Talk about it.

[Nick Riviezzo]

I hope I don't set the wrong tone on this, our newest,forum. I spent three tours in Viet Nam, one on the ground and two as a gunship/ scout helicopter pilot.I know many of my compadres that won't or don't talk about their experiences for as many reasons as there are people but,I have found ,for me, talking it out helps better than tuning out or diving into a bottle.Beside lightening your emotional load, the info passed forward helps new folks going into harms way.We can train them but we can't teach judgement. We can demonstrate judgement. We can't give them experience, but we can relate our experiences to young soldiers to give them a foundation.If this all sounds strange please remember I have just finished 23 years of Active Duty and 24 years of training Army helicopter pilots. Many former students of mine have come back and told me,"Sir, you were so right about..." or"I remembered what you said about .... and it saved my life". Please, vets pass on your experience to our young Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen, you never know what small piece of your experience can make a big difference to our troops today.[don't forget, some of the young men and women you interact with in civilian life may be in uniform with in a year]I don't advocate enhancing "war stories" for personal glory but I'm not ashamed of my record either.Please share your experiences. Just My... not so... Humble Opinion. Nick

[Dan In Indiana]

Spent close to 16 months in down town Viet Nam at the big air base at Chu Lai in a Comm repair shop so you won't read anything worth a free cup of coffee from me. But about two years ago, I went to a program at our local library to hear a gentleman by the name of Frank Walker. He's from over at Shelbyville here in Indiana, but as a very young man went ashore at Iwo Jima as a flame thrower grunt. For a man in his 80's he gave a most impressive talk about that time in history, having to stop several times to compose himself as the description of that event got very detailed. He decided to start talking about it because he felt that the younger generation and this country needed to be reminded of what it cost to make this country what it is today. When I talked to him after the program was over, he said that as hard as it was to do it, it made him feel better, especially when he was at a high school, seeing the looks on the faces of some of the students. He said that most of them had absolutely no clue what went on back then, as all they knew about that war was what was in their history books, and that was very little. I apologized to him for being nothing but a REMF, but he said that he appreciated the very fact that I volunteered for the Marines and the same for going to Nam, and extending my tour. It wouldn't hurt the kids today to have some of the current Vets who have gone through the previous wars, even back to Viet Nam, to hear just what it takes to keep the freedoms alive that they take for granted. Personal rant over.

[TomSudz]

Dan, what kind of repairs and what kind of equipment? Warfare is heavily dependent on communications. It's vital that units in combat have equipment that functions correctly every time. Is it possible that radios you worked on called for airstrikes, artillery support, or medevacs? Could a field phone you repaired have been used on an LP/OP which alerted a firebase of an incoming attack? Every job is important. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true. Without the so-called "REMF's" who pushed the ammo supply forward? Who fuels the vehicles? Who makes sure adequate medical supplies are on hand? And who makes sure the commo works? As a grunt, I can't thank the REMF's enough. REMF's kept us supplied, REMF's kept us fed, REMF's kept our comms working, REMF's fueled our vehicles, REMF's fixed our broken vehicles, and REMF's were there on the radio to send us what we needed like medevacs, EOD, or a reaction force. Don't sell yourself short, grunts may not show it, but we appreciate what you did, thanks for being there and doing your job well, there might be people alive today because of you.

[Dan In Indiana]

Nothing as glorious as you described, EE8s', TA312s', SB22s', SB26s', and constantly replacing the plug in jacks for the switch boards. Add a month of guard duty, a month of "police duty" [had a crew paint the Colonel's personal crapper bright orange, but that's a whole 'nuther story in itself], and a month of working in the Americal Division PX warehouse, I was one PO Marine. Most of the stuff I worked on, I had to learn it via the OJT as I never studied it in Basic Electronics School. Did manage however to wrangle three [3] R&Rs' to Bangkok, guessing that made up for all the Chicken Chit that was dealt out other wise. The Fourth of July episode with the fire crackers that I bought out in the 'ville, is another story in itself, along with paneling my hootch area and painting it with Baby Blue tone. Luckily I had a 1st Louie as a CO, and a MSgt. shop chief that took my attitude in stride, after concluding an agreement with them that you just tell me want done, and then "leave me alone".

[Andouille]

Dan, please relate the story about painting the Colonel's personal crapper. If that ain't worth telling, nothing is.

And God bless all those what keep radios working. Thank you for your service, and welcome home.

[Dan In Indiana]

Well, the story can best be started with me getting a copy of my SRB a few years ago, and the first thing I looked for was my rating. When I got to Chu Lai by the Sea in September of '67 my attitude was rated very good with my work ethic kind of low. When I left in January of '69, the scales tipped 180. Worth ethic was high, and attitude was in the toilet, period. A year of electronics school, payed for by the taxpayers, and I got stuck picking up trash barrels, cutting barrels in half for the chitters, running errands for the squadron Sgt. Maj. [who had 30 years in, but convinced the powers that be that he could still be of service if they allowed him to re-enlist] and a whole lot of other things that escape the memory. The paint job was assigned one day by the Sgt.Maj. to paint the Full Birds personal crapper, with a PFC and L/Cpl who also got stuck with me, a Cpl. E-4. I was told that this was to be a bang up job as it was for the head cheese and it had to be a very good job [knowing the the SM would take credit for it]. Looking for the paint, and having found none, we were told to go down to the Utilities Section and get some. All they would give me was left over stuff, so I took every thing they had. Did get some so called paint brushes and away we went. Tossed what was bad, then looking to see what we [them 2] could come up with. Couple of good cans of white and the testing began. All of a sudden the colors start showing up in test batches, and bingo. One of them ask if this would be alright for our precious big shot. Forget now what they mixed but it was the most beautiful orange one could imagine. Mix it up fellows, it will make this little project stand out for what it's worth. "Your nuts Corporal" was the reply, to which I replied, "that has already been decided by more intelligent people then are standing here, so get with it." They wanted to start at the bottom, but I had learned at an early age to start at the top so any drips and runs could be taken care off as you went down. Now this crapper looked about the same as a back yard shed, so up went a couple of step ladders and the brushing started. Any wood that could be seen from any angle was to have a smooth and even coat, and enough paint so that only one coat would be needed. Even though it was oil based paint, it dried quickly in that heat and the worked progressed, with those 2 doing the work and me checking all that was done. "Do a good job now fellas, this is for the Colonel" and the reply was "were going to jail, I know it, were going to jail when he sees what we've done." It was a thing of beauty, it really was. Every one walking in and out of the Squadron office went by with smiles [enlisted] or a look of dis-belief [officers] on their face. Job done, ladders put up, brushes and cans put in trash, cleaned up and seeing as how it was close to quiting time [yeah, right] we disappeared. Next morning went the the Squadron office for our next strategic assignment from an E-4, who said the SM wanted to see me, right now. Seems the head man came back to his office after being out in his A4 Skyhawk, bombing all those innocent civilians, and stopped to admire our handy work. So the story goes, the man said that was the neatest, most well done paint job he had seen in a long time, no drips, no runs, an even coat, no light spots, no bare spots, and the Marines that did it were to be complimented, "but that bright orange has got to go." New paint brushes and new cans of Marine Corps green were brought out, and we started the finishing coat, which took a little longer as that orange was kind of hard to hide. Done and cleaned up, we had to have the SM inspect it this time, passed with flying colors with the comment, "I don't know why you smart asses couldn't have done it right the first time." Nothing to do the next day so we all went back to our regular jobs for one day while they thought of some important for us to do. Waltzing into the shop, I was greeted with laughter from all the other guys, and the shop chief [MSgt., lifer, one each] sitting behind the desk just looked up at me and kind of mumbled something on the order of "surprised you 're not in the brig." The word must have spread pretty quick as I passed our 1st. Louie later, and all he said after returning a salute was " you'll never learn, will you." I was on a roll, even the guys eating in the mess hall at lunch knew all about it. I admit that I would never be one that you would use as an example on the posters they used to put in front of the Post Office, but when given a bunch of lemons, I started thinking about lemonade. The firecrackers on the 4th of July could have gotten me shot though!

[Shooter5]

Mr Dan:
Funny story! Please do not ever sell yourself short about your service! ANYONE who has served has our nation's respect and gratitude. Service in and of itself is more than some will ever do. Everyone has a job because it is necessary and needed. I also have never turned my back on any of the civilian or contractors who provide invaluable duty to everyone.
Every time I came back from 100+ heat and relaxed in some cool, refreshing A/C, guess where that generator, electricity, fuel and maintenance came from? Or walking in to a chow hall dog sick of MRE's and finally getting a real cooked meal? Alot of people worked hard to make that happen.
Who brought in all that ammo that loads my guns?
My salute and hats off to you, sir. Thank you for your service. And welcome home!