A Vietnam Seabee's Vow
A 4-Part Video series of Honor and Remembrance
I created the concept in 2023 for a special series for Memorial Day. From storyboarding, filming, researching to guarantee authenticity of historic events and be able to set the scene, sound design throughout the series, and post-production editing. This docu-series tells the tale of David Warnken’s journey from the family farm near Hutchinson, Kan., to the Vietnam War, back home again and, finally, the Wall and Arlington National Cemetery, where his close friend Chief Donald Barnes and other of his fellow Seabees are laid to rest.
At 25, David O. Warnken of Hutchinson, Kan., never expected to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. It just wasn’t on his radar. This was the mid 1960s. Vietnam was still very far away, something you might see on television from time to time, or read about in the newspaper’s interior pages. Soon enough, it was a full-on war that called for an expanded draft.
Married and starting his career, Warnken was informed one day that his draft notice was in the mail, but there was one billet available for him in the Navy. He took it.
Sooner than he could have imagined, the farm boy from Kansas was a Seabee in the Vietnam War, an experience that would forever shape his life.
Warnken saw his share of combat and the losses that come with it while he was deployed. One loss in particular never left him. When Chief Donald J. Barnes rolled away for Khe Sanh, he told Warnken he could sit this trip out. “I’ve already seen my five children,” Chief Barnes told him. “I want you to see yours.” Those were the last words they shared.
On June 6, 1967, the war was over for Chief Barnes.
Part One: From Farm to Fight
A Kansas farmer shares his journey from the Midwest to Southeast Asia and home again. The story begins with his upbringing on the farm, education in a one-room schoolhouse and his confidence, as a young married man, that he would not be called to fight in the Vietnam War. Uncle Sam had other ideas.
Part Two: Bootcamp to Combat
David O. Warnken of Hutchinson, Kan. recalls his days as a young 25 year old Navy Seabee from Kansas, caught the crosshairs of a massive attack on his base, and the unauthorized decision he would never regret.
Part Three: Vietnam to Post 68
David O. Warnken describes his complicated transition when he returned from Vietnam in 1969, one he treated by burying himself in work. Little was said at home about the war and the combat he endured, but eventually he found others who understood at his local American Legion post .
Part Four: A War Finally Over
Warnken recollects his first visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, where the war finally ended for him and he vowed then to never forget Chief Donald J. Barnes nor any of the others he knew and served with in the Vietnam War.