Vietnam Veteran - 1st Cavalry Division 11-67 to 11-68. One Tour Enough

[TheMastersNemesis]

During Vietnam with the draft it was customary to serve 12 months in Vietnam for the Army and 13 months for the Marines. If you were an enlistee you could volunteer for another tour.

Even though I was trained as an 81MM mortar gunner I got a clerk job and luckily I spent 11 months as a clerk 9 of which were "Radar" company clerk for Bravo 1-5 near An Khe (Camp Radcliffe) and later near Da Nang (Camp Nancy). It was very active that year and we had 27 KIA in our company alone. And Charley company had 16 KIA and 50 wounded in one engagement.

The job that I ended up with was a vacancy because another soldier got himself fired because he left the company area without permission. Sadly he did not survive the war and had become a close friend. Talk about fate.

I used to know all the KIA names because it was my job to write the sympathy letters to the families signed by the company commander. It was Army policy. I still remember a few and the circumstances of their deaths even today.

Even though I was only in the field for about 3 1/2 weeks I saw enough to know that it would be a long year if I was out in the field the whole year . And when I got home I knew I was through except for 4 years of Reserve status.

All I can say to the forum here is that ONE TOUR WAS ENOUGH for me. I would have never gone back and know that more than one tour is cruelty even if you are a volunteer.

If these GOP assholes and bastards want war with Iran then draft the asses of their kids and send them. As a Democrat I would send my kid out of country if necessary. It is not worth fighting the recent wars that the GOP started. Sadly LBJ started something he should have stayed out of.

[jmowreader]

1. Thanks for your service, trooper...

The only change I would make to what you said is to call up ALL Republicans between the ages of 18 and 45. Any Republican healthy enough for service goes in the military. Women can do combat support and combat service support jobs (which would make the Iran War much cheaper than Iraq was--no $85,000 Halliburton cooks in this one when you have Republicans) and men can go on patrol.

[Lochloosa]

2. Kick...thanks for your service. Nothing else to add.

[Go Vols]

3. I agree 100%

Reinstate the draft instead of farming it out to "fight for profit" companies.

Plus show the dead coming home in caskets on TV every night.


It wont last long.

[mailman82]

4. Welcome home !

USMC 23Aug1967-30Sept1968! Qouang Tri! I too hate war! My son Army-82sd Airbone since July 88. 5 tours he wants us out!

[FreakinDJ]

5. Don't you just love all the Chicken-Hawks waving the flag now a days

All i can say is "Where the Fuck were you!!!!