Just returned from my first reunion with my Infantry company from Vietnam

[pinboy3niner]

The last time I saw some of these guys was in the jungle, 42 years ago. I really felt privileged and honored to be with them again. They were the best, and they still are!

Reminiscing about those we lost was the hard part, but it was only natural to celebrate our own survival. Not just that we made it back then, but that we're still here now.

A highlight for me was seeing Danny. Danny volunteered for chopper door gunner to get out of the field, thinking of being able to sleep in the rear, have hot meals, and never have to hump or pull search-and-destroy or ambush missions again.

But Danny's chopper was shot down, the pilot killed, and he and his crew chief spent 3/ 1/2 years as POW's.

I heard about Danny 25 years ago. At the time, I was told that he'd broken his back in the crash and was very bitter about the care he was receiving from the VA. So I feared that seeing Danny again would be difficult.

What a refreshing surprise to see Danny well, with a GREAT attitude (better than some vets I know who didn't go through what he did). Danny's attitude and good humor are a true inspiration.

I highlight seeing Danny because that meant so much to me, but I could as well tell of the many vets from my unit who have returned to Vietnam to rebuild with the Vietnam Veterans Reconstruction Project or other programs designed to heal the wounds of war and create something positive for people.

Seeing those long-ago friends now, and seeing what they are doing, makes me even prouder to be a veteran of Bravo Co., 2/501 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.


:patriot:

[MADem]

1. First time seeing them in four decades?

You must have been feeling a lot of differing emotions.

You'll probably start remembering things you've forgotten over the years, just from having your memory jogged as a consequence of those conversations with old battle buddies.

Will you do this now on an annual basis? At least you can stay in touch via the net, if you aren't going to repeat the experience.

[pinboy3niner]

2. We will DEFINITELY stay in touch

I just happened to stumble upon the unit website a few months ago, which led to email correspondence with a few, including the guy I replaced in VN. His idiosyncrasy then was that he put zinc oxide on his nose to prevent sunburn.

He 'souvenired' me his z.o. when he left, and at the reunion he gave e a present --of zinc oxide!

Yes, it does stir things up. But I've had a chance to process my VN stuff over the years. On my second or third go-round, I asked a VA psychologist, "How many times do I have to process this shit?" His wise answer: "As many times as it takes." :)

I'd buried it all for 16 years after I got back (didn't even talk about it with my little brother, who was there with me), until I had a dramatic catharsis and it all came flooding back--and I cried every day for two months.

I've had to process it again a few times since then. But I'm managing pretty well.

Yes, the reunion did stir things up again and I remembered things and was told about things I'd long forgotten. Luckily, there haven't been any DU posts to strike my raw nerves. :)

These reunions are biannual, and I'm already looking forward to the next one--even if I have to go to Fargo, ND, the site that's been chosen.

And a side benefit is that these guys have photos I don't have. My camera and film, in a canteen pouch on my belt, were destroyed by too many stream crossings. So I really appreciated one of the ealrly emails that sent me this photo (with me in VN, front and center in the photo):

[MinneapolisMatt]

4. That photograph is priceless.

Very cool.

[MADem]

5. Ah, so very young!

I'm glad you've found the group, and are reconnecting. It'll do you a world of good, AND you'll enjoy the reunions more and more as the years pass. Nice that something good can come out of all that, at long last.

Your man at the VA is wise indeed!

[joshcryer]

9. So young pinboy3niner!

I weep for those boys, and yes they were boys, almost all of them. :cry:

I'm so glad you had a great trip and this story is so fascinating.

Thanks so much for posting that pic!

[Major Hogwash]

21. Nice group shot.

I know a lot of processing has gone on since then, but honest to gawd, I hope things are much better for you next year, once all of the reports from the men being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan stop coming in on a regular basis.

[democrank]

3. K & R

I`m so glad you were able to attend this reunion. Thank you for your service.

~PEACE~

[proudlib8134]

16. +1000

[catchnrelease]

6. Thanks for the heads up on this post

I showed it to my husband. He said "Pretty cool".

He also found a site for the FSB where he was stationed in '70-'71. (It was FSB 411 at Quang Ngai--when he first saw the photos posted there, he was really excited, and had to give me a 'guided tour' of everything in the pics. He was the point man in a small recon team there. When he came back he was a helicopter crew chief in the reserves.)

I'm so glad you had a good time!

:toast:

[white cloud]

7. Wow

A great thread. Glad to see you reunited. They are the best and will never change. Alway there for you.

[AverageJoe90]

8. Never agreed with that war.

But thank you, at least, for serving our country with dignity. ;-)

And I wish you all the best of luck with the V.V.R.P. and whatever else you've volunteered for.

[joshcryer]

10. Yeah, survival, that's what you were fighting for, you and your "band of brothers."

I'm glad that you made it out of there too, and I celebrate your survival along with you, because you have a heart of gold, platinum, even. You have such a strong presence about you and while you probably would deny it, I think you're one of the wisest kindest people I've ever 'met'.

Thanks so much for sharing the story and for your service, not then which I applaud, but even now, being out there "in the field" with other vets who are still nursing their own scars, on top of your other political activism and school activities.

What a guy.

[catchnrelease]

11. ^ +1

[pinboy3niner]

12. Lest anyone think I was dying to see photos of ME...

The reason that photo meant so much to me is that it showed me with friends that I lost.

Behind me is our Captain, the Company Commander. Next to me (holding the cup) is Dan, the plt. Ldr. I replaced, who became XO (Executive Officer--second in command of the company).

The photo, taken at Thanksgiving, 1969, was of the officers of our company. Besides the CO and XO were we three platoon leaders.

Of the three of us, I was the only one who survived. The two guys on the left in the photo were KIA.

R.I.P., Brothers...

Russ Shields...Panel 14 West, Line 108

Mark Rivest...Panel 9 West, Line 9

:patriot:

[white cloud]

13. We are Honored

To see your friends picture, story, and try to understand your, our, and the country's pain of war. I pain for my lost friends also. May they all RIP. Thanks so much for reminding us of those whom are buried under the flag of the great USA.

[Iterate]

14. Thinking of Danny

I remember a nun telling us in grade school, 6th or 7th grade, that we were nearing a point when little decisions would have a big impact on our whole lives. I remember thinking "sure, but now what are we supposed to do, how do we know." Somehow back then we were swept up in history but had this idea that we were influencing big events, dealing with big ideas. In hindsight though, it all seems so accidental.

Thanks pinboy3niner. Nearly every time you post it's an occasion to stare at the monitor for a few hours thinking a hundred different things.

[pinboy3niner]

15. "Little decisions"

You picked up on something that applies not only to war, but to life.

Those of us who wound up going to war may have come to understand the consequences of our 'little desisions.'

But all of our lives are built upon little decisions that may prove to be momentous. whether or not they lead us to war.

Talk about a post that leads to a hundred different thughts...

[atreides1]

17. Didn't know

You were with the 101st...

[white cloud]

18. RIP Jimmy

JIMMY LEE CULWELL
SGT, ARMY
LUBBOCK, TX
2/17/1949 - 1/29/1969

JIMMY LEE CULWELL


SGT - E5 - Army - Regular
173rd Airborne Brigade

Length of service 1 years
His tour began on Apr 12, 1968
Casualty was on Jan 29, 1969
In BINH DINH, SOUTH VIETNAM
Hostile, died of wounds, GROUND CASUALTY
OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE
Body was recovered

Panel 33W - Line 13

http://thewall-usa.com/info.asp?recid=11428

[pinboy3niner]

19. R.I.P.

:patriot:

[pinboy3niner]

20. Were you with the 101st too?

iirc, you enlisted about 7-8 years after I got out. By that time, the 101st probably didn't have the 501st Infantry battalions any more, as they were deactivated after VN. They've since been reactivated for WOT, but they're now part of another division.

It was kind of funny running into post-VN Screaming Eagle troops. When you'd tell them you were with 2/501 they'd say, "Oh, you were signal?" because the 501st Signal Bn. is the only unit in the 101st now with the 501 designation.

But, in Vietnam, the 101st still had two 501 Infantry battalions...1/501 and 2/501.



:patriot: