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YOUR BALANCE
50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home
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50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 9:13 AM

The second day after being wounded, I felt that I needed to write to my parents to assure them that I was okay - assuming that they had been notified about my injuries. My letter ended up in bad shape since I was writing while flat on my back and couldn't use my left hand to steady the paper. I remember saying that I knew my arm would be okay but that I wasn't sure about my leg. It turned out that my letter was the first communication that let them know I was injured. The Army had everyone sign a paper upon reaching Nam saying whether or not we wanted our next-of-kin notified in the event of minor injury, and all of us, of course, responded by checking "NO". I guess they needed a better explanation as to just what constituted a "minor injury". My parents spent several days trying to track down my whereabouts and find out when I might be sent stateside. Every parent out there has to know how hard that was for them.

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Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 9:31 AM

I am sure your parents were relieved that it was YOU writing the letter and not your platoon or company commander. I dreaded having to write a letter to one of my men's parents more than anything else that I would have to do. If your injury was "minor" I wonder what the Army considered major. I guess maybe an injury that would not allow to to physically write would have been considered major.

One of my squads was on a mountain top north of DaNang with a platoon of grunts when they were spotted from another mountain top by a Marine Recon unit ..... who called in 155 howitzer rounds on them after being told there were no friendly troops on that mountain. It was odd that before my men went on top of the mountain they called for artillery on top of the mountain in case there was anyone there. They were told they couldn't fire because of friendly troops in the area. One willie peter round and four HE rounds later four of the grunts were killed and three of my men were wounded ..... none seriously thank goodness. I would not wanted to have to send that letter to those parents explaining their son had been killed by friendly fire.

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Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 9:35 AM

I don't recall anyone from our Company writing parents about their sons being killed. Must have been something Marines did from what you say.

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Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 6:47 PM

I don't know about all other Marines, but I felt it was my duty if one of my men were killed or even badly wounded. I don't ever recall asking any of my fellow OCS and Basic school buddies if they did or did not.

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Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 11:27 AM [ in reply to Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home ]

Thank you for your service, TigerLinks.

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Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 7:00 PM

Thank you Sabletiger. Guys like Clover were the backbone of our effort in Viet Nam and his sacrifice was much greater than mine. I came back with a little hearing loss and a few minor scrapes, but nothing I would have considered worthy of a Purple Heart. There are a lot of ribbons that are not particularly significant ..... but the Purple Heart is not one of them!

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Re: 50 years ago today- Vietnam- the letter home


Sep 30, 2020, 11:25 AM

I can't begin to imagine how your parents had to feel when they learned about your "minor" injury. Very glad you survived and can share your amazing experiences with all of us. Thank you for your service.

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