Talking to an old Abu/Lrrp

[exlrrp]

Couple of days ago, had a chance to talk with the guy who best understands what I went though in The Nam because he was there for a lot of it. We met up again, thanks to our new E Co lrrp/ C Co ranger company website: http://www.e20-lrp-c75-rgr.org/ (feel free to check it out)
he was with me in A Co 1st/327/101.... Me for almost 6 months, him a little less than that. At the time of that picture I was one of the longest members of that platoon) Our friend Dan (pighumper) who many of you know was also in that platoon: I am sitting first row, 2d from left. Pighumper, a machine gunner, is standing back row, the tallest white guy between two black guys. And my friend Oscar Caraway is kneeling way on the right, the white guy with the camo flop hat. he was the other machine gunner at the time of the picture.

this is an amazing picture---its what got me and pighumper together when Packo saw him standing in it when i first posted it way back when. Truly amazing, Pack----and thanks

So Oscar ( we used to call him O) was the only one out of the picture who went into the lrrps, shortly after I did. We wound up in the same platoon, but not on the same team.
One of the things we are definitely most in agreement about--being a lrrp was a LOT better than being a 101st grunt. We got days off, hot showers, cooked meals, slept in beds some of the time (cots, actually)--these were unobtainable, unthinkable, to 101st grunts. I slept EVERY night on the ground in the 101st. F`ck a bunch of "Rendezvous with Destiny"--our motto should have been "Homeless People With Guns." Any barracks I ever saw then belonged to someone else

In the 101st as we knew it then, you could spend your whole year in the field and never get a real day off. Ive talked about the 4-6 week operations, the looted mails, the shorting of the sundry packs, the "hot meals" that got sent back because they were so lousy, the constant turnover in our command ( I carried the radio for 5 different platoon leaders in less than 6 months)

the lrrps were different, we usually just worked by ourselves or maybe just another team. Our platoon, and company, was scattered all over II Corps. As such we had little or no higher command supervision, meaning we got to do what we wanted to some of the time. And what we wanted to do was go downtown, get high and get laid. And thats what we did, when we could. Like I said, if I hadn't have joined the lrrps, I wouldn't have had any fun at all inthe Nam

Some rare old high jinks to talk about, some great stories and Caraway was one of the biggest characters of all, truly larger than life. O was the lrrp that woke up with a Tiger walking across on his chest---I bleeve Ive told that story elsewhen: Did I say they were surrounded by NVA? The greatest war story of the Vietnamese War as I know. (and O was in on some of the runners-up)

I bleeve Ive told the story of my friend Woody backing the MP's out of a bar while holding a grenade.... all the time being personally naked. (While me and Stuart stole their jeep) O was in on that too. Then there was the time some lrrps disarmed some high ranking Vietnamese officers who were pissed because the lrrps wouldn't salute them. Sent them away without their guns and with taunts ringing in their ears about the quality of Vietnamese soldiers. These things happened.....I said it was a racist war, didn't I? O was in on that one too. (So was I)

O was the one who, as a team leader,told a colonel to f`ck off. this was after a harrrowing patrol where they'd taken wounded and had to leave and stash some of their equipment to better drag the wounded.
The colonel got on his case for leaving the stuff--think a starlite scope was part of it. O told him that if he had the balls, he would take him back to where they stashed the stuff. they wound up sending O back all right, without the colonel I might add, to get the stuff. O said before they went that if someone got killed on that patrol, the colonel was next.

O was the team leader on the one night combat jump made in our platoon.

O was the one who, when told he couldn't take back home an MI Carbine he'd captured, got so mad he fieldstripped it and threw the parts away

I could go on all day about stories of O-----he was semilegendary.

What was really intersting was to compare notes of what happened to us afterwards. I', always intersted to see what happened to my peers (How'm I doing?)
most of the lrrps I knew went into construction, self included, and moved around a lot. he fit that pattern---like me, he moved around a lot in the 70s. Turns out he used to live in Oregon not far from where I live now.(he lives in Illinois now)

ANyway, it was really great to Talk to him again. go over old times. The remaining lads from that lrrp platoon are having a meetup in, apparently , Charleston SC this spring, not sure exactly when but I may wind up missing the psycovets thing this year to make that one. Don't think I can make both but I'll Still be doing my annual BIlly Sherman Commemorative Road Trip then, cruising around and seeing my buds like always. I got a good friend that lives down in Beaufort and I want to snork up some more grits and shrimp.

Happy New Year, all!
James

[splummer]

Thanks for all you did. The two things I always remember about you is The NVA or VC peeing on you, and the other, they put you guys on KP in the base camp. [Hard to beleive the Army would do that.]

[exlrrp]

Originally Posted by splummer

Thanks for all you did. The two things I always remember about you is The NVA or VC peeing on you, and the other, they put you guys on KP in the base camp. [Hard to beleive the Army would do that.]

Not hard to believe if you were in the Army---they loved getting all the work out of us they could, 24/7/365

Tho I resented it at the time,. I see now making lrrps do KP when they came in from the field made actual sense, based on what we know now. EVERY civilian working on bases in the Vietnam war was almost certainly either VC or VC controlled. And I can say it now: every day on Kp was one less day in combat--it was a day off in that sense.

It makes no military sense to let possibly hostile civilians come in and roam around your company area, seeing whats there, who's there and steppping off ranges. No wonder their mortar and rocket firs was deadly accurate when they fired on bases, they had their scouts in ahead of time marking the ranges.

What was really ridiculous was the practice of having "hooch girls" maids and bedmakers, boot shiners, dishwashers roaming around the bases, looking through stuff. This happened in almost every large base, especially for the officers. And this practice incredibly continues up through this very day.

Lrrps didn't have this, we made our own beds, even the officers. Did our own KP and police call. It makes sense now, I'd do it the same way again.

Thanks
James

[Packo]

The Shrimps and Grits are waiting for my Airborne Brother. Depending on when your reunion is....maybe I can talk Dan into coming down whilst your here for the 3 of us to do the Lowcountry.

I will always remember the fear in everyone's eyes back in Phouc Vinh when we were allowed back on the main base and how keeping us busy kept many in the rear from getting killed or wounded. It's why you didn't get back to the main base much....I think twice while I was with the Cav....which is probably 2 more times than the 101 got back. I feel lucky.

Abu!

Pack

[DMZ-LT]

Only made it back to Dong Ha 3 times but every time we got rocketed , and as James noted very accurate rocket fire. Felt way safer in the bush though more of us died there

[splummer]

There were no hootch girls at Dong Ha in 68 but they were always being rocketed or mortared and it was acurate. Dong Ha was not much more than a hole in the ground with sand bags and wire strung around it. That didn't change in later years did it? [hootch girls ?]

[MORTARDUDE]

I have contacted 10 platoon mates over the years, and I wouldn't take anything for the experiences. Best PTSD therapy there is. Great stories James ! No matter how much I hear them, I still like 'em..

May God Bless,

Larry

[Bernadette]

Thank you for sharing some of your story.

[DMZ-LT]

Steve , nope no hooch maids in 3/5 Cav at Dong Ha in 71 , hell we were not there that much

[exlrrp]

stories that is.

its amazing to me that not only am I meeting old platoon mates but the ones who really meant the most to me. I've talked with 4 guys from that platoon picture and 3 of them were my best friends at one time--there's others there I wouldn't have much to say to.

Thee are no coincidences, sometimes God just does sequential miracles


Pack, if that reunion goes on in Charleston, I'd sure like you (and Dan if possible) to show up and hoist a few. Turns out one of my oldest buds, Randy Mills, lives there.....and I missed him when I was there last year. You and he would get along like a house on fire.

Thanks for all the good responses, guys, and gal.

Stay good
James