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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 95
Campfire Greenhorn
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Campfire Greenhorn
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 95 |
Thanks a ton to every man and woman here who has ever served our great country, particularly those who were never properly welcomed home. One of my greatest regrets is that I never served. I can remember watching a parade with my dad when I was pretty young and I noticed him with his hand over his heart and tears in his eyes as the flag went by. Many years later I figured what it was about. I hope your all as proud of your service as he was.
Pete
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Posts: 10,896
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896 |
You better be afraid of a ghost!!
"Woody you were baptized in prop wash"..crossfireoops
Woody
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 59,240 Likes: 39
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 59,240 Likes: 39 |
That sir is an awesome story with a fantastic ending!
Thank you for sharing that story sir and thank you and flyboy for your service to this great country.
Paul
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon".... D.A.D.
Trump Won!, Sandmann Won!, Rittenhouse Won!, Suck it Liberal Fuuktards.
molɔ̀ːn labé skýla
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,269
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,269 |
As the circle has been closed for Woody and me, never forget that there were 28 other men there too and one, PSG Escobar was a GENUINE Hero as he fought it out muzzle to muzzle with 3 NVA so we could retrieve our dead. where ever my Brothers are now, whatever they are doing, I will forever be one of you and all of you have a secure place in my memory and heart. Woody saved us all, not just me. I am merely a poor representative of the Men of Charlie Co. 3/506,101st Airborne Division. Remember them.
Be afraid,be VERY VERY afraid ad triarios redisse My Buddy eh76 speaks authentic Frontier Gibberish!
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,745
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,745 |
I wasn't going to post becasue I don't know what to say.... We'll leave it at that.
Last edited by tzone; 10/13/12.
Camp is where you make it.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,489
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,489 |
Flyboy Flem..Thanks again for bringing this thread back up. I have been reading the " Circle is Closed " thread with a great deal of interest, but had a hard time keeping up with who was on the ground and who flying cover overhead. Now I can put it all together and see the players.
There are many great threads and many great people onboard here at 24HCF....however.....the "41 Years Ago" and "Circle" thread have to rate as the very best on the Fire. Thanks, to all the Vets. You guys are first rate.
Last edited by Dave93; 10/13/12.
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,277 Likes: 2
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,277 Likes: 2 |
As the circle has been closed for Woody and me, never forget that there were 28 other men there too and one, PSG Escobar was a GENUINE Hero as he fought it out muzzle to muzzle with 3 NVA so we could retrieve our dead. where ever my Brothers are now, whatever they are doing, I will forever be one of you and all of you have a secure place in my memory and heart. Woody saved us all, not just me. I am merely a poor representative of the Men of Charlie Co. 3/506,101st Airborne Division. Remember them. Thanks for this post to Big Jim, and God Bless all of You Bro. Gunner
Trump Won!
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,269
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,269 |
AS promised (threatened?) here is the part one of TWO bestest threads and events in my life and memory!
Be afraid,be VERY VERY afraid ad triarios redisse My Buddy eh76 speaks authentic Frontier Gibberish!
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,576 |
I've always been different with one foot over the line.....
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 35,293
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 35,293 |
Jim, Woody, god bless ya.
Something clever here.
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Joined: Sep 2009
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 46,277 Likes: 2 |
Amen and Amen, many Thanks for the revisit Jim and Woody. Gunner
Trump Won!
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 10,896 |
To pick up where we left off a few pics from my perspective to show location and terrain of operations.. Our mission briefs were based on the latest intel as we were usually a two ship compliment and our assigned patrol grids of bad guy activity were primarily incorrect as the night we got in the chit with Jim and the boys. This is a typical grid map used for nav purposes.. My base at PhuCat we were NW of Qui Nhon and almost due E of Pleiku. This is a photo of one of our AC's defending the PhuCat bomb dump perimeter taken by AF Security Police..50/50 chance it could have been us. C119 Shadows TDY'd in on occasion for help with night interdiction missions. One of our hot patrol areas South along the coast a few clicks West and South of Qui Nhon harbor.Sappers had soft targets to occupy their time and a big POL storage/pipeline facility to harass.We burned lots of gas flying orbits over these hills just to let Charlie know we were watching. These pics are Hill 474 where ET and I crossed paths with the An Lao valley in the background.A nasty place in late Jan 1970. [img]http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/zz14/Arch48/IMG_2317_zps6a1e3cff.jpg[/img][img]http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/zz14/Arch48/Image0171_zps2dea741e.jpg[/img][img]http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/zz14/Arch48/Image0176_zps8eed1474.jpg[/img]Now Jim can pick it up here as he will brief on how my gunship arrived to lend a helping hand.
You better be afraid of a ghost!!
"Woody you were baptized in prop wash"..crossfireoops
Woody
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,269
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 19,269 |
Picture number 2 of 474 was taken by one of the guys in my company. We were on that finger for 3 days. Looking at the center ridge and where our battle actually took place is in that picture. The Chithook flying away had just made a fougasse drop on the ridge,which is why all you see is boulders and smoke. 15 drums of fougasse and an igniter would be dropped on the target to burn off the jungle and make crispy critters. If you look close, you will see why we were surrounded. That place was honeycombed with caves. between the 2 ridges is the wide draw/valley/gulch I referred to in the beginning. In the background the knife edge ridge in the distance across the paddies had a 2 gun artillery emplacement just for us. Woodys guns raked that draw between the ridges where the NVA was maneuvering on our flank. Exciting nite to say the least.
Be afraid,be VERY VERY afraid ad triarios redisse My Buddy eh76 speaks authentic Frontier Gibberish!
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 19,098 Likes: 6
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 19,098 Likes: 6 |
2 days ago, the rusty gates to the past were pulled open. I am frankly floored!! My BIL actually found a photo of Oscar "Speedy" Gonazales.This part however has floored me. I am the guy in the middle. I forget who the guy on the far right is. Too long ago. It was taken on Speedy's camera and his sister got it with his belongings. In 2007 she sent the pics to a guy who was in Charlie Company. This has blown me away. I had forgotten the pic was even taken. You are seeing me as the psychotic 20 year old Infantryman I was back in the Bad Old Days. A drink to Speedy. Very cool. You can't put a value on things like this.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 19,098 Likes: 6
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 19,098 Likes: 6 |
Awesome, and well desrved.
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,580
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,580 |
Wow.
There are a few people out there that I owe a lot more than a beer, but I don't know if I would want to meet them. It could be embarrassing on my part if it got emotional, and reading this makes me guess that it would.
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 28,605
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 28,605 |
while i havent met Woody, Jim is a hell of a guy to sit and BS with.....not sure how i missed this thread in the past but just read through it all....
A serious student of the "Armchair Safari" always looking for Africa/Asia hunting books
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 33,856
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 33,856 |
Might just be the best post ever!
Thanks for sharing!
David Amen.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots and tyrants.
If being stupid allows me to believe in Him, I'd wish to be a retard. Eisenhower and G Washington should be good company.
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 33,856
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 33,856 |
on a hill in Binh Dinh Province,RSVN, there was a battle. My platoon was on Hill 474 and heavily engaged with the NVA 22nd Regiment. They were all over the hill in a cave netwirk. One of our guys was KIA and we were VERY low on ammunition. A Shadow gunship came on station and fired in support of us. First burst came within 10' of our perimeter. A rather unorthodox method of warning off the guns was employed until radio contact was established. The gatlings fired and fired and fired thus anchoring our flank which the NVA was attempting to maneuver on. We survived the night and the fight. The gunner on that Shadow was our own FlyBoyFlem. Today these arrived Cases fired from the Gatlings on that night. After 41 years, I have had that battle brought back alive and I am holding it in my hand. Woody's guns saved an American Platoon surrounded by an NVA Regiment that nite. I can't express how having these cases in my hand makes me feel. Thanks for saving our asses that night Woody!!! Amen.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time by the blood of patriots and tyrants.
If being stupid allows me to believe in Him, I'd wish to be a retard. Eisenhower and G Washington should be good company.
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Joined: Feb 2012
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 5,516 |
As the circle has been closed for Woody and me, never forget that there were 28 other men there too and one, PSG Escobar was a GENUINE Hero as he fought it out muzzle to muzzle with 3 NVA so we could retrieve our dead. where ever my Brothers are now, whatever they are doing, I will forever be one of you and all of you have a secure place in my memory and heart. Woody saved us all, not just me. I am merely a poor representative of the Men of Charlie Co. 3/506,101st Airborne Division. Remember them. ET, Phenomenal story and thank you for sharing that window of time into your life. I read the story and just passed my iPad over to my wife to read. There was no way I could recite it to her. I will remember you and this story every time I see our American Flag. My hats off to you sir, those who stood bedside you, and those who flew the top cover.
Bob Enjoy life now -- it has an expiration date. ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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