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Originally Posted by BeyGon (Post 10381763)

I got to China Beach for a day, they had surf boards but as soon as I got one they closed the beach, there were some sea snakes coming in the surf.

Fun Fact: I worked on the pilot and the first season of "China Beach". It was filmed out at Newhall Ranch which was at one time Indian Dunes motocross track (seen in On Any Sunday) and a film location (Baa Baa Black Sheep and also where Vic Morrow and the 2 children were killed in the Twilight Zone tragedy).

We found a shyte ton of vintage medical equipment in a CD shelter in South Dakota, the real deal, perfect for set dressing. Construction came in, bulldozers, and moved the Santa Clara riverbed around a little bit to be more "meandering and curvy" as we dressed the newly built quonset huts with our "treasure trove" of Viet era equipment.

Well, slap my ass and call me Mary, if we didn't get the biggest rainstorm to come through in decades, the river flooded and took it's straight shot at the Pacific Ocean along with our set dressing, screw your "meandering river" BS.

We scrambled to find more stuff since we began filming in a week and a half. Show Biz ain't it's all cracked up to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche tech (Post 10381551)

Glad I served, wouldn't want to do it again. Used to have dreams that I got drafted again and no matter how much I told them I already served, they'd just tell me to sit down and shut up!

I served in the Army, '69-'71, 82nd Airborne Division. MOS 81B (Technical draftsman/illustrator). A lucky break kept me from going to Viet Nam as an infantryman (MOS 11B).

I had those very same dreams for several years after my discharge...

I was a Navy SeaBee from 1969-1972. Did two deployments out of country in that time. I was attached to USNMCB 40 that was homeported in Rhode Island at the Davisville SeaBee base. I got out a few months early because the gummit was downsizing the number of battalions. My last deployment was to Diego Garcia to start the base construction there. It was a coconut plantation when we got there!

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Originally Posted by rcooled (Post 10381832)

I had basic at Bragg and the entire time they were trying to persuade me to go airborne. Didn't and by the grace of God went to Germany.

Army, Cold Warrior wanna-be in the 80's. I wanted to kill communists - no offense to any communists here, I'm reformed now (mostly) :D . Stationed in Germany, APG, and SWA during Desert Shield/Storm. After the wall came down and the Gulf War was over it looked like we were don't fighting wars for a while. Yeah, right.

Hats off to our Vietnam-era Vets. Those of us that joined in the Reagan era looked up to you 'old-timers' and your service during challenging times. Same to you GWOT vets, particularly those that have served two, three, four, or more tours away from families. I wish the sacrifice was a little more evenly shared across our society.

And contrary to my screen name, I love the Navy. Most of the time. ;)

14 years in the USMC, then 18 in the Army. I am now starting my 33rd year, and I'll retire in two, just shy of 35. Looking forward to my second life. Thanks to all of my brothers and sisters-in arms for any time that you've spent serving. The day that you raised your hand is the one most notable...most never get to that point in life.

United States Air Force 1966 - 1970
Vietnam 1968 -1969

Sheppard AFB, Texas
Travis AFB, California
Vung Tau, Vietnam
Scott AFB, Illinois

My regards to all who served................................

Quote:

Originally Posted by fintstone (Post 10381533)

I retired from the AF Reserve in late Dec (over 42 years for pay purposes). I started working on retiring about a year ago and it took them until now to get the paperwork straightened out (backdated to Dec).

I had retired from active duty in 2002 with almost 26 years and about a year later they asked me to come back into the Reserves. Been doing Reserve duty with an active duty unit part of each year ever since. It was a good life and it is hard to believe that it is over. Good thing, because my mess dress (tux for nonmil) and my service uniform were getting a little tight. My goal was to retire in the ones I bought as a MSgt in the late 80s...and managed to do so (got the stripes off without doing any damage when commissioned...as they had never been dry cleaned). Unlike many, I did something almost completely different every assignment, travelling all over the nation/world. Most of those assignments were relatively safe and without a lot of hardship (other than being pretty poor E1-E4). The last few jobs translated well into my next career (after active duty)where I have done very similar work with continued relocation/travel (working around my Reserve commitment).

I had hoped my son would follow in my footsteps, but it was my daughter who did. It has been an honor to put on my uniform and commission her three times. Once to active duty out of ROTC, once into the Reserve for Med School and finally back to active duty after Med School. She is a Major now...and will soon be a Lt Col. She just won an award as top FGO on her huge base (but she is a superstar and has dozens of awards). She will surpass everything I have ever done in my career in just a few years and some day, I will have to salute her. Funny how things turn out.

You have had a remarkable career and I have enjoyed hearing about it as you shared your experiences. If you don't mind sharing, how many years had you served before you received your warrant?

Irish Army , 1973-1997. Four tours to Lebanon ( UNIFIL) 1985,1987/8, 1994/5 with the United Nations.