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CherriesWriter - Vietnam War website 
I am a friend of a Canadian Vietnam Veteran. We served during the same time, 1969 to 1971. We did AIT together at Fort Knox, Kentucky, United States Army.It is there where he in 1970 he invited me to accompany him to Windsor, Ontario to visit his Paternal Grand Parents on a three day pass. After graduation from AIT, he got orders for Germany and I for Vietnam. Low and behold, we reunited again in Vietnam as we were both serving with the 11th Armored Cavalry, the famous Black Horse, he was with the 3rd Squadron and I with the 1st Squadron! I always thought he was a California kid from Redondo Beach but he was really from Canada. I know he did a lot of work in the initial steps of the monument and he is very proud of the out come. He’s name is Gary Deschaine and he still lives around the Windsor area. One great friend and Brother In Arms…
Submitted by Rey Frutos Santa Paula, California
A Troop 1/11th Armored Cavalry
Legendary “Black Horse”
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great! my parents recieved a telegram from the Army telling them i was KIA but kater on i called them that i was MIA and fine. The Army never admitted it but they Med evaded me home as soon as as i found myself into friendly lines
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I was a grunt in the 6/31 infantry in the Mekong Delta 69-70 ,carried the m-60 machine gun for ten months ,during the monsoon season everything was mud up to your knees in the delta when we went out on our patrols.
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Like most of us I was simply a “Grunt” during my first 6 months. I was in Bravo Co, 1/46th, 196th LIB in the Americal Division and we were located in I-corps, the Northernmost region of South Vietnam. Humping the central highlands/ mountainous terrain was exhausting and snipers were often our primary contact. I had an 11-Charlie MOS so eventually I was shifted to the mortar squad. Since the 81mm mortar is too heavy to hump that meant I became part of a fire base protection. FSB Professional and FSB Mary Ann were the primary FSBs, but I recall also being on FSB Young and Boxer We still had to rejoin the troops in the field if they were encountering heavier fire and I was on one ridgeline where we dueled with a CHI-Com 82mm. mortar. We hit their ammo supply, and the secondary took out the squad – numerous blood trails were found. I extended my tour but still got out after 13 & 1/2 months. Deros’d 3 months before Mary An was over-run. Over the years, the memories and sights never go away though, particularly a fragging incident. – William Reid
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listening to you brought back things that was stored in my mind but never talked about I wasn’t a grunt in viet nam but I was a heavy equipment operator that moved all over the country clearing ambush areas I operated a D7 bulldozer we experienced most of the things you did but I know a grunt had it much worse the 201st and173rd traveled with us I really enjoyed listening to you welcome home and may God bless you
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1965-66 was G3 Advisor I Corps with MACV and Sr Advisor to the 51st ARVN Regt (Sep) Hoi An. !969 was Bde XO and task force commander, 3d Bde, Ist In Div. Lai Khe. Col Elmer Pendelton’s brigade.
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I chose both Vietnam and Korea in the survey but I was in Korea 67-68, it’s known as “The DMZ War”.
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Was there looking at u as it happened Chalk 4 gunner Be Safe
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Richard McMinn. (Mac) menzie781@hotmail.com
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I am a Aussie vet, infantry 1969-71. i get the same greeting in Australia now usually fellow Vets. It identifies us. Just been back to Vietnam 55 years after i left, Even in Hanoi they don’t refer to the American War anymore, They loved the fact that i came back and saw the tremendous progress they have made. I felt no animosity and felt so safe Saigon, Hue, Danang, Vung Tau etc. The Cambodians however dislike the Vietnamese and blame the US for the mines that still litter the country est @2mil. Verry grateful for tourists from everywhere US, Aus Brit etc. Thanks for sharing your article it is appreciated by all Vets
djmatley48@outlook.com
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Flew Phantoms with the Marine Corps in the Vietnam Arena ‘69-‘70, what a reliable bird. Great trip you guys went on, glad you made it home safely. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
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The two greatest thrills I ever had was directing fire from 2 Phantom 4’s while being sniped at by the VC from a mountain top. And, the other thrill was a short timer’s flight on a Huey coming out of the jungle.
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I was with B co. 1/18th infantry, 1st Infantry Division from early January 1966 until early-1967 wounded twice on 16 April 1966 and again in September, got malaria and medevac again in November of the same year. I was lucky, left Nam with orders to the Panama Canal Jungle warfare school where I got Malaria again. I retired with 24 years of service, SFC Airborne/Air Assault combat Infantryman.
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I was a combat medic in 1970, 1st Cav B co 2/5 Cav. I was wounded during the Cambodian invasion and medivac’d to Long Binh then to Japan and finally home. 100% disabled, I spent a little ove 5 months in country and got 2 Purple Hearts.
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ayor I was a pilot with C company, 227AHB from Dec 66 – Dec 67. It changed my life in so may ways. I am 100% disabled and I still have, after 50 so years, flashbacks and nightmares! I pray all my buddies, that are still alive, are doing well, have given their life’s to Jesus, and can now rest, without pain. I would love to hear from my comrades. Respect: mark hibbard
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The Courageous actions and bravery of these young men is admirable and beyond description. I will forever be a grateful United States citizen for the sacrifices and selfless behavior that these service members showed on the battlefield. To every United States veteran reading this, and especially our United States Vietnam Veteran’s please know that you are appreciated, as everyone of your brothers and arms who lost their lives. May God rest their souls and may you be forever blessed!
Welcome Home 🙏🏻👍💯🇺🇸Jeanne
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Door gunner with the 187th AHC (Crusaders) out of Tay Ninh and then with the 120th (Deans) out of Long Binh. We really were something else, weren’t we? Now I have to tout my own book, Repeat: A Love Story For The Ages. I usually bill it as a love story for men and a war story for women — but then, let’s let one of the real ones tell you. This is the review from the VHPA by one of their own:
Repeat: A Love Story for the Ages
Reviewed by: Dr. Edward Zielinski
Have you ever loved so deeply that your heart soars in the presence of your lover and ached equally at their absence? Have you ever loved a band of brothers such that you would place yourself in harms way without a thought? If so, read this book. Then, pass it to your spouse so they may understand what is in your soul. Repeat affirms these feelings. If you have not, then Repeat will confirm that for which all are seeking. Repeat brings the emotions of losing a loved one to the forefront so realistically, I quietly wept for them.
Have you ever thought, “If I knew then what I know now…?” Or looked at your life’s choices and thought ‘I wish I could do that over again’. This novel explores that wish as a reality and illuminates the joys and pitfalls of having that wish come true.
In Repeat, Paul and Angelina are awarded the opportunity for both. Repeat is a love story that is about both the love for another and the love for a band of brothers. This deeply passionate love drives the story as they live their redo of adulthood.
Repeat begins quickly and charges forward for the entire novel. The short chapters give pause to think and many a stopping point for the reader. But I didn’t want to stop reading. The writing is picturesque and emotionally charged. While reading, I was forced to be in touch with my wildly romantic side as well as my Viet Nam warrior side. From the beginning of flight school, the author was so correct in his descriptions, I had to remind myself I was reading fiction not an autobiography.
From Ft Polk basic training to Wolters, to Rucker to Viet Nam Repeat perfectly chronicled the path of a Warrant Officer Candidate through the gauntlet of becoming a Combat Aviator. The Viet Nam scenarios were very close to my own. Also, the post-war PTSD, trip to The Wall, reunions at the reunions, described how two people in love should have dealt with these inevitable, highly charged emotions.
And in the end, I won’t say. Read Repeat. It ends well!
/https://www.amazon.com/Repeat-Love-Story-J-Kohler-ebook/dp/B07YL6JGFT
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I WAS A GUNNER/ CREW CHIEF 69/70… WOULD DO IT AGAIN, IF I COILD
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MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE! e-mail me!!!! Gerald Augustine author ‘VIETNAM BEYOND’
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1965-66
8th Fld Hosp
NhaTrang
92B SP5
1967-68
QuiNhon
85th Evac Hosp
92B SSG E6
C Williams
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JT
I was in the 173d Airborne Bde. 1964-1966. I always thought the Helicopter pilots were 10 feet tall with huge balls the way they flew. I don’t care how tall they actually were, We all believed they were 10 feet tall. Thanks for saving our asses many times.
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I was with the
American Division and could not agree more. They were absolutely fearless 11B40
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Great Read. I have been searching for years for a read like this for those that spent time in the Bush. Lucky I never had too. Did serve 2 years in SEA in the AF with the F-105 and the EB-66.
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Buzz Adams, Marine Sgt
I was with 1/12 and then ANGLICO 11/67-12/68 in a tiny outpost on the DMZ and South China Sea called Oceanview.
There are over 58,000 stories on that black rock, none with a happy ending!
We haven’t forgotten you, you’re carried in our hearts.
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Door gunner for Iron Mike 68-69
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My husband was a medic attached to the 577th Engineers, C CO. 1969-70.
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Vietnam70-72
Two tours
120th Transportation
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As a Marine Infantry Veteran of the late 1970’s, I was trained by many a Vietnam Veteran. I thank them for the training that was not in any Infantry manual. I heard many stories like this one & hold them close to my heart! That is why to this day, I tear up every time I hear our national anthem. Semper Fi to all Marines, past & present!
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Does anyone notice how (no first name) Anonymous usually does some kind of hit and and run, not wanting anyone to know who they were are. I believe it’s because they don’t really believe in what the tell us. Relate this to the politics of today, open borders, drug and sex trafficking, inflation, taxes, climate change, etc. Anonymous means little to me, I mostly don’t even read what they have to say because it’s never backed up with anything except more Anonymous’s. I served in Vietnam as an XO and BC of an 8″ Self Propelled Artillery Battery. The attacks on our unit were from Anonymous, they usually hit us with rockets and mortars, then ran. The seldom stayed around to fight.
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This is in no way meant to reflect any opinion on the Marine posting as Anonymous on Jan 7th 2024, at 5:32 pm, or any other veteran. It was only related to the really negative hit and runners that have infiltrated this site.
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I’m a 77 year old Marine Vietnam combat veteran and was in Country 1966 & 1967. Our Country let many people down and continue to do so by the un American and criminal actions if Congress
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I’m a Vietnam Veteran 1969,1970 I was a Convoy Truck Driver, this was nice.
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pretty grisly.. saddistic.. probably true. Read I Remeber: Skybeavers. It’s about the 8th Combat Engineers in Nam. I wrote it.
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Terrific……like so many other “stories” this needs to be told over and over to ALL future generations
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Keep it alive, brother
Phantom
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By the time An Loc took place, I was getting ready to get married and go to college on the GI Bill. I had also joined the National Guard after my fpur years of active duty.
I.must admit that I had not paid a lot of attention at the time and was not informed enough on military tactics at that time to understand the much needed reinforcements, the lack of dynamic US combat support.
This article, over 50 years hence is now comprehended by my cumulative military education and Forces.
I wish that I had been learned enough at that time to understand the necessities and tactics of war and the composition of forces. I think the officer education gets exposed v to it, albeit slowly through your professional development but I spent my first eight years as an EM, and a cook at that!
Maybe the school houses can do a better job imparting the military structures from company level to Army level. Itcwould make reading the histories of warfare easier to comprehend.
An excellent and concise article.
Col Steve Spatola
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Love your post… it’s real! Thank you and sincerely, Welcome Home…
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Looking for some real history to email friends for our Veterans Day Parade. This was good. Thank you. The people who spit on you are now running this country into the ground. Obama/Biden aint no friend to our veterans or war heroes. They are considered the Founding Father of The Great Communist Reset on Western Civilization.
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….and tRUMP (Agent Orange) is no friend of our vets or war heroes (“I like vets who were not captured”, and in a vet cemetery, “Losers. What was in it for them?”) So tRUMP, with his white militia’s’ attack on Jan.6, is the founding Father of The Great Fascist Reset on Western Civilization.
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It is OK! I served with 196th Light Infantry Brigade and 4th infantry Division. 1965–1967 Iron Triangle, Bo Lo Woods, Boi Loi Woods, Ho Chi Minh Trail, and Michelin Rubber plantation, Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh. LZ Gold…
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My book is out– “VIETNAM BEYOND”
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I thought this was good and accurate. I was in Nam 69/70 with 199th as a chaplains assistant. Spent alot of time at Libby and Nancy as chaplain had his bunkers there. I will always be proud to have been a Redcatcher.
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I thought this was good and accurate. I was in Nam 69/70 with 199th as a chaplains assistant. Spent alot of time at Libby and Nancy as chaplain had his bunkers there. I will always be proud to have been a Redcatcher.
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Good read. 1/27th Wolfhounds, 25th Infantry Div – 67-68
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Great read.
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Accurate
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Rick Welch 1968 Navy Corpsman with 3/3 Indian Company but I only lasted about 3 &1/2 to 4 months. Commissioned USN Line/Physician 9/1984 processing MILPERSMAN 1100-030 for 55 years contiguous Service instead of broken service with CFD.
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Hey Rick. I was with Mike 3/3 in 1968. I was the One Four Man aka TACP. I worked very closely with our corpsmen running medevacs. Way too many of them. Thank you for all you did for us grunts. You Squids saved so many of us. We can never thank you enough. Jeff “TJ” Kelly,
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Sounds like a bad sci-fi novel plot. This was 1964. Find it impossible to believe the CIA or anyone else on the planet had the ability in the 1960s or even the 1970s, to simulate the radar or sonar situation described in the story. That is not to suggest that we didn’t create some type of harassment situation to bait the North into approaching our ships, including us getting a lot closer to shore that 12 miles. Who is to say where anyone’s ships were. There were no high resolution camera satellites, and certainly not that could see at night to verify anything. This story just doesn’t seem feasible.
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It brought back some dreadful memories. I had that detail 3-4 times the year I was there. It was almost unbearable. There wasn’t any masks or rubber gloves to use.
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Heroic action led by trusting God is what this former infantry soldier gleaned from your well written story.
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My husband’s and my best friend was killed there. We named our son, Dale after him. He was a medic. He was thrown from his bird after it was shot. Broke his neck in the y of a tree. Our son went into the army and flew Blackhawks. He retired a couple years back from the army.
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May Gods blessing be with you and your family always, Stay safe. Joe VN 1966
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My friend, Billy Kuhne, was KIA in Operation Sam Houston on 3/14/67.
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Enjoyed it…accurate as I remember firebases in Vietnam
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My dad was with 3rd Brigade as a helicopter repairman/door gunner and he took part in the evacuation from Ripcord. I believe that is why he got his Bronze star. I never knew until just the past few years so I have been looking into some of the history from his two tours.
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hi Angeline..
you likely know of Keith Nolan’s book:
RIPCORD: Screaming Eagles Under Siege 1970
if not, it’s a good read.. well researched..
Allen Brown
RTO
1st Bde, 101st Airborne Div (AMBL)
1970-71
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Sent from my iPad
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173d Airborne 1964-1966 Damn good article
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I was there in VIN LONG, 1965. My flashbacks are still in my mind. I have found some peace , my theory is I keep going back to VINH LONG to revisit a nineteen year old (me), I left part of my youth there.
Just had to share that to somebody! THANKS, RON ROWLAND
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Sent from my iPad
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C 2/327th Infantry 101st Airborne Division. 1968 to 1970. Good article.
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Sent from my iPad
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B Co 2/327th Inf. 1st Brigade “Nomads”. 11C10P. Thank you. For the memories, and God Bless Us All.
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B co. Reunion in Branson Mo. Sept.2023
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So would the resident psychopath Specialist McGuigan have been F.A. “Frank” or “Mac” McGuigan per chance?
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Helps me understand a tiny piece of what soldiers experienced in country
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Seemed I stumbled into a Marine AO-N I Corps. Spent total 30 months in Vietnam, all but one in I Corps: PhuBai***, Danang, Americal Div/196 LIB (LZ Baldy, Hawk Hill, LZ Bronco. ***Feb 68 took M-151 ride (2) from PhuBai to Hue-day after Marines cleared IT. MACV mess gave us a carton of frozen hotdogs for lunch-heat up quick under hood. I still see big round eyes of 8 yr old girl, she was in crowd lining street. Still had 1 pack of H-Dogs, gave them to her as we drove by. Her huge smile was angelic, a quick turn and she was lost in crowd. I’m 77 and can still see what was left of Hue on that day.
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Can’t copy, change your location.
>
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Great patriot.
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Babyface
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I believe I have a picture of your friend Barry taken the day before we left Vietnam. Please let me know if you woyuld like it and where I can send it. SJrut2@aol.com
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Naked in Danang is a great introspective to the life of a FAC pilot. I was at Phan Rang AB 35TFW with 600th Photo Det 5. Next door to our lab was what we called FAC-U. We had 01, 02, and OV-10s at our base. The propaganda plane was called the Bull-sh*t bomber as they dropped leaflets out of a chute over the jungles and had huge speakers. I had an O-1 FAC show me how good he was with a grease mark on the windshield by putting a Willie Pete through the front door of an abandoned house. South of Phan Rang was a tree that was a favorite for training pilots on how to place smoke, and the landscape around it showed it was heavily used. The FAC squadron lost a pair of pilots not too far from the base in 1969 from an OV-10. They were never found and assumed to be captives.
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Please remove this comment and move it to the page where it belongs.
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Sorry, but I’m un able to move or edit comments. I did copy it and posted it under the article.
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Very interesting.. My brother is a Viet Nam CIB veteran. I can’t imagine what these young men endured, even after all the period piece reading I have done..
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Compelling, moving.
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As time goes by, the up and coming generations will ask questions about their grandparents roles in the Vietnam War.
Just as I asked question about WWII with my father.
I still have all his old photos.
And the Vietnam era people are now getting old.
Soon there will be only memories.
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getting old?
hell, I was old since I came home.. but I know what you’re saying..
Allen
RTO
1st Bde 101st Airborne Div (AMBL)
1970-71
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Outstanding reminder of how it really was. Thank you for informing the public the hard work and hazards of being point man.
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Ted was not from Chigago. He was from Detroit. I should know. I tried to talk him into joining the branch I was serving in, the Navy, but he said, “Nope I want to be a Marine.”
My brother, Ted, and I were born and raised in Detroit.
Thank you for remembering him.
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I was Bues Commander fir B Troop, 1/9 Cavalry based in Quinn Loi.
I believe supporting forces from 1/9 were deployed to LZ Jamie during the attack.
Another group of brave Americans overcoming overwhelming enemy forces.
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Could you put me in touch with the author as I was also a gunner with HMM 161 and 262 in the same time period out of Quang Tri. Thanks
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I was with the 87th engineers 199th Infantry 66-68 . Just wondering why I didn’t see any Engineers ? One Engineer was killed in Long Khanh Province, South Vietnam 1969. He was clearing bush when a booby trap went off and killed him and his shotguner.
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Hi John, I was also with an engineer group. The 510 Engineers Maintenance (DS) which means direct support. I was attached to a deuce and 1/2 truck with a spec/5 that was originally designed to be used to be onsite for electrical repairs (starter, alternator, etc) and other minor repairs. Our big shop did everything else from engine, trans, tracks, whatever else was needed on heavy equipment. Then we moved north from Cam Ranh Bay to Pleiku in the central highlands. My truck was placed in the shop and only used for armature rebuilding, so I was moved to the motor pool . When TET hit I was running ammo and fuel to ‘Dak to ‘area near the DMZ that was my duty from 67-68
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The article brought back memories of sharing our “World Packages”. One guy got a package of Pringles because of the way they were packaged, they were in “shipped shape” when they arrived. We sat down with a jar of Helman’s Mayonnaise as a dip and devoured the whole package in minutes. I was raised on KRAFTS Miracle Whip but I became a Helman’s/Best Foods Mayo in that moment.
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Great article that took me back to 1965 when I was with the 597 at Ft. Eustis when we got alerted to go to Vietnam. I remember the Breckenridge too well. I was one of the first down the rope net to the landing craft. I had to catch the M14s dropped to me. My daughters read this and commented they remember me talking about the places in the article. Thank you for your effort in doing this. I don’t know how you remember all the names. I do remember Mr. Smith and SSgt. Gerold (Ray Fink) I was a mechanic but did get to go on a lot of convoys.. Thanks again fot your work on this.
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This is a great article that took me back to Ft. Hustis and the breckinridge. I was one of the guys that went through all that as I was with the 597 when we went to Vietnam. I was one of the first to go down the rope net to the landing craft. I had to catch the M14s dropped to me. This article describes my year in Vietnam. My daughters read it and commented that they remember the places that I talked about. I don’t know how you remember all the names. I do remember Mr. Smith and SSgt Gerold ( Rat Fink).Thanks for your effort doing this article.
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69′ to 70′. I was in 101st Airborne. Spent most of my time in the Ashau Valley of Vietnam.
A friend of mine served the same time. He was in the Air Force. He was stationed in Florida and then Colorado. Who do you consider to be a Vietnam veteran. When they gave out a Vietnam bonus. He got more than I did because he served longer.
I believe there is 610,000 actual Vietnam veterans left who served in Vietnam. The word is “served in Vietnam.”
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What is a Viet Nam bonus? 1965 vet, Vinh Long
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What is a Viet Nam bonus? 1965 vet, Vinh Long
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1969 1970 I been most of my time in Ashau valley of Vietnam with the101st Airborne.
At the same time, a friend of mine served at the same time in the Air Force. He spent his time in Florida then transferred to Colorado.
I don’t understand how they considered him of vVetnam veteran.
When they gave a Vietnam bonus. He served longer than me so he got more than I did. And he never touched the ground of Vietnam.
I believe there are 610,000 actual Vietnam veterans left today.
And that’s the only possibility. No other way. Either you were in Vietnam or you weren’t. Very simple
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What about sailors who served on ships off the coast of South Vietnam? If although they remained on the ship, then they never stepped on foot in Vietnam even though they were awarded the Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals. Do you consider them to be Vietnam veterans?
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We are all military and work as a team. Thats what makes us strong.
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“VIETNAM BEYOND”by Gerald E. Augustine 2nd printing now available gasser41@att,net
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Yes.
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Yes
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Isn’t that the same as asking if the Navy personnel were World War II Veterans?
Absolutely are Vietnam Veterans, I’m now 76 and was 5th Marines TACP and I called in Naval gunfire a few times from the New Jersey. Believe me everyoneon the ground was damn thankful. Amazing how accurate those big guns are!
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Yes
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It’s time to get off the “in-country / not-in-country” griping, There are many WWII vets who never set foot in either the Atlantic or Pacific Theatres and there are many Korean War vets who never served in Korea during the war…they are all WWII vets or Korean War vets. Same for Vietnam vets. We all signed the same contract and raised our right hand to go and do what Uncle Sam asked of us. By the luck of the draw, some of us were ordered to the battle. Others were not. It was (and continues to be) one team. The logistics folks who shipped the beans and bullets to the war zone…and the navy and air force folks who carried the supplies and our mail to us…were all on the same team. Their actions kept our morale high, saved many lives, and allowed us to prevail in battle too. IMHO anyone who thinks different may not be the team player he/she thinks they are. We have Vietnam vets who served during the Vietnam War and that’s what’s important to me. I served in country and I’m just as proud of anyone who chose to serve, but didn’t enjoy the “opportunity” to be shot at by direct fire.
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I never – not once – heard of a Korean War vet who served stateside or in Europe.. and I had a lot of uncles in Korea..
WWll? ok that actually was a WORLD WAR where everyone could be in harm’s way if the theaters had expanded..
Vietnam?
hell.. why even gripe if they wear the ribbons, Purple Heart and CIB? after all, it was just luck of the draw they didn’t earn them.. let’s give them Agent Orange benefits too.. fumes could’ve drifted on jet stream?
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I was a grunt in I corp, your article brought back a lot of memories.
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Great Site! I was with Heavy Attack Squadron VAH-13 onboard USS Kitty Hawk CVA-63 1962-1964. Although we were never there (per VA & Govt} most of our losses were in Laos (Plain of Jars) where we lost many of our RF8 photo-birds and F8 fighters, ie, Crusaders. We had a squadron of F4 Phantoms onboard but were NOT allowed to use them per LBJ rules of engagements after JFK was killed in Dallas November 1963.
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Things I never knew about the green berets. I always admired them but wasn’t informed of their origin and duties
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I began reading about your Agent Orange article. Excellent and helpful to those who need to know. I’m going to spread it by URL and endorsement. Second point: about four years ago I met with LtGen. Mick Kicklighter, USA (Ret) OSD Chief of Commemorations. The SecDef had a website promoting his Vietnam War Commemoration lapel pin. I saw what seemed to me to be an error in the award system: it was only awarded to those who served inside RVN – “boots on the ground”. I objected and he heard me out. My point was accepted with one question I asked Gen. Kicklighter. “Where did the men who inhabit the Hanoi Hilton have breakfast the day they became a POW?” He looked at me and said “I see your point.” The answer was Korat, Takhli, Ubon, Udorn, Clark AB PI, NKP, Utapao and elsewhere. My objective was to build unity among Veterans of the Vietnam War. We all served, Washington and our Services told us where when they issued our orders. It was very gratifying to realize that Gen. Kicklighter changed DoD policy within one week of our meeting. He should know – he served in WW II, Korea, and two tours in Vietnam (Arty). I arrived on Monkey Mountain, 1 June 1967 -1 June 1968 as a brand new 1/LT USAF serving as Senior Director in the Tac Air Control Center- North Sector, the TS/SCI forward Battle Staff for 7AF for Rolling Thunder and Barrel Roll (NVN & Laos). Your work is excellent. Thank you!
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Thank you, sir!
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Just looking for sites or pictures where my
Dad was in South Vietnam
Stationed at Soc Trang.
He was a door gunner 101 aviation
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There are many groups on Facebook that continue to share memories and photos. Do a search for his unit or where he was stationed to see what comes up. Then, join the group and make your request.
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Facebook banned me, permanently it seems.
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CW won’t show my book!
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Well written, sure describes what it was like, over there.
Tried to read the comments, but they kept jumping to the top, where the first one is. Too bad, hope it works better next time
JBP
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Thank you for your service, and thanks for this blog.
Gideon, from the Israeli Defense Forces.
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Good to know. About those who serve
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I loved it, and I loved the pound cakes
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I still cry when I read stuff about the war. It sucked! Best part was having buddies that looked out for you. Coming home sucked! Staying married has sucked! 55 years later, still troubled.
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Same thing here ,except I can’ cry !
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I was with the 2 /319th field artillery landed on ripcord March 12th was there until almost the end of July until I was Wia I enjoyed to read very informative I hope more people are able to read about Ripcord the heroes who gave all deserve the recognition.
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I put the first dozier on ripcord
CW2 Les Parrent hook driver we lost 2 ships on the second day on Ripcord
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Ken Kruglick
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I was There that night at LZ Bird, C Battery ^ Bn 16 Arty Wow wat a night
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I was with the 254th dust off 66-67 aug. Busy year for me and my unit two purple hearts 💜. Best group of people that I have ever worked with. Bless them all
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I couldn’t put a number on the times a day or even an hour that my life is interrupted by thoughts of the Vietnam. 14 months has completely taken control of my mind and soul. If my life starts looking good, somehow I make sure it goes to hell because I know Charlie is near and will the moment I let my guard down. I’m my own worst enemy, and I can’t help myself. After 55 years, I now understand how all veterans from all the wars are infected with a disease that can’t be eradicated. Vietnam was a war that was unpopular with the public, we were unpopular when we returned, it wasn’t a war we could win. I really am amazed by your article, and all the articles I have seen, because they give us more information and insight off how others comprehend the war itself and how we deal with our problems and feelings. I have gone through several group therapy programs and I have gained knowledgeable experience on how to deal with my anxiety and depression. My anger issues have subsided. If those of us that have any doubts about their mental health, please let the VA help you. Just listen, absorb, and open your heart and mind to some changes. I did and I think it helped enormously. My wife went to a spouse’s support group for veterans wives. She listened for awhile and then remarked to the group that they all sounded like they were married to her husband. Get it, we’re all in the same boat, I like living with a happy family, it’s great. I guess I keep getting lost here, love the article, hope more vets get to see them, and you keep writing them. Thanks A Million
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Today it’s the public’s view of the Vietnam War that hurts. The Vietnamese people are great, It;s the methods of engagement that made some of them gooks. The Jane Fonda’s, and John Kerry’s still upset me, I call them gooks too. And those “College Kids” that weren’t even born yet when it was going on, that somehow know so much more than I do, that makes me sick. I have no anger left, I have learned to walk away and concentrate on something else when one or more of those ignorant college grads tells me all about it.
I have to disagree with one comment from above. We did not lose the war, Congress gave it away after we left. We were winning whenI left. I make anyone that disagrees with me read, “An American Amnesia” by Bruce Herschensohn before I’ll talk to them about the war. And “The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Vietnam War, is another excellent book. It even pictures President Nixon and John McCain on the cover. I maintain a copy of each always, I’ve probably bought a dozen of each already, for family and (real) “friends”. Read them to get a historically true short story on the Vietnam War. We who fought it did the right thing, well most of us.
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Blame the idiot politicians! They caused the deaths of over 58,000 young men! Then the cowards quit! We just never should have been there!! Case closed! And those poor families–they continuously suffer! i was a combat infantryman- and I still suffer!!!
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Gerald, you are on target! Thanks.
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Hi from a fellow Dust-offer, CW2, Sept. ’68 to May, 70. 326 Med Bn 101st Camp Eagle, PhuBai and 45th Air Ambulance Co. PhanRang.
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I really appreciated the article about maintaining Swift boats. I was a UH-1H mechanic/crew chief with 101st at LZ Sally and like yo read about fellow veterans experiences
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The article was great. It took me back while in Vietnam Phu-Bai in 1969. I would hear about different people. The Stars and Strips was always a great read as well. After all these years I still remember so much back then. WELCOME HOME BROTHERS AND SISTERS. HHC 45TH ENGR. 18TH ENGR. BN. PHU-BAI.
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Were you at Camp Eagle???
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My hat is off to the ground personnel who fought there. I was a naval aviator aboard USS Ranger and was a part of Linebacker 2, the final and arguably bloodiest air operation, and the mining of Haiphong harbor. Nixon turned our airwing loose with Laser Guided Bombs which made short work of logistically essential bridges and ports facilities. All of a sudden “uncle Ho” decided to return to the bargaining table for the final cease fire.
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Excellent. Served in Vietnam from 66-67 and TDYs from 68-71 as Special Forces and later as Intelligence and did not know the whole story. Thank you.
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I was trapped outside Long Binh the night the Tet offensive began. I didn’t see that Saigon execution photo until I was in Hawaii on R&R several months later. I am glad to know be able to read about what wasn’t reported about that event at the time.
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Great article, moving story. Highlights yet again the superficiality of most of the basically anti-war orientation of the media coverage of the war. The murderer executed deserved more than the one bullet that sent him to hell.
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The Draft heated up before the Vietnam War. I went into the Navy and the Submarine Force two weeks after the Cuban Missile Crisis to avoid all the camping and hiking the Draft would have forced on me. Riding under the water seemed to be a better idea (and it definitely was).
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The Draft heated up before Vietnam. I went into the Navy, and the Submarine Force two weeks after the Cuban Missile Crisis to avoid the camping and hiking the Draft would have required of me.
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Navy LT OinC Swift 93. Gave Liz Trotta & photo crew ride up river in CaMau ’68. Got ambushed but no one hurt.
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Door Gunner first Aviation. Dong Ha 1970. The blood slick deck still gives me nightmares.
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I served in Viet Nam with the 508th Engineers from June 66 to July 67. And I can tell you I was insulted by these idiot demonstrating against us. And I feel that Mohamad Alie should have been drafted and sent there or to prison for life.
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very good article was there in 68 69 Fox co 2/9 3rd Marines was security on a river by the DMZ while the Sea Bees where building a road never ate so good they took care of me as well as I took care of them
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I take the time to read all your posted war stories, they really interest me because as a young boy we watched the war on tv at night and people go away to Vietnam and those that dodged the draft.
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I am Dianne Houser (now Holcombe), the nurse who found a satchel charge beneath the broken window in my hooch on August 7, 1969. That attack and one that followed later in August of ’69 stay with me all the time as does the death of my brother who was with the “River Rats” on the Mekong River. I get care from the VA, and they have diagnosed me with PTSD.
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Welcome Home
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I have to Read this Book I was in Vietnam with Delta Company 2/7 Cavalry Airmobile from May 70 to April 71
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Thank You. . One of the 3000+ Canadians that served. . .
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Thank You Mike and Welcome Home
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I grew up a military BRAT. What I was looking for was the actual name of the old “John Wayne Bars” not exactly like a “Crunch” bar, but vaguely similar, it was a chocolate bar with some kind of crunchy stuff in it, maybe rice? Or more likely extra vitamins or calories… we loved John Wayne bars. Wish I had some now for my Go bag. 😀
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Candy chocolate disk. See photo
https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B165Uzl7VDUjYE
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Julianna Smith, you wrote, “. . . was the actual name of the old “John Wayne Bars”.
We received “C” rations left over from the Korean Era. There was a candy bar called a “tropical bar”. It was mostly a chocolate something. Mostly concentrated something, and dense. Usually covered with white powder-like stuff that had grown on the thing. It was about the size of a Milky Way. Most guys didn’t like them so we tossed them into a “reject” box to give to the Vietnamese kids when we landed in a village. (I was pilot)
Anyway, we were flying low level from Camp Eagle to Phu Bai at about 80 knots approaching the Vietnamese village. The kids heard us coming (whap whap whap) and a bunch appeared on the dirt road and open space, running towards us.
I grabbed a handful of the bars and tossed them out of the window. I looked back as we flew over the gaggle of kids and I saw the bars flying into them at 80 knots . . . . Oh My Gosh.
Those hard, firm bars were hitting them left and right. The kids had their arms spread out in front of them in hopes of catching a bar. A bar just zoomed past the hands and smacked chests and heads., The impact lifted them off their feet and slammed them backward like struck bowling pins.
I never tossed bars after that.
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Welcome home brother, God was, with you all the time.
1lt Auger B CO. 1/8 Cav
1968-1969
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I served in war zone”C” 1n ’66-’67 with the 196th LIB & then 2/12th- 4th Inf, Div.
Ho-Chi-Minh trail and Nui Ba Den mtn. Iron triangle jungles. Recently my book “VIETNAM BEYOND” was published.. Your article is great!
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Well written as it was for us Grunts. I don’t recall having the fear and depression you expressed in your story. As an Infantry Scout Dog handler I stayed focused on my job. My dog and I did a lot of night ambush operations. The life’s lessons I learned in Vietnam have served me well my whole life. I retired from the Army in 1987 and retired from law enforcement in 2008. 49th Infantry Platoon Scout Dog, 199th Light Infantry (Sep) Brigade. “Redcatchers!”
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It is what it is Brother, 24/7…………..I Corps 67-68, RTO
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I really feel for those that went to Nam. My sophomore year I laid in a hospital for 3 1/2 months with a kidney infection. So I was 22 by the time I was drafted and went to Ft. Knox. While in basic I caught pneumonia twice and had to be recycled to another unit to complete basic. Was sent to Germany,, after getting out, I figured they did not want a sickly person in combat. But while in Germany I was with new recruits that had signed up for Germany and after one year were getting orders to go to Nam. I also was with soldiers that needed to wind down coming from Nam before going back to the states. I seen soldiers crying because they were going to Nam and others crying because of what they went through in Nam. Had a first cousin that spent three tourer in Nam, to come home and die in a fire at his house. God gives us life, and He decides when we go Home to Him. Thanks to all those that served or are serving now, God bless as those that has served.
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Covers it all….. well done…. True full….. they don’t understand…. And never will….. that’s ok
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I like the article, I believe I read it totally to fast. I was interesting so I kept going. God!
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My buddy died in my arms looking up at me with those big brown eyes,
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Sorry about that 🗞️.
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I was a Navy Corpsman assigned to 1st MarDiv 1st Force Reconnaissance. I remember faces & no names. To many went home asleep. It should have been me not them. I still see their blood on my hands. 5-67 to 5-68 & 1-70 to 12-70.
Retired in 1-92. HM1.
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God bless the navy corpsmen. Think about the ones you saved.
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Remember those sounds very well. Heard them every night.
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Someday all the people will learn that they should look at v.m.like it was there own family that didn’t,T come home standing up but in a draped coffin.i lost friends in my 12mos in nam.but I still look through the list of deceased and hope I never see there names.even if you don,T went to get close and call them friends please don,T ever forget them,it just may mean that’s the reason you come home to your family and the people that you do call friends. Bless all vets and a special blessing to all my VM friends deceased or not,,,,,,,,,,I will never forget.
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It was a lifetime ago,it was yesterday!
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It really hits home. Thank for sharing. God bless.
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This was a great article written by veterans of the Vietnam War. I was born in 1941 so I was too young for the Vietnam War. However, I took ROTC in college and did 2 years active duty and 6 years Reserves. All of which was a great experience for me and would not change any of it.
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you must have meant 1971. If you were born in 1941 you would not have been too young.
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Or 1961…
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If you were born in 1941, you were definitely old enough to go to ‘Nam. I was born in 1946 and spent a year there as a nurse, But, thank you for the service you did give.
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Yup! Every day!
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Sorry about that 🗞️.
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Eye opening. So many came home drug dependent. I can understand why. I feel for your families who want to help but can’t. No one wins in war.
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Very informative thank you it’s no wonder why alot of em come back with twisted minds in may the Lord watch over them
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This article brought me there this morning. I spent 30. Years trying to leave on the alcohol and drug train, and the last 20 getting off that ride learning to take it one day at a time. O’Brian wrote the book “The things they carried ” this could be the follow up “The things we carry still “. For all of us that came back but never made it all the way home keep moving there’s an end, one day at a time.
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It rang to close to home actually I think having a stroke And losing some of my mind saved my life.
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The author and I had very similar life experiences while serving our tours in Nam.
My first day with my Inf. unit I put 11 guys in body bags. 19 was never the same again! I get that STARE now and again, usually when I’m back there in the Valley
(A Shau). It was beautiful choppering in ord out of there. But pretty damn scary being there, night was the worst.
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The description of the smell of mud, the air and sticky blood re- ignites the memory as if it was yesterday.
The smell of diesel smoke coming from burning shit, the cracking sound of the Huey Helicopter blades, and the sound of an incoming RPG just a split second b4 it hit our tent or dispensory and the instant explosion that followed.
67-68 133rd Med Det.Cat Lai
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Very informative and definitely a good read. Especially for those who couldn’t possibly imagine it, with me being one of them. Thank you to all those who served and made it home alive. I helped get contracts through while working for Defense General Supply Depot in Richmond, VA who provided aircraft and helicopter parts for the Iraq and Afghanistan war.
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Many memories from there as an 18 then 19 year old Army guy. I lost a good buddy over there in March 1969. It bothered me for years as I always wanted to visit his hometown, family, and friends. It was on my bucket list. I got to go there a couple of years ago and did that. I am very happy I did.
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Outstanding. I lost two of my best Marine bro. One died asking me not to let him die he stepped on. a mine I live with that every day. I walk and l live with my Gods help. Semper Fi my brave brothers
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Ooorah
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I had a cousin who returned from Nam as a totally different person. Still a great guy, just distant and mysterious. He passed a few years back. His name was Allen Ray Pruett.
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I had a cousin who returned from Nam as a totally different person. Still a great guy, just distant and mysterious. He passed a few years back. His name was Allen Ray Pruett.
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This article gives me great pause! I was in the Army during the Vietnam Era. I have great respect for those who were there! There are many times have guilt feelings because I didn’t have to go over there and other times very glad I did not have too. I did my job to the best of my ability. I have had Nam Vets tell me to not feel bad about not having gone there and everyone that served had a job to do and mine did not require me to go over there! Each Time I see a another Vet I make a point of thanking them for their Service. Young or Old.
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CANCER, PARKENSONS, HEART DISEASE, M-GUS, YA IM STILL THERE !
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Yeah me to, but diabetes now too. Never expected this in my 70’s, I thought if I carried something back from the Nam it would’ve happened much sooner. Oh well, like many have said about serving in Nam: “ It is what it is”.
Nick Elster
1st Cav. 362nd Aviation company.
Shit hooks !!!!!!!
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I had a cousin who returned from Nam as a totally different person. Still a great guy, just distant and mysterious
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Distant and mysterious, a great description. My therapist can’t even figure me out.
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The smell of VietNam after returning from R&R ! Took two weeks to catch a ride (chopper) out of QuanLoi to Saigon. I missed my chosen destination and had to accept an alternate toJAPAN AND IT SUCKED.
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Enjoyed the read. One thing bothered me when you said no one could take your daughters. I never even thought of such a terrible thing but have had 26 yrs to think about it since I lost my baby of 13 about ever day. Thanks for your read
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The article helps me understand Vietnam veterans. We think it’s over but it’s still going on for so many vets.
I’m still angry about the conflict. I’m just a girl who graduated high school in 1970. So many kids from my class were drafted!! Some went to Canada. Some went awol.
It was such a waste. I’m still angry!
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Well put. Spent my time as a Huey door gunner and participated in many hot LZ medivac’s. Cleaning out the blood afterwards was tough. Seems like I have been there every day for the last 50 years.
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It hits home…expressed very well….no matter if you were a grunt…doorgunner…crewchief…pilot…truck driver…no matter what job you had it could…and does for a very many…hit home.
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Was there 67-68 ,turned 21 yrs old there and “matured a lot” During Tet 68 was roughest time getting short and my first child I hadn’t met yet. Afraid I may not make it back to even meet her.Lost buddies and others sent to outposts and never met up again. Hell of a high-school trip. Welcome home brothers and sisters, God Bless All
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If you were in country nothing else needs to be said
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Loved it. Our Vietnam Veteran’s group has also visited schools. We’ve had similar reactions from the students. They eat it up because there is so little in the history books about the Vietnam war. Keep up the good work. They need to know.
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It’s our responsibility to teach our children. If we don’t, no one will. The schools don’t teach military history because, for the most part, the teachers don’t know it. It’s our job! Many schools have veterans day activities and invite veterans to sit with their students. I never fail to take advantage of these events and the students are both respectful and eager to speak with and learn from a veteran.
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Dear Friend. I served with the 25th also. Delta Company 1st 27th Inf Wolfhounds. 1st plt. 69-70 You have described my tour exactly as it occurred. I was amazed that you remembered so many unique details that only us grunts would know. God bless and thank you for your excellent work
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Very interesting and informative. I served two tours in Vietnam- 377th USAF Dispensary, Tan Son Nhut AB, October 67 to September 68; and Detachment 11, 1131st Special Activities Squadron, Tan Son Nhut AB with duty in Saigon, Vietnam 1969 to 1970.
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Great article. Thank you for the insight
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Aside from a night ambush outside the perimeter at Dong Tam, the Crossroads was my cherry event. Brought home a souvenir piece of shrapnel in my head to commemorate the occasion. Next time out I was no longer the FNG.
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Spent alot of time in that damn Plain of Reeds.
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Good article.Few spots of info did stir up some anxiety.Was a Scout Dog Handler 57th IPSD,70-71 Chu Lai
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Very informative. I served with the 173rd Airborne in the central highlands
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Great and accurate article. In NAM few seasoned Grunts (Marines) wanted the go on a “Search & Destroy” missions with the FNG! It took alot of “not so subtle” persuasion by the Lieutenant and Platoon Sergeant to get cooperation. You were like a leper until you proved yourself. If you survived. Ugh!
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VERY GOOD, AS A VIETNAM VETERAN SERVING IN THE MEKONG DELTA JAN 1969. AND IN SIGNAL CORPS. ON A ARVN BASE. MUCH MUCH MUCH RESPECT TO OUR 11BRAVO BROTHERS.
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Good article, well written. NAG Psyop’s.
“nous axons ete trahis par des politciens sans tripes”
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It is a great article, and I realize it couldn’t cover the other sideline articles of being there like the physical, mental, and psychological affects of actual combat. I’m not knocking any of your writing. I’d do worse if I wrote it. One of many things I remember humping the A Shau with the 101st is the physical exhaustion and how we dealt with it. One of the strongest desires was “ how can I get out of the field”. Anything else seemed better than being in the field. Our battalion went 5 days before realpolitik. I have a breakdown of items by weight in my 101st yearbook. Our overall weight was closer to 90-100 lbs ( unbelievable). Some purposely got malaria to get out of the field. Me, had a strong desire to accidentally shoot my foot, but just couldn’t do it. Over half of the names from the Vietnam Memorial came out of I-Corp. So you can see how stressful it was there living in the jungle only coming in once every 90 days for a two day stand down. Yes, that’s true. The physical exhaustion wore us down both physically and emotionally to affect our morale. Still, words can’t fully express it all. Much more I could say about the whole experience. Yes, it did change me. Some I denied, some for the better, some for the worst, and some I’ll never know.
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The A Shau Valley was like being in another world almost. It was pretty, but oh so deadly.
I was on Hill 937 (Dong Ap Bi) with
C- 3/187 Inf. 101st Abn.
“Hamburger Hill” 10-May thru 20-May 1969.
I do remember at the end of the first day we came down off the hill. I was a Cherry
that morning. Not that night though!
I remember crying like a baby telling the guy next to me I wanted to go home and see my Mom. He looked at me, said he did too..
The crying quit, we made it through the night. Then back at the hill for 9 more days!
Months later we went back to the Valley 2 more times.. dreaded it, each time.
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Excellent article. Job well done.
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Needs to be share with all major outlets. Don’t hold back
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Superb! A sanitized version of real-life conversions from real-life soldier’s and Marines embeded in the jungles of NAM on search and destroy missions. Trying desperately to find the unseen and “cut off the head of the snake”.
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Excellent. Midway Battle Group 1985 USS SAN JOSE. Our constant companion was the oiler Missipillion (not sure of the spelling)USNS I do believe. Great bunch of guys as the crew and very high morale!!! But they had to get so many days cruising and when we pulled into Freemantle, Aus they needed 2 more days so they cruised in circles for those two days while the Battlegroup was pulling liberty. Kinda Sucked!! Just Sayin!!!
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God bless our warriors! Thank you for your service and sacrifice
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A great read. An amazing article of the ingenuity of people in dangerous situations.
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Having served in the 1st Cav. In 67-68 I arrived in An Khe was assigned to A Co, 229th Avn.Bn. which was at An Khe supporting the defense.
My first impression was that a hell of lot of work went into establishing the Golf Course.
This article confirmed that and I truly appreciate that effort even though I spent minimum time there.
Gene Beyer
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NAM NEVER WILL LEAVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!THANKS TO A LOT OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL,I CAN FUNCTION!!!!(OK,I THINK! I MADE SOME CLOSE FRIENDS,DOING WHAT I DID I HAD TO TRUST SOMEBODY!!! MY FRIENDS WERE SOUTH VIETNAMESE AND THE 5 OF THEM WERE MY BROS.I HAD TO TRUST MY A– AND DID WITH THEM,AND THEIRS TOO ME. I DO’NT USE ANY MORE DRUGS OR DRINK ALCOHOL ANYMORE(33 YEARS NOW) THE WAR TOOK SOME REL FRIENDS FROM ME AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THEM. I TRY NOT TO THINK TO MUCH ABOUT THE SCARY TIMES,BUT A LOUD NOISE,A SMELL,A SITUATION STILL TRIGGERS MEMOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Served with E Co. 1/7th 1st Cav. 81mm Mortar Plt. Squad Leader. This story is an example of ignorant, inexperienced, assinine leadership. Over ran at LZ Ranch (Cambodia) May 16th 1970 because of pompous leadership decision.
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Commo Officer with Engr Bn
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I have a book about Hanoi Jane. But written as though what she did didn’t rise to the definition of treason. Suppositly a naive teenager which she most definitely was not. At 32 years of age and in full control of her mental facilities she is most definitely a traitor to America. Her statement voicing taking it to her grave is the most honest and believable thing she has ever said. Prayers for redemption of her soul. But to do that she has to accept Jesus Christ to be given the grace if God. Sin Loi Jane.
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I hope to know before my demise if she accepted the Lord and asked for forgiveness, admitting her sins. If she doesn’t I fanaticize of finding her for eternity!!!! Never forget what traders did to our troops.
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I served 67-68, Mekong Delta. Jane Fonda knew where she was, with whom she broke bread and what she was in on. She’s an unrepentant liar, content to live in a life of feeble excuses.
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John has given the people a good picture of what they want to know.
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I re-enlisted to go to Vietnam to try to help the Vietnamese government keep from having the communist government of the North take it over. I was to see many brave men have their lives taken from them due to political interference. If General Westmoreland had been given the ability to do things his way, we could have sent the Northerners back to Hanoi with Jane in no time. General Giáp admitted it in his memoirs, that we won most of the battles and had them whipped. We would be a presence in SE Asia , but NO the politicians screwed it all up. B CO. 2/27 Inf, 25 Inf Division. 66-67
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I was in the battle of March 25, 1968. Alpha Co. This article brings memories back to sharp focus. In May of 68 I was WIA and my time in Vietnam was over,(physically).Never knew about the unit citations. Great article.
Thanks for publishing.
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Excellent article. My final unit in RVN was 3/4 CAV. Did convoy protection duty many times as TC on an M113 (diesel version). I was a SGT E5 back then. My DEROS was early Jan 69.
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Brought back memories. That was our AO in 69/70. 25th ID 1/27th Wolfhounds, Delta Company. On May 9th 69 we engaged a very large group of VC and NVA. It was 3 days of our hell, we called in the 3/4 Duece Mech and they brought in 2 companies of the beer cans.
When they got on line and opened up with those 50’s and 60’s it was pure hell. Does anyone out there remember that battle? We were told that the body count of the enemy was over 300 KIA.
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Yea you nailed it. Worked mountains in I Corp with 101st Airborne 1970. I never wore a backpack or hiked again to this day and now I am 74 years old.
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I cant get a thing from the VA except third rate generic drugs,,,”NO MONEY IN THE SYSTEM<<CUTBACKS ETC ETC ETC" But just announced another 50 million for the freaking UKRAINS ,,up YOURS VA AND YOUR MASTERS
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I understand that. Me neither. I was also in ICorp, 1/327 Co.B, 26Jan70 to 17Dec70. Thanks to all that climbing and humping, both knees are shot, bone on bone, but VA won’t pay for replacements ’cause not service connected. And I have permanent Tinitis, both ears; no ringing, just hissing like compressed air hose with a leak. Hisssssssss, 24/7. Kids & people that use backpacks today have NO IDEA what its REALLY like.
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Fits my life almost the same. The only difference I have is I was DMZ artillery and we caught artillery fire/ mortar it seemed like daily. It was our job to get on the guns and begin counterattacks, ie firing back as fast and accurately as possible. We stood tall and fired back scared but knowing it had to be done.
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Worthless war. After being shot in my knees in an ambush and lost my lieutenant and staff sergeant. And left me with the memories of war. And cancer in my vocal cords due to agent Orange. And all the health problems that I still have to endure is impossible to forget that insane war. Now I still loosing brothers due to suicide. Jut like I lost during the Vietnam war.?
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i core for me 1st sq 1st armored cav also b co 1/52 198th lib Americal Div 67-68 brought back many memories great job did my job thank fully came home enjoy helping fellow Veterans though the VA and the DAV 🇺🇸
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God we were young, alex 572 engr co (le)
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I wish a vet like yourself would have stopped by my high school back in the early 80’s. Thanks for your service during and after the war. I was actually going to enlist army after graduation 1985. My cousin doc Ogle Vietnam 1971/72 talked me out of it. I figured he survived Nam I better listen to him. Still wish I would’ve enlisted though.
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Hey, Ed English. Thank your cousin, he was watching out for you. You can bet on it, if you were sent in to battle you would regret being there but not want to leave your brothers behind. It’s just crazy and only because old men don’t know how to manage the affairs or negotiate.
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Excellent outstanding. I was drafted in ’72 and spent 19 months in Germany with the 1/81 FA, Pershing Nuclear Missiles. That experience drove me to collect and read every book I could find on the Vietnam War. The negative stigma associated with the war made books slow to reach the public, but it did finally become more acceptable. This collection of images is just remarkable.
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Very informative
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Outstanding. Thanks for sharing.
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This Is Truly Great Editing Of The Vietnam War..You Have Made This Very Articulate As To How Vietnam ⛩️🌴🌾🎋War Took Place With All Of Its True Drama…Thank you John Podaski 😐🇺🇲👍
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I was in at the time and have always observed the inherent respect for the term “Crazy as a loach pilot”. I cannot thank you or respect you enough for your service.
‘
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Very informative and told in a manner a solder or layman could understand. As a soldier who spent time on FB,s it was just a matter of time.”we have movement in the wire”.
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The grunts are true heroes of the war. I was always at a firebase but never a grunt. You have my total respect.
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Excellent article. I was in the Dak To / Dak Pek area for nearly a month in spring 1968. This all rang true.⁹
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still confusing,,,volunteer ,,,2/18 inf 66-67,,,survivor guilt is the worst of ptsd
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I was with the 101st 2nd506 Co E recon all of 1969. Have been trying to locate members but having little luck. I have a memory loss and want to talk.
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Try contacting one of the many 101st Facebook groups. Perhaps, somebody there can help.
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I think that there are a lot of people writing about some things they know nothing about. I was there as a medic for twenty three months, and saw first hand that we didn’t lose that war. The politicians, the generation of people that hated us for being there and mostly the press. A lot of good men didn’t make it home, but the one’s that did go back there almost nightly. i’m not saying i’d go again but i’m a better man by being there and coming home.
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Well written Lawrence Miller. I served with the 196th LIB in ’67 – ’68. It was an honor to be there with such great soldiers. I frequently think of those that did not come home and feel guilty that I did. Thank you for your service.
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Great article that is so true to life in Vietnam and Thailand. We all had a job to do while contributing to the war effort?
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This was very helpful about the people who worked in the background. It shows the large makeup of the complete war in Vietnam. Everyone had their part to play and most movies of the time only gloss over the solid background people. The actual killing is seen as the be all and end all of war. This is definitely not true. Perhaps a movie could be made of one soldier who moves from recruitment to the killing action to death.
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I was drafted and I went. End of story
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Really enjoyed reading it and watching how things were happening to the platoon! Reminded of the times I was there in Vietnam and flying missions in support of the grunts-a braver bunch doesn’t exits.Proud of my service but also so sad to watch people that would destroy all we fought for in a heartbeat in our government.Some sad people in our country today that actually cruse the flay we fought for! No good!!
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Good read, takes me back there in my memories. A/2/8/4th inf div. Firebase Oasis and camp Enari, 67-68, Haley.
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I’m a Vietnam era vet. Not ‘in country’. I did 4 years on a sub. My comment is, “ thank you ALL who were there. We so much appreciate your sacrifices and dedication to keeping our country safe. You are my heroes!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
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The most heart warming poem I have read in a very long time. It brought tears to my eyes. Thank you
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I REMEMBER THE VIETNAM WAR AS A SMALL CHILD AND WAS AMAZED TO SEE THE CHOPPER IN THE FOOTAGE ON THE NEWS . RESPECT TO ALL WHO WENT AND DIDN’T MAKE IT BACK AND THE VETS WHO DID.
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I was a point man with a scout dog. Walked point for 1st Infantry for a year.
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Did you know a fellow from Fullerton, California named Stan Fuller? He was a dog handler. He was in my German class when I was a senior at Sunny Hills High School. There was a photo on the front page of Army Times sometime in December, skipping rope in front of some Vietnamese children, about the time he got killed.
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It is eye opening and made me appreciate what the infantry and other troops had done.
I had the opportunity of serving in VAL4, Light Attack Squadron Jan 71 to Feb 72 and found it an honor to fly support for ground troops!
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This must have been the start of the small helicopters program.
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This article tells how these vets value the lives of others . Cobra was controlled by an angle. He should have Medal of Honor .
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I was a Radio Research 04B2LVS, mostly in Pleiku and Nha Trang from late May ’69 to July ’71. I live in Fountain Valley, California, a mile south of Little Saigon. My three children attended La Quinta High School, a school that is around 70% American-Vietnamese and has very good test scores. I have Vietnamese neighbors. One of my church parishioners went to America after she was told to help take care of children on one of those planes hauling orphans out in 1975. Several years ago, an incoming freshman at UC Irvine, whose parents fled Vietnam, thanked me for my service. “Without you and the others that went, I wouldn’t be here,” he told me. True fact.
The war was a terrible, terrible waste of human life. None of our presidents wanted to bail out because the political fallout from the “loss” of the place would have been too high. I’m sure that Walter Cronkite would have been among those criticizing our lack of “resolve” or whatever, had Kennedy or Johnson told us further involvement was pointless. He only had the courage to turn against the war once Tet got rolling and ordinary people became disenchanted. Ever see how excited he was after he rode along on a bombing mission? Man, was he stoked. Changed his tune later.
The war was a criminal act of our country lying to itself. Read “The Quicksand War” by Lucien Bodard and ask yourself if anyone that had read the book way back would have wanted to send our people over there.
I think that no president, senator, congressman/woman, cabinet member, employee of State or Defense, or general should sign off on our going to war if they don’t have a spouse, child, grandchild, niece or nephew, brother or sister, in-law or cousin that is in the service and would go to the war immediately. None of the people I just listed should have a deferment of any kind. Let them lead the way, I say.
Comments?
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Thanks! My last year of four service; brown water every day.
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Hey guy if you really want to get pissed off at the so called brass.read about what they did to a unit with a patch with a heart with a little heart in it..you probably will never find the patch.i had to get pissed at va just to get itvrecognized..firebase tomahawk 1 and 2..don’t trust govrnment
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Vietnam 69 I can only hope you would not vote democrap again..the only good moment I remèmber is the friends I had in country
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Sorry I’m al not anonymous.i didn’t see name spot
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Vietnam 1966 & 67 USMC. I don’t see how ANY AMERICAN could vote Democrat after seeing what’s being done now.
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I thought we worked with every weapon the Army had, from the .45 side arm through the Minute Man Rocket, during our training at Ft. Sill. We saw a lot of the the Army hand me downs that the Marines were still using. That gave me a lot of respect for our Jar Heads. But, I never saw a Ontos. I loaded and fired jeep mounted 106 recoiless rifles, along with the 90’s. Six 106’s side by side was was enough to move your steel pot, shake the ground, rattle your brain and set your hearing back into last week. I can’t imagine six 106’s on one vehicle. Where can I find out more about the Ontos? I’d like to know which branches used them, how were they reloaded and who did the firing. I’ll bet vehicles following an Ontos were well behind the back blast area.
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Try
Wikipedia.
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Biker. thanks for sending me to Wikipedia. It was a good read about the Ontos. I got a kick from the paragraph about the test at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, when all six 106’s were fired at the same time. It validates my comment about vehicles following the Ontos better be way behind it, becasue of the back blast area. Wiki said the back blast from all six firing at one time knocked bricks from a building and back windows from cars in the parking lot. No wonder the reports of Victor Charles Di Di ing from buildings when Ontos landed marking rounds, from the 50 on a 106 barrel, in the window/
The confusing part is why were the Ontos units deactivated in May ’69? They were obviously effective in Nam, especially in Hue I’m sure the Army light infantry units were happy to get them.
Id love to have seen one in action. A fire power demonstration at Ft. Sill had all types of artillery round lobed over our heads, landing in a valley in front of us, Cobras destroyed football size areas and even some Zoomies dropped ordinance in the same area. M48 tanks, Jeep mounted 106’s and APC’s rigged with 4.duce mortars put on a good show, but no Ontos. I guess at the time only the Marines had them.
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Always interested in any stories of I-corp,
Delta 1/4 3rd. Marines
I-Corp 1968 – 1969
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Hi marine.welcome home.i Corp also was the 2nd of 138th and 1st of 39th self propelled..
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I am an Admin of a small Veterans park and I love this site because I can send it to my web site for the Veterans to read and it helps me to beable to talk to these guys and gals and understand some of the problems they have. God Bless you all and Thank You for your service.
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Reinstate the Draft Now!
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It was very informative I did not know those people exist or that we worked with them. That’s one of the best articles I’ve ever read about Vietnam.
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Very good 👍 Tom
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Good article
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My self and Lt Reese, pfc Temple made a 3/4 ton gun truck w/twin fifties on it and ran out of Chu Lai north and south on highway 1 during early 1969 till late 69 I was promoted to Sgt and the B Co. Received V 100s two Sgt C W Overturf Co B 23rd S&T. Loved this article with I had pictures of truck. ( lost them in fire).
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Knew most of what I watched still enjoyed 26th combat engineers ,23rd m p co.70 71 A O trying to take my life God Bless All
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I was in LZ Sally,68-69. I was with the “Black Widows” 188th Avaition. Enjoyed your story.
God Bless
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Brought back a wide assortment of memories. From highest to lowest of a nunforgetable time in life. Wouldn’t take a million dollars for that time of life but would not give 2 cents to do it again. The real disappointment of it all is how our freedoms are being handled now.
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Great hero,s every one.
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I to remember I got khe sanh the first phillweek of March and was put with bravo co. And remember March 30 . That morning was one day in my life that I can never forget.. I am now 72 years old still wake up in a cold sweat more times than I would like to say. My name phillip lanford and was wounded that morning by hangernade. I was s private . I went on in the Corp to leave the marines in 1975 as a s/sgt my email is usmc992@gmail.com.
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Brave men all makes me proud!
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In some ways it’s good to read this. My experience in this time period was….
My draft # was 27 in 1970 and they were taking up to 150 that year, so I was a “goner,” and from what I’d been able to find out from anybody who’d been there that I was able to talk to, being in Nam, especially the “bush” was the last place you wanna be. So I filed for C.O. and stretched it out till “Trickie Dickie” called it off in ’73 and I was off the hook so to speak.
It was a political clusterfuck on our end misreading the situation as communism v. Capitalism. It was both an internal civil war of north vs south, and a fight of the Viet-namese to rid themselves of another foreign invader, the US all at once. Just as they had been doing for 1000 years prior.
The above might be totally unpopular to those with star spangled eyes, but I’m still alive while 58,324 of my brothers never had a life.
That was a hell created, as had been done by others, by old men, of that time and paid for by my generation.
I lost what I considered a big brother from my HS who joined the Corp. in ’68, and came home in a box. So between these two things, I despise war in general. The only winners here are the profiteers and politicans.
Just dredging this up hurts on so many levels I hope I don’t have to for a long while.
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I think it is very good and interesting. I served in Vietnam 1967-68
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Vietnam was a bloody terrible war, I will never forget it!
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Got out of high school in1974 it was the end of the war.THANK GOD
Just so you know i had your back thru the whole war.I was number 15 if they had drafted the last year .Iwould have gone and served proudly. God bless the ones that didn’t make it and thank God for the ones that did.
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Well written, factual and most of all, it should be informative to almost anybody reading it.
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I enjoy reading the story. It reminded me of my youth. I was in high school in Cambodia and had heard the news.
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Excellent.
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I enjoyed it, I have a lot of respect for all soldiers but these guys are top notch 🙏🏻
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Very nostalgic, love seeing old pictures of the past and seeing what people went through . We need many more like these blogs .
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I was wounded on 19 June 1970 while in Cambodia. 100% disabled. I would like to know the statistics for the time period that we were legally allowed to enter Cambodia.
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Started end of April. April 29th 1970 i believe, ended nineteen days later. I was there with A Company 1/12 Cav. First Calvary Division. If you were wounded 6/19 in Cambodia you were not supposed to be there.
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It was very moving it told me alot very interesting
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An entertaining story of a careless moment on a mission. “Keep your mind on the game” is my take on the story.
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I served with the Marines as a corporal. I served with 2nd battalion 9th Marines in 1967-1968. This article was pretty much right on.
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Accurate and insightful
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Article reads well, i remember when i returned to college after discharge in 1966, we veterans had to hide the fact that we soldiers returning from Southeast Asia. Many professors labeled us as baby, women and children killers.
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Had a tattoo put on my arm when I came home from Viet Nam not knowing public opinion. Wore long sleeves for over 40 years to hide my honorable service. Have been spit at and called baby killer on numerous occasions. Little did they know my first year back I turned in 13 w2 forms to the IRS. Had alcoholism and basically gave up on me or plain did not like me. Viet Nam turned a happy go lucky kid to whatever I am now. PTSD has dominated my sleep world. The VA therapists say I can change my nightmares. Their idea was drugs that did not help. They kept telling me WE HAVE HAD GOOD LUCK WITH THIS DRUG. Then I find out alot were told to flush the drug and tell the VA that it works good. I have been sober for decades, estranged from family and today, I like me. I have moved to Mexico and proudly wear Viet Nam Veteran hat. Occasionally someone thanks me for my service. My thought is Viet Nam Vets have never been treated fairly by the VA or the Public. But today we should hold our head high, and respect the 2 out of 3 that have already died, and the 530 that die every day. WE WERE THERE.
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I was in the Big Red 1 infantry we never lost a battle. If they would of bomb the north into given up we could of left . And cut of supplies we would of brought the north to the peace table . You never mentioned how the north killed a million of the people we left there . Talk to the people who got out and came to USA great citizen they love America
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Interesting, my spouse fought in the Vietnam war. He told us, his family. “We didn’t belong there” Terry died last year @ 67 years old. The government destroyed countless lives & still refuses to admit & compensate Veterans for Agent Orange health problems! My husband was one. With the stroke of a pen, our government destroyed generations. Don’t glamorize your statistics. They mean nothing!
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It has been nearly 60 years since US forces engaged in “the Indochina adventure”. In those decades historians now have unlimited sources of study and research regarding “why or how” we got involved. At a national/ strategic level I’m confident that well meaning leaders considered many pros and cons of US support to the South Vietnamese government. However, those national considerations were separate and apart from the experience of who served when their country sent them into war.
I’m not sure if the “proxy” war in Vietnam could or should have begun. Hindsight says there was never any real strategy “for winning”. Winning, was never adequately defined and was never a viable option. Our political calculus seemed more of a global chess game than a well-developed military strategy.
The “ante” price for the US to play in the Indochina War Game eventually cost the lives of 60,000 American and allied boys and girls just so the US could be a global player in the “game”. Not a single politician or national leader ever paid any price remotely like families who buried a child or whose child was forever scared by their wartime service.
As much as we hope to believe that our government, with its sacred entrusted power over life and death decisions is driven by a higher purpose. Often, reality show us that it’s actually driven by politicians who need/ want to retain power and control regardless of the human or economic cost. Those become abstract values and can be rationalized as simply “the cost of doing political business”. Those who send our kids off to war never ace personal accountability or feel the horror of war in any tangible way. That is the shame of all this.
Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and whatever future conflict might lay ahead were conflicts spawned from the same parents. War has seemingly become just another political calculation. Only those who must follow orders, bleed, and die in some far away land know the actual cost of war. National leadership doesn’t bleed or sacrifice anything personal. If things don’t work out as planned, they can blame someone or something else. They never face personal accountability.
As written centuries ago, War is indeed an extension of politics by other means. We as citizens and parents must never allow our children to ever again be wounded or die without exhausting every alternative to war.
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No one that has ever been in combat should ask for war. The horrors that you see among other atrasaties lenger in your life and mind forever. My son has 24 years in the Navy and just made chief and when he and his brother asked me about Nam I just said don’t ask me for as long as I live never ask me.
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Vietnam seems like another lifetime so many years ago yet still painful
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Good and well done !
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Thank you for a very good discussion of how it was over there.
I was with HHC 3/22 25th I D from Apr’68-Apr’69. I was at CuChi. Tay Ninh, as well as FB Washington and FB Bruell
Thanks again for the great story.
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Brought back ugly memories that still hurt to this day. I wish that anyone wanting a war should read these articles because they don’t know what they are asking for. Cu-chi 70-71
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I was in nam 1968 as a crew chief on a uh 34 don,t see any thing about this unit we had a clover leaf on the chopper our role was medivack and resupply
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I think about the ones I had the privilege of knowing that gave their all in the service of our country freedom is not free and to many in our country have choose to ignore this once again we need some leadership that will bring back the principles that our country was founded on God bless America.
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Awesome and chilling.
My husband did 2 tours
During VN. 1967 and and 1969.
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Makes me sad, mad, but yet so proud of all our boys and girls now men and women who bravely and courteously fought, prisoned, and died all for a useless war even though it was never declared a war.
Ron 101st airborne 1968
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Great article, loved the nose art. One correction, we flew the OH-23G for the 54th and 23rd Artillery Groups in 1969.
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I was there in 1968 USMC!
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Widow of a VietNam soldier died of AO poison.
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Too watered down, it’s war people die, so we’re soldiers, sailors, air men, marines, in the bush,in the rear. Even the coast guard served with honor!
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It’s been a long time since I remembered a good time. I guess it was taking a Viet. Boy to the movies at than son Nguyen. Oh yeah I almost forgot about my cousin visiting me. I got a day off from being a dustoff medic.
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Well written, factual and most of all, it should be informative to almost anybody reading it.
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Very, very informative.
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I trained MCNamaras 1PM in, 00 to af4er my first tour in Vietnam. We hgv and 6 months for them to complete their 8 week medical airman training. I later served with some 9f them that made,a career of the military. I 2as wounded during my first tour and no longer fit for military service but was given a,waiver to remain 9n active duty. Three years later I was sent back to Vietnam anyway.
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Was an interesting article outlining things difnt know oe totally forgot. I enlisted in 1967 but most of the guys in basic training & AIT were reservist doing their initial training also. Didnt see many of the guys as you’ve described. Most drafted/enlisted guys were average to above average mentally.
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Excellent. My father-in-law, and 2 Uncles served in Vietnam. Thankfully they all came home. Sadly they all passes from the effects of Agent Orange. These articles give me some insight into what the saw…how they served and the scars they carried. Good bless all who served. Thank you.
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Truly fascinating,interesting and also must have been frightening at times.
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When asked about my Vietnam service, I seem to always have a reference to the kids,or children of Vietnam.
Those are the ones that had to live with the sacrifices and possibly sorrow of an incredibly hard to believe life. Most of us have gone on to lead a good life.
But the kids I ran across were some of the most selfless people I was ever.
exposed to.
I pray that they lived the best way possible for them.
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garryowen………. 11B40……….. 1st cav……………
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The article was well well written I was a point man 69-70
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Incredible, gut-wrenching pictures that capture the horror of that war. I still remember crying when watching the news during those years and seeing the flag-draped coffins being removed from planes onto the tarmac and when seeing the disrespect shown at other times when soldiers came home to people cursing and spitting at them and calling them names. It broke my heart to see our own citizens have no respect or empathy for what those brave soldiers had endured in Vietnam! I will be forever grateful for any to our military! 👍🏻❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻
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I was very impressed with the article, it cleared up much of my previous thinking.
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It was accurate but not comprehensive.
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Very good article, better than I could have told the story, been there, done that.
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Good Article about a place we never should have been in.
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Great article and very troubling memories. I was a a newspaper carrier in my pre-teens and teenage years and I saw these images 65 times daily and 83 times on Sunday. From 1966 until 1975.
One Monday evening I was collecting for the paper and went to a house where a young couple and their baby lived who were customers. Her dad answered the door and told me, “Son, please come back later, my daughter was just told her husband was shot down in Vietnam”. That made the time even more real for me.
The draft ended before I became of age, but just barely. Still have my Selective Service card.
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Right on and to the point lived it in thr iron triangle with first infantry 1st of 2nd infantry battalion as squad leader lot of cherry had to grow up fast 2 mass attacks lost 34 in one day as I lived it every day hard to talk about now after air these years
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Vietnam Wife of 48 years. Valuable lessons for new wives of our current military, especially those who have seen action. My husband was a Combat Medic and Medevac Medic. He is still fighting the war.
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I think you men were very brave very scary to read and imagining being there thank you for your service
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Great!! Accurate real life sharing battle experience
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Great post-I was @ Camp Eagle Dec.68 thru Dec.69 with a Cobra gunship unit.
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In the poll, there are two categories labelled OTHER. What is the difference?
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just a duplication that can’t be deleted.
On Mon, Feb 21, 2022, 9:10 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
>
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Thank you brave men. I was out of Viet Nan late 1966. 1/5 FMF Corpsman Williams
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Great article. Over the years I have thought more about the physical torture we grunts endured than the combat. The author really nailed it here. Great job.
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A co,2Bn 60 INF These were brave men
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Great reading about an experience that few can indetstand or comprehend stsy safe bro
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You got it right for all 1966 1967
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I can hear Life flight before anyone else, Fire works gets me if I don’t hear them coming out of the tube. Duc Pho Vietnam 20Jan1969-20Jan1970. We were the best America had!
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At least I don’t cry out in the middle of the night anymore.
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Outstanding
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Excellent site thank you for doing this. Many statements spoken here are what have said during my life. The problem to old men in charge dont want to hear the young men. Dont want to hear from our KIA’S either😢. Thank You
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Informative and enlightening
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Sydney bars had a Happy Hour of free drinks . July1971.
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I was there that night with Bravo Company 1/4 2nd Platoon. I was the Last one on the Chopper and the 1st off. It was bad night.
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Thought it was great.I myself was in transportation two tours 70-72 120th Trans. Soctrang and BINH Thuy Army
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Have commented before, and now will just say that it is remarkable (not in a good way) that we are still debating the pros and cons of the Vietnam War, but too often as though it was somehow the “fault” of our GIs…Unbelievable! Ken Burns and all the lefties who essentially blame those among us who fought because they believed they should, were compelled for any reason to put their very lives in grave danger, they fought the good fight and are HEROES in my book, now and forever!
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Excellent. I was an Air Force Pilot during Viet Namn
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Enjoyed your story . I too was a cherry untill after our first ambush from nva.
USMC 1968-1972 in country 1969.
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Thank You so very much for this information!!
These have been very long hidden, not talked about issues in the military that needs to be addressed for ALL (& their loved ones) who heroically served their/out Country.
I am so proud and honored for the bravery that all and everyone of these “War Caregivers” that had to endure and live every moment of every day for their warrior spouses (male and females)
Many blessings and hopes for ALL concerned to see the sunlight at the end of their tunnels of faith, compassion, love and healing.
Godspeed
Semper Fidelis
A Woman Vet
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Every veteran who has ever been asked or ordered to serve has a story. We who have served and those who have not served have an obligation to listen. Too often the stories are not told…it’s the way everyone who has served is wired. LIstening is the greatest gift anyone can give…even if it sounds like you have heard similar stories before…listen…listen…and try to understand.
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The article on tunnel rats was good. I was one that went in after them.
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I too was on operation Hastings as a Corpsmen. While I have blanked most of it out of my memory that portion that remains is still hard to face.
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What heroes they were. These young lads went to hell and back and got little sympathy or recognition for what they did. Thankyou for the insight.
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This gave me a firsthand account of a Combat Medics’s duties during the Vietnam war. I served in the Iowa National Guard from 1962 – 1968. I was in Headquarters Company of the 1st. Battalion, 133rd., Infantry of the 34th Division. ( Red Bull Division)I was trained at Fort Sam Houston, Texas as a combat medic. When the reserves were called to active duty by President Johnson, the Second Mechanized Battalion was
Activated (Iowa Guard) for Vietnam.
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Good article on whether or not you are a vietnam veteran. First visit to this blog. Wow, even have readers from WWII.
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Forgot to mention I was in Vietnam
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I thought the article was well written. I find it difficult to understand why there is always someone on these kind of sites who want to destroy anyone who opposes his opinion. I served 12 at Danang with the Air abase ground defense forces. I m proud of my duty, my country and my fellow Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. Welcome home brothers.
William Morrison, USAF retired
Wjm48161@yhoo.com
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Great story. Thanks for writing. I btry 29th arty Song Be 10-67 to 10-68. As my uncle who served in WWII told me before I went to Nam. Wouldn’t want to do it again but wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.
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Very good article. I have a huge respect for the folks that served in the infantry.
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Extremely interesting subject, as several friends and I have debated this very subject. Those of who were actually “boots on the ground”, think the history that includes era vets doesn’t really get at the substance of the issue. The “Commeration” really skews the whole thing by including everyone who served during the time in question. In short, I agree with the writer.
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Great writings.
Was 1A then changed to 1H. Nixon ended things. My birthday was usually in the top 10.
But thanks and my utmost respect to all vets especially Vietnam Vets.
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My brother’s birthday was #2 in the lottery. Now, he did get a deferment, but please don’t hold it against him! He was not, has not ever been (still is not) a fighter. He woulda come home in a body bag, so-that he did not go was a blessing for our family. Just saying…
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A very well thought out article!
I totally agree with need to starting a draft of some kind
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1st Air cavalry Vietnam 11 b
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Thank you for the article. I spent one year with the Seawolves in 1970-71. Extremely proud to have been one of the crew.
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When I arrived at El Toro, I had less than 6 months of active duty left, so I was discharged. They kept us on base for 8 days. While there, I found Marines I was stationed with in Vietnam and they really helped with the transition back to the “world.”
The day I was discharged, instead of being able to fly into BWI, I to take a flight to Dulles. (My intent was to fly into BWI, get a cab and just walk up my back alley, walk in the kitchen door and act as though not happen the last 15 months.) I called my sister-in-law, told her my flight number, my arrival time and I was coming into Dulles. My mother, my older brother, my younger brother were at the airport waiting. BTW – to get from the plane to the terminal, we were driven in these high vehicles; a man in his late 30s asked if I was returning from Vietnam and when I said yes, he said: “Welcome Home.”
That fall, I started community college, the school went out of their way to create a meeting for returning Veterans.
It wasn’t until I was in my early 30s that I started dealing with assholes my age that saw too many Vietnam movies and had incorrect judgments.
I found, to get job interviews, it was best not to acknowledge any military service. Also – the white-collar world was full of too many in-secure draft dodgers that believed in management through committees; my attitude – get out of my way and let me complete the task!
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It was a very tuff war issue my uncle caught aent orange there married a Vietnamese women brought back to Maine has teo grown adult girls now one 50 another one I not know her age. he married another Korean Asian who was married from a GI. after he divorced her and raised up her kids by another marriage
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Looking forward to more stories.
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Excellent and brings back many old memories. USMC 5th Marines TACP Vietnam 1966 & 67. Every single chopper pilot in Vietnam deserves honors and saved many, many lives. Mr. Taylor is one of many that deserve the highest honor!
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Welcome home Brothers n Sisters
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Deserved honor as are many still untold memories 😔. USMC Vietnam combat vet 1966 & 1967. TACP 5th Marines.
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Memories. 119th assault. 1968. Pleiku.
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I liked reading the article & though I didn’t experience that intense level of combat, thankfully, I had enough to get evac’d after 10 months in ‘Nam.
Congratulations to all involved!
Sorry for the losses but those are inevitable in that level of combat!
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Thank you for writing it down. Most of can’t or won’t or don’t want go down the road that defines us. We need to clear the air and get over the hurt even though we don’t want to. Some would even like to hang on to their anger for all the reasons you already know.
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I thought it was a great story of an exceptional soldier. 5 consecutive tours is incredible, he was apparently quite at home there. With the atmosphere back in the world, it’s understandable. He was an amazing man, a true hero in every sense. Thanks for sharing that article.
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I’ve always respected the tunnel rats, because of what they had to deal with. It takes a certain kind of man to do that. The in-depth detail of what these guys went through, only scratches the surface. But it was very well written.
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Liked it. More MOH to come, I think.
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Excellently written.
I was a female college student who supported our military during Viet Nam War.
I read this article in particular because of a high school friend who served in the army in Nam.
I am so thankful for the men who served in our military during the time of the Viet Nam War.
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Vers good
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Well worth the read!
Operator of US Air Force MARS AI8AH, Tuy Hoa AB, RVN 69-70, on my every third day off. Not bragging, just have a passion for amateur radio. Calls: WN4ZCY, WB4SWO, AFC4SWO, WA7GAT, K4KGL.
I support the Warrior but not always the War. Some wars are necessary, the Vietnam War in retrospect, was not.
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I was 11B with A 3/21 196th in 1970. When not in the field I was on LZ Center. I only lasted six months thanks to a booby trap. Shrapnel to a nerve root at the L7. I was in Heip Duc Valley May 1, 1970 when my company suffered heavy loses. A description of that engagement was on the front page of the Southern Cross which is posted or transcribed on the internet. As the division report states, we were “co-located” with a NVA battalion command post. Bad things happen when intel is lacking.
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I thought the comments were supposed to be limited to The Poll? Can nobody follow directions? I might have added a few qualifying questions that identified the year(s), units, duties/MOS etc. Otherwise there actually isn’t a lot to comment about…
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Company C, 1/27th Wolfhounds, 25th Infantry Division- Vietnam 1967-1968.
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I was with the 27 wolfhounds 1967 I was there tunnel rat do you go to the reunions
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Excellent article and well written.
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Sad but excellent writing! Will history repeat it’s self, hope not!!
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Just came across your pages. Love it.
Field medic and then Dustoff medic, 1969 – 1970
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My husband died June 11, 2015. He earned a Purple Heart. Sharpshooter medal etc. We were married 40 years. Had 2 beautiful children, three grandchildren and now have two great grandchildren. No where in all that time had he gone into an great detail about his time in Vietnam. I know he served. I know he was wounded. I know he was honorably discharged.
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Donna I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your husband but it sounds like you had 40 wonderful years with him and have a beautiful family. There have been many Vietnam Vets that haven’t wanted to talk about their war experiences and as a Nam vet myself I understand some of the reasons. Thanks for sharing your memories!!
Tom
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Donna:
My condolences to you and your family. Always hold him close in your heart and tell your grandkids about the Vietnam years; as I don’t foresee American high schools in any hurry to remember us before we all go.
We’re reminded with each veteran lost that we have far more years behind us than before us and we’re saddened that another brother or sister has left us.
Please tell your children that there WAS A TIME when heroes stood tall; despite the attempts to bury us.
My prayers are for your pain to lessen and only the lovely memories to remain.
Allen Brown
RTO – 1st Brigade
101st Airborne Division (Airmobile)
Thua Thien & Quang Tri Provinces
1970-1971
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I enjoyed your memories, I can’t believe all the politics it brought out. Welcome home Brother
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Very fascinating and a grim reminder of the evils of war.
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I came from a family of Marines. Sniper, Door Gunner and Recon. My middle brother passed away last May of 20. He was a Door Gunner with HMM264 70-71. I miss him with all my heart. The flag in my front yard is at half mast. Underneath that flag it simply sates, “A VETERAN DIED TODAY”. The most worthy of that honor. He sent an email to me shortly before his passing speaking of the politician scumbags getting the half mast treatment while the vet goes mostly in obscurity. Not here. It prompted me to write a song “FLY THE FLAG DOWN LOW”. I would love to post it somewhere for everyone to hear. Thanks for serving all.
Jeff Larson USMC Ret’d
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Thank you, a Vietnam Vet 68-69
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It is gratifying to know there are young individuals out there that read about Vietnam and the mistreatment the Vietnam veteran experienced!
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I found this article to be relevant to some of my time in the “Nam”.
I served from 1967-1971 as a Fleet Marine (8404) Corpsman. I was assigned to the 1st Battalion 1st Regiment HMM265. I was assigned to triage, where I saw what our story was about.
Great article for bringing some memories.
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Great insight of a good commander
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OUTSTANDING WEBSITE! I’ve been a subscriber for some time now and I have been taken back to my Tours, (1968 & 1969), many times. The A Shau Valley article that I just finished reading describes the area to a “T”. I’m glad to see that I wasn’t the only Troop to serve under a Company Commander that really cared for his Men, dogs and their morale and health this well. Kudos to CPT Nightingale! Glad that he made it Home! Take care, be safe and Always Check Six!
Ed
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My name is Rafael Roman. I just posted the previous comment. Forgot to say that I was with C Company, 159th Aviation Battalion, 101 Airmobile @ Phu Bai from December 31, 1968 to December 24, 1969
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Right On. We were sprayed and betrayed. The intent to use Agent Orange to maim the VC and North Regulars at our expense is criminal. The homecoming and life back at home were deplorable. There was no such thing as “Thank you for your service”. It was more “Get the #*^! outta here”. Thanks, we needed that and for many, this was to hard to recover. We still bleed from neglect. VA health, especially mental health sucks.
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Bring back memories !
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Go forward
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Great read. Served as Crew Chief, A Trp. 2/17 AIR CAV.
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The guy was between a rock & a hard place! Rating out a brother is a difficult decsion. I would have made it very clear to the stoner I’d bust his head if I caught him fucking off on guard duty! My life & his depended on our both being awake!Thank you for your service, Brother!
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sky pilot was included in the last post of 35 videos.
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Great read you where spot on walking point I was in 1stcav 2/7 Cav work Slack WIA 4 months Medvac out 1968
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Good to see but very few songs I recognize probably due to preference for country music. But one song I am surprised is missing is “Sky Pilot” by Eric Burdon and the Animals.
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Hi Vance I was with Charlie Company 1/35 Fourth Infantry but my brother served with the First Cav unit in An Ke from 66-67. He passed on at a young age with esophageal cancer on the outside of his esophagus (but never smoked) . One theory the docs had was possible exposure to Agent Orange which according to my bro was stored behind his hooch!! So Vance I’m sorry to hear about your situation man you’re a great American Vet trying to live with the ramifications of a hellish experience. My thoughts snd prayers are with you!! Tom
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I was lucky, served in the Headquarters Company of the 1st Air Calvery Div. in An Ke Vietname. Drafted and did not want to go to Vietneme. The day I went to Ft. Dix in New Jersey, to my suprise, some of the draftees where from my high school class. Did not go to college, married, children, poor, white, black: off to Vietnam. , Now I am 76, wth hemangiopericytoma, a cancer caused by Agent Orange. Tumor left side of head, now tumor in right hip. Not shot in Vietname, but it is still killing me.
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41yr old Canadian lady. Lover of all things historical.
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I will just say thank you.
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Awsome read…Ben there ..done that..Thanks ..with tears in my eyes.
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A unique description of all of the 2.5 million who served in Vietnam.
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Chopper IC made the right call — wounded not dead take priority.
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Absofreakinlutely!!! As much as it hurt to lose a man it was more important to get the wounded out and hopefully save as many of them as possible!!
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Sad, there were far too many soldiers like Roberts who paid the ultimate price. War is hell.
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Brough home memories of some very young brothers warriors who will never come home. God Bless.
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I was station chief of AB8AU in 1969 9th Div. Proud to have served.
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Wonderful. I flew Bird dogs in this area at same time of this event.
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Brilliant
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Good
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Thank you for your most interesting podcast. My brother served with C/4/503 173rd ABN and was KIA 1-14-67. Your podcast gave me an inside look of a infantryman and their daily life. I look forward to seeing more of your podcasts. I read your Cherries for a long time. Thanks again and thank you for your service.
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Awesome read. Not all experience was same as Grunt but we shared in the jungle anything we engineers had. Food, ammo, c4. Anything we had we shared. We supported Grunts, patrols, food, cigs, ammo, and were welcomed no matter where or what was needed. I opened and closed firebases.
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Very interesting bringing back a lot of memories I was a combat soldier with the 101st airborne unit Delta 1/506 70-71
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Pretty much nailed it. I was one who humped 8 canteens. We got resupplied every 5 or 6 days and humped a full case. Rifleman. Central Highlands with the 4th. If anyone should comment negatively here, they were not there humping the bush. Nice work.
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Hi Jim sounds familiar I was with Charlie Company 1/35th Fourth Infantry. Base Camp Pleiku but like you we were out in the boonies most of the time. 9-67thru 9-68. I think I had about 4 canteens or so so ya got me beat there ha!! Great to hear from you take care buddy!!
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Thank you..for what you endured, for sharing; even though you have 2 relive. Much of what you didn’t share, in order to give a different light 2 us civilians. I think, all need a better understanding of what our veterans young lives were like. Now is the time to share. What veterans can share. What isn’t shared…will soon enough, never be known …therefore suffers continued injustic to never being remembered or respected or appriciated.
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I’m Terry Misener, and I remember the full account of what happened on the listening post on LZ peanuts. All men on listening post were decorated for heroism.
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You nailed it I was a RTO Central highlands 25th Infantry 1/14th Golden Dragon
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I just want to say thank you for preserving my freedom.
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Excellent. It covered issues that we’re going on and faced by grunts, yet I have never read about it in print.
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I helped work at an orphanage outside of Saigon in 68, built it from ground up,
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Although I was a Remf with 11th MTB West of Danang, I am so interested in what our guys went through the hell over there. Many of my friends were grunts and sometimes talk about the shit they went through.
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Yes. you nailed it! One thing you didn’t mention was even when you made it to nightfall it was setting up ambush positions and the endless sleep-2, watch-1 until daybreak and then do it all over again. I was a RTO, C-4/12, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Vietnam 1967-68.
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By being a door gunner I have high respect for the tunnel rats !
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Absolutely sir! My middle brother was a door gunner with HMM264 70-71. He made the comment to me one time….”But we had nowhere to hide”. I am proud of all my adopted military vet brothers. Amen
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Amazing story! I appreciate knowing what our soldiers went through in Vietnam. I’m a Navy vet that was stationed in Guam from April 1975 until Jan 1977 and things were still moving pretty fast then getting everyone out of the country and safely back to the good ol USA. Thanks for your sacrifice and hard work.
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I like the article. I was one of the tunnel rats and I am mentioned in the book tunnels of chu chi. 1st infantry division HHC 1st engineer battalion. 1969-1970 Swofford.
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I was too young for Nam, too old for Gulf War. 1975, 7 days before my 18th birthday they evacuated Saigon. 2 days before, they stopped the draft. The next year I signed up. 4 years Airborne, 8 years Combat Engineer. I knew a lot of guys that came back. Thanks for your Service.
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I liked & enjoyed it a lot.
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Intense. I don’t know any other way to put it into words. There really aren’t any words to describe it. It gives me a whole new respect for the Army and the Rangers in particular! I am still trying at 63, to understand what my older stepbrother, a Marine, went through as a Marine in his two tours out of a three year hitch. He was in Vietnam and my dad was in Thailand during the war. I can’t say “ I know”, but, I can try to understand. Still! A lot of emotion there.
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Very informative and sad but true
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This was one of the best combat stories I have
ever read.
I turned 17 in 1974 and went to P.I., where almost everyone involved in our training was a combat veteran from Viet Nam.
Everything I was taught was Viet Nam orientated.
I have read countless books in fact and fiction, and this story showcases the quality of Americans in combat.
Really enjoyed this.
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It makes me think back, with much sadness, to say to all who served both the living and those who have died ,thank us all for believing in what we stand for. I served, 1967- 1971
USAF.
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Everyone should be encouraged to read this story
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Excellent article, factual, brought back memories…DaNang 69-70
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Good read need more similar ones
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Great article … Brings back a lot of memories
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A testament to very very brave men and women. They fought a war across the other side of the world to fight a peasant army with support of Russia and China regular forces..Such a waste of life for a generation who shaped the world in death so others could live to tell the story.
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Thank you for sharing. I am just a friend who is crying right now. My heartfelt thanks to all who have served! ss
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Thank you and to all our Vietnam Veterans WELCOME HOME!!! Walked point in A/2/7 1st Air Cav for 5 months from Hue thru Khe Sahn and the Ashau, and again in our Recon Company.
Thanks for your service and writing the story of all of us. As to the comments of Lauren a few years back, remember guys we also fought for the ignorant and uninformed citizens too!!
If she had been around when we returned I have no doubt that she would have been one of those who spat on us on our return. Go figure? Welcome Home and GARYOWEN!!!
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I have a question. Is there a way to get in touch with Michael R. Conroy? I was just informed that my Father(who is no longer with us) was mentioned in this book. I was looking for a copy. But the only ones I could find were in the hundreds of dollars range. And I can not afford it.
Thank you
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Try the library if you’re looking for the book as it’s out of print. He did have an article published in 2003 in Vietnam Magazine. Perhaps you can write to the editor and ask if they have contact information.
On Thu, May 14, 2020 at 11:25 AM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Lost friends in Nam still have bad dreams up every 2hrs still. Checking perimeter of home area habit has not ended yet. Entered Nam Oct 12 66 left Nov 14 68
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Hope life is good to all .
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I was in the 1/50 from September 68 until September 69. My tour we were part of the 173rd Airborne
I was going to extend to get out early but then I heard the battalion was moving and I said screw it. Every time we moved we would get into firefights.
Sorry about our KIA’s we would never keep a pothead out in
the field
1/50 play the game
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Great Article! Thank you for your service, courage and heroism!
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Brings back a lot of memories …. I was a FO/LRRP out of LZ SHERRY, just north of Phan Thiet. We had similar actions against us. Seemed like these attacks last forever, while in the dark not knowing who to shoot or what actions to take.
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I flew choppers in Nam from Feb 69 thru Sept 70, have been thru several similar incidents and mostly walked away slightly wounded or no even a scratch to show for the mirical I had just experienced. Some say I had a Angel on my shoulder and now 50 years later and reading this mans account I believe I was truly blessed as was he, broken up but a live to tell his story. May God bless you and keep you . Capt Fitz 189AHC Ghostrider s
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Thanks Capt Fitz for your actions in Vietnam. You know as I that most of our missions were like that. Nothing happening just routine, something happening but leaving
Just great stories, or something happening and not a good outcome. And most of the time when you least expect
It. I thank God daily that God put me in a position with great soldiers to get me outta there. I was useless once that chopper went down.
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I think this is a great article I was with 25th infantry division Dau Tieng April 68 August 69 spent time on 105,s 2/77 I do appreciate what the hunter killer teams did I think they did a fine job
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patrick, Thank you for your service, The Greyhounds flew 25th missions, usually near Swan Loc (excuse the spelling). It was a 25th mission some weeks earlier when Capt pawulak and I went into to drop ammo to a surrounded unit. We had no LZ so we dropped the boxes from tree top. No incident on this one just some happy grunts with
More
Bullets.
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Beautiful and soul touching. I was 11B and received slight wounds and really appreciated those chopper pilots.
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Curtis, I was a fully trained 11B and Infantry Officer, and as silly as it might sound I regret not getting an opportunity to serve on the ground with the bravest of all soldiers, the Infantry. Thank you for your service.
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Interesting, his narrative on the mind of a young soldier struck a chord with me. I was already in the machine and like many others who were not there, only were able read or catch glimpse on tv. The country split in two, the anarchists and the rest of us. A small but vocal group with media savvy able to sway eventually sway public opinion and perception.
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Fred, truly one of the most interesting events to watch. I just wish I had snuck my camera in there.
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Great historical content.
I believe UES Naval Air has a squadron called “The Ace Of Spades”. I don’t remember if it was fighterd, or attack.
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As a former medic in Vietnam, It was outstanding!!! Brought back a lot of painful memories but was proud to be associated with such heroic individuals.
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Those that go get the injured are a special breed… And those that care for them to restore a semblance of normalcy deserve an equal billing as part of the entire war machine made up of humans. War is not glamorous. There are no atheists in foxholes. Just DO your job well. ALOHA
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I really er enjoyed reading about this nurse. Thank you for your service.
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Yes compassionate
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AB8AAR 313th Signal Company 199th LIB
I was Company CO when we set up the station on the brigade main base. Used a helicopter to put up the antenna! My lineman climbed the pole without his gloves. Got quite a shock from the down draft! He stuck with it until the antenna was installed in the brackets. The Engineers dug a hole for the ground with the biggest auger they had. We filled it with scrap metal and salt with a watering pipe. We had reports that we had the strongest signal coming out of country. The Engineers also built a small building just for the station. We had a “telephone booth” at the forward fire base with a circuit to the station so troops in the field could make calls. One caller was in the booth during a rocket attack. Took a week for us to find him to complete his call!
Nice site. Particularly the list of all the call signs with locations.
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My name is Franklin McArthur Jr, the Founder and President of the now defunct PFC. Dan Bullock Foundation, I really appreciate you helping me to perpetuate Dan’s story, God bless you and God bless America!
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I have a couple of questions related to the comments and reply options for your web site 1. First I think you have a great web site and love to read you’re articles , but I’m not sure how to track a comment or reply that I have made on a certain article. 2. I usually read your articles on a mobile device and wondered if there is any tech! Disconnect when I reply through a phone because it seems as if I cannot locate a comment that I may have made about an article that has been submitted. 3. Is there a waiting period between submissions / comments/ replies after a person responds to an article.
Thank you Tom Dilley
>
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Tom Dilley, first of all, thank you for your comments. There is no waiting period and comments are posted immediately unless they are considered spam. Comments should also be posted AFTER the article and not on THIS page. I, too, have problems with using my cell phone and can’t locate things. Best to use a work station whenever possible.
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Hey thanks very much and sorry for the late response but with everything happening right now I temporarily forgot to get back to you. I appreciate the information and hope you’re doing well in this crazy time period.
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Thank you so much for a fine article as this
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Was an interesting article and right to the truth. I had been in Vietnam for a little over two weeks when I was picked out of the group to carry a PRC25 for an artillery forward observer. I was wounded by flying steel not to long after carrying the radio on a Recon in Force. The antennae was a dead giveaway and our enemy was smart to know that cutting the communications you might have could result in him having ab upper hand on the battlefield. Fortunately for me and others that were wounded as well to include the Forward Observer we had Gunship support in the air and the response by them may well have saved a lot of lives. It was 26 December of 69 in 3 Corps area.
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I was an RTO with Charlie Company 1/35th Fourth Infantry Division for about 5 months late 67/ early 68. I stuck by my LT. like glue. He was an awesome guy who unfortunately hit a booby trap right in front of me and lost his life. I‘m not sure how I survived without much damage but I did. He was replaced with an LT. that refused to change his silver shiny bar to a black drawn on bar on his helmet . So now not only did we have a shiny bar making us stand out like we wanted the enemy to shoot us but we also had that big ass antenna which I camouflaged as much as I could. Anyways I always believed that the Cong or NVA wanted to knock out leadership, communications, and fire power in whatever order they could manage.
Thanks for the article and thanks for the follow-ups it brought back some good and bad memories but that’s how we keep moving on through life dealing with things on a daily basis. Tom Dilley
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Interesting and seems factual. I served in an Airborne infantry unit and a LRRP Ranger Company where I was both a squad leader in the infantry and team leader in the LRRP/Rangers . I heard lots about Officers and RTOs being first targets and found it not so. 60 gunners were what Charlie wanted to take out first because of the volume of fire they represented. You hit that nail on the head. Army infantry and USMC infantry lost over 31,000 KIA not including officers and medics.
My LRRP Ranger unit had 48 men 8 6 man teams. In one year the unit lost 24KIA.
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AF munitions, load crew chief of four man teams, bombs, rockets, canons, cluster bombs, gatlin guns, napalm, occasional leaflet bombs (if it could be hung on a pylon we could load and arm it, regarless of weather and day or night!). AF 6th SpecOps, ’68-’69, Pleiku.
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Thanks for this and all your articles. I have 2 years in Nam …66/67/68 I came home in July of 1968.God Bless you and Welcome home brother. Navy Seabee Heavy Equipment Operator.
All I corps DaNang, Chu Lai, Quang Tri, Dong Ha.
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I was an RTO on Arty FO teams for 7 or 8 months then became the Recon Sgt/FO for another 25 months. The radio was always there. I only had 1 man hit with me and that was a “to whom it may concern” mg burst that hit a number down the line. But, there was nothing more worrysome than a new LT saying out up the long antenna (with the big red flag)!
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Great read….I think most people that were not there ,never even heard or thought about the life expectancy ,of us in Vietnam. I think most of us knew about what our life expectancies were…from what I experienced, no one really thought much about it. We just did our jobs and did the best we could to stay alive and help our brothers stay alive. My life expectancy was very short….I was a Scout Dog Handler and walked point ,with my HERO german shepard my whole tour….GOD BLESS US ALL
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Great article. As stated we were never made aware of how those percentages were arrived at. I did learn that LRRP’s had a mortality rate of less than two minutes in battle. Always felt bad for those guys.
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Correct in every way 🇦🇺👍
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Great read! Thanks and Welcome Home! USMC 67,68 AnHoa Golf 2/5
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I thought it was excellent. I too was aTanker in Vietnam. I was an 18 year old E-3 Tank Commander. I was with 3rd Tank Batallion 3rd Marine Division in I Corps on the DMZ. I remember all the things that you spoke of and more. It was a
Very scary thing to be out in the bush on Operations especially when we were out for several days. Night time is an altogether different animal from day time. We mostly shot at muzzle flashes.
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11B40 Mech Humble, Humble, humility, Site like this need to teach those who can’t identify with any of this to see that “we” never forget, and they should not. We cannot let them forget.
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I Really believe this is the most Hair-Raising “Short” story about ‘Nam I’ve read. I was there as a Marine
M60 Machine Gunner, saw & lived thru Combat, Mortars, Grenades & Bullets but Not to the extent
the writer experienced.
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Many thanks for this story, one that was riveting and heartfelt.
I served on active duty (1968 -1969 during the war in Vietnam. Joined USNR 1967 and continued in the active reserves until 1977. Although my aviation squadron wasn’t sent to Vietnam, I went where they sent me, served for over ten years and received an honorable discharge.
James Walters
Gold Star Brother to George Norton Walters (KIA 7 AUG 52 in Korea)
Nephew of a KIA uncle, Lovic G. Keith (Battle of the Bulge)
Son of PVT Leon J. Walters (twice wounded in WWI (he was almost 50 when I was born)
Great grandson (Andrew Looper Keith) who was an officer during American Civil War.
Seventh generation grandson to a colonel of a South Carolina Militia unit during the American Revolution; proud member of Sons of the American Revolution.
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Every day in RVN was spent praying to survive another day. Any location or any MOS that a Marine was was susceptible to attack by the enemy. This was especially true during the Tet offensive of 1968. You never do out put it far enough in the past in order to forget the experience.
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American Vietnam War Veterans were Compassionate during the time allot was tired of the killing and ready to go home! I never met my real other American father at the base at nha-trang but my Great Stepfather Army father married my mother or after the war the V.C would of killed us all me especially for having a American Soldier father that I never met. So my Stepfather father brought us back after he married my mother and raised me as his own Son I love him to this day even though he has lung cancer from the years of smoking G.E laid him off from Camden NJ and and a hard time walking with a bad back and leg Problems. He so messed up! God Bless America! 🇺🇸
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It touched the spot where I am myself right now!
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I got out of the AF about the time the Vietnam war heated up. I got a job with the Army as a civilian making munitions for the army, in 1966. IMHO : the Vietnam war was not a war. It was a good way for some people with good connections to rip off the US. Government, and get a lot of excess poor people killed off. In 1967 I had gotten burned on the leg by WP.
I was on light duty, working in the back of the WP plant, opening 81 Mm morter rounds to be filled, when this tech-rep from the company that was making buster Wells for 2.75 rockets came running up to me, and hollering ” Here is your problem, Mr Bray! This. SOB is deliberately sabotaging the shells! ” I said ” Now wait a minute here Mr. What kind of Shell’s are you down here to see about? 2.75s, or 81mm,s?” He said ” 2.75, that is what these are, ain’t they?” I told him ” No sir. These are 81mm. You should be a little more certain of what you are talking about before you go accusing people of being sabators.” He told my supervisor ” Do i have to take this off this sorry mother f$$king whores son.? I demand that he be fired! “
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I think the article was over done bordering on sympathy getting
Of all my veteran mates we have had one suicide and one has disappeared which is probably at about the same as the national average in the general public.
I was a combat veteran and nasho during the Tet offensive we lost our platoon commander, radio operator, one infantryman with four more wounded.
I remember the grief and loss and realised the only thing that l wanted to achieve in that place was survival.
Yes l had problems when l got home and like the rest it takes time and help but l can live with the experience now
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Love this article, born in 1960 my family lived in a area of southern ca. Los Alamitos with the airforce not far from our home! Most of the neighbors either had family in service or were themselves in service. The war and its affects were close to me. I thank every military personel For there service during vietnam. I am embarrassed and angry for the treatment of all service men and women after the war.
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Thank you for your kind words and appreciation…
I always knew there were people back home who still cared…
A Brown
Sp4 (RTO)
1st Brigade
Thua Thien FS Bases &
Ashau Valley Relay setups
101st Airborne (AMBL)
Aug ‘70 – Oct ‘71
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This needs to be promoted throughout this country. Too many people do not know enough about the Vietnam conflict and remain ignorant and apathetic. My husband did two ‘tours’ with drastic results, was wounded, both mentally and physically unfortunately. Bless his heart. My heart goes out to everyone who served and the gratitude of the nation ought to be foremost by all of us.
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Very true. I’m a Vietnam veteran. 25 th infantry. 11bravo. Maybe trump will take care of us
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I was there; I was a assault boat coxswain on the USS Bayfield (APA-33) and assisted landing the 3rd Marines on the beaches under fire. I’ll never forget the sound of the shells going over my head to the beach areas.
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Guys, it’s time to get over Jane Fonda. She was and still is a shallow minded California pretty faced liberal from a wealthy family who was little more than a puppet. But in reality she did little if any damage other than piss us off. The people that did the most damage to us veterans is the American collective media and the VVAW, Vietnam Veterans against the War. They are the two main organizations that turned the public against us with their lies and innuendo. As for the media, they are all guilty, especially the NYT and CBS. The face of the VVAW was soon to be Senator and later Sec of State John Kerry, who did far more damage to us than Fonda could have ever done. At least Fonda has some what apologized, but not Kerry. If you must, vent your anger toward Kerry – he’s the real evil.
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Pretty Jane indeed, still looks hot! Didn’t like her actions, yes, was poor judgement! Hanoi Hilton USN POW Cunningham, in ’90s or ’00s, praised how she really handled POW paper messages. Read her autobiography, a rather thorny path.
But I still like her, not sorry to write or say that.
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My brother and I were both USNavy serving
On different ships-he on DD and I on AO in 1972 while Fonda was spewing her garbage over there.
We will never forget the harm she caused.
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Very good account. Throughout the years the pieces of this combined action slowly come together for me. I was with a Weapons Platoon on Hill 1364 I think it was, on the N.E. side of the A Shau. As a comm rat assigned to babysit the crypto radio with my expendable body. On loan from 11th Marines, I went to lots of places in I corps, mostly hill numbers. We were right on the Trail maybe 75 ft above up in the mist. The triple canopy was pretty awesome…at this point, the trail was about 25 – 30′ wide..no sunlight, period. Nearby an old French resort for officers built of stone all shot up by the Japanese in ’37 before WWII. The accounts of this action get fuzzy so maybe this is another piece for someone else….OUT!
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Riveting!
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Great truth Vietnam vet 68/69
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We who are still here appreciate the help and respect we are finally receiving. We will never forget how we were treated but we can move on and help America treat their veterans w the respect that they deserve.
U.S.Army, 69-70 Vietnam Vet.
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Eloquent, compassionate, just. Thank you for your service and for your words, Robert!!–Tom Reilly
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This was a great article!! I am surprised that I never read it before. Brings back memories of my homecoming in 1967.
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For a different perspective on the Vietnam conflict, obtain “Our War Was Different” by Al Hemingway. For further resources look up the USMC “Combined Action Program”.
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Very thought provoking and remembering of things that occurred.
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I remember, “The Day” ’67/68 Some went to college and we went to school. Also remember the Stew’s, most of them back then were lookers, especially coming home! Fantastic article, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank You….
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Interesting read. I arrived in Vietnam on Flying Tigers Airline 1968.
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I’ve read all these comments and I read this story because I’ve been there and done that. I rode FLYING TIGER both to and from Vietnam. I was tha young sgt in the seat crying scared as hell, having no idea what was ahead. I was also that combat solder that was sure the plane would crash I’d never get back to”the world”
It brought back memories like it was yesterday. What I hate is the spermatozoon in this country and people who express an opinion about things they were never involved in.since when has it become a crime to care for your brothers in arms or the elderly or anyone else. Just because you care doesn’t mean your a “commie liberal”. What’s happened to decency and caring. One responder was correct, dynasties come and go and if we don’t be careful we will give a our country Away. God help us!!
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Thank you. Proud Army Mom of a CSM, member of Nam generation.
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It describes me to a T. After Nam I became a cop, in a time when cops were under siege from those they were trying to protect. That was as close to recapturing the sense of brotherhood of the Army. It’s ironic that 50 years later today’s young cops are facing the same abuse we did in the ’70s.
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Nice article. You might check out the 147th Infantry Division on IwoJima. The world has no idea. The Marines had a great photo- journal Company to advertise their movements. Same with Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army should take note.
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Is this a joke? No one went where the Marines went espicially near the DMZ during the Vietnam war. This is why all you see on TV. And on the news are clips about Army units very seldom Marines. I don’t remember ever seeing but one camera person in 13 months of combat with the Marines Cat. Leroy 23 years old.Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
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I too saw ONLY One Camera Crew while in ‘Nam Fox 2/4/3rd MarDiv and They
Weren’t there to see us Marines.
There was some HollyWooden Actor and THAT was the Big Deal !
Don’t even remember who s/he Was.
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Often Compassionate, also Often Incapable of Compassion due to the Circumstances and Surroundings. Every situation HAD to be Very Carefully Evaluated for Extreme Conflicts of Interest on the part of those being considered FOR Compassion !
A 10 year old Girl sets off an Explosive Charge as soon as there were enough Marines around her. Almost Certainly she had No Idea what was about to Happen BUT how Compassionate would You be if those Dead or Mutilated Men were YOUR Teammates ? How would YOU React to Do to the “Villagers”
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Two tours as a Dustoff aviator and unit cdr. It is a well done presentation. Thanks for putting it together….
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great, i was a medic with the 498th at lane 69 till jan 70 and this article really brought back memories both good and bad thanks and welcome home brother.
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Experience. Dennis our machine gunner was desparet to get sent to the rear. After we were over run on LZ Jamie he decided to get bit by a rat so he would need rabies shots. He put peanut butter on his hands and got bit the same night. Got a job on the log pad back in tay Ningand if I remember never got sent back to the lz
By the way his continuous firing that night kept the gooks frim our bunker and they over ran several bunkers To the left and right. May 12 1969. I was feeding Dennis the belts for the m60
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I think she was very legitimate and truly sorry. I truly accept her apology and thank her for it. She has the guts to say it where MANY others do not.
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I flew on(Huey) through Hawk Hill on my way to fix a generator on LZ West and back to Chu Lai where I spent a year with Rocket Attacks May 1970. I never fail to tear up on war stories because I have my own. I wish I could write so well because I would tell my own stories. They never go away. I am 72 and still 21 like I was in Nam. God Bless All my brothers and sisters in arms. We fought the only real shooting war of the Cold War and we won!
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It is a very good Article. This Captain is A Vietnam Veteran Hero. He tells a very touching story and explains very clearly and precisely what he saw and experienced with his eyes and mind. He is forthright In explaining his feeling while he did his absolute best in savings the lives of Infantry Soldiers. I hope that he received numerous Commendations from the US Army. His greatest reward was saving the lives of Infantry Soldiers who suffered unimaginable pain and suffering. Their purpose as the Captain was in fighting and helping their Brothers in Arms to live through a hellacious War. Thank you Captain for helping and saving so many lives while placing your life at risk. God Bless you Sir.
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I’m Always Depressed AND Impressed by the People who served in Vietnam (‘Nam) as We call that Horrid Place. I live with my Nightmares Continually yet knowing that So Many Others had Far Far Worse experiences than I !
Between Mosquitoes & Malaria, Mortars and Rockets, Bullets & Shrapnel, Heat, POURING Rain, Mud & Blood, Lousy Food, even the Best of the Time in that HellHole was Horrible, to Me at least ! Often You’d hear a Fellow Marine say something like “Sure wish I could get a Golden Bullet so I could go back to the WORLD”
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I was a Crew Chief with DaNang Dust Off from
Jan69- Jan70. I knew Mr Hill and flew many
Missions with him. Highly respected and liked by all. I was the person who painted the unit
sign, the unit Creed is on the reverse. Glad to hear that someone else from time frame is
still alive
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Thank you for yours services
Semper Fi
Saigon Pham
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Very very nice
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Thankyou for your attention
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Good tells it like it is
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I want to understand how Americans could treat soldiers so badly, who laid down their lives to keep our Country (America) free from communist control, and still do. It did not affect me personally but I knew a little about it, hated it, and want to understand more now that the fire is mostly subsided.
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Thank you very much Jeanne. While I don’t know if anything will totally erase the snubs and disdain we received when returning home from Vietnam, in my case after 20 months in the Infantry and Artillery, but it sure comes close to it. Bless you and others who recognize we were just service members doing what we thought we owed to our country.
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our “free press” has more “swing” than it should. they can influence normally good folks into believing almost anything. nobody wants to take the time to research for themselves. damn shame.
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Many Thanks for this article. I enjoyed reading we were Soilders Once and Young as well as We Were Soldiers Still. A friend of mine is returning again
in January to complete his journey!
Joe
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I have great admiration for the writer who put their thoughts of this war and their experience of it to paper. Being a vet myself it helped to know another that went through this period of time and felt this way.
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Old men send young men to war. — The old men LBJ, Kissinger did not fight to win the war. As a teenager who could see how the war was not being to win. ? ? ?
Politics do not fight to win on the battlefield.
The POW/MIA who were left behind alive were sacrificed because of win the politics at all cost.
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This is a portion of Vietnam war. We know war
Is bad but to me a Vietnamese at that time is
a beautiful life in Saigon in ’60-’70. Good G.I. in
battles on duty, And off duty G.I.s strolling in Saigon down town, Watching American TV series on AFVN TV network: Adam Family, Gun Smoke, Bonanza, Bob Hope X Mas Show in Cu Chi, Long Binh. Now 50 years passed, many
had passed away, many reached 70 and more
All were memories of good and bad.
C
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Very will written article, made me think about the year I was their. 68-69 just outside Saigon place called PhuLam signal Btn.
Made several trips into Saigon, remember seeing a compound full of new Ford tractors. We also had a orphanage that we would bring to the post once a month. Very sweet children and they loved Ice Cream.
This was a great duty station for me.
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1st. Writer MUST Have seem a Different Vietnam than I Did !
I saw Lots of (I thought at the Time)
the Very Poorest & Most Fearful People on
Earth. Of course I’ve learned since that
Millions of People are Much Worse Off than
the Vietnamese I was around.
We completely believed Every Male We encountered was a V.C. (Viet Cong) for Anyone
Who might Misunderstand.
Booby Traps were Seemingly Everywhere.
Explosive & Otherwise!
And We’d Seen the Horrific Pictures of fellow
Marines Who’d been Tortured to Death.
Rockets and/or Mortar Rounds were Frequent
Visitors both On a Patrol or Operation & Were
More disrupting in Our Home Bases.
We Often Chose to Eat C-Rations rather than
going to Mess Hall ’cause the Food was Lousy.
And the (So Called) Milk was Beyond Belief
Horrible! They called it “ReConsituted” and
Lots of Us drank Water rather than have that
FOUL Taste in Our Mouths.
So No, I personally, Never Dealt with anything
Positive there.
Except getting Out Alive !
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Thank for yout Attention
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Well written and researched. Thank you my brother for helping me get in touch with my feelings about a semial time in my youth that will continue to heal the pychological scars that I just couldn’t deal with on my own.
17 year old volunteer at
NSA DaNang RVN 66-67
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Apakah ada buku terjemahan dalam bahasa indonesia tentang kisah cherries ini. mohon bantuan informasinya.terima kasih
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Great article. I was in VF-11 from 68 to70. First deployment after fire.
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I was in the USMC from Aug 1960 to July 1965 and spent my last 3 months at DaNang, RSVN. We were the first USMC fixed wing aircraft squadron to be sent to Vietnam. We lived in squad tents at the end of the DaNang runway, NO barracks in those days!!
It was a hectic time, our pilots flew missions the second day after arriving at the airfield to support the USMC grunts who came ashore a few days before we arrived. It was quite an experience, I was glad to leave.
But the worst was yet to come!! We were flown back to Atsugi, Japan where we were stationed for most of our 13 month Far East tour. Then we caught a bird to MCAS El Toro, CA. Since I had less than 90 days on my enlistment, I decided on an “Early Out” discharge.
However, the worse was yet to come!! On June 25, 1965, a USAF Boeing C-135 bound for Okinawa crashed just after takeoff into the 1,300 foot Loma Ridge about 150 feet below the crest.
Some of our VMFA-531 squadron members, who were waiting for our discharges, spent some days up on the hill cleaning up the crash site. Most of the 84 military personnel on the flight were Marines heading to Okinawa. The 12 man crew was USAF personnel.
It was the most gruesome sight I have ever seen. God Bless all 84 who perished that day in the crash!
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I remember our ship the Iwo Jima, Marines SLF docking along side of the Forestall at Subic Bay. She was still smoking. We learned later in the day about the horrible accident that took the lives of many of her crew. God bless them all.
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Good to see the younger ones are getting on with life and not dwelling too much on the past. However, they need to have a grasp of the past to hopefully help prevent this from happening again.
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It’s sad that even though we all served during the Vietnam war are still at war with one another. I appreciate what the grunts in the fields did but I mention that I served 70-71 in Thailand as a mechanic on reconnaisance aircraft that I’m not a Vietnam Veteran. Anyone that served in South East Asia should be considered Vietnam Veterans not Vietnam ERA Veterans. I won’t even wear my hat anymore or talk to anyone that show’s they served, because they ask where you served and walk away. I am so angry about this whole bunch of BS that I won’t even bring it up to anyone anymore.
WE were all apart of the Vietnam war and I was in a support group also, but none of the grunts will accept that. If we didn’t step foot in country then we didn’t mean anything. Bullcrap!
I do appreciate the author who brought this about so that I could read comments from so many.
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Every American should read this and weep for the brave and betrayed POWs who were left behind, in enemy hands, to be exploited and used as labor. My husband Larry was among them.
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Entertaining at BEST ! One Pilgrim’s opinion is NOT gospel truth.
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HooYah! Three Tours to ‘Nam War Games:
Make War and Love
Doc Rio ST-2
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Which one of us living today will be the last living Vietnam War veteran?
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I never do, but thank you for the heads up.
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“Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die…”
“Onward noble 600…”
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Excellent!
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Appears accurate but I didn’t visit many base camps besides the ones that I was assigned-to: Di An and Lao Khe from Feb ‘67 to Feb ‘68. Di An was subject to frequent artillery attacks and our Lao Khe base camp was unwittingly built over a nest of VC tunnel complexes so we were often subject to sniper fire at night. They’d pop out of their holes, try to kill one or more of us, then drop back into their holes.
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Somewhat true. As I found out later, most soldiers did not see combat. One of my friends lived in a hotel in Saigon. I was on a small base in the. Delta. Very boring, no r & r.
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Very good. But the USA DID NOT RUN THE WAR. We had to ask permission from the South Vietnamese before we llaunched an operation. Therefore the NVA OR CONG informants would advise there compatriots that we were coming into an area and they could adjust accordingly.
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I think it it very informative and touches on a lot
of points I had considered myself over the years. Two months after I got to Vietnam in 1970, I had the feeling we weren’t going to win because of the political problems at home and the lack of pursuing the VC and NVA. It seemed absurd not to cut off the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and our pilots complained that they couldn’t bomb obvious targets. I was a supply officer, so we worked our butts off to get supplies to our troops to keep them alive. I had served on the Korean DMZ in 1968 as an infantry officer, so I knew what it was like to do without what we needed.
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Excellent. Well documented with myriad reasons why we should have won this war in first 2 years. As we were trained at West Point, invoking General MacArthur’s saying: “There is no substitute for Victory.”
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We could see it happening, but politicians neutered us. Johnson, McNamara, and Nixon have a special in hell to reminisce
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It WAS a long time ago but the emotions are strong with certain smells, sounds, temperatures, humidity, etc. My first rip in 70-71 was an eye opener but the second in 72-73 was a game changer,
It did change me, sometimes I think for the better and sometimes for the worst but I still live with it in spite of those who never asked about it.
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One of the many . . .
According to Christian Appy in Working-Class War, “most of the Americans who fought in Vietnam were powerless, working-class teenagers sent to fight an undeclared war by presidents for whom they were not even eligible to vote.”
Steve
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very well said.
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I served in Vietnam in 1967 to 1968, went home and returned from 1969 to 1970. I have lost the front 1/2 of my heart due to Ischemic Heart Disease,I have Diabetes, nephropathy in my feet so bad I can hardly walk, I have COPD, and Blood Clots in both legs. Which the VA doesn’t view as connected yet. All of this is due to Agent Orange, so BROTHER I COULDN’T AGREE WITH YOU MORE!
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Informative. Since I was drafted it hits home that the privileged were spared the experience. It is also interesting that 2.2 million were drafted. 2.5 million served in the Vietnam conflict. But today there are supposedly 9 million Vietnam veterans. There are only less than 800,000 of us left today who served in Vietnam. We are losing way too many everyday to the real tragedy of the war. Agent Orange.
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Don, I agree with your last statement. As for the 2.2 mm drafted – only 25% of those were part of the 2.5 that served in country…the difference was staffed by RA’s
On Sun, Aug 11, 2019 at 6:28 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Your statistics as to the percent of draftees who were actually in Nam are accurate from everything I have read. See also, the book “Stolen Valor”.
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in the “line” platoon i spent over 15 months with, we had one, get that right, fuking ONE ra. late sept ’67, thru Christmas eve ’68.
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I am not impressed with your article. You must not understand that the War in Vietnam was against world communism.
Your article lacks real combat information about the battle. I was the Command Pilot for LTG. Stilwell who was the Commander of the 24th Corps. LTG. Stilwell was Zais’s commander. I flew LTG. Stilwell out to that mountain before the battle started so we could watch the B-52 strike on the mountain. After the B-52’s hit the area then the battle began. I never heard any radio traffic that indicated that Zais was in the area. We made many trips by helicopter out there during the battle and at one point during the battle LTG Stilwell wanted to land on the mountain. Naturally there was not an LZ but there was a large bomb creator on the side of the mountain where some 101st troops were dug in. The area was under mortar fire that was hitting in the trees around the area. I was able to hover close to the side of the hill where LTG Stilwell and Command Sargent Major James jumped out and I departed. Later that afternoon I picked them up on the back side of the mountain. They had walked over the mountain during the battle. Your characterization of the military conditions in the valley at the time were just not accurate. We controlled that entire area. We were killing thousands of NVA with little loss of American troops. America was clearly winning the Vietnam War when the Communist in the American government undermined our efforts.
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I’m with ya. and all those bastards have buildings and bridges named after them. truthfully, guys, I believe we have the most corrupt gov’t money can buy. then, and now. after “being there”, and coming home, the people lost in the AO I was in, we “donated” to the war. I really do hope to extract a pound of flesh from some piece of shit gov’t lifers on my way out of here. why are there no REWARD’ posters on the power poles? I’m still looking for the 2 afganistani camel humpers that must have been awesome to need all the treasure and blood spent on them. this entire witch hunt has been for Saudi’s. if you see one, kill him.
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I enjoyed your MARS article. While I was stationed in Viet Nam, I was assigned to the 53rd Signal Bn and was a MARS operator at AB8AT at Plantation adjacent to Long Bien. We were dedicated to providing the best service to our fellow soilders. We averaged around 1200 calls a month. I have many great memories of some of the calls I placed home. For instance, one of the guys wife was pregnant. We made sure the last he got a daily call to make sure everything was going good. The last call, unbeknownst to our caller, was directly to his wife in the hospital, after giving birth that day. She sounded weak, tired, and our guy was concerned. As he asked her how she was feeling, he heard his baby crying. It was a great day for him and us.
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Very well done! The best I’ve read. It depicts the actual feelings of us that humped the boonies and fought the fights in the boonies! May God bless my brothers that fought and died beside me. My memory’s will never forget them. Jerry Rogers 2nd 327th Inf. 101st Airborne
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Realistically and honorably told. I appreciate that the story is free of racially desparaging comments about the then enemy.
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I was in Vietnam 1970 with the 597th transportation company 1st logistical command.
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I am a civilian who had a brother in AF and many school friends I Wrote to in the Corps. They shared what they could but your article is a real eye opener. Just living through this was a miracle in itself. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your service. I will be on lookout for your book and will purchase.
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Resisting communism is never a waste. At best, most of Southeast Asia did not fall to communism. In that respect, we, once again, saved more then we lost.
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Never left behind…transcends family and is deep rooted in those who truly value our resolve to bring our people lost in war, back home, to be honored for their sacrifices. Thank you to our recovery teams!
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this should have been a traumatic experience for many.
I know a little of Vietnam, but im from another era, born in the middle of the sixties I know about nam from others, but, please here goes my respect to all these brave men and women of that period.
I lived in Saigon from 2012 to 2017, the mix of old and new, the frozen in time ideas and behaviors imposed by the communism, mixed with a new generation of professionals starting to have sort of “critical thinking”, the conspicuous remnants of the “American war” the smells, the food, it was a very different experience than the one you, young kids experienced. I miss my Vietnam experience, and keep looking at it in places like this, even it is the wrong place.
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Awesome
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HEART WARMING!!
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Just an ARMY brat. Whose step dad (Sgt Joeseph M. Felkel) was a door gunner for the 189thAHC, Ghostriders from Feb 68 to Feb 69. Much love and respect for ALL the Vietnam Vets.
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Thank You! I am a two tour Vietnam Vet. I have nothing but respect for ALL MY BROTHERS>
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Package from home-My mom used to send me a bottle of Seagram Seven whisky enclosed in a loaf of bread. And yes, we all enjoyed it!
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very good indeed I served Victor 5 coy ANZAC Battalion.
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I liked it those brave women were 👼 Angels then and now may God 🙏 Bless 😇 them I wish I could meet some of them I will be in DC 5-25 Bronx NY 1st Cav B/2/12 68-69 iron tri will be in front of their mem at 1:30pm
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I think your poll should have a Vietnam Era veteran, Alot of us were drafted and served honorably but the luck of the draw sent us to other places. I have deep respect for anyone sent to Vietnam.
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Thank you, Roger. Unfortunately, the poll has been up for over 4 yrs. and era vets have chosen “Other” as their choice. If I were to add “Era” as a choice today, it wouldn’t be a true representation. I’ll keep this in mind if I launch a new poll in the future. / John
On Fri, May 24, 2019 at 7:35 AM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Received this from a friend of mine who served in the same company in VN. I am really impressed. Keep it up.
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Thank you, Rick! Welcome aboard! / John
On Mon, May 20, 2019 at 5:22 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Forward Observer out of Hill 4-11 Duc Pho, 2 months and 6 days in country, but with DOG woke up in Valley Gorge Army Hospital 18 days later, went into the Bush the day I got to my unit, never saw my Arty Unit.
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I was a USN pilot in HC1 attached to USS Ticonderoga in 1967-1969. Thanks for your blog and it was great to read it.
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Mr Williams I was in the 85th in Qui Nhon in 1968. I would love to talk to you. hotelhooper@yahoo.com
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My favorite line is “Where are the men?”
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One of the most realistic, honest, detailed history of the warriors life in and after their experiences in Vietnam!!!
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Great article. ‘The Bush’ engulfs you, mesmerizes
you. Couldn’t stop reading it. Kudos to the author.
US Army,
Vietnam 1965-66 / 67-68.
MACV / 8th Field Hospital / 85th and 93rd Evacs.
God bless the Grunt!
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What a great article. Wish there were some way to get the North Vietnamese to release all the info and remains they have on all the MIAs and POWs that they had or still have. The same for the Laotian Government we lost a lot of people there too. I was part of a two man crew that flew in the area of the HO CHE TRAIL and all over northern and central Laos (1969).
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Excellent capsulation of the facts. God Bless all who fought in Vietnam.
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Made me cry……the truth always stands out.
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I’m on your six…thank you all
Sam Simmons 135th AHC Bearcat
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I’m liking this website. Thanks to Lanny Julian for bringing it to my attention. A/Co 229th AV BN, 1st Cav Div. Feb 68-Feb 69, Camp Evans, LZ Sharon (Quang Tri), Tah Ninh
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most informative…and to sum us all up…….
vietnam reflections 377
the old man lies alone
skin of leather
heart of stone
he lays straight beneath his earthen mound
there is hardly a sound
save the cadence
of footfalls
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Heart breaking yet uplifting at the same time. The door gunners would gladly take my mail and comment on how lucky they were not to be living in the jungle. I was extracted by a Huey ( dust off) in a litter, because a tree landed on me while on the border with Cambodia , west of Dakto.
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1969 LZ Professional. Point man Americal Div. . Heavy casualties. Poor unit. Death Valley by Keith Nolan.
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Brought back a lot of memories.
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Glad you’re still with us Marine…
I concur with your BCT and AIT assessments…
I’m GLAD I had the training, but wasn’t really
practical… How’s that saying go?
An Army prepares to fight a war based
on the last war the leaders fought and
won… [ something like that ]
America had recently battled enemies with enormous conventional military forces… WW ll and Korea shaped our leaders and they based our training on the wars they’d fought; not really looking at the Vietnamese, as a valid threat to our capabilities… so we took heavy ‘everything’ to wipe them out in weeks… it would have been better to learn more about their culture, history and motivation in assessing if we SHOULD go in and – if ‘yes – WHAT would be the best strategy and tactics??
We’d have been better trained had we used the Indian Wars as our model instead of Germany and Japan.. Among our leaders’ (military and civilian) biggest frustrations was that Native Americans appeared & made contact only if/when they saw a successful outcome based on surprise, numbers, munitions, etc… so did the VC and NVA… and when superior numbers or element of surprise faded, they would break contact and ‘disappear’.. Likewise, SE Asia proved to be eerily similar.. So frustrating was it that after the sis Drang Valley battles, Gen Westmoreland decided to wage a ‘war of attrition’ to convey how well we were doing… he should have studied France’s experience before adopting that strategy..
So we didn’t really find out about the war until we were ‘in-country’; generally.. I would have preferred more training on knowing how much equip we REALLY needed to carry, or how to spot BBTs and how to ‘unjam’ an M-16 QUICKLY (just like Custer’s troops, jammed rifles happened all too often..
I was an RTO with 101st Airborne and spent most of my tour on fire bases between Camp
Eagle and Ashau Valley… I’m glad to have learned Morse Code but four months of learning that and never knowing we had encrypted transmission capabilities was disconcerting upon arrival at Camp Eagle… the in-country ‘booster’ training up at Camp Evans
(such as HOW to call-in MEDEVACS and air support)…
And maybe someday they’ll realize we’re NOT police; we’re at war to kill/destroy and get out so peacekeepers can come in
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Excellent assessment!!
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Your statement: “it would have been better to learn more about their culture, history and motivation in assessing if we SHOULD go in and – if ‘yes – WHAT would be the best strategy and tactics??” is valid. It might interest you that there WAS such a program in Vietnam-the Marine “Combined Action Program” where a squad (or less) of Marines lived in a village with Vietnamese “Popular Forces” (somewhat like reservists) to provide village security, run patrols, and in essence protect the villagers from the VC and NVA. Results were mixed, but it can be safely said that NO village under the Combined Action Program ever reverted to VC or NVA control…
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Excellent
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Very interesting. My father was in country in 68 and 69 during tet.
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Dont remember a thing about flight home either.
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I slept for almost the whole trip home. A lot of us were just pulled from the filed, had a day to pack up our shit and then sent to Tan Son Nhut or wherever to board the bird home.
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We were the BEST America had.
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Great writing, great photos
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Thank You, Sgt- USMC-0311- Charlie Co. 1/5- 68-69, Hue City To The Badlands Of The Arizona Territory. SEMPER FI.
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Very special. Crew chief on a B model gunship
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Pretty funny and probably true. I Found the Vietnam War to be ludicrous with a bunch of young guys running around trying to kill each other. War is an old-fashioned archaic form of conflict resolution, and we should be able to do better than that. We need to spend as much money on finding non-violent forms of conflict resolution as we do on the military!
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Good story. I was 95B also and we all have lots of stories. Welcome home Brothers.
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Great story. Saw Bob at Bien Hoa in 1965 and DaNang in 1968.
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As mentioned earlier what a great story. I never got out of the field to see him but I thought he was fantastic and supportive of all the troops in Nam!! Thanks for sharing Don!!
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Vietnam: 1965-66: MACV, Saigon, Cholon
8th Field Hospital Lab., NhaTrang
1967-68: 85th Evac Hosp Lab., Qui Nhon
93rd Evac Hosp Lab., Long Binh
My email:
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Carl can you email me sometime? I would like to pick your brain about 1967 & 1968 @ 85th Evac Hosp, Qui Nhon. I was in the hospital there at that time. My email is hotelhooper@yahoo.com.
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Outstanding story! Thank you for your service.
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I truly enjoyed the thoughts it brought back and the emotions it evoked. I could empathize with most of the situations mentioned particularly being the best after having just landed and taking of the bar, any bar. I recently had the privilege to attend a memorial monument dedication at Mother Rucker in May 2018. The monument memorialized thd pilots and crew who GAVE ALL.
While there I met the man who gave me my in country PIC checkride. Hadn’t seen nor heard from him since 1971. Those who arranged the dedication also arranged for Huey rides for us, spouses and family attendees-quite nice actually.
Anyway, loved the story…
Jack Walsh, Skychief 11
195th AHC
1970-1971
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Outstanding! My arms and shoulder are num, I’m sweating and dizzy and oh shit I feel we have another 40 klicks to go. And worse we know Charlie knows we’re coming. Great blog, thank you
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At my base we called them war trucks but they were the same vehicle & badass looking as hell !!
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I was on the Quad 50’s that truck and the guns are the reason I made it home
..I was with E /41ST ARTY
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It’s a great article. I know this because I was in Vietnam.
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I completely agree as I had 2 tours in the hell hole!
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The article plus photos were informative AND heartbreaking. My brother served in VietNam and he, like many others, came home, but never REALLY came “back”.
As another comment expressed which i feel is on point totally, if the media &cm civilians would have stayed out of rmthings, we could have “won” the war (if anyone ever REALLY ‘wins’). The same thing is happening today.
Someone (CHURCHILL?) once said if we don’t learn from history, we are bound to repeat it. Sadly I believe history is repeating itself, only the stakes are MUCH higher today. God please lead, guide and direct all world leaders.
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Thanks for posting the article on Crations , as Ive forgotten most of the stuff in them except the P38 & the Ham & Lima Beans .Can Tho ,Mekong Delta Vietnam 1969 US Army
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Your one brave guy I wish your crew chief and gunner would have made it too I was gunner on. B model gun ship 1st cav 1967 thank you for your story and especially the credit you give your crew
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Well written, some will never understand and it doesn’t really matter what they think or say, we went when called for our country.
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Amen, 21st TASS 14th ACW, Pleiku, Nha Trang RVN 68 /69
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Outstanding story it brought Bach memories
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Hallo.my name is Andy.i live in germany(bavaria).i was born in november 1967.I live near the training area hohenfels.in the seventies when i was a little boy the us soldiers came to our village to get a manover. They give us c-rations for a case of beer. My friends and me loved the cans .i remember often the good Time .greetings from germany
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During 1964-66, I was stationed in Buedingen, near Hanau in the Fulda Gap, with an artillery unit and spent many training days in Hohenfels. Guten Tag and Danke for your good memories of the U.S. GI’s in those days. Auf Wiedersahn.
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It was nice to get the other sides view of the war. I’m a vietnam veteran who went back to vietnam as a contractor married a Vietnamese girl brought her back to the US in 1973 come to find out all her brothers were VC she went back to vietnam 1997 to visit only one brother survived. He had no I’ll feelings toward her for marrying an American and wanted to meet me
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I’m the proud daughter of an enlisted Marine Corps veteran that was in Vietnam ’65 into ’66 with MAG 16. He started at DaNang when the base was being built and then to Marble Mountain. He came home to the States and had a 30 year career in law enforcement. While he *says* the war did not define him, he sure wears his Marine Corps Vietnam Vet hat everywhere he goes. 😊 It’s so wonderful to see people thanking him for his service now. I’m so glad he’s being recognized for this in his lifetime, it means so much to him and our family. And thank you to all of you here for your service and sacrifice as well. ❤
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Wow Christine that’s a great heartwarming story. When we got back from Nam it was really difficult to deal with the folks who put us down and made go into the woodwork. Fortunately I had a family who I could talk to and share some of the terrible things I/ we had been through over there. But even so I didn’t tell anyone else I was a Nam Vet. Because we were so wrongly accused of terrible things. These days we can hold our heads high and feel proud of our roles in a extremely difficult time! So thank you for the story about your dad!!
Tom Dilley Charlie Company 1/35th 4th infantry division 1967-1968
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were you on MileHigh? I was in delta, 1/35. jrfuel5@aol.com
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I was on mile high and went up mile high when we took it over from the 173rd if I remember correctly. Remember they flew us in :: all four companies and we went up the mountain and built the LZ!! I was waking point with Charlie Company that day and remember the NVA hospital built into the side of the mountain we ran into. WERE YOU THERE TOO
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Wait a minute Delta Company you guys came to our rescue on April 15, 1968 Easter Sunday when we got ambushed. Thanks man that was a shit storm that day and I lost one of my closest friends. Glad to hear from you Barrie
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do you know terry lance?
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Terry Lance hmm not sure but sounds familiar man so good to hear from you maybe we can talk ?? Would be great to talk to you
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Christine:
Its great that you are a proud daughter of your Dad. Most of us were faced with the same poor or worse, apathetic, reception when we returned and are very proud of what we did. I wear my Vietnam Vet caps everywhere. I served two torus with the Army in both Infantry and Artillery units. Tell your Dad I said “Welcome Home”.
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Great! Said all of the things I would have said, and do say about the Huey. Brought back a lot of memories, all good!
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Awsume
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I remember hearing on the radio Mary Ann being over run. I was a SGT with the 5th46 at the time and we wanted to go help but it never materialized. A soldier from Echo Recon was on R and R when this occurred. When he returned, he came up to us and wondered where his Team was. We had to tell him about what had happened. He was devastated. He told us that he had gone to their orderly room only to find the 1SG bandaged up. He had “survivors guilt.”
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Love it. Finally I can read about white
/ black race problems. Bad when you have to decide black blood or yellow blood. The rear was not a place to rest from combat. I was beaten badly for using a black shit house. They said to men , white boy we will kill you. Almost did. I better stop. Not all can handle the truth. Black African American soldiers, you know who you are to did this stuff. I hope when you get to hell you have to face what ya did and suffer
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Great article. Do you have any books out
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was in nam dec 68 feb70 2/4 9th inf 2/60 9th
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Erv Coons, 615MP, Thu Duc, 67-68. Great Story of brave men.
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I was at Thu Duc in February 1968 , when the attack hit. I have photos of the bullet holes in the gate at the water plant.
Cary King , 1st ID, 1967-1968
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Excellent article. I am a nurse. I can’t imagine what all of you men/women went through. I grew up during the VN era. Lost a family member in VN Thank you for your service
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Very interesting article. My husband John C. McLaughlin was in country 69-70 in the with the 66th MP’s . Thank you for your service Sir.
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I hope it’s ok with my RVN uncles for your ⭐️niece to post about her best experiences when her RVN grunt daddy was alive. First, his safe return from his 1st tour in RVN with MACV. 2nd, ALL the time he spent with me doing things together while my mom was working still & he was on leave prior to that tour-bowling, washing the car, skating, Christmas shopping, etc. Suz, extremely proud ⭐️daughter of SSG Joe Hunt 9E/80
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Thank you, Suzy! Feel free to post any time.
On Tue, Oct 30, 2018 at 12:45 PM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
>
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The article very simply describes what we (Dustoff crews) accomplished during my war.
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Enjoyed it in a bittersweet way.
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This is a great article I have a very vivid memory of my flight home in 1969. It was dad a joyous ride home after having went through a year of help in my life.
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Very well written, and speaks volumes to those of us who served in Vietnam. I’m only sorry that I read all of the comments as many missed the point entirely.
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Great story. It reflects what many of us do and see almost daily. Not as many of us as there were and most of us just stay to ourselves. thanks for the story.
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Great story, great American hero
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Bravery, Courage, Honor, Sacrifice, come in many forms. Standing on a college campus and protesting your government is one form. Going off to Canada , Sweden, or underground some might say is another. Some. If you were or were going to be called up and ;found a reason to be one of the previous, remember some one took your place. Courage emerges when out of unexpected circumstances one is not in control of , he reacts to. Those who treat us like dirt when we came home….courageous…..lower than dirt. Some, yes some today, claiming valor for where we were and they were not. Dirt. And, the further they are behind me and receiving no recognition for something they know nothing about…good by. The country needs a common cause s that ALL can pull together, not this partisan s….t, telling me why I should vote for them. Hypocrite, blasphamis, lying, get me elected ________________________fill in the blank.
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I was a Vietnam draft dodger and antiwar activist. We saved lives of Americans and Vietnamese by shortening the war. Where is OUR memorial?
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Demonstrating to stop the war had to take place in Hanoi, not safe America. No one had the guts to do that. After 1973, the US, placating useful idiots in th US, was not involved in the war. More deaths occurred after 1973 than all during our involvement. Hundreds of thousands of them South Vietnamese fleeing the brutal bastards of communist tyranny. Your “monument” is Vietnam, until recently the most backward repressive nation on earth. Congratulations.
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Nice reply Phil & spot on !!!
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Amen to that.
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I couldn’t have said it more eloquently, Phil. Spoken like a true veteran. Welcome home, and God Bless!!
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I was called up and didn’t run away and hide, you should have gone and maybe you would have turned out a real man not have a yellow streak down your back
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Cowards don’t get a memorial. We sacrificed for people like you who still don;t understand that. Those on the wall gave up an entire life. Memorial are for people who sacrificed for their country- not for those who hid.
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No service = no monument
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George Graybill, — What you did was another kind of service for our country – had MORE people stood up, tried to stop the war – and told us we were in the middle of a Civil War that had started in earnest when the Japanese Imperial Forces took over ‘Nam in WWII – and went on until the US finally got out we might still be there. I was a Green Side’ Corpsman, 4 Navy and Marines, 2 Bronze, and a Silver – Did Jump (running) school – and was up in Region I, and I for one was thankful that there were people other than my family who were trying to get us out – Especially since Nixon had a ‘treaty’ ready to go as soon as he was elected. My ‘tour of duty’ was 3 years long. (long story, the best of two equally bad choices).
But like any battle or engagement that Treaty was good only until first contact, then FUBAR happened and THEN it went to hell. If it weren’t for people like you, the war in ‘Nam wold still be going on. I mention my ‘merit badges’ and say 2 FULL tours, because here and there I’d go to a ‘B’ school to be better at what I did. (it was also because it’s the ONLY way and time a US Marine ever looked up at me 😉 ) . So thank YOU for YOUR service. You saw through the lies and deceit that surrounded the war which we were not allowed to see. Thank you for being beat by police, fisted by the intolerant and called ‘cowards’ by the ignorant.
I was busted for ONE SEED of pot in my pants in the Midwest – and the choice was VERY clear: 5 years at Joliet for ‘possession with intent to distribute’ (“You have a seed and could grow that and get pot to sell to our youth.” — that was going to be a 5 year sentence, OR I could do 5 years in The Corps. I thought I’d pulled a fast one and became a Corpsman hoping to fly home with the wounded and give aid and comfort in route. So 5 years for drugs that would get me NO state license of any kind — and I hold a few: teaching K-12, and college, Adult Ed, Firefighter II, Paramedic, the right to own and carry a firearm – the right to hunt with a firearm (and maybe a bow, I don’t do any Bow hnting, but hunting deer or playing around with varmints out at 3-4-5 hundred meters – all of that would be gone – so I enlisted in the Navy, did most of a sea tour until one day a Huey hovered over our fantail and took me to a camp (FFB) inside another country, and said: “good lucky, we’ll bring a body bag for you when we come back.” so from Blue Side to Green Side in about 2 hours. Not much of a happy camper, and no, war does NOT make you a ‘man’ – only sociopaths think that (no offense, to ANYONE, but it sure does make you grow up differently with a different set of skills.
So, George Graybill — THANK YOU FOR ***YOUR*** SERVICE!!!! I only hope that you knew — and now know — that War Sucks, and a lot of stuff we did in and on a battle field — even a 2 minute contact – civilians simply cannot understand. So from a ‘decorated Corpsman’ you get a LOUD “THANK ***YOU*** FOR ***YOUR*** SERVICE. I have VERY strong feelings that you and your friends saved my life, and the life of most of my Marines.
War does not make yo a ‘man’ – it makes you one of the VERY few who can take down a bridge, rail line, or drop a person at 100 meters with one or two shots. It makes you — even at 71 years old, a person of whom The Government should be afraid of. THAT is why I am NOT against COMPULSORY UNIVERSAL DRAFT – Men and Women. We protect you from the Government. I don’t draw lines between ‘us’ and ‘you’ — and I don’t hang out with ‘Nam Vets, but we know we are a special kind of brother under our skin – and you, my friend, are another kind of friend. Thank you for your service to our country, and I hope, to our troops. We did the best we had with what we had. And sometimes civilians simply ‘don’t get it’ because they CAN’T get it. Peeing on a dead Gook , Cong, or NVA is probably be the LEAST of our offenses. It’s NOT an international incident — it happens in war zones everywhere n earth. Why? — well George, that is for YOU to find out – a TINY bit of thought will bring the reason into SHARP focus. And I was ‘only’ a Green Side (FMF Independat Duty) Corpsman. And, yeh a LOT of Marines looked up to me. And we ROCK every other ‘field medic’ into shame – because we are NOT “medics”, we are FMF CORPSMEN – THE BEST AND FINEST IN THE WORLD WHEN IT COMES TO THAT FRIGHTENING CALL:
MARINE DOWN!!!! CORPSMAN UP!!!! Again George, thank YOU for YOUR service.
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Have the greatest respect for the Corpsmen. However, serving in the war honorably and being naive and ignorant of the facts are not mutually exclusive.
HCM yearned for and plotted a communist SE Asia for decades. Communism enslaves and murders its unfortunate subjects. Your Vietnamese “civil war” killed hundreds of thousands in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Were those slaughtered people Yankees or Rebs? I assume you also think Nazi Germany was just a civil war that got out of control. The millions killed in Russia and China were just victims of a civil war.
The moronic fallacy in the civil war theory is that it assumes two equally legitimate armies are struggling to make their country better.
The bloody communists invaded a foreign country to assist muderous bastards overthrow a embryonic democracy.
I’m never sure if folks like you are actually rooting for the most prolific death machine in history (communism) or just don’t think it’s worth our time, blood sweat and tears to stop them. Has to be one or the other.
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You mentioned that you are a SPECIAL KIND you definitely are thinking you are better than Vietnam veterans they come back from service and were spat on by people like you, we didn’t volunteer we didn’t run, you and your kind should be ashamed of yourselfs that you caused a lot of homelessness and suicides of men that served you should show some respect but then again you never learnt what that means. I will not write what I think of your kind because that will lower me to your standards.
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Go back to whatever hole you crawled out of you coward!
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Sorry to say I dont think of this fellow as a hero. More like Jane Fonda.
Vietnam Veteran 68/69 LZoasis
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Memorial is dedicated to those that gave their ALL. You sir chose to give very little. Yet it was your choice and you must now LIVE with that choice. The names on a memorial now live with their choice.
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Keep thinking that way George you are only fooling yourself and any other person thing that way. By any chance you didn’t change your surname from Yellowbill to Graybill, just a thought.
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It’s on the wall. The name of the onemail who went in your place.
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Great article I was with Charlie Company 1/35 th Fourth Infantry. I started out as an RTO but eventually was a team leader and I did walk point several times over the course of a year. The description was a good portrayal of a day in the life of a grunt/ leg. Thanks for the article
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welcome home brother.
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Good article. Just shows that some of the best in the military get very little recognition unless they become well known in some other venue.
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I was an Infantryman (11B20p) with the 173rd Airborne Brigade (B/4/503rd Inf.) and you nailed it! But I wouldn’t go through that again unless the enemy attacked us on our home turf. The war in Vietnam was bull shit IMO and not worth dying for. Sin Loi minoi! – Still I was proud to have served as an Infantryman/paratrooper. No one including Special Forces, SEAL’s etc had it harder on a day to day basis and took more casualties than Army and Marine Infantry!
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U,S. ARMY Spec/4 Gerald J.Burg US56460726 Americal Division
11th. Light Infantry Brigade Vietnam 1968 -69
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Very much appreciated it. I was C-130 crew chief in the Air Force, but had a friend who was killed at Kah San. He was a Marine. I think of him often and always wondered what he went through.
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The answer is HELL.
Sent from my iPhone
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We grunts are thankful and really appreciate the Air Force, especially the carpet bombing runs @ Dak To – “Rolling Thunder”in late 1967-’68 with your B-52’s. If not for them I believe that there would be double or triple the amount of names on our Wall.
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Good, accurate article. Only thing I found odd was amount of water carried. We were expected to have at least 8 quarts. I carried 13 (extra for machine gunners) because I couldn’t carry the M-60 and only carried the radio when our platoon was down to 9 men.
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Thoroughly enjoyed the read. Brought back memories of another time and place. Spent the majority of my two tours (65-66) and (67-68) in Hospital settings: 8th Field Hospital – NhaTrang and 85th Evac in QuiNhon.
Always have had the utmost of respect for those men like ‘Tennessee’, ‘Cannonball’ and the rest who humped it in the bush every day, chasing Charlie.
It was a good read. Thanks for posting it.
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Hello Carl Williams, My name is Clarence Hooper I was in Qui Nhon in 67/68 and went through all 5 phases of Tet. I was in the 85 Evac. hospital 2 times. I am sure you wouldn’t remember me. My first night in Qui Nhon I gave blood there.My email is hotelhooper@yahoo.com, my cell is 407-234-0886
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Mr Williams I was in the 85th Evac. in Qui Nhon in 1967 & 1968. My name is Clarence Hooper
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go to the comment section of the article…he won’t see it in this comment section.
On Wed, Sep 12, 2018, 6:41 AM CherriesWriter – Vietnam War website wrote:
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Well done!
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Most thorough account I’ve read to date. I was a US Army infantry lieutenant who served as a pacification. program advisor in I Corps 9/71-5/72 and was often in the Chu Lai area. The 23rd ID stood down when I first came in country with her 196th Light Infantry Brigade moving up to patrol the so called rocket belt around DaNang. I felt a very lonely staying on the abandoned Chu Lai base for my work after it had been left by the 23rd. There was a small MACV advisory unit still there and some ARVN, but not near me. Fire Base Mary Ann attended my thoughts each night and I slept lightly with my 45 and M-16 nearby. Not that they’d have done me much good if Charlie/NVA had decided to come for my small group. Our best defense in retrospect is that we were too insignificant and they were occupied gearing up for the 72 Easter Offensive. Speaking as a graduate of Bennings School For Wayward Boys, it seems that you well highlighted the misfires at Mary Ann that led to the debacle, for me the chief ones being lack of LPs and the perimeter trip devices. I seriously doubt they’d have been overrunned if they had caught at least some in the wire in time to get most of the garrison out of the bunkers and at full alert. What many did even under the circumstances of only being alerted after their perimeter had been already penetrated showed that most were competent soldiers and very likely would’ve stopped the enemy cold if they’d been caught while still in the wire.
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Today is 21 July 2018. It is my opinion that the most recent entries should appear at the top of this page.
We served under the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Group, MACFORV.
West Coast SEAL Team ONE, and my team, East Coast SEAL Team TWO. Each platoon was gone six months in country and return home for more training and rotate back in six months. We were mainly assigned to FOUR Corps, the Delta.
WAR: We Are Ready. War Games Vietnam “Make War and Love”
‘If it wasn’t for the ProPay, PerDiem Pay, and Combat Pay, PLUS
whiskey/beer ration card and the L.B.F.M’s we would have probably not voluteered to return to ‘nam.
HooYah! “The Only Easy Day was Yesterday!”
Snakeater; Doc Rio
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Thank you for the suggestion of listing comments newest to oldest…makes perfect sense and I have changed the setting on the website to do just that. / John
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We are all, different.
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Some will probably dis-agree. And some will, agree. That’s life, What i’m saying is, we had no business in Viet Nam. My time in country there was, from early in May of 1970 until early May of 1971. I was first in the 543d Trans, Based in Long Bihn just north of Saigon. In Nov. 70 we merged with the 572d Trans. known as, The Gypsy Bandits. We took the Trucks & all equipment to the Port Of Saigon. Not too much later we all boarded C-147z and flew north. And eventually wound up in the Quang Tri Province. That was quite, a difference. A very few days after arrival in QT our trucks & equipment arrived there at, a Port. From there we began hauling all sorts of War Supplies to outlying Combat Bases. Like we did from Saigon / Long Bihn. Early in May of 1971. My Tour was over. I departed from, that God Forsaken Country. God Bless America. Love It Or LeaveIt. OK
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As I reads the comments it made me think they are all missing the point of the poem. It is about all of us that put on the uniform every day. It didn’t matter where you were we were all brothers and sisters in arms. Regardless of where you spent your time, we are all veterans, and we should all be so humble, because we can read this poem. It’s time to forget us and remember all of those that didn’t make it home.
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VERY EXCELLENT
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The article was very informing. I have previously read a book by the Viet Cong Minister of Justice. Even as a
Civilian member of the conflict his comments were very much in agreement, especialy about the hazard of the environment. My own observation is that even without the war being there could be deadly. My research shows that 40% of American casualties were non combat related. During the monson at an NDP in the Trapizoid Jungle 5 of us were sleeping next to each other under an extended flap of the TOC tent. RPGs came in and we all jumped up to scramble for the perimeter. The FO staff sergeant laying right next to me stumbled as he got up. Thinking nothing about it I kept going. Later after the fight quieted a Dust Off came in. When i got back to the TOC I found the sergeant had been bitten in the leg by a banded Krait. He died after the put him on the huey. Turns out that the snake had been between the two of us as were jammed together to get partially out of the rain. The snake hit him not me. He was our only casualty that night. Death is often that random.
I have written a book of poems about Vietnam this particular incident has always been with me reminding me of the vagarities of life.
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Fantastic reading and informative. Many childhood friends were lost this war. Many more came back with health and other problems. Thank you
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Somewhere between 500 & 1,738 times, I’ve heard about John McCain being unable to lift his arm. Now, thru this article I learn that Fred Cherry sustained a comparable injury. He was there 2 yrs. longer than the media’s anointed hero, McCain. He endured more severe torture. Most importantly, the number of times Cherry sponsored legislation to stymie FOIA requests about MIAs
is permanently fixed at zero. For McCain, that number is approaching a baker’s dozen. Before his passing in 2016, Pulitzer prize-winning author/reporter Sydney Schanberg reported frequently, and in depth, on this shameful facet of McCain’s mischief in the senate. I believe (?) his website called “beyond the killing fields” is still accessible on the internet. Anyone swayed by the media’s 24/7 slobber fest over McCain should spend a moment -or few- at that site.
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Absolutely correct in what you said. We had a saying where I was the higher in rank the less they knew. From what you wrote it confirms that saying. Thank you for what you wrote and having the courage to write it. It makes what happened a lot clearer.
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We had one attempt on a platoon Sergeant in Battalion on hill 34 , just outside DaNang. He would get drunk and come back to the unit where he would go around the gun sections, harassing the troops. One night he came back to his “hooch” and someone set up a trip wire with a dummy grenade. All he heard was the “ping” of the pin being pulled. Next day, he was gone.
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Having served in VN as a Scout Dog Handler w/the 58th & 42nd Scout Dog Pltns at Camp Evans & Camp Eagle (respectively), with the 101st Abn Div, plus having known & friends with many SF VN Veterans, I found this article to be very interesting. Have much respect for SF, Rangers, & LRRP’s who served in VN & elsewhere.
I currently wear a KIA bracelet (since about 1976) w/the name of Robert J. Sullivan, MSG, from NH, SOG, KIA on 7-12-67 in Laos. His body was never recovered. I wonder if anyone reading this knew him. 🙏🇺🇸
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I had the feeling many times with my interventions with Vietnamese I met and talked to, they had as much desire as I did to be fighting that war, none. They really didn’t care who was running the country as long as they could get to their rice paddy, instead they would find a new road we built so they had to find a different way to get there.
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This is great!! No shootings or killing, nothing getting blown to hell, just Americans helping people that needed help. Truly impressive!!
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She makes me sick to my stomach and so does the fact that she and the other left wingers who insured we could not win with their whining and misinformation. May she never be forgiven!.
We were risking our lives daily i the 1st Infantry Division and elsewhere in Vietnam while this ignoramus was cozying up to out enemies and lying about those courageous POW’s as if they regretted their service or admitted to being “war criminals”. If these were war criminals that were not in North Vietnam, she and Tom Haydn were their spiritual god parents.
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As a product of and participant in the Vietnam war, having extensive knowledge of the Vietnam situation, atrocities by American troops were extremely rare.
Yes, My Lai was a horrible, sickening display of out-of-control American troops, which should have resulted in many more prosecutions, but atrocities by the communists were much more frequent, and never reported by the American mainstream media. Look up the communist massacre at Duc Duc. The communists not only slaughtered the occupants of the village, but tortured men, women and children as well. I’ll bet that most others have never heard of it. There were many other instances of communist atrocities throughout the South.
MEDCAPS were “medical civic action programs” in which medical treatment, inoculations and other preventive measures were rendered to Vietnamese civilians by American Navy corpsmen, Army medics and doctors. There were cases where, after the Americans vacated the village, the VC would come in and chop off the arms of those who received inoculations–men, women, children–it did not matter to them. Cooperating with Americans would result in maiming and even slaughter by those espousing a “communist paradise”.
As to disrespect of returning veterans, blaming those who are sent off to war is NEVER right. Those who serve and have served DO sign that “blank check” on the dotted line “for up to and including one’s life”.
It is interesting to note, that when the military draft was abolished, the protests stopped. The “anti-war protesters” cared not one wit about the plight of the Vietnamese people, but were only concerned about one thing–saving their own skins. Even present-day “uber-patriot” rock-and-roller Ted Nugent got in on the “game”, defecating and urinating on himself and not washing for a month before reporting for induction. He was sent home. He later declared that Vietnam was “not his war”.
These same “anti-war” protesters were totally silent when the Vietnamese boat people started escaping their “communist paradise” in droves, risking life and limb in the process. I, for one will NEVER have respect for those “anti-war protesters.
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The article is great. Hanoi Jane is a piece of crap & should just be ignored as the worthless trash she is.
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Yes…you nailed it ! Good job !
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It was right on. Seemed like we could have been in the same unit.
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It was right on. Seemed like we could have been in the same unit.
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great website im fascinated by the Vetnam war, I was born in 1964 so too young to remember it although I do recall the news that Saigin had fallen in 1975 when I was 11 watching it in the kitchen of my parents flat in Rome….
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I build helicopter replicas on the 1/48 scale and the machines used in the Vietnam War are my favorites.
Its history makes us present in a war we never participated in. Today I am 51 years old and I am a fan of (real) war stories.
Congratulations on the website.
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Do you build a Huey model??
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Reblogged this on Dating after 50 and commented:
While the war was going on all my thoughts we about American soldiers. I sympathized with them and still do to this day.
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Incredible!! Glad you made it back to the world brother. Yes, the Huey is the greatest acft ever.
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DUSTOFF Pilot. Had to read it. WE had the SAME problem in III Corps. All of Vietnam I presume.
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I flew with 388th air recovery in Soc Trang, 1-2367 to 1-26-69 had a rigging crew of 4 guys not including the pilot and co pilot, we had to go recover downed aircraft and it was a very sobering thing to see some of those aircraft and how any of the crews servived , I wish I had taken the time to write about it but like so many vets, ya just kind of let that war fad away till you get old and have time to really dwell on just what happen, anyway it was two years of my life that had its good times and its night mares, God Bless those who never made it back home, my heart still hurts for their familys…..
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Memories. I was a gunner 119th assault. Pleiku 67-68.
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Best article I have ever read, brought flash backs and tears to my eyes, and a heavy heart for the lost. I lost my best friend in life that I served with just recently. Every single male (6) in my family has served in a war since WWI.
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A very gripping story to say the least. I got in country Sept 68′, Hue was total ruins. I heard the stories, talked to a Marine that had been their. He told me that they threw so many grenades that supplies had ran out and that they were using leftover pineapple grenades from WWII?
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I am looking forward to reading his books. I seek
the truth of those who were there- not by journalists who were not.
I am the daughter of a USMC Vietnam Veteran (He was in from 1957-1965- The part of the War that History books or Documentaries never talk about.)
My dad was an amazing dad.
He hid his PTSD well to protect us kids from the
hell he went through- the things he’s seen and
had to do as all Soldiers in War have to do to protect their brothers and themselves- its a war-
and killing ppl is never easy for anyone in war-but that’s war. My Dad died young (age 60) – from Cancer complicated by A.O. in 2002.
To all who served- Whether still here or not- I THANK THEM ALL FOR THEIR SERVICE IN A WAR THEY DIDN’T CHOOSE- AND COME HOME ONLY TO BE SPIT ON & DEGRADED.
My dad was so hurt & angry by his country’s homecoming reaction-
he burned all his 🎖 ‘s – uniforms- everything.
My mom got another set of everything- after he passed- because he earned them as a “boy” but came home a man. God Bless you All! XOXOXO
If you want to add me on FB- pls send a message and let me know how you found me as I have my page private and locked down like Fort Knox 😂.
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Hi Patti, Thank You for your Dad’s service, I too am going through the same with A/O. Lucky enough to get my full Disability. 1966-67 was my time there. So happy you are Proud of your Dad and his service. Semper Fidelis
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Your pops must have been a heck of a Marine, and a wonderful Father. Vietnam for most of us Marines was everything you heard and more. As a squad leader in 1968-1970 we ad our hands full as well as no sleep and lots of humping in mountains, flatland and sandy spots not to mention the heat and NVA. Your welcome to contact my FB Page anytime.
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Sorry for your loss, Patti! I don’t know a Vietnam Vet that ISN’T affected by Agent Orange in one way or another. With the many articles, videos, photos, etc. on this website should give you a pretty good idea of what he went through during the war. Welcome and keep in touch. / John
On Mon, Feb 19, 2018 at 6:15 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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They let people enlist at age 15 in 1956?
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I was drafted while in college in 1968 and after Basic in Ft Dix and AIT at Ft Polk it was off to S Vietnam. I served with the 4/23 mechanized Infantry out of Tay Ninh. I fought in more battles than I care to remember. I was wounded once although not badly and had jobs ranging from machine gunner, TC, and squad leader. When after about 11 months I received my orders for back stateside and I was to spend the remaining 7 months at Ft Polk I stayed an extra 2 months in ‘Nam so I could then get the early out that was offered.
I saw bravery, sacrifice, honor and savagery in my 14 months there and I can only say that we did what we were trained to do. There were times that we were ordered to do things that we knew would result in civilian casualties but we found a way each time to avoid hurting those innocents.
No one who has not been in that situation has any right to even comment on any of this. Just be thankful you didn’t ever find yourself in this position.
Thanks to my fellow veterans for doing your duty and being my brothers.
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Could not agree with you more brother. Glad you made it back to the world.
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Love the article. I was a grunt with the 4 th Division in the central highlands In 1966 and your article is spot on. I will never forget the 1st few nights in the jungle. KC
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I Believe this veterans every word! & as far as being TOO political? how in the hell is that possible? however it has been said & it’s True Gen william Westmoreland was the WORST American General since Gen George Custer! Gen ABRAMS should of been the commanding general in “65” if not for GEN Weyand the tet offesive would of been 10 times worse! (too political? The Democrats not communists! REALLY!)
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4.0 site
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My dad was in vietnam and he served in the Delta, but he said that during the 1970 border excursions into cambodia. That same thing reports of blond fair haired soldiers fighting alongside viet cong. The more i hear of them, the more i think they hid a lot from us as this war was being fought. Like who is involved and why.
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We had the same reports that Anglo Saxons were fighting with the NVA around Bong Son in 68/69. We figured that they were probably Soviets since we killed several high ranking Chicoms in uniform during the fighting in May on the Bong Son plain, when we hit and destroyed the division headquarters. The news media never reported it although they were shown the bodies in Chinese uniforms when they brought them out of the rubble.
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I want to believe thats not possible however among the weak i know better! the Question is HOW MANY?
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I’m a 71 year old physician who went to the Vietnam War as an Army Officer, before Medical school. I studied Vietnamese before going over in 1969. Trained as a Combat Engineer I ended up in psyops in Northern I Corps—Dong Ha, Hue, and Quang Tri with the 3rd Marines, 101st ABN, and 5th Mech Inf, respectively. I spent many hours with the Vietnamese people, slept in their hamlets, even teaching English to a class of Vietnamese in a Hue High school where Ho Chi Minh had been said to attend until expelled due to “revolutionary activities.” Interviewed numerous VC & NVA defectors (hoi chanh) . I am writing a book on my unique experiences there as I feel so many renditions of the war contradicts my own…
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Good luck, bro!
On Dec 10, 2017 4:02 PM, “Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel” wrote:
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go for it ur were there to know what went there the young people have been with are nice people. I am called a teacher or one had called me Mr. sometimes one calls me Mr, Edward. love these young people.
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I do this online on facebook to let you know
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Article helped me to better understand why it is difficult for combat vets to relate to those of us who served but did not see combat.
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This really hits home. Every now and then someone asks me what I did “in the war”. I have to admit many seem to be very interested & want me to go on and on but I have to stop a lot to explain the military & battlefied terms I’m using. But at least they ask.
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Great !! I was at a base in the boonies by the tri-border & got to use MARS once at Cam Ranh. Lucked out as the ham operator was 3 blocks from where my folks lived & it was moms birthday so a lot of my family was there.
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Was with Golf 2/5 in Hue Had the railroad bridges outside the citadel, kept them open with my squad, best Marines you would ever want to meet
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HOOO – RAHH! Semper Fi brother!
On Sun, Nov 5, 2017 at 6:02 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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as a 10 year vet (air force – army – air force) my older brother 101 air born was a point man for three years in country. and he got me sent back to Europe instead of 1 year at ton sanute. (can’t spell for shit). up north by the dmz because of the murffy law. THANK YOU
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Very well written. I enjoy all the articles
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I enjoy reading all the articles about Vietnam. I live in Ireland and a Veteran from my town was killed in 1967 – Patrick Gallagher . He was comemorated this year on the 50th an. of his death.
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Everyone should know about the sacrefices that every veteran has made or ever will make for this country.
We the people of this country owe a debt that can never be repaid.
God bless.
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I am a proud 100% combat disabled and medicly retired veteran of the Vietnam war, C Corp or lll Corp, Tay Ninh Provenance, B/2/1, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Air Mobile, Chargers 1966/67.If you were never in Combat, there is no way possible for you to understand what we went through and the changes brought forth in us for having faced the enemy at amazingly close range.
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C/2/22 Mech, Dau Tieng 66-67 Remember the morning run to open the road through the Ben Cui . And, yes, if you were not in combat, you are not entitled to an opinion., but you are encouraged to listen and then ask?
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I look forward to your articles. I’m not a veteran however, I lived through the Vietnam War years and the effects touched my life. “Thank you” to all our Veterans.
I have already pre-ordered the Ken Burns Vietnam documentary, and got a great price with PBS/WTTW membership.
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I hope you will seek out other sources of information about the Vietnam War. Burns is a leftist who presents a very biased, and in my opinion, inaccurate view of the war. As you view the film, look for any indication that the communists were a horrible, muderous force invading a sovereign nation. Pay particular attention to the battle of Hue in 1968 where the communists slaughtered thousands of innocent citizens, including women and children often by burying them alive.
Moral equivalency is presented with deliberate anti American intent.
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Ken Burn’s schlockumentary” on the Vietnam conflict is outright dishonest, blaming American soldiers for the prosecution of the war and denigrating them while absolving the communists of their invasion and subsequent atrocities. Ken Burns is silent about the number of “boat people” who risked their lives, and the lives of their children to escape that “communist paradise”. I suggest that Burns visit Garden Grove and Westminster California and ask the Vietnamese there what they think of his “documentary”. Ken Burns accidentally “let it (the truth) slip” when he interviewed an internee of the “re-education camps”. Despite the claims of the communists, who he interviewed, who claimed that “re-education” lasted about six months, the truth was that “re-education” lasted for twenty years for many. Ken Burns promotes the same mistakes, lies and fabrications that many “armchair warriors” and “chickenhawks” make about the Vietnam war. As far as I am concerned, Ken Burns’ “schlockumentary” rates a zero…
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Important Hx as well Important acknowledgment that this many Women have been involved and Never Recognized. A movie or Made for TV (or Women Studies in Universities) Special documentary should be
created.
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I concur whole-heartedly…
Women-warriors went wherever we were – except in the bush; policies being what they were (and are)…
Why women weren’t recognized more openly is probably due to the sheer number of male participants (and resultant KIA, WIA stats… )
I’m certain there’s been some misogyny involved in women’s lack of recognition as well)…:
There WAS an attempt to create a TV show focusing on women in ‘Nam… in the ’80s… called CHINA BEACH
DECENT show, but women deserve far more recognition and appreciation than one ‘limited in scope’ TV show
Allen Brown
101st Airborne Div (AMBL)
THUA THIEN PROVINCE
VIETNAM 1970-1971
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Saw the show China Beach & was there for 3 day R&R in 1967 In the show women were Nurses and Donut girls. No Combat. When I was there, didn’t see any round eye women.
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Simply put, I liked it!! SEMPER FI
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This article stirred many old memories of my tour in a Nam. I too served proudly in God’s own Marine Corps, G Co, 2/1, 1stMarDiv. Keep up the good work!
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Excellent article!
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Very good. Well written.
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Excellent and specific. It still wakes me up nights.
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This was FABULOUS and heartbreaking. God bless you. I served proudly in God’s own Marine Corps in Nam. I too have been recently diagnosed with bladder cancer. Like thousands of other vets, I’m waiting on the government to recognize bladder cancer and Agent Orange.
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Outstanding articles and website. Can I share posts/articles with accreditation?
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Be my guest! Also leave the link to the website in case they want to peruse themselves. / John
On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 9:50 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Will do.
Thank you!
On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 1:01 PM Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
> pdoggbiker commented: “Be my guest! Also leave the link to the website in > case they want to peruse themselves. / John On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 9:50 > AM, Cherries – A Vietn
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Very well written and speaks of exactly the way it was. Thank you for the good work your doing to tell the Vietnam war story.
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Loved it.
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Very interesting and very informative. I liked the intervue and the information giving by the Vietnamese man.
Other than what we called military “stuff” and combat the thing I hated most, other than stupid officers, was leaches in the rice patty water.
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I had heard something about her while in country but nothing like this. A real soldier !!!
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Great article sure takes me back.
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Brought back some very sad memories.
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It’s great. I’m glad you are here.
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excellent
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I served two tours in country as a medevac pilot and ops officer in an assault helicopter. Company, You are doining an outstanding job.
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I was happy to see this. I am a widow of a retired military. He did two tours during Nam. He first came home on a passenger airliner and I picked him up. He looked like death warmed over. The second time, we were living on base (different State) and the families were able to gather in a hanger and meet the plane on the base runway. I had absolutely no support from the base military, but had wonderful friends who were a great support. I just can’t believe that he left for his first tour fifty years ago. Seems like yesterday. He died Nov. 1, 2007.
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A close and personal inside look into the heart of the Viet Nam war. Intense and intriguing. Much appreciated.
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Enjoyed very much. good to see you made the time to do this. Many young people today should see this as it will be left out of history.
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Spread the word Larry…share…share…share!
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GREAT !!!!!!
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A BRAVE SOLDIER, REST IN PEACE BROTHER!!!
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Cav-227th Very reminiscent of II Corps flying. The hot LZ depiction is nearly a carbon copy of the cover of my novel “Rotors”.
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Absolutely great ! Always spot on & a few have hit home !! Please keep it up !!
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Accurate !!
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Great !!! Nice to hear something with humor in it from that lousy war . Thanks .
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I find that these articles great . I was with the 23 Artillery in Flu Loi in 1967 to 1968 and some times did know what was going on in country only in my area. The only thing that was said was pack up and move out to another area
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I am a former Marine and was assigned to the 1st Marine Division 2nd Battalion 25 miles southeast of Danang and Marble Mountain from 1968 – 1970 as a Grunt Rifle team Squad Leader. We as a platoon of Gulf Company were involved in some major battles with the NVA and VC moving south east from Cambodia trying to get to Saigon. Most never made it. As You and your Brothers were further south with Artillery doing pretty much the same thing, I welcome you home and am glad you made it home alive. Thank You for your service soldier.
You too are Blessed…
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Great article. I was stationed at NAS Alameda. The treatment we endured from the San Francisco Bay Area, especially Berkley, was horrible. Thank Admiral Zumwalt for allowing us to travel out of uniform.
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At 92 yrs and wounded medic of WW2, the photos reviewed a
Memory not cherished. Why can’t we live in peace? Life can be
a struggle on it’s own without complicating it with warfare.
What can we do collectively to promote world peace ? I would
help any efforts!!!
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First Mr. Ash, Thank You for your service not only to your country, but the service,aid and comfort you gave to your Band of Brothers you served with, and at 92 years of age, your fellow man.
That said, if @ 92 you do not know the answer to your question, I think anyone will continue searching.If we were to start with Cain & Able looking for the answer of why we go to war, I do not think we can come up with the answer.There are plenty of excuses,causes, and people to blame. But no real answer. I mean we can say greed, power, and a host of other reasons, but none that will satisfy the ages old question you pose. What a Miracle it would be if someone knew that answer. I think as far as myself, I will have to wait and ask a higher power, because I fear the answer you are looking for can not be answered here on earth.
GOD bless you sir and may you continue to “Live Long & Prosper”
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2nd post, 1st post was either lost in the shuffle or I didn’the properly post it too your question.
As a Vietnam era Marine1968 1970 I’m sure at one time or another every combat veteran asked this same question.
Myself, I stay locked and loaded. I pray to my higher power Jesus Christ too make our Country strong enough too indour any threats. I also recommend supporting our new president-elect Donald Trump. Alooking don’the worry about it, as God himself say’s in the Bible King James version when he returns again to Earth in Armageddon He will split the World into Evil do’ers and Holy people and for 1000 yrs. There will be Peace on Earth.
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Thanks Mike and Fiftycaliber! Your responses are better than anything I could have put together. God Bless Brothers!
On Fri, Jan 6, 2017 at 7:36 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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My Dad died 26 days before his 91st birthday in 2013.He was WWII, 82nd. Airborne, jumped in Holland on D-Day. Was at peace with his GOD, and ready to go. Anyone part of that Greatest Generation, should get all the respect.
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Corpman Don Ash;
Like the rest of us Veterans we all ask this same question at one time or another. My advice to you sir as a former Vietnam era Marine 1968-1970 is stay Lock and Loaded, Pray too your God, Support our new President Elect Donald Trump, and don’t worry about it. Let God himself deal with it at Armageddon…
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Sounds like we both had some good idea’s for Mr. Ash, but Mike just wanted to remind you In the ARMY they are MEDIC’s, not Corpsmen. But after all those years surprised most of us remember our Serv. #’s , or was the Corps using Soc. Sec.#’s by then ?You say you were V.N. era, did you ever make it over to Nam? If so when,where,and with what unit? Semper Fi Brother
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2nd Battalion 1st Marine Division @20 miles southeast of Danang, and Marble Mountain. we were all over the place 30 days at a time. we never lost any major battles with the NVA, or VC but we lost a few of our brothers WIA, and KIA. God Bless the Marine Corp, All who gave it all and the few who are here but not Home from that war yet. Semper Fi Devil Dogs, Mud Soldiers and you Squids who put up with us in Combat. Especially our Corpsman “Daddy Rabbit”
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Very interesting. Although I was never in country, i still have the utmost respect for the Vietnam Veteran. I built a 2002 Harley Electra Glide as a tribute to the POW/MIA Vietnam Veteran. This bike has 29 murial painted on it along with 5 grenades, 2 .45 cal guns, a pilots survival k-bar and much more. If interested in seeing it, i can send you some pics.
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See if you can post a couple of photos with your comment above. / John
On Wed, Jan 4, 2017 at 8:07 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Would like to see those pic’s of the Harley also…
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Knowling Hill 875 was the highlight of battle of dak to. Remember the heat battle started on Hill 823 Initial preparations started at Ben Her.CIDG outpost.
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I hated the war, but will always love our warriors. Sat Cong!
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Roger That!!! Tango Romeo…..Curse the War not the Warrior.
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HAPPY NEW YEAR To All
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Back atcha Bro!
On Sun, Jan 1, 2017 at 12:39 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Thank you for this article… It gives us insite into the scarfices others have made for the life we have.. let us not forget!!!
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This is my first mission to this site. I am extremely glad this site is here with all the content. I will never be able to digest it all but most of if has rattled around in my brain at one time or another for the past 49 almost 50 years. Welcome Home Brothers and Sisters.
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I have found it does a lot of good to talk to people of our same ages. God knows you can’t talk to Kids now a days, and the one’s in their 20’s and 30’s, they don’t even know how to talk to themselves. LOL Got together with one of my best friends today for lunch and we were talking about that same subject. I had been doing some work on a old japanese rifle his Father in law brought back from Okinawa. He was in the Corps but got out after he came back from Nam on original 2 year enlistment. I think he forgot which end of the rifle to put the patch down. LOL .He has never shot it, but I think we are taking it to the range next week.He is scared to fire it I think.Sorry to drift off there but we have known each other since Cub Scouts if anyone still remembers them. We talk about everything from Obama to Trump and B B Netanyahu to the Pope. Nam is brought up some times but nothing heavy. Just great to have someone to shoot the Bull with every couple of weeks. Good luck, hope you enjoy this blog, I sure do and have only been on here a few weeks myself. Semper Fi Gentlemen and Ladies. Keep em’ in the 10 ring.
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Right on Brother. Agent orange did a number on me. Prostate cancer, it was presumed to cause that. They gave me 100% with out question!
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Sorry to hear about your Prostate cancer Bro, How’s it going? responsive to treatment, I pray. I can’t even count how many men I have known with it. Best of luck to ya. Semper Fi We need the rest of us guy’s on here to keep V.S. Cranford in our thoughts and prayers. OOH RAH
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I found your site while doing a little recon for MACV/SOG MATERIAL. Was Hathcock MS due to Agent Orange exposure ?
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To the best of my knowledge it was never established if (his) MS was caused by AO. or later cases were either. We were there about the same dates/places and knew of him but we never crossed scopes.He died of MS before the Govt. made it presumptive and it was Servicemen’s/Women responsibility to prove the illness you had want due to contact with the defoliant. Later,as with me when I developed Ischemic Heart Disease, it was turned around, and the Govt. had the responsibility to determine that the AO did not contribute to one of a list of approved diseases.I think it was about 11 of them that the Govt. said if you have it and were in these area’s they approved your Disability. Gunny Hathcock’s family may at a later date tried to resubmit once the Govt. rotated the presumption was on them or the Service member. Think I’ll do a little more research now. You shock up my Brain Housing group enough to get me searching. Semper Fi.
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I am a Veteran of the first Gulf war, however, my interest has always been in the Vietnam War.
My brother was KIA there on 3 April 1968. I have researched to the best of my ability any facts good or bad in that conflict as a coping mechanism.
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Prayers out to you and your family for the loss of your Brother. I hope he had fare winds and following sea’s on he way to see his maker.I returned home about a year before his KIA date. What Service was he with. Semper Fi
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Interesting website, sir.
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Hey pdoggbiker, was I shocked last month when a visit to Parris Island was way overdue and had a great time. Two things that were hard to look at were #1. The last of the old 1st Bat. Bks. was gone. I think they were field dayed so many times they just turned into dust.LOL ,I still remember after 50 years all the ecoes and footsteps up and down the ladderway’s And who can ever forget the smells? of trash cans(shit cans) rolling down the squad bay @0400? #2. I guess most disturbing was the visit past third Bat. to the Range and out to my old line, (B Line).But then I had to rub my still 20/20 eyes in disbelief. Recruits with M16 rifle’s and sitting on top were ACOG scoped sights.Somebody catch me I’m falling!!!!!I know they are used now in training and combat but to qualify on anything but Iron Sights??? Come-on those things do malfunction when the batteries get low, or some numbnuts forgets to install them, just to name a couple things that could FUBAR. I’m sure this came down from Weapons Bat. or higher when these old farts want to still shoot Expert or Sharpshooter on their yearly qualifying, and they can’t hold the weapon that far out in front of them to see the front sight. But really learning to shoot in the Black @ 500 yards without a $700.00 scope should still be basic and mandatory. Semper Fi I know you were Army, but I’m sure you can relate and the Marines on your Blog surely will.
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Hey pdoggbiker, was I shocked last month when a visit to Parris Island was way overdue and had a great time. Two thing that were hard to look at were #1. The last of the old 1st Bat. Bks. was gone. I think they were field dayed so many times they just turned into dust.LOL ,I still remember after 50 years all the ecoes and footsteps up and down the ladderway’s And who can ever forget the smells? of trash cans(shit cans) rolling down the squad bay @0400? #2. I guess most disturbing was the visit past third Bat. to the Range and out to my old line, (B Line).But then I had to rub my still 20/20 eyes in disbelief. Recruits with M16 rifle’s and sitting on top were ACOG scoped sights.Somebody catch me I’m falling!!!!!I know they are used now in training and combat but to qualify on anything but Iron Sights??? Come-on those things do malfunction when the batteries get low, or some numbnuts forgets to install them, just to name a couple things that could FUBAR. I’m sure this came down from Weapons Bat. or higher when these old farts want to still shoot Expert or Sharpshooter on their yearly qualifying, and they can’t hold the weapon that far out in front of them to see the front sight. But really learning to shoot in the Black @ 500 yards without a $700.00 scope should still be basic and mandatory. Semper Fi I know you were Army, but I’m sure you can relate and the Marines on your Blog surely will.
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Thanks Fiftycaliber! I can relate about the sights…and the barracks. In the mid-80’s, I took my family to Fort Knox to revisit where I went to basic. There was NOBODY doing anything. I anticipated showing my family the fields of soldiers marching, doing PT or firing on the range, and seeing the old barracks. Well, we finally found a platoon of soldiers sitting in an outdoor classroom and had to dodge tanks on the back roads (Ft. Knox is an armor training center) but what broke my heart was that I couldn’t locate my old training battalion. We finally stopped at the museum and walked around…maybe a dozen of us in total…and I asked the employee about the location of my past training area. When he responded that they were condemned and torn down in the late 70’s – what a let down! For the first time, I felt OLD. I guess the visit was cool as my daughter got off on seeing all the tanks rolling around and firing and seeing the gold vault from the James Bond movie “Goldfinger”. Semper fi bro!
On Mon, Dec 19, 2016 at 11:25 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Roger that, OOH – RAH
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Someone asked about the tanks and other equipment I had served on. When I told them they told me the equipment was now in museums. Talk about feeling old!
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Awww but if time goes backwards you will be the pro. You can educate the young people about how to operate the tanks and equipment. Very cool, George. Your experience would be great if it was a voice teaching about those machines. 👍
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Really good. Great detail I learned a lot
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Very interesting piece of history !
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I have really enjoyed the reading all the stories. Being a Vietnam Vet. 66-67 Chu Lai. I have asked around and hope you can answer something for me and a Marine Buddy of mine asked me the other day. This is not meant derogatory or racist in any manner but We remembered in Book Camp MCRD Parris Island, some of the D.I.’s referred to the Black recruits as “SPLIB’S. Do you or anyone reading your Blog know what it means,stands for.or in what aspect was/is it used back then????
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Back in the day people were searching for their identity of different colors. Lots of folks fell into slang words for different people. When your tight your tight there are limits and how you go about approaching a fellow Marine back in the day, depending on what your MOS was. When your life depended on other brothers no matter what color or religion or race you learn how to keep things casual while you’re in battle depending on each other and when the s*** hit the fan was over you’re so full of adrenaline anything might be said. But remember we’re all Marines if you can’t handle the heat get the hell out of the kitchen. Thanks for your time, Semper Fi #frog 2/1 Gulf 0311
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Thanks, but really did not need a lesson about back in the day, and have no idea what MOS (0811 Primary) has to do with this question.I think I qualified my question had nothing to do with race, and do not need to be reminded we are all brothers and Marines. Have been in more than one kitchen. Thanks for the comments,I am enjoying the different views. Semper Fidelis
Looks like pdoggbiker has it nailed.
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Here’s what Urban dictionary has to say that most folk agree with: Top Definition
splib
In the mid 60’s, while in the Marine Corps, the term splib was used commonly among black and white marines. It was not used in a pejorative way by either blacks or whites but as a “hip”, descriptive way of identifying a person, usually a male, of the negro race, such as in the phrase “splib dude”. Likewise the descriptive and non-pejorative term “chuck” was used to describe a white person, however it was also used to describe the Viet Cong (VC), such as in “Victor Charlie”, “Charlie” or just “Chuck” In fact, one might get vanilla or chocolate creme filled cookies that were included in the field “C” rations. These were commonly referred to as “chuck” or “splib” cookies.
The corporal is that splib dude
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Thanks pdoggbiker, just needed that jog in the old Brain housing.I’ll remind my buddy and I’m sure he will connect it also. I have read you Slang blog and again brought back some funny and enjoyable hoots from inside the “strong backs” at nights after all day on the guns.Great blogs, keep ’em coming. Semper Fidelis.
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I was a huey Crewchief. We all had some of the same thoughts and feelings. We were flying targets. I always thought you guys were heroes. I have friends who were grunts.They call us God’s own lunatics.
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A true hero who gave all he could to save his comrades.
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It’s great !!!
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Can’t beat first hand history, thank you for your service
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very informative. Our family just came from a funeral where we saw coins on a tombstone.
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As a Viet Nam. Vet thank you for true and well written stories.
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Great story! Like to find more about this!
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Good job. I was a medic with Dustoff 70-71
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Informative I heard her once but din’t know much about her.
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Thank you ladies!
I was never ‘injured’ in ‘Nam, but you still helped me… Smiling/chatting with me while flying on C-130s around the country, or when I was back at Camp Esgle (my ‘hootch’) was 200 meters from MEDEVAC pad…… We’d cross paths now and then (101st Airborne/Airmobile 70-71)
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Thanks for sharing your stories. Dad, B17 pilot WW2, said “Our volunteer (or drafted) citizen soldier is the strength of America. Fight, come home, lay down your weapons, and go off to work to support your family.” When he died, I knew I would visit vets when I retired. Been doing that 3 yrs…Dad was right, you guys are the heroes of our country. Thank you all.
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Amazing blog about the Vietnam tunnel rats
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I’m 100% Disabled Viet Nam Veteran (PTSD). I’m drawn to such articles, drawn back into the Viet Nam experience. Not by choice, by what is PTSD. It is the Hell I have dealt with since April 1st 1967 the day I arrived in Viet Nam.
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John you do your brothers proud by this site GBY
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Thank you, sir!
On Fri, Sep 16, 2016 at 6:14 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Needs to be proof read – spelling errors but to real what happened to so many pilots it wasn’t anything we would want for another. insanity of war and hate peace & a clear mind
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Amazing story of the reaction we received from our enemy and the village civilians.
If only the powers that were then in charge of operations and wrote the rules we had to follow it would have been different.
We Marines never lost a battle, but yet our hands were tide for the most part and we couldn’t go to where the North were staging and safe from our attacks.
I’m glad you made it home to safety and alive at that. God Bless you.
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Outstanding reading material in each post that I receive. I jumped on that free offer of “Cherries” and lucked out by receiving one. Thank you, sir. I’ve written before of my dad being a WW II vet; however, he never spoke of his experiences in the Army. I enlisted in my beloved Marine Corps in June 1966, served at MCAS Cherry Point, then in WestPac (Vietnam). Returned to CONUS and unfortunately, because I was married and had my first daughter while en route overseas, I was given an ultimatum by my wife, stay in the Corps & you go on without us, so I left in Dec 1969. As I previously stated, I thoroughly enjoy reading the material you post. To me it’s a healing, somewhat cathartic, I suppose. So, thank you for this helpful blog.
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Thank you, sir! I do appreciate your kind words and hope you enjoy my story! You might find out that my story may not be so much different than yours as we shared much common ground. Thank you for your service and welcome home!
On Thu, Aug 25, 2016 at 12:51 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Vary good
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“What’s wrong?
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I enjoyed the article. I had just lost a friend during the Tet offensive and really didn’t care about a Cong member getting shot.
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Thank you for your service! I cannot imagine the hell you men experienced. But I can certainly admire your determination to see the job through! God bless you all.
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Very thoughtful & accurate ….
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Well said, I have the memories but can’t put them in words,
Thank You
MICHAEL MCGREGOR
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You ha c e said exactly what I couldn’t say. THANK YOU, a Vietnam Vet who spent two tours in Thailand.
Wel come home, Brother.
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To the point and wonderfully written. I walked through the words thinking where I was, who I am and where I am now. What it could’ve been but wasn’t.
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I like it. You told it like it was. I was in I Corps with 3/5 Mike and Kilo 1st Mar Div from 69 to 71. Hospital Corpsman, I carried both 45 and 16, needed badly to keep the integrity of the fire power when needed. Great job on the article, brought back alot of memories,good and bad ,thanks!!
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Spot on.Very accurate. Serving in II corp, i got to see about terrain there was to see and fight VC and hardcore NVA. I remember my first day in the field,i had filled sandbags ( remember that )? Anyway, i had a terrible sunburn from not wearing a shirt which was a grave error. On our first break, off came the ruck with most of my dead skin.This was the occasion ofmy first firefight in which several VCwere wounded and we followed the blood trails which were very profuse bleeding, but we never caught them even though we chased them for about ten clicks. Lasted til way up in the late evening and we got back into camp about sundown. Therefore we didnt have time to dig foxholes and barely had time to set up the perimeter. After carring all that equipment to the tune of eighty five pounds, i was a wiped out grunt.
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Thank you, Lloyd, I do appreciate your feedback. A year of being more tired than not! Take care, bro! Welcome Home!
On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 1:22 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Superb! I was a signal officer that provided commo from Bde hq back to div during operations during my 27 months with the 1st and Americal divisions. Also did a little high frequency prediction work to establish comm with guys across the border. My closest grunt experience was during ambush patrols that MG Depuy required of every swinging richard. The I and III Corps pics look familar. My hat’s off to all you grunts and I hope that my support provided some help to you.
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Outstanding article, well written and very accurate. Well done
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I am quite familiar with your struggles, I flew dustoff on my first tour in third and second corps for a total of 1000 hours and carried many fine young grunts. I may have taken you to the 93rd evac, I covered the Chui and Tay Ning area. Enjoyed the article.
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Great job, brother! Welcome home. Brought back a lot of memories I had left behind. I arrived 26 July, 1967, was assigned to first squad, Lima platoon, Alpha Co. of the 1/28th ( Blacklions) of the First Inf Division. Filled every position and carried all the weapons over my tour. Even carried an AK and a 1911 Thompson for awhile. Worked my way up to squad leader and made Buck Sgt before I went home. Scared-est ever was during Tet and doing an online assault through a village full of NVA. Had a couple guys in the platoon hit, and could not stop to help. True it was a year of alternating boredom and terror. Also a year that shaped the way I lived my life afterward. Went into Law enforcement and EMS to help others and have no regrets.
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What a great realistic review of the Vietnam Infantryman’s life in Vietnam! I was in the 25th Infantry and finished my tour in the 1st Air Calvary in Vietnam.
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Thank you, Bob! Welcome Home Brother!
On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 7:46 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Very well written personal fact based dialog that, as a VV, grabbed my attention to my core. I truly appreciate the effort you have expended to bring a moment of the life of a “straight leg grunt” in that War. I was deemed fortunate to have been a “REM”. However, I am proud of my service. Thanks for the memories BRO!
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Thank you for your service! Welcome Home, Wilfredo!
On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 6:27 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Very good and honest
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Very informative, more detailed than the many many books I have read. Thank you
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Thank you John for keeping the memories honored and the great work on your part is much appreciated. 173rd ABN 70-71 Binh Dinh
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I find it amazing that we had so much in common with the American soldiers, I was a “grunt” in the South African Army pre ’94 and whilst conditions on the Namibian/Angolan border was a dry heat, compared to the South East Asia. We suffered the same hardships on patrol. The boredom of ambushes and the terrifying consequences of a “contact”. The adrenialine that pumped through our veins was no different to any other soldier in the jungle. The bonds of friendships cannot be explained to those who have never been in the military.
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You are correct, my brother…if you haven’t served – you’ll never understand! Thanks for the commentary!
On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 8:03 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Terrified youngsters both sides.Stupid war screwed up governments.Greed lies!
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Outstanding and frank. Nguyen is honest and also mentions atrocities by his own side.
His experiences are both revelations and myth busters. At the same time, his experience underscores the universality of the horrors of war for all parties involved, regardless of what side.
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Excellent and very informative.
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I heard of instances where there were Caucasian individuals who fought with the NVA/Viet Cong in II Corps region in 68-69. One interesting fact, and old SF friend, a medic and sole survivor of an ambush, was faking being dead when a Caucasian walked up, took his watch and then spoke to him in everyday English. He said,” you’ll be okay, babe, your people are on the way, but I need your watch.” He left with the bad guys.
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There is some discrepancy in the figures and anaysis. The writting follows what is commonly known and accurately portrays the First Tet. The number of wounded appears light, but is difficult to determine from published info. The numbers of Main Force VC, Local VC, and NVA is difficult to judge even from their own documentation, however, the increase in Force Levels increased through out the War. As the Ho Chi Minh trail improved so did the movement of units. There were over a Million personnel on trail duty alone. The US consistantly underestimated opposing numbers. The real numbers made progress questionable. Hence Force Levels for Tet. For me it was obvious that opposing forces were increasing due to areas no longer accessible or more heavily contested. As we withdrew troops the NVA filled in the void. If you look at the North’s Order of Battle the growth of strength becomes apparent. We fought most battles with smaller units than were practical. We fielded companies against battalions and battalions against regiments throughout the war. Much as we have done in Afghanistan. The war never had a plan and political persons in the form of aids and assistant staffers on the civilian side interferred with military planning and operations. In short they sabotaged the the effectiveness of units to operate safely and rationally. The airwar side is the perfect example. Inbound routes were mandated by civilian policy and targets were picked in Washington by said staffers. Under these conditions the war was unwinable.
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Very well done and informative…thanks you.
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I love this article and would love to hear more stories from the other side. Ho Chi Min was screwed by America that is a fact. He offered to help fight the Japanese and was pushed aside. I am a war buff/ military. The best book I ever read about war was, “Soldat.” A German officer side during WWII.
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As someone who has never set foot in Vietnam and can only imagine the horrors that went on there, I was in the British army in the middle east, I found your account of the war there very enlightening. Thank you, will pass this on.
Peter Waters (ex Military Police)
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Very enlightening
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Thank you for the kind words, Peter.
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I like your article on this I met them outside of Dong Ha they talked with our interpreter and gave us info on the nva near the sahn during lam son 719 they are very quiet and very loyal people
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these were good people to know hard warker and lolal
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In the end we were all soldiers and will carry our war with us forever. We should have negotiated a unified country with the north but fear of communism caused us to turn on a WW II ally. I don’t know the answer I just lived the problem.
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Its very interesting to read the views of our one time enemy.
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What an eye opener! I’m glad I learned something.
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Great
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Sad, as always with these sort of things. Looking back I have now a great deal of admiration for the NVA and VC. The losses and hardship for them cannot be understood by any American citizen.
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What an Awesome article …. and with some Awesome photos as well ! Thanx for sharing !
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Bet ya just love Jane Fonda too
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Hey brother, what’s the reason for your statement? It’s a hell of a statement to make to a Vietnam Vet, I’d just like to know what prompted it.
On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 5:38 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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when the battle for Hue is discussed. People are under the impression that the marines and arvn’s were the only unit’s fighting the nva. However there army unit’s also involved. Please list these unit’s.
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excellent
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Mr. Clark, thank you for your comment. You are correct that in addition to the ARVN and Marines fighting against an estimated 14 battalions of enemy soldiers, the 1st and 3d Brigades, 1st Cavalry Division, and the 2d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division also participated in the battle for Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive.
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Thank you so much for this article. I am the daughter of a Hotel 2/5 Marine. My father, John F Wade passed away so I cannot ask him questions about his experiences. Articles such as this one help me to understand what he went through in Vietnam. Thank you so much
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Sorry for your loss, Bonnie. I hope you find other articles on this website to help you better understand what happened to us during that war. Thank you for leaving a response!
On Tue, Mar 1, 2016 at 3:27 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Excellent. I was a Dustoff medic in Vietnam Oct 67-68. I deployed to Nam with the 50th Med Det (Hel-Amb) in October 67. We were initially at the 91st Evac Hospital at Tuy Hoa. In the Spring of 1968 we moved to I Corp, Camp Eagle near Phu Bai…just south of Hue. When the 101st Abn became an Airmobile Division, we became Eagle Dustoff in the 101st Abn Div.
I attnd the Dustoff Assoc. reunion most every year. Neal Stanley nastanley@aol.com
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Thank you, Brother!
On Fri, Feb 26, 2016 at 1:08 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Thank you. My dad flew medevac for the 45th.
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Well written. I read a book called “Sniper” nearly three decades ago about the career of Carlos Hathcock.
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LOVE the site….my Uncle was with 25th Infantry 1/5th Mech in Cu Chi April 66-67
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I was with the 25th Infantry Division ,4th of the 9th Manchu.69-70. The end of my tour was that CU CHI.
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I have total respect for these mem. Spent a year in Vietnam and, at the time, never realized what courage this took. Thank God for Americans like you. I know it has affected the rest of your life. I hope to be able to meet and thank many of you at the next reunion. Thank you for having the guts that you do.
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Very interesting. My brother is a Vietnam vet and never spoke much about it until the last few years. My husband and I are lucky enough to travel a lot, and last year we did a trip to Southeast Asia which included visiting the Cu chi tunnels. I had wanted to go to Vietnam just to see the area and get a sense of where my brother had been. Going into the tunnels was indeed an incredible experience, and well worth the time. The exhibits explaining the booby traps mentioned in your article were horrific. I was spellbound learning how ingenious the Vietcong were in designing their complex web of tunnels throughout the jungle. Absolutely amazing. Thank you and all of the brave men for sharing your experiences and fighting for our country’s honor and freedoms!
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To the book’s author: Does the name Celosky mean anything to you?
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No, I’m sorry, it doesn’t, Chuck.
On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 10:57 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Awesome and very informative. Thank you!!!
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Good article. He is wrong about those farther south dealing mostly with VC. We faced off with some very solid NVA units (7th NVA Div), as well as main force VC. Tough enemy forces. Again, great article.
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Ralph Chapman, I served in Vietnam from May 1967-1968. My unit started out in Cam Rahn Bay and moved to Dong Ha/Quaig Tre My second ture was wth the 23 Inf from Nov 1970-1971. I enjoyed to pictures very much. they brought back a lot of good memories. Thanks for the memories.
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Maybe i can help. I did a speaking engagement at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation for Veterans’ Day 2013. I start speaking about twenty minutes into the program, including about how long we Vietnam Veterans waited to be thanked for our service. It’s on You tube. If even one of us gets closure because of this speech, my job will be done. Welcome back to the love of your families, the esteem of your peers, the ultimate gratitude of the nation that we did our best to serve. God bless you all.–Tom Reilly
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Great I like the story about the storm
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My speech is on Youtube.
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Tom, How about supplying the link.
On Sun, May 1, 2016 at 3:39 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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My pleasure!! “The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, Veterans Day 2013” and “Inside the Reagan Library–the Heroes Gallery”
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I can really relate to this article. I was with the 25th Infantry Division 4th of the 9th.The manchus. I was there 69-70. My medic friend doc Shattuck was killed with some other guys. I always think of him. Frozen in time is his face at 19. He was a great guy. Survivor guilt, and ptsd I have. Beautiful great story. God bless.
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A story that has been repeated way to often. However, has brought closer and comfort to many. Something I always wanted to do for my best Nam Buddy Todd R. Jackson KIA TET Shoot Out 30JAN1968.
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This was very moving
Welcome Home
Your friend and all brothers that
Fought for this great country
Rip
Vietnam 68-69
Dong Tam
ASA 335th Radio Reaearch Co.
9th Div.
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One can only partly imagine what went thru ur mind during this time! I’m sure u still have vivid recollection of most of the boys/men who u became reliant on and fought with! I’m sure, at the very least, bitttersweet! Thanks for ur candor, ur insight and mostly ur service! Proud to call u my friend!
Ronnie
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Nice writing ! I Appreciate the facts , Does anyone know if my assistant might find a sample IRS 1040 – Schedule E version to fill out ?
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I never played baseball in that valley. But I did fight NVA. I don’t believe this tale.
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Well written grunt
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Thank you, Bob!
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Great article. Brought back many memories from my time on point with the 1/26 and 1/28 1 Inf Div.
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Great article memories we can’t forget what happened when we were just young men (kids) triing to stay alive so we could go home 72-74 101st airborne 426 s*s btl bravo company 1st platoon 64charly 20 company commander driver and duce any half and 5ton driver
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As I began my reading, I noticed the pleasant descriptive element, which drew me in..as a fluttering moth, to the enticing flame. The story initials the set-up, as if to give us an overview for what, when, where, & how which gave me the tone pursuant of a Five Paragraph Order…SMEAC..Letting the reader set up, in his own mind, what, he, or she will get in this story package…The beginning did a job, to grab you by the collar..to almost, make you wish to pursue the following of words, to get a better understanding of what is to unfold…I enjoyed the indepth descriptions..as to make the characters as close to your Brothers, back on the block..the quiet ones..the close friends. The new guy..the lines on their faces, speaking a lingo, grunts eating chow..the awe, when the Enemy spoke better educated English, than what is expected..of : The Dumb Enemy..He Was Well educated, with an Honored degree..In short..This is a Very Professional piece of narrative work…reminds me of – a basic, Duality Of Man…The Horror of War..the brutal execution of man, By man…with a swirling turn..mixed in..with Another game..War..Baseball..with a moral of the story bent towards..A Time To Forget of Tomorrow..and The inevitable Day Of Death..with a lull, of untimely..unlikely Purgatory..game of baseball…While The Grim Reaper sits by his sling blade..waiting a bit longer..until, all the balls…excuses..have run dry..then the men wearingly return to their side..waiting to kill, or be killed…The Angels Of Death fly with precision, dropping the dreaded tonage of exploding death..
Puff fiddling the earth to resemble ribbony foilage, blended with earth..blood..bones..A Magic Dragon..whose mystical darts of steel, find their targets…by chance..& circumstance…ending with, losing the game of recreational interlude..but, bringing in coy play..and showing our trump card…Melt Them….We Win..
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Nicely said, Patrick! Thanks for the commentary!
On Sun, Oct 25, 2015 at 1:47 AM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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Great article, well written and highly informative!
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I’ve been wanting Jim Webb to run for President for 10 years. Glàd he threw his hat into the ring. Has my support. I know he’s no Donald Trump, but I ve overlooked this shortcoming.
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It was great reading about everyones experience, haven’t read the book but now I can’t wait to get it, served with the 92nd engineers in long bien, bien hoa province in 71.
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Wm Harrel I am considered a Cold War vet, USAF 1956-60 and MNANG 1973-91.
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Although I served 1969 TILL 1991 REAL Veitnam WAR Veterans don’t consider me a WAR veteran. I’ve never had any problem with that. Sooo there should be a choice for veterans of no war.
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That is one well written article. Everyone who was not in Nam would not know all the hidden things such as children with grenades strapped to their bodies just to kill one or more Americans as they blew themselves up, or the on base workers who designated targets for the VC. I survived the TET in 1968 but many of my fellow military brothers and sisters did not.
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Interesting article. I never heard the true story.
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Great article. Good website. Thanks. Phil Jennings (Nam-A-Rama and The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War). Keep up the good work.
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Good article. I didn’t know all the facts. Thanks
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Always nice to see new things that are going on for the vets. I was navy mobile riverine force Vietnam 68 69
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Enjoyed the article. My return from Iraq, 2004 (A-Trp, 1/124th Cav, 36th ID, TXARNG) was a night and day experience of my return from Vietnam, 1969 (C-Trp, 1/11th ACR). As a side note, the Vietnam Veterans, during the Veteran’s Parade, always get the biggest applause here in Waco, Texas.
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I thoroughly loved this article. I am writing a college research paper on the Spectre Unit. My grandfather was Major Gerald “Gerry” Harris. We lost him November 1, 2001 and I wanted to get to know him and his fellow brothers in arms better. I just hope that I am able to honor him and his fellow aviators and make them proud. Because I am proud, just to be his granddaughter. Thank you for writing this article, its just what i was looking for.
Miss you Grandfather
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You told it exactly as it was!! I spent 2 years in nam
68-69, went straight back 70-71. Brother, I grew up quick. When I got back they were calling us baby killers, I had to take off my uniform and lie telling everyone I never went
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Very useful. Increases my empathy and admiration for all troops.
– Lise A.
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Good novel. Really enjoyed it. Thanks.
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I was a pilot with 1st Cav(68-69) so I had a different perspective of the war. I have a tremendous respect for all grunts. Never had any desire to change places. Your book gives me an accurate way of seeing what you guys went through. Thanks for your service and for the book.
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Thank you Dick for reading Cherries! Can I impose upon you to leave a rating and your thoughts about the book on Amazon. I would be extremely grateful. Here’s the direct link: http://www.amazon.com/Cherries-Vietnam-Novel-John-Podlaski-ebook/dp/B003R4Z5U6/ref=sr_1_1
On Sun, Feb 15, 2015 at 3:46 PM, Cherries – A Vietnam War Novel wrote:
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1st Cav 8th Engr 68/69.. Excellent site and will do the book.
Later
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retired after 24 yrs in the army. that was my hell on earth.
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My brother is a Vietnam vet and he still will not talk about his time over there.
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Tay Ning 1969. I’m so sorry for killing the little boy in the fire fight. I’ll never forget you, and
I’ll never forgive myself!
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Reblogged this on 67bulletholes and commented:
Great story!
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Children in our wire. I understand your pain and will live with the guilt til I die…
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great article you might wish to look at this site to find pictures, most combat photographers love to help
http://221stsignalcompany.webplus.net
best Lew
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I loved the quotes!!!
Vietnam 66-67
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I served in vietnam in 1970 lima company 3rd battalion 5th marines. I came back to the world extremely proud of being a combat marinesurvive numerous patrols and ambushes. My mEmory of coming home was one of loneliness. I could not talk to my family about nam and none of my friends were around. I was never spit on but I Remer this incident as if it happened today.
I was a tinned at Paris island after nam.I was walking in buford in my uniform. A pick up went by and someone in the truck threw a beer bottle at me.
After that I never wore my uniform in public agin
The anger and resentment has b r end constantly present for the past 44 y ears
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Relived some nam memories while reading Cherries”
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James, Thank you for reading Cherries – I hope you enjoyed my story!
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I was to young to join up during the view Nam war graduating high school in 1974. But I grew up with that war and fullc respect the view Nam vet and all soldiers fighting to protect our freedom and I want to hear their stories out of respect.
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I have been following it from the start,keep up the god work.
semper fi 60-64 u.s. army 68-73
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I am always interested in our history. Whether good or bad.
It is history, who knows, maybe I can learn something new!
Thanks
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Very interesting, this is information everyone should st least be familiar with. As a vet I feel the more people know about the horrors of war the more reluctant they would be to become involved in conflicts.
Great work, thank you.
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Was with the 159th Dustoff in Cu Chi im 68. Reading your paper brings back memories. I like the blog. Thanks.
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I’m a Gold Star Sister. My brother served with C/4/503 173rd ABN when he was KIA 1-14-67 during Operation Cedar Falls. His name is Lonnie A. Floyd.
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I served TWO combat tours as a photogrpaher/journlaist covering ground operations in Vietnam. I have studied the war for 30 years, and a friend sent me your article “Dispelling the Myths” which is absolutely FRAUGHT with errors about who served, their age, background, equipment, the VC/NVA, the Domino theory, Indonesia, and weapons used by 11B10s, ARVN, ARVN Rangers, not to mention tactics aned politics. My book, NIGHT FLARES: Six Tales of the Vietnam war, combines 6 eye-witness stories of the war, together with a detailed statement of a Tour of Duty, AND, a 27 page accurate Chronology of every major battle, political, and social movement of the times, and what the men who servesd there endured. By the way, “The Cherries” is short for “Chery Boy, Number 10” a term of derision for Newbys, Cherry Boys and REMFs, from the Replacement Battalions. If the author of “Dispelling Myths” would like to step forward, and give us the sources for his INCOMPETENT ravings, I would, I would be happy to direct him/her to the EXACT sources about the war. I would also “slap him up side the head” for lying to Americans. My book tells the truth (Amazon and Kobobooks.com) Shame on him, and you for printing more stupidity about the war.
I’m waiting for your reply.
Robert M. Pacholik
Two tour combat photo Veteran (1968-9169)
MA, in International Affairs, and 15 years of university level teaching, about US History and Vietnam.
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oh I’m sure he’ll be here directly. 🙂
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Fascinating article, and I look forward to reading Cherries. I graduated high school in ’67 and went straight to college and really wasn’t all that aware at the time of what was going on in Vietnam. I wish I had been. We did have a large number of classmates from high school who never returned from Vietnam, and a number now who are suffering the effects of what went on there. So now it’s interesting to delve into what happened and why, and your list of Myths and Facts above has helped tremendously. We have a lot of veterans in my town (Salisbury, NC) and a VA Hospital and cemetery with a Patriot Guard that rides for all the burials. I was finally able to go to a service there last year, and while not for a Vietnam veteran, (he was in WWII) I was so very impressed and humbled by the proceedings and gained even more respect for those who fought for us. Recently there was a service here for the unclaimed cremains of 15 veterans, and they were given burial with full honors at our National Cemetery. (http://www.salisburypost.com/article/20140615/SP01/140619807/) There were 300 people there to pay their respects.
Anyway, I’m interested in learning more truth about what went on in Vietnam (My brother served but NEVER mentions that time in his life. To this day I don’t know why, but something must have affected him deeply. He was a navigator in the Air Force, but I’m not sure of the years he served.)
Thank you so much for your service and for your hard work in putting all this information together. Whenever I’m out somewhere and see a man with a jacket with patches on it and a Vietnam Vet cap, I always go and speak to him. Their acknowledgement of my attention doesn’t hide the sadness and pain that I often see in their eyes.
I will be following you.
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Thank you so much Carol. I hope that after reading “Cherries”, you will have a better understanding of what those soldiers had to endure during their tour of duty and why they still carry that burden with them today.
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Your Tunnel Rat photo No 5 was Melvin Sherrell from my Squad (KIA 12/13/66. I was in the lower level… This was taken in the Ho Bo Woods. Bravo Co 1st Plt 3rd squad of the 1st Bn 5th Inf 25th ID 1966… (Reactionary Force for War Zone C & D in 1966) I have this on our 1/5th website. I have been back to Nam 4 times in the last 5 1/2 years and get special permission to run the Hole over there. I took some good pictures and videos of them… They are full of snakes, the Cobras love them as well as all the other good little inhabits of them. Bats, spiders, scorpions and some are still booby trapped. They are now building a National Museum dedicated to Tunnel Warfare up in An Tay in III Corps. It should be completed very soon. They started working on it in 2012 and still in Feb 2014 when when I was there. There is a huge Tower they built at it and you can see the Ho Bo’s, triangle, Boi loi’s Cu chi, Tay Ninh & of course the Black Virgin from it.
One thing that I noticed the last 2 of my 4 trips back (08, 10, 12 & 14) that Muslims are buying a tremendous amount of property and opening many business in Saigon. They better get ready!!! “BOOM”
Also they “TREAT VIETNAM COMBAT VETERANS BETTER OVER THERE THEN THEY DO HERE!!!!)
Norman “Butch” Petit Squad Ldr, Tunnel Rat & Pointman…
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Thank you Brother! If you have any pictures to share from the tunnels or if you want to write a guest post about 1/5th, please get back to me. john.podlaski@gmail.com
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You have a great book here you should do well. I’ve written four books over the years. You and I may write for the same reason, personal therapy…
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Thank you Stantasyland! Welcome Home Brother!
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I was stationed on the USS Canberra for three ‘Nam deployments: ’66 through ’68. I didn’t know Doug Hegdahl – 1,200 man crew – but I recall when we couldn’t find him. It was several weeks later when we were on R&R down in Melbourne, Australia when we got the word he had been taken P.O.W. Being in the ‘Used Book’ business, I eventually located an old 1967 USS Canberra ‘Cruisebook’ (which Doug wouldn’t have received) and sent it out to him in California. Got a nice ‘Thank You’ card” from him reading” ‘Thanks for the Cruise Book – Being a P.O.W. was shittie Duty, but at least it was Shore Duty” – Gotta love it!!!!
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Reblogged this on MayesAndPryorPolitics.com and commented:
As the Memorial Day weekend is ending, a wanted to share this wonderful Vietnam POW story with you. I hope you enjoy some of these stories I post when local things are reasonably quiet.
PLEASE “Like” this post if you do like it, so that I will know your response.
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I’m glad that the public treats veterans much better now!
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Excellent read.
I have long carried the disgusting way
I was treated at San Francisco airport.
I had a. 5 hour wait before my flight and encountered roving groups of teens and early 20 year olds looking for soldiers to harass. I avoided them as much as possible being alone.
I met up with two of my Brothers taking the same flight as I.
We spent the remainder of the night as a group and the taunters then avoided us.
Was never so relaxed to get on a flight.
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Bruce I went through the same thing in San Francisco in March of 70 when I returned home was the worst I had foot in the 16 months I spent in Vietnam as nd I can’t bring my self to ever forgive anyone from Bateman town
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I also was treated badly also at airport in Boston, MA.
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You’re right, maybe we SHOULD have stayed the hell out of Vietnam, but our soldiers don’t make those kinds of decisions, our leaders do. However, had we stayed out of EVERY OTHER Country where would the world be now? What would’ve happened if the United States didn’t enter WWII when we did? Wherever YOU are from, odds are that you have benefited from past actions of an American soldier whether directly or indirectly, and where you detected “arrogance” in the previous comment I have no clue but then again your comments referring to POTUS Trump also made no sense.
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Larryridgway Please let me apologize to you for the embarrassingly horrible way you were treated in Boston, and instead to say thank you for your service from the city of Boston, something that was obviously LONG overdue! ✌
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I enjoyed this article, reminds me of the Midnight to 0400 Guard…
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This is good medicen for me as I was over there in ’67.
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my husband was a helicopter Gun ship pilot in Vietnam 1966 & 1967 (1939-2013)
enjoyed your blog very much, was sent to me by another Vietnam Veteran.
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My dad served with VA-85 on the USS America CVA-66 at Yankee Station in 1968-69. His squadron CO, CDR Coskey, was shot down and taken POW. Coskey’s B/N was rescued.
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Excellent piece of writing – been there, done that Bro. Welcome home.
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I’ve occasionally wondered how I would’ve held up under those circumstances. Sure glad I never had to find out, ’cause I’m sure I’d never have lived up to the standards these guys set.
Rob J. 11Bravo AlphaCo/4th/47th,9thInfDiv USArmy RVN ’68
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Someone needs to break the mystique that surrounds the USMC. I was attached to 3rd MARDIV and in truth the Army units were much better in the field. But no cameramen.
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My nickname in VN was Hippie. Because I was getting the Berkley Barb underground news rag mailed to me from Calif. I was in VQ 1 Navy air electronic squadron TAD to the 1st. Marine Airwing at Danang AB from 1966 to May 1973. Flying A3 aircraft and the Lockheed EC 121 Connie”s up in the Gulf.
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By 1967, 3rd Mar Div infantry spent their entire tour in the field. ‘Time Off, Rest, Regroup n Train, etc.’ was taking the perimeter of a fire base for a few days with no certainty that it was cold, easy.
Michael Herr, Chapter 5, dumped big time bad on arrogant marines and outrageous casualties. Close to 2 years, the most I seen in the field of a 200 man TO rifle company was about 120.
Ain’t no mystique, we were laughed at by all. One of the worst threats you could say to an Army type is sending them to marines. Scared most silly.
Look at casualties — not statistics that are manipulation but data — look at Field Strength vs TO, look at equipment n weapons, look who we fought 99.9% of time, look at ….. Forget about it, but if you browse just a tad look at what we done with what we were given. Especially realizing that we weren’t dumb enough to not clean our rifles, yet many still had their cleaning rods hanging belt loops and way too much bayonets fixed. We didn’t get no options cause of blue vs red, white n yellow, which model we had nor taking our rockets away n using crap LAW. We was going up and/or taking whatever, no ifs, and buts, and ….
BUT — Just Friggin Amazing of results, performance. And didn’t see no cameramen, reporters till a time after.
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Sounds like the Sgt Maj. Wants to write the Prolog on Hillary’s next book. Because the Army didn’t have as many cameramen as the Marine’s. Please Sgt. Maj. don’t tarnish that star in the middle of your stripes by saying the Marine’s got more Airtime than the Army with Walter Cronkite.
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Sounds like Sgt Maj needs some schooling on readin n writin. My intent was talking up the Corps in a backhanded way. I don’t know nothin about cameramen but I do know that USMC n cameras was a big time Rag during WWII — by da Army, probably embarrassed by not thinkin of it. During WW NAM, no way . We’re talking Air Mobile — Air Cav, 101,176. Not many Bigs spent meaningful time w us working the hills and borders racing thru bush like overloaded snails.
That mystique was at the grunt, fire team, squad, platoon, co level and it was real. We took 549, maybe 552, in night attack and after day or two worked along ridge til 689 where we had to trench. Adult leadership said to hold it. Won’t get into cornflakes but anybody who worked hills along Laotian border knows what happens. There was a big OP , Peg…, to save us poor marines around Khe Sahn and Lo and Behold, in comes a thousand slicks w 101 taking Hill right next to us — we called it peanuts. Maybe 800 meters peak to peak.
Downright neighborly for them to stop n show us how it’s done. Also, to see a friendly face, kinda, since nothing but NVA on the other hills surrounding us. They left within a week, day after NVA had 2/3’s of their hill, peanuts, and Spooky came in and put on a show. After, We hadda take Peanuts a few times for grins n giggles.
My point, the real big press guys didn’t show us much. BUT, NO MISTAKE, I RESPECT ALL WHO WERE THERE.
Last, fifty, I got no clue what your words of wisdom are. And about my ‘star’, I got more bad paper — NJP’s, Page 11’s, counseling, Letters of Reprimand…. than an entire modern day Bn. But, I musta been able to do something right.
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Hey Lauren,
Let us know how you really Feel!
Ciao=Chow
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Are you saying the Army vs. Marine Corps were much better in the field at taking pictures??
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Marines
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I was with A Trp, 7/1 Air Cav, Blackhawks Vinhlong Army Airfield. August 70 /Dec30,71. While operating around Dong Tam which was AO for the Arvin 7th Div. The 9th had already pulled out, base taken over by Arvin. There was an AUSIE helicopter unit, I was always amazed at their grooming standards.
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Brother Bill,
Great article, was at MAT 65 in Sadec, down from Vinh lLong, from 70-71. Hoping you made it home w/o any medical problems!
If you’d like here is my email address: jerrypgr@hotmail.com
Ciao=Chow,
Jerry
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I was at the Vinh Long Army airfield in ’65, door gunner/avionics.
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Excellent, but don`t forget the Aussies and others.
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Terrific article highlighting the blessings of common sense.
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I recently read a book by Mark Berent in which he had added this story ai the hanoi Hilton. His books are Rolling Thunder ,Steel Tiger and several more about Vietnam.
I was a Cold War veteran but went to Vietnam in 1972 with LSI as an aircraft electrician.
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Doug, I’m 6 1/2 years late, but want to thank you and your LSI brothers for working your butts off to help keeping my old worn out helicopters in the air. You guys didn’t have to put up with the BS from the Green Machine so could work all day and night till the job was done. You’r just as much a Vietnam Veteran as those of us that were in uniform.
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Wonderful story read a little about Hegdahl before. Only that he had a photographic memory.
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Learning more of the details … BZ Doug !
JC, DLG28, PIRAZ
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JC, find your name all over the place
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Smart promo.
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OUTSTANDING! Makes what we went through worthwhile!
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in reply to bill McMaster: there is nothing that would make what a grunt went thru “worth it”. the entire country was not worth the life of the first American killed in that hell hole. I read this blog in hopes of finding others in my AO at the same time. lz milehigh/virgin/incoming, middle of ’68. polei klang area.
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blome. I got drafted into the army. you are a pompous ass. things look differently after 50 or so yrs. you should live long enuf to regret your ignorance.
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your Filipina I take it and either you live in the states or in your homeland of the Philippines. anyway, I sympathize with you. it was a worthless war but young boys were dragged into it because of the war mixed in with politics
the government and politicians and agencies were apart of it hey would never stand in the rice field being killed or taken as p.o.w. s but the young soldiers were sworn to uphold the constitution which I feel were blindly lied to it of what I feel was not the truth politically. I can not blame them at that.
But I can say war never changes present day like Iraq. Afghanistan, Liberia,
and the other three countries like in Syria.
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Worthless war say the least. If every politician had to send 1 family member into combat there wouldn’t be any wars! Same thing going on now Mideast. Not going change their culture just like we won’t let foreigners change ours.
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I agree that war fixes nothing! I am 77 years old and still have nightmares about Vietnam. To much death for me as a nineteen year old door gunner. Plenty of action, lot for stress, just waiting for the nva to attack! I served in. 1965, Vinh Long.
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I was a 19 year old man and came home after3 years an old one
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Someone has heavy duty6 PTSD, or is just a liberal.
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You have never been to war, have you. You are a good Democrat for trashing something you know nothing about.
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Amen
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Keith, I am a proud Democrat and a proud Vietnam Vet (67-68). I’m just saying we shouldn’t label people because of their political affiliation. I have no idea what prompted your comment, as I came across this post today (4/17/21). All I can say is, “Welcome Home, Brother, and may God grant you peace, love, and compassion”!
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I agree with you Mike! I didn’t see the whole article however what does it matter whether your Democrat, Republican or whatever? We went to war and all the craziness that came along with it and all have varying opinions of our time over there. Let’s put these labels away and work towards unity in this county
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Keith, don’t further divide our nation–and veterans like me–based on current politics. I’m a liberal who voted Democrat and served in two wars, lost my wife to one, with a family well experienced in ground combat–including a POW and several Purple Hearts. We are united by our service and your post uses politics to divide us.
Welcome home.
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Amen brother
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I am a Democrat BECAUSE of the total lies given by Republican politicians. Have never forgiven Nixon.
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From a Medic at Nui Dat – you certainly appear dangerously brainwashed while we were attempting to improve the infant mortality death rate from 48 % & enhance the lives from average life span of 40. Don’t ever forget the lovely Democrats had a large hand in all this while brainwashing the naive & gullible state side
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I have read repeatedly how the reporters would write their story for the day and send it to the news? desks state side. The desk jockeys would then rewrite the stories sent from Vietnam.
When the reporters would get their daily briefing from the military, they knew they were getting a load of BS. The referred to it as the “five o’clock follies”. We got the five o’clock follies just in a different format.
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You’re right, maybe we SHOULD have stayed the hell out of Vietnam, but our soldiers don’t make those kinds of decisions, our leaders do. However, had we stayed out of EVERY OTHER Country where would the world be now? What would’ve happened if the United States didn’t enter WWII when we did? Wherever YOU are from, odds are that you have benefited from past actions of an American soldier whether directly or indirectly, and where you detected “arrogance” in the previous comment I have no clue but then again your comments referring to POTUS Trump also made no sense.
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My previous comment was in reply to lauren caros, just to clarify things, and to expand on that, also to lauren caros…….the “hellhole” being referred to was NOT the Country of Vietnam in general but rather the WAR that was going on at that time and all of the effects the war had on the soldiers AND the civilians at the time, which I’m sure can ONLY be described as a “hellhole” by ANY American soldier who risked his life in the effort to stem the spread of communism, and I thank him for his sacrifice as well as EVERY other American who EVER fought in ANY war representing the greatest Country in the world!
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Tell her, Mr. Boston…although it is really doubtful that such a thick skull could be penetrated with anything that is the truth…!
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Brendan Boston: You do not have to ‘splain yourself to any of us – least of all the ungrateful, uh, person who made those deeply ignorant comments….heard enough about the “hell hole” we call Vietnam in that war. That any of you came out sane is a miracle. THANK YOU! – for your service, esp. as you and your buddies were esp. underappreciated and, apparently, still are…
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Someone wrote a positive about Americans at war. Took about fifty years.
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I believe, just another Lib-tard who may not have even been there. Yet, feels the need to criticize everything America. Grunts don’t start Wars, they just finish them!! Don’t like President Trump, well then, don’t vote for him in next General Election. Vote for the Dem-Commie of your choice!!
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Fuck You and your ‘Libtard’ rant. This Liberal went to Vietnam four times, and retired as a LT of Police in the Civilian world.. Why in the hell didn’t your Hero Trump join the Military??!!
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What?
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Glad to see you enjoy freedom of speech so I am guessing you are from a freedom loving country that enjoys its freedom from something AMERICA has done in the past to allow you those freedoms. But, arrogance works in all directions. Enjoy your life and pray to whomever you pray to giving thanks for freedoms you enjoy that others may not have that opportunity to enjoy the same in their life time.
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You need to get a real life, maybe you should enlist in the military and you would understand life better!
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STUPID !
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And maybe you should go back to whatever third or fourth world shit-hole you crawled out of and leave this discussion to the literate adults of the world.
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Do not comment on what we do as PATRIOTIC AMERICANS. Foreign countries that we have SAVED from extinction just need to say, “Thank you” and respect what our country has done and is willing to continue to do…. SAVE YOUR ASS!! God Bless America and God Bless President Donald Trump!
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Lauren…you talk like a F/Coward!
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Just another stupid liberal who knows NOTHING! I did my duty as a door gunner in ’65.
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I think all who want to be under socialist domination should apply for citizenship in the countries who offer it. I was a Huey pilot in Nam and did my patriotic duty. Nothing like the sound of those rotor blades when they’re coming to get you…
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Barrie Windel: I’m beginning to wonder if you ever really served with the Fourth or were on Mile High?? You’re only reference is Terry Lance whom I don’t remember however do you remember Bill Devore, Floyd Bliilingslea, LT Matusek, the moronic So called White Knight, Russ Krill, Bob Fritsche, Steve our tunnel rat, Sarge Penny. So I’ve tried to contact you by email br looks like you’re on R&R
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no idea of your agenda. it’s easy to check on stuff of this nature. have you thought of checking in with the 35th infantry site? after that, stick your negativity where the sun don’t shine. go ahead, i’ll wait.
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believe it or not, the entire battalion was on that lz/fb. if I don’t recognize a half dozen people that you made up, it don’t mean shit. lance was Charlie company, my time was in delta company. I basically live on the internet, and I ain’t heard of you, either. fuk off.
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Hey Barrie lighten up dude!! Perhaps my sense of humor should have had a smiley face with it! I’m not questioning your status man!! just seeing if you knew some of my Charlie Company buddies !! Oh well sounds like you wanna be left alone so have a great life man!!
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Always some asshole tries to (you Lauren caros) bring politics into everything. The Vietnam War was a political disaster and we should have never sacrificed the lives of the 65k plus that died there, but was not about Trump!!
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And you, Lauren Caros, had to make it political-with your hateful, prejudiced and IGNORANT comments…wow! How dare you call anyone else ignorant when you spew such hate to a vet, no less!?! They are the very ones you should thank, bec. you never had to nor probably will have to defend our freedoms, including freedom to show one’s stupidity! Vietnam was truly a place in which we should not have set foot-esp.. if our soldiers, now veterans, were not given the support they needed to win. They could have won-and that place would not be one that still tramples on human rights (as all communist countries do) IF that had been the case. Save your hate please, for your true enemies-those who are envious of our freedoms, but still wish to take those away. And if you think those do not exist, you live in La-La-Land. In the meantime, educate yourself – or just keep your hateful comments to yourself-or share with others who, though not vets do LOVE America and think the Vietnam vets, esp., got a really raw deal and do NOT deserve to hear from the likes of you.
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And what port of entry did you arrive at?
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Lauren aren’t u glad we veterans gave u the right of free speech to speak trash about our country! My suggestion to you since you don’t like America use another freedom we veterans gave you – the freedom to leave Delta is ready and waiting to take you!
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HEY, Lauren Caros, perhaps you should thank every one of us veterans for providing the blanket of security you sleep under every night before you go out blasting off about this country you call home.
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We do not need people like you in America. Analyse history and see where the world would be if we stayed home.
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It is just wonderful that you can voice your opinion in this country. Walk a mile in our shoes, lets see how you feel when you have tried your best to do what is right and be greeted with what you have to say. Wrong place, right time. We did our best.
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Dear Lauren caros , since my time in war I am no loner violent so the only comment I have is please tell your family to let me know when you pass so I can piss on your grave
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Yeah Lauren,you can thank the democratic party for that if it happens!
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what a huge mistake the military’s industrial complex made in Vietnam 🇻🇳 very evil humans at the top.
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I think that this is Probably the Best I’ve read and it captures My Mind the way Very FEW
Things have ever done !
I’ve been to the WALL twice but Never could
Work up the Nerve to Actually go Down the
Slope to the Names inscribed on It.
Do I regret Not doing so?
No, I’m not sure whether I could handle the
Runaway Emotions I would Experience looking for Names of My fellow Marines!
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Folks like you who are ungrateful and uneducated as to what America has done for many countries over many years, without asking for much in return, are the reason I would vote to let you swim alone when danger lurks. You don’t deserve the sacrifices of our dead patriots
.
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Lauren, look at history and find what President got us in Vietnam. It was an unjust war for sure but we were mostly age around 19, had no say in the politics of that war. Next time bitch at the politicians. Ron Rowland, Vinh Long, 1965, gunner/avionics.
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We have always entered into conflicts with the best of intentions and we have always tried to leave those countries as a self ruled democracy. Unfortunately we haven’t always been successful. If you look at North Korea and South Korea, which place would you rather live. Hopefully you are old enough to remember East Germany and West Germany. Which one of those countries survived and ask yourself why. Two of the greatest economies on the planet and have one the highest standards of living are countries that lost to us in WWII. Perhaps you should study history before you call other people ignorant. We live in the greatest country on the planet and have tried to help other countries buy into democracy and capitalism but most are too corrupt and lack the education to succeed.
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You have no clue what you are talking about. America has gone to other countries because they have been invited to stop the carnage of their own, including women and children, by evil dictators. You are an angry, bitter fool.
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Obviously written by a person who has no respect or is a committed communist or socialist. Just do some research and view what the U.S. has done for many other countries. Go and view the fallen at Normandy who gave their lives for freedom for all. Look at the graves of those who were cut down in the prime of their lives, look, think, and give thanks. Freedom is earned at a heavy price, lives taken to prevent domination by dictators and their ilk. The U.S. saved many foreign peoples in order to give them the opportunity for freedom and peace. Those of us who served made sacrifices and should be recognized appropriately. We were called and made the world a better place. There will always be those who seek to spread chaos and their poison to others. Freedom comes at a price and others will always be there to defend it.
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I like this “article” but the Rats that bothered me most were the V.C. Tunnel Rats😬
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You are ONE TRUE ASSHOLE !
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you must have majored in tact and diplomacy.
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Well, it’s over two years since your hate filled rant. I can only guess that your hatred for America and our iconoclastic President has rendered you catatonic. Reversing decades of American descent resulting in the preeminent Position in a dangerous world. Our military and economy runs circles around those who, just three years ago delighted in our pending demise.
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In typical combat infantry slang I would just like to say:
Fuck Off!!
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FU Cunt
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Article brings back Memories, some good, most bad but it’s a great history & recollection of what ‘Nam
was like to Lots of us. This is more intense than anything I personally experienced !
Have to Tip the Hat to these guys for staying Cool enough to do what they Had to do & survive
(most of them at least)😖
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My Main Wish, after reading your IGNORANT Asinine comments is that you could be Forced to Move Out of these United States U despise so much ASAP.
PLEASE Move to the one of the countries we’ve “wrecked” like Afghanistan, Iraq OR Vietnam where speaking as U do will get U SHOT with No Trial, No Jury, only a couple of commies with GUNS!
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Go to HELL you Commie Liberal CUNT ! Be sure to Vote for a F*cling Libtard like yourself, BITCH!
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WE DO NOT NEED THIS TYPE OF DRIVEL ON THIS WEBSITE!!! ELIMINATE IT.
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Easy Lauren, you know nothing about this! We are the men that did the fighting as directed by our Government, where were you? No words can explain what we went through 24/7 for 13 months.
I am old (74) and would love to slap the shirt out of you. Have a nice day!
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What a worthless piece of crap you are. There is no way that we can remove the political forces that were in play in Vietnam. The amount of suffering and death was to forever keep the war and suffering away from our shores. You disrespect all soldiers and sailors that have done this gladly. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
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the article left me feeling quilty that all I got was a broken collar bone and a left hip and knee that don’t work right in my 29 crash and burns, 3 Death Bracelets
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It was good.
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Beg to differ with you. I served 3 tour in combat there and would do it again.
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Need to become familiar with the communist attempt to take over a good part of the world. Had to be stopped, as did hitler
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Bill was you with 117tc 11bn
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Outstanding piece. And the average American still doesn’t give a damn. I was a1st Cav grunt 7/68- 7/69.
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Very interesting, a little sad. I’m writing a romance novel about a couple that lost track of each other during the Vietnam war due to letters not received. He served on a Naval submarine. I want to make it as feasible as possible. This helped, learning that letters took about two weeks to be received. Thank you for sharing.
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Submarines stayed off shore and under water. If he was a brown (rivers) sailer he would have had a good deal of contact with the population. Look at the Vietnam Delta on Google Earth then read up on Riverine activities. This will get you your character.
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Very nicely done. I was there where with 101st Ava. Bn. Airborne Div. On the Assault into the A-Shau Valley in Aug. 68. I watched the C model gunship that was making the recording crash killing Harry Kim. Also, D Company was originally Charlie models before it became D Co. The Hawks, which were Cobras. Very well done. The audio tape truly shows the chaos of war. It was crazy day, we were in such confined space with so many helos, it was a miracle we did not crash into each other. Respect to my fallen brother and sister.
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To answer the question as to why we lost that Vietnam war, simple, most of us were not trained for jungle fighting! My basic training at a Fort Jackson in 1963 was a joke taught by Korea and WWll veterans using outdated training. When I arrived in VIETNAM, I was in the the thick of it. Knew nothing about who I was to be fighting. I was taught about marching and weapons! I was 19 years old at the time, many died due to lack of knowledge just like me! I was lucky, did OJT I very day to stay alive. The Army at the time was hard headed. Had no training on the M60 machine gun but they made me a door gunner on a Huey chopper— every day. Just had to vent! Ron Rowland
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Well I guess it depends on where you were trained, in Fort Polk Louisiana (Tigerland) we had Sargents that had served in Nam and trained us to the best of their ability because of there tours over there. They didn’t cut us much slack and were honest about conditions and the fact that no matter what they taught us we would be OTJ training as you said. But they did a good job getting us as ready as they could. I’m glad I went to Tigerland even though it was tough and demanding. I started out as an RTO in Nam but as you know FNG’s didn’t get much help! Wound up getting hit by a mortar round and caught some shrapnel but luckily got home with not to much damage. Anyways lots of stories out there man and thanks for sharing . Tom
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I also did my Basic and AIT in Tigerland fort Polk 1969 Trained for 11B but they changed my mos to 64B20 Heavy Truck Driver hauling JP-4 chopper fuel
Iron Triangle area and Cambodia 69-70 made it back with a little shrapnel !
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This is all I got on the 2 emails sent. Doug
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We couldn’t have lost in Vietnam as when S. Vietnam fell(1975) we had NO troops there since 1973 ! Go figure !!!??
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That’s a sore spot with me, that word lost. We were winning when I left. It was our Congress that lost after we had gone, by cutting out the promised aid to the Vietnamese Army. We’re doing the same thing in Ukraine, but with our expenditures there, it looks more like a money laundering operation. Someone has to follow the money and put a stop to it.
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My late husband served with a Special Forces group, received advanced training, said over and over “We knew what we were getting into,” which indicated no small amount of trepidation. Still, it must have been different for most troops, esp. those drafted…That said THANK YOU! – for your service. Am glad that you came back, as did my husband, but he suffered with his memories forever afterward, until his death.
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Good observation. Drafted in ‘71, Army Medic (91Bravo). The war was a lie propagated on the general public by the Military Industrial Complex. The OSS was in VN aiding the Vietnamese defeat the Japanese . Ho Chi Minh approached the USA at the end of WW II to free them from French rule after the war but was turned down. JFK knew what was going on but was murdered. By the time I was in American service members were reviled by their peers. I served because it was the law and I was raised to obey laws weather I agreed with them or not.
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A super article!
A great amount of intrigue exists for each American administration before, during and after the war years. Stories at all levels, from WH to the fighting grunts.
Interesting USA supported Diem coup, interesting Kennedy was strongly considering withdrawal of US forces, interesting Gulf of Tonkin incident supposedly never happened but got USA into war.(Recall WMD?)
Yes, war industry hugely profited, that happens in a war, sometimes war industries even start them.
War is Raw in reverse, war is Lose-Lose for most on all sides. War is human failure, human madness, human disease and involves imperfect human practitioners, IMHO.
Surely, with 8+Bn people on Earth there are those who will find a peaceful alternative to WAR.
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Roy,
They already have, it’s called Covid Vaccinations. The first ones didn’t achieve the results they wanted, so they came out with boosters, and then more boosters. The war is not just with another political party anymore, it’s against specific parts of the human race.
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Good lord. That commie covid conspiracy! Aint going to touch that one with a 10 foot pole. But Im here about the Tonkin Gulf thingie. (My creds: I spent 10 years in anti-Vietnam activities after honorable discharge from the Army): Tonkin Gulf took place over 2 separate nights. The 1st absolutely did take place and almost resulted in the destruction of one of our ships. The 2nd was most likely a mistaken reading on radar at night, but LBJ already had our bombers on the runway and refused to call them off. But I will agree, the war now is with the white supremacists who attacked our elections on Jan. 6….
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I (USMC) shipped over in 1965 with Army warrant officer helicopter pilots. Great people!
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