Artwork, speaking to students helps Army veteran come to terms with horrors of war

Chuck Derer can’t recall why he decided to begin speaking at Downers Grove North High School for Veterans Day, but doing so helped him sort out the memories he struggled with after his service during the Vietnam War.

Derer was drafted into the Army in 1967. Like many young men, he was enrolled in college at the time in an effort to avoid being called to the military.

“I understood I would probably get drafted and that that year in college might be the last year of my life,” Derer said. “So I enjoyed it and I flunked out and then one day I got my draft notice. I was sick about it. I was only 20 at the time and you just don’t know what life is about, but you start to understand it could end abruptly.”

After basic training and advanced infantry training, Derer qualified for noncommissioned officer’s school and was put in charge of an infantry squad in Vietnam.

Derer’s days were spent on reconnaissance patrols, where he became familiar with the landscape and learned from native people.

In the evenings, his squad handled ambush patrol, where on only one occasion Derer came face to face with members of the Viet Cong. As squad leader, he recalled, he was responsible for making sure the enemy was dead by placing an additional bullet in the head of the already dead body before him, he said.

Booby traps were the greatest danger to Derer’s squad and on one occasion he suffered minor injuries from a trap.

Asked about these events by students, Derer quickly learned he had to decide whether to always be brutally honest about his experience in the Army or to “sugarcoat” it. He decided honesty would be best for the students and himself.

“I have to be honest with the kids because that’s the right thing to do,” Derer said. “I’m stealing a little bit of their youth every time I speak with them, but what’s the point of being there if I’m not being honest?”

Michael Roethler, chairman of the social studies department at Downers Grove North, met Derer in 2019 and said he has known him to be incredibly generous with his time.

In addition to speaking at the school’s Veterans Day event, Derer has volunteered to speak with smaller groups, including the school’s student council and individual classes, Roethler said.

Roethler said Derer always is humble and downplays the importance of his service in the Army. He said that although history books may provide a synopsis of events for students, Derer and other veterans speaking to the students illustrate the individual effects of war, giving them a detailed picture of what life in the armed forces truly is like.

“[Derer] and all of the veterans who come to DGN help students learn in a truly unique way,” Roethler said. “Many students speak of this day as being a highlight of their year and high school experience in general.

“We are truly thankful for [Derer] and all of the veterans who come to DGN for giving up their time, being so willing to share what are deeply personal experiences and, most of all, for their service to our country.”

Before Derer was speaking with students, he cleared his mind of wartime with art. Although he didn’t finish college before being drafted, Derer eventually returned to his studies after coming home from Vietnam. He received a degree from Northern Illinois University, where one of his works later was displayed.

Derer always was passionate about the arts, but after returning home, he felt there were images in his head that had to be released, he said.

He proposed a light sculpture displayed at Fermilab for one night that was a testament to the power of blinding lights he saw during his time in the Army, he said. One of his other works, “Red Rain,” was inspired by his memory of machine gun tracer fire at night and is an animated neon piece once displayed at NIU.

“You get these images in your head, stuff you’ve seen in the Army,” Derer said. “Things in the Army are always bigger and brighter and longer and louder. I have to get things out of my head. It took me time to adjust when I got home and talking to the kids and making things, it just helps.”