Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Campfire Vietnam stories revisited

Gotcha....thanks.

My father was a physician at Cam Ranh Bay from January of 1968 to January of 1969. He put a lot of people back together, unfortunately there were a lot that he couldn't. He arrived right at the height of the Tet offensive and they were so busy that they couldn't process him for nearly a week. He slept on the ground outside the Officers Club when he could and decided to make himself useful by assisting a group of nurses that were triaging incoming wounded that were arriving from all over. Viet Nam was actually a blessing in disguise for him since when he returned and reported to the Mayo Clinic for his residency his superiors were so impressed with his skills and knowledge level, they waived his final year of requirements and allowed him to take all electives.

Link to Dan's story, a GREAT read...

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...r/6585900/A_roll_of_the_dice#Post6585900

I was there all of '71. Spent the first three months or so being a regular FAC for the 173rd Airborne Brigade at LZ English up at the Bong Son Pass. Ran a bunch of airstrikes, saved a bunch of grunts, and had a few other adventures. Then was "invited" to "volunteer" for something else. What? They couldn't say. Just that I'd be picked up and taken there. "There" turned out to be a tiny compound outside the civilian airport at Ban Me Thuot, 25 miles from Cambodia. After I got the real, no kidding Mission Impossible speech, I flew the next nine months doing what was essentially spy work. Got shot at. A lot. Did things I could not talk about for the next couple of decades. And came home with no new holes in me.

Woody, have you ever figured out why you save the casings from your run at Hill 474?

Lots of miles from Danang up Hiway 1 and over Hai Van Pass. Phu Bai, Hue, Dong Ha. Khe Sanh ( 71 ), Lam Song 719. Chu Lai ,
An Hoa, Arizona Territory.

Semper Fi

Rocky, sounds like you and i could tell each other our stories then spend the next 6 months talking to the febs,and mil intel about what we said.
"at this point what does it matter?" still does to them i guess.

Wonderful places where I have participated in air shows for locals and visiting guests.

DMZ
Khe Sahn
A Shau
Laos
Bach Ma
DaNang
Chu Lai
Ben Het
Dak To
Kontum
Mang Yang Pass
An Loc

And numerous other places of small note.

Watching as I type....I think it was a combination of several reasons...First we weren't supposed to be there that evening but as it turned out were the only game in town since all other air assets were already heavily engaged. .. Hill 474 was an extremely hazardous" danger close" environment..After the call for help we had little or no time to set up our gun runs much less identify friendlies by their muzzle flashes vs the bad guys since the light show seemed to merge into one...The inbound approach wasn't more than a few hundred feet from the trees and was more than risky since we were well within small arms and RPG territory,strictly not SOP for a slow lumbering gunship out of its comfort zone.but our aircraft commander an old Korean War vet was determined to bring our guns to bear on a lopsided fire fight { ET's boys }.. I grabbed a big handful of spent cases when we landed because in reality we should have never made it back that night..we did however against all odds never taking one hit thanks to those guys on the ground that poured their last rounds on the enemy providing our cover fire..Without a doubt they saved an aircrew and should have all been decorated for their bravery under extreme duress.

edit to add..

We lucked out that night a little shaken but made it back in one piece without a friendly fire incident which would have haunted us the rest of our days..

Thanks for starting-and contributing to this thread Woody.

I read all 18 chapters of your first tour this evening. Truly amazing. First person narrative through the eyes of one who's lived the Vietnam War is invaluable and should be required reading. I hope you decide to write about your second tour and get it published. You honor those who can no longer give voice to those experiences.

Banshee 12, Iceman 3, and the rest of the men on this thread who fought in Vietnam;
Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

had my orders with everyone else.. and then was one of a couple that ended up getting sent elsewhere...

very last draft call, Oct 72....

my dad served 49 months over there, flying C 130s... Black Birds..guess he did the share for both of us...

To the campfire members who did go over there...

the war over there has been over for 42 years now....

and to this day, I just don't have the words to describe my respect and appreciation of what you
boys went thru.... and all of you so damned young....

and lets not forget the 58.000 young men who never returned home alive...many who couldn't even
buy a beer legally in their home state...

God Bless each one of you gentlemen...

Myself and a bunch of fellow 815th Eng. crew of the replica Wild Thing Guntruck just spent 4 days in Kokomo In. with about 10,000+/- Viet Vets for the 35th Howard County Reunion. They tell us it's the largest Vietnam Vet reunion in the country. 900+ camp sites ---- different bands on stage into the night. --- Web

My Dad was killed on March 15, 1968 near a place called Thu Duc.

B CO, 1ST BN, 18TH INFANTRY, 1ST INF DIV, USARV

Thanks for finding and posting this link. I read it several years ago and have been wanting to do so again, but didn't know where to find it.

That's a tough act to follow. My condolences Larry. Your father is a true American hero.

I was never in Viet Nam. I enlisted in June, 1973 and pretty much the entire war had been turned over to the South by then. I was at a nuclear missile base in March and April 1975 in Alaska. Typically every 3 weeks we went on "hot" status that required us to be the Battery to be ready to fire missiles at the Presidents call. We also usually went on "hot" status when ever anyone burped or farted anywhere in the middle east especially if it involved Israel. Not just our Battery but all 3 Battery's would go "hot" is there was any issues in the middle east.

However, it was obvious that the South was in trouble when President Ford did nothing once the North started South. Our first thoughts were we would be on "hot" status until either America went back in to rescue the South or the South fell to the North. We did nothing out of the normal. Other than going on our normal rotation of "hot", we did nothing. Needless to say, the former VN vets at the Battery were greatly disappointed. Those of us who were never there, were also greatly disappointed, especially for those who had been there and had know good men who fell while serving America. It was a tough time all the way around. Many hearts were broken.

kwg

I served two tours, from March of '69 to March of '71, with VMF214, the Black Sheep Squadron;

Served the first year at LZ Siberia. What was a Marine air winger doing in an Army firebase you ask? I asked the same thing. The answer; I was following orders.

Once they figured out that they could better use their highly trained asset actually doing what they trained me to do, they sent me to Chu Lai where I spent five months and then seven months at DaNang.

Chu Lai and DaNang was pretty good duty. I would rather forget about LZ Siberia.

KC

So sorry for your loss must have been tough growing up without your dad...

And he watches over you from Valhalla.

Sorry for your loss. Somewhere down the road I'll hope to meet him at Fiddler's Green.