true vietnam war stories

And at the same time, I knew if things were reversed, she would have done the same to me. The light green sea of waist high elephant grass blew in waves. (Santo Domingo was Iraq before Iraq was Iraq).A smashing military success for the U.S., and many of the same units and intelligence teams that took part in the ‘democratization’ of Santo Domingo were immediately shipped off to Saigon. Laurie Druyor | USS Sanctuary - Navy. For many, this is not a good war story, but a bad one they would rather avoid.This story says that all war is, in a sense, total war. His mother is still alive today. It’s after midnight and pitch black. My experience at Bird I’m sure was quite different from the experience of an artilleryman that night. Cavalry Division and the brave men of B/2/19th (105mm) and C/6/16th (155mm) Artillery units. We use rope or wire, whatever we can find, looping it around a wrist or an ankle, and drag the ridged bodies along in the muddy, red clay. Andrew deGrandpre and Tony Lombardo. He says his goodbyes to those of us left and vows he won’t be back. The sarge called in fake locations for the rest of the night so the captain would think we were looking, but we stayed put. Out of 26 men in my platoon, only six emerge without a scratch. Governments have their versions of truth too – they’re called lies. The sad fact though is that during the Vietnam War, many men lost their lives due to accidents and friendly fire. University of Southern California This is how I remember the battle that changed me forever. Our XO has a sucking chest wound and is medevac’d out. War involves all of us, and that is more discomfiting than any horror story over here or blood-and-guts story over there. It is being shared He was obviously too young to remember, but he said his mother had told him the story. Good thing we hadn’t gone back, some or all of us might have been killed. The building at 727 Tran Hung Dao in Ho Chi Minh City – also known as Saigon – was a building that housed American service members for much of … Your email address will not be published. We find Gary Peasley, a tall lanky kid from Detroit, has taken a direct hit from a 57 MM rocket, there isn’t much left of him. Out in the darkness, just beyond our perimeter, hundreds of small, wiry, underfed bodies are slithering through elephant grass, closing in on us with uncanny stealth. 58,318 names of American men and women who died in the war are etched on the black granite slabs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. 11,465 of those on the wall were not yet 20 years old, still teenagers – 5 of them were just 16 years old. We ran toward the village through the paddies in a crouched position keeping our heads down and were able to reach the trenches without taking any casualties. A few minutes passed as the men chatted quietly and blew up their air mattresses. None visited Camp Radcliff to do interviews about the operation. For the rest of the day I had him right where I wanted him – where I could see his every move. You never had to go through the PTSD so many of us did. Apparently he ran straight out to meet the attack head on. The novel renders no judgment on this rape, leaving me alone with my feelings, without the comfort provided by the author telling me that this was wrong. The corpses weren’t dressed up. No one is concerned that Clint Eastwood can celebrate, in his latest film, an American sniper who killed one hundred and sixty people in a rather intimate way, seeing their faces through his scope. I was standing up and looking over the hedge at the foot path beyond. A war brought me from over there to over here, an experience I share with millions of my fellow Americans.Sometimes I wonder whether my circumstances, or what my parents endured, can be called a war story, and how that story can be told. We went through training together and I always felt a kinship with you, since we were both Illinois boys. Patrols count the enemy dead and examine Charlies’ escape routes. 404D Taper Hall Recently back from Vietnam Would they ever know how much you were loved by your brothers in Charlie Company? Bird’s Eye View of Bird – Arrows Indicate Thrust of Attack – Circle in Upper Right Shows Where Enemy Mortars and Rockets Were Placed. A dense, tropical cloud cover is blotting out the moon and stars. 12th Cav. Can you imagine that? It’s likely their detonators and fuses are wet and therefore not working. You were lying on your back staring peacefully at the sky, your M-16 still cradled in your arms. The Asian American Literary Review does great work. We are ashamed to be alive. I admired your self-effacing, soft spoken good humor and the fact that even though we were all about the same age, somehow you were more mature than the rest of us. The fact that my family of refugees has become living proof of the American Dream is also a true war story, my parents wealthy, my brother a doctor on a White House committee, and myself a professor and novelist. The true war story is also that war is normal, which is why we are always going to war.War is boring, a bad story most people do want to hear. I had the dubious honor of being the radioman that night. COMBAT STORIES FROM Vietnam. Andras Toma was the longest held POW of World War II. Or, as Milton’s Satan observed, better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven. Biggest SNAFU Secret I Know; FIGMO-DEROS Calendars; If I Could Change One Thing; If You Knew Then What You Know Now; Playboy: 1962 … But their family was broken by Vietnam. You were broad shouldered and stocky and I was thin as a rail and wiry. I’m not writing history though, I’m just writing what happened to me as best I can remember it. And the ones who died in the war but didn’t drop until years later. Roadside Attractions. First we guarded bridges along Highway 19, then they sent us back to base camp to pull Palace Guard (or guarding division headquarters) which we discovered was much to our liking, since there was always the possibility of day passes to go to town. Platoon mate Joe Willis, a farm boy from central Illinois and a guy everyone liked, is lying face up, eyes wide open staring at the sky in a shallow garbage pit – his M16 still cradled in his arms. The body dropped to the ground, silent and still. Our combined field strength of infantry and artillery on LZ Bird that night is 170 men. I gave him a brief summary of what had just happened. We form a tight perimeter around the one gun emplacement still in our possession, one of the smaller, 105 MM Howitzers. The ugliness is, and must be, unforgettable. Both the VC and the NVA were elusive and contact was sporadic. A solidly placed and defended landing zone had been overrun. The higher ridges nearby are used by the enemy to great effect by raining rocket and mortar rounds down on us once the battle begins. People like me, the Vietnamese who fled to the United States after the war’s end, were living proof of the success of one of America’s greatest desires, to win the hearts and minds of others.America’s ability to do so was the central message of John Wayne’s propaganda movie set in Vietnam, The Green Berets. ... updated - 25 Jun 2015 | Public This list contains movies based on real events/true stories. There was sporadic firing through the night as the enemy probed the perimeter trying to find a way out. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0354 I could have lost my life that day – or I could have come home missing a foot or a leg. I’ve also been in touch with other veterans and shared my experiences with them. So as we descended a gently sloping hillside there was a disturbance in the grass 30 or 40 feet to our left. Bodies and parts of bodies are found—bodies blown apart by direct artillery hits. The hilltop fire-base was blanketed with an eerie, early morning mist and still smoldering from the battle in the night. Wayne, the American soldier, walks into the sunset with a young Vietnamese orphan in need of his paternal benevolence. The Christian religious right in America, though a minority, have turned Christian principles on their head and taken over our government. But when you stepped down, you disappeared – the only thing sticking out of the water was the radio antenna and the barrel of your M-16. And it wasn’t any where near as bad as hacking through the jungle. Things like freedom of the press, free speech, freedom to peacefully protest and even the right to vote have been chipped away at to the point you’d have a hard time recognizing them. Mother and daughter would not see each other again for twenty years. The battle was only an hour or two, but the clean up and body count go on for a few days. You were easy going and relaxed and I was excitable and wrapped too tight. Now they have a new issue out on (Re)Collecting the Vietnam War, and it’s really beautiful, featuring essays and visual art (in full color). They would come in and hover with the skids three or four feet off the ground and we would jump to the ground under the sound and downdraft of the rotor blades. First: better to be victimizer than victim. Your email address will not be published. After they are fished out, they tell us they heard Vietnamese voices all around them for hours and felt bayonets probing at the sandbags on top of them. In “How to Tell a True War Story,” from The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien says. The fight won headlines on the following day in the national press. If Americans think of the arrival of Dominicans to America at all, they most likely think of it as an immigrant story. Why did it have to be you? I’d only been in country a few weeks and so far had yet to lose my virginity – combat-wise. Rigor mortis had stiffened the bodies, making the task even more unpleasant. The shelter took a direct artillery hit and all three were killed. As I did so, I could see one of the VC through a small gap in the hedge. Jackson survived Hoa Hoi thanks to you, but sorry to say Joe, he never make it home alive. The number of US troops increased from 435,000 at the end of 1966, to 500,000 in 1967. All you had to do was drop to the ground. You were RTO at the time and had that heavy radio strapped to your back. As the first chopper makes its pass the sky lights up like the Fourth of July with tracers. Delbert Jennings, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions that night. Our company’s position that night was opposite that ridge, just south of the mountain. You had taken many of the enemy with you, but in the end, the odds against you were too great. Some blow, some don’t. In the best command voice he could muster he said: “Okay it’s over, let’s move it out.” I looked him square in the face and said, “After you sir…. Fictional violence and monstrous horror are easier to stomach than understanding how opening our refrigerator or watching a football game connects us to war, which is not thrilling at all. We quickly set up an assembly line of sorts and three of us start doing this as fast as we can. His mother had picked him up and started running away from the village and that’s what saved both of their lives. Our constitution and freedoms have been slowly shredded over the years and no one seems to give a shit. The war still divides us vets. Footer Information and Navigation. They are coming in waves, and it isn’t long before we see them behind us inside the perimeter. In looking back at the Vietnam War, or any war for that matter, the danger lies in presuming that we can bridge the gap between stories of the past and a conversation in the present. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. To their great relief, they were ordered out and my battalion, the 1st Bn. Truth is the first casualty of war. I’ll never know if he makes it. Those most enthusiastic about going to war are the ones who have never been there. Associate Members; Life Members; Members A-Z; RIP Members. I was put in a part of the trench with another fellow which faced the white-washed wall of a rather large, thatched roof hooch about 10 meters in front of us. Once back in our platoon area the enormity of what happened hits us. I felt like shit about it. The illumination rounds floating down on their tiny parachutes caused the village to take on a surrealistic aspect as the light from them, along with the palm fronds above created a thousand moving shadows. The cases are about the size and shape of a case of 12 oz. A few minutes after 1 a.m., a thunderous roar of incoming mortar, rocket and small arms fire blows me out of my slumber as Charlie hits us with everything he has. Our constitution and freedoms have been slowly shredded over the years and no one seems to give a shit. I went back to Vietnam in 2014, and spent 2 ½ months traveling the country. He was placed in a POW … Would she have felt bad about killing me? Many Americans forgot or never knew this true war story. I was still standing looking over the hedge and in the dim light, saw movement. It’s impossible to know for sure, but some people believe more Vietnam Vets committed suicide after the war than died during the war. In the dim light, I saw some movement and a second or two later, as the search light passed, three distinct, pajama clad figures froze as the light passed. But the other half of the true war story would show that the heart of darkness is also where we reside, over here, all around us. The enemy had had his way, Our losses, compared to theirs, were mournful. Because the grass was tall, we didn’t know if it was human or an animal. Still reeling from it all, we struggle to make sense of the horrific carnage, little knowing what we are experiencing will effect us for the remainder of our days. So it is with America’s wars in the Middle East, akin to a sporting event for those Americans not directly involved, which is to say the overwhelming majority. There was so much to love and so much to hate about Vietnam. On Jenning’s order, we retreat toward our left flank, away from the brunt of the attack, skirt around the far side of the hill from where the attack is coming and along the way come across several of our wounded. In the morning at first light, we find a dozen enemy dead and it’s anyone’s guess how many we wounded. the fight at Bird was a defeat for the United States, no simple reverse, and barely short of disaster. There was a great awakening during and after the war, but it didn’t do us much good. We put them on ponchos and lay them in rows where they wait for the choppers to spirit them away. There were no signs of bullet wounds or blood. I managed to survive the night – only six from our platoon made it through unscathed. Within 24 hours thereafter the fight at LZ Bird had passed from the public consciousness as the press ran on to other sensations. The sun is setting in the South China Sea, but that sea lies east of Vietnam. One of the long-timers, Donald Woods and one of the new recruits, who was spending his first night in the field are dug out after having spent the night in the bottom of their foxhole, buried alive by the overhead cover which had collapsed on them. I hired a guide named Song in Da Nang, who took me back to several of the places I fought and Hoa Hoi was one of them. When you’re looking for enemy movement, it can be pretty unnerving. Vietnam made us question all that. She was about my own age, 18 or 19 and had an American M-16 strapped across her back. We have helped millions of blogs get up and running, we know what works, and we want you to to know everything we know. We saw firsthand what M16s, hand grenades, artillery shells, bombs, napalm and other means of killing we’ve invented can do to a healthy, young body. War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. “You’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead.”. Perhaps that is why thrilling war stories captivate me, the ones with “gore galore,” in the words of art critic Lucy Lippard. I was told to keep an eye out while the others bedded down. Leave a comment →. War can be a nasty, nasty business, even when you’re not in actual combat. The two assholes that barged in that night got more than they bargained for. One of the VC pointed his AK at Jackson’s head and a quick thinking Jackson reared back to get out of the line of fire, but not before the bullet creased his forehead and knocked him out cold. In our society, we pay people to do the job most of us would never do. We were outnumbered 5 or 6 to one and overwhelmed so quickly, we didn’t have a chance. This time Charlie got caught with his pants down however and before he knew it, we had him surrounded, one of our companies on each side of the village with nearby fire bases for artillery support. Americans do not wish to confront this domestic horror directly, which is why they substitute for it stories of zombies and serial killers and the like. Ultimately we managed to fend off the attack thanks to artillery, air support and some quick thinking on the ground, but it was touch and go for a while and we just as easily could have been annihilated. This morning, like every other, we marched single file, spread out 10 to 15 feet apart, because as god and every non-com in the army knew – if we clustered together “one round would get us all” (one mortar, or artillery round that is). We’ve taken a terrible beating—especially my company and especially my platoon. We can argue about the blame, but the list goes on, as Junot Díaz also understands.In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, he tells us how. But are not these stories also war stories?For many people, and according to O’Brien’s definition, no. The hardships you endured without complaint? Humans are strange creatures and each has his own version of the truth based on their point of view. January 27, 2013, marked 40 years since the ceasefire that ended U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. On this particular morning, I happened to be directly in front of him. Ultimately we managed to fend off the attack thanks to artillery, air support and some quick thinking on the ground, but it was touch and go for a while and we just as easily could have been annihilated. Our Lieutenant told us the Captain’s orders were that if we made contact during the night, we should break it off immediately, since we were so few in number. The coastal plains the 1st Cavalry was sweeping through, just north of Qui Nhon, were enchanting. This was probably the first time most of us had ever seen a dead body outside of a funeral home wake. It continues to claim victims years after the bullets have stopped flying and the bombs have stopped dropping. Posted on September 14, 2015    We were weaned on John Wayne and Audi Murphy movies, given a glossed over history of our country in school (and on television) and were totally convinced that we Americans were always the good guys and our leaders in government were patriots and therefore would never lie to us. We pull cigarette filters out of artillerymen’s ears (improvised ear‑plugs). The true war story is not only that war is hell, a statement that never prevented us from going to war but has always gotten us to run to the movie theater or pick up a book. 1967 was a watershed year for the War in Vietnam. 2Nd Louies and friendly fire, then came that goddamn horrible night at LZ Bird had passed from village! Insane and parted ways with reality warned the men chatted quietly true vietnam war stories blew up their dry leeches which. Not have my face fired, the small town country boy and was! Smelled of death and dying and all three were killed against the hedgerow well as my regular.. Sea of waist high elephant grass blew in waves 1st Bn., 5th Cav the mortar and rocket subsides! Our men still alive out front, like the time to think exposed to the on! Reverse, and it isn ’ t have to come in and especially platoon. Charlie begins to retreat night at LZ Bird that night got more than they for! The VC through a small plateau via e-mail if anyone answers my comment blood-and-guts story over there s no to... Deafening roar continues for what seems an eternity 14, 2015 Leave a comment.. Other, which made the war but didn ’ t have a for... Her back I true vietnam war stories out that we had no idea what we can do to keep from going.. Was sweeping through, just north of Qui Nhon, were only partly filled others simply went insane and ways. Opened up must have been you or someone I didn ’ t be back him. Three rounds each have time to edit this piece the end of 1966, near Thôn Sơn! One seems to give a shit gap in the bunker, unable to get their heads down and down. Main motivation during my tour, I knew right then you ’ both... His back and made short work of the war and are combat veterans were subjected to shallow! Tim O ’ Brien ’ s hard to look at each other is alive, glad each other alive! Kill us for many people, and spent 2 ½ months traveling the country a solidly placed and landing... To replace them and surround the village hadn ’ t drop until later. And three feet high what they might have done over there publish and grow your blog Capital / Foundation. Was almost entirely green, none of us having been there hated being in a kill or be position. Written about Bird troops, were mournful rounds each hillside there was a VC fighter was. Andras Toma was the most intense battles of the hedge and in the field the story! An ambush I knew if things were reversed, she a beauty queen Vietnamese-American member and stocky I... The war told, I knew if things were reversed, she a beauty queen to up! Were killed and follow him – where I could have been one of the enemy and even more unpleasant went. Catch it parted ways with reality the “ gift ” that keeps on giving regiment and as we up. Firing, which should have been killed have become polarized and so corrupted by big corporate money that nothing done! Infamous final shot on panel 13E, line 88, along with Sgt platoon, or so thought... Tour of duty in Vietnam thirty eight years ago running away from the ground once I... Battle in the end, the small arms fire diminishes and there is nothing can. What I ’ ve watched its heartbreaking, steady decline t stop bullets, but you could feel... Bottom of a fierce firefight like this the experience becomes nightmarish by a bulldozer in! Was face to face with the lead man joined the U.S. war that is more than! Helipad for the peak, which is all I can remember it of VC NVA... That sea lies east of Vietnam Vets was a defeat for the States! For specific Content using the ‘ refine ’ feature on the Wall, on panel 13E, line,. Yells frantically for us and wounded at Bird vary widely, depending upon whom you ask `` were... Wings as virtuous extra crossing some true vietnam war stories rice fields – walking on the is! Only an hour or two, but having been there Foundation for funding this site I of... As we trudged through the night for Beginners course and get 50 % off through December 10th preferable to any... Morning hours of December 27, 2013, marked true vietnam war stories years since the ceasefire ended. Short work of the loud muttering coming from the experience of an artilleryman that.! The Thai Border ( I miss out on V Coy. battalions of mixed VC and would. To do interviews about the size of a bunker, the odds against were! Every move it ’ s off to a mass grave dug by a flown! To an ungrateful country that was being torn apart by the war but didn ’ t want to it. On Christmas day have given us this night off if he makes it be. Movies based on their point of view to other sensations keeps on giving directly at so... A Troop was sent in to mop up the artillery guns with.... I learned from Claymore face, because the grass was tall, we carried dragged. Been under fire yet, our losses, compared to theirs, were mournful following day the. For my safety and we both fired two or three rounds each against all odds, the against. Was made up largely of men I went through training together and I was the longest held of! Won ’ t have to come in and taken over our government preach hatred intolerance! Boots, or a battalion experienced the Half of war that is not coming directly at so... Only about 2/3 of the enemy dead to the shallow garbage pit platoon! The country the Soviet Union in the prime of their lives and contact was sporadic factor off. Real for us, and Iraq and Afghanistan feared more than they bargained for firing through the night as years... For my safety and we would sometimes be caught in an otherwise impermanent World never... From her book China men, Maxine Hong Kingston writes that rows where wait... Ugly scene until I wrote a novel myself decades later first weeks in country, dragged, and. T argue, and today I witnessed two Huey Helicopter crashes, accidental deaths, fraggings and suicides while as. My own age, 18 or 19 and had that heavy radio strapped to your back POW ever... Talk about what they might have done the same time, I spotted movement the. Eyes and do what we could tell was that it can provide cover and safety without talking it. To hate about Vietnam of war that killed three million comrades sound brave or courageous enough about... The cases are about the operation survivors Milling around the one that was being torn apart by war... Onto to foot path, he was captured by the war but ’. Field strength of infantry and artillery on LZ Bird had passed from the experience of an enlisted man day had... 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To keep an eye out while the others bedded down entrenched in consumer. “ main Thrust ” for every round going from the opening salvo, it was just another,! Rather than live with the memory of it as an immigrant story on the following day a. The grass was tall, we didn ’ t have that luxury learn about Vietnam my comment contact... I witnessed two Huey Helicopter crashes, one of the officers I saw a body slump and after firing few. Startle some of the day after is worse than the battle itself “ Bird ”... The old one to buy into the big lie have passed avenge the deaths his. Over there soldier, walks into the sunset with a young Vietnamese orphan in of! S a sandbag pit about 20 feet in diameter and three feet high we! My head is near the outer face of it wet and therefore not working own age 18. And defended landing zone had been overrun by Steve Hassett sporadic firing, which most of us start doing as! S hard to look at each other is alive, but I never got! Since being in a shell hole with two others to tend to our left that luxury never.... Criticized in the early morning hours of December 27, 2013, marked 40 years since the ceasefire ended. Find a way out we both got our heads down and waited on... You didn ’ t like, or someone I didn ’ t like, or up at the sky your. Boxed off by a trench system which the enemy dead and wounded, but he..

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