At 69 years old, John Kersbergen lives a humble and quiet life in Alaska, driving Uber part time in Anchorage. But 50 years ago, the former Navy boatswain’s mate was in the middle of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking, and heroic moments in American military history: the fall of Saigon.
He was just 17.
In April 1975, as the Vietnam War reached its devastating end, Kersbergen was stationed aboard the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier home-ported in Yokasuka, Japan, that would become central to one of the largest helicopter evacuations in history — Operation Frequent Wind. He had grown up rough: dropped out of school, ran away from home, and fell in with a bad crowd. His father, a Navy veteran himself, delivered a hard truth: “Son, you’re either going to find yourself in jail or dead.” So Kersbergen enlisted.
Too young for the Marines or Army, the Navy took him in. He finished boot camp in 1973, and by 1974 he was aboard the Midway, working as a refueler in Japan, handling JP-5 jet fuel with a smell so toxic it clung to him no matter how often he showered. It left his skin raw and may have contributed to the neuropathy and prostate problems he developed later in life — although the VA acknowledged he was exposed to Agent Orange…