Personnel landed initially at Da Nang and were transloaded into C130 aircraft for movement to Quang Tri. A Total of 4,578 personnel and 1,109.3 short tons of cargo were moved by air. The movement of the main body required a total of 64 C141 aircraft consisting of 48 passenger sorties and 16 cargo sorties. The main body started moving on 22 July 1968 and completed movement on 31 July 1968. Upon arrival at Da Nang Air Base, the advance party moved to Quang Tri Combat Base to establish a temporary base camp and prepare to receive the main body of the Brigade. This lift required seven C141 aircraft (3 for passengers and 4 for cargo). Like three-quarters of the population, they were born after it ended, and see the Americans as friends.Īnd the sailors? The few that I was able to speak with were surprised the Vietnamese were so friendly, given the history.Movement to Vietnam: On 1 July 1968, an advance party consisting of 300 personnel and 85.5 short tons of cargo departed Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The young, selfie-snapping Vietnamese audience knew the lyrics to almost all the songs, but very little about the war. Recently an American band - from the USS Fort Worth, one of the Navy's newest warships - played a concert there during a goodwill visit to Vietnam. troops first landed, things have changed, too. He holds occasional barbeques where former Marines and Viet Cong drink, swap stories and laugh.īack on the Danang beach where the U.S. When Vetter's wife died a few years ago, he moved to Danang to help victims of the defoliant Agent Orange. The woman and the baby survived, he found out later. Vetter's third tour ended a few weeks later. "And this one I helicoptered off, and I did not say anything about her being VC - I said 'Woman, pregnant woman, get her to a hospital' - and so she went in basically free of any kind of stigma of being a VC." "The other prisoners were going down to battalion headquarters, which was down the beach, and they had South Vietnamese interrogators," he says. And I sat there and made a promise."Ī promise that started by putting her on a helicopter and getting her to safety. "But she laid on the beach, focusing her eyes on my eyes, and poured her soul into me - all her fear, hatred, anger that she had. "I sat on the beach holding her hand, trying to talk with her, telling her things were going to be OK - which was a bunch of BS because she was going into labor," Vetter recalls. "If we stick to the pain - we can't live, we wouldn't be able to move on. He smiles again, but this one's a little forced. I tell him that, if I were him, I'd still be angry. He's a gracious host, quick with a smile and a laugh. The day I visit him is the 47th anniversary of his mother's death. And inside the shelter, I saw my sister-in-law, with her baby still in her arms. When I lifted up the blanket that was covering her, I saw she'd been shot in the head. "When I returned, after the Americans left, I counted 97 dead in all - including my mother. They didn't ask the people to come out - and anybody who came up, they shot. "The villagers were hiding in a few shelters, and the Americans just started throwing grenades inside. "There were only women and children left when the Americans landed - all the men had run away," Vo says. He ran to the jungle, where he watched the helicopters land in his village - and a short time later heard the sound of grenades. His mother stuffed a small bag in his hand - some clothes and a little rice, enough to last a day or so - and told him not to come back until the Americans left.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |