Vietnam

[flvideo]

I was in Nam in 1964 in the Airforce. We flew in and out of country flying supplys and taking out wounded. How many other Nam Vets are on Karnac?
Chime in and let us know where you were and when you were there. That was a most unpopular war and we got no appreciation when we came home. So from me to you Welcome Home Brothers. Bob.....

[Old Sunshine Fan]

Not Me.... came out of Boot Camp and standing in a long line, I heard "Nam", "Nam", Nam", "6th Fleet" and when I looked up, they were looking at me.... "6th FLEET, YES SIR".... so I went to Europe as well as a few other lucky guys... My Dad said he never heard me so quiet for so long a time... Hell, I didn't want anyone to know I existed. BUT... when some of the guys I knew that did get sent to Nam needed stuff, I'd "Borrow" it off my ship and get it to them...ie, rain gear, different supplies etc. Hey, you know what... they never sent anything back to the ship either.. oh well, you might just say I was transferring US Material/Goods.

Besides that... I don't think I would have wanted to be on a plane and look up and see OCALA JIM's face... would have scared the hell out of me at that young age. YEA YEA... I was young at that time!

[Jane]

Bob,

My ex is not on this board but he was also in Vietnam. I will always remember how he felt when he was not welcomed back home like soldiers today. No appreciation because no one wanted them there but they were still there, they still died, and should have been welcomed home also. I also knew two of his friends that were in Vietnam with him. One was a sniper who never got over what he did, it basically ruined his life and he had no life. The other one we met accidentally when we moved to California and just ran into him. He and my ex were in the same unit together and were friends for a long time.

My ex came back from Vietnam a different man according to his mom. I did not know him at all back then but his mom said before he went, he never got mad but when he came home, he was mad all the time. Needless to say, we had a violent marriage and alot due to what happened to him over there. I know about the huch maids they had, the drugs they shot up, etc. from him.
I heard alot of horror tales and was forced to see every Vietnam movie ever made with him.

Thank you Bob for serving in Vietnam. I know you got few thanks but you were only doing what you were told to do. I just hope it did not change your life like it did alot of guys I have known.

[ocalasp76]

My Tour....

Jane the word is 'hootch maid'. The officers had a wooden barrack called a hootch and employed a maid, usually a local Vietnamese girl. Those of us non-officers types usually had a bunker we stayed in or a wooden hootch full of men and no A/C and sleeping on cots. We didn't care though, it sure beat sleeping in the jungle.
I was with 2nd Brigade,506 INF recon platoon, 101st Airborne from Nov.'69 to Nov'70. A Shaw Valley to the DMZ. Hue,LZ Sally,Dung Ha, Phu Bai. Carried a radio(RTO) on my back and was 15 km into Laos when Nixon said we had no troops in Laos......May 1970. In recon only our commanders knew where we were,sometimes.
Made it back and then off to Germany for 3 1/2 years...a vacation tour.
-GEM-

[Jane]

Thanks Jim on the hootch maid. My ex had one over there and carried a picture of her for years in his wallet. She was definitely pretty and pretty much stayed with just him although I was told that they usually had alot of soldiers they took care of. He also was pretty sure she had his son but he never could find out for sure.

Chuck was in the Army I know but I will find out what unit. I think he was there in 70 but don't know for sure. But at one time he worked with whoever did the dishonorable discharges I know. But thanks for the hootch maid clarification but he had one.

[carolwicks]

Nam...

a girlfriend of mine back in Mass. was married and they had 2 kids and one on the way when her hubby was shipped to Nam....his little girl was born while he was there. awhile after he was MIA.... no sign of him anywhere and after 3 yrs. Charlotte met another man, they fell in love and were going to be married in weeks....guess what.... her hubby came home a decorated soldier and she had a huge choice to make. she wound up staying with her husband who was not the same man. if she had wake him she had to whisper and stand out of reach. he was a basket case of nerves. i dont know whats happened since because i moved down here shortly after. Charlotte and i worked together at RCA so we went thru the whole ordeal with her. very sad things happen in our military so we need to support these people 100+%...it never really goes away. another friend of mine came back (green beret)... he smokes his brains out (pot) and is the kindest soft spoken guy ever... but inside a rage burns. he has recently moved to the mountains and once again holds a rifle. but he is hunting for deer now.... a very unhappy man with a head full of horrible visions.
carol

[Jane]

I did not know my ex when he was in Vietnam, we met after he came home. But his mom said he was totally different when he came back especially with his temper. And no, you better not wake him up or you might get hit and I did more than once. Vietnam changed these men and women and not for the better. To this day, he still feels cheated on how he was welcomed home. No welcome, no thank you, just you should not have been there. And it was not his choice to be there, he was drafted from college.

I am glad that today's men and women in the service are treated different when they come home. I have been in the airport when they come home and everyone claps and cheers for them but not back then. There was no one there to welcome them home like today.

But I am sure it was very hard for your friend thinking her husband was dead only to find out right before she is going to get remarried that he is still alive. That war changed alot for all of us. I might have made it with my husband if he had not gone to Vietnam but Vietnam changed him alot and eventually it was just too much.

[ocalasp76]

Hey Jane, I got a memorable 'welcome home' from Viet Nam.
In Sea-Tac airport while waiting for my plane to go home. A 'Hippie' came up to me. He called me a baby killer and spit in my face.
I don't know if he remembers what happened when waking up in the hospital with a broken jaw and missing few teeth. An airport security guard,who lost his brother in Nam, hid me from the Seattle Police till my plane boarded.

Wow, barely home from Nam for 6 hours and already getting a chance to deal with my anger.
So if you meet an ex hippie from that area talking with a lisp, tell the coward I said Hello.
-JIM-

[Darren]

hey ocalasp 76

was in 3/506 101st 1968-1969 Phan Thiet base called LZ Betty. Some one has done a great web site on it, Just type in LZBETTY it will come up. "CURHEE"

[Darren]

Bad Spelling

Been a long time "Currahee"

[Jane]

Jim

I don't blame you one ounce for hitting that hippie. I know my ex's friend John, who was the sniper over there, lived with us for awhile and he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and crying because he did kill some kids but like he said, they had bombs on them. They used anyone they could to kill the American soldier and it had to be hard since we are taught from little ones to never harm a child. He was NEVER okay and finally I lost touch with him when he moved back to Ill. from California.

All the Vietnam vets got a bad deal as far as I am concerned. And they were not welcomed home like they should have been. It was not your choice to go to Vietnam, you were sent there by your government. And you should have never gotten the welcome home that you did, NEVER.

I was married for 18 years to my husband and went thru alot of violence because of Vietnam. He never had a temper before he went there but boy did he when he came home. Like I said before, you did not shake him to wake him up or you would have been flatten like a pancake. Maybe our marriage might have been different if he had not gone to Vietnam but he did and there was nothing I could do to help him get over his nightmares except go to every Vietnam movie they made. Only one he said was actually like what he went thru and he did actually have an officer in his unit killed by his own men because of drugs and him going to tell on them. It was just plain crazy.

I am so glad that you and Bob, the video man, came home alive and well and now I know that you too went thru what my ex did. I have the greatest respect for the Vietnam vet, always have, always will.

[ocalasp76]

Hey Darren....welcome Home

was in 3/506 101st 1968-1969 Phan Thiet base called LZ Betty. Some one has done a great web site on it, Just type in LZBETTY it will come up. "CURHEE"

I remember Lz Betty. I spent time on Lz Ripcord and Sally. We built FB Spear and Vegal in the A Shaw in '70, and got run off both of them too. B-52's ran them off though.
Drive On.......
-JIM-

[ocalasp76]

Hey Jane

Jim

I don't blame you one ounce for hitting that hippie. I know my ex's friend John, who was the sniper over there, lived with us for awhile and he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and crying because he did kill some kids but like he said, they had bombs on them. They used anyone they could to kill the American soldier and it had to be hard since we are taught from little ones to never harm a child. He was NEVER okay and finally I lost touch with him when he moved back to Ill. from California.

All the Vietnam vets got a bad deal as far as I am concerned. And they were not welcomed home like they should have been. It was not your choice to go to Vietnam, you were sent there by your government. And you should have never gotten the welcome home that you did, NEVER.

I was married for 18 years to my husband and went thru alot of violence because of Vietnam. He never had a temper before he went there but boy did he when he came home. Like I said before, you did not shake him to wake him up or you would have been flatten like a pancake. Maybe our marriage might have been different if he had not gone to Vietnam but he did and there was nothing I could do to help him get over his nightmares except go to every Vietnam movie they made. Only one he said was actually like what he went thru and he did actually have an officer in his unit killed by his own men because of drugs and him going to tell on them. It was just plain crazy.

I am so glad that you and Bob, the video man, came home alive and well and now I know that you too went thru what my ex did. I have the greatest respect for the Vietnam vet, always have, always will.

Thanks for the kind words, but you won't hear us crying about how we were treated. We serve as an example of how NOT to treat a veteran, and thats fine with me. We are also here to make sure it don't happen again.

Another thing we agree on is that Jane Fonda is a traitor bitch and will have to deal with us every time she turns around. Some others are walking a very fine line too.
If you don't stand behind the soldiers, feel free to try standing in front of them.
-JIM-

[SeminoleWind]

Viewed the pictures on lzbetty.com. Amazing, you guys were so young. For whatever it's worth, thanks for your service!

[ocalasp76]

Viewed the pictures on lzbetty.com. Amazing, you guys were so young. For whatever it's worth, thanks for your service!

Thank you..............
-JIM-