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Kim Selvog
kgselvog@metro.lakes.com

Was in the 25th C battery 2/77 artillery from Feb. 70 till I think about Sept. 70 (the 25 stood down and I was transferred to the 1st cav) Was on FSB’s Wood, Quick, Dau Tiang base camp, Tennessee. Anyone else there?

ashley gilman
star_brite22@yahoo.com
http://www.expage.com/ashleycheer
I thought this website was very good! It made me sad though. I am glad I was not in your position! Good luck in everything you do!

Scott Hanson
sah83@hotmail.com

I THOUGHT IT KICKED ASS THAT YOU HAD A DECENT SELECTION OF WAR PICTURES BUT COULD OF USED MORE JUNGLE TYPE PICTURES FOR THE VIETNAM WAR

Marlous (from the Netherlands)
loussie007@hotmail.com

Great site, it helped me a lot with my project about the Vietnam war (I’m doing a project about the movie “The Deer Hunter”, we’re investigating if the movie tells a story about Vietnam that’s really true. Thanks a lot

Royals
royals@bww.com
http://ibo.bww.com/Royals
Password money — Btry 6/77th Arty 25th Inf Div. 3-23-68 to 3-23-69 Welcome home Brothers and Sisters. God’s Blessings on You and Yours.

Clifford Truax
ctruax@accn.org

Nichole Bailey
Baileyn@cus.pickens.k12.al.us

My dad, Ken Nichols, was in the 25th infantry division B troop, 3rd squadron, 4th calvary from April ’67 to April of ’68. If anyone was in this area or associated with any of the above, please let me know. Thanks, Nichole

Tori Sikes
ToriDelilah@yahoo.com

I love what you have done! I find it truly amazing that you would be willing to share your stories, and spend so much time on your site. Your site is so intristing, and very informative!

Jim Rowell
jimrowell@accessunited.com

Dave, what a great web site you have. I stumbled across it and spent a good part of my day on it. I was with 2/8th Cav, 1st Cav Div. in ’68-69 in Tay Ninh Province as a grunt. I’ve got a few photos of the Black Virgin Mountain, too! I’ll share them with you if you want. Glad you made it home and kept your sense of humor! JIM

Johnny R. Sinnett
jsinnett@kscable.com

D Reid
petertare@aol.com

Your memories you have offered to others honor those who never came home. I never served in Vietnam, but chose to volunteer before the end. Sadly, images of two friends who, lacking financial resources for college, ended up being drafted and never returning to their parents and brothers and sisters still haunt me to this day. They stood and served their nation to the end, others did not, and so must be endlessly tormented by their personal act of shame. Thanks.

Brooke Votra
Brooks1184

I am very interested in going into the Army but I am not sure about Boot camp yet. I still need alittle more thinking but these sites really help me make a great decision. keep up the good work on your sites.

Nicole Christine Francalancia
niccol12@yahoo.com

When i first read some of the things the got to me. I know I’m only 17 but the things i’ve heard or read make me want to cry. I’m glad i found this wed page.

Bob Miller
djinmanmijller@juno.com

Good page.

Juan Mafnas
Jmafnas@gpa.gov.gu

Really enjoyed your website-thanks for sharing all your experiences. Just yesterday I have contacted with some people with my old unit, the 84th Engr. Battalion, Qui Nhon 1966-67. Thanks again for a great web site.

Melissa Schmidt
willie_pete60@yahoo.com
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thewhipandprc
Hooah and welcome back home brother. I was doing some deeeeeeeeeeeprecon on RTOs for my new club at Yahoo. I came across this LZ. You got a great page here, well done. I was wondering if you could do a recon on http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thewhipandprc I am lookin for Nam Vets who were RTOs or had experience with them or with radio equipment. My husband Steve was a Chief RTO serving 2 TODs in the Army Special Forces, and he was in Cambodia and Thai and other places where he was not supposed to be at. I noticed that there were not alot out there for RTOs so I created a club for you cool and elite people who really were the main eliment of the unit, the commo men who called in Arty as well as choppers for extractions and resupply. You were the ones who literally got your team members out of the shit. Good job here Dave…Keep up the good work.

Ryan
Link224488@aol.com

Larry Nuckolls
LarryN1121@aol.com

I really enjoyed your web page !!! I was with Co. C 3/22 and Co B. 2/22 ( M ) “triple Deuce” from 11/69 – 11/70 as an 81MM Mortar crewman. Welcome home ! Larry

Larry Houston
ndr19682@aol.com
http://hometown.aol.com/ndr1968/index.html
Dave, Great story! Welcome Home!

sarah
lilred573@aol.com

great page…i’m doing a report for school thanks for the pictures and the info!

bill pierc
wbierce@ij.net

Jason Meyer
jasonmeyer76@msn.com

A facinating web page. I am now currently serving as a 105mm Battery Executive Officer for A/3-7 FA at Schofield Barracks. The candor and honesty of your thoughts make for a very enjoyable learning experience. Reading these memories put a true human touch to the War. Thank you for sharing with my generation.

Steve Falconer
stevefalconer@citycom.com

I was with Hq&Bco.725th Ord Bat, 25th Inf. Stationed Schofield Barricks Hawaii, 60-62, served Nam 12-24-61 to 3-18-62 wounded and evacked out Saigon then Clark AFB. Few people knew we were there that early. It got really ugly later luckily I was out and home. Your built a great site.

Daniel J. Shoop
shoop_dan@hotmail.com

Dave, Very much enjoyed your web site! Our lives are parallel in that I too got into R/C and got licenced in full-sized aviation in the early 70’s after spending a few years in the service, including a 13 month stint in RVN. I was in the I-Corp area (3rd MAW, 1st LAAMs) and also saw roughly the same Bob Hope show you saw when he brought it to DaNang. Thanks for the excerpt about the “Girl in the Photo” fraud. There is plenty of disinformation still floating around about Viet Nam, even this long after the war. I am a member of the SWPC and am thinking about aquiring a short wing of some sort after I retire in a about 5 years. I was a partner with a 1973 PA-28R-200 until I went overseas (Saudi Arabia) in 1996. Now, I just want to putter around the sky in a nice ragwing when I get home. Regards, Dan

pam
blackwel@logantele.com
http://www.geocities.com/kyflaggirl/index.html
God bless you and Thank you for serving! My site is a Tribute to my father who was KIA 3 weeks before I was born.

Lori Colbourne
lori4radiohead@hotmail.com

Hello, I’m Lori, I’m 14 and from Wales, Uk… I was just searching yahoo.com for my history homework/coursework and your site came up, so thank you for the help and pictures..

DeWayne Kinney
dkinney218@aol.com

Your scrapbook was great!

Johnny Sinnett
jsinnett@kscable.com

I served at Cu Chi in the 3rd of 13th artillery from Oct. 1967 to Oct. 1968 I have alot of pictures that are simlar to your. Johnny Sinnett

I was last to board the Boeing 707 in New York for the long flight to Germany. It was January, 1968 and the weather was miserable. The flight progressed well until we approached the continent. Our unscheduled fuel stop at Heathrow International Airport in England was delayed while work crews cleared ice and snow from the runway. Our diversion from Frankfurt was due to some very bad weather. After a rather skitterish landing, we were allowed to leave the airport and head downtown for a few hours of sight-seeing while we waited for the weather to improve. I had a great time pushing large English pennies into very old-fashioned game machines. Also, it was nice to be indoors as my summer dress uniform wasn’t dealing with the English winter climate very well.

After about 4 hours we were ordered back to the aircraft and we completed our journey to the Frankfurt airport. Apparently, someone at my new base was expecting me as two E-5’s appeared out of nowhere and gave me a ride in Triumph TR-4 sports car from the airport to my new base in Hanau, some 15 kilometers to the northeast. I wasn’t very comfortable being crammed in behind the seats but it sure beat standing out in the cold, waiting for a train. It wasn’t long and we were pulling through the main gate at Francois Kaserne, what I thought would be my new home for the next two and a half years.

I was assigned to “B” Battery of the 1st TAB (Target Aquisition Battalion) of the 26th Artillery, V Corps, as a radar operator. Our radar was the AN/MPQ-10 artillery tracking unit. It took a team effort to maintain and operate the beast. Maintaining proficiency proved to be very difficult. In the 13 months I spent in Germany I think I only sat behind the scope for a total of 45 minutes. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to operate the machine; the problem was finding in-flight artillery projectiles to track.

Beyond radar duties, life at the base probably wasn’t much different than any other over-seas cold-war base; guard duty, KP, vehicle maintenance, classroom refresher training, alerts, etc. Free time could be spent downtown or at the enlisted men’s club where there was always cheap beer and some form of entertainment such as a live band. Other than the surprise practice alerts, there were really only two significant outings a year; one to Grafenwoehr for 2 weeks of intensive war-games and also a week or two at Fulda for more training in the field. The only real alert occurred in the summer of 1968 when the Russians decided to invade Czechoslovakia. We went out and hid in the woods near the Czech border. Somehow, I don’t think our radar would’ve been of much use in the woods had the Russian’s decided to come our way. Fortunately, they didn’t.

About 10 months after I arrived in Germany, our battery was moved to the south, near Babenhousen. I liked Babenhousen as it was much smaller than Hanau and had a “country” feel to it. My fiancée and I planned to be married in June and I was busy making arrangements for an apartment off base. One of my team members was scheduled to return state-side at about the time my new wife would arrive and he was willing to sell his nice little Volkswagen to me for a very reasonable price. It was a real classic; oval rear window and mechanical turn signals. By mechanical I mean they were the type that swung out of a slot located just behind the door opening, something like a train semaphore. The car was blue- grey in color and in pristine condition. I was really looking forward to my remaining time in Germany. We could do a little traveling and maybe get in a little skiing in southern Germany, not all that far away. Unfortunately, the Army had other plans for me.

I was just beginning my second year in Germany when my orders came down for Vietnam. I’ll never forget that day. The First Sergeant caught me coming down the stairwell in our barracks and loudly announced, “Stafford, you’re going to Vietnam!” Needless to say, I was stunned at the news. As it turned out, four of us in radar section were given orders for Vietnam that day, which included my two friends, Mark and Rick from AIT days plus Ken, who arrived in Germany about a year before us. That evening, all four of us went over to the EM (Enlisted Man’s) club and got organized (drunk). The next day I sat down and wrote a very difficult letter to my fiancée.

After about 3 days of processing out of the battery and packing, we caught our flight home. I think all of us were given a 30 day leave before we had to report to Ft. Sill, Oklahoma for 6 weeks of training and preparation for Vietnam.

Rats were problem for us at most of the field camps (FSB’s and ATSB’s) we were based at. We knew the rats often carried diseases such as the plague and rabies, so we did our best to avoid contact with them. At times we also went a bit out of our way to get rid of them, or at least reduce their population.

We had a particularly rough time with rats while based at the ARVN infantry camp near Loc Giang. I remember one night when I was walking to the radar van to pull my shift when a rat ran across my foot. I was only wearing flip-flops at the time, so I could feel the rats claws. When I arrived inside the van, I sat down and examined my foot carefully for any scratches or cuts. I was a bit relieved when I didn’t find anything.

As the rats became more bold they actually tried to run off with a box of Ritz crackers that one of my buddies had received in a Care Package from home. It was at this point that I went to the trouble to set up a rather elaborate trap. First, I laid a 2′ by 2′ sheet of plastic on the ground near my cot. Next, I placed a mostly empty C-rations can right in the middle of the plastic sheet. I then carefully positioned the plastic so while laying in my cot, a pre-planned swing with my trenching tool would land right on the C-ration can. I would have to do this in virtually total darkness, so practicing the swing was necessary. I chuckled to myself when I envisioned the possible outcome.

Sure enough, later that night I heard a rat crinkling its way across the plastic, in search of dinner. I patiently waited until the rat was making munching noises and then swung my trenching tool with all I could muster. Blam! I heard a squeal. Got’em, I thought. I switched on my flashlight, but no sign of the rat. Oh well, I’m sure he’s at least limping a bit and probably will think twice about coming around here again.

One of my team-mates was also becoming very disgusted with the rats and managed to wangle a huge rat trap from someone back at base camp. It looked like a conventional mouse trap, except it was about 3 times larger and had semi-sharp teeth on the spring bail. He set it up one evening and baited it with a piece of ham and lima beans from the C-rations. Later that night we heard a loud snap. My team-mate let out the most sadistic chuckle I’ve ever heard. Morning light revealed our success. One down and hundreds to go.

Not too surprisingly, the Army had its own way of doing things. One of the more interesting programs was labeled “DX” for “Direct Exchange.” The idea was that damaged or worn out equipment could be turned in for new or serviceable equipment. And, it could usually be done fairly quickly and with a minimum of red tape.

Our 5-man team didn’t have a lot of clout when it came to procuring equipment and supplies so we sometimes had to resort to other, unofficial, methods such as “liberating” certain items. The primary and only generator for our radar system was really marginal in capacity and it occasionally was temperamental and difficult to start. Technically, we were authorized a backup generator, but that never materialized. The only alternative was to trade in the cranky little 2-cycle 1 kw generator for a nifty 4 cylinder, 4-cycle 3 kw generator. But, there was a catch. To qualify for DX, the item turned in must be unserviceable. In other words, broken or worn out. The 1 kw generator in question still ran. What to do, what to do… we came up with a plan. Early one morning, shortly after shutting down the radar system and generator, we “accidentally” refueled the 2-cycle machine without adding the required oil mix to the fuel. We cranked it up and then stood back and waited. Surprisingly, that little sucker ran for several hours before the piston seized up. In fact, in our impatience, we removed the air cleaner and “accidentally” kicked a little dust and dirt into the carburetor in an attempt to speed up the process a little.  

After the 1 kw generator became one piece of metal, we loaded it into the 3/4 ton truck and drove to the DX area where we filled out some of the infamous Army forms and picked up our new 3 kw generator. One of our team members had a slip of the tongue and mentioned to the supply sergeant that the little 2-cycle generator ran longer than we expected with no oil. The supply sergeant gave us a funny look as we drove off, laughing with our new machine. Hey, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do!

My views regarding Vietnam have changed considerably since I came home from the war 52 years ago. Before I left for Vietnam I felt the U.S. was doing the right thing in helping our South Vietnamese allies. I didn’t volunteer for Vietnam and like most soldiers, I wasn’t real excited about going to war and getting shot at. It basically boiled down to following a sworn oath. We received our orders for Vietnam and whether we liked it or not, we reported for duty. I went there with the determination to do the best job I could do.

When I got home and separated from the Army I quickly became very discouraged at the turmoil and unrest over the war. The tragic shootings at Kent State occurred just one month after I returned home. It was a very confusing time for me. At times, the war protests seemed to be directed not only at our country’s leaders, but also at our soldiers. How could this be? Don’t these people understand that citizen soldiers don’t make policy? Don’t they understand that soldiers are the last people who want to go to war?

As I slowly blended back into civilian life, I learned to limit my comments or thoughts about the war in Vietnam to only those I trusted. And even then, I didn’t elaborate much. Outside that realm I said very, very little. The topic had become so unpopular in the United States that some folks looked at returning veterans with disdain. I didn’t receive any direct abuse, but other than immediate family, there was no welcome home ceremony either. Sadly, it has taken many, many years for our country to recognize the sacrifices made by our soldiers in Vietnam and treat them with honor. There are still a few in our generation who look upon Vietnam vets as dupes, something I’ve never fully understood. Happily, they seem to be a dwindling minority. Perhaps they have remembered that most of us were in our late teens or early 20’s at the time and not very politically astute.

Historians and analysts will debate for decades on whether U.S. leaders miscalculated getting us into the war or mismanaged it once we were there. Either way, I believe it was a colossal mistake. In my opinion, Lyndon B. Johnson defiled the Office of the President.

Despite the blunders made by our nations political and military leaders and the growing unpopularity of the war, it should always be remembered that the vast majority of the 2.59 million soldiers who served in Vietnam, did so with honor. The war took a heavy toll on our country in general and our generation in particular. Never forget the 58,169 soldiers who lost their lives in service to our country nor the 304,000 who were injured, some permanently.

In closing, I would like to say that I hold our servicemen and women of all branches of the military service in the highest regard, particularly those who fell in the line of duty. I dedicate these pages to four high school classmates (San Luis Obispo High School Class of 1965) who died in Vietnam:

Joseph Thomas Martin, panel 22E/15, KIA June 19, 1967

Michael Robert Miner, panel 25E/105, KIA September 4, 1967

Edward August Schultz, panel 42E/72, KIA March 4, 1968

Jon Michael Young, panel 48E/14, KIA April 4, 1968