Vietnam veterans Ronnie Speight, right, and Geoff Colt point out the plaque of William J. Burkhardt at the Signal Soldier Fallen Memorial Wall, in Alexander Hall, during their visit to Fort Gordon, Georgia, on Aug. 20. Speight and Colt served with Bu...
Vietnam veterans Ronnie Speight, right, and Geoff Colt point out the plaque of William J. Burkhardt at the Signal Soldier Fallen Memorial Wall, in Alexander Hall, during their visit to Fort Gordon, Georgia, on Aug. 20. Speight and Colt served with Bu...
Fort Gordon Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Marcus L. Campbell greets Vietnam veterans Geoff Colt in red and Ronnie Speight during their visit to Fort Gordon on Aug. 20. Speight and Colt served with Burkhardt, for whom Burkhardt Hall is named, and visited...
FORT GORDON, Ga. (August 28, 2015) -- To most people who work and live on Fort Gordon, Burkhardt Hall is merely a two-story structure used as a training facility. But to a couple of Vietnam veterans, the building serves as a profound reminder of service and sacrifice.
Ronnie Speights, of Lithia Springs, Georgia, and Geoff Colt, of Millbrook, Alabama, knew the Soldier after which Burkhardt Hall was named.
Spc. William J. Burkhardt trained at Fort Gordon before being sent to Vietnam as a radio relay and carrier attendant assigned to 52nd Signal Battalion, 2nd Signal Group, 1st Signal Brigade. Burkhardt was killed in action on Oct. 12, 1967, when his camp at Chau Doc came under attacked by Viet Cong forces.
Fort Gordon memorialized Burkhardt on Aug. 15, 1970, by naming one of its training facilities in his honor. And on Aug. 20, nearly 48 years later, Speights and Colt were flooded with emotions as they stepped inside the hall for their first time and saw plaques honoring their battle buddy.
"I get a cold chill running straight up my back," Colt said. "I had been looking for some kind of closure for 47 years."
Speights and Colt were with Burkhardt the night he was killed. Speights and Burkhardt were both Army radio relay and carrier attendants. Colt was a forward air controller with the Air Force. He and Burkhardt were "bunkmates." They originated from different units, but they were assigned to the same Special Forces outfit and were united in battle.
Speights and Colt can recall parts of Oct. 12, 1967 like it was yesterday; other parts aren't so clear. He and Burkhardt were on the first floor of an abandoned French Mission Building where Special Forces had set up camp. Colt was on the second floor.
Speights had reported for duty around midnight. A short time later, the camp came under intense rocket fire. Burkhardt was doing what he could to keep the transmitter on frequency, a critical function, Speights recalled. Without a proper frequency, there was little to no communication.
"During this time, I remember looking at the clock, and it was 12:20 a. m.," Speights said. "(Burkhardt) got out there and walked back and forth three or four times, doing that frequency drill. Whenever he sat down, that's when that round came right through that window and exploded right in the middle of all our equipment."
Burkhardt was mortally wounded. Speights was blown about four feet away and critically wounded. Colt was manning a machine gun upstairs, and the rocket's impact knocked him to the ground. Speights didn't know the extent of his own injuries at the time, but he knew they were very serious and didn't think he was going to make it out alive.
"I kind of felt my life end in a way. I just figured that my time was up," Speights said. "And I wasn't sad for myself. But for my mom and dad … that was a different story."
Speights was medically evacuated that morning. Colt and Speights wouldn't see each other again until decades later. Speights was eventually sent back to Fort Gordon where he was presented with a Purple Heart for injuries including a punctured left lung and broken ribs. The two reconnected six years ago when Colt saw a message Speights left on a Special Forces website. Uncertain if the email address attached to it was valid, Colt took a chance and sent Speights a message. It was. Now they get together every year in October to celebrate Speights' life and honor Burkhardt's memory.
"I tell him he was reborn on the 12th of October, because he wasn't supposed to live," Colt said. "We celebrate his birthday, and we toast our fallen brother, Billy Burkhardt."
And much like finding each other was purely accidental, or fate as some might call it, so was finding Burkhardt Hall. Speights and Colt learned of Burkhardt Hall from a mutual friend who thought it could be named after their comrade. After some research and contact with Fort Gordon officials, the two decided it was time to see the hall for themselves. It was a visit they won't soon forget. For Speights, it brought a sense of tangibility to his military service.
"Sometimes you hear about things, and you don't really believe it happened, but then you see it," Speights said. "It just kind of donned on me that ol' Burkhardt and all that stuff I went through in Vietnam … it really did happen, and I lived through all of it. Why? I don't know. But I sure am glad I did."
Colt said by spending time at Burkhardt Hall and sharing photos of Burkhardt with Fort Gordon Soldiers, he feels like he can begin a new healing process.
"We all said we don't know why it took this long for us to meet, but evidently maybe a higher power has a reason for it," Colt said. "We're just thankful that we're getting the closure that we have and getting what we can ... getting to know each other, and trying to answer some questions for one another."
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