The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Conflict posts > Vietnam

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #21  
Old 01-24-2009, 09:52 AM
exlrrp exlrrp is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,196
Distinctions
VOM Contributor 
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 39mto39g View Post
James
Having a very good memory is ,most of the time, not a good thing.
I remember when I was 2 and killed a rat in the street in front of our house with a shovel. I remember visiting my older sisters kindergarten class. I remember a hole lot of my childhood and high school. I remember just about every day in Vietnam and for sure the scary ones. Along with a good memory my mother saved all my letters and had a big map of Vietnam which she marked were I was each time I moved. I would guess that my memory about Vietnam is no better than anyone else’s if they also had a mom that saved all there letters, if they took a lot of pictures and if they had a map that marked were they went. In Vietnam the memories are there and a lot of them are of just dumb stuff, Like when it started to rain and you had no shirt of, That rain was coooooold, like the rain hitting a poncho sounded just like the rain hitting a big leaf. And , I could get 5 rounds of a M-79 in the air before the first one hit the ground. You really don’t want a good memory of war, It's 12:45 in the morning and I am talking Vietnam, not sleeping.

Ron
My mom saved all my letters, about 80 of them, which she gave me back. Theyre great for saying what i did on almost any day but not the big picture---which i never had and am still trying to piece together. I sure as hell didnīt write her everything that was happening anyway, a lot of them are just " hey its me, Iīm still alive.Ļ" A lot of times I didnīt know where the hell I was or what day it was. You have a much better sense of detail than I do---most of my stories are just about what happened to ME but you have a much better sense of the big picture

But I notice Mr Rocky hasnīt returned to explain the day of his death which is under question.
Perhaps he died........again.

Stay good
james
__________________
When you can't think what to do, throw a grenade
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #22  
Old 01-24-2009, 11:07 AM
39mto39g 39mto39g is offline
Banned
 

Join Date: Dec 1969
Posts: 6,380
Distinctions
Contributor 
Default

james
The times you were an RTO I would bet you knew exactly wear you were. I was an RTO the whole year excepy for 2-3 weeks. I had to know wear we were, I had to know all the frequncies and what arty was wear and mortars and what units were near.

Ron
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 01-24-2009, 12:12 PM
Stick's Avatar
Stick Stick is offline
Super Moderator
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Fayetteville, Georgia
Posts: 1,404
Distinctions
VOM Staff Contributor 
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 39mto39g View Post
And , I could get 5 rounds of a M-79 in the air before the first one hit the ground. Ron
?????
"Magazine fed, shoulder fired, M-79 granade launcher"
Hmmmmm, didn't know they made one but couldah used one onest er twiest.
Twib, t'ain't the rememberin', it's the reliven that keeps fillin' in the blanks.
__________________
With LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all
thanks to the brave who serve their Country
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 01-24-2009, 01:17 PM
39mto39g 39mto39g is offline
Banned
 

Join Date: Dec 1969
Posts: 6,380
Distinctions
Contributor 
Default

Stick
No just a regular old M-79, break down single shot shotgun type. Getting 5 rounds in the air took a lot of practice, several thousands of rounds. At LZs when on guard I would fire out into the nowhere most of the night that and throw hand granades. you took a big chance sneaking up on my possition.
Ron
ps
they did make a 3 shot side clip fead M-79 though. I would have like to had one of them.
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 01-24-2009, 11:41 PM
Robert Ryan's Avatar
Robert Ryan Robert Ryan is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Posts: 2,764
Distinctions
Contributor 
Default Rocky

I was with the 4th ID from Mar 69-70. Only spent two weeks in Dak To, that was enough for me. I don't know which area was worse Dak To, or the Plie Trap Valley (caught last leg of Op Wayne Grey). I remember hearing older vets saying "if you think this was bad, we should have been here back in 67. This place was hell on earth then. Lot of guys from the Herd and the 4th died here." Welcome Home Rocky.
__________________

If your going to suceed your going to have to know how to deal with failure. (Joe Torre).
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 01-27-2009, 08:04 AM
exlrrp exlrrp is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,196
Distinctions
VOM Contributor 
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by 39mto39g View Post
james
The times you were an RTO I would bet you knew exactly wear you were. I was an RTO the whole year excepy for 2-3 weeks. I had to know wear we were, I had to know all the frequncies and what arty was wear and mortars and what units were near.

Ron

I might have known where I was on the map page but what was going on beyond the end of the map page, or where that map page was in relation to everything else, was usually beyond my ken. Youre right in saying that RTOs knew more than most (one of the reasons I took the job) but thats sure not saying a whole lot, especially in the 101st.
I only called in ARTY once in the 101st, never air support, and that was when the squad leader I was with was doing such a f~c%ed up job of it, almostr put it right on top of us. I mostly just grunted the radio in the 101st and let the smart people do that.. I called in lots of air and arty in the lrrps, tho, don't mind saying I was fairly good at it. They taught us how in Recondo school, but not the 101. The 101st was well known for wasting talent, and other things like looted maibags.
James.
__________________
When you can't think what to do, throw a grenade

Last edited by Stick; 01-27-2009 at 08:40 AM. Reason: semantics
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 01-27-2009, 09:19 AM
Stick's Avatar
Stick Stick is offline
Super Moderator
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Fayetteville, Georgia
Posts: 1,404
Distinctions
VOM Staff Contributor 
Default

Back in the "secure" areas like QuiNhon you just didn't go out and shoot off a clip or two without having to answer to some Top Sgt. or 2nd Lt. about "What were you shooting at?" and/or "Was he enemy?" We had our M-14 that we climbed into the towers with and there was a M-60 with 2 cans and a M-79 with, I think 10 or so rounds. If you ever needed more than that you damn well prayed that the sand bags held out. Goin' out for a walk in the dark with a Mattel Toy M-16 and 2 clips just don't even fit into my imagination but I sure do thank God for you guys that did it.
__________________
With LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all
thanks to the brave who serve their Country
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 01-27-2009, 09:25 AM
Packo's Avatar
Packo Packo is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Parris Island, SC
Posts: 3,851
Distinctions
VOM Contributor 
Default James...

Interesting that you haven't heard back from "Rocky" about both being in the same Ranger Co. Hmmm. Maybe he was at the reunion and got lost also.

Does he post on your C.Co/75th website?

I trust Ron's memory.....don't think he's been wrong on something he was involved in yet.

Pack
__________________
"TO ANNOUNCE THAT THERE MUST BE NO CRITICISM OF THE PRESIDENT...IS MORALLY TREASONABLE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC." Theodore Roosvelt

"DISSENT IS PATRIOTIC!" (unknown people for the past 8 years, my turn now)
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 01-27-2009, 10:56 AM
39mto39g 39mto39g is offline
Banned
 

Join Date: Dec 1969
Posts: 6,380
Distinctions
Contributor 
Default

A mind is a terrible thing, a wasted mind is better.

Pac,
The base camps I was at you didn't shoot off anything, Most fire bases either, some though. almost all LZs you could fire off just about anything you wish. One of the only 2 times I shot a LAW was at a LZ, I killed a rock about 50 yards away. The last 6 months I was there we had to use up all our ammo every week, They were having problems with Lot#s.

Ron
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 01-27-2009, 12:59 PM
exlrrp exlrrp is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,196
Distinctions
VOM Contributor 
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Packo View Post
Interesting that you haven't heard back from "Rocky" about both being in the same Ranger Co. Hmmm. Maybe he was at the reunion and got lost also.

Does he post on your C.Co/75th website?

I trust Ron's memory.....don't think he's been wrong on something he was involved in yet.

Pack
Pack
The answer is yes. You can go there and ask yourself: http://www.e20-lrp-c75-rgr.org/ His resume signature line is even more lengthy and colorful, larger font and includes a picture.
However I no longer post there, there's too many of the kind of posts and people I just don't respond to any more. they don't like people there who voted for Obama, no error, forget I was a founding member of E Co Lrrps and a lifetime member of the Association. Thats why I said he'd find people to relate to here. And I suppose they wonder why there's no black members of the organization. Guess they'd rather go with partisanship than organizational unity.
He comes from the later, Ranger phase of the unit where they were more into self promotion. That T-shirt I displayed earlier is a little loud and heroic-implying for my taste but one must go with what one has. I always liked the lrrp phase for the relative anonymity: nobody knew what we were and we liked to play it that way too. that was more in character with the kind of work we did: Come out of nowhere, do the job, fade back into nowhere, humming a cheerful little tune (my favorite: Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," I'm whistling it as I'm writing this.) We didn't get any fancy hats, heroic names or applause, just the satisfaction of a job well done ( sometimes) I liked being a lrrp more than anything else that I did in the Army except testing parachutes.
No offense to Rangers but I was an old cuntcap paratrooper all the way. If God had wanted me to wear a beret, he would have made me into a fuggin Frenchman.

Yeah, my money's on Ron too.
Stay good
James
__________________
When you can't think what to do, throw a grenade

Last edited by exlrrp; 01-27-2009 at 01:33 PM.
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Separated at birth b3196 General Posts 3 02-04-2007 06:59 AM
Birth of America Mass Revolutionary War 1 09-01-2006 10:56 AM
Birth of America Mass General Posts 5 04-29-2006 09:23 AM
Diabetes - A Birth Defect? Margaret Diann General Posts 6 07-13-2005 05:06 AM
Partial Birth Abortion SuperScout Political Debate 40 11-07-2003 07:35 AM

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.