I commanded a rifle company in Vietnam in 1971. My First Sergeant was a veteran of WWII, Korea, and was on his third tour in Vietnam. Two of my three platoon sergeants had 8-10 years service. The rest of the company, including the Lieutenants, had less service than did I and most were younger. I was 23 with just over two years service.
None of them wanted to be the last guy to die in Vietnam. Except for myself and those mentioned above, they were all draftees. They were two and done, counting the days until their DEROS (Date Estimated Return Overseas) and ETS (Estimated Termination Service). They weren’t estimates.
We had some pretty crazy Rules of Engagement (ROE) back then too, and I had to work hard to overcome some of the restrictions that we faced. I didn’t like killing unarmed civilians even though many of them were busy planting booby traps (IED’s). It bothered me and it wasn’t the way to win an insurgency. But, the enemy was fair game and if some staff weenie in Saigon put an obstacle in my path, we found a way around it. I figured that every one of their guys that we killed was one less who could kill one of my guys.
What amazes me to this day is how wonderful those draftees were. Sure, there were some losers among their ranks, but most continued to be good soldiers regardless of the circumstances and for the most part, took care of the losers themselves.
Those trying times were the beginnings of my cynicism about politicians. It was mild compared to today.
Thanks for your service.
We should have been out of Afghanistan no later than 2003. None of this meals on wheels nation building crap, take out the Al-Q hideouts, and get out. A quick punitive expedition, and done.
Ever try to call Arty or an air strike in a supposed no fire zone? Sucked didn’t it.