Veteran’s service and close calls shape a life rooted in Hopedale

Jay Beadling has lived a long and adventurous life — if serving in Vietnam with several close calls qualifies as adventurous.

Beadling was drafted into the Army in 1965, but a cousin convinced him to visit a Marine recruiting station during a lunch break. Thirty minutes later, they were on their way to joining the Marine Corps at Parris Island. That decision also meant leaving for duty in 60 days instead of the planned 120 after being drafted.

Beadling spent three years in the Marines, including just over 12 months in Vietnam, where he was injured at Khe Sanh and medically evacuated.

“All we did was force march and ambush, the whole time,” he said of his experience.

He described booby traps his unit set, including pulling the pin on a grenade and placing it beneath a body. He did not elaborate on the tactics used against American troops but acknowledged that some Americans were tortured after being captured. He said what happened in Vietnam should stay in Vietnam.

Beadling reached the rank of staff sergeant, E-6, and served as a forward observer accompanied by two radio operators. He acknowledged that many memories of Vietnam have faded over time. He said his military service made a man out of him and taught him discipline and respect — habits he still carries, addressing people as ma’am and sir.

When he returned home, his mother asked what they had done with her son. Beadling paused as he recalled that moment.

“There’s times that I can talk about Vietnam and there’s other times I can’t,” he said. “It was a rough time in life. And the people who talk about it, like me, it keeps us sane. There’s others who can’t. There’s just times I get emotional.”

He said talking with fellow veterans is easier, and he made a telling admission: despite the danger and brushes with death, the Marine Corps saved his life.

“The Marine Corps saved my life,” Beadling said. “I don’t think any training kept you from getting killed.”

He said discipline was critical. When someone told you to get down, you didn’t ask why.

“If they say get down, you’re on the ground immediately,” he said.

Beadling recalled narrowly escaping death on several occasions. During one march, he unknowingly tripped a booby trap when a rock fell from above. As he moved to react, his radio operator told him not to move. The rock was meant to strike the tip of a mortar shell buried upright between his legs, which would have exploded and killed anyone nearby.

In another incident, while pulling out a map to call in a strike on sniper fire, a bullet passed through the map inches from him. He said it was the last time he checked a map unless he was lying on the ground.

Beadling was 18 when he entered the service and was discharged in 1968. He married his wife, Barbara, in 1969 at age 24. They have been married for 56 years and have two children — a son and a daughter — and three grandchildren.

After his military service, Beadling worked more than 19 years in the coal mines, including 14 as a supervisor. When the mine shut down, he worked another 17 years at the coke plant in Follansbee, West Virginia.

Beadling was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. His father died when he was 7, and his mother raised him and his two siblings. He has lived in Hopedale for about 80 years, except for a short time in Steubenville. Hopedale remains home, and he said that is why he returned — bringing with him a value he taught his children: treat people the way you want to be treated.

“There’s just always something good about coming back home,” he said.