Age check (POLL)

How old are you?

  • 18-25

  • 26-30

  • 31-35

  • 36-40

  • 41-45

  • 46-50

  • 51-55

  • 56-60

  • 61-65

  • 65+

Results are only viewable after voting.
Padawanbater2

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
These are surprising results, I figured a bell curve, but the 65+ crowd proved me wrong. I didn't know so many boomers were members of RIU

It would be nice to share some history with some of you, what you've been through, where you think we're going, etc.
 
Padawanbater2

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
doublejj said:
I joined the Army right out of high school and volunteered to go to Nam. I was RA (Regular Army) not a draftee. I was 19. Buy the time I got to Nam there were a lot of draftees, and they tended to fire at everything in sight. I hate to say too much about some of the things that happened because they are still bringing German war criminals to trial, and i know we crossed a lot of lines in the jungle. But we were just afraid and trying to stay alive.
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Hey, I can't imagine your time as a soldier in a war zone, especially somewhere as hectic as Vietnam. But I was wondering if you could shed some personal light on maybe some of the atrocities you witnessed firsthand while there? As always, no judgment from me, I'm simply looking into the scope of the ordeal, what happened, why soldiers felt the way they felt at the time, what they felt they had to do. This is personal stuff, as of now, I do not have any type of access to publish anything and I would not publish anything said here without personal and specific permission in the future, I say that to ensure anonymity and I respect privacy. I'm simply interested in getting to the truth of every experience.
 
doublejj

doublejj

Well-Known Member
Padawanbater2 said:
Hey, I can't imagine your time as a soldier in a war zone, especially somewhere as hectic as Vietnam. But I was wondering if you could shed some personal light on maybe some of the atrocities you witnessed firsthand while there? As always, no judgment from me, I'm simply looking into the scope of the ordeal, what happened, why soldiers felt the way they felt at the time, what they felt they had to do. This is personal stuff, as of now, I do not have any type of access to publish anything and I would not publish anything said here without personal and specific permission in the future, I say that to ensure anonymity and I respect privacy. I'm simply interested in getting to the truth of every experience.
Click to expand...
atrocities were being committed on both sides, Vietnam was a moral low point for war on both sides. it was an ugly mess. You felt caught up in a giant clusterfuck with no way out. It was a maddening situation to be in and I was a volunteer. Draftees felt even worse about their situation and all this made for an absolutely insane experience. Thank goodness I found pot or I'm not sure i would have made it thru.
Roger Stones movie Platoon was a pretty fare rendition of what went on. There was a lot more fragging and friendly incidents than were reported. If you notice all of the Vietnam POWs that were released were officers, & pilots mostly. The NVA weren't taking many regular soldiers as prisoners and neither were we. It added a level of desperation to your situation to know it was a no quarter fight, they weren't going to ask you to surrender. Every step you took outside the wire was like a ticking time bomb due to all the booby traps, you never knew where you could step safely. Seeing a few guy's blown into pieces before your eyes will make you rather jumpy. The tension was relentless & unbearable. Officers constantly pushing patrols harder and harder, further and further, demanding body counts. Many innocent Vietnamese were caught in the middle. There was very little discretion used or oversight in the jungle. Much of our ordinance was not very discriminant and a lot of dead women and children were included in enemy body counts.
But just to put this into proper perspective, the first soldier I witnessed die was killed by a 3 year old girl....
I was only in Vietnam for about 2 weeks and sitting in the back of a truck loaded with soldiers as our convoy stopped briefly beside a small village. I watched as a soldier in the truck behind me leaned out to hand a piece of candy to a little girl that ran up to the truck, just as the grenade she had blew up, killing them both and injuring several. It was that kind of war....shitty
 
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Bareback

Bareback

Well-Known Member
doublejj said:
atrocities were being committed on both sides, Vietnam was a moral low point for war on both sides. it was an ugly mess. You felt caught up in a giant clusterfuck with no way out. It was a maddening situation to be in and I was a volunteer. Draftees felt even worse about their situation and all this made for an absolutely insane experience. Thank goodness I found pot or I'm not sure i would have made it thru.
Roger Stones movie Platoon was a pretty fare rendition of what went on. There was a lot more fragging and friendly incidents than were reported. If you notice all of the Vietnam POWs that were released were officers, & pilots mostly. The NVA weren't taking many regular soldiers as prisoners and neither were we. It added a level of desperation to your situation to know it was a no quarter fight, they weren't going to ask you to surrender. Every step you took outside the wire was like a ticking time bomb due to all the booby traps, you never knew where you could step safely. Seeing a few guy's blown into pieces before your eyes will make you rather jumpy. The tension was relentless & unbearable. Officers constantly pushing patrols harder and harder, further and further, demanding body counts. Many innocent Vietnamese were caught in the middle. There was very little discretion used or oversight in the jungle. Much of our ordinance was not very discriminant and a lot of dead women and children were included in enemy body counts.
But just to put this into proper perspective, the first soldier I witnessed die was killed by a 3 year old girl....
I was only in Vietnam for about 2 weeks and sitting in the back of a truck loaded with soldiers as our convoy stopped briefly beside a small village. I watched as a soldier in the truck behind me leaned out to hand a piece of candy to a little girl that ran up to the truck, just as the grenade she had blew up, killing them both and injuring several. It was that kind of war....shitty
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Thanks for your service , you have the respect of more people , than some would admit.

I grow up around a lot of drafted vets , grow many a patches with them and listen to the nightmares they had. I have no words to describe how helpless it is to see my friends anguish and can't do anything but listen and just be there for them to talk to....
 
doublejj

doublejj

Well-Known Member
Bareback said:
Thanks for your service , you have the respect of more people , than some would admit.

I grow up around a lot of drafted vets , grow many a patches with them and listen to the nightmares they had. I have no words to describe how helpless it is to see my friends anguish and can't do anything but listen and just be there for them to talk to....
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My father-in-law bought this for my wife soon after I returned from Vietnam. I only learned years later it was for protection from me....:(
IMG_2692.JPG
 
dannyboy602

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
doublejj said:
atrocities were being committed on both sides, Vietnam was a moral low point...
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how do u feel about this never ending war on terror this country is in and do u think an invasion of Iran will devolve into a global war with Russia and China?

And lastly, thanks for your sacrifice to our country. And thanks for inspiring me and many others on this site to be a better grower.
You should think about writing a book. I bet it would make for some interesting reading.
 
doublejj

doublejj

Well-Known Member
dannyboy602 said:
how do u feel about this never ending war on terror this country is in and do u think an invasion of Iran will devolve into a global war with Russia and China?

And lastly, thanks for your sacrifice to our country. And thanks for inspiring me and many others on this site to be a better grower.
You should think about writing a book. I bet it would make for some interesting reading.
Click to expand...
thenk you. we have lost all respect and credibility as a world leader. We have big problems to deal with right here at home. We need to clean up our own mess before we go poking around into other peoples. Once a war gets started it's hard to stop. America stayed out of WWII for a long time until we went all in to win it. Fearful times right now. I haven't felt like this since the cuban missile crisis.
 
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