27 July 2023
Wichita, Kan. (KSNW) — Army Staff Sergeant Al Fleming knew he was destined to serve his country. After all, his father was a Marine who fought in Korea. His step-father and all of his uncles were also in the military.
Fleming was assigned to one of the most elite units in the Army during his 15-year career which included two tours with the 82nd Airborne Division, the 11th Air Assault Division (Test), the 1st Cav Airmobile Division, and as a drill sergeant.
Al Fleming has been studying and teaching martial arts for over 40 years. He has taught Tai Chi and QiGong in the Greater Wichita area for over ten years.
In the early 1960s, the U.S. developed a new type of soldier.
“So, at that time, they were testing the air assault concept, and basically all of our transportation was done by helicopter,” said Fleming.
Fleming was assigned to what became the 1st Cavalry Airmobile Division. It was the Army’s first full combat division size unit to be deployed in South Vietnam and the first Air Mobile Division. CH-47 and CH-1H Huey helicopters could move a third of an infantry battalion and supporting units in one single helicopter lift.
“All of our transportation was basically done by helicopter. We had very, very few wheeled vehicles,” explained Fleming. “We were flown into L zones. To our drops zones or LZs for landing zone. If the jungle was kind of thick and we couldn’t get forces or engineers to clear for helicopters, then we would repel in out of helicopters.”
The first real test and the heaviest fighting for Fleming’s unit was in October 12th, 1965 when Companies A and B of the 1st Battalion 12th Cavalry (Airborne) engaged a Vietcong battalion size unit in the Suoi La Tinh River Valley, which came to be known as “Happy Valley”.
“In fact the first mission that we went on as a unit, that was when I was wounded with what we call a punji stake.”
A punji stake, diagonally inserted into the ground, stabbed into his right shin. He was taken out of action for several weeks to recover from the wound.
“The second was a gunshot wound to my left leg, my left thigh.”
Fleming was awarded a pair of Purple Hearts for those combat injuries. Most of the fighting he was involved in was in the Highlands, near the Cambodian border on “search and destroy” operations, not far from his base camp in Pleiku.
After serving in combat for over a year, Fleming returned to what he called “the world’. Like so may others, he did not receive a warm welcome when he returned to the states.
“Not just black troops coming out of Vietnam. It didn’t matter what color your skin was when you came back,” said Fleming. “You just weren’t treated or welcomed with a hero’s welcome. We were called ‘baby killers’. Spat on and things of that nature.”
He would eventually volunteer to go to Drill Sergeant School and become a drill instructor at Fort Bragg, NC.
“I saw a lot of the replacements that were coming into Vietnam to replace us, and they were young, but I used to consider them very inexperienced. And a lot of them made a lot of mistakes, and it cost them.”
Always a leader, the 79-year-old Fleming is still going strong as a Certified Tai Chi for Health and QiGong instructor.
Fleming is the founder and owner of Wichita Tai Chi for Health and Wellness, and he teaches almost everyday across the metro area. He met his future wife, Linda, in 1984. She is also an Army veteran who served her country for nine years. In 1994, the couple relocated to Wichita, Linda’s hometown.