Curt graduated from Bowdoin College in 1965.  Two years later he was killed in Vietnam.  This year (2015) would have been his 50th college reunion.  The following remembrances of and tributes to Curt are from the 50th Reunion Yearbook of the Bowdoin Class of 1965.

These days when people refer to “the 60’s”, the expression is almost synonymous with turmoil which in turn was caused by two transformative events for our generation – the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War.

Given the magnitude of the public discourse, press coverage, demonstrations and angst produced by the war at the time, it surprises some that only slightly more than 1% (2.6 million) of the US population at the time actually served in the military in Vietnam over the eight years of the war. Scholars can argue back and forth as to whether we should have gotten involved and whether any good ever came of it. However if you served there, the rights or wrongs were irrelevant. The only motivation was survival and going home. Twelve members of our class served in the military in SE Asia during the war and all but one came home.

This page in our reunion yearbook is dedicated to the memory of Curt Chase by those of us who did make it home.  The yearbook chronicles our lives after Bowdoin. Even those who have already passed away would have had something to say about those lives – growing families, careers, hobbies…. However Curt’s story would have been too short and much of it would relate to the military and his time in Vietnam. So it seems appropriate that those of us who shared that Vietnam experience and came home should put together this page for him. 

The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, 1LT Curtis Edward Chase, who died in the service of his country on May 6th, 1967 in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. The cause of death was listed as Helicopter Crash. At the time of his death Curtis was 23 years of age. He was from Hingham, Massachusetts. Curtis is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 19E, Line 48.

The decorations earned by 1LT Curtis Edward Chase include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star with V, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation.

--------------------------------------------------

Gil Ekdahl:

In the spring of 1967 I was riding in a jeep down the main street of Quang Ngai, Viet Nam and spotted Rick Andrias.  We chatted a while and Rick told me Curt Chase was stationed further south in Duc Pho.  A few weeks later I had to go to there to check on a signal unit we had located on Montezuma Mountain overlooking the army base at Duc Pho.  I took care of my business on the day I arrived and planned to hitch a chopper ride to the base of the mountain to find Curt.  On the ride down in the noisy cabin two crew members were talking about an incident in a chopper the day before.  I thought I heard them mention Lt. Chase.  I was stunned when they confirmed that it was Curt and that he had died from his injuries.

After I landed, I went to Curt's company headquarters and introduced myself to his Company Commander and explained my Bowdoin connection.  The Captain and I gathered Curt's belongings and packed them for shipment home.  I got to meet some of Curt's fellow officers and enlisted men who had nothing but praise for our good friend Curt.

As our 50th Reunion nears, I remember this special moment when a Bowdoin classmate leaves us half way around the world and I happen to be there and be the only one to provide a link to Curt's life beyond the army and his fellow soldiers.  We are a Bowdoin family, all sharing so many of the same college experiences that have bound us together for the past half century. 

--------------------------------------------------

Bob Ness:

In April 1967 Curt showed up at my signal ops van at the MACV compound a few kilometers toward Kontum from the center of Pleiku City.  His mother and mine were high school classmates and they kept each other informed on the activities of their respective sons.  One day he saw a vehicle with my unit’s designation on it, hitched a ride to the MACV compound and we spent the evening sharing a few brews and getting caught up with each other.  He had just finished seven months on the Cambodian border as an infantry platoon leader and was in transition to becoming the new S-2 (intelligence officer) for his battalion.   Steve Putnam, he said, was the company XO (executive officer).  In the morning I drove Curt back to his battalion headquarters area.

Two weeks later one of the other lieutenants in my quarters handed me a copy of the Stars and Stripes and asked me if the name at the top of the weekly casualty list was my friend who had just visited.  It was.

I drove back to Curt’s battalion location and asked about him.  The sergeant who met me said that Curt was a highly respected member of the battalion. He also said that Curt had been in a helicopter flying over a battlefield with the battalion commander, who was directing ground units where to maneuver, when Curt was killed by a hand grenade which exploded in the helicopter.

 --------------------------------------------------

Joe Gorman:

On my first day freshman year the first classmate I met was Curt who was moving into Appleton 3 across from my room Appleton 1. My thought was that if the rest of the class was like Curt, it would be a great class, and I was right.

Along with twenty-two fellow members of our class, Curt and I joined ROTC and were commissioned

spanking new enthusiastic second lieutenants on June 12, 1965.  I don’t know where my new 2nd Lt buddies thought they would be stationed when they went on active duty, but I was almost 100% sure that I’d be headed to Germany. Soon after graduation I went to the Infantry Officer’s School at Ft. Benning Ga. Curt followed me a few months later. In September 1966, I went to Vietnam and Curt followed the next month.

In May 1967 I was in Saigon when I got a radio call from Gil who was with a signal unit in Chu Lai. He told me that he was visiting Curt’s base camp and found out that Curt had been killed the day before.

The weekly military newspaper in Vietnam was called The Stars and Stripes. Along with the usual news from the states, sports scores and a picture of the leggy pin up du jour, it also had the names of the weekly casualties. I’d always looked at the list with a detached interest- sometimes you’d see a name from your home state, maybe even your city. But to me it was usually just ink on a piece of paper.

However now there was Curt’s name. A friend. My classmate. Someone who I’d seen almost daily for four years, had classes with, drank beer with and joked with. The call from Gil had stunned me. I just never thought that it would ever happen to any of us. In June 1965 there was no war- just empty seats in a Bavarian beer garden waiting for us to show up. Beyond feeling shock and sadness, I knew that it could have easily been me – if I’d gone to Benning second, if I’d gone to Vietnam second, if, if ….All useless thoughts because it is all so random, but why Curt?

For over thirty five years I avoided any talk of the war- It was just something I wanted to leave behind. The one thaw in this freeze happened in 1989 when I visited Washington, D.C. with my family and late in the day went to the Vietnam Wall when there were no tourists around. I simply wanted to make sure that Curt’s name was there. It was, on panel 19E, line 48: Curtis E Chase. The names of Bowdoin alumni who had the fortune to lead successful lives have been memorialized with campus buildings named after them, faculty chairs endowed in their names….So it feels good that Curt’s name is also memorialized in stone. He deserves it.

 --------------------------------------------------

Hugh Shaw:

 Curt attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course and left for Vietnam shortly thereafter.  Once in Vietnam, he was assigned Infantry duties which put him in harm's way.  Curt was killed doing our Country's bidding in a foreign nation far away from the lifestyle and comforts which he knew in his youth and at Bowdoin.   One fateful day, he joined more than fifty eight thousand other soldiers whose names are on "The Wall" in Washington D.C. which is testimony to the ultimate sacrifice made by those served our Nation during the Vietnam War.  Curt's name is also inscribed on the Bowdoin College War Memorial with the seven other Bowdoin College Vietnam War Honored Dead.

Curt served either because he believed in the war effort or because he was a good American just doing his duty, like so many of our forefathers.  The reason he served and how he died are not important.  The facts are that Curt served with pride and with dignity during a time when military service was unpopular. And so, I will always remember my classmate Curt Chase as fellow classmate, an athlete, a good friend and a Son of Bowdoin, but above all as a patriot and an American hero.

 --------------------------------------------------

Don Rucker:

Curt has earned and deserves a special place in our reunion activities. Upon signing up for  ROTC as a freshman in 1961 who could have anticipated the country being involved in a land war in south east Asia and some of us being personally involved in that brutal conflict eventually costing nearly sixty thousand lives?  For those of us who served there was no higher calling, no greater duty than protecting the lives of those entrusted to us.  Curt’s final act to willingly sacrifice his life to save others speaks volumes about his character. I think Steve Putnam told me about Curt’s death when we crossed paths somewhere in country shortly afterward.  I also looked for Curt’s name in Stars and Stripes and had survivor’s remorse – why Curt and why not me? Curt deserves a singular place of honor in the upcoming reunion activities – he represented the best that Bowdoin offered.

 --------------------------------------------------

Dave Coupe:

I arrived in Vietnam in April, 1967 just weeks before Curt died, but never knew the details until Gil told me his story about 10 years ago.  I spent some time at Dong Ha, which was north of Quang Tri at the DMZ.  The time I spent there was quite stressful as we were subjected to artillery and mortar strikes on a daily basis, usually at mealtimes when we were eating at an Air Force mess hall.  When the incoming started, we had to exit the building and lie on the ground between the mess hall and a revetment wall which surrounded it.  During one barrage, the small hooch next to mine took a direct hit and was totally demolished.  We didn’t find a trace of the two guys inside it.  Needless to say, I was very happy to get home after that year, and I too found Curt’s name on the Vietnam Memorial after the war ended.  It could have been any or all of us in Curt’s place.  Anyone who flew in a Huey over there was a hero.

 --------------------------------------------------

Barry Hawkins:

After graduation Curt went on active duty and I deferred for three years while in Law School. By the time I went to Vietnam in 1969 I was married, a father of two and Curt was deceased. I add to this memorial my sadness which I am sure we all experienced upon learning of his death.

I am in Washington frequently and often find myself at the Wall paying special respects to Curt and thankfully only a small number of others. It never gets easier but it is an experience worth the emotional effort.

--------------------------------------------------

Jack Gazlay:

I went to the Vietnam Wall (from California) in the 1980’s for the first time to look for Curt’s name. Someone saw me tracing my finger down the wall to Curt’s name and they said, “Did you know him?”  I said, “Yes, he was my roommate in college.”  And she said, “I’m Rick Andrias’ sister and I came here looking for him too.”

 --------------------------------------------------

Steve Putnam

Curt was a great friend who I wish had had the opportunity for as full a life as we have had.

On his death what I remember being told by the battalion staff at the time and below is from a letter I sent to Judy.

I understood the C&C helicopter was doing a reconnaissance flight with several of the battalion staff and battalion commander aboard. There was an incident  with a grenade which threatened to bring the helicopter down which would have probably killed several if not all those in it, but because Curt  was either blown out or I believe jumped out of the helicopter with the grenade.  The helicopter did not crash.  Again this is what I remember being told at the time, but as I said is not an official report. However, based on what I knew of Curt’s dedication and willingness to commit himself in combat it seemed consistent with what I knew of him.

 --------------------------------------------------

Rick Andrias

On the first of October in the fall of 1965, an old blue Plymouth pulled up to my parents house in Needham. When Curt and I drove off, the road and our futures stretched out smoothly before us. During our circuitous route to Ft. Benning, Ga. and our rendezvous with the Infantry Officers Basic Course (IOBC), we bummed floor space with Bowdoin classmates or stayed in cheap motels, explored numerous Civil War battlefields (Curt was an enthusiastic expert) and traveled most of Blue Ridge Parkway.

Since we had experienced an abbreviated version of IOBC at Ft. Devins the prior summer, we quickly settled into the rigors of Army training. We were always off Sundays and usually from noon on Saturdays. I’d head to the airfield, but Curt, who was getting married during our upcoming Christmas leave, had more important things in mind. He spent his off hours diligently writing and calling Judy back in Maine.

By Thanksgiving, even with the introduction of live ammo and regular night exercises, everyone was feeling pretty good about their life in uniform. All that changed one morning at formation. The detested Captain “D” held up the distinctive yellow and black 1st Cav shoulder patch. Four lieutenants, including me, were headed for Vietnam. That night, neither of us was able to sleep, but Curt broke the silence: “You and the other three were the first, but we’ll all be going”. Of course, he was right: 199 out of 200 of our IOBC class eventually served in Vietnam, the only exception being the son of a diplomat.

Curt and Judy’s wedding in Portland, Maine was an early Bowdoin reunion of sorts and for those in the service the highlight of our Christmas leave. Judy had arrived on the scene just before or early in our senior year. By late spring, many of the Beta Brothers were spending more time at the Clifford family home in Cape Elizabeth than at the Senior Center. Judy and Curt were always inclusive and welcoming, and a large group of classmates were drawn to their circle. Given the upcoming wedding, Curt insisted on personally driving the entire 24 hour Georgia to Massachusetts trip, straight through, with Andrias and Rucker relegated to praying he wouldn’t nod off. Not so on the return trip. Just before our first 7:00 a.m. formation, Chase and Rucker were nowhere in sight and about to begin their careers as our first AWOL’s. At seven sharp, however, a great cheer went up - Lt. Chase and Lt. Rucker hustled into the courtyard, disheveled and bleary-eyed. Somewhere in South Carolina one of them had fallen asleep at the wheel and the old blue Plymouth went off the road. Somehow in the middle of the night they had located a mechanic to make the needed repairs.

The final push at Ft. Benning was an Escape and Evasion course. After a day or two in the cold, damp woods subsisting on skinned rabbits and weak coffee, we were “sprung” from our POW camp at dusk. The test was to walk 10-15 miles north through “enemy territory” of ambushes and impenetrable Kudzu vines to reach friendly lines before dawn, all without being recaptured. Without Curt beside me, I would have just given up, exhausted and dispirited. He was focused, he was a rock, he had his wits about him.

In mid-June I flew to Los Angeles, my first trip to California. After 48 hours, I’d had my fill of L.A. and in a rented a car drove up coastal Route 1 to see Curt and Judy, arriving long after dark at Ft. Ord. It was an idyllic few days with an ocean view and gentle breezes. By day Judy and I visited the Monterey area sights, while Curt, after long hours as a training officer, worked the grill and served the drinks at night. Early on the morning of the last day of June, I drove out of the Chase’s Ft. Ord driveway and finished the trip to Travis Air Base, east of San Francisco. I can still see Curt and Judy in the rear view mirror of my big Ford rental, standing by the old blue Plymouth, waving goodbye.

I never saw Curt again. But I do speak to him. When I’m in Washington, DC, I head over to the Memorial Wall, usually late at night when the crowds have gone. We talk about the good times. I tell him how much I appreciated his friendship and support and how much we all miss him. He assures me that while he had a short life, it was a good life. He was raised in a loving family; he married the girl of his dreams. He lived every moment to the fullest. When I remember Curt, and I remember him often, I remember Curt without tears.