March 29 is National Viet Nam War Veterans Day, first observed in 2012, it honors the U.S. military members who served in the Vietnam War (1955-1975). It is a day to remember the over 58,000 who gave their lives & the rest of us who did return home but were forever changed. I know there are other CT members who proudly served in that war, so give them your thoughts tomorrow. The U.S. did mint a beautiful silver dollar in 1994 commemorating the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that was struck in mint state & proof condition.
Lovely commemorations. That was a really rough time in many families' lives. My dad barely missed Vietnam, by getting a college deferral (he was in NROTC in college, marine option). During training/drills, the DI wouldn't say "if you go to war" it was "WHEN you get shipped to Vietnam...." In many universities across the country, there were massive student protests. College ROTC students were harassed as well, and it go so bad at my dad's college that they had to hold drill indoors to avoid being harassed. At one point the students tried to storm the armory, but his father, a gruff Marine MGySgt stood on the steps with the smokey bear hat, and put hands on hips and gave a gruff look. Armory survived for another day.
From the recorded interview to a ROTC class: "Got me thinking of my jump-buds that got hurt or killed an won't gonna get older. And all them In-Country folk I got friendly with, that got hit during the hard times. Jeez, more than a time or two I even thought 'bout all those farms, animals and nice buildings destroyed over there. They's right about one thing, 'War is hell'. Most times it don't mean nothing, just a thing. But sometimes, I'm just another guy, still struck in Phu Bai." T. V. Eure 1952-2019 2 tours Can't believe it's been two years already, still miss your laughs and wit big bro.
WOW! Thanks for the reminder! I served during NAM but not in NAM!! Went to Libya North Africa instead! Knew some who were there and one who didn't make it back. It's very important that we never forget them and give them the respect they deserved then but never received! May God bless them all!!!
I was in the ROTC program at the University of Nebraska during the Viet Nam era. There had been anti-war demonstrations on campus for the last couple of years. But when Kent State happened, there was a groundswell of protest and the students took over Pershing Hall (our ROTC Building was named after General John J. Pershing who during his tenure at NU taught the cadets. Plus he also lived many years in Lincoln.) Pershing Hall had two stories of offices and classrooms but the middle was open to the roof and served as an area for drills, etc. during inclement weather. As the first floor was now controlled by the protestors, we were forced to use only the classrooms on the 2nd floor, entering by stairs in the back of the building. So I’m in my ROTC uniform leaning over the 2nd-floor railing talking to one of the occupying students on the drill floor below. My fellow ROTC students accosted me and questioned why I was talking to those “hippies” and using other more forceful descriptions. That evening, I was talking to my roommate (we lived in a private house several miles from campus) and telling him about the repudiation I had received. He replied that he had also received rebukes as to why he was talking to that uniformed “pig” up there, as well as other epitaphs not nearly as endearing. Yes, my roommate was one of the students that took over the building. I was commissioned later that Spring and spent my time in the Medical Service Corps. My roommate and I obviously had numerous dissimilarities, and certainly had different viewpoints on our approaches to life. On the other hand, we also had common interests and knew how to discuss issues reasonably and calmly with each other (well … mostly calmly). We have remained good friends to this day.
I joined the Army in January of 1967 & my 1st set of orders were for Pleiku, Vietnam after completing Signal School in Fort Gordon, GA. I was stationed with the 4th Infantry Division in the summer of 1967, & ended my tour in Dong Ba Thin in the summer of 1968, supporting the 5th Special Forces Group. It was a long year....
Thank you for your service. I picked this up a while back, don't know if it brings back memories or you guys mostly dealt in American currency and coins?
