-Farm News photo by Doug Clough
While serving in Vietnam, Aldrich became friends with the Montagnard tribal leader, who gave him the crossbow shown here. “He brought the crossbow to the helicopter just before I left,” Aldrich said. “He told me to use it to keep monkeys out of my corn field.”

BELMOND — Just South of Belmond in Wright County is a German-style A-frame farmhouse built by R.E Lee Aldrich, 85, and his late wife Lynne. It’s the farmstead where Aldrich grew up, although the A-frame home came after he served in the army. The farm has been in his family since 1883.

“All of our hogs came from three gilts purchased by my great-grandfather,” said Aldrich.

The Aldrich farmstead is just southeast of the farm where his “hometown honey” Lynne, the woman he was married to for 54 years, was raised; Aldrich gives Lynne all the credit for his stellar life.

“We married in 1962 while I was still in college at Iowa State University,” said Aldrich, who earned a degree in agricultural education. “One day I came home and notified her that if I extended my Reserved Officer Training Corp. (ROTC) commitment from two to three years, the Army would pay her way to Germany, shipping our furniture and car, and we would have government housing. This young lady, who had hardly been out of Iowa, said, ‘Let’s do it!’ — and that response changed our lives.”

Aldrich began his service in April of 1963.

It was during the Cold War, and Aldrich — with his wife and 1-year-old son Forrest — spent time in Europe doing his part to show the might of the allies to the Russian front.

“The weeks were hell, but the weekends were heavenly with walks in the forest,” said Aldrich. “I was assigned as a line officer in the 24th Infantry Division in Augsburg, Bavaria. It wasn’t fun duty due to all the spit and polish and maneuvers to impress the Russians and east Germans. Lynne and our infant son were issued dog tags, and our car needed to always be half full of gasoline; my wife needed to know how to drive to Switzerland, so it was serious. We didn’t know until later that it was just a ‘paper tiger.'”

By 1966, Aldrich had earned the rank of captain and was deemed critical to the Vietnam War effort due to his agricultural experience and education; this time Lynne would not be able to accompany him to Saigon.

“I went to Ft. Bragg for Special Warfare School and Monterey for Vietnamese Language School,” said Aldrich. “While waiting to get my assignment as an advisor imbedded in a South Vietnamese Army Unit, I was ordered to report to the United States Aid for International Development (US AID).”

The US AID is an independent agency of the United States government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and developmental assistance.

“With my background as an Iowa farm boy and a degree in agricultural education,” said Aldrich. “I was on loan as the agricultural advisor in Dak Lak Province in the Highlands to work with the ethnic Vietnamese, the aboriginal Montagnard tidal people, and the International Volunteer Services (IVS). The only advice that I received was that I needed to get the people to feed themselves, because no one worries about politics on an empty stomach.”

Aldrich enjoyed being his own boss as well as having all the resources of the Army, US AID, and the IVS. He partnered with the local agricultural experiment station to gain information on how to raise rice and bananas, something he wasn’t taught at ISU. Aldrich became good friends with the Montagnard Tribal Leader who allowed him to help the native people.

“Did I know how to raise rice? No. Did I know to put the pigsty next to the pond, so the manure goes into the pond which makes the algae grow better and the fish grow better? Yes, and we had more fish just by moving the pigsty,” Aldrich said. “That’s the kind of stuff that I did. Nothing great … just little stuff.

“I wrote home for vegetable seeds, and my dad sent them. The IVS personnel, right out of college, were able to have the resources of the Army, US AID, and help from my own father. As a result, the people could get more to eat than just rice, monkey meat, and goat meat.”

When Aldrich’s time in Vietnam came to an end in 1967, the Montagnard tribal chief gave him a crossbow with darts, among other items that Aldrich still prizes today.

“He brought the crossbow to the helicopter just before I left,” Aldrich said. “He told me to use it to keep monkeys out of my corn field.”

When Aldrich returned to Belmond, he farmed for his father the rest of 1967 before fully taking over the farming operation in 1968.

“Lynne and I planted two acres of evergreen trees on top of a sandy hill behind our farm buildings,” said Aldrich. “That grew to 20 acres of fir and pine trees that we sell at Christmas time each year. In spring of 2020, I planted 1,500 baby seedlings, so I need to stick around to see them harvested.

“At the height of my farming career, I raised 1,000 acres of row crop, sold 1,000 head of hogs, and sold 1,000 trees.”

Lee and Lynne traveled extensively with their three boys, all adults today: Forrest, Todd, and Lance.

“We’ve been to five continents, 28 countries, and all the states but Alabama,” said Aldrich. “Our favorite country was Germany since we were there for two and a half years. It’s where we developed our affinity for A-frame homes. We’re both of Ostfriesland, German ancestry and have been back about 10 times. In 2018 — two years after Lynne passed — I backpacked for a month on my own and attended an immersion language school with a lot of 20- and 30-year-olds.”