What did you get for christmas in vietnam

[sn-e3]

Well I know we all recieved strange things from home when we were in the war zone so the Question I have is what did you get for christmas when you were overseas? I personally recieved a damn heavy old fruitcake, I was so pissed and dissipointed that I was ready to jump ship. But one of my buddys said its smelled good and could he have a piece so I started to cut him a slice when my knife hit something solid clink clink.. My mother made a fruitcake and hollowed it out and stuck a bottle of 151 rum inside.. God Bless that Woman she sure knew her boys. my close friends and I got a good laugh and a slight buzz before it was all gone. but I will never forget christmas 1967 in the Tokin Gulf on patrol.. We also got to see Bob Hope and Joey Heatherton from the aircraft carrier but they were the sizeof ants and we couldn't hear any music but it was good just to know they were there.:cd: :cd:

[Bill Farnie]

Christmas 1968 we were in the boonies but came back to Camp Evans the day after and I had two great care packages waiting which the one from my Dad & Mom included a bottle of Seagram's 7 and the one from my sister and my brother in-law [ a USMC Vet ] had a bottle of Jack Daniels. Another guy also got a bottle of something and needless to say our platoon had a pretty good time. It was the end of a lot of guys tours who had come over as a Brigade in 67' and we had one hell of a party. I remember all of us singing along to the Beatles Hey Jude -- Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na ? Na-Na-Na-Na ? Na-Na-Na-Na Hey-ay Jude. There was such joy and sadness both but what I remember most was the strong feeling of camaraderie .I'll never forget that feeling as long as I live.

[sn-e3]

And here I thought I had the only Mom in the world smart enough to send Booze to her son overseas. Mom's know.

[Dragon Lady]

A Barbie with interchangeable wigs...I was only 5 years old afterall.

But the best part of Christmas 1967 was when my dad pulled up in front of our house at Grant Heights housing on Tachikawa AB with a car full of GIs from the base hospital. That year began a tradition in my house. Every year someone far from home has found a warm place to spend Christmas. We may not be blood related, but family is family be it my extended military family or even one of my chemists who calls New Zealand home. Mom always said, "No one should be alone on Christmas."

I hope each of you have a warm and loving Christmas this year!
Kaete

[Packo]

Got a care package from home with lots of canned applesauce, canned roast beef, a danish ham, a bunch of cheese's, toilet paper, Mom's Christmas Cookies, (she's 80 and still makes them every year), a bottle of Beefeaters Gin from my Dad, (he got me into Maritini's young), a jar of olives, Texas Pete, and Kool-Aid. It was a wonderful treat and of course, I shared with all. Christmas in Vietnam was depressing but the saving grace was being with the best damm men in the world.

Packo

[exlrrp]

Long ago, in the time of the Great War, 1967, there was a team of lrrps sitting up on a hill somewhere south of Qui Nhon City on the coast, watching a leper camp.
t
The VC were using the place for suplies but not at any great level due to the remoteness of the place. the enemy activity would consist of a acouple of enemies walkiing out to the place every couple of days and picking up a few RPG and mortar rounds that came in across th open beach from fishing boats maybe every 2 weeks.
he lrrps were pissed because they had been detailed to watch this leper camp to see if the VC were using it store supplies and it was Christmas Day. Just think how you'd feel if everybody else was off having Christmas and you had to sit on a hill watching lepers rot.
The lrrps pondered long on how much the war effort REALLY depended on their being there. Concepts of attacking the ville were discussed and discarded as unreasonable, due to the facts that:
A)The mission was recon.
B)This would involve shooting and there was a Christmas ceasefire.
C)There were women and children, not to mention dogs and other pets in the ville.
D) There would be no air or artillery support due to the Cristmas truce
E) This would have involved closely looking at people whose features were rotting off their faces
F)Did I say the mission was recon? Lrrps rarely exceeded their
explicit instructions unless emergency conditions prevailed, the job of recon was usually risky enough. They'd all been there long enough to know they didn't get paid extra for action sequences

The unfairness of the situation kept coming up in their conversation--that everybody else in the world was having a good time while they were stuck on some godforsaken hill, watching, as I said, th lepers rot. How could this fundamental inequity be redressed?
The lrrps cudgeled their brains. What to do? what to do?
Finally, one of them, noticing the heavy armaments they were carrying suggested staging a mock bttle as sort of a military exercise to relieve the boredom.
Good idea, the other lrps nodded, but won't that wake everybody to our presence.
Precisely!, cried the ingenious one. Once they know theyre being watched they'll cease all illegal activities and become loyal citizens
of South Vietnam and--wait for it--the good news is that we can go home--I mean base camp--In time for Christms dinner
Sounds good to us--The other lrrps all noded their heads in agreement and, as the ingenious one was also the team leader started making preparations to depart
The RTO sent out a message that they had been compromised, were firing weapons and were calling for evac at LZ Snooker Charlie. I mean: hate to break up your Christmas dinner but there's a war on. They never told those old lrps th codeword that brought every plane in Vietnam to the rescue or I bet they would have used it bout every other day, mostly just for fun. On the way to the LZ they mader sure to fire off their rifles to achieve that cordite smell so de rigeur for debriefings.
So dozens of helicopter people had to break up their Christmas dindin to go extract some recallcitrant lrrp rprobates who had staged a mock battle, although for only the most excellent of reasons. Well, war is hell and we all must make sacrifices. Your Tax`Dollars At Work!! Wonder how many of the taxpayers hard earned $$$ that squandered?? How many Christmases disrupted? How many lives thrown into chaos?
Later, safe back in the helicopterbase, the lrrps chuckled over a Christmas joint and brewski as they contemplated those very same questions.

And thats another true story about how the Airborne lrrps helped win the war
signed, the boys
http://www.patriotfiles.com/photopos...papass=&sort=1

[Packo]

James,

Wish you would start a new thread with the other Christmas Story about you and Dan and the birth of a baby. That's a wonderful story that I think would be nice of you to share....if that's ok. The above one is good.....but I think everyone would also love the other.

Come on daddy....tell us the story!

Packo

[Andy]

Bob Hope visited Cu Chi base camp a day or two prior to the big day. 3 of our companies went out the night before on ambush and stayed out during the day to urge Charles not to shoot at Mr. Hope's airplane.

When we did make it into base camp I had 3 packages waiting. Polish ham, crackers, several kinds of cheese, some molded just a bit, extra sox, lots of stuff. One thing several of my friends remember about that Christmas was a jar of Tang. We decided not to add water but rather just vodka. It was a very good night, I think.

We also made up a Vietnam version of the 12 days of Christmas. "On the first day of Christmas the V.C. gave to me, a hand grenade hanging from a tree..." You did have to keep a sense of humor.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[splummer]

Xmas 1968 was a good time for me because I was going home Jan 8th. Every one for weeks prior to Xmas was collecting beer booze and food for the Eve.It was one big party. I think we all really had a good time, but I can't remember as every single person was falling down drunk that night. Our new first sargent from Cam Rhan bay walked through all the hootches the next morning, screaming that if Charlie would have attacted us that night, how there wasn't a man who could have lifted a weapon to defend himself. He was right about that. I think charles must have taken the night off too. I don't think they sent us out in convoys Xmas Day. [Our one day a year off.]

[Keith_Hixson]

It happened at Ft Devens.

My Older Brother and His Wife sent me a box of chocolate chip cookies. By the time it came throught the mail, the box was flat as pancake. The cookies were powdered like talcum powder but the chocolate chip morsels were still entact. I ate those morsels, everyone with relish.

Keith