Mueller Says Surviving Vietnam Left Him Owing a Life of Service
He did not fear dying, he said, only failing the Marines entrusted to him, and he left his own fate to prayer.
The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg · Robert S. Mueller III: The Director (Part 1)Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who served as a Marine infantry officer in Vietnam, was asked how combat shaped his decision to keep serving the country. He answered with his own summary of survivor's obligation.
"I consider myself exceptionally lucky to have made it out of Vietnam," Mueller said. "There were many, many who did not."
Mueller believes survival was a gift that required repayment. He said he owed a great deal because the men who were lost deserved more than he did, and he described his decades in public service as part payback for what he called a substantial gift from God.
That belief, Mueller said, was formed before he ever reached combat. Staging in Okinawa on the way to Vietnam, he said he was not sad and did not wrestle with the odds of dying. Mueller said he "spent a fair amount of time in prayer," confident he would make it back and leaving the outcome in God's hands. What weighed on him was not his own death, but the grief his family would carry if he were killed. He was married then, and he said a death is hardest for the family left behind.
In Vietnam, where he commanded about 35 to 40 Marines, Mueller said he did not fear death but feared failure. Failure, Mueller said, is synonymous with death, because "The Marine Corps has entrusted the lives of these soldiers to you as their leader." His first thought was how to keep his men safe, do the job, and bring as many home safely as possible.
"I have always felt compelled to contribute," he said.
Questions people ask
What did Mueller do after Vietnam to repay that debt?
After leaving the Marines, Mueller went to law school at the University of Virginia and became a federal prosecutor. He later led the Justice Department's Criminal Division, served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, and served as special counsel in the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
How dangerous was Vietnam for a new Marine lieutenant like Mueller?
Very dangerous. Mueller deployed in summer 1968 as a rifle platoon leader, and 1968 was the deadliest year for American troops in Vietnam, with nearly 17,000 battle deaths. New second lieutenants leading infantry platoons had especially short life expectancies because they were exposed while directing their men.
Was Mueller wounded in Vietnam?
Yes. He was shot through the thigh in April 1969 but said he did not feel it at first because of adrenaline. The wound passed through, so after treatment he returned to the field within about three weeks and received the Purple Heart.