Posted on 05/13/2017 3:21:41 AM PDT by Chainmail
Whatever ... welcome home brother
It’s a little embarrassing to write about myself but I figured that my 50th anniversary had to be a special day.
...
I’m glad you chose to write about it.
What a great story.
Thank you for sharing it.
Joining with so many, and thanking you very much.
Salutes to all my fellow Vietnam vets. I remember many vivid scenes from my 413 missions flying A-4s in 68-69 as if they were yesterday. Indeed, where did that half-century go?
Semipermanent Fi.
TC
I read your story to four Army vets this morning over coffee. All of them veterans of combat in the Sandbox.
They and I thank you and salute your service and the sacrifice you made.
I will add - Welcome home.
Thank you for your service.
Did you happen to meet John Kerry? Seems he was there...
Some people have no shame.
We had just gotten the M-16 and even though several hundred rounds were fired in those few seconds, that guy kept running.
Thank you for sharing such a remarkable event in your life.
God bless you and thank you.
SALUTE
For your valor and great writing.
Larry
USAF Tan Son Nhut AB 70-71
Thank you for your service. I was born that October
I sometimes wonder just how many Viet Nam vets are surviving just so they can pi$$ on Jane Fonda’s grave?
My brother served there. My uncle, a very brave man, gave his life there. The Vietnam War was a huge waste of lives.
Has got to be one of the best lines in the war.
First, we must always thank the triune God for being by your side and healing you mind, body and spirit! Through all of life’s troubles, we can hand those to him and not keep them festering in us making our and other’s life miserable. War, rape, violence, etc. are difficult for our human minds to handle alone! Thank you, Jesus!
Thank you for serving. I’ve heard personal stories from Nam vets who relied on their common sense, education, growing up with BB guns and other guns to shoot dinner, and of course prayers that got them through this war. I graduated from HS in 1972 so knew several who fought and a couple who lost their lives locally. (I remember that almost every truck at high school had two or three guns in the gun racks and the trucks were not locked!). One profound memory was when I went to a gathering with friends of about 5 guys from Nam. They brought pictures and told stories, some with a few tears, but in the end it was just being thankful they are there today and well. They would not let me see some of the pictures even though I accidently turned a page and saw a man dead. My friend’s wife put his pictures to music and a video of his helicopter medvac and it made us all cry. The real stories and the real pictures are more powerful than any movie to me!
And, yours is not fake news (!) so something amazing to read this morning. You are blessed!!...and a blessing!
I got my Purple Heart, and lost my cherry, exactly 36 months later. Just north of Quang Ngai, and near Mai Lai. We took an RPG while holding at a light hover waiting for the last of six pac’s to get on board. The unit had been in contact earlier that morning and had several individuals to extract back to the 91st Evac in Chu Lai.
The RPG hit the transmission (UH-1H) just over our door gunner's shoulder. Killed six infantry and one door-gunner. The AC, myself and the Crew Chief were the only ones to get out. There was one pac that had moved just as we were being extracted some 30 minutes later, and the AC made a run to get him. Still, by the time we got to the 91st Evac in Chu Lai, he had passed.
The bird was totaled, couldn't be hooked out, and it had to be blown in place the following day. Later I heard that we had lost a second slick that day, and I believe I recall hearing that one of our Charlie Model gunships took serious damage and casualties. My memory of the events is really foggy nowadays.
I have been lurking on this site for over a decade and although I had set my self up to participate long, long ago, the politics of my job were such that I have avoided having any political affiliation on the Internet.
But your post, and the fact that I retire in four months, finally got me to make a post of my own on this site.
Your really fine narrative of your experience in ‘67 really caught my eye when I saw the date. I wish I could remember the events of that day in ‘70 as well as you do your May 13th in ‘67.
Our war was a half century ago. And I agree, we need to give prayers and support to the troops involved in today's support of our country and it's allies. Ours was a long time ago.
You did good Marine, really good. I salute you every time I meet up with any PH Marine brother or other service veteran showing PH on their cover or even license plates. I was on the flightline in Danang in 67 & 68 pumping fuel and patching up ground fire holes in silver Marine C-130s. I stood very near the many stretchers with KIA Marines in body bags as they waited for Grave Registration to arrive to get them ready for their trip home. As an electrician, I wasn’t regular air crew so my Viet Nam was a basically the tarmac where our C-130s taxied in from runs to supply ordinance ( and beer) and retrieve KIA from combat bases in I Corps. I always knew there were “real” Marines out there hauling the heavy load. Thank you, Brother. I am close with about 150 veterans from all theaters and also with 50 Marine Corps League brothers and Corpsmen here in Loveland, Colorado. Wish we had you with our units here, hope we’ll be in the same unit in our final duty station. Robin - Sgt USMC
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