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Dannie Sonksen relaxes in his spacious Stratford farmhouse. Sonksen is a U.S. Army veteran who served in South Vietnam. -Messenger photo by Lori Berglund
Episode 2647 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about Vietnam Vet Dannie Sonksen’s wonderful story of service to country both on and off the battlefield. The featured story comes from The Messenger of Fort Dodge, IA and was titled, Sonksen never expected to make it out of Vietnam. It was submitted by Lori Berglund.
Dannie Sonksen is another tremendous representative of the Vietnam Veteran Generation – one as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty from our country. He grew up on a farm in Iowa.
Berglund reported in her story that Dannie Sonksen will always know that 1968 was a leap year. For most people that extra day was just another day at the end of February. For Sonksen, that meant one more day in South Vietnam.
“I was there a year and a day,” Sonksen said. “I got an extra day because it was leap year.”
But at least he was getting out just as the war was sinking to its lowest point. Sonksen had arrived in South Vietnam in the spring of 1967. In that year, U.S. casualties would nearly double from 6,350 in 1966 to 11,363 in 1967. The year 1968 would be the deadliest of all, with 16,899 Americans killed.
Sonksen counts himself lucky to have come home at all. He got his ticket out of South Vietnam in April 1968. The following month would be the single worst month of U.S. casualties of the entire war.
After his discharge, Dannie and his family returned to Stratford, where he and his two sons and build a successful farming operation. Sonksen enjoys being part of the community and today farms with sons Travis and Shane. While many Vietnam veterans were often treated poorly upon their return, Sonksen said that didn’t happen to him.
Listen to episode 2647 and discover more about Vietnam Vet Dannie Sonksen’s wonderful story of service to country both on and off the battlefield.
