An explosion rocked the quiet street of a Middle Eastern marketplace Saturday morning, and responding U.S. soldiers found themselves caught in the midst of a firefight with insurgent forces.
An Apache helicopter soared across the sky as rockets launched toward an approaching vehicle loaded with explosives, destroying it in a dramatic display like something from a Hollywood movie.
It was an impressive display at Fort Polk’s Joint Readiness Training Center on Saturday, and one that left 10-year-old Huel Willis speechless. Almost.
“That was really cool,” he said with a grin. “It’s really neat to see everything up close like that.”
The showing was all part of the simulated training that soldiers experience at Fort Polk’s JRTC before being deployed overseas, and it carries on a legacy of preparing light infantry soldiers since the Vietnam War.
Willis and his parents were part of 300 visitors who were given a special tour of “Tigerland,” the area that trained more than 1 million soldiers between 1965 and 1975 for the conditions they would experience in Vietnam.
“The humid climate and the piney woods of Louisiana provided the perfect environment for soldiers to prepare in,” said Col. Sean Bernabe, commander of the operations group at Fort Polk.
“There is no doubt that the training provided here helped those soldiers be effective in the jungles of Vietnam.”
The weapons and gear used by soldiers during the Vietnam era were on display next to the tools used by soldiers now. Willis’ mother said the displays were stark reminders of the elements soldiers continue to face in hostile territory.
“I really brought him here today for an educational purpose,” she said. “I really wanted him to understand and have an appreciation for what our soldiers sacrificed and went through back then and what they still do. I think I have a renewed appreciation now, myself.”
The tours and Return to Tigerland event are held twice a year at Fort Polk. The next tour will be in April.
“We hold these tours for three reasons: to thank our local community for their support and help provide a glimpse into the training that goes on here, but also to connect with the history of our nation’s soldiers and this installation,” Bernabe said.
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