National Vietnam War Veteran's Day

KA9FFJ

Always grateful that I made it back when so many didn't. 
This is a day our country sets aside to remember that controversial time and thank those who were thrown into the midst of horrendous circumstances...

PappyJoe

Glad you made it back.
I don't know anyone who didn't lose a friend or family member from that war. I have an ex-brother-in-law that made it back but would/should have been treated for PTSD. He did two tours and was a sniper for one of those tours. He was discharged two years after returning stateside because he couldn't adjust to the peacetime army.

When I arrived at basic training in January 1972, the entire company was told we could expect to be sent to Coast Guard units in Viet Nam. Just before graduation the plan changed and I think only two or three men were sent. 

vtgrad2003

Growing up in Tidewater, VA (i.e., Norfolk, Va Beach, Chesapeake, etc.) where there are tons and tons of military bases and personnel, I met a lot of Vietnam Vets. But probably the most interesting was my own brother-in-law. He was in the Army as an aircraft mechanic. After about a year there the Army started a small and covert experiment with soldiers proficient in bows and arrows. He was known for his bow hunting back home and joined this small unit of bow snipers. The experiment didn't last long because most of them got killed within the first month, but he and a few others survived. But his stories are interesting.

For instance, they way they sniped the enemy was by climbing trees, attaching a small portable tree stand to it, then sitting in it until a small company of Viet Cong came down the trail (which sometimes took days), then they would start at the back end of the line as they were walking away and pick them off. He always said the trick was that before the first one in the back of the line fell thereby making a noise so the others would turn around, to pick the others off; if you didn't, you were obviously a sitting duck in the tree. He had 29 kills like this, unfortunately, and like so many wars in developing nations, most of the 29 he said were no older than 13 or 14...a few quite a bit younger than that.

After the Army figured out that this was probably not a very good way of killing off Viet Cong, and there were only a few snipers left after only about a month, they called off the experiment and he went back to working on aircraft.

My #1 favorite song is by a band called Alice In Chains called Rooster. One of the members in the band, Jerry Cantrell, his dad was in Vietnam and was nicknamed Rooster and this song is about him and his experience. Below is a link to their song and below that are the lyrics...it's probably the best song about Vietnam ever produced in my opinion. You should really watch the video, though, it's pretty powerful when the lyrics are sung to you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAE6Il6OTcs

Lyrics

Ain't found a way to kill me yet
Eyes burn with stinging sweat
Seems every path leads me to nowhere
Wife and kids, household pet
Army green was no safe bet
The bullets scream to me from somewhere

Here they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah, here come the rooster
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain't gonna die

Here they come to snuff the rooster, ah yeah
Yeah, here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no, you know he ain't gonna die

Walkin' tall machine gun man
They spit on me in my homeland
Gloria sent me pictures of my boy
Got my pills 'gainst mosquito death
My Buddy's breathin' his dyin' breath
Oh god, please won't you help me make it through?

Here they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah, here come the rooster, yeah
You know he ain't gonna die
No, no, no you know he ain't gonna die

 

opipeman

@KA9FFJ;
Glad you made it back. Had some friends that didn't. Some that did were never the same(PTSD), but we didn't have a name for it or understand what they were going through. Thanks to all for your service.

opipeman

Neoshaone

To all who served in Viet Nam, “ thank you for your service💚”

Neoshaone

I visit the national cemetery here in Phoenix often. I see more and more names of those who served in Viet Nam.