Stories told and unspoken

Dad served in Vietnam as a member of the the National Guard unit.

A caveat

Before diving into the stories, I'll add the caveat that all of these were from memories of stories Dad told over the years. He didn't have a lot of good to say about his Vietnam experience, but overall he just didn't say much about it at all even when we asked him.

I was lucky to have caught him in contemplative moments and repeated some of these stories a few times so I'll do my best to document these as we remember them. (And if anyone has other notes to clarify or expand, please send them to me - I'd love to add them.)

Called up

With the Vietnam war in full tilt and the military draft hanging over everyones heads, people of that age were looking for options to avoid it where possible. Of course Dad didn't run to Canada/Mexico like so many did, and neither did he find a doctor to write him a medical deferrment. But he did see that the National Guard was a decent way - signing up would move him out of the draft pool, and it had other training and educational benefits when he finally got out.

And the National Guard was made all the more tempting as Will and Bob Dangler (Moms brothers) had joined and their Guard Unit call-up number was far from the front of the line and pretty much assured to not be pulled in. They convinced him (and each other) that since Dad also lived in the area (where the Guard Units were built from) he would be in the same unit.

But no... Dad was placed into another unit that had a much higher call-up number.

Mom mentioned over the years that for the entire time Dad was in Vietnam, Bob and Will both agnoized over the thought that if something happened to Dad, Mom would be really angry with them. We can only guess what Moms reaction would have been, thankfully Dad served his time and returned physically safe and sound.

Getting his assignment

Early in his NG unit assignment process, it came out that he was a good marksman with both rifle and shotgun. (Growing up hunting Phesant and other small birds honed that skill in him.) And because of that, his papers marked him for being on a jungle patrol team - most likely the point man who was armed with a shotgun as their primary weapon due to the close range the jungle patrol would engage in.

And of course, this was just about the most dangerous team to be a part of, and the most dangerous position on that team. But, luck or a guardian angle would intervene.

Dads guardian angle was another man in line with him. They were comparing their NG assignments, and discussing their home life and experiences to kill the time. Dad mentioned that he was taking Electronics at Milford College (in Milford, Nebraska) and when they got up to the table to be sorted to join up with others in the same assignment area, this guy pipes up and says "You're wasting him on jungle patrol - this guy knows computers and would be better doing that instead."

From what I've seen of military people who were likely assigned to man this table, I find it surprising that they would have listened to a random person in line proping up another in line. But he did. And they did. And they re-assigned Dad on the spot to the computer/electronics team.

Dad said he never heard what happened to that man - he may not have even remembered his name - but I know that in the years afterward Dad knew that the conversation with him and this guys comment to the person sorting the incoming recruits probably saved his life.

Our thanks to that man; we hope you were equally lucky in your tour of Vietnam.

Training and meeting a lifelong friend

So Dad was then shipped off to basic training in Fort Carson, Colorado. To hear dad tell it, it was more like an intense Boy Scout camping trip but more yelling, less food, more forced activites, and a lot more shooting. But through that experience, Dad met a man who would become a lifelong friend (and whos wife would be one of Moms lifelong friends as well) - Roger and Mary Gooderl of Hoyt Kansas.

I don't remember many specific stories of Roger and Dad but one that stands out to me is the buddy camping experience (as I call it).

Dad and Roger were part of a larger team learning how to camp and take care of themselves and each other in the woods. And the time of year they were camping in was in the wet season, an especially wet one this year. As I remember him telling it, each man had 1/2 of a two-man tent and he and Roger had paired up. The rain had been coming down all day, and they were soaked to the bone. The trainers had issued them each a plastic bag along with their backpacks, food, shovel, and tent. The rain was so intense the decently oiled canvas backpacks which would have been sufficiently 'dry' in average rains, were not keeping the water out and everything inside was getting wet and heavy. They quickly leared that the plastic bag was for keeping things dry, especially their CLEAN clothes - the dirty clothes could go into the backpack directly. I don't remeber the details, but apparently military fatigues of the time were good sponges and soaked up all the rain water that made it into the backpack, easily adding another 10 lbs. to the weight.

When they got to their campsite, the were instructed to find a place for their tent and get that setup first. Having not camped in this area much, especially in such wet conditions, they got the tent put up on a fairly flat area with lots of soft pine needles beneath them. Overall, these were mistakes that quickly compounded.

The flat area they (and others) had scoped out was actually a slight draw and all the rain water hitting the slopes was running down toward them. The instructions then were to dig a small ditch around the tent to divert water away from them. But the pine needles didn't really dig well, any trench they made was quickly washed in with other debris. Dad said they woke up in the morning with a small river running through the tent and their clothes completely soaked.

Cam Ranh Air Base

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cam_Ranh_Base

The F-4 Phantoms were "loud" - possibly some of his hearing loss.

B52 bomber 'coming in hot'

Evacuated entire base of all mobile, high-value equiment.

Perks of working in the computer room

When Dad was stationed

R&R in Tokyo

Other duties

Fence patrol

Body pickup

Stories of others

Roger and his "burn team"

The outhouse duty