TULSA – Mvskoke veteran Timothy Pickering has fought many battles on and off the battlefront. The four-time purple heart recipient served two years in the Army during the Vietnam War. Pickering’s most recent battle was against stage four prostate cancer. After undergoing treatment Pickering became cancer free, another battle he fought hard to win. Pickering was honored as an Ascension St. John Hometown Hero at the Tulsa Driller’s Home Game against the Corpus Christi Hooks on Friday, Aug. 29. A Hometown Hero is a military service member, first responder, educator or community leader who has made a lasting impact in their community. Throughout the season, heroes are honored at fireworks shows at the Driller’s ONEOK Stadium.
Before the first pitch of the game was thrown, Pickering was honored for his service in a private ceremony hosted by Native American Indian Veteran Region Five Commander Micheal Coon (Mvskoke). There, Coon presented Pickering with a white “Tvlse” Driller’s jersey. Pickering was also presented a Soldier’s Wish shirt by Soldier’s Wish Executive Director Debra Wimpee, as well as a Quilt of Valor.
Both nonprofit organizations serve and honor veterans for their service. Soldier’s Wish provides assistance to veterans and their families by offering adaptive living aids, home modifications, educational support and recovery support. Quilt of Valor provides quilts for veterans, which presents a symbolic gesture of healing. When the game concluded, Pickering and his family were invited onto the diamond where he was honored by the Tulsa Drillers with a special Hometown Hero baseball bat.
For Pickering, receiving these honors was meaningful and gave him an indescribable feeling. “I’m not over it yet, I feel, I don’t know. I didn’t expect all of this. What happened for me here today, I feel blessed. It’s a privilege to be here with you people today.”
Aside from doctor’s appointments, Pickering likes to stay put, so the event gave him a chance to get out of the house. At home he can typically be seen watching television, playing with his dog, or listening to music. He enjoys music so much he routinely wears out his headphones.
Pickering’s Service
Pickering grew up in Eufaula and enlisted for the Army on May 5, 1971 at the age of 18. When he was given the oral test required for new recruits, Pickering scored a perfect 100%. Asked when he wanted to leave for basic training, he eagerly answered “Today!” After quickly going home to say goodbye to his family, Pickering loaded up on a bus and was on his way to Oklahoma City.
“Back then you were obligated to enlist or get drafted. I didn’t want to get drafted, I wanted to leave. I wanted out, I was always getting into trouble for something. I went and I never did look back,” Pickering said.
The Vietnam War is considered to be the “first televised war” because of the advances in broadcasting communication technology at the time. This allowed news networks to send reporters into the conflict to take photos and footage on the frontlines. Culture had also changed, 93% of American households owned a television set. Essentially, most Americans had the ability to watch the war in their own living room. Images of deceased soldiers returning in caskets from Vietnam on the news inspired Pickering to enlist, rather than wait to be drafted.
“When I was 16 I saw on the news these guys that were killed, coming back from Vietnam in these planes,” Pickering said. “They were killed over there and they were bringing them back in these planes. When I saw that I told myself ‘I wanted to go over there’ and I got my wish. It about killed me. But would I do it again? Yeah, I’d do it again.”
Pickering served with a platoon of 30 soldiers. One of his responsibilities included guard duty at night. Soldiers had to endure hard sleeping conditions in the field and had to learn how to sleep on the ground, in the water and in trees. Most of the water in the area was undrinkable due to parasites. Missions could last up to 45 days at a time. For soldiers like Pickering, Christmas was hard because they longed to be home with their loved ones. Although he does not miss the missions he performed in Vietnam, Pickering reminisced about the quieter moments.
“The only time I miss was at night when everything got quiet, except for the bugs,” Pickering said. “I would think about home. One night I was on guard, I had guard duty every night. At night it was very lonesome. I was crying one night because I was looking at the moon and I thought, ‘Do they (Pickering’s family) see the same moon I’m looking at?’”
Pickering would sometimes stay awake for two to three days straight. The constant fear of being ambushed made it hard for him to sleep and kept him on guard at all times. He attributed surviving the war to the advice of fellow older, more experienced soldiers, as well as his fears.
One day, Pickering’s platoon walked down a cow trail that grew wider and wider. Pickering was in the back of the line, but made his way up to the front to tell his platoon leader he had a bad feeling about the widening path. That is when the platoon was ambushed, resulting in one of the deadliest missions Pickering was involved in. Of the 30 men in the platoon, Pickering was just one of five that survived.
“My job was to case any Charlies (Viet Cong). I heard some gunfire going off. I thought, “Oh shoot.’ What they did is they walked into an ambush,” Pickering said. “They shot from both sides in a crossfire. By the time I got up there most of the guys were already down. It got really scary because we were surrounded. I was hit three times, I didn’t know it at first because I was so scared that my friends were still alive.”
The ambush was particularly frightening for Pickering because he could see the enemy Viet Cong soldiers that were firing at him. One of the fallen included his platoon buddy, a man he only remembered by his first name, Ron, who was hit by shrapnel. Pickering said a call was made for medical evacuation, however it took approximately five hours before a Cobra helicopter could rescue the survivors. Although he can’t recall the full name of his fallen friend after so many years, he compared their relationship to that of a married couple — they were close and were always bickering with one another.
The publicity the Vietnam War received, being the first televised war, had its pros and cons. On the one hand, Americans had unprecedented access to news from the front like never before. Previously, news war footage had been widely distributed through film reels at movie theatres, the coverage back then was censored and produced as propaganda. During the Vietnam era Americans saw the conflict’s wins and losses, souring their perception of the United State’s involvement in the 20-year war, which manifested itself into anger at the government that initiated the war, as well as the soldiers who served in it. When Pickering and his fellow soldiers returned home, they were advised to wear only civilian clothing, not their uniforms due to the negative public perception.
Pickering recalled early memories of returning home wearing civilian clothes with his government issued shoes, which gave away his service record. He remembered not making conversation with civilians because he didn’t know how to interact. He also remembered being called slurs by strangers and wanting to react but keeping quiet and moving on in the other direction.
“We didn’t know what was going on over here like protesters and stuff like that because they didn’t tell us. They didn’t tell us that until we landed in Oakland,” Pickering said. “They said if you got any civilian clothing you need to put it on and not wear your uniform because there’s a lot of people out there that don’t like it.”
When Pickering returned home to Eufuala, his mother was there to pick him up. The first place they stopped at was a diner. Pickering had developed quite an appetite after serving abroad for two years. That day his homecoming meal included coffee, orange juice, eggs, sausage, pancakes, and toast.
“We sat down at a booth and the waitress gave us a menu. True story, I said ‘Give me everything on this one side (of the menu), everything’. She said ‘Everything?’ I said ‘Yeah!’ My mom looked at me like ‘What?’ I didn’t eat it all.”
Pickering was honorably discharged from military service on May 4, 1973. He went on to get married and have two children. He now has several grandchildren and recently celebrated his 72nd birthday.
