-Alemaster
Friday, October 14, 2022
Two Guys to a Bag, One Bag at a Time.
I arrived in Vietnam around three a.m. on January 30, 1968. It was, whether by coincidence or poor luck, the same day the Tet Offensive began. I was a radio operator and newly promoted Air Force staff sergeant assigned the six p.m. to six a.m. shift in the communication squadron. By 6:30 most mornings, my troops and I sat down to breakfast or dinner, depending on our preference, then tried to sleep in the hot, noisy barracks before getting up and doing it all again. But the war often required warm bodies for crap details like filling sandbags, riding shotgun on convoys, and any other gritty, shitty job you can imagine. That’s when a runner would wake us from our daytime slumber, and tell us where to go and when to be there. It was a royal pain in the ass, and as a noncommissioned officer, I usually had to lead them.
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We never learn do we? I’ve spent countless hours on the “voices of history” yoo toob channel listening to the battered, scarred, forever traumatized men who did what they were told to do over there. I’ll forever honor what they gave and forever curse the men pulling the strings that forced them to do what they had to do. God Bless our veterans.
ReplyDeletethank you Sir for your service to this country
ReplyDeleteburst into tears
ReplyDeletebro finally told me 40+ yrs later his confirmed kills number, some face to face.
we both burst into tears
told him to pray for the dead and for their families
have sent him link
thanks for publishing
My very best to your brother.
DeleteGod Almighty.
ReplyDeleteBless the dead, the wounded, the comrades, the pained, the survived, the hurt, the returned, and the left behind.
I was born in 1960, so Vietnam was a very real thing to me, while coming to an end before I had to worry about either being drafted or making the decision of whether or not to enlist. At that time, we all thought that America was a much different place than it is. We learned, didn't we?
ReplyDeleteSadly, it seems as if the leaders that we elect never have learned that lesson, as they continue to draw us into endless wars with no clear motive for going, and no clear exit strategy, or even clear goals, other than to feed the war machine that pumps money into the politicians pockets, even today.
One can only wonder how long until we have boots on the ground in the Ukraine. If we don't have them there already, in some clandestine form. Sending some of the advanced weapons systems that we send there, I wonder if they need someone to instruct them on the proper use and maintenance. I mean, a lot of us could likely figure out how to use a mortar, given the time, if you don't already know how. But the modern weapons that America and our allies and foes field now are much more technically complex, and to ensure that they are used to their greatest potential, they likely could use an experienced operating crew to teach the fighters.
That is ignoring the fact that we should not be there in the first place. Eventually the Untied States has to realize that we cannot be the police force of the entire world. Especially when we have so many other more pressing matters to deal with.
Slow hand salute. Til Valhalla gentleman. May they all Rest In Peace, may their families know peace, also. They gave all and deserve deep respect. Remember Mike Topolinski and John Crane of Flint Mi. they also gave all.
ReplyDeleteand right now ... right now ... we are allowing psychopathic politicians and their banker overlords march us into destruction. yet again.
ReplyDeleteMy dad went to Korea straight out of four yrs ROTC. Age 17 he was in hand to hand with a squad of slopes. He was of the Chosin frozen. That plus unspeakable horrors of leading patrols in VN.
ReplyDeleteThe pain of frostbite never left him. But the haunting of the faces in the agony of death was his nightmare.
One time I asked how many he had killed. His stern look, the sterner hiss from clenched jaw put the shivers in me. In a low growl which would raise the hairs, he said to never ask that again.
We were warned of the endless wars and the entanglement of treaties with other nations.
1. War sucks. 2. Some jobs, somebody has to do it. My youngest was in Baqubah. A Stryker from another company was destroyed from an IED. Killed everybody behind the driver. In an email my son said his platoon was “tasked with picking up the pieces.” He said, “I picked up softball-size pieces of soldiers.” A soldier in his squad “found a torso, no head, arms or legs.” Most of the pieces were on a roof top a good distance from the explosion. Each cleanup soldier was given a body bag. Put the pieces you find in one bag. Before the platoon went on the job, the first sergeant said, “Do not blame the Iraqi people.”
ReplyDeleteHavin' carried the corner of a poncho, I have a small bit of familiarity with what they felt. Maybe like carryin' somebody home on his shield?
ReplyDelete