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Reflections 0f Nam..

There is no nice way to fight a war.

The cost of war is life.

The greatest defeat that the United States has suffered in any war was the failure to overcome the attitude of coldness, and indifference, with which Americans shunned most of those returning veterans. Let us never forget the men and women who served our country so valiantly and at such cost-in the difficult, much-repudiated and unforgettable Vietnam War.

Let us always remember the price

that both sides will pay.

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~Our 3dskull.gif (40695 bytes) BunKer`s

The Healing Aspects of Helping

by Bridget C. Cantrell, Ph.D.

Over the course of a year my relationship with The 173rd Airborne Brigade was formed through an ongoing e-mail exchange with the chaplains on the ground in Iraq. These paratroopers of the 173rd made the night combat jump in early 2003 to open up and secure the northern front in Iraq.

In mid 2003, we began communicating with key people of the 173rd Airborne, and soon thereafter I contacted Chuck Dean and collaborated with him on writing and designing a new course workbook. The focus of this book, (“Turning Your Heart Toward Home”), is to help those returning from the war reintegrate and rebuild relationships with loved ones at home. As a result of working together on this project an invitation was extended to us to provide information about the ramifications of the impact of war on the returning combat troops from Iraq. My years of experience in counseling and working with veterans and families through the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD Program was invaluable in bringing simple understanding about combat stress to these troops who had just returned from combat in northern Iraq.

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We arrived in Vicenza, Italy on May 24, 2004 and were escorted to Camp Ederle, the home of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, by Army chaplains Major Tom Wheatley and Captain Steve Cantrell (no relation to me). These wonderful men did an excellent job in arranging all our meetings and services. As well as our logistical needs, they helped setup battalion-sized meetings plus individual and small group counseling sessions with the troops.

On the 25th of May, 2004 we had the opportunity to address the issues of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with over 2500 men and women from three battalions and one artillery battery of paratroopers. When the program was then turned over to me I presented a power point introduction to describe the basic aspects of PTSD and readjustment issues. The presentation was given in a way to offer psychological tools to enhance coping skills and illuminate some of the challenges they may encounter along the way.

To help these soldiers gain an understanding of what to expect from witnessing, and participating in combat, it was critical to “normalize” their symptoms and reactions. This was accomplished by stressing the idea that what they are feeling, and perhaps acting out, is not out of the ordinary. However, I explained, that this is common in those who experience such stressful and traumatic events as found in combat. Our purpose on this mission was NOT to alarm the troops, who were so fresh out of combat, but to help them understand some of the reactions to stress and the “signs along the trail” that they may be experiencing (and many were). It was important to give them a simple understanding of PTSD and to “normalize” their responses to life after war. If done properly there is a greater possibility that they may be able to recognize and avoid some future problems that could otherwise cause prolonged, unpredictable and adverse effects.

Our days were spent by presenting information to large groups, small focus groups and individuals. We believe that many of these troops came away with more effective tools to help them with present and future readjustment issues. As time goes by we currently continue to pray for and communicate (via e-mail and USPS mail) with some of the troops whom we were so privileged to meet while there. It is our hope that this is just the first of many open doors for us to continue to work in unison with the U.S. military in caring for the troops and their families.

USArmy.gif (7438 bytes) We look forward to presenting our workbook course “Turning Your Heart Toward Home” in many local areas. For information on seminars and group material please feel free to contact my office in the Fairhaven District of Bellingham.

Sincerely,

Hearts Toward Home International
1050 Larrabee Avenue
Suite 104, PMB 714
Bellingham, Washington 98225-7367

(360) 714-1525

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inquire@heartstowardhome.com

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Night anihook7d.gif (25385 bytes) ~Patrol...

A Vietnam Veteran is always…

“Dedicated to those who served in Vietnam and returned home…

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to those who are still waiting to return…

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and to those who will flyingflagpow.gif (10136 bytes) never return.”

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Durning The Periods 1964 & 1975 Over2.59 million

American Serviceman and Women

Served Their Country in The Vietnam War

58,202 made the Ulitmate Sacrafice.

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Vietnam... The Republic of~

These Visions ~

Are For Them...

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Any0ne Out there Still Airborne ? Send us Y0ur stories~

" Spread patrol5.gif (18301 bytes) OOOOut!!! "

THE SKY gliderpatch.gif (8794 bytes) SOLDIER

Herd History…

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What are you looking for Sky Soldier? The enemy?

A cold beer? A vision of home? A lost friend?

What are you reaching for Sky Soldier?

The dawn of each new day may bring a different answer,

but no matter…

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The infantryman goes on—to fight, to die, to live, and—yes—to g0 Home.

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What Did

We Do in Vietnam ??

mailedD3.gif (12092 bytes) The year 1969 marked the beginning

of the gernad.gif (35666 bytes) end

for the Vietnam War, at least for U.S. troops.

President Nixon announced the first withdrawals of

American combat units as enemy effectiveness dwindled

and Vietnamese forces grew increasingly pro�ficient at

handling the fighting alone. Appropriately, the year also

brought a significantly new mission for the 173rd Airborne

Brigade, which arrived in Vietnam in May 1965 as the first

U.S. Army combat unit

in the mapaid.jpg (11413 bytes) War.

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On April 15, the Brigade stopped chasing the Viet Cong

and NorthVietnamese Army troops in large scale search

and clear Combat operations and began the support of

the Vietnamese Government’s “Pacification program” in

the four districts of northern Binh Dinh Province.

The goal: Help bring all of the area’s 300,000 people under

government control. And the Brigade prepared to stay.

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Battle hardened Paratroopers

seemed un�likely soldiers for the pacification mission.

In four years of fighting in Vietnam, 173rd Sky Soldiers

had shed a lot of blood and sweat as they fought the

Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army in the jungles

near Bien Hoa, in The Iron Triangle, on the bloody

slopes at Dak To in the highlands, near rice-rich Tuy Hoa

and on the fertile Bong Son coastal plains.

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By Spring 1969, the time seemed ripe for a

Large scale pacification effort in northern Binh Dinh

Province where the Brigade had been operating for a

year. In February, Brigadier General John W. Barnes,

173rd Commanding General, had observed, “It’s no

longer a big unit war. We’ve forced the enemy to

fragment his forces to avoid detection. And in turn,

we have done like�wise and gone after him, saturating

the areas he once could call his own, meeting him on his

own terms, ferreting him out and destroying him. Of

course, this has put a great responsibility on the small

unit leader. It has become a

squad and platoon leader’s war, and they are

doing a fine job.” The Brigade operations officer put it

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“We’re nickel and diming the enemy to death.”

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Return to Innocence
Enigma

Love - Devotion
Feeling - Emotion

Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence

If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence

That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence

Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and loose the chance
to return to innocence

If you want then start to laugh
If you must then start a cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny.
Don't care what people say,
just follow your own way.
Don't give up and loose the chance
to return to innocence.

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Early in February, the Brigade ended three long-term

operations in Binh Dinh Province. Besides accounting for

nearly 2,000 enemy killed, one result of these operations

was security of highway QL-19 between An Khe and the

important port of Qui Nhon, paving the way for the

eventual move of the Brigade’s 4th Bat�talion, 503d

Infantry and 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry (Mechanized)

from An Khe area to the coastal plains Area Bong Son.

Three other operations, characterized by successful

small unit Hawk operations, began im�mediately and

continued until the begin�ning of Operation Washington-Green,

the Pacification mission, on April 15.

In May, the 173rd Support Battalion moved from An Khe

to the Phu Tai and Cha Rang Valleys near Qui Nhon.

At the outset of Washington-Green, General Barnes

emphasized that the Brigade would no longer be pre-

occupied with chasing and killing enemy troops in

unpopulated jungle and mountain areas.

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“ Body count “

is no longer the criterion for success. Instead,

we will secure the people, their homes and their farms.

Our aim is to deny the VC their support from the

hamlets, without which they can not survive,”

concluded the 49-year-old commander.

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reliable2.gif (43250 bytes) Security was the name of the game. Combined

Vietnamese and 173rd forces moved into key hamlets or set up nearby, providing a protective screen behind which government agencies initiated pacification programs to improve local economies, standards of living, and most important, to develop awareness of the Saigon government among the villagers.

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The four districts that made up the Brigade’s

area of operation lie about 280 miles northeast of Saigon.

In the coastal lowlands, bordered on the east by white

sandy beaches and rocky cliffs, shallow water fishing

supports the economy. Further inland, just beyond the

first range of low forested mountains, rice farming is the

basic occupation. Still farther west, toward the Cambodian

border, lie thickly forested and sparsely populated mountains,

where the enemy has located his largest base areas.

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Where I mili60.gif (20779 bytes) Was...i

Bong Son , was the largest population center in

northern Binh Dinh. Small industries in the area include

cigarette shops, brick kilns, ice plants, some salt flats

and a few shops that manufacture rope from coconut

bush fiber. Most of the people are ethnic Vietnamese,

with ancestral roots in the ancient Chinese ruled

kingdom of Annam. They adhere primarily to Each of

the Brigade’s four maneuver battalions operated in a

single district. Each Battalion Commander located a

tactical operations center with local Vietnamese forces

in the district headquarters.

Want to learn more? Follow the Link`s below…

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Herd History…

What Our Brigade Did in Nam

LZ NORTH ENGLISH — Trudging two miles south of Lo Dieu Beach into thickly jungled mountains after a 48-hour standown, Co D, 4th Bn, 503d Inf, broke up a Viet Cong basecamp and killed three ememy about 50 miles north of Qui Nhon on October 29.
   The Paratoopers, humping back to their inland basecamp under Typhoon Kate's strong winds and driving rain, were stopped short by alert Company Pointmen, Sp4's Kenneth T. Perry and Patrick M. Glowacki.
   "As we were nearing the end of our route Perry and Glowacki spotted a female, who dashed back toward the mountains when she saw them," reported 1st Platoon Leader Lee C. Tashjian. "The Pointmen fired warning shots but she kept right on going. About that time, the Viet Cong opened up with automatic fire, pinning us down until we fired and manuevered against a half dozen of them, forcing them onto the beach."
   "Just like a World War II movie," exclaimed Sp4 Robert E. Benjamin, Miami, Fla. "Getting into a firefight with the VC on the sand is like the old days, fighting in open land, where you can see a target!"
   Minutes after the chase, the fleeing Cong split into individual defense groups but the Pointmen were hot on their trail. One VC was engaged and zapped in a cave complex by Perry and Glowacki. Perry, from Galena Ga, chased another into a cave complex about 500 feet back into the mountains, while Glowacki, from Hantranok Mich, fired up another in a rock formation.
   After a thorough search of the initial contact area, the Company found rucksacks, Chicom grenades, living quarters, and bunkers in the thick brush. "Most likely a basecamp, maybe even a propaganda center for the Viet Cong, because we found a substantial amount of papers, written in English, urging Gls to refuse to fight in Viet Nam," stated the Company Commander, Cpt Harry Klein from Kalamazoo Mich.

Herd Bathes in Monsoon Floods

   LZ ENGLISH - Heavy rains and slashing winds during the last part of October left Soldiers of the 173d stranded everywhere - on rooftops, rafts, tops of vehicles, mountain peaks and even in trees.
   The November Rangers, who had been operating a radio-relay team West of LZ English on Hill 606, were actually stranded for several days in a haze of clouds. Unable to go into the lowlands because of the flooded conditions, the Rangers were finally rescued by Casper Aviation Platoon.
   As a result of the inclement weather, a Reconaissance Team, Wildcat 2, was not resupplied for several days. Ragged and worn, the team was finally extracted from the Crow's Foot in Northeastern Binh Dinh Province on October 31.
   Twenty-one Soldiers of D Co, 2d Bn, were forced to take refuge in tops of trees from the fast rising Kim Son River in eastern Hoai An District. Stranded from midnight to the dawning hours of Nov 1, the men were lifted out by two Casper "Slicks" utilizing rope ladders.
   Three Soldiers, on a rescue mission to recover another vehicle, became stranded atop their wrecker south of LZ English on Highway 1. Sniper fire and rising water kept them marooned for two hours before help could arrive.
   In other rescue missions by Casper during the torrential monsoon rains, three Soldiers were lifted from a rooftop near Bong Son, eight were pulled out of a boat on Highway 1 after their vehicle had broken down and three more were rescued from an isle near Lo Dieu after failing to reach their destination on foot.
   In view of the remarkable efforts of the pilots and crews of Casper Platoon despite the lack of visibility and poor cornmunications, awards and decorations are pending.

Torrent Trees Troopers

   LZ ENGLISH - A Platoon of the 173d Abn Bde, was forced to climb trees to keep from drowning in the monsoon floods. The Paratroopers had taken shelter about dark on a small knoll in eastern Hoai An District. By midnight the entire hill was flooded to a depth of four feet, forcing the soaking GI's into the trees.
   Due to the heavy rains, D Co, 2d Bn, 503d Inf, was pulling out of the lowlands and into Fire Base Orange. The Command element and 2d Platoon couldn't make it. The distance was just too much for them to travel before dark. The Paratroopers realized that they had better be on high ground for the night. They chose a knoll rising out of the rice paddies.
   At 10:30pm 2d Bn, received a call on the radio. "We've only got six feet of ground left, it's going fast!" By midnight they had called in to say the water was waist deep, and that they were taking to the trees. The water kept lapping at their heels, driving them higher and higher into the trees.
   Sometime after 1:30 am the flood reached it's high point, about eight feet above the ground. A Shadow aircraft from Phu Cat kept the area illuminated during the tense and trying night. The D Co troops popped pen flares to keep the Shadow on target.
   Lt Col Robert G. Hertel, of Salina Kansas had been busy trying to borrow a boat from someone. MACV in Bong Son came up with a 16 footer with a 40 horse motor. A convoy of three jeeps and a two and a half ton truck, with the boat firmly attached, left LZ English at 11:30 p.m.
   Hertel's convoy was soon washed out. One by one the jeeps floundered and had to be left. Finally there was only the truck left. The MP escort was walking ahead as guides. Several times fhey were swept away, only to be hauled back by ropes. The rescue attempt was stopped by a washed out bridge. The could go no further. Another way had to be found.
   Throughout the night the tree climbing troopers had to swap off sitting and standing on the tree's limbs.
   At daybreak Casper flew to the rescue. It took five sorties of Huey helicopters to get the stranded men out of the trees. Using cable ladders, the men scrambled out of the trees and into the hovering birds.
   "They looked like drowning monkeys", said Sp4 Chuck Carroll, a Crew Chief from Woburn, Mass. The Door Gunner, Sp 4 Fred Fisher of Lexington Tn, claimed they made it just in time. "Some of the men were so exausted that they had trouble climbing into the bird", he said.
   "I'm gonna find that Pilot and kiss him", swore one of the rescued Paratroopers.
   When Sgt Steven Strahm of Montpelier Ind, was asked what he thought of the situation, he said, "I spent the night freezing to death, hanging in a tree with twenty other drowning rats...and you ask what I think? I'll tell you, but you're not gonna be able to print it...."

Kit Carson Scout Frees Troop

By Pfc Paul Sheehan

BONG SON— A former Viet Cong Officer recently saved the life of a Paratrooper who was caught in a deadly booby trap. Nguyen Thanh a Kit Carson Scout, crawled 30 feet to clip a trip wire entangled in the boots of SP4 Charles W. Scudder of Kansas City, Mo.
"I was moving toward a gap in a hedgerow when it happened," said Scudder. "I pushed aside a bamboo stick, took a couple of steps and heard a sharp click. All I could think of was booby trap !"

Stood Rigid

Scudder then looked down and saw a thin strand of wire caught on his left boot and twisted behind his right foot. Keeping his cool, Scudder turned his head to the soldier behind him. "I think I'm in a booby trap," he said. "Get some help." For the next 20 minutes the 25-year-old paratrooper with Alpha Company, 2/503d Infantry waited rigidly in place afraid that the slightest twitch might set off the bomb. The area surrounding Scudder was cleared of all troops and an Explosives Ordnance team was summoned.

Examine Trip Wire

"My feet were stationary but I think my knees were knocking," recalled Scudder afterward. "I tried smoking a cigarette." The explosives experts moved in and examined the wire, but were unable to see the trap because of camouflage.
It was then that Thanh, a former VC Company Commander who had rallied to the Allied Forces, arrived and inspected the situation. The 38-year-old Thanh urged SP4 Scudder to remain rigid and backed off quickly.

   Minutes later Thanh returned to the area with a pair of scissors. However, fearing that Scudder might set off the bomb at any second, this time the Kit Carson Scout inched forward on his belly. Reaching Scudder, he slipped his hand between the Paratrooper's legs, and with a simple clip of the scissors cut the trip wire.
   Together Thanh and Scudder inspected the disengaged trap before Thanh disarmed it. Called a butterfly bomb, the trap was rigged so that the wire would pull a piece of wood allowing the trap to snap shut and detonate the charge Scudder heard the small stick slip from its position and stopped in time to keep it from completely dislodging. The slightest movement and the stick would have slipped out.
   "I'm glad to be of help to the American troops," said Thanh who was once trained to set up similar traps. "I will gladly go out of my way to teach them anything I know." After freeing Scudder, Thanh found four more booby traps in the area. Thanh was killed a few days later on a similar mission.

173d Aids Ailing Marketplace

By Sp4 Larry Gillis

Bong Son— A short time ago, the marketplace in Bong Son, a quiet province capital along the north central coast of South Vietnam was a tangle of motor scooters, garbage, trucks and people. The air was thick with the nauseating odor of rotting vegetables and gasoline fumes. Flies swarmed everywhere and mange ridden rats clawed through some of the shops, occassionally brushing against the vegetables on sale by sidewalk peddlers. Scores of children darted over jagged edges of rusty soft drink cans.

The marketplace had grown increasingly more difficult to traverse as heavy trucks and torrential rains had gutted the clay surface with gaping holes. Despite the overcrowded apperance the marketplace had steadily lost its patronage because of the filth, and the local governing authorities had grown concerned.

Brigade Supported

It was then that the District Chief contacted the Civic Action Office of the 173rd Airborne Brigade headed by Major Ronald Lawrence of Normal, Il. The two conferred with Major Karl Schmid of Maspeth, NY, the 173d Brigade Engineer, and plans were made for the Brigade to supply technical support and the town to supply the workers. Within days, Army dump trucks had dumped the first loads of fill on the marketplace road and bulldozers had moved into position. Dozens of volunteer Vietnamese lined the route with picks, shovels and rakes. The joint operation consumed three weeks in a scene reminiscent of "Cool Hand Luke."

Road Improved

   Before the project began it was difficult to manuever a small truck over the road. Now, two large vehicles have ample room. "The remarkable thing about this particular project," pointed out Major Lawrence, "was the amount of energy and enthusiasm the people put into it. The 173rd Engineers hauled close to 450 tons of fill and did some of the grading, but the Vietnamese did all of the rest of the work."
   Not only was the marketplace rejuvenated, but the road was rebuilt and hardpacked for a stretch of two miles. "Routes of communication are of key importance in under developed areas," explained Major Schmid. "From the villagers' point of view this project indicates that the people see some promise of hope, especially since they agreed ahead of time to do all of the labor."
   The Major was particularly pleased with the way the soldiers and civilians worked in total harmony. "The important thing," he said, "was that the idea to improve the area originated in the minds of the people." Because of its geographical location nearly all the inhabitants have to traverse the route to get to their jobs. Now 5,000 pass over the new road, with ease.

1st, 4th Bats Score Heavily

    The final weeks of September found Paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade encountering heavy contact in areas of operation 200 miles apart. The most significant activity was registered by the 1st and 4th Battalions, 503d Infantry, who struggled against stubbornly entrenched North Vietnamese regulars.
    The 4th Battalion, working with elements of the 4th Infantry Division in Operation MacArthur along the Cambodian Border west of Ban Me Thuot, ventured into heavily jungled mountains that had previously been the undisputed domain of the NVA. Two prominent battles were fought. After four weeks in their new AO, Colonel Frederick Weyand's 4th Battalion had accounted for 51 dead NVA, numerous weapons caches and several destroyed enemy base camps.
    In Operation Cochise/Dan Sinh, along the North Central Coast, the 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry and Armored units of 1/69th Armor reacted to contact made by the 41st ARVN Regiment on September 22, in the Suoi Ca mountains, 20 miles north of Qui Nhon. The ARVN's had been in contact for two days before the 173d arrived and had accounted for 87 enemy bodies. Plagued by heavy rains, the Brigade elements cordoned off one side of a mountain filled with NVA fortifications and began pushing up the incline. Over 20 air strikes had been leveled against the enemy positions.

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The heaviest initial contact was made by C/1/503d under the command of Captain Robert Powell. On their first day, Charlie Company killed 16 NVA, captured four AK 47's, two machine guns and several hundred rounds of ammunition while suffering only two killed.

Infantry Splashes Ashore
Looking for Cong Hideouts

BONG SON- A Platoon of Paratroopers made their first Amphibious Combat Assault recently when a Navy 'Swift' patrol boat landed the Infantrymen at the edge of a VC infested village. It all started when the patrol boat, PFC 90, and Delta Company, 2/503d Infantry were assigned to the same area of operations near the mouth of the Lai Giang River, east of Bong Son.

Lost Knife Turns Up on Dead NVA

AN KHE- Four months ago Captain Robert L Powell of Columbus Ga, an Infantry Company Commander with the 173d Airborne Brigade lost a knife while fording a stream near An Khe. This wasn't an ordinary knife for Captain Powell. It had been given to him as a small boy. His named was engraved on it, and he had carried the knife for nearly his entire life including two tours in Vietnam.
The chances of recovering his keepsake were minimal at best but when his Battalion left that particular area of operation he was certain he would never see it again. However, by a strange quirk of fate, the Captain's unit, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry, recently Combat Assaulted into his old locale. Approaching a Montagnard village only an hour after landing, the Company made contact with several NVA soldiers, killing four. On one of the bodies, believed to be an Officer, Captain Powell's knife was found.

3/503d To LTC Berke

Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Berke Jr, has assumed Command of the 503d Infantry. The 37 year old Colonel replaced LTC George E. Fisher Jr during ceremonies at Bao Loc, where the 3rd Battalion has been located since July with Task Force South. A 1952 graduate of Virginia Military Institute in Lexington Va, Colonel Berke is a native of Southampton, Bermuda. He currently makes his home in Fairfax Va, with his wife Irene and 7 children. Prior to coming to Vietnam, Colonel Berke worked in the Office of the Chief of Research and Development in Washington DC. He was previously assigned to the Alaskan Command (UJARAL) as an Operations Officer. In accepting his new command, Colonel Berke noted that it was a considerable privilege to receive a command in a unit with the outstanding reputation of the 173d Airborne Brigade.

319th Renders Aid

By Sp4 L. A. Gillis

BONG SON- Outside the wooden gates of the Bong Son Refugee Center, motor scooters and trucks kick up a billow of choking red dust. But, it doesn't seem to bother the Vietnamese carpenters and masons enthusiastically working inside and seemingly unaware of the turmoil beyond the huge wooden gate.
The reason for the activity inside the refugee center is the result of some high-spirited Artillerymen from the 319th Artillery who are giving new steam to a rebuilding project started over a year ago by a group of European missionaries. The missionaries had started to build a school for the refugee camp nestled in this rural provincial capital along South Vietnam's north central coast, but work on the project waned to a stand still because of a lack of funds and a sharp increase in enemy activity in the area. More than 150 school age children could no longer look forward to going to classes in the building that had been promised so long.

Top Priority

Several months ago, however, the Paratroopers heard about the situation and decided to help. Completion of the project was given top priority, and a plan was formulated where all the labor on the school would be done by the inhabitants of the camp while the Artillerymen would supply the structural materials and tools as needed.
"Schooling is uppermost in the minds of Vietnamese parents," noted Captain Robert Stryjewski of Uniondale NY, who coordinates the project in his off time. "As in many oriental countries," the Captain pointed out "the people may live in rubble but they will devoted a lot of time and effort to building a new schoolhouse for their children."

One of Many

The school project is only one of many, in an ambitous new 'self-help' approach to civic actions problems by the 173d Airborne Brigade. In addition to building the school, the project is also aimed at helping the Vietnamese learn new job skills.
"It is difficult to give the assistance you would like to in a civic action program," explained Captain Stryjewski. "Our jobs tie us up most of the time." "But, with our new approach," the Captain noted, "we should at least be able to get the Vietnamese started so they can carry the ball from there. The important thing is that they are beginning to cope with their own problems."

LRP's Surprise Charlie

     BONG SON- A Brigade Long Range Patrol (LRP) recently accidently bumped into a large Viet Cong element, but got away and killed two while doing it.
     "We had been humping a long time," said Pfc Richard Green of Ronan, Montana. "I was on point, and before I knew what was happening a guy in black pajamas was standing in front of me."
     The incident occurred in the central highlands west of Bong Son, and before the surprised VC could fire his weapon, Green hit him with a burst of fire.
     Green's shots alerted another VC nearby who sprayed automatic weapon fire through the trees. One of the Paratroopers, however, also cut him down with a volley from his machine gun.
     The small LRP team then heard a babble of voices and a large group moving toward them. "It looked like we were badly outnumbered," recalled Pfc Robert Offenhartz of New York City, "so we hightailed it out of there."
     On the run, the RTO, Pfc Jim Mazur of Saginaw Mi, radioed for a helicopter to extract the team. "It was so thick in there we had to blow a landing zone with claymores so the chopper could see us," said Mazur. "For a couple of us," added Offenhartz, "it was our first LRP mission, and that extraction chopper couldn't have gotten there fast enough. Artillery was quickly called in on the enemy site.

More of The Brigade`s Duty`s

Stories from The Nam.

Bamboo Memories

Shattered jungle
blackened skull
young Trooper passin
sees
and knows....
So aged youth!
What deeds were done?
So uncouth
that still you run
from bamboo memories
burning still
upon that muddy
bloody hill.....

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Dewy`s site 3/503^rd 173rd

Kilo Valley Summer of 1968

2nd Platoon A Company 4/503rd 173rd Airborne Brigade

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God bless all our serviceman & women,

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We thank you for your service and sacrifice.

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The Brothers of Nam wish to declare

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May 7, beginning in 2003, as medevac.gif (7545 bytes)

Vietnam Veteran Recognition Day.

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Our intent is to have a day to

Honor all Vietnam Veterans

for their service 4flgs.gif (35591 bytes) to our country.

We would like "Welcome Home" to be the slogan

for this celebratory day. We feel that a day of this kind

is long over due and would like others to join our cause

by signing this petition. Please show your support of these ]

neglected Heroes by giving them the

Homecoming they deserved so long ago.

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Won’t you Sign our petition today ?

Vietnam Veterans Day Petition to U.S.Congress was created by Brothers Of Nam Webring and written by Rick Bartholomew. The petition is hosted here at http://www.petitiononline.com/petition.html as a public service. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. The petition scripts are created by Mike Wheeler at Artifice, Inc. For Technical Support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Thank You for Voting !

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A Tribute To All Who Served

3dskull.gif (40695 bytes) You were there, and you were bloodied. Our world, outside the band of brothers who served, have never seen what we were fighting against or knew what we were fighting for. The journalist, college students, and peace activists never realized the damage they were doing, or that all of them had freedoms because of what warriors, who paid the price, have done to protect them. And you/we felt the defense of freedom, our domestic tranquility, and our way of life here in America was worthy of our fight. If you are a Veteran who served, all I can say is "Welcome Home" and "Semper Fi" you are worthy of our nation's support!

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