Good Morning, Vietnam

I was a boy when the war was at its height! We'd go to church and pray that the Lord would "bring the boys home safe!"

We thought it was cool when one of the soldier guys on leave would come to church dressed in his "Dress" uniform!

My dad and uncles would talk about the war--but never in protest! Protesters were talked about by my dad and uncles as "Disgracers!"

Blackbird

 

Had a brother there. Thought the military stuff was pretty cool. At the time, I thought that opposition to the war was un-patriotic.

It was really great when my brother returned. It wasn't so good, though when he died from agent orange.

The same type of b!@#$%#s who brought us Viet Nam have now brought us Iraq. Their brothers aren't there.

 

Too young for all that, but not for the after-effects.
I've had to deal with three people in the past who were close to me. Two were Vietnam vets and the other was a Vietnamese man who was a child during that war.
All of them still have horrible struggles with it.
The one vet drank and drugged himself constantly trying to forget. The Vietnamese guy was about seven at the time, and hid in a tree trunk while his family was killed, then was brought to the U.S. as a refugee.
The third...I can't get into it here, but most likely he's sitting in jail right now because of his violent outbursts, while he acted out his violence he would regress back and seem to think he was still there.
It's easy enough to say one side is right and one is wrong, but seeing and knowing people intimately from both sides makes for an odd perspective. A magic wand would be nice...wave it and *poof*, all is well with the world!
Gina

 

My husband was in Viet Nam. He never wanted to talk about it much. I think he was a bit conflicted about the whole thing. He was proud of his medals, proud he had done so well, but he would never really tell us exactly why he had received his medals or tell us anything about what went on over there.

He always thought Viet Nam was a beautiful country, and always talked about visiting it as a tourist, but he never got the chance.

The cancer he died from may have been agent orange related, but it's hard to prove, and he was rejected for any compensation. I could appeal, but I don't think I will. I couldn't stand having him rejected again....

When we were in Northern Manitoba shortly after we got married there was another American couple there. He had been a conscientious objector, and so he ended up being a medic in Viet Nam. He and my husband had an instant bond. They never talked about the war, but they understood each other.

So, there's my Viet Nam story.

 

I had completed my training at Ft. Gordon, Ga. when the decision was made to pull out of Nam, so I never went there.

Joining the Army at that time was a lot different than it is today. In the summer of 72, I didn't know what to do with myself, so I just wandered into the recruiter's office, In Rayville, La.,(every one-horse town in the country had a recruiting office back then) to see what the Army had going on. He gave me the quick and dirty on everything, could see that I was hooked, and wanted me to go home and pack a bag and catch the bus to the processing station that afternoon. I told him that this was too sudden, because my mom and dad didn't have any clue that I was interested in the Army, and I had a girl friend in Arkansas whom I needed to say a proper good-bye to. I made him wait a month.

Roy

 

Jim was drafted out of Ottawa Baptist University his junior year and went into Officer's Candidate School. Because he had an engineering degree in Broadcasting, he was transfered first to Signal Corp and then Military Intelligence. He didn't get sent to Viet Nam but received the retrieved radios, clothing, etc. to analyze and interpret.

I had a best guy friend from middle school die in Viet Nam. He had dropped out of school and was drafted and sent right to Viet Nam. I learned of his death when they did the daily radio announcement of the names of the dead.

Diane

 

I served in Vietnam 1968-69. Americal Division Headquarters at Chu Lai.

I had it easy - Remington Raider - but my typewriter and my file cabinet and work space were wounded in an early morning attack one Sunday. It occurred a little after 7 in the AM but on Sunday we didn't have to go to work til 8 am. Any other day of the week and I could have been wounded or worse.

 

I was a kid,under 10. I ahve few memories of the war. I remeber two of my uncles were in viet nam, one was given the purple heart, they had beena ttcked and everyone but him and thier sargent(sp?) were killed, boht of them wounded, my uncle was shot int he back, the sargent was nearly dead he was so bad. Jim(my uncle) picked him up and ran for miles and saved his life. i rememebr the home coming my grandmother had planned for Jim, big get together, lots of food, Richard was leaving th very day Jim was due home, they though they would have an hour or so together, but Jim was late and Richard had to leave. No one ate till Jim got there, sometime that night. Thats almost all I remember of the viet nam war.

 

Hubby is a retired Navy Chief. He was in for 26 years and saw many conflicts and wars. He was in D'Nang (sp) for almost a year.

Most of his duty was on a submarine, so he went all over the world. Wherever the Navy was needed.

 

War, any war, is not a pretty sight. Just be glad you missed it. The memory never leaves you.

I remember feeling for the men and women who came home to disrespect, as if they wanted the war. And I have seen countless people who suffer to this day. We have many veterans and objectors who have become Canadians. Many have made something of their lives.

Cheers,

Jim

 

This is very true Jim. I have had several family members, including my husband, and many friends who have horrible memories they will never forget.