Posted on 02/27/2008 5:29:51 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
I know because my Late Father volunteered to go to Nam as a PIO for 6 months that year. He covered those units, told me about them and showed me the pictures he took of them.
He also told me about trying to give the stories and pitctures of them to one the bureau chiefs in Siagon. The chief refused to take them because they didn't show the Viet Nam War he wanted the American public to see. That treasonous bastard's name was Dan Rather.
Yes I did, did you? Or are you not aware that there is a difference between Army Reserve and National Guard? Reserve units were called up during Vietnam. With very few exceptions Guard units were not. Contrast that with the other wars of the 20th century. If you were in the Guard during WWI and WWII, you chances of getting called up were at or near 100%. During Korea and both Gulf wars, your chances of being called up were very high. During Vietnam, you chances of being called up involuntarily were near zero. Which is why membership in the Guard during that time was so popular for those who couldn't get deferments through other means.
BIG CORRECTION. It was 1969, not 1966!
Re-read my original post - I said "Many Guard units were activated and sent to Vietnam". Your own evidence supports this statement. You seem to be on jihad to degrade this honorable service of people in the Guard 1965-1975. No - I never said they were activated like in WWII and I never said there was a mass mobilization.
And PS - Reserves and Guard are practically the same for service and mobilization. Yes - the governor has to give permission for the Guard. Talk about splitting hairs.
"Perhaps today is a good day to die."
Semper Fi Brother.
Are you mixing Reserve and Guard up?
What a remarkable story about a great American hero!
In general, most of the NGs who served in Nam missed too many meetings. A smaller number simply volunteered.
Good story and good for the Lakota people as well as all americans
AN indiana NG Ranger unit was very highly decorated and saw action as intense or more so than most. I am aware they were the exception though.
Crazy Horse (Ta Shanko Witco)
Okay, all you Lakota guys, if I spelled it wrong, it's an innocent goof!
Eight of them does not make for none what so ever, by the way you didn’t count the Air National Guard units and the Marine reserve units, or for that matter all the reserve officers that were sent to Viet Nam.
Most states have more than 8 of their units called up for Iraq alone, so the number of guard units called up for Vietnam certainly paled by comparison. The fact is undeniable that during Vietnam the chances of joining the guard and going to war was next to zero, while guard members during the World Wars or the Iraq wars had close to a 100 percent chance of going. Quibble over semantics all you want, during Vietnam the National Guard was the branch of choice for those who couldn't avoid going to the war through other means.
Good to see Woody honored. I lived in the same town as Woody and while we knew he was a war hero, we didn’t know the extent of his heorism and it is really something to read the account. The last thing I remember of him was being confined to a wheelchair. Also, his wife Blossom was my 9th grade English teacher.
His bravery in combat, leading Soldiers, is beyond question. Of his call to duty, Master Sergeant Keeble said,
——“There were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime, an endlessness, when terror was so strong in me, that I could feel idiocy replace reason. (Yet,) I have never left my position, nor have I shirked hazardous duty. Fear did not make a coward out of me.”
Master Sergeant Keeble volunteered for duty when members of the 164th Inf. Reg. were called to fight in the Korean War. When asked why, he replied,
-——“Somebody has to teach these kids how to fight.”
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