50 years ago today -Vietnam- the "Druggie"

Aug 2, 2020, 8:29 AM

I have posted part of this on an earlier date but today is the 50th anniversary of the final event. This guy was sent to the jungle from our firebase mortar platoon because he kept getting drugs from the locals who frequented our front gate. He should have been prosecuted military-style but someone thought they were doing him a favor by sending him to the field where he wouldn't have access to drugs. He was the guy who once walked along a rice paddy damm stomping along off the trail right in front of me saying "I'm a walking bomb" over and over while carrying extra explosives in his rucksack. We started getting rifle fire and used the low paddy damm as cover and this guy put the bag of explosives up on the damm where it could be hit by fire. Another time, he managed to get drugs through a fence from kids in a village after we got off a plane and were waiting on choppers to take us into the mountains and took them while we were on the move after reaching the mountains - falling in a stream we were crossing and couldn't get up. I wouldn't allow anyone to help him so he crawled all the way across by moving a little while completely under the surface and occasionally lifting his head to get air. On August 2, we were on patrol and encountered a group of enemy and wounded one and this guy went up to him and shot him at point blank range which shouldn't have been done. He took the NVA's watch and bragged about how nice it was. We searched huts at that location and this guy obviously found drugs in one because late in the day he started acted erratically. He even refused to go with us as our platoon started back to join our company which was camped near a bombed-out Catholic church from the French colonial days. He sat down against a tree and refused to go with us. I thought he would follow us if we got far enough away from him but that didn't work, as we crossed a wide open area a couple of hundred meters wide and could see that he was still in the same position. Knowing we would get in trouble if we left him, another guy and I went back across the field to get him. As we approached him, he eased his rifle toward us as if he might shoot but we moved quickly and grabbed it away from him. We had to basically carry him all the way back to the night position. I immediately went to our company commander and told him that he had to send him to the rear area for punishment because he had endangered our platoon too many times. He sent for a chopper which turned out to be an observation helicopter which is a 2-seater. The pilot brought a chaplain with him so I thought they would put our guy in the back and let the chaplain sit beside the pilot by the door. But they put him in the front to my surprise and my squad knew that was risky - we watched the chopper make circles over our position to gain altitude before flying away so as to be more out of rifle range from the ground. The guy didn't jump from the chopper above us, but the pilot radioed us a little later that he had unhooked his seat belt, yelled "Geronimo!" and jumped out. He landed in a familiar village or his body would never have been found. War is helll but drugs make it worse.

Had to edit to add "m" and "'l: to bleeped words

Message was edited by: clover65®

Message was edited by: clover65®

Message was edited by: clover65®

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50 years ago today -Vietnam- the "Druggie"

Re: 50 years ago today -Vietnam- the "Druggie"

Thanks for sharing. Hell of a story

Re: 50 years ago today -Vietnam- the "Druggie"

This guy was from California too

Re: This guy was from California too

Re: 50 years ago today -Vietnam- the "Druggie"

A lot of drug addictions are because of untreated

Re: A lot of drug addictions are because of untreated

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