Vets

[Greg C.]

anybody here a vietnam vet or have any fa,mily/friends that are viet. vets?

[Bromhead24]

I have several friends that were combat vets from the Vietnam war. One friend i work with was in the Ia Drang valley 1970-1972 where his base camp was at Plea Cu (sp?) the same base camp deplicted in the film "We were soldiers" he was a gunner for a battery of 105's at LZ Falcon.

Another friend was in the Air Cav in Nam in 1965 but was not in the battle of LZ X-ray.

[Greg C.]

Bromhead24 said:

I have several friends that were combat vets from the Vietnam war. One friend i work with was in the Ia Drang valley 1970-1972 where his base camp was at Plea Cu (sp?) the same base camp deplicted in the film "We were soldiers" he was a gunner for a battery of 105's at LZ Falcon.

Another friend was in the Air Cav in Nam in 1965 but was not in the battle of LZ X-ray.

cool

[bubbabod]

I am considered a Vietnam vet due to my service on aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. For many years I had a sense of guilt to call myself a Vietnam vet because I was never in Vietnam itself. But I guess with today's sailors who patrol the waters around Iraq qualifying ast Gulf War vets, I guess I can now say I was a vet.
I worked in aircraft maintenance administration for VFP-63 stationed at Miramar Naval Air Station north of San Diego, the Top Gun school. My squadron sent four F-9 Crusaders with a compliment of five pilots and maintenance crew of about 40 men to keep the jets flying.
Our pilots flew the F-8, also known as the Mig Killer because the F-8 brought down more Migs than any other aircraft. But our pilots flew unarmed. Instead of the 90mm cannon on either side of the fuselage, we had camera bays. We were a photo recon squadron. Each of our pilots' planes flew with two fighter escorts, also F-8's, but armed to the teeth.
I made two WESTPAC cruises during Vietnam, each lasting nine months. We would spend an average of 40 days continuously at sea in the Gulf of Tonkin, Yankee Station in the war zone off the coast of VN, but often within sight of land. After our 40 or so days, we'd usually pull into Subic Bay, Phillipines, for four days to a week of R&R, resupplying, etc.
On each of my cruises my squadron lost one pilot, and the other squadrons also lost a pilot or two. Although it didn't seem like war to a 20 year old kid like myself being on a huge warship off the coast, being escorted by a destroyer on either side of our carrier, it was war, as evidenced by some of our pilots never returning.

[Greg C.]

Very nice story Bubba...