Happy Monday! Hope you had a good weekend. — Dan

The Unlikeliest of Beer Runs

On March 8, 1965, 3,500 United States Marines entered South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops deployed in the Vietnam War. By that point, the conflict between South and North Vietnam had been raging for a decade, and there were roughly 25,000 American military advisors in the region. But prior to that date, Americans were not actively engaged in the fighting.

Roughly three years later, troops from the United States, South Vietnam, and Laos met the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese in the Battle of Khe Sanh. There were nearly 100,000 combatants involved in the months-long skirmish, including 6,000 American Marines. Almost all of them were there to fight. But one of them — a Marine named Chickie Donohue — wasn’t. In fact, he wasn’t supposed to be there at all.

He was just hoping to meet some friends and have a beer.

Donohue served as an active member of the Marines from 1958 to 1964, and spent most of his time in the service in the Philippines and Japan, far away from any significant conflict or gunfire. By the time American combatants were sent to Vietnam, Donohue — then in his mid-20s — had finished his service to his country. But some of his friends were overseas, fighting in what had become an increasingly bloody conflict.

In late 1967, Donohue was back in New York City, his hometown, drinking at a local bar. Antiwar protests had taken hold across the nation and the bartender — a former soldier named George “Colonel” Lynch (who was not, in fact, a colonel) wanted to do something to support the local boys serving in Vietnam. Half-jokingly, most likely, he suggested that someone should go to Vietnam and bring six of the bar’s regulars some beers.

Donohue decided to turn the joke into reality. As the New York Times reported, “he signed on with a ship transporting ammunition from New York to Vietnam and brought a duffel bag full of American beer and whatever information he could find on the whereabouts of a half-dozen soldier friends. He essentially sneaked around the country to find his buddies’ units, navigating through restricted areas and military officialdom, and hitching rides on Jeeps and planes.”

Finding his friends seemed like an impossible task. At the time Donohue shipped out, four of his six friends were still serving in Vietnam — one of the other two died in combat and the sixth fell ill and was sent home — but they were four of more than 500,000. Finding even one of them would seem like a miracle. But somehow, he found all four. As CBS News reported, “Donohue had barely stepped off his ammo ship when he found [his friend] Tommy Collins. ‘I said, ‘What the hell are you doing here?' Collins recalled. ‘He says, ‘I came to bring you a beer.’” By then, the beer was pretty warm, but Collins didn’t matter — it was the thought, and the effort, that counted. Over the next few weeks, Donohue also found his friends Rick Duggan, Kevin McLoone, and, as seen below (via People Magazine), Bobby Pappas. Donohue, as you may have guessed, is the one wearing civilian clothes in the middle of a war zone.

Getting into Vietnam proved easier than exiting, though. The above-mentioned Battle of Khe Sanh broke out as he was delivering the beers to McLoone and Duggan, and Donohue — still a Marine, albeit not in active service at the time — participated in the battle. Just over a week later, he was supposed to fly out of Saigon and return home, but the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army launched the Tet Offensive, precluding his exit. He hit out in Vietnam for another two months, ultimately leaving on an oil ship on April 1, 1968.

Donohue later recounted his story in a book titled “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” which, in 2022, was turned into a movie. It has a 43% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and generally has mixed reviews.

More About Beer

Today’s Bonus fact: On February 18, 1978, fifteen competitors showed up for the first-ever Ironman Triathalon — a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 26.2-mile run (that is, a marathon), and then completed with a 112-mile bike ride. A former Navy SEAL named John Dunbar was leading the way, but toward the end, something went wrong. We Are The Mighty explains: “Then, the competition was unlike anything they could have prepared for, so each participant was expected to have a crew with them to ensure their needs were met as the race progressed. Dunbar ran out of water because his team ran out of water, but he hydrated with beer and finished the race.” Unfortunately, the beer didn’t just hydrate him — it (understandably) inhibited his performance. He finished second.

From the Archives: The Underground River of Beer: An easier way to deliver a beer or four.

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And thanks! — Dan