I was digging through some boxes awhile back and came across a few photos that my Dad took while he was in Vietnam.
Dad was a conservative guy from a small town in central Illinois. He landed in Vietnam aboard a troop transport on Jan.1 1967 with the 9th I.D. He was a medic with the 1/111th artillery and was with the first group that established Firebase "Bearcat". Sometime during May of that same year, he hit a mine in his vehicle and was critically injured. He took the Okinawa, Alaska, Seattle route home in a full body cast and was told that he'd never walk again. Well, he was a tough S.O.B. and wasn't having any of that. After a long rehab, he eventually learned to walk again.
As a boy, my Dad taught me everything I needed to know about life. Including how to fish, hunt, throw a punch, stand up for others in need and never lie. Dad and I always toured around together on the weekends and would always frequent the same restaraunts and stores. After awhile I realized that the places we went had one thing in common. They were all owned/operated by other Vietnam vets. That's the kind of guy he was. He firmly believed in supporting his brothers-in-arms.
He wrote notes to his first wife on the back of some of these pics. I'll put the text at the top of each.
"A boat like the one I came over on. I took this while waiting to get off the U.S.S. Rose in the Harbor of VungTau, Vietnam. Jan. '67"
"One of the 'little' tanks we use against 'ol Charlie."
"The Skin (far left), Sgt. Smiley and you know who. Back at base camp."
"Honey, this is the Fearless Fred and your hubby on one of their lighter moments, goofing off."
"The chopper that crashed when we were out at the Special Forces camp. Six of the ten men aboard were killed. The plane just fell apart in mid-air. It was quite a terrible sight."
"This is out in the jungle clearing. We were expecting mortar that night. Everyone had to build overhead cover, Skin and I already had ours done. Notice my pistol, it shoots fine." NOTE: apparently His Father-in-law had sent him a sixgun to use.
"Back at base camp. the jungle cap was given to me by the little Cambod medic for treating his troops while we were out with them."
Anyway, I just wanted to post these pics to honor my Dad and all the Vietnam Vets.
I wanted you guys to know that your kids are out here, and were doing fine. And that we'll never forget what you men did for us. Thank you.
