Posted on 11/20/2009 5:48:49 PM PST by jongaltsr
Company B, 2d Battalion, 501st Infantry
Arrived at Cam Ranh Bay in 69 and went on to earn my stripes in Cambodia .. on what MOST folks would call The Frontlines.
The REMF designation was usually reserved for the loots!
And YES .. I stayed S Faced the whole time.
What is “loots”?
I got S Faced too. But not in the field.
“This spectacle was prompted by the pusillanimous withdrawal of Congressional support for the South Vietnamese government in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which particularly undermined this aspect of President Nixon’s foreign policy. It should be noted that a similar Communist offensive in the spring of 1972 was smashed, largely by US air power; with relatively few US ground troops in place.”
...South Vietnam would still be a viable nation today were it not for this nation’s refusal to live up to it’s treaty obligations to the South Vietnamese, most important to reintervene should they invade South Vietnam.”
That bears repeating, and I have said it many times before. And I pray that it won’t happen again in Iraq or Afghanistan.
I have a friend who lived through the war as a child. Her Dad went to the local police station after the fall to answer some questions one day. Four years later they heard from him that he was still alive. Another three years and they got to visit him. I think it was 10 years and they were reunited, and fled. Minus two of her younger siblings that died of starvation. Her older brothers got two balls of rice a day because they worked. She and her mom got one ball of rice a day. The two younger ones lasted for awhile on the remaining scraps.
Every once in awhile I tell that story when someone says something stupid like “the Vietnam War wasn’t worth it”.
Thanks for your detailed post, and thanks for your service.
Thanks for the post. You get it right. These are things that have long festered in my gut over the years, that I wish people would know and understand.
I know you feel better for dumping, and getting this out in the open. Your rant is my rant.
1969 MACV, advisor w. 5th ARVN Division
PS and BTW: I think everybody who served anywhere deserve credit and respect. No matter where you were, you served with the knowledge that you could be tapped to go in country at any time.
I was referring to Advanced Individual Training, branch training after Basic Training.
Hey unkus
Sorry .. Just got my ass outta the sack.
The Lieutenant or Lou, also lovingly dubbed Lou Tenant
I used the term Loots as a plural for Lou, (meaning .. too damn many lol) .. Don’t know if you’ll find the word in an Army manual or not because the correct slang/term was Lous.
I just like making up my own shi .. uh crap.
“Yes,some....like Harkin....would deliberately lie but perhaps many others misunderstood that question,perhaps because it was badly worded.”
Harkin understood...no misunderstanding there;
http://www.pajamasmedia.com/instapundit-archive/archives/017246.php
In 1979, Mr. Harkin, then a congressman, participated in a round-table discussion arranged by the Congressional Vietnam Veterans’ Caucus. “I spent five years as a Navy pilot, starting in November of 1962,” Mr. Harkin said at that meeting, in words that were later quoted in a book, Changing of the Guard, by Washington Post political writer David Broder. “One year was in Vietnam. I was flying F-4s and F-8s on combat air patrols and photo-reconnaisance support missions. I did no bombing.”
That clearly is not an accurate picture of his Navy service. Though Mr. Harkin stresses he is proud of his Navy record — “I put my ass on the line day after day” — he concedes now he never flew combat air patrols in Vietnam. . . .
Mr. Harkin’s Navy record shows his only decoration is the National Defense Service Medal, awarded to everyone on active service during those years. He did not receive either the Vietnam Service medal or the Vietnam Campaign medal, the decorations given to everyone who served in the Southeast Asia theater. “We didn’t get them for what we did,” Mr. Harkin says. “It’s never bothered me.”
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110005496
It turned out Mr. Harkin had not seen combat and was stationed in Japan. What’s more, Mr. Cheney isn’t the first Vice President to fall victim to Mr. Harkin’s acid tongue. In an editorial in 1988, we quoted “Senator Tom Harkin who served in Vietnam” (we thought at the time) saying of his Senate colleague Dan Quayle, who did not serve in Vietnam: “It’s so ironic; they get in Congress or the government and become big hawks. Don’t they have any shame at all?”
Hey plinyelder
I understand.
Different slang at different times in different areas.
Like calling a Lt. “LT”
Stay safe.
Oh g*d! I never tried it but heard it refered to as panther piss. maybe i’m confusing it with another aromatic viet brew, Biere Larue.
“Four out of five are lying. I wonder why.”
I have no idea other than those who served during that era may have mistaken the poll.......
FWIW, I enlisted and served from 4/69 thru 1/72, did my time in Central America and NEVER ONCE claimed to be a Vietnam vet. I have often been asked to join my local chapter of the VVOA in Mt. Clemens, MI but refuse to do so. I don't belong there...........
Congratulations and thank you for your service! What was your term of service and when were you in Nam?
“Vietnam vet” served in Vietnam.
“Vietnam era” vet served during the war but not in the country.
Having spent some time in the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, I describe myself as a Vietnam vet. I'd add a further distinction on the "Vietnam vet" category, though - that of "Vietnam combat vet". I'd never represent myself as being a Vietnam combat vet. I reserve that term for the guys who were slogging through the muck and the mire while I was floating about and tossing in shells from offshore.
Ping to an article about Afghanistan with similar thoughts as your post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391710/posts
“I asked him what would happen if NATO pulls out of Afghanistan? He replied without hesitation, looking me straight in the eyes and obviously referring to the Taliban and their allies: “They will kill us all.” .......
.....His comment struck a still-raw nerve. Thirty-five years ago, in November, 1974, I was in Siem Reap, Cambodia. ......At one point my host turned to me and said: “I hope America doesn’t abandon us. If they do, the Communists will kill us all.”
I think they are seperated by “Viet Nam vet” and “Viet Nam Era Vet”.
A guy I used to work with was a viet nam era vet. He was drafted and went thru bootcamp. One day they asked if anyone knew how to type and he raised his hand. He took a typing test, passed and was shipped to NATO HQ where he did his tour.
He was drafted in 1968.
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