A life message from horrors of war

John Howell
Posted 11/11/14

Bob Larkin slammed his fist on the lectern and the students jumped in their seats.

Larkin was telling a story of what happened as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army while stationed in Ninh Hua, a …

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A life message from horrors of war

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Bob Larkin slammed his fist on the lectern and the students jumped in their seats.

Larkin was telling a story of what happened as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army while stationed in Ninh Hua, a village in South Vietnam where he had been working in an effort to strengthen the American presence in the country.

It was 1970 and the Vietnam War, though unpopular at home, was in full swing. Larkin told the story in a matter-of-fact fashion, describing the flooded ice paddies alongside the road and going over a particular bump that jarred something loose.

“There was a metallic clank,” he told students at St. Rose of Lima School.

They listened intently as he told of looking down at a grenade. He described how a grenade works, first by pulling the pin, then releasing the handle when it is thrown. The grenade rolling at his feet was missing the pin and the handle. He knew he had only seconds. His first thought was to grab it and fling it clear of the jeep before it could harm the sergeant riding with him.

Larkin brought his fist down with a bang. Silence followed.

Then Larkin said he heard, when you’re about to die, your life flashes through your mind. He thought of that, and then concluded, “If I say I’m dead, maybe I’m not dead.”

He remembered opening his eyes but everything was black. He wiped them and all he saw was red. It was his blood.

The students didn’t move.

Then, through blurry vision, he saw the road and the rice paddy. He tried to brake before the jeep slid into the water, but he couldn’t. Then he saw his boot on the other side of the jeep.

“That’s not a good thing,” he recalled.

The sergeant, who had minor wounds, got control of the jeep. Using his and Larkin’s belts as tourniquets for his legs. The sergeant commandeered a motorbike that had a panel like a flatbed truck and drove Larkin to a nearby helicopter that evacuated him to a field hospital. From there, Larkin was taken to Japan, where he was told they didn’t hold much hope for saving the remaining leg.

The students became inquisitive. Did he know who was responsible for the booby-trap?

“You can’t tell who’s friendly and who’s not,” he said.

Teacher Steve Andolfo interjected that troops in Afghanistan face the same thing. Andolfo and Larkin have been friends for years. They taught at Gorton Junior High School and, in recognition of Veterans Day and efforts to raise funds for Operation Stand Down, he could think of no one better to address his class. Larkin, the recipient of a Purple Star and Bronze and Silver Medals, shuns publicity and is reluctant to tell his story but connected with Andolfo and St. Rose of Lima Church, where he had been an altar boy.

His story was told years ago, when a Providence Journal photographer snapped pictures of him playing wheelchair basketball with the Rhode Runners in 1979 and caught him off guard. The photographer wanted a few details about his injury for a “small story.” They talked.

Larkin held up a copy of the Sunday paper from Veterans Day weekend in 1979. Larkin’s picture fills a quarter of the front page.

Then Larkin found a message he wanted to spread. He told of pain of cleaning the wounds to one leg and the strength he gained from the letters and prayer cards from home. He was in a ward with about 40 to 50 other amputees. He became good friends with others and told of the remarkable feats some achieved without legs, such as crossing the country on their hands, although he concluded they were a bit crazy.

“Almost everyone is going to face a big problem in their life,” he said. “You are getting a good basis right now on how to handle what may come in the future…Determine what type of person you are.”

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