Info needed on my father
 

My dad, 10 years ago, told us he served in Vietnam. We knew that he was in the army but not that he was in Vietnam. My brother is currently serving in Iraq which is bringing up things for my dad. We have little to go on since he won't say much about it, gets very upset if we ask. From what info has come out he was there ~69-70 with the 1/14 25th, A company, infantry. He has mentioned Dak To, and has said he recieved several medals, and threw them away. I requested info from the national archives but it was vague. If anyone could help please pm.

Thank you!

tarheel
 

Ask him to show you his DD214 form. It will verify his service and probably also relate what awards to which he is entitled. It is a very special form, so treat it with care, to the extent that you may want to make a copy of it.

Hope that helps.

Make a bunch of copies and store them in different places. Every benefit he could get from the VA starts with that paper. Also, here are the addresses to get his medals replaced:

Army
Where to write for medals National Personnel Records Center
9700 Page Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100

Where medals are mailed from U.S. Army TACOM
Clothing and Heraldry (PSID)
P.O. Box 57997
Philadelphia, PA 19111-7997

Where to write in case of a problem
or an appeal Commander
U.S. Army Human Resources
Command Attn: TAPC-PDO-PA
200 Stovall Street
Alexandria, VA 22332-0474

Here is the 25th Infantry Division Association web site. It might help you to fill in some of the history your dad lived through and is a good place to ask questions.

http://www.25thida.com/

1/14th Unit history:

http://www.25thida.org/14thinf.html

Thank you very much for the links!

Thank you very much for coming here for answers. Your father, brother and yourself would be welcomed here. There's a lot of VN Vet.s here and we understand your fathers apprehensions about talking about it and that's where the VA might do a whole lot of good for your father to go to. That's what their there for and we're here too.
The 25th was one of the GREAT units in Vietnam and those of us that were out of the real combat areas depended on the 25th, the 1st Cav., the 101st and several more units like them for our survival. Welcome your dad home for us.

I served with the 25th Infantry Division ( 3/22 and 2/22(M) ) from Nov 69 - Nov 70. I didn't really open up about Vietnam until I went to the Vet Center in Memphis ( not the same as the VA Hospital ) in 2002. Tell your Dad I said "Welcome Home" !! Thanks for stopping by. Come back often !!

May God Bless,

Larry

Welcome to the PF tarheel. Not sure that the 25th ID was in Dak To in the 69'-70' time frame. Are you sure the name is correct? My unit of the 101st Abn was OpCon to the 25th in September 68' and the 25th ID was in III Corp at Chu Chi. Units moved around alot though and were sent where they needed troops. Tell your Dad, Welcome Home from me. If it's possible, have him drop in. The NARA, where you get records and replacement medals, has a web site and one can now make a request online.

I requested records from NARA, they sent his record for 74-78. The dates on those were wrong. They had his school dates and a few others wrong, and my mom said they didn't make sense. He has also said a fire destroyed his records. He has a silver star lapel pin and I know the integrity of my father, he wouldn't wear it if he didn't earn it. He wore it and the vietnam pin when he went to my brother's graduation for basic. that was the first time we saw that.

He repeatedly speaks of something that happened at Dak To where air support was brought in very close to where his unit was. I had contacted someone from the 25th and they told me it was active in that area from 68-70. He also has spoken of saving a medic who later died. He was injured three times, we know that. My mom knows he served before '74 she saw his uniforms. It's not a simple matter of just asking him. He doesn't talk about it, he won't. He will be 58, I wish he could have some peace. With my brother serving in Iraq, it has brought back a lot of memories for him. Maybe when my brother gets home, they can talk of things together.

Battle of Dak To
 

Battle_of_Dak_To
The battalion was transferred to the 4th Infantry Division in 1967 which probably adds to the confusion.

Ah, but there's the rub Hal. The 3rd Brigade of the 25th ID, which included 1/14 and the 3rd Brigade of the 4th ID switched designations in August 1967. The battalions and regiments did not switch designations however. The personnel basically switched division patches. The 4th ID was in the Central Highlands and at Dak To. So with these documented facts in hand, in 1969-1970 1/14 was a unit of the 4th ID.

Now tarheel, that could very well explain the problem your Dad is having getting his records. One more thing, what fire was your fathers records destroyed in? If he’s referring to the fire that happened in St. Louis, no Vietnam Era records were destroyed in that fire and are available. His DD 214, which he or you can get if he doesn’t have one, will have any overseas assignments with dates.