By: DR. DOUG BRANDT
Gearold Lee Brandt was a son of Rita and Harold “Red” Brandt of Salina, Kansas, born on May 8, 1950, and raised in the heart of this tight-knit community during the 1950s and 1960s. He attended Salina Central High School, where he was known as a spirited young man navigating the turbulent times of the Vietnam War era. Like many youths then, Gearold stumbled, getting entangled with the law after robbing a local liquor store—a youthful misstep that would alter his life’s course.
In the late 1960s, authorities offered him a stark choice: jail or enlistment in the U.S. Army. Such deals were common, and Gearold, hoping for a fresh start, chose the Army, unaware it was a near-certain ticket to the jungles of Vietnam.
As a Private First Class in Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, Gearold faced the brutal realities of Kontum Province in 1969. The dense terrain, constant ambushes, and reliance on artillery made combat perilous.
Overwhelmed by fear of death, Gearold briefly went AWOL, a desperate act reflecting the war’s toll on young soldiers. Yet, in this darkness, something extraordinary happened. Influenced by military chaplains, organizations like the Navigators or Campus Crusade for Christ, childhood Bible stories from Salina’s churches, or comrades’ faith, Gearold encountered Jesus Christ.
This transformation was profound, replacing fear with courage—a courage all the more remarkable given his forced path. His family, including his cousin in nearby Abilene, later learned of this change, a beacon of hope amid tragedy.
Christ delivered Gearold from fear but tragically not from harm. On June 10, 1969, he was killed by friendly fire in Kontum, a heartbreaking loss at age 19. Such incidents, where U.S. forces mistakenly struck their own, were a grim reality of Vietnam’s chaotic battlefields. Yet, as a Christian, I believe Gearold was instantly held in the everlasting arms of Jesus, as Psalm 139:16 assures us that God ordains our days. For reasons known only to Him, God called Gearold home that day, a sovereign act that defies our modern sensibilities but aligns with biblical truth.
This Memorial Day, as I’ve done for decades, I remember Gearold, my cousin, whose story intertwines with Salina’s pride and pain. In 2025, in the quiet of a sleepless night, I penned Honor Where It’s Due, a poem capturing my struggle to process his death at age 12 and the comfort that God held him close. It honors Gearold’s faith and Salina’s Vietnam-era sons. I hope it reminds our community that even in tragedy—whether a robbery’s consequence or a war’s cruelty—God’s sovereign love prevails, offering redemption and eternal embrace.
"Honor Where It’s Due" poem:
Darkness surrounds in quiet repose
Thank you Father
Thoughts though muted, in silence compose
Thank you Father
Struggling remembrance ponders death throes
Thank you Father
God held Gearold so close at the close
Thank you Father
To view Gearold Lee Brandt "Wall of Faces" on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website, go to: https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/5376/GEAROLD-L-BRANDT/