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 On returning to the world after Vietnam (currently 1 views) |
| Fletchw2zero |
| Posted on: September 19th, 2011, 10:17pm |
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Posts: 175
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Like I said before, I was fortunate in that I didn't see any protesters on the way home because I live minutes away from McChord and Ft Lewis.
On the way to Vietnam, dad came out and got me off base instead of me hanging around the sausage fest until they filled a plane. He delivered me to the boarding ramp. He did this pretty easily since he was a career military guy and then the Chief at McChord so he would just put on his uniform and go tell the OIC what he was going to do. I supposed that getting loaded at the O club with the base commanders helped a lot.
RE: the protesters after I got back, I was too busy working my ass off to notice much and anything that smacked of Vietnam or anything remotely related to it was put out of mind right away and forgotten for 30 some years. |
Fletch
Co B 4/31 May through November 69
C Btry 1/82 Arty Nov 69 thru April-ish 70 radio handle whiskey two zero
Craig Fletcher |
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| MartyOdette |
| Posted on: September 19th, 2011, 11:24pm |
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Medium Member D 2/1 july 69-70
Posts: 34
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Oakland, Calli-- hippie girls spitting over the fence at us-broke my heart! and, I confess, I did want to climb the fence and pull out their armpit hair for spite! It was 4 days after I turned 21 so it was time for
a legal beer and "IT Don't Mean Nothing" to me! Life was GOOD!! |
Marty Odette D 2/1 11B July 69-70 |
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| Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31 |
| Posted on: September 23rd, 2011, 3:25pm |
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Posts: 131
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I was discharged in Oakland, CA less than 12 hours after landing from Vietnam. We were in the field until several days before DEROS. A couple of us rushed to San Francisco Airport to catch a plane to NY. Never saw a protestor, and was never spit on or called a name.
When I got home to NJ, many of my neighbors stopped over to welcome me home, and about 6-7 of us who were drafted into the 196th from the same neighborhood were given a party by our parents and friends.
The only negative comments I ever got were when I was an apprentice electrician, and let my hair grow for 11 years (PTSD?). Some of the older workers used to call me a hippie and ask why I didn't serve in Vietnam like another apprentice who was the "All American Boy". He knew I was a Vietnam Vet, and we used to laugh our asses off over these comments. |
Ken McKenzie
C-4/31, 196th LIB, 1965-1967
C-1/5(MECH), 25thID, 1967 |
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| Gregory B Peters |
| Posted on: September 24th, 2011, 10:04pm |
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Maximum Member2 B company, 3/21/196th, incountry 07/1966-07/1967
Posts: 173
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As mentioned before I still had a over a year left, so volunteered for the Third Herd at Ft.Meyer in Arlington. I was at the pentagon for the hippie march, if you remember the picture of the hippie girl putting the flower in the rifle, I wasn't far from him. Never remembered any incidents with civilians, even worked some bars in Georgetown and with our third herd haircut we really stuck out like sore thumbs, but still got laid, even by hippie girls :-) I think this was more the norm for those of us that came home first. Shoot, the number one song in America was "Fighting Soldiers from the sky" when we got home. Then 1968 with John Wayne in "Green Beret".
I got an early out and returned to college in the mid-west, in 1969 we played Army at home and there wasn't enough local interest to do any protests. Some group came up from Kansas City to carry signs. Although the card section of the students in the stands came up with a "screw Army" card flash. Being a Vet just wasn't something brought up in discussions, classrooms or bars. Seems that those that talked the most were either wanna-bees, or never left stateside. and of course they were all Green Beret's. But then the press tide turned in the late seventies, no longer were we baby killers, now we were just killers, and every crazy stupid thing that happened was done by a vietnam vet. And the movies were just as bad. I never had the nerve to go to the movies when they played. But once VCR's became $50 in the 90's, I watched them all. My God, The Horror! The Horror! |
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| SteveROwens |
| Posted on: December 3rd, 2011, 2:39pm |
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Medium Member A 3/21 196 1971 11B owens@sat-a-link.com
Posts: 26
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When we landed in Seattle it was 20 Dec 1971 and many Vets were there after getting sent home 5-6 days early for Christmas. The airport was full of uniformed Vets and the people spit on all of us. I don't know why, to this day, that we took it. We had just left the war and most had seen it all, but we did nothing. If I had it to do over I would whip every bastard there or die trying. The Stewardess from American airlines helped us by saying nice things and helping get us on the the extra fights to get us out of there and then Home. I was never told Welcome Home for 30 years. Finally a truck driver told me Welcome and I didn't even know what he meant. It's been downhill from there.
Thanks
Steve A 3/21 196 1971 |
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| Jack Krohn |
| Posted on: December 7th, 2011, 5:40am |
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Big Member  1stPlt A 3/21 - 1971
Posts: 83
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my trip home was on a stretcher in a C-141
when I got medivaced they sent me to 95thEVAC at ChinaBeach
then typhoon Hester hit ChuLai, but DaNang was on the wet side of the storm
the hospital flooded so they evaced me first to ClarkAFB in the Philippines
then to the naval hospital on Guam for 2 weeks
then on the flight home- though Hawaii, then Travis AFB in Calif
then finally to Brook General at Ft.Sam
when I was released from the hospital I went to the bus station in downtown SanAntonio to catch a bus home
there we two hippie chicks walking around the waiting room spitting on all of us and calling us Baby Killers.
all of us were either Army or AirForce and all in uniform since we were all traveling on orders. we couldn't do or say a thing
eventually a couple of cops from SAPD showed up and escorted the girls away.
when I got home I couldn't get out of my uniform fast enough!!
we never told anyone that we had been to Nam until the year the wall was built and opened in DC, and we had the first parade on MemorialDay that year.
Westmorland came to Houston for the parade that year |
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