Tributes to SFC Chuck Rinehart

This Section is devoted to comments about the radio operators who are missing or unknown since they served with us or deceased.Everyone is invited to submit comments and background on those operators.



Ed Lyon Rinehart Tribute 20Feb09

A Tribute to SFC Chuck Rinehart

The first person at the MARS station I met was Chuck Rinehart. I had been “dusted off” and brought to the 12th Evac. hospital at Ch Chi. I noticed the quad antenna and out of curiosity, walked into the station to see what it was all about. Chuck gave me a station tour and took my information. About a month later I was told to report to the 125th Sig. as a MARS operator. Chuck had “pulled strings” with his many contacts and had brought me in from the infantry. At the time, transfers from infantry were prohibited—but Chuck had many contacts, as I later learned.

Mike Reagan said of Chuck, “ he was the chief of logistics and supply and nothing on the earth was beyond his reach”. To that I say, Amen! He was quite experienced to say the least. It didn’t matter if we needed steaks or a helicopter – we could work it out. Chuck, somehow decided I was the one to carry on his “traditions” and taught me how to make those connections. Chuck introduced me to many of his “special friends” and I did carry on some of his endeavors after he left country. I have included a few of these in my stories.

I last talked with Chuck about July of 1995. I had let my ham license expire and in 1995 had re-tested and returned to my favorite hobby. One day I was thinking of the people at the MARS station and remembered Chuck’s callsign ,WA5ERM, and decided to look for it on the callsign database. It was there, so I wrote him a short note asking if he would like to talk. I got a favorable response and gave him a call. We chatted for over an hour and talked about many of the incidents related in the the stories on this site. Several times he said “ you still remember that?” He couldn’t believe other people still remembered those things. He seemed to be enjoying the trip down “memory lane”.

I ask if he had radios on the air but he said a storm had torn down his antenna. He hoped to have them up before long. He said he would let me know when he was back on the air and we could start talking on a regular basis. When about a year had passed and I had not heard from him, I investigated and found that he had passed away on the 23rd of May, 1996. I still miss those conversations we wouldn’t have.

I am very glad I walked into the MARS station that day, and very happy to have
met Charles W. Rinehart.


A Second Tribute To Chuck Rinehart


A Tribute to SFC Chuck Rinehart, The Universal Soldier
By Mike Reagan 24 FEB 09

SFC Chuck Rinehart was a unique addition to the staff of our MARS station. I do not remember exactly when he got into the station my guess is March 1967. He just started showing up and helping out. Although Chuck and I lived for several months in the back room of the radio station, I really did get to know him well. We both had strong personalities and I as a draftee did not really like the Army “lifer” point of view. Stan Upshall was our boss and he kept us both in place so the station functioned with each of us making a contribution to the whole. Chuck and I were very different. He was an 18-year army veteran Sergeant and I was an 14-month draftee who was just made a Sergeant
Chuck spent most of his off time in the local NCO clubs and I worked the night shift while Chuck worked the day shift. A perfect arrangement for us both because I could not sleep at night the entire time I was in country and Chuck wanted to party at night. So we had only passing contact. Stan Upshall said of Chuck:

“ Chuck knew the location of every NCO club within 100 KLICKS (kilometers) of the MARS station”

Several times that I recall he drove from Saigon to Cu Chi after dark with USO country and western performers in tow who were totally unaware of the danger. Most had no idea of the risk they had just been through. His love was country and western music and he would do almost anything to hear live music.. Once we listened to Eddy Arnold for weeks because it was the only tape he could get for his reel-to-reel tape player. Of course every time I hear Eddy Arnold I am instantly back in that Quonset hut with Chuck on his bunk across the room.

He kept a case of hand grenades next to the case of Johnny Walker under his bunk convinced one night we would be over run by VC. He thought either the grenades or the booze would solve the problem. His weapon of choice was a 45Cal Thompson Machine gun. This weapon was no longer in use by the American Army but we had given them to the Vietnamese military (ARVN). His was swapped from some ARVN soldier for a case of whiskey… One night about 2 in the morning when he was off duty, I had trouble with an Infantry 2ND Lieutenant with a large personal problem back in the world. He was loudly arguing with me about making a phone call. Chuck who was in our quarters came out of the back of the station with his 45 Cal machine gun with the straight clip in and asked if I needed help to keep the peace since he was trying to sleep. The lieutenant left but later demanded an investigation, which never happened. Chuck had too many well-placed friends to be threatened by a green 2nd Lieutenant. He had a skill for meeting people and attracting the things we needed to make the station play. Chuck was the chief of logistics and supply and nothing on the earth was beyond his reach. He made the station what it was.

When we started this project several months ago, I knew I wanted to write about Chuck but the words have been stuck between my head and my hand. I suppose the reader can sense Chuck and I did not really get along well. As I think more about it, I think I was jealous of Chuck’s innate army skills. He functioned with ease in the combat environment while I was tense and scared. Chuck represents the best of the Armies Universal Soldier without whom wars like Viet Nam could not be fought.

I wish I could have known him after the war and in a different time and space.