I wish I could share the stories.
Odds are, he was one of our best.
~Easy
Forgive the Vietnam Veteran Slide Easy.
We lost a Vietnam Vet in October, who happened to be my best friend. It sucks for sure. I need help figuring out what his involvement was in the war. Like most he didn’t speak about it much. Here is what I know.
-Tour 66 to 68
-MOS MP with a dog
-part of the Elite Five (5 solider dog teams)
-only two team survived the tour.
-parachuted in the jungle with dog and were on their own for a period of time.
-Claimed to be SF
-Same details from multiple family across the decades.
-said that he had a price on his head.
I have seen is DD-214, it’s very vanilla. Like someone tried to make it look so, I have more stuff on mine and I served in the late 80 and early 90’s.
No SF designation, no jump school, no indication he did a tour in Vietnam. According to his wife he would be gone for periods of time then would show for a while and leave again. Duty station was be a Nike base in PA.
Anyone have a resource to some of the Sneaky Pete activities during the war. Project Phoenix comes to mind. I was think long range recon, locating downed pilots or sniper/assassination.
Could be nothing because things don’t together. I know he was an honest man and didnt make stuff up in the 20 years I know him. Trying to get some answers for the widow and family. I viewed him as a bad @$$ and wish he could be honored for his service. We hunted for nearly 20 year the man could shoot.
I have a search request in for DOD records through a congressional office locally.
.
I have seen is DD-214, it’s very vanilla. Like someone tried to make it look so, I have more stuff on mine and I served in the late 80 and early 90’s.
————-
When something is vanilla…something’s up. You don’t need to find anything else, (not that you could) to comfort the Widow or his family…there is no comfort beyond the truth.
I learned the truth about my brothers death more than 20 years afterward, it didn’t bring him back.
God Bless,
KC
That vanilla DD-214 can be a “tell.” Sensitive jobs frequently got fuzzed out. My own Dad’s discharge papers say he was an unarmed truck driver. But if he was a driver he should have been somewhat armed. But he always told me that they wouldn’t give him a weapon or a truck. He was a german speaker and was a translator/interviewer. They buried that part.
If you can find a unit that might get you started. His widow might be able to get a more complete DD form. Uniforms no doubt long gone? training base? I’ve never heard of LLRP’s using dogs, but maybe? Carlos Hathcock’s book and its references would be a good place to look? Does the widow have any VA medical records? good luck with your hunt.
I wish I could share the stories.
Odds are, he was one of our best.
~Easy
🇺🇸
o7
A tune, for your friend.
https://rumble.com/v3drkom-our-blackhawk-rescue-crew-in-a-recent-rescue-in-international-waters.html 🦅
Seems dogs and dog handlers in VN were scarce and elite.
Perhaps you could contact names in some of these links or look thru the comments to see if anything matches up with your friend.
Maybe start here: one could lead to another etc...
https://blog.togetherweserved.com/2023/06/08/the-dogs-of-the-vietnam-war/
or maybe here
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/the-dogs-of-the-vietnam-war.html (pay wall)
Your friend really sounds like one of these...(5 man teams and their Labradors)
Could a generic DD214 mean ...CIA ???
https://www.legion.org/magazine/214896/vietnams-combat-trackers (clouded in secrecy)
good luck...If I can help dig, let me know via PM.
Sorry for your loss. Possibly finding a way to contact any other surviving members of his Elite 5 team would get you the most information. I did not know until now that anyone parachuted in with dogs in Vietnam. My goodness what hazardous duty. Many vets keep those memories to themselves. He was a hero though. God bless your efforts.