Christmas Vietnam 1968

[Bill Farnie]

Christmas, Vietnam 1968

On December 23rd we were surprised when we were ordered to get to a Landing Zone and boarded copters to go to our Base Camp for Christmas. We couldn’t believe it, but there we were flying from the mountains west of Camp Evans for a Christmas cease fire and stand down.

At Evans the 23rd was spent getting new jungle fatigues, boots and other equipment, and cleaning ourselves, weapons and gear. Whenever our company was at Camp Evans we had to provide troopers for bunker guard, night ambushes and listening posts but fortunately for me, it wouldn’t be my platoon and therefore my squads turn to provide any men until after Christmas.

During the day, on Christmas Eve, we got our mail which included for many of us, what we called “care packages”. Care packages contained everything from socks to whatever food could be sent that wouldn’t perish since they wouldn’t bring a package to us in the field and only God and the generals knew when we would be at a firebase or back at Camp Evans to get them. I had two care packages, one from my parents and one from my sister and her new husband. Besides food and other stuff, both of my packages contained booze. My parents sent a bottle of Seagram’s 7 and my brother-in-law and sister sent a bottle of gin. I wasn’t the only one who received Christmas cheer. Gary Garaputa got a bottle of Johnny Walker Red so the making of a great Christmas party was starting to look pretty good. Most of us took the time to write home as the bottles and food were passed around.

As the night progressed our platoon members were starting to get pretty smashed on the bottles and also from some cases of beer we “liberated” from a Conex . We had no idea whose Conex it was but were told about it by a guy from the 4th platoon when asked where he got the beer. It was outside of our company area so it became fair game.

The conversations were mostly about home with wives, girlfriends and cars the most popular subjects. Lenny Burdine from Indiana and Billy Wheeler from West Virginia were talking about their glory days on their high schools wrestling teams and how they were both undefeated in their senior year. Two of our squad leaders, Sgt Felszack and another Sgt who’s name I can’t remember right now, overheard this talk and quickly issued a challenge to a match. The two Sgts made up a team and Lenny and Billy were the other. What started out as a Greco-Roman style match between the two teams had soon, with the help of the booze and beer, turned into a free-for-all and although none of the percipients sustained any serious injuries, the barracks didn’t fair as well. About half of the platoons sleeping cots were destroyed and the floor of the barracks was one big beer stain caused by open cans that were either knocked to the floor or were used as missiles.

Here’s some pictures of the barracks brawl … LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!









After cleaning up the best we could, David Harsey started playing his guitar. Harsey’s tour was over earlier in the month but he extended it six months for an “early out” of the Army. Harsey was a big Bob Dylan fan so we had a Dylan sing-along with most of us mumbling the lyrics due to a combination of not knowing them in the first place and of course, the booze and beer. After a while Harsey put his guitar away and someone turned on a radio.

From the radio, the Beatles “Hey Jude” started to play and everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing and just listened to the song. At the end of the song, when the chorus repeats, everyone was singing as loud as they could and there was such a feeling of camaraderie that only soldiers can experience as we embraced with our arms wrapped around each others shoulders singing our asses off and around this time every year if I close my eyes, I can see and hear us as if it was yesterday…….

“Na-Na-Na ….. Na-Na-Na-Na ….. Na-Na-Na Na …… Hey Jude”


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE ...

and let us not forget those brave men and women in uniform who won't be home for Christmas

[VIETNAM 1968]

Merry Christmas to you too Bill

and

The hope of a Prosperous, Healthy and Good New Year also.

As always:

A MOST SINCERE and HEART FELT

WELCOME HOME to you as well:


VIETNAM 1968

[MORTARDUDE]

Great story and pictures !!!! Merry Christmas !!!

Larry

[splummer]

Bill, I spent Xmas 1968 about 30 miles away from you at Gie Lei CB. I was too short for bunker guard that night and real happy about going home in a couple weeks. Everyone in the company had been collecting booze, beer and snacks for months. Well thats all I remember until the next morning. The first sargent lined us all up Xmas day and hollered at us about, IF CHARLIE WOULD HAVE ATTACKED LAST NIGHT THERE WASN'T A MAN IN THE UNIT SOBER ENOUGH TO LIFT A WEAPON TO DEFEND THEM SELVES. That was the only time I ever agreed with this new 1st sgt from Cam Rhon Bay.

[VIETNAM 1968]

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Cam Ranh Bay so drunk that I did not know where I was at and too drunk to even report for duty. When one of my NCOs came looking for me in my Hooch, he saw that I was so drunk that I could not drive my Refueling Rig. I got the day off as he did not want me on the Flight Line, and around Aircraft, in the condition I was in.

I did have to work New Years Day though and stayed relatively Sober for New Years Eve. The New Years Day work assignment was punishment for missing work on Christmas Day. I was supposed to be off for New Years Day and then I was going to start out processing right after. I left Nam the first week of January 1969.

To all of my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I again wish you a MOST SINCERE and HEART FELT:


WELCOME HOME:


VIETNAM 1968

[03Fox2/1]

I may not remember all of the facts correctly, it has been 39 years, but Christmas eve, 1968, I remember being on one of my first night ambushes. I was scared shitless and completely at the mercy of the climate and the enemy, all that kept me going was a determination not to do anything wrong and not to get myself or anyone else killed. The mosquitos ate me up and I got no sleep and returned to our lines emotionally spent and physically exhausted but happy to see another morning dawn. One of my first platoon size patrols was only the day before and on December 23, 1968 we were ambushed and I was lucky but other Marines, including my first combat officer, 2nd Lt Herbert Ing were not. He can be found at the Wall, panel #36W, line #69. The beginning of a long 13 months that i still remember as if it was yesterday. Merry Christmas brothers, both on and off the Wall.
Semper Fi, Scott

[DMZ-LT]

December 68 I was at home in NJ for Christmas break from college getting ready to graduate and go into the Army as a 2nd LT in June69. I didn't have a clue about what I was getting into and I didn't listen to my Dad about never volunterring for anything. God bless us all.

[Blklion]

I'm a few years late in adding to this but only because I'm new here. On Christmas eve day my unit was working out of FSB Junction City along LTL 14 about 4 clicks west of Ben Suc in the northern edge of the Iron Triangle. My company was to move out and split into three platoon sized AP sites about 2 more clicks west along LTL 14 and as we were saddling up that afternoon three slicks landed and out of them unloaded a chaplain and some media personel including a CBS camera crew. The other company in our FSB was assembled and they held a Christmas "mass" while we were walking out to the AP's in the background. We reached the first checkpoint and split into the three platoons then moved to our individual staging areas to wait until dusk before moving into the AP sites proper. As we were laying there waiting the FSB received incoming mortars and minutes later the three slicks were making for safer haven. At about 5pm we moved to our AP site and started setting up but our OP's observed some NVA walking down a nearby trail so we packed up and moved to that location. The truce was on and no action or troop movement could be taken after 6pm so we setup in a hurry and then settled in for the night. At just before 6pm another group of five NVA walked into our killzone and the last man in the group spotted us and alerted the others. When they swung up their AK's in our direction we popped the AP and blew them into never-neverland. Just after midnight we were probed and popped the AP once more getting another 2 NVA. So that's how I spent my Christmas eve in 1968. It wasn't very much different than any other night in Vietnam.

[Twib]

Very nice story. I'm glad to see that people could have some fun during wartime. It's also nice to see that families were supportive of their relatives in the war whether they believed in it or not. I would have thought that there was not much fun there since many during the time seemed to oppose the war. Did your family oppose the war? Do you guys still stay in touch?

The pictures add a nice touch to the story.

[ANGLICOone]

I left for "the World" on 24 OCT 1968, so I was back at Camp Pendleton after a 30-day drunk by then.

Thanks for sharing.