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Pages: 1
Showing 1 - 30 (30 results found)
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MEMORIES (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: April 24th, 2015, 3:58am |
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| Jim, I also went over on the Darby. When we got to Tay Ninh, We had tents already set up for the Company area with cots in them. Possibly the 25th set them up, but the advanced party was also there. There were no wood platforms, just dirt floors for the first month or so, and then platform kits were delivered and slowly the tent platforms were built. We didn't have a shower built for the first month also, and used to take baths from the water in the rolled up tent sides. The whole Company would wait naked as we watched a rainstorm approach, and then rush to wash off the soap before the rain stopped. For about the first week we had to walk back to the airstrip for chow, but it wasn't too long before we had a mess tent. Company C,... Click here to read more ... |
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MEMORIES (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: April 7th, 2015, 4:42pm |
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| Greg, I also had the job of blowing up anthills when we first got over to Tay Ninh. My platoon Sgt used to send me and one other guy outside the wire to clear fields of fire. We would spend all day out in front, and would put about a third of a pound of C-4 inside after digging a tunnel into the side. Sometimes we'd have to make two tries to blow them flat. We would use up about 10 pounds of C-4, and I'd always keep a small amount to give to buddies to heat their C-Rations. I never encountered any snakes, but others did expose Cobras and Black Mambas in the ant hills. |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 16th, 2014, 7:17pm |
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| He's not on the 196th Association's database, which contains over 5000 names. If you do find him, please let us know so we can add him to our mailing list. Ken McKenzie - Editor |
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Headaches (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 16th, 2014, 7:12pm |
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| David, Did you have any cause identified for the headaches? Were you involved in any incidents that might have caused them? I had headaches when I first got out, but never attributed them to Vietnam. Over the years I've had other symptoms of TBI, but the VA never examined me for that. I was in three armored personnel carriers (M113) that hit mines. One was big enough to penetrate the floor. I've had VA personnel downplay "mines" to me, saying that the current "IED's" are more damaging. WTF, they are exactly the same thing... I'm thinking of making a claim for TBI because TBI has the same symptoms as PTSD, but the classification carries compensation for long term care in the event that I get Alzhei... Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 16th, 2014, 7:00pm |
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| I try and delete them as soon as they appear, but sometimes they get ahead of me. The IP address they are coming from is in China, and I've complained to the ChinaCom service provider. The purpose of these SPAM guestbook entries is to get their web address on as many sites as possible to raise their search score. Alhough their web address is not visible to the readers of their posts (which are mainly gobble-de-gook) it is available for search engines to count, since they enter it on the Guestbook entry. I've eliminated most of the posts by adding some of their wording to our SPAM filter, so maybe that will slow them down a bit. Ken McKenzie - Editor |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: February 26th, 2014, 9:52pm |
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| Jim Armstrong, The laterite pit was just west (half-mile?) of the basecamp along a river. You were out at the Rock Crusher by Nui Ba Den. My company, C-4/31 spent Christmas 1966 at the Rock Crusher and then when we left you guys must have moved in. I had just come back from R&R before Christmas, and had a position slightly up the side of the mountain in a banana plantation. At night I thought we were getting grenades thrown at us, but when I looked with the Starlite it was monkeys throwing rocks at us (NOT KIDDING). Christmas on the mountain was good duty. We built Christmas trees from banana plants and decorated them. We had a turkey dinner brought out from basecamp (Tay Ninh), and no action. While we were out ... Click here to read more ... |
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VA Clinic Experience (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: December 11th, 2013, 2:09am |
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| Greg, Anyone that served in Vietnam is eligible to register with the VA. You are also presumed to have been exposed to Agent Orange. You should go to the nearest VA Medical Center or clinic and tell them you want to be put on the Agent Orange Registry and schedule a FREE health exam as part of the Agent Orange screening. When you register with the VA health system, you will receive a photo ID card. |
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VA Co-pay (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: April 25th, 2013, 1:56am |
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| That's BS. The VA has patient advocates; go talk to one. If this is true we need to raise a stink. I have a CBOC (Community Based Outpatient Clinic) close to my house, but the dermotologist doesn't come here, I have to drive 89 miles to the VA hospital, and I'll be damned if they told me I wasn't going to get travel reimbursment for the 89 miles. It's never happened to me. The VA website doesn't say anything about only paying reimbursment to the nearest VA facility, it says "mileage reimbursment". See their website at: https://www.va.gov/healthbenefits/access/Beneficiary_travel.asp Careful reading of the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) brings up this tid-bit: 12.What if a veteran cho... Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 20th, 2013, 7:02pm |
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| As an original, I can tell you that the brigade was assigned leave dates allowing one-third of the brigade to go home at a time prior to deployment. We were scheduled for Santa Domingo when the first group left on leave, and found out it had been changed to Vietnam before the next two groups left on leave. I remember phoning several members of my platoon who were on the first leave group and informing them they better have a good time, because it might be their last. Once we knew we were going to Vietnam, two members of my platoon got married while on leave. |
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Brigade HHC Commo 1966-1967 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 6th, 2013, 3:09am |
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| If you send me a copy (see my e-mail under Newsletter editor) I'll put it on the 196th website. We sell a copy, but probably won't print any more after the current ones are sold. I've put the First Year book on the web already. | |
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NVA Base Camps & Bunker Systems (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 6th, 2013, 3:06am |
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Probably a good deal of myth. The book "Tunnels of Chu Chi" made out that we never knew the tunnels were there, and they were all under the U.S. bases. I don't know that they ever found anything of consequence under our basecamps. We knew they were there in the jungle, and how extensive they were, we just didn't have the men and resources to deal with them. |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 4th, 2013, 2:06pm |
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| Yeah, we didn't all get jungle fatigues until we were over there a while. I think we got two pairs and continued to use the older fatigues when the others were dirty and we were unable to clean them (or get them cleaned). This photo was taken in January 1967. As you can see from the condition of the jungle fatigues, we often had no way to clean them between operations. This photo was taken as the Company was leaving for an operation, not returning from one. I had a pair of jungle fatigues literally rot off me after 70+ days in the field with the 5th Mech (25th Div). |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 3rd, 2013, 5:28pm |
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Here's a shot with a "fanny pack" on the guy in the background. These clipped to the webbing and hung at waist level. Couldn't carry much, but they were all we had.  |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 2nd, 2013, 2:37pm |
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| We went through all our training together, from induction to deployment. When they split us up in early '67, it was so we wouldn't all rotate out together. I was sent to the 5th Mech, 25th div with a lot of other 196ers. We replaced their original members who had come over with the Division. They had not been together since induction, because the 25th was an established active unit prior to deployment to Vietnam. I think we were the first to train together and then deploy, but as the war ramped up, several other newly activated units did the same. I think the key was that the 9th was a newly activated Division that was formed of new draftees the same as us. I'm not sure how they "all left together" and the unit stayed in Vi... Click here to read more ... |
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NVA Base Camps & Bunker Systems (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 2nd, 2013, 2:26pm |
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I remember during Attleboro, we followed a trail through the jungle and came upon a fence of short pungi sticks that wound through the jungle. There were signs warning in Vietnamese that indicated mines. We found... Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: January 2nd, 2013, 1:57pm |
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| I came over on the boat with the originals. We never had backpacks and fit everything in the fanny packs. My platoon sgt had a backpack, but I don't know where he got it. | |
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NVA Base Camps & Bunker Systems (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: December 31st, 2012, 5:02pm |
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Frenchie - great comment;
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No laughs: M16/AR15 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: December 16th, 2012, 8:25pm |
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| Frome the above mentioned website, which about sums it up for me... Enter Ball Powder: Had we but known, the problem was not simply dirty powder or a lack of regular and conscientious cleaning by the operator, but was due in fact to the burning rate(s) and burning temperature of the powder coupled with varying gas port pressures depending on the powder. It seems that the AR-15/M16 was developed and tested with extruded IMR (Improved Military Rifle) powder. This powder is relatively clean burning, but has a relatively high pressure peak during its initial ignition. Remington had been using some stuff called IMR-4475 that worked extremely well, but wasn’t terribly consistent from lot to lot. Remington had solved the problem by usin... Click here to read more ... |
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No laughs: M16/AR15 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: December 15th, 2012, 7:44pm |
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| The nice thing about the 16 was that you could carry more than twice the ammo in an ammo pouch. With the 14 you could fit 2 magazines in a pouch, and with the 16 you could fit 5 (4 up and and one across the top). Of course, we were also instructed to put only 18 rounds in a magazine. The open flash suppressor had a habit of catching on vegetation, and if you had it off safety and your finger on the trigger, you might shoot the guy in front of you. I know at least one instance it happened in our platoon, but didn't hit anyone. I got in the habit of keeping my finger outside the trigger guard. I can't remember if I walked with the safety off, but I think I did. When firing full auto, you could go through a lot of ammo pretty qui... Click here to read more ... |
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No laughs: M16/AR15 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: December 13th, 2012, 3:54pm |
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| I know the M-16 had serious problems when we got them in mid 1966 just before going over. We were in a firefight (ambush) on Nui Ba Den in Nov 1966 and my buddy next to me had a jam. He asked for my cleaning rod to push the cartridge out of the chamber, and then after a few more rounds it happened again. He had dropped my cleaning rod and couldn't find it, but I happened to carry another I had received from home, this time I made him knock the round out without my letting go of the cleaning rod. All this while under heavy fire. In early 1967 I was transferred to the 25th Div (5th MECH) and rode in an M113 armored personel carrier. One time we came under fire and we all bailed out the back hatch. Someone ahead of me grabbed my M16... Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 24th, 2012, 3:46pm |
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| Although there is a larger backlog under the Obama administration, the cause is NEW claims. This administration has completed more claims than any other administration, however; the new claims are out numbering the completed claims. Discussion of this very important topic might be better under the "VA Claims" heading. From Politifact.com (Nov 2, 2012): http://www.politifact.com/trut.....ministration-claims/
Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 14th, 2012, 8:04pm |
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| C-4/31 guarded the laterite pit and rode convoy security in the dump trucks once in a while when we first got over, but they may have let the Engineers provide their own security after a while. My understanding of the underground hall is that it will be an education center with exhibits of material, but the bulk of the material will be stored elsewhere. |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 13th, 2012, 5:06pm |
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| Joe, I know what happened to you and our wreath, and that's why I said the story had merit. Other than that, I guess it depends upon political leanings whether people are understanding, or outraged, at the President taking the time to even acknowledge the Vietnam Veterans. Fletch, During our 196th reunion the last time we were in DC, we placed a laminated card at each panel containing a 196th casaulty, with their names and the line number. Those cards became part of the permanent collection. When I was in Vietnam back in 2010, I brought back a piece of Nui Ba Den from the site where my platoon was ambushed, and left it at the Wall. The ambush was 46 years ago today, Nov 13, 1966, when we lost Mike Macarell and Ed Piantkowski. ... Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 12th, 2012, 6:10pm |
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| The Memorial Day story has some truth to it. It just depends how you interpret it whether you are outraged or not. Both President Obama and Vice-President Biden and their wives attended the ceremony. Naturally the security was unprecedented for the occasion, not like a typical Veteran's Day when NO president attends (I've never seen a President there when I attended). The occasion was the kick-off of the honoring of the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War, so there was a good reason for him to be there. I might be pissed off if I was only there for a short time and didn't get to go up to the wall, so I can understand the feelings; however, I'm proud that he took the time for us at all. By the way, more back VA clai... Click here to read more ... |
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Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: November 12th, 2012, 2:52pm |
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| Air force graduation story is not true according to Air Force spokesman. http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/airforcegrad.asp Regardless of our opinions on politics, we should be careful about what we read on the Internet. I've tried to fact-check much of the political retoric from both sides and have found an aspect of propaganda in much of it. We surely wouldn't listen to Hanoi Hanna, and we shouldn't base our political opinions on untruths, no matter how much we want to believe them. |
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Updating dd214 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: August 29th, 2012, 2:27pm |
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| On Operation Attleboro, in Nov 1966, our company moved to Soui Da, near Nui Ba Den. We arrived late in the day and were positioned in front of the 175's. My position, was behind a huge log, but directly underneath the barrel of a 175. I didn't think too much about it, but they got a fire mission during the night, and when they fired, the muzzle blast literally bounced us off the ground and singed the hair on my arms. I attribute that incident (and three later mine explosions) with my tinitus. I filed for a hearing loss as soon as I got out in 1967, and the hearing test consisted of a VA doctor sitting across his desk from me asking if I could hear what he was saying. When I told him I could, he denied me any hearing loss. ... Click here to read more ... |
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A 3/21 "field refusal" Aug69 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: August 26th, 2012, 12:21pm |
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| Believe me, I recognized that the dates and unit they wanted to talk to were related to this incident. I told them that it might be difficult to get people to talk if it appeared they were trying to sensationalize the issue. They assured me that they simply wanted to examine the incident and report the truth. I didn't see a problem with putting their request in the newsletter or on the website, and tried to make it clear that the 196th Association was neither recommending nor trying to keep people from being interviewed. Maybe the truth of the incident should be told from the point of view of those that participated. I think Ken Burns would probably not sensationalize it, but that's just my opinion. |
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Updating dd214 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: August 24th, 2012, 1:49pm |
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| Tinitus will give you 10% and usually comes with hearing loss. Actual hearing loss has to be fairly high to get any compensation. In my case I got 10% for the tinitus and service connected hearing loss of zero %, but that's enough to get hearing aids. The hearing aids work great, by the way. |
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NEWSLETTER - Mailed 8/10/12 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: August 17th, 2012, 5:16pm |
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| To change your address, wait until you get this newsletter (wait until August 31) and if you get the newsletter, simply send in the membership form with your new address. Put your old address on the back. Check the mailing label to see if the Post Office already updated your address. We run the mailing list through the PO to have them update moved addresses. If you don't receive the newsletter by August 31, then send your mailing address to Warren Neill - President (his e-mail is on the Association tab from the HOME page of the website. |
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NEWSLETTER - Mailed 8/10/12 (reply)
Posted by: Ken McKenzie, C, 4-31
Date Posted: August 12th, 2012, 1:19pm |
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| We don't deny anyone the newsletter. We made a decision long ago that we would mail the newsletter to everyone, regardless of whether they paid dues. If you look on the mailing label, it will tell you the date your last dues expired, or will say "Life Member" if you've paid Life Dues. If you never paid dues, it will say "Please Join" A membership application is in the back of the newsletter. If you are not on the mailing list, you can enter your name and address in the "Membership" tab on the website. PLEASE DON'T ENTER YOUR NAME IF YOU ALREADY GET THE NEWSLETTER (wait untill Aug 31st before determining you didn't get the newsletter). We've considered an e-copy to those that don't want a... Click here to read more ... |
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Showing 1 - 30 (30 results found)
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