SEMINOLE, Ala. — This is a story of courage. It is also a story of true friendship and perserverance in the face of impossible odds.

The story begins with five friends, a tiny “Band of Brothers” within the whole.

Larry Joe Purcell, Bobby Skaggs, Willie Martin, Willie “Tiny” Taylor and Louis “Tex” Balas, all came to Vietnam in 1968.

“When you go through what we went through together, you become closer than brothers,” said Taylor, a resident of Robertsdale.

Balas and Willie Martin were first, joining the 11th armored cavalry,, Black Horse regiment, recon division in January 1968, shortly after the Tet offensive.

Taylor joined soon after on Feb. 1, then Skaggs and Purcell on Feb. 25.

What brought the five men together was a near tragedy. One in which Taylor credit’s Balas for saving his life.

According to Balas, he and his recon group were on the road to Fire Base Jaeger when they heard that a truck carrying Taylor among others, had been hit by an RPG, or a rocket-propelled grenade.

Taylor was thrown from the truck, knocked unconscious and wounded, paralyzed from the hips down.

“We were in the middle of heavy resistance at the Fire Base when I realized (Taylor) wasn’t there,” Balas said. “So I asked, ‘Where’s Tiny.’

‘Who.’

‘You know, Tiny, the great big fellow from Alabama. He was 6-foot-4 and weighed about 235 pounds at the time.”

Balas and some of his group went back looking for the armoured truck that was scheduled to arrive behind them, but had not.

Balas found Taylor unconscious in the middle of the road and the small Texan, who, at 5-foot-8, was outweighed by Taylor by at least 100 pounds, dragged Taylor to safety.

Taylor would regain consciousness and the two continued to fight the enemy from the side of the road for another four hours before help arrived.

The result was one of the heaviest casualties during the conflict, with Taylor one of the few survivors from his regiment.

He would later join with Balas, Martin, Skaggs and Purcell and the five were nearly inseparable from that point until Martin left in July of 1968, 5 1/2 months later.

Balas would get his ticket home Aug. 7. Less than one week later Purcell would be killed during a heavy battle, one that would leave Skaggs permanently scarred.

Skaggs was initially shot in the side, but while being worked on, he raised his head and was shot with a rifle blast.

“I was told at the time that if he lived, he would be a vegetable for the rest of his life,” Taylor said.

In September, Balas received a letter from Taylor and a fellow solidier telling him that Purcell had been killed and Skaggs had been shot. In November, Taylor called Balas to let him know that he had arrived safely back home in Baldwin County.

“We made a pact right then that no matter what, we would find Bobby alive or we would find his grave, but we were going to find him,” Balas said. “And we were going to go visit him.”

After about 20 years, the two were reunited with Martin and renewed their pact to find Skaggs.

It took over 35 years, but they made it happen.

Balas put an item on the 9th Infantry website, asking if anyone knew Skaggs’ whereabouts, to contact him, leaving his name and phone number.

On July 4, 2005, Steve Skaggs, Bobby’s half-brother, responded to the posting.

Skaggs, who had been left mentally impaired by the rifle shot, was living in a nursing home in Louisville, Ky.

“I called Tiny and we immediately made plans to go see Bobby in September of 2005,” Balas said. Balas then flew to Alabama and the two drove to Virginia where they picked up Martin and drove from there to Louisville.

When they walked into the nursing home, Balas and Taylor both said Skaggs was almost unrecognizable from the friend they had known, but Balas said he saw a glimpse of his old friend when he spoke.

“I said, ‘Bobby, do you know who this is? Bobby, this is Tex. Me and Tiny and Willie have come to see you,’” Balas said. The reaction was almost immediate.

“We visited for about 10 minutes, talking and playing games with him,” Balas said, mostly testing to see if Skaggs could still remember back to his days of fighting along side his tiny “Band of Brothers.”

“He knew things that only we would know,” Balas said. “The nurses there were absolutely dumbfounded. They all thought he was a vegetable who couldn’t communicate. They also thought he had been that way his whole life.”

They showed pictures of Skaggs and told the nurses and staff how he had been wounded during the war.

“We talked about things that hadn’t been discussed in 37 years,” Taylor said. “I asked him,

‘Bobby, when is my birthday?’

He responded, ‘August 30, 1947.’

‘And when is your birthday?’

‘August 11, 1947.’

‘And how many days difference is that.’

‘Nineteen days.’

‘Bobby, when you played basketball in high school in Kentucky, how many points per game did you average.’

‘Twenty-three points.’

‘What was my average points per game, Bobby.’

‘Twenty points.’

‘And how much difference is that.’

‘Three points.’

“He answered every question without having to think about it. He remembered it from Vietnam. They had no idea he could do that.”

After they left, the trio determined that they wanted to move Skaggs to nicer facility, one that would be closer to Skaggs’ 82-year-old father.

While the facility in Louisville was a private one, Skaggs’ care was funded by the Veteran’s Administration, so Balas called a friend he knew in the VA system and found another facility within 50 miles of the elder Skaggs’ home, as opposed to the 124 miles for the Louisville facility.

Some time later, Taylor and his wife Sarah would return to visit Skaggs and fear that they won’t get another chance to see their friend.

“He told me he was dying and I could see that they have him hooked to all kind of machines,” Taylor said, then with tears in his eyes, added, “I said my goodbyes and I believe he is right with God. It was closure for me.”

From a fishing camp in Seminole, two old friends got the chance to reminise about both good times and bad times.

“While the 9th Infantry holds a larger reunion every year, we decided to hold our own reunion,” Taylor said.

This year Taylor hosted the event at the fishing camp owned by himself and his brother. Travel trailers were donated by area residents, many of whom are themselves veterans.

While Martin was unable to attend this year’s reunion, the event has expanded to include family and neighbors that also served in Vietnam and have their own stories to tell about their experiences.

Mike Cronan is a cousin of Balan’s wife Lois. After talking at family reunion’s, the two veterans discovered they had a lot in common.

“I served as a combat ship helicopter pilot and we flew a lot of support missions for the 9th Infantry,” Cronan said. “While we may not have served directly with recon, we all have a great love and respect for our brothers in Vietnam.”

George Lee, a neighbor of the Taylors, served in the Air Force in Vietnam and has been participating in the reunions for a number of years.

“We were all there at the same time and share a lot of the same experiences,” Lee said.

The four have also all suffered the effects of the war, from the close combat that can still bring nightmares and night sweats, to the backlash caused by the unpopularity of the war.

They have all had exposure to protestors and to Agent Orange, which has caused numerous problems for many Vietnam veterans.

Wives and loved ones also have stories to tell; stories of suffering and triumph.

All agreed that Balan was among the worst.

“I didn’t know what PTSD was,” said Lois Balan. “I went through several years of suffering in silence. He would wake up sweating, but we would never talk about it.”

Overindulgence is also a common problem suffered by many veterans.

“Some people become alcoholics or addicts. He became a workaholic,” she said. “He was always working. Sometimes at 1’clock in the morning, he would be in the garage working on something when he couldn’t sleep.”

When they went to a restaurant, Balan would sit with his back against the wall so he could see everyone in the room. On the rare occassions when they went out in public, that is. Balan was always very uncomfortable in large crowds.

“He also has to have a lot of time alone,” Lois Balan said, “which is something else I’ve found to be common among veterans.”

All agreed that the reunions have helped. The reunions have helped for both the veterans and their wives to share experiences.

“It’s nice to have someone else to talk to that has gone through what you’ve been through,” Sarah Taylor said.

While not everyone was able to make it this time around, they all look forward to the time when they can all get together again.