Vietnam Veteran to Share Story of Service, Loss and Healing
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TROY - On May 13, 2026, Michael “Mic” DeHart will be the guest speaker at 9 a.m. at the Miami Valley Veterans Museum, 2245 S. County Road 25-A, Troy.
DeHart served two years in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969 and earned numerous honors. “The real story is behind those medals,” he said.
Drafted at age 25, DeHart had a young son and had recently divorced when he received his draft notice. Until then, he said, he had been “just living life, not concerned about the war on television.”
“That day, all that changed,” he said. “I felt like I had been hit with a brick because my brother Terry got one that same day. I became conscious of Vietnam and started watching the war on television. And with other soldiers, including my brother, I took a bus to Cincinnati to be inducted.”
DeHart completed basic training at Fort Benning, followed by additional training at Fort Polk, where he prepared for jungle warfare, including booby traps, ambushes and close combat.
At 25, he was selected for Non-Commissioned Officers training and became a sergeant. He said he learned leadership, tactical decision-making and how to manage battlefield injuries.
“But we were never taught how to deal with the death of a soldier in your unit,” DeHart said. “That’s something you got hit in the face with when you went to Vietnam.”
In Vietnam, DeHart led a platoon of 20 to 22 soldiers, some still in their teens. Their reconnaissance missions often involved helicopter insertions into remote areas suspected of enemy activity.
“At first, there was little action,” he said.
That changed in January 1969 in Tay Ninh Province, when his platoon was ambushed during a firefight at a rubber plantation.
“A new kid, eight to 10 weeks in country, was killed immediately by a chest wound,” DeHart said. “The tragedy of it, the sadness — I lost a young man who was right beside me.”
Combat losses continued after that, he said.
“I want to tell the story of my highly decorated platoon,” DeHart said. “I was privileged to serve with extraordinary young men — 18 and older, white, Black, a Chinese American kid from California. None of us wanted to be there, but Uncle Sam said to be there, and we were.”
After returning home, DeHart resumed his job in material control at A.O. Smith in Tipp City. He said few people spoke to him about the war.
“It was mostly innocuous comments,” he said. “No one really talked about it.”
Decades later, DeHart sought help through the Dayton VA, where he worked with a counselor for 11 years.
“He taught me survival skills of another kind,” DeHart said.
His May 13 presentation will focus on the importance of veterans seeking help.
At a recent first-Wednesday meeting at the museum, DeHart addressed a room of about 100 veterans, most from the Vietnam era.
“These are my brothers,” he said, gesturing to the crowd.
Museum doors open at 8 a.m., with coffee and pastries served at 8:30 a.m. The event is open to veterans and non-veterans, as well as their families and friends.
For more information, call 937-332-8852.