Vietnam - What They Carried

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[SAMWolf]

The Things They Carried...

They carried P-38 can openers and heat tabs, watches and dog tags, insect repellent, gum, cigarettes, Zippo lighters, salt tablets, compress bandages, ponchos, Kool-Aid, two or three canteens of water, iodine tablets, sterno, LRRP- rations, and C-rations stuffed in socks.

They carried standard fatigues, jungle boots, bush hats, flak jackets and steel pots.

They carried the M-16 assault rifle. They carried trip flares and Claymore mines, M-60 machine guns, the M-70 grenade launcher, M-14's, CAR-15's, Stoners, Swedish K's, 66mm Laws, shotguns,45 caliber pistols, silencers, the sound of bullets, rockets, and choppers, and sometimes the sound of silence.

They carried C-4 plastic explosives, an assortment of hand grenades, PRC-25 radios, knives and machetes. Some carried napalm, CBU's and large bombs; some risked their lives to rescue others. Some escaped the fear, but dealt with the death and damage. Some made very hard decisions, and some just tried to survive. They carried malaria, dysentery, ringworms and leaches.

They carried the land itself as it hardened on their boots.

They carried stationery, pencils, and pictures of their loved ones - real and imagined. They carried love for people in the real world and love for one another.
And sometimes they disguised that love: "Don't Mean Nothin'!"

They carried Memories for the most part, they carried themselves with poise and a kind of dignity. Now and then, there were times when panic set in, and people squealed or wanted to, but couldn't; when they twitched and made moaning sounds and covered their heads and said "Dear God" and hugged the earth and fired their weapons blindly and cringed and begged for the noise to stop and went wild and made stupid promises to themselves and God and their parents, hoping not to die.

They carried the Traditions of the United States military, and memories and images of those who served before them.

They carried Grief, Terror, Longing and their Reputations.

They carried the soldier's greatest fear: The Embarrassment of Dishonor.

They crawled into tunnels, walked point, and advanced under fire, so as not to die of embarrassment.

They were afraid of dying, but too afraid to show it.

They carried the emotional baggage of men and women who might die at any moment.

They carried the weight of the world.



THEY CARRIED EACH OTHER

[MistyCA]

Good post, Johnny! Hey, it's getting to be cold in the Twin Cities! Brrrrrr! I forgot about the wind factor

[SAMWolf]

I think you give me too much credit, but you did give me some good ideas. Maybe I'll try a couple and see if there's an interest.

[MistyCA]

:) I knew you would! :) Thanks!

[VOA]

Incredible cover photo...

[rockfish59]

Photo by Life photographer Larry Burrows
Burrows link

[VOA]

People need to remember and understand.

Not to give you false hope for "the road ahead", but here are two observations I've
made in the last couple of days.

Sunday night, a couple hundred folks gathered at the Federal Building in West Los Angeles
for an anti-Iraq-war protest.
It took me a few minutes after seeing the report on two local news stations that
most of the protestors were...old. And this is when UCLA is in session...and they
couldn't get a huge contingent of students.
This is NOT like the Vietnam "days of rage" campus protest era.

Secondly, I heard an interview with Senator-elect Norm Coleman of Minnesota. He emphasized
that the core strength of his campaign staff was a huge contingent of 20-and 30-somethings.

I'm no demographer...but I get the feeling that the issue of keeping the country
stable and safe has pulled in lots of the younger generation...thanks to 9-11...
and seeing a President and a party that wouldn't fold in fighting back.

Just my amateur observations...

[rockfish59]

Jane Fonda
Why these were made!

[rockfish59]

My brother rarely talks about it, but did tell us that their truck hit a landmine one day and he never found his rifle!

[MistyCA]

I am well aware of the Federal Building in West LA and have transplanted myself for the time being in Minneapolis. funny you should mention my two stumping grounds... :)

Yes, I think there is some hope and the swing of the pendulum might be going in our direction. At least I would love to think so. My kids have helped me gauge that. I recall a few years back when one daughter was so upset with all of her friends who could not understand what was wrong with Clinton. The same daughter now calls to tell me that her circle of friends are on the right page! Yes, I think the Clinton's may have left their mark. Perhaps they impressed those in "their" generation who held their same beliefs, but I think they turned off a lot of the younger people who are just forming their ideas about life and society. Here's to "the road ahead!"

[MistyCA]

LOL! That's good. :)

[FlyVet]

The P-38 can opener. The thing is tiny, simple, weighs nothing, and it WORKS. Never used it except for camping and hunting, but always wondered who the ingenious person was who invented it.

[Light Speed]

Hi Rockfish..great picks.

Am not sure if you are a reader.., there is a paperback by Keith William Nolan..called "Into Laos"...operation Dewey Canyon-2.
You will not be able to put this book down...and you will twist while reading it.
I am amazed at the fortitude and bravery so many sections of the U.S. armed services showed assisting the ARVN in this op in 1971.
Nearly 50% of the AVRN were killed or wounded ....and the book reveals the true nature of the ARVN and its different units and commanders..some fought to a man and were slaughtered on firebase hilltops when overrun....others sat in their tanks several hundred yards away..and smoked cigs while the lot got massacred.
On GI was on a helo...got shot down over the firebase in Laos..stayed to direct Phantoms and other airstrikes...went to the skids 2 days later...last man out type thing..and was shot down minutes later...now he was stranded on the adjacent fire base hilltop a mile away...and under fire almost immediatly.
Second hand book stores should have this paperback.

[ezo4]

I have had my fathers P-38 on my key chain for over 18 years now. I've opened every can with it until last year when my brothers wife saw me using it. She brought me a standard kitchen can open for a birthday present. I said to her what do I need this for.

One funny thing about my p-38 is that when ever my cats here my keys they think there getting a tuna treat.

[rockfish59]

Thanks for the info. I do read about the war and 'The B-52 Overture' by Green Beret Don Bendell is fantastic. He also wrote 'Snake Eater', 'Crossbow', and 'Valley Of Tears!' He autographed each copy for me. He also writes westerns.
Bendell's site

[rockfish59]

The battle for Peleliu rated right up there with Iwo Jima.
This is one of the best books I've read on WW2!

[leadpenny]

When my boys (now in their late 20's) were growing up, we had races opening cans of soup with P-38's. I think I still have a P-38 in it's wrapper in my trinket box.

[SLB]

When I left for R&R, in Sydney, it took a complete bottle of Prell shampoo to try to get the smell and dirt off. I remember watching in amazement as the water turned almost red from the laterite dust that was coming out of the pores of my skin.

Yes the smell, the sounds and the sights of the firebase are hard to wash away. After 32 years many of them still linger.

[leadpenny]

Ah! The red dust. Were you in the Highlands around Pleiku?

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks, bump.....

[SLB]

Were you in the Highlands around Pleiku?

Nope. The area around Tay Ninh, An Loc and in and out of Cambodia.