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Joined: Jul 2012
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Sidelock
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I was lucky to miss the spitting and protests, by taking an intratheater transfer from Nam to Germany in 1970. By the time I got back home, the worst of it was over and nobody wanted to hear about it. As far as "Dustoff" was concerned, a Dustoff pilot would fly his chopper sideways through the gates of hell to pick up a "friendly". There is a special place in heaven for Dustoff pilots, combat medics, and corpsmen. God bless them all, whether they lived through it or live in the "wall" now.
Mike

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Strom Thurmond addressed the 82nd Airborne during our Division Review at Fort Bragg NC, July 1972. Outside the main gate Jane Fonda was leading a protest that had generated a substantial crowd. We were STRONGLY warned to avoid any contact with the crowd as the results could be easily predicted!

Last edited by AZMike; 03/29/22 10:45 AM.
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Mike,
At the time of my travels, we were required to wear our uniforms to travel on the airlines using "standby" rates which Is all I could afford. Regarding Jane Fonda, don't even get me started! How she avoided prosecution for treason is beyond me. I had the chance to visit the helicopter training base in Mineral Wells, Texas on my return and was impressed by it.
Karl

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public protest of war as a political option is one thing...

but, once our fellow citizens are sent in harms way, following the orders of our president, then, its time for us all to "rally round the flag"...

and if one chooses not to show public support for "the troops"...then as responsible, good citizens, one should do absolutely nothing that could be used to aid and abet those trying to kill our fellow citizens, "in the field"...

to do otherwise, certainly fits the legal definition of treason...

and for those who served honorably and did their duty, you have my utmost respect and admiration...

and for those who made it home alive...and then to suffer abuse from their fellow citizens, you have my deepest sympathy and admiration...

thank you all for your service...

Last edited by ed good; 03/29/22 11:47 AM.

keep it simple and keep it safe...
1 member likes this: Geo. Newbern
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As far as Jane Fonda is concerned: As my dad would say, " I wouldn't give her a handful of dry briers if she were a bull in a concrete pasture".
Mike

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I was a MAT team leader in the Mekong Delta in 1971-72. By the time I left we had figured out the formula for winning and, in fact, were winning the war. problem is that by then we'd lost the support of the public because of the politicians like Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and especially McNamara, The cause was noble and we saved lives in our little sphere. The enemy was evil incarnate and would stoop to nasty and horrendously violent methods to get the South Vietnamese citizenry to follow their political philosophy. My team and I got up close and personal with those evil doers a nightly basis with significant success. I was happy to do everything I could do to protect the good Vietnamese people of our district and province and it breaks my heart to think of the fate we left them with when we left.

I didn't experience any of the name calling/spitting/rudeness and I wore my uniform both going and coming home. In fact, a fellow bought me a drink at the bar in SFO and thanked me for serving.....and that was 1971 or 1972 in San Francisco!

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I can't say that I can recall any problems wearing a uniform as late as mid-68. We'd routinely stop at a cafe and grab a bite to eat after drill, wearing our uniforms. That was in my hometown of Waterloo, IA. Pretty much a blue collar city.

But serving in an Army Reserve unit in Iowa City starting in early 1974, it was a very different situation. College town. If we went out after drill on Saturday night, the only place we felt welcome if we didn't change into civvies was the American Legion. That was a Military Intelligence unit, and one of the reasons we were located in Iowa City--in those pre-Internet days--was so that we could use the university library to do open source research. We never went there in uniform.

Much later on, we were ordered not to fly in uniform. That was when Black September and other Arab terrorist organizations were hijacking planes. And in some cases, killing American military personnel. Anything that connected us to the military--ID card, dog tags, etc--went into the check baggage.

Funny thing about the hijacking. Reserve personnel on active duty for short periods of time have a start and end date on their orders. One poor guy was on a hijacked flight. Lucky enough to avoid being killed. However, the passengers were not released by the terrorists until after the individual's orders had ended. Which meant he didn't get paid for those days. The military immediately changed their policy so that orders were automatically extended until you were released if you were "detained" by hijackers. Seemed to be the fair thing to do.

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I was warned in July 1966 when I stopped by friends of my father at Stanford on my way to Vietnam for the 1st tour. not to go into San Francisco with a uniform. I didn't. On my first return in late July 1967, I flew from San Francisco to Atlanta in Class A's..the airline upgraded me to 1st class. I was so tired I slept the whole way. On return from second tour Nov 1968 I mustered out at Fort Lewis and flew in full class A's..jump boots, Green Beret to Atlanta and on to Tuscaloosa. No problems. But the South was different from the rest of the country.

Incudentally, I arrived in Vietnam for a second tour in early April 1968. I ETS'd in May but was on a MACVSOG operation with my team RT DELAWARE west of Ben Het near the Laotian border. I came out of the field technically a civilian. I had forgotten to extend enlistment. I had to fly down to Nha Trang, still a civilian, to do so. The recruitment office was closed. A Knife was stuck in the door with a message, "I cum hyar to re-up...you aim't hyar...nex time ah c u I gonna kik you." I managed to extend later that day and got back up to FOB-2 Kontum the next morning.


Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch
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I was in the Marines and went to Vietnam in August of 1965. My buddy and I volunteered to go to one of the recon outfits and were with 3rd Recon Battalion as radio operators. We both made it home ok but he was killed in a car accident 2 months after getting home. We were going to go back to Vietnam together and hopefully get back in our old outfit.Never had the heart after that and found out my replacement as a radio operator was killed 2 weeks after I left Vietnam. Knowing how my mom suffered emotionally when I was there I would probably do things different today if given it to do over. She lost her boyfriend at Pearl Harbor and I can only imagine how hard it was for her for me to be in a combat zone.Had a couple of run ins with some guys who wanted to disrespect me to my face which did not turn out well for them but nothing too serious. I still am a bit "jumpy" and like to sit watching the door when out and about. Probably due more to the current spate of irrational violence going on then Vietnam. I do sleep very lightly and really have never had a good nights sleep in many years unless on pain medication after surgeries.I have always been a nature freak and Vietnam was paradise for observing wildlife and being in a recon outfit I had a lot of time to just sit and observe what was going on in remote areas.Much sadness about those who did not make it home alive and much of the deaths were senseless and could have been prevented.Just like any other war in that respect.

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I would like to thank you and all the other Vets for there service!

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