchildren. For Kelley, the day is about showing respect and honor for the veterans as individuals, he said.
"You salute them as they go by, and you thank them for who they are and show you respect them for who they are. And you always just remember that it's not just the uniform but the person who's wearing it," Kelley said.
