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"A" Co, 4th INF, 12th BTLN,.. 199th Light Inf Bgde
quote:Originally posted by Quackaddict
Some of my memories of Viet Nam.
Smells: fish sauce, sweat, rotting everything, JP5, Charlie, hospitals, and mamason's cooking. Sights: napalm, Puff staffing the hillside, leafless trees, red dust from blade wash, my M60 rounds tearing through rice patties\hooch's\boats\humans, blood pouring out of dust off birds we were supporting as we flew back to DaNang, green tracers, battle weary men, tiger at 5 meters.
Sounds: the jungle at night when on ambush, screams of the enemy when they breached the wire, screams of my wounded and dieing friends, AK and other rounds as they fly by\hit flesh\canopy, DaNang ammo dump going up, incoming and outgoing mortar\arty rounds, the Jackson 5.
Feelings: scared but strangly excited, pulling leeches off my body, so tired even my hair (stubble) hurt, warmth of blood, the love\trust of my fellow Marines, emptiness of loosing those Marines, puzzlement when falling out of my bird, my legs when the nerves finally came alive (joy even though it burned like hell), the anger\betrayal when returning home.
This has been good, following this strand, and finding some guys that were in country when I was, or some of the same same places.
Appreciated the photos - prangle and others, thanks!
We all have some bad memories, for sure ... but it is good remembering some of the rest ... especially the camaraderie and friends. And even the close calls.
I remember RED tracers coming at me, and I'm tired of people telling me I'm full of crap, because they read on the internet that the enemy used green tracers. This was '67-'68, all over III Corps, flying Huey slicks 240th AHC, "Greyhounds." Yes, there were some green tracers, but mostly red. Maybe captured or spilled ammo, but I know I didn't piss off that many friendlies.
quote:Originally posted by Paddiegrunt
roboat
Did you every fly into Tango Tango? Tan Tru home of the 2nd of the 60th Infantry. I think I remember the Grayhounds, I rode Eagle Flights out of there from 16 Oct 67 to 15 Oct 68 as a grunt.
Sorry to be slow to respond.
Yeah, I loved Eagle Flights because you guys almost always got what you went for. Tan Tru - between Tan An and Rach Kien? Our gunships were the MadDogs. Good chance we flew together. July 67 - June 68. Do you recall terrible landings with the pilot in tears? Cuz that was prolly me.
Welcome home.
"Welcome home brothers" I had on a vet hat and shirt at a supermarket and a man was kind of circling me and looking me over and then came up and said "welcome home brother" this has happened a few times, but it seems most times its a fellow vet, but it still is refreshing.
One of my strongest Memories was after a firefight in which we were on a huge convoy going through heavy jungle and the front of our group was attacked(probably by a VC with a RPG in a spider hole) and there was extremely lot of rounds and action then we received a cease fire announcement, because we found out they had managed to get the front of our huge convoy to be firing at our rear by attacking from the other ends direction, because of the curve in the trail, someone finally figured that out. Then on the way back it started hailing large hail which I didn't think possible in that tropical climate, but in my diary I wrote it seemed like a fitting ending. Does anyone else remember any Hail-storms?
I also remember that if you were in heavy jungle with a M-79 you had better find some canister rounds because the other shells bounced off trees and often back at ya.
I remember a giant monster about 4 feet long with a head like a lion swooping down on a track slightly ahead of me(they shot it mid air with a shotgun) it seems they had been messing with it's baby. It was a giant flying squirrel that is only found in South-East Asia
We were in the largest convoy i had ever seen with Roam Plows,APC's and tanks heading to the Black Virgin Mountains to tear up Michelin Rubber Plantation
quote:Originally posted by roboat
I remember RED tracers coming at me, and I'm tired of people telling me I'm full of crap, because they read on the internet that the enemy used green tracers. This was '67-'68, all over III Corps, flying Huey slicks 240th AHC, "Greyhounds." Yes, there were some green tracers, but mostly red. Maybe captured or spilled ammo, but I know I didn't piss off that many friendlies.
The red was from the 51's! The AK tracers were green and would burn out at about 1500 feet. The 'big red wobbling basket balls' were the 51's. We flew mostly at 2000 agl and the red ones would go right on up! I don't know how far they would go before they burnt out.
the heat, 110 almost every day. running for a bunker in the middle of the night. red dust everywhere. c-47 gun ships with mini-guns at night with tracers. b-52 strikes in the middle of the night. welcome home my brothers- when we die we will all go to heaven, because we spent out time in hell. first cav '69-'70.
Prangle: Thanks for posting the picture of the Greyhound helicopter. I was a pilot in the Greyhounds from October 1967 through August 1968 and if it's the right time frame I could have been the pilot on that helicopter. If we ever meet the beers are on me. Greyhound 28
I remember 2 guys proudly and exhaustively carrying an old bazooka and amo through a lot of rough terrain, waiting for their chance to clobber something with their bazooka. They finally got a chance to test -fire it at a range and it didn't fire, boy was that a lot of wasted effort. I never heard any more about it but I sure hope they got it working and all their efforts finally paid off Larry Dahlka---Michigan
I also remember each and every second about Viet Nam, not by the minute or the hour or even by the day or month, but every Damn second.
My memories are similar to many already posted so I won't bore anyone with repeating them. But one of those I just can't help but repeat: The Smell, man o man the smell, it just knocked you down the first time. It was stale Food, stale piss, Stale People Smell, Copper (that one took me a while to figure out) there was this smell of a wet penny especially around Da Nang and the 51st Evac Hospital, finally I realized it was the blood, man blood has that copper smell i will never forget that.The other smells Smoked meat, even the sand smelt and there was sand everywere, in your cloths, mouth, teeth everywere.
Fighting house to house in "Hue" after Tet began. The ammo dump at Camp Evans going up in smoke and the fight afterwords that went on and on. The extraction choppers coming in to snatch our butts when we finally got close enough to the DMZ for them to get in and out. The Phantom Dueces coming in and laying us down a path, flying so low you could see the Pilots smile sometimes and the RIO's waving like a idiot, man those guys always looked good to us, Thanks Flyboys we all owe you a beer!!! First rounds on me just pick the place..
I also remember so many we lost, I remember not ever wanting to make another friend as long as I lived, it just hurts too bad to seeing them laying there in there own blood and not one damn thing you can do to make it go away, or to stop hurting for the last 5 minutes of there all too young life. I remeber the pain mostly, not from bleeding or having a hole that is leaking somewhere on your hide, that happened almost everyday in one way or the other, but the pain from the loss. Bullet holes heal that pain never, ever goes away.
I also remember the Dust-Off chopper and the bravest men I have ever known in that chopper flying into a LZ that my recon team had to blow in the bush with the last Claymores they had, to fly my shot up butt out of there. I remember the days that seemed like years laying in that bed at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, waiting on the cutter one more time. Going to a Medical Holding company on Treasure Island and finally fighting myself back on active duty, and then the fight it took to finally return to the War in Nam, and I very well remember the feeling on arriving back at Da Nang walking off of the chopper and wondering "How In The Hell Did You End Up Back Here?"
I remember as many of you do, it may be 35 or 40 years in Historical time, but to those who lived it It "Was Just A Momment Ago".........
While I didn't serve in VN,I served in the US Army,6 months stateside, 2 1/2 years in the Republic of W.Germany. There wasn't a day that passed,that we didn't see what was going on in VN. A hell hole for sure. I just want to thank everyone who served in Nam,Korea,all the past wars & now the future wars. You are the heroes that let us keep our freedom. Thank you very much! Take care.
When our platoon saw the show it also included a band I'd never heard before, The Hondells, who sand their big hit about the little Honda motorcycle--"First gear, it's all right..second gear, lean right..third gear, hang on tight..Hondaaa."
I don't try to remember. But some things set you off -- like the smell of diesel fumes. Then I can recall the sound of the boat engines. The rattle of hundreds of empty .50 cal brass sliding across the deck.
Muggy heat. Bugs. A distant Huey. The constant septic-tank stink of the river, and the slosh of the boat wake in the roots as we go by. The people often didn't trust us -- they were nice enough, but they had that look, like a wall separated us. Too many decades of war. The Japanese, the French, now we were here. Why were we here? They didn't know we were asking the same question. It's more clear to me now than it was then.
quote:Originally posted by Classic095
Only 2 things I like to remember about Vietnam.. The two days that I left there.
196th Infantry
1968-1969
1971-1972
The media did make a couple good movies about my outfit..IE: Tour of Duty.
If you were with the 196th in 71 more than likely I gave you a ride.
71st AHC, the Rattlers![;)]
The things you remember. The SMELL, the hook unloading 13 1/2 stretcher after Nui Ba Den got hit. Puff and Spooky taking turns over Tey Ninh east.Showing up at delta tango with a case of booze apiece, and leaving the next morning with part of a bottle each. Makin luv to mother earth while the rockets landed next to you. The light show when lightning hit the perimeter and sets off the claymores. The high when you got mail, and the down when you didn't. Cookin with C4 or JP4( the only use I ever found for the canned bread).
quote:Originally posted by Laredo Lefty
With my M-60 at small fire base near Kontum 1969
[img][/img]
Riding shotgun on convoy 1969. Loved my Ma Deuce..
[img][/img]
Iam still looking for a friend, Bill Spicer. He was wounded while standing with me and a couple other guys at LZ Mary Lou. A mortar round hit about 30 ft away and got him in the back. I was hit with 3 pieces, but my flack jacket stopped them, Bill was not wearing his.
He was medivac'd out, that was the last I saw of him. His name is not on the wall so I know he survived.
Edit::: Fast forward to today 10-30-15. I found Bill. A TV production company I contacted about 5 years ago located him. They put me in touch with him on the phone. I plan to see him soon. He lives about 7-8 hours away from me in Ca.
quote:Originally posted by Laredo Lefty
With my M-60 at small fire base near Kontum 1969
[img][/img]
Riding shotgun on convoy 1969. Loved my Ma Deuce..
[img][/img]
Iam still looking for a friend, Bill Spicer. He was wounded while standing with me and a couple other guys at LZ Mary Lou. A mortar round hit about 30 ft away and got him in the back. I was hit with 3 pieces, but my flack jacket stopped them, Bill was not wearing his.
He was medivac'd out, that was the last I saw of him. His name is not on the wall so I know he survived.
Edit::: Fast forward to today 10-30-15. I found Bill. A TV production company I contacted about 5 years ago located him. They put me in touch with him on the phone. I plan to see him soon. He lives about 7-8 hours away from me in Ca.
Comments
Some of my memories of Viet Nam.
Smells: fish sauce, sweat, rotting everything, JP5, Charlie, hospitals, and mamason's cooking. Sights: napalm, Puff staffing the hillside, leafless trees, red dust from blade wash, my M60 rounds tearing through rice patties\hooch's\boats\humans, blood pouring out of dust off birds we were supporting as we flew back to DaNang, green tracers, battle weary men, tiger at 5 meters.
Sounds: the jungle at night when on ambush, screams of the enemy when they breached the wire, screams of my wounded and dieing friends, AK and other rounds as they fly by\hit flesh\canopy, DaNang ammo dump going up, incoming and outgoing mortar\arty rounds, the Jackson 5.
Feelings: scared but strangly excited, pulling leeches off my body, so tired even my hair (stubble) hurt, warmth of blood, the love\trust of my fellow Marines, emptiness of loosing those Marines, puzzlement when falling out of my bird, my legs when the nerves finally came alive (joy even though it burned like hell), the anger\betrayal when returning home.
USMC 10/68 - 7/69, 12/70 - 8/71, 12/71 - 8/72 (Laos mainly)
What outfits did you serve with Quackaddict?
Welcome to GB.
Appreciated the photos - prangle and others, thanks!
We all have some bad memories, for sure ... but it is good remembering some of the rest ... especially the camaraderie and friends. And even the close calls.
Take care!
roboat
Did you every fly into Tango Tango? Tan Tru home of the 2nd of the 60th Infantry. I think I remember the Grayhounds, I rode Eagle Flights out of there from 16 Oct 67 to 15 Oct 68 as a grunt.
Sorry to be slow to respond.
Yeah, I loved Eagle Flights because you guys almost always got what you went for. Tan Tru - between Tan An and Rach Kien? Our gunships were the MadDogs. Good chance we flew together. July 67 - June 68. Do you recall terrible landings with the pilot in tears? Cuz that was prolly me.
Welcome home.
One of my strongest Memories was after a firefight in which we were on a huge convoy going through heavy jungle and the front of our group was attacked(probably by a VC with a RPG in a spider hole) and there was extremely lot of rounds and action then we received a cease fire announcement, because we found out they had managed to get the front of our huge convoy to be firing at our rear by attacking from the other ends direction, because of the curve in the trail, someone finally figured that out. Then on the way back it started hailing large hail which I didn't think possible in that tropical climate, but in my diary I wrote it seemed like a fitting ending. Does anyone else remember any Hail-storms?
I also remember that if you were in heavy jungle with a M-79 you had better find some canister rounds because the other shells bounced off trees and often back at ya.
I remember a giant monster about 4 feet long with a head like a lion swooping down on a track slightly ahead of me(they shot it mid air with a shotgun) it seems they had been messing with it's baby. It was a giant flying squirrel that is only found in South-East Asia
We were in the largest convoy i had ever seen with Roam Plows,APC's and tanks heading to the Black Virgin Mountains to tear up Michelin Rubber Plantation
I remember RED tracers coming at me, and I'm tired of people telling me I'm full of crap, because they read on the internet that the enemy used green tracers. This was '67-'68, all over III Corps, flying Huey slicks 240th AHC, "Greyhounds." Yes, there were some green tracers, but mostly red. Maybe captured or spilled ammo, but I know I didn't piss off that many friendlies.
The red was from the 51's! The AK tracers were green and would burn out at about 1500 feet. The 'big red wobbling basket balls' were the 51's. We flew mostly at 2000 agl and the red ones would go right on up! I don't know how far they would go before they burnt out.
My memories are similar to many already posted so I won't bore anyone with repeating them. But one of those I just can't help but repeat: The Smell, man o man the smell, it just knocked you down the first time. It was stale Food, stale piss, Stale People Smell, Copper (that one took me a while to figure out) there was this smell of a wet penny especially around Da Nang and the 51st Evac Hospital, finally I realized it was the blood, man blood has that copper smell i will never forget that.The other smells Smoked meat, even the sand smelt and there was sand everywere, in your cloths, mouth, teeth everywere.
Fighting house to house in "Hue" after Tet began. The ammo dump at Camp Evans going up in smoke and the fight afterwords that went on and on. The extraction choppers coming in to snatch our butts when we finally got close enough to the DMZ for them to get in and out. The Phantom Dueces coming in and laying us down a path, flying so low you could see the Pilots smile sometimes and the RIO's waving like a idiot, man those guys always looked good to us, Thanks Flyboys we all owe you a beer!!! First rounds on me just pick the place..
I also remember so many we lost, I remember not ever wanting to make another friend as long as I lived, it just hurts too bad to seeing them laying there in there own blood and not one damn thing you can do to make it go away, or to stop hurting for the last 5 minutes of there all too young life. I remeber the pain mostly, not from bleeding or having a hole that is leaking somewhere on your hide, that happened almost everyday in one way or the other, but the pain from the loss. Bullet holes heal that pain never, ever goes away.
I also remember the Dust-Off chopper and the bravest men I have ever known in that chopper flying into a LZ that my recon team had to blow in the bush with the last Claymores they had, to fly my shot up butt out of there. I remember the days that seemed like years laying in that bed at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, waiting on the cutter one more time. Going to a Medical Holding company on Treasure Island and finally fighting myself back on active duty, and then the fight it took to finally return to the War in Nam, and I very well remember the feeling on arriving back at Da Nang walking off of the chopper and wondering "How In The Hell Did You End Up Back Here?"
I remember as many of you do, it may be 35 or 40 years in Historical time, but to those who lived it It "Was Just A Momment Ago".........
RS
Which in 1972 would have been taken during the first season of Sanford and Son...[:D]
Rotting vegetation on the jungle floor has a faint glow if you look close.
Babboons in the trees.
B.O. of the NVA. ( We probably smelled just as bad to them)
Sawhorses in triage at 1st Med and the garden hoses the personnel used to wash us down.
Nonstop thunder and "lightning" from the arc-lights.
Watching "Spooky" work out with it's Gatling gun.
Watching the ammo dump at DaNang blow up from 25 mi. away in April of '69.
Muggy heat. Bugs. A distant Huey. The constant septic-tank stink of the river, and the slosh of the boat wake in the roots as we go by. The people often didn't trust us -- they were nice enough, but they had that look, like a wall separated us. Too many decades of war. The Japanese, the French, now we were here. Why were we here? They didn't know we were asking the same question. It's more clear to me now than it was then.
Only 2 things I like to remember about Vietnam.. The two days that I left there.
196th Infantry
1968-1969
1971-1972
The media did make a couple good movies about my outfit..IE: Tour of Duty.
If you were with the 196th in 71 more than likely I gave you a ride.
71st AHC, the Rattlers![;)]
We made it for one more, and I hope you all are around for many more.[8D]
was in Bearcat with the 9th in Sept 66..then to tay ninh to the 196th in jan-feb 67
I was in and out of Bearcat Aug 7-Aug 68 Truck Driver from Ft Riley
With my M-60 at small fire base near Kontum 1969
[img][/img]
Riding shotgun on convoy 1969. Loved my Ma Deuce..
[img][/img]
Iam still looking for a friend, Bill Spicer. He was wounded while standing with me and a couple other guys at LZ Mary Lou. A mortar round hit about 30 ft away and got him in the back. I was hit with 3 pieces, but my flack jacket stopped them, Bill was not wearing his.
He was medivac'd out, that was the last I saw of him. His name is not on the wall so I know he survived.
Edit::: Fast forward to today 10-30-15. I found Bill. A TV production company I contacted about 5 years ago located him. They put me in touch with him on the phone. I plan to see him soon. He lives about 7-8 hours away from me in Ca.
Congrats, now you can "Talk" to an old Friend...
With my M-60 at small fire base near Kontum 1969
[img][/img]
Riding shotgun on convoy 1969. Loved my Ma Deuce..
[img][/img]
Iam still looking for a friend, Bill Spicer. He was wounded while standing with me and a couple other guys at LZ Mary Lou. A mortar round hit about 30 ft away and got him in the back. I was hit with 3 pieces, but my flack jacket stopped them, Bill was not wearing his.
He was medivac'd out, that was the last I saw of him. His name is not on the wall so I know he survived.
Edit::: Fast forward to today 10-30-15. I found Bill. A TV production company I contacted about 5 years ago located him. They put me in touch with him on the phone. I plan to see him soon. He lives about 7-8 hours away from me in Ca.
Congrats, now you can "Talk" to an old Friend...
I've emailed a few but none are very close.