Most people will remember April 4, 1968 as the day that Martin Luther King was assassinated. While that was a more histrionically important event, that date will always seired in my mind as the date of a battle we fought in Vietnam. I was only in country for a couple of months and the loss of comr
( Published Tuesday, May 28th, 2024 @ 10:20 am )]]> A heart warming story about Ann Margret and her Vietnam gentlemen.
( Published Sunday, December 24th, 2023 @ 11:25 pm )]]> I am writing my most difficult book report ever at 70 years old. It is about another GI I did not know, and an enemy I never wanted to know. Yet we were all in the same place forty-eight years ago along with a bunch of others, with us trying to kill him and his comrades and him trying to kill us
( Published Monday, May 30th, 2022 @ 1:03 pm )]]> Many may have heard of Desmond Doss, Here is another hero's story. I knew him.
( Published Tuesday, January 26th, 2021 @ 1:32 pm )]]> As a Dustoff Pilot, I would fly out for pick-ups in the field. Each day I would see the conditions that the ground troops had to endure and I would draw comparisons to my own situation.
( Published Sunday, October 18th, 2020 @ 8:07 am )]]> Just two bad days in a long year
( Published Sunday, May 24th, 2020 @ 9:00 pm )]]> Long goodbyes have a finality that I have avoided most of my life.
( Published Sunday, May 24th, 2020 @ 1:36 pm )]]> Most of my stories to the grandkids start with believe it or not. In 1963, believe it or not, my school was segregated and the only confusion was with two ethnic Japanese sisters.
( Published Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018 @ 9:23 am )]]> The war with France in 1946 and a final war with Cambodia in 1978 are like book ends to 30 years of conflict. Maybe West Point studies this one.
( Published Saturday, April 21st, 2018 @ 5:26 pm )]]> In 1960s Jungle, you could not call a taxi. You could radio base for a Chopper ride and mark your clearing with Smoke.
( Published Tuesday, April 17th, 2018 @ 9:56 pm )]]> The Military has a simple 10 week method to determine mental health ... called boot camp.
( Published Monday, April 16th, 2018 @ 3:28 pm )]]> Vietnamese are not fond of mixed children and I am told the Chinese offered to send troops but got a 'thanks but no thanks'.
( Published Sunday, April 8th, 2018 @ 9:08 pm )]]> I truly wish that our founding fathers had been a bit more clear on what they meant when writing the 2nd Amendment but numerous contemporaneous writings clearly show their intent was for individual possession and ownership of firearms.
( Published Saturday, March 17th, 2018 @ 9:06 am )]]> One of my Standard Operating Procedures when I hear of a Vietnam Veteran in the news is to research them to find the 'Story behind the Story.
( Published Friday, March 2nd, 2018 @ 1:56 am )]]> "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL"
( Published Tuesday, January 30th, 2018 @ 10:50 am )]]> The recent hurricane Irma reminded me of one of the now primitive techniques we used during 1968-1969 in Vietnam.
( Published Friday, September 22nd, 2017 @ 4:25 am )]]> The documentary shows the tactics of both sides. I have not seen another documentary with these details. This battle was between Australians and Vietnamese.
( Published Monday, March 20th, 2017 @ 12:40 am )]]> I did not serve with Lt. General Harold Moore but I benefited from his trail blazing techniques in the use of helicopter warfare. May have possible seen the movie about the Battle of Ia Drang on November 14-15, 1965 at LZ X-Ray in South Vietnam.
( Published Saturday, February 18th, 2017 @ 12:30 am )]]> Here are the North Vietnamese. No series would be complete without mentioning both sides of a conflict. South Vietnamese communist were labeled Viet Cong.
( Published Thursday, January 12th, 2017 @ 1:06 pm )]]> The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) surrendered in 1975 ending foreign domination started by the French in 1861.
( Published Tuesday, January 10th, 2017 @ 4:59 am )]]> New Zealand provided a force of combat soldiers despite protests at home. A total of 3800 served in combat resulting in 37 killed in action and 187 wounded.
( Published Monday, January 9th, 2017 @ 5:52 pm )]]> The battle of Tra Binh Dong was between the South Koreans and North Vietnamese.
( Published Sunday, January 8th, 2017 @ 2:47 am )]]> The Army had a detailed method for accounting for the location and duty status of each soldier in each unit. Each unit submitted a morning report showing strength and number of soldiers in each unit as of the date of the report.
( Published Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 @ 5:21 am )]]> An average day in the life of a grunt in the II Corp area Northeast of Saigon in 1968 consisted of Eagle Flights. We would form groups of six in two columns. The Huey helicopters would come in to pick us up. Usually three men from each side would upload on the Hueys.
( Published Saturday, November 26th, 2016 @ 8:36 am )]]> A visit from an old combat buddy rekindles the guilt and angst again.
( Published Wednesday, November 16th, 2016 @ 2:54 pm )]]>