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MEMORIAL DAY, A VIETNAM VETERAN’S PERSPECTIVE
AndersonDawg
Posts: 1,978 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
50 years ago I was halfway through a tour of duty at Phu Bai Combat Base in northern I Corps. In May of 1969, the brass decided to assault a NVA stronghold in the Ashau Valley called Dong Ap Bia Mountain about 25 miles west of Phu Bai and a mile from the Laotian border. The 101st Airborne attacked for 10 days and finally took the mountain. I remember being on perimeter guard and seeing the medevac choppers bringing in the wounded and dead. The wounded were inside the choppers while the dead were hanging by ropes, unfortunately, a sight I can’t forget. US losses were 72 dead and 372 wounded on a hill to be renamed Hamburger Hill. 2 weeks later, the brass decided to leave the mountain.
Another visual I can’t forget was seeing body bags a hundred feet long and stacked 2-3 high like cordwood outsides a mortuary company at the north end of the runway in Danang, being readied for shipment home.
My thoughts and prayers to all the men and women who died in service to their country. And also to the families they left behind.
Comments
Bless you Anderson Dawg and all your bothers whe served in that unpopular war and still suffer from it.
Thank you and all our veterans for your service.
Thank you and thank you for sharing. Have heard much about that particular battle.
We lost my brother-in-law this past December 1st. He was a Viet Nam vet. He died of complications from a surgery to remove cancer from his liver and pancreas. It was a cancer that we have since learned has affected many Viet Nam vets in a very similar way. He talked very little about his experience and was very humble when he was praised for his tour. He was wounded twice and was sent back to the front both times. He was a Tech fan and one of only a handful I have ever respected. My family is die hard Dawg fans. My son graduated from UGA. We wore Tech ties to my brother-in-law's funeral. This season, my daughter and I will wear something gold and black in his honor to every UGA game we attend. Though he didn't die while in service, I do think that because he was in service aided in his death. So to that, I say thank you to those that did give their life while serving in war and to those who even though they made it back home, left part of their life on foreign soil.
Cujo
aka: playhurt
Agent Orange took way too many lives. Your brother-in-law is a hero and he should be remembered as such on Memorial Day. Best wishes!
Thank you @AndersonDawg for sharing such a powerful story. So many of us just have no idea.
Thank you for your service, sir. I was in DC today and got to watch the 31st (and last, rumor has it) Rolling Thunder. The bikes kept coming from noon to 4 PM. Was also at The Wall. Stood in silence with many others as engravings were found, touched and cried over.
Did 3 tours with spec ops from 03 to 06 but I'll never know what yall went through. I'm not special or important but you have more respect from me than I'm capable of giving.
"An Old Soldiers Prayer"
I have fought when others feared to serve.
I have gone where others failed to go.
I've lost friends in war and strife,
Who valued Duty more than love of life.
I have shared the comradeship of pain.
I have searched the lands for men that we have lost.
I have sons who served this land of liberty,
Who would fight to see that other stricken lands are free.
I have seen the weak forsake humanity.
I have heard the traitors praise our enemy.
I've seen challenged men become even bolder,
I've seen the Duty, Honor, Sacrifice of the Soldier.
Now I understand the meaning of our lives,
The loss of comrades not so very long ago.
So to you who have answered duties siren call,
May God bless you my son, may God bless you all.
Lewis Millett
Thank you @AndersonDawg for sharing and for your service.
You and all who have served in the military have my undying respect and gratitude. God bless you and your families and Thanks for your service!
My father never talked of WW2 other than to say he fixed radios in night fighters, gave candy bars to French children, took baths in his helmet, and was a GI tourist in Paris.
After his death I discovered he'd been awarded a Silver Star.
We are free today because of the services and sacrifices we honor and should always remember.
I've read many books about the Vietnam war. In many ways it was probably the most brutal Americans have ever faced, with the notable exception of our Pacific Theatre campaign in WWII. The environmental conditions in both theaters of battle were exceptionally difficult. We never lost a sustained battle in Vietnam, but we lost the war for a variety of reasons. Unfortunate, indeed.
We thank all of our Vets for their supreme sacrifices and dedication to our country.
My stepdad passed away from pancreatic cancer about 15 years ago. He served in Vietnam on a tank. Never talked about it much at all, but I've seen pictures he brought back with him. He was a smoker so we've never suspected the cancer to be caused by something from over there. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks to all who have served
I say it every time i see a veteran hat or bumper sticker, and every single time i wish for a way to show how much i really mean it. Thank you all for your service to this country. It will never be enough but it's all i have.
Gratitude and honor to all those that have lost their lives in service, and the families of those brave souls.