i don't really know how many times i went to the viet nam area. the ribbon has 2 little bronze stars on it. i was in-country all of 1968. i volunteered for the in-country gig. time in the mud is where i call my viet nam experience. for me, a totally ignorant submarine sailor untrained for being in this whole situation, it was insanity. i went to viet nam alone, travelled all over that place alone, and finally came home alone. after 6 yrs, 7 mos, getting out of the USN was a most happy day. i can spot the liars no problem. sometimes it takes a while.

I saw a show about the VN vets and the suicide rate is almost as high as the service men that were KIA, I found that to be real shocking, 55K KIA or MIA and about 49K suicides

I was never in country and wasn't drafted but joined because I needed $ for school. At the time the Army had a program it called TORT (Travel or Training pick one). I went to Germany and played with Pershing missiles (MOS 21 God)- a lot of other guys there were faced with two year tours in Vietnam or three in Germany/somewhere else and choose the three.

Steph....

Good point. I remember that book now that you mention it. AFAIK, the only document verifying that one served anywhere is the DD-214. It's hard to fake cuz the real one has an embossed stamp. Dunno how they faked it, but I sure do believe you.

Yeah, Hawk, I think you might be right....and if they tell enough grand kids they'll start to believe it themselves. Sad.

I was drafted in 68. The only time it comes up is when filling out forms and Vietnam "era" is filled in....I lost too many friends over there to dishonor them with a lie. There have been certain advantages over the years to be of the "era".
Lately here it doesn't look all that great.

I ended up in Greece.....I have no idea why. The Green Machine works in mysterious ways.:confused:

Am a "Vietnam era vet" and thats it. Wore the uniform while the war was going on but thank God did not make it over to the RVN area.

First thing you notice when they open the door of the plane is the smell ....kinda like fish/garlic/sewage. Oh Yum :)

and the smell of the spiraling smoke from burning ****. I went because I wanted to and when I got off the plane in Danang I thought maybe I made a mistake.

I think the Desert Storm numbers will be very chilling, too. Many of the guys from my unit (1st Med Bn, 1st FSSG) are no longer with us.

June 1971 to June 72 YEA
Can Tho! (162 assault helicopter company) and lots a places
I went for several reason...stupid was one
the next, I knew I never wanted look back and say i wish i had and did not
Yes it was a stupid unpopular war..we were just kids manipulated by uncle SAM
and yes we did go even if unappreciated....
Someone finally welcomed me home about 10 years ago......whoopie!
The point?
If it had been a popular war..we would have been there TOO !
Not milking on the sidelines with university shirt on being a smart ass
Not sitting in Canada like a traitor
Nope. good or bad, we went!
PS
to check out the validity of someones claim to have been there......the magic words..let me see your DD214
story ends right there.

I was in Can Tho at the same time...lived in the dispensary. Small world.

Thank you guys for serving.


Born in '66

LOL Dradogface, I bet you prescribed.....tetracycline for me or at least something for dysentery

Not unless you are a dog :)

What birds were you flying ? I have a question for you which I'll PM later...

Hueys (UHIH) mostly You know the typical looking helicopter when one thinks of viet Nam
(like my aviator to the left)

Who knows, you may have flown me around the Delta to do my visits on Sundays to bases all over the South there. Did you ever look up Can Tho on Google Earth just to see it now ? Interesting. I also went to Phu Quoc Island once or twice. It looks damn near the same ! It was a Navy base then...at least the southern tip. I met a guy online who was there then too.

Thanx for the thanx!

Thanks to all for serving. Those stat's seem very odd. 390/day, gone by 2015? Why would this be? Not everybody served in the battle zones, not everyone got some disease, most came back in good health. Many of the WW2 and Korean Vets are still alive today, 70 and 60 years after the wars. Many are dying off due to old age and I cant help but think the same thing will pan out for V-Vets as well.

I was struck by that stat as well...it is hard to believe. As I said, we discussed it in our men's group...all Nam and Iraq vets. I know a lot go from AO related illnesses....there's a long list of them...more than just leukemia..a lot more. Many are suicides. Still, it's hard to swallow, I agree, and may be incorrect.

BTW, who the F*** gave this thread one star anyway...? Musta been Corgi or Normy :D

Information presented could have come from one or more of these sources:

Vietnam Statistics

Sobering Statistics

A Snapshot of Today's American Vietnam Veteran | The Scoop Newspaper

Lots of hits and widely circulated on the Internet but no one seems to have verified any of it. I guessing most of it is true though.

The two Vietnam Era Vets I visited yesterday at the barber shop are both on partial disability. That war messed up a lot of guys, and their children and grandchildren too (Agent Orange).