Posted on 05/13/2017 3:21:41 AM PDT by Chainmail
I only decided to tell that short story about my last day in combat to kind of record a piece of history.
I'm sorry that you feel that way - it was a waste but in that sense, all wars are wastes of lives, ours and theirs.
But the purpose of our investment was to support an ally and to stop the push by the Soviets, Chinese et al to further "National Liberation Wars" - a sort of program of assisted civil war.
In that we succeeded: the weren't any more National Liberation Wars and the Sovs and the Chinese looked at us as anything but pushovers.
I believe that when Gorbachev was sitting across the table from Reagan, he saw all of us and our 10,000 miles away/eight year war and saw the steel that is really in us.
Thank you for telling us about it and thank you for your efforts and courage during our war.
Semper Fi.
Thank you for all you did during our war - you had your own corner on tough duty.
Semper Fi!
One way or another, it was almost certainly 7.62X54: I thought at the time that it was a machine gun but Lt. Graves was sure that it was a sniper - a fairly famous sniper in our area.
I really would - I went to Vietnam as a tourist with my wife in 2000 and nobody knew who he was - apparently, he was from "out of town". I really wanted to buy him and his family dinner!
At Hahn, I was 40 miles away from Battalion HQ. During Air Force tac evals, I was down in the Wing CP for 4 days as the Army Liaison Officer. The only other officer with a TS clearance was the BC, so I was it.
Within 30 minutes of my first tac eval, they dropped an NBC input while I was briefing the Wing Cdr on the deployment of our platoons. His expert, the Wing Disaster Preparedness Officer, overreacted by recommending Alarm Red, which meant everybody had to go full MOPP.
You can imagine the looks I received when I spoke up to offer my recommendation...lol, an Army butterbar surrounded by 4-5 Air Force bird colonels. It was in my wheelhouse, as I was my battery's NBC officer. The Wing Cdr liked my recommendation so much (Alarm Yellow, no MOPP), he loudly told his staff that, as long as he was in command, he wanted to see the "Army lieutenant" whenever there was an NBC input.
I am trying to think of the perfect reply, but there just isn’t one.
I can only thank you for your bravery, your heart, and your service. And for taking the time to tell us about it.
Your writing is gorgeous — please write more! I am sure you have other stories to tell about what you saw and did and about the men who were there with you. Maybe write up a little story each week and post it here on FR. Let me be the first to ask to be on your ping list.
Thank you for your service — not just during the war but for making a career of it and teaching others. You are a very generous man to give so much to your country.
I salute you with the greatest of respect.
Thanks for the ping, and for your many years of service. Glad you’re still here to tell about it.
I don't really know how brave I was - I just didn't want to let my fellow Marines down. I'm sure that you know exactly what I mean.
I do have a lot of stories, probably too many. The funniest ones were when I was commissioned a lieutenant and had to deal with all those post-Vietnam troops of that time. They were handful but I sure enjoyed the crazy stuff they came up with. We'll see if the Free Republic can stand me and my stories.
Semper Fi!
I laugh at how some sites like Drudge have mentions of the anniversary of "The Summer of Love", while we remember a much different summer.
Of course you are right. But all I remember is the outpouring of grief at a life cut tragically short, in some foreign Asian war.
My uncle was a brave man, as my father said “the best of the bunch,” cut down by “friendly fire.”
The entire town turned out for a day of mourning. It is forever seared in my memory.
I honor their memory.......and I honor your service, courage and valor in defense of our country and its people.
Thanks for the riveting story you posted.
Leni
I can tell stories about my stint in the Army but they’re not about heroics. I remember when drunken roommates in the old brick barracks at the Presidio of San Francisco (6th Amy HQ) held one of the guys upside down out of out the two-story window. I remember others setting their gas discharges on fire. They also hooted at and called out to women soldiers who marched by beneath our windows—something I disapproved of and with which I did not join.
Yeah, I saw that too.. idiots. You and I know who the truly valuable men of our country were - and I'll always thank God that I was on the same team.
It's terrible that he was killed by "friendly" fire. Given the scale and chaos of that war, sometimes it happened.
I'll keep your uncle in my prayers.
It's terrible that he was killed by "friendly" fire. Given the scale and chaos of that war, sometimes it happened.
I'll keep your uncle in my prayers.
I’m glad you liked it Leni. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to write it. Too much emotion, even after all this time.
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