Vietnam thread

T

tnthomas

Well-known Member
Location
Calif.
This thread is mainly aimed at Vietnam veterans to post their experiences; all veterans and posters are welcome as well to post.

We all have a lot of stories and memories to share, and some we won't. I mentioned here[this post] my arrival in Vietnam and some of my experience at the in-country processing center at Cam Ranh Bay. So, I'll jot down a few more thoughts, trying to keep it in chronological order.

I had exactly enough money on my person to buy four beers at the little bar there in Cam Ranh Bay. I had maybe a half pack of cigarettes...what a dope I was, coming to

war with no cash. There were guys I knew from Ft Eustis,VA and Ft. Carson Co. that I went to school with, so I must have bummed beers and smokes, I have no recollection

of actually eating there, but I'm sure I managed to find the mess hall. Before I go on, there is a nice comprehensive link on Cam Ranh Bay you might be interested it

visiting: Arrival at Cam Ranh BaySo anyway, I think I was there several days, then with our assignments determined, they loaded us up to go to our assigned units. I got on an Air Force

C-130 with about 80 other guys, and headed for Bien Hoa Air Base. There were no seats, just cargo straps to hang onto. The pilots had a sense of humor, one said that we had less to

worry about crashing from enemy fire, that the plane could do that on it's own without any help. Nice.

After getting to Bien Hoa we caught a jeep ride to Newport Terminal, where the 71st Trans Bn. had jobs waiting for us.

By the way, the Don Blankenship's website has a bunch of information and links, primarily of interest to Navy and Army "river" vets. Another site: brown-water_navy is interesting too.

I was assigned to the 5th Heavy Boat Co, 71st Trans Bn.,4th Trans Terminal Cmd. I spent a couple weeks on 'casual status' on a Yankee class coastal fuel transfer tanker, the Y-99.

Finally, was assigned to be the assistant engineer on the LCU 1566. Here is a page from NavSource Archives on: LCU 1566

Below is a picture I took of the LCU :

SouthChinaSea.jpg

welldeck-LCU1566.jpg

A pic of my shipmate Mike Johnson. He was part of the deck crew, he took car of the M-60s on the upper deck, and cleaned the M-16s, along with the other deck guys.

mike johnson.jpg



Forgot to mention, we had an UN-official patch for the 5th Heavy Boat Co:

Haicau.jpg
 
This is a really outstanding book written by a Marine. I have an old beat up falling apart copy I got from a used book store years ago. Even though I was just an REMF reading it makes me feel like I am back there.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/898764.Sand_in_the_wind

Here's one of my favorite passages from it.

Chalice stood quietly while Tony sifted through the rest of his gear.


"Now we come to the fun part. How many grenades ya got?"

"Four"

"Better pick up another one somewhere. When you're in a hole at night and you hear movement, you'll want all you can get. How many magazines ya got? "

"Eight, that's all they issued me"

"You'll need at least twenty. Most of the guys carry twenty-five. You can get some more when somebody gets medivacked or goes to the rear. They take twenty rounds, but if you don't want your rifle to jam, just put in eighteen. We're one of the first battalions to get M-16's and they jam a lot easier than 14's. Don't ever let me catch you with a dirty rifle. Clean it every chance you get. The last time Golf Company hit the shit, we had to recover the bodies. I saw three guys with bullets in their heads and their M-16's lying next to them, half taken apart. When them rice-propelled ************s come at you and your rifle jams, you ain't gonna have time to take it apart and clean it........How many canteens you got?"

"Four"

"That's good. If you get thirsty easy, you might wanna pick up another one. There's three things you don't wanna run out of in the bush: rounds, water, and shit paper. Shit paper's really a luxury, but it's a nice one".
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We dodged Vietnam duty, luckily. My late husband joined the Army after graduation from college and because he spoke fluent French, the Army in its infinite wisdom sent him to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey for a year to learn Russian. By all means, let's not utilize available talents.

French was handy in Vietnam, Russian not so much. So, off we went to Turkey so he that he could sit in the Elephant Cage and listen to Russian broadcasts.

Much preferable to Vietnam.
 
Thought this might be of interest, rarely seen photos of Vietnam War taken from the other side, more photos here.

What the western world remembers about the Vietnam War is defined by a handful of iconic photographs taken through the lenses of American and other western photographers. But the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong had hundreds of photographers of their own who worked in perilous conditions documenting every facet of the war. They worked for the Vietnam News Agency, the National Liberation Front, the North Vietnamese Army or various newspapers. Others were self-taught civilians, many of whom anonymously sent their films to news agencies. Many of these photographs are rarely seen, even in Vietnam.

When photojournalist Doug Niven first went to Hanoi, he expected to see the war from the Vietnamese perspective, but to his surprise, there was not even a North Vietnamese book on the war. There were a few Vietnamese publications with pictures from the war, but not a single comprehensive attempt to put all the war images together. So in the early 1990s, he started tracking down the surviving photographers.

another-vietnam-doug-niven-12%25255B1%25255D.jpg
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Here's my humble reply to this thread.
I was told it's therapeutic to write some things down to help fight the demons.
I dedicate this story to my precious baby daughter who served in the 82nd airborne and sadly lost her fight with the demons on Oct 18th this year.
Rest Easy my little one. I love you.

https://lifeisacarnivalblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/youve-changed/
 

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squatting dog said:
Here's my humble reply to this thread.
I was told it's therapeutic to write some things down to help fight the demons.
I dedicate this story to my precious baby daughter who served in the 82nd airborne and sadly lost her fight with the demons on Oct 18th this year.
Rest Easy my little one. I love you.

https://lifeisacarnivalblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/26/youve-changed/
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Squatting Dog, I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. Such an awful price to pay.

My husband came home from Vietnam riddled with demons, which he never could allay. It did not end well for him, either.
 
Thanks for starting this thread for our veterans of Viet Nam Thomas. Only you that served can tell us how it was, and show us, God bless every one of you. Thank you especially for the photographs.

I had no one in Viet Nam serving America, but I know many veterans I've met in my life-time.
 
She is beautiful, SquattingDog. Her spirit is still with you and she will always be beautiful. She is at peace now...bless her heart.
*Hugs*
 
A few weeks before my high school graduation, that was on May 28, 1968, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. I pretty much knew the Draft would be after me and it was. My Recruiter called me during the week of my birthday in June '68. My step-parents got my Draft Notice during my third week at NTC in Great Lakes, Ill. My first duty station was onboard the U.S.S. Robison DDG-12 at 32nd St. San Diego. What a huge Surface Fleet (Pacific Fleet) Base that was! Our Flagship was the CVA Carrier Kitty Hawk. Made my first 6-month Westpac Cruise in late Dec 1968. "Plane Guarded" for the "Hawk" and was on the Gun Lineat Yankee Station off of South Vietnam. After returning to San Diego for a few months, headed to Hunters Point, San Francisco for a Yard/Repair Period. In about mid 1970, took off, out of San Diego, for another 6-month Westpac Cruise, but wasn't able to complete this one. Got hurt in Yokosuka, Japan while roller skating and ended up at the Naval Hospital there, while the Robison continued on the Cruise. Fortunately, due to starting the Cruise, I was awarded my second bronze star for my Vietnam Service Ribbon/Medal.

Had my "ups and downs" while in the Navy, but got my Honorable Discharge in Sept. 1972. Due to the "downs", was not recommended for reenlistment.

Glad I enlisted, but "enough was enough" for this ex-farm boy. Did use my GI Bill for college, but only for a short time. Turned out to be NOT the "college" type. Started using my VA Medical in 1987, when companies started making employee's pay for medical insurance........at least the company I worked for then did. Stopped for awhile, after meeting/marrying my wife. We both made a good enough salary for both of us to be on a companies health insurance. In 2010 went back on VA Medical, but am now on both Medicare and VA Medical. My last three surgeries (hip replacement and two rotator cuff) were done thru Medicare. My PCP, however, is a VA doctor.

I have a picture of my NTC, Great Lakes Graduating Class from 1968 on a living room wall, along with the pictures of all three ships I served on......the Robison, Hollister and Henderson.
 
My military life was a bit harried. I enlisted in 67 wishing to become involved with Nike missiles. Even though the recruiter, after viewing my GT scores, said I could do anything I wished he also said I needed more electronics experience so he convinced me that being a field wireman would meet that need.
After more testing, the Army also told me that I qualified for OCS but, I would need to have a bit more age and training before I could do that. I had a year to wait it out since I was only 17, so I was sent to leadership prep school after basic where I also signed up for jump school.

After AIT and becoming a field wireman I went to jump school and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Div at Bragg where I 1049'd for Aircraft Electronics school at Ft. Eustis because frankly, being a field wireman really didn't do anything for me and it wouldn't get me into Nike Missiles. I was accepted into the Aircraft Electronics program and graduated after 16 weeks and was immediately sent to Vietnam.

Here's the punchline. Upon arrival at my PCS in Bin Hua, they didn't need aircraft electricians but they definitely did need door gunners on a UH1-C helicopter and that is where this particular soldier wound up. The only good thing I can say of my whole Vietnam experience is that I had the best chopper (electronically) than any of the other gunships in the company. After Vietnam, the rest of the story is the same as any other Vietnam combat vet and the same as everyone has been told so I needn't even write a whole lot about it.

I always try to see the good side of things and after picking myself up from being a homeless combat vet, I started working in the rescue missions ministry specifically with combat veterans who found themselves homeless after their enlistment was over.
The good side? I was able to relate to soldiers who were still fighting a war they were told they had lost. I could sit eye to eye with people and listen to what they had to say and understand what they were going through. Not just my era of vets, but any combat vet.

The thing is, no one ever really leaves the military because it becomes a state of mind. The Marines say it best when they say that there is no such thing as an x-Marine. In actuality, there is no such thing as an x-combat soldier because all of us are still fighting in one way or another. A dozen psychiatrists with a bunch of pills cannot possibly do the good that comes with talking to another soldier who has been there and is willing to listen and yes, especially one that is man enough to know that a single tear does more good than any medication, illegal drug or booze can accomplish.
 
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oldman, my daughter served in the 82nd airborne including a stint in Afghanistan. Apparently, she was exposed to things that haunted her and I was too stupid to see the signs. A young girl with a new husband, great job, new home and everything to live for. I suspect the anti-depressant drugs the VA gave her may have played a part. Anyway, while her hubby was on a business trip out west she walked out on her front lawn and put a pistol to her head. Worse than that, I was out in the desert and had no way to reach me. My older daughter had to ID the body and take care of burial. It was 3 weeks before I even knew about it. I can't describe the guilt I feel on so many levels. Got to stop typing for now. I can hardly see the keyboard through my tears.
My sweet angel. forever young.
 

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squatting dog said:
oldman, my daughter served in the 82nd airborne including a stint in Afghanistan. Apparently, she was exposed to things that haunted her and I was too stupid to see the signs. A young girl with a new husband, great job, new home and everything to live for. I suspect the anti-depressant drugs the VA gave her may have played a part. Anyway, while her hubby was on a business trip out west she walked out on her front lawn and put a pistol to her head. Worse than that, I was out in the desert and had no way to reach me. My older daughter had to ID the body and take care of burial. It was 3 weeks before I even knew about it. I can't describe the guilt I feel on so many levels. Got to stop typing for now. I can hardly see the keyboard through my tears.
My sweet angel. forever young.
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First, I am very sorry for your loss. I know that this isn't about me, but when I was in Vietnam, I also saw some things that still haunt me even today. I also did some things over there that I am not proud of. War changes people. When I came home, my friends would tell me that I am a different guy from what they used to know. I didn't notice it, but they did. Just like so many other Vietnam vets, I still have nightmares from time to time regarding the experiences that I took part in. And, no matter how hard I try to forget, I can't. Certain things that I see on TV or read about on the net brings back bad memories. They act as triggers.

I don't know what this young lady may have seen or done, but I understand why she did what she did. You just want the emotional pain to stop.

Again, I am very sorry that you have to go through this, but please don't blame yourself for not being there when you were needed. I am very surprised that you were not located and informed of your daughter's demise. I can't even begin to imagine your pain, but I hope that someday you will find peace.
 
Dog:
sorry to hear of your loss bro. when we come home often the baggage we have is more than we started with. war is a b**ch and we ofter see and do things at the time that in later years come back to haunt us. My brother came home from 'nam wounded both mentally and physically. Whatever happened to him that day took a long time to catch up. Finally he could no longer handle life and took his leaving a wife and son.
 
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