Category Archives: Vietnam

Vietnam

The Vietnam Generation – Those That Fought

American soldier in Vietnam

The Vietnam Generation – Those That Fought

The Vietnam War is still a controversial topic today. The question of should we have been there and what the goals were will never go away. The one thing that can not be questions is that many of our country’s young people served in the war. Some volunteered and some were drafted. Some fought for a cause, some because they were told to. Below are some statistics on those who served.

Totals

The total amount of military personnel on active duty during the Vietnam Era numbered 9,087,000. (1964 to 1975)

Of them 2,709,918 served in uniform during the war.

Out of those, 240 received the Medal of Honor.

The average age of the soldier during the war was 22 (not 19 as a song would have you believe.)

Losses

58,148 American soldiers died during the war.

61% of those were under 21 years old.

Almost 20% were under 20 years old.

17,539 of those killed were married at the time.

Legacy

Veterans of the Vietnam War have a lower unemployment rate then non-veterans in the same age group.

Personal income of Vietnam Veterans exceeds that of non-veterans in the age group by 18%.

Only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have served any prison time.

97% of veterans received an honorable discharged.

91% of Veterans say they are glad to have served.

74% say they would serve again, even knowing how the conflict turned out

Forgotten?

For such a  long time the Vietnam War was at the center of the American consciousness. Every conflict since them has driven it deeper and deeper in the collective memory. As we stand now with so few WWII and Korean War veterans left, that Vietnam generation are the next ones to pass into history. Some believe that the First Gulf War was partially fought to purge ourselves from the uncertainty of Vietnam. That might be, however many of the wars fought since has given us a new perspective.

Was the fight in the jungles of Southeast Asia worth it? is any war really worth it? I don’t have the answer. All I know is that those who fought, for whatever reason, need shown the respect they deserve. Maybe even a VA Hospital system that actually looks to help them instead watching them fade away? I think it’s the least of what they deserve for their service.

For more statistic on the Vietnam War, click here.

Cold War, Vietnam

Patton Would Approve (M60 Patton)

M60 Patton

Patton Would Approve (M60 Patton)

 

That above is an M60 Patton. The M60 and its variants served as the main battle tank for the US Army up until it was finally replaced by the M1A1 Abrams in 1997. Coming into service in 1960 it was manufactured until 1987 with over 15,000 units being built during that time. Of course, there are still numerous units in service not only in the US military but in the military of many countries around the world. The story though is how it came about.

In 1956 the people of Hungary rose up against the Soviet-backed government for a period of several months actually posed a threat to Soviet control. Though not successful the several months that the revolt lasted provided some interesting information. At one point a Soviet T54A tank found itself sitting the front yard of the British Embassy in Budapest.

Not ones to miss an opportunity the British examined the armor and armament of the tank and were impressed. The T54 mounted a 100mm gun, much more powerful than what the NATO forces of the time could muster. Soon the British and Americans were working on 105mm cannons and were looking for chassis to place them on. The US decided that they would use the M48 chassis, with the new 105mm cannon. The new design was christened the 105mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank M60. Unofficially it carried over the Patton designation and began a stellar career that stretched across many wars and continents.

Though officially retired in 2005 the US still maintains a number of them in storage. Even more impressive is that some of the special variants. The M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle and the M60AVLB still are in service.

Vietnam

Lt. General Hal Moore, A True Hero

A few weeks ago I posted a movie review of We Were Soldiers, one of the best Vietnam Era movies and for many people the method to which they were introduced to Hal Moore, the commander of the American forces in battle in the Ia Drang Valley.  A few days ago no Lt. General Hal Moore passed at 94 years old. It is strange when these kind of coincidence cross our lives, but I wanted to take this chance to tell you a little more about Moore.  Before I go on I want to say that the picture above is not Moore, but it is from that era and General Moore will always be tied to the image of the helicopter as the modern-day cavalry. So just a little reminder.

Hal Moore graduated from West Point in 1945 as a second lieutenant in the infantry, just missing serving in WWII. he served in post war Japan and eventually found himself assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. While there, and I am not joking, he tested experimental parachutes making over 130 test jumps in his two-year term. Yep, he jumped out of airplanes with experimental parachutes, that alone should make you say wow.

He served in the Korean War and made a name for himself as a regimental officer. In 1964 he went to Fort Benning and was given command of the newly formed air mobile 11th Air Assault Division where he was one of the men who developed the strategy and tactics that would see the helicopter become the staple of the Air Cav.

As the commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam in 1965 he led his troops into battle against the North Vietnamese Army in the Ia Drang Valley. 450 American soldiers faced off with over 2,000 of the enemy over three days. Under Moore’s leadership the Americans not only held the field but drove the enemy from it. An unbelievable testament to his talents.

In the wake of the battle Moore was promoted and spent the rest of his career in and out of various posts inside the Pentagon, finally retiring in 1977.

The links below go to the two books about the Ia Drang Valley that Moore wrote along with Joseph Galloway. I encourage you to read these books and watch this movie. General Moore did the country a proud service and he will be missed.

 

We Were Soldiers Once…and Young: Ia Drang – The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam

We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam

 

Vietnam

A Simple Shirt, A Complicated Story

The placard under this shirt tells the story as such:

Shirt worn by Joseph Mobley during his time as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He was shot down in 1968 over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. Mobley spent 1,724 days in captivity. Once he returned in 1973, he began a steady rise in leadership within the U.S. Navy, ascending to Commander of the Naval Air Force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

In the case of Joseph Mobley his incarceration in a POW camp had a happy story, but for many, many more that were forced to wear the same shirt, it did not turn out so well.

According to the Defense Prisoner of War * Missing Personnel Office there are still 1,639 unaccounted for soldiers from the Vietnam conflict. That is almost one missing soldier for every day the Joseph Mobley was held in captivity.

When you look at the other conflicts managed by the department you see some other shocking numbers.

From World War II there are over 73,000 soldiers unaccounted for.

From the Korean War, almost 8,000.

Look at the shirt above, then spend some time on the DPMO website, only then can you even start to get an idea of the losses these wars are still costing us.

For an even more incredibly picture, take a look at this chart maintained by the Mobile Riverine Force Association that numbers as closely as possible the missing and unaccounted for from all US conflicts up to Somalia. Yes, there are still unaccounted for troops from the conflict that was popularized by Black Hawk Down.

Never forget the soldiers that didn’t make it home, and cherish the ones that did.

 

Movie Reviews, Vietnam

Movie Review: We Were Soldiers

We Were Soldiers (2002) (BD) [Blu-ray]

 

 

Based on the book by Hal Moore this movie is the story of the 1965 battle at the La Drang Valley between the forces of the United States and the North Vietnamese Army. The movie follows then Lt. Colonel Moore, played by Mel Gibson, as he works to put together the first Air Calvary unit in the US Army and though its first combat deployment. To Moore the horse cavalry was made up of men that could be anywhere at any time and simply by trading out horses for helicopters his men could accomplish the same thing. Leading these men into a fight against the superior numbers of the NVA required men of the highest caliber and a leader that would not flinch. As wave after wave of helicopters brought in fresh troops and ammunition, and carried off the wounded Moore feels the weight of the task put in front of him.

This is one of the roles that Mel Gibson embodies best. Whether as Hal Moore, William Wallace or Benjamin Martin he plays the man who is up against the odds, but will never quite and never surrender. You feel the emotion as he sees his men die around him and sense his desire to fulfill one of his objectives to never leave a man behind on the field.

This movie is not all Mel Gibson though. Sam Elliott, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Madeline Stowe and Kerry Russel all bring a brace to their roles that makes this story worth watching again and again. The music and sound also put you in the heat of battle and the eerie stillness of the t as they await words of their loved ones fates.

There are however two areas where this movies does kind of drop the ball in my estimation. First is that this came out at a time where it was en vogue to show the perspective of the enemy in the conflict. I don;t have a problem with that in and of itself, but this movie tip toes to the line and then retreats back. It is almost like they want you to feel compassion for the NVA soldiers who are just fighting for their country, but don;t want to commit to making them full blown characters. The second area, and I feel a little bad even saying it, somes at the end. I am as much a patriot as the next guy, but you may find it a bit over the top. Maybe that was how the battle really ended, but I think it kind of undercut the stoic nature of the previous 70 minutes.

See it and judge for yourself, but even to this day I consider it in my top 10 war films. As always you can click the link to get your self a copy.

Vietnam

A Rifle and An Old War Story

The following story was relayed to me by my father, William Hatfield, whose personal photos of his time in Vietnam make up a chuck of this collection. I will do my best to tell the story as he relayed it, he did like to exaggerate sometimes but upon going through my photos and seeing the image above, well it just reminds me too much to not give it a try.

William “Bill” Hatfield went into the Navy right out of high school and after a very short stint in submarines he found himself in Corps school and a few short months later was sent to Vietnam as a US Navy Hospital Corpsmen serving with a Marine unit in country. The story goes as such.

Being a Corpsmen Bill carried a standard issue pistol, most likely a 9mm. Being medical personnel they were really not allowed to carry anything else according to the “rules of war”.  After a few weeks and several fire fights Bill asked one of the guys in his squad if he could teach him how to use the rifle, you know, just in case. Everyone sort of laughed and suggested that they had no issue with Bill knowing how to use the rifle, but before he could use one he needed to know how to clean it. Performing such maintenance on a firearm is important, but in the jungle it takes on another level of necessity. Bill agreed and underwent field classes on how to take apart, clean and reassemble the rifle as pictured above.

There was one problem. Bill had a hell of a time getting the rifle back together. It became a thing. Whenever the men were on patrol, during the breaks they would hand Bill a rifle and watch as he skillfully tore it down and leaned it like he had been doing it for years. When the time came to reassemble it though, he never had much luck.

One day his patrol entered a small village that was considered friendly and the men spread out to take a rest. Dutifully one of the men handed Bill a rifle who took a seat on the ground in front of small hut and started tearing the rifle down. Over his shoulder he noticed a small boy, five or six watching him very intently. Bill got the rifle apart and cleaned it, with the boy watching all the while. Before he could start the painful process of assembling the weapon he heard shouts coming from the other side of the village. Bill dropped the rifle parts and took off.

One of the Marines was trying to get up close and personal with one of the young ladies of the village and found himself on the wrong end of an irate father. No one was seriously hurt from the misunderstanding, but the Marine required a few stitches.  Bill realized he left his medkit back where he was sitting and headed back to get it. Upon reaching the hut he saw a sight that stayed with him the rest of his life.

The little boy was just finishing re-assembling the rifle like he had been doing it for years. Bill walked over and the young man handed the rifle to him smiling from ear to ear. he checked it out and everything looked good. he patted the kid on the head grabbed his medkit and went back to where the men were gathered.

When they saw Bill walk up with the re-assembled rifle some of the men started hooting and hollering.

“Doc finally put it back together!” His friend said.

Bill confidently held up the rifle and said, “Wasn’t hard at all!”

The image of the kid putting the rifle together when he couldn’t would stick with him. From that day on he never carried a rifle, cleaned a rifle or tried to put one back together.  He also never told anyone about the incident until well after he was home. Seeing that picture above always makes me smile and think about that story.

 

 

Vietnam

Supper Time! (Revisited)

In the original version of this article we focused on the chow line. I have been d asked if we had any pictures of what a C-Ration Looked like, above is pretty much it.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “An Army travels on its stomach.” If any one would know it should be him.  During war, sometimes finding time to eat is one of the biggest challenges. The body is an engine and the engine needs fuel.

C Rations were what  the individual soldiers would prepare for themselves. Often from a package, and of dubious quality and taste. The kit in the picture above consists of a Chocolate Nut Roll, a can containing Crackers and Cocoa Beverage Powder, a can opener (P38) and waterproof matches. Just a light snack full of calories to give the soldier a pick me up.

“We ate when we could and what we could,” Bill Hatfield, who took the picture above, reminisced. “Sometimes we would be out on patrols that lasted longer than we planned and we never had enough of anything. After a couple of days of C-Rats, we didn’t really care how the food at the fire base tasted, just that there was plenty of it.”

 

B Rations were the next best scenario. These sorts of meals were usually prepared in a field kitchen from non-fresh ingredients, then shipped to the units where they were heated up and served.  Not needing to be frozen or refrigerated means that even the guys far from the supply center would have the chance for a hot meal on occasion.

A Rations were the goal though. A warm meal, made in a real kitchen, served in a nice safe dining hall.

Feeding an army is never easy, but from the all round looks of things, being the army that needed fed left much to be desired.

 

Vietnam

Fire Support Base in Vietnam

Firebase Alpha

The Fire Support Base in Vietnam

 

During the Vietnam War there were times when enemy action was likely to occur outside the range of the artillery from the permanent established bases in the interior. So what the military did was build a series of smaller, cookie cutter bases that became known as a Fire Support Base.

These bases were basically smaller versions of the full size bases, but could be placed quickly and anywhere that helicopters could reach. The general make up of a base would include a battery of six 105 or 155 millimeter howitzers (like those in the photo above), at least two helicopter landing pads, a platoon of engineers and troops to support and defend the installation.

Originally the fire base design was to be highly mobile and moved every couple of days as a security feature. Towards the end of the war however they became very reminiscent of the frontier forts becoming permanent installations.

The main purpose of these bases came down to providing artillery support to the soldiers in the field. This was one of the major advantages that the US had in the war and proved to be the turning pint of many battles. As such these bases were constantly under attack. Click Here to see actual footage of an attack on Firebase Jerry. The attack occurred while the press were on location doing interviews. Thanks to the user who posted it.

The following is a recollection from William Hatfield who also provided the picture above. “After being out in the bush for a long period of time, finding your way back to a fire base was something of a mixed blessing. Hot food, a place to sleep and some big guns that could really pack a punch. On the other hand you were walking into a target, someplace that was almost guaranteed to be hit at least once while you were there. It was a trade-off.”

Vietnam

Another Bad Day

If this is how your flight ended up, well you have had a bad day. This transport plane was shot down by a surface to air missile as it made its approach to the airfield.  Another ghost of the war in Vietnam.

According to the story told by US Navy Corpsman William Hatfield, who took this picture, this was the third plane shot down that week.  Unfortunately Hatfield was not able to document where the airfield was before passing. He did recall that when ever planes were coming in there was always a feeling of mixed emotions.  Often they would be bringing reinforcements and even supplies, two things that there was never enough of, but there was also a feeling of dread.

No matter how often they patrolled the perimeter or how well the area was “secured” every flight in and out was in danger. “Sometimes we would just watch as the missiles flew up towards the planes, wondering if they would make it or not,” he relayed in a 2012 interview.

“As soon as the missiles were in the air artillery would fire on the position and Marines would be sent. By the time anyone got there was never any sign of the VC (Viet Cong). They sure did have a system figured out.” Hatfield went on. In this case, to the best of his recollections the flight crew did not survive the attack. “It was always tough when is happened like that, as a corpsman I usually had to help with the casualties and recovery. Gunshots, shrapnel, grenades were all things you learned to deal with, but messes like this were just something else.”

Of course being determined to document what he could of his time “in country” once the debris was cleared he took the picture above.

Vietnam

A Bad Day at the Office (Tank)

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Don’t you hate when this happens?

This photo was taken by William Hatfield during one of his three tours in Vietnam. Serving a US Naval Hospital Corpsman he spent most of his time in country serving as a medic attached to various Marine units.

The story behind this photo is one that is both amazing and a little scary. This is how is was related to me:

US forces would use mines to block off certain approaches to villages that were considered “non-pacified”. On occasion once the mines were deployed. The Vietcong  would use the villages children at night to go out and move the mines, making it very hard for the US troops coming in the next day. The children became particularly adept at this sort of maneuver.

The next morning as the Marines approached the village they would be meet by the children and in exchange for candy, would show them where the mines had been moved to. This sort of arrangement usually worked out very well.

On the morning that the picture above was taken the same scenario played out, except one of the children did not make it out in time to conduct their business. When you aren’t sure if all the mines are out of the way you tend to be cautions. When you are in a tank, that caution slackens a bit. As expected, the tank found the mine and had a tread blown off, leading to the picture you see where the tank is being towed.

What you don’t see in the picture is that sitting on top of the tank at the time was a young Mr. Hatfield who, along with some squad-mates, decided to take the ride instead of the long walk into the village. When the mine exploded Hatfield and his squad were blown off the tank suffering shrapnel wounds all around.

Being the Corpsman, Hatfield treated the other wounded men before himself and as a result, everyone survived. By the time the other Corpsman had shown up Hatfield was weak from loss of blood, but still had the presence of mind to take the photo above. He was awarded the Purple Heart for this adventure.