By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
A Vietnam War hero who survived a fierce battle stood before Hays on Veterans Day, sharing a message that the duty to serve continues long after the war ended.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Ivanhoe Love Jr. is also the first Black Command Sergeant Major to serve as an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He reflected on his 28 years of service as an infantryman, having served in various units.
"I served in every capacity in the infantry, from squad leader up to a command sergeant major in almost every kind of unit where infantrymen serve," Love said.
Love emphasized he did not wish to glorify war, calling it “ugly,” and recalled a 1968 firefight in South Vietnam, where a much larger North Vietnamese force ambushed his small team. He lost nearly all his men but two in the initial attack.
"We fought all night," he said. "We were calling in close air support and artillery all night. ... I could hear through the bombs the screams of my men, 'Sgt. Love, come get me,' I'm crawling trying to get to these guys. I couldn't make it."
Along with a fellow captain who fought beside him that night, Love was honored for his actions. He received the Silver Star, one of the nation’s highest military decorations, an award he said he didn’t feel he earned.
"I didn't do anything. I came back alive. My men couldn't come back," Love said.
After a brief period of rest, Love returned to combat, working with a soldier he described as one of the best he had ever known, someone with “animal-like instincts,” an acute sense of smell and hearing sharper than a scout dog.
The two fought side by side almost every day. Love said he couldn’t recall a time when he wasn’t under fire. During their final mission together, while Love was conducting a routine equipment check, the soldier suffered a severe episode brought on by trauma.
"PTSD is a real-life thing. I don't know what happened to him, but I had to move forward," Love said. "[He was] an elegant example of what it does to the human mind. When you kill, and kill and kill ... but we do it for the sake of this country—no other reason, not for glory, but because of the causes we believe in."
Love returned to the United States once again and was met with hostility. First, when protesters at the airport threw urine on him, and later, when he said the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in his front yard after he became the first African American instructor and student at Arkansas State University.
After retiring from the military in 1990, Love devoted himself to public service in Seward County, serving as a county commissioner and spending more than a decade on the Liberal City Commission, including three terms as mayor. He later became Rotary District Governor for western Kansas.
"I carried the lessons forward that I learned in the military. I discovered that the call to serve doesn't end when you take the uniform off, it simply changes its form," Love said.
Love urged action to support veterans struggling with homelessness and health care challenges, saying gratitude must translate to concrete help. He also emphasized the importance of the VFW’s role in that mission.
"Let us ensure that when we say thank you for your service. It carries with you the commitment to stand with those who are still fighting battles unseen," he said.
The ceremony at VFW Post 9076 began with the Honor Guard presenting the colors, followed by O’Loughlin Elementary students leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
The program also featured a presentation from the Voice of Democracy scholarship winner, Mariella Dreiling, who read her winning essay. The ceremony concluded with a traditional flag-folding tribute.
The VFW is a nonprofit that offers medical assistance and helps veterans file their VA claims. You can learn more here.
