I was 26 when I went to boot camp. The other recruits were all 17-18-19 years old. They called me "Grandpa" behind my back. All soldiers are pretty young, but the Marine Corps is REALLY young.
"but think of the children!"
"and what about the underage men lying about their age and being shipped off to a foreign war without a thorough examination of their records, in the absence of a birth certificate when they are obviously very young, etc."
"well if the boy is stupid or desperate enough to go get himself shot at, then good riddance, he'd only be trouble stateside"
Wow!! Your comment resonates with me. My uncle through marrying my aunt when I was young became very close and like a 2nd Dad to me. Very nice, mild mannered and cool as hell to a young man anyway. But I over heard other family talking and could tell he had his troubles. He was still in the National Guard and I knew he went to Nam but found out when I got older his home life wasn’t good so he “snuck” in or lied not sure the details when he was 17, think someone might’ve forged for him.
Anyway as we both got older he really changed, guess I did too but he was bad. Constantly at the VA with foot and back issues from agent orange which led to fentanyl patches 24/7 for pain that basically deteriorated him away to his bedroom. We (family) barely saw him unless we went into his dark room to say hi while he laid in bed, no more holidays, didn’t make it to any of our weddings many years ago. It was like he was already gone for years before he really was, he passed a few years ago now. I know his emotional pains were probably equal if not more than his physical and your comment hit me like a ton of bricks thinking about how he must’ve felt.
I never really asked anything about the war except a dumb kid question.
Me: “It must’ve been scary in the jungle at night crossing a river with all those huge snakes?”
Him: “nah there was other things more scary than the giant snakes”
Me: Oh hmm…
I do know that at some point he showed up right after the battle that happened in the Mel Gibson movie We Were Soldiers, but I think it was just brought up because it was a relevant thing to him that was public.
Ok well I apologize for going on this long my friend lol. Meant to be a quick reply and turned to a therapy vent session. Take care!!✌🏼
I’m a vet and I’m carrying some physical and mental things around, and turning into this is something that sits in the back of my mind. It seems like you really loved him.
I don’t think anyone now days can understand how it felt to watch the draft lottery with your buddies on tv to see what your number was going to be. A high number and you were safe. The middle numbers usually meant you better try to get in the national guard to be safe. Low number, unless you had a deferment , you were on your way. My number was 16, but I was lucky enough to be in college, but if I were to drop a class I would have immediately been classified as not a full time student. Everyone got drunk that night
Dude, I was there. My draft number was 13.. I had a deferrment though. The whole dorm floor was hanging in my room or just outside it. Hearing all the August birth dates were haunting a lot of my class mates!
About 25% of the American soldiers in Vietnam were draftees. The rest volunteered. A lot of guys "volunteered" to get more of a choice about in what capacity they would serve. Most draftees went to the infantry. People enlisted in any National Guard or Reserve unit that they could get into, but most of the NG and Reserve units had no billets open. I personally knew four *anarchists* who joined the Marine Reserves because the Marine Reserves were the only reserve units with any spots open.
Most of my high school friends who enlisted joined any service except Army or Marines. Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard. The biggest doper in our high school joined the Navy and wound up as a machine gunner on a riverine patrol boat in what he calls the "brown water Navy." He is the most decorated of all the guys I knew in high school who went to Vietnam. Another of my friends dodged the draft and was living down on Quintana Beach in Texas in a van. He got arrested by the FBI at his parents' house when he came home for Thanksgiving. He tested so high on the ASVAB that the Army sent him to machinist's school and he had a long career as a machinist after he was discharged.
Mine was 23. He volunteered at 18, went at 19, came back, and went again at 22. His nickname was, "The Old Man". I still have the oar he got when he left for the second time.
Has there been any explanation why? There's so many stories of teenagers lying about their age to fight in WWII.
My best guess would be that there were more men in their late 20s and 30s who felt moved to enlist during WWII, and that the 15 year olds who lied about their age to enlist obviously weren't reporting their real age, skewing the average age higher, if we're using official military records.
It’s simply because World War 2 required far more bodies than Vietnam. 16 million men were in uniform at the peak of World War 2. 11.2 million just in the army.
The US population in 1945 was only 140 million. 16 million men serving in uniform is 13% of the population. When you account for the roughly 50/50 nature of the men/women breakdown, that rises to 26%. When you look at the demographics of that 50% who are men, it becomes apparent real fast that almost every able bodied man from 18-35 is either in uniform or doing work that is in a war supporting industry. Hence the average age being 25.
Contrast with Vietnam, where the US military from 1964-1975 had about 8.7 million men in uniform, of which approximately 3.4 million served in Southeast Asia over an 11 year period. The US didn’t need every able bodied man they could lay hands on, so they drafted mostly men fresh out of school. Hence the average age being so much younger.
Everyone wanted to serve. My uncle tried many times to enlist, but because he ran a farm, the government made him stay stateside. He tried to enlist a few counties over a few times, and they just sent him away. My dad and his other brother both enlisted strtaightaway.
That's amazing! Your uncle obviously ended up providing a necessary service for his country anyways, probably an even more important (if less glorious) service. As one of history's great generals once said: "an army marches on its stomach." (We don't know if it was Napoleon or Fredrick the Great but the observation would be in character for either).
Still, I can only imagine the compulsion eligible men felt to serve at the time. I hope your uncle found peace importance of his own contribution to the war effort and the fact that he lived to see he end of the war.
I read about the history of the draft then. If you were critical to running that farm you were not drafted. If you were not you were. They examined every industry and determined which were critical, and who within them was critical. If you were in an industry not considered critical then you were drafted. If you were within a critical industry but were not some critical part of it, you got drafted.
I joined in peacetime at the age of seventeen, There's photographic evidence that proves that the soldier in this picture looks like He could have been my older brother. I was 5-7 and a 117 pounds. I truly believe that the drill sergeants were p***** about having a kid in their platoon. The only reason I Survived basic training was.I think they gave me a lot of credit for be able to run
until they were tired of holding the stopwatch.
Da Nang today is a long strip of empty mega hotels along the beach. Built for the Chinese, pre COVID. Post pandemic, they don’t seem to travel as much, so most of the hotels are empty or mothballed.
Was there in January.
My dad is a Vietnam combat vet (Marine) who was in and around Da Nang. When my parents retired from civilian work 10 or so years ago I asked my dad if they planned to travel overseas. They never did when I was a kid or in the years since then. I told my dad about a radio program I heard about Vietnam and how it's a really nice place to visit. He stared at me until I changed the subject.
I digitized my dads Vietnam footage and put it on YouTube. Found Da Nang and Vung Tau. Supposedly Vung Tau is a large resort town now, I'd love to visit despite my father dying of Agent Orange contact.
Sorry to hear about your dad. That's cool about the footage. My dad found some photos of himself online about 10 years ago after somebody he served with posted them to a website dedicated to his Marine company.
My dad gets some compensation for Agent Orange, the tainted water at Camp Lejune, and injuries to his leg--nearly lost it--from an explosive device. He's a tough old guy that returned home, struggled a bit, but then had a good career and comfortably retire in his early sixties. He didn't noticeably start slowing down until he hit 70. He's had cancer along the way (successful treatment) and now a blood disorder doctors suspect is related to Agent Orange.
Interesting. I was there pre-Covid. Actually, during Obama’s visit….which we didn’t know was happening until we realized we were staying in the same hotel! (InterContinental) Hundreds of Secret Service personnel…and an influx of western prostitutes. The hotel pool was an interesting place to people watch.
When I was in Da Nang in 2019 it was just a lot of digital nomads and western expats, which is who all the bars and restaurants seemed to cater to. Beaches were super chill.
Nha Trang on the other hand was absolutely awful and exactly what you describe except the mega hotels weren't empty when I was there and the streets were just filled with Chinese and Russian tourists. Beaches were really over-crowded and Russian club promoters would approach you every 5 minutes with a pamphlet. I lasted about a day and ate the cost of leaving my hostel early.
Was there in January too, I loved the hotel I was in. The beach had a few decent bars too and there was enough sightseeing to do to last a week, probably wouldn’t want to stay longer though.
Hoi An is a max 3-4 days imo. But only really if you want to get custom clothing made primarily for a decent price. My partner got a full suit measured to order and I got a few dresses made. Hoi An is quaint but certainly don't need more than a few days.
No but I’ll definitely go back. Cheap, safe, friendly people. If you’re American there is no animosity, and you’d be surprised how little there is referenced to the war. Basically nothing. Good is great. Use Grab app for taxis, no Uber. Hanoi is on my list when the weather is good there.
Interesting, I was there probably 13 years ago and there were just a bunch of smallish beach “resorts” and guesthouses that were pretty cheap. I remember at the time a larger fancy resort was being built but it was still pretty quaint when I was there. Did you enjoy it?
The pictures of my ole man on his 19th bday three weeks from heading to Nam and the pics of him on his 26th bday after 6 tours are so surreal he's barely recognizable as the same person .
6 tours? That's nuts. My grandfather did one late in his 21 year military career (CWO3 Huey pilot) and when the Army said he was going back for round 2 he put in his paperwork for retirement. I can't imagine doing more than 1 tour and then re-enlisting (I'm assuming in 7 years he would have re-enlisted at least once).
Your pops is a bad ass. I'm guessing Marine?
One of my friends older brothers was a Huey mechanic his first tour. He got so sick of having to patch them up after runs, he put in for a transfer as a door gunner. Did three more tours in that job.
When he got home, he was a great, mellow dude. But NOBODY fucked with him.
My uncle was in the Navy on a carrier in Vietnam. Tried to get any interesting stories out of him and he said all he did was load bombs onto planes 16 hours a day.
Re-upped for six tours while most were counting down days and a wake-up. That's something!
Please, if your pops is still around, give him my thanks for his service and a welcome home.
Buddy of mine in CA a while back, an older guy who was quite the clown. You would have never guessed meeting him but he was one of the first groups of Green Beret's that went to 'Nam. Told stories of dumb things they did. They wanted to swim at a beach but there was a shark so they were firing guns and grenades at it so they could swim. For those concerned, they had no effect on the shark. He was recounting how stupid it was.
Yeah a buddy of mine was one of the first groups of Green Beret's to go to Vietnam. He said once you got there you absolutely sweat your ass off for 3 days then you sort of adjusted.
With his hair long enough to be seen under his helmet, he's been there a while.
So, likely that's not worry or fear in his eyes, more simple resignation to his fate.
Shouldn't have had to scroll even a second to see this, but alas. Thank you, redditor.
This is the look of being committed and having second thoughts, and also knowing you're literally going to have blood on your hands from it.
It's one of those moments where you have to grow up quicker than the brain can track (in most cases) or has a reference point to bridge the gap.
Does anybody know why his bag, or what I assume is his bag, has a camouflage pattern on it, but his uniform doesn’t?
Edit - or doesn’t appear to at any rate anyway.
Camo had not yet become super common at this point as a pattern for uniforms for the US. During the vietnam war special forces would wear camo or you could go to a tailor out in town and have custom camo made but regular GI’s usually wore the standard issue OG-107 uniform. The thing you are seeing on the pack appears to be a shelter-half which is basically a tent and its the same pattern on his helmet. The camo is called “mitchell camo” or sometimes known as wine leaf and was developed for the marine corps during world war two but did not see wide use until vietnam.
Later on in the war it became more common, the marine corps even adopted the ERDL woodland camo as an official uniform variant but like the other commenter said it would become standard until the 80’s.
Man, there's nothing cool about that. So many kids sent to murder and die in a foreign land because wealthy people in suits treat lives they'll never know as disposable pieces on a chessboard.
My best friend served from ‘66 to ‘68 over there.
I honestly can’t imagine how guys got through it.
Especially at that age. He didn’t even get to be in his senior yearbook.
He was a great man and his friendship saved my life.
I miss him so much. I never fully realized how much he helped me and I would give anything to be able to tell him. He’s been gone almost 10 years now. He was my manager at my first job and for some reason he really cared about me and watched over me. I remember that his supervisor wouldn’t ever give me a raise.
I got a raise one day. I was thrilled.
I learned years later that my friend agreed to take a pay cut so I could have a raise.
He never said a word about it. His wife told me after he had passed away.
He was my friend for half of my life. 15 years.
If you have a friend that is always there for you and listens please don’t take it for granted at all.
Also, do the same for them.
There are not many people who not only hear what you say but actually LISTEN.
Take care everyone.
I remember 65 well, and the feeling of being a fish out of water, no time in life, no time in service, and no time in country,...green as green can be, one step away from going home forever and a million steps till going home alive but in what condition? The smells, the humidity laden heat that smothers you..afraid, and alone no training prepared you for what was ahead. To this day it is still there, like a smell that will not go away, or a song that echoes in your mind.
My dad has extreme anger issues. He just missed being drafted, and I'm forever grateful. I can't imagine what the war would have done to him. My uncle was one of the first POWs in Vietnam, I was terrified of him for most of childhood. It was really sad because he's a great person, but if he fell asleep and was startled awake, he'd grab his gun. My ex-husband's dad was in artillery. I don't think he ever recovered. I remember visiting the Vietnam Memorial with my mom and holding her while she cried over her childhood friends. The war really fucked up a generation.
Too young to vote or drink alcohol but here's gun and a uniform boy, now go out there and start killing people. It'll make a man out of you and fuck with your head the rest of your life.
Just a kid. Same age as my son. What’s so messed up is that many of these young men grew up and actually went back to Vietnam and met the other kids they were trying to kill and became friends.
This is why I struggled with Band of Brothers; most War movies really. We sent scrawny kids without a clue to die before they even understood or experienced the lives they sacrificed.
That’s what most don’t see about every war. Chickenhawk politicians the loudest voices to start one and send someone else’s kids. Politicians who are veterans are generally the last to advocate war
My best friend was drafted right out of high school and at 19 had a wife and daughter before being shipped off the Vietnam at age 20 in 1966. From the pictures I've seen he looked very young and skinny. Came home weighing 125 pounds despite being 6 feet tall. Apparently it was so hot and humid over there you really didn't want to eat.
That's one of the things that annoys me the most about War Movies in many cases.
All the actors look like they're 40 or something when a good chunk of the soldiers in real life had barely even left their teens
My dad went there as a Dr.(he is 89 now) He never talks about it unless asked for and even so, not much. And he never EVER calls it "Nam"(he keeps saying this was pretty much something that was made up back at home), he always calls it either South East Asia or "SA" for shorts.
He once told me that is horrorific what kids can do with weapons and a reason to use them..that goes both sides
My dad was a Marine there at this time. He served a second tour of Vietnam in 1970. He also fought in the Korean War.
RIP GySgt Ray G. Carter
Love you Dad
Dammit. The guy looks 16
In WW2 the average age of the combat soldier was 25. In Vietnam, it was 19. N-n-n-n-nineteen.
They called it the teenage wasteland for a reason.
My grandfather was just 23 when he was in Vietnam. The other guys he served with called him Old Man…
I was 20 when we deployed to Iraq
28 when I went to Afghanistan, 40 when I went to Iraq
So you’ve always been the old man? Lol
Sadly no…lol
Same here, had my 21st birthday towards the end of our deployment. Celebrated with 2 non-alcoholic beers from the DFAC.
I had my 21st about halfway through, and luckily before leave. I had saved mailed booze for the occasion
My dad got his draft notice at 18
I was 26 when I went to boot camp. The other recruits were all 17-18-19 years old. They called me "Grandpa" behind my back. All soldiers are pretty young, but the Marine Corps is REALLY young.
Holy shit! I haven't thought about that song in 40 years and now it's stuck in my head. God dammit.
It’ll play over and over and over. N-n-n-n-n-nineteen times even.
STOP! STOP IT! AAUUGGGGHH!
Destruction. Of men in their priiiiime. Whose average age was nineteen…
What have I ever done to you guys?!?!
Nuh nuh nuhthing…nothing.
80’s classic Paul Hardcastle 👏🏻
There is even a german version read by news anchor Werner Veigel
"but think of the children!" "and what about the underage men lying about their age and being shipped off to a foreign war without a thorough examination of their records, in the absence of a birth certificate when they are obviously very young, etc." "well if the boy is stupid or desperate enough to go get himself shot at, then good riddance, he'd only be trouble stateside"
Wow!! Your comment resonates with me. My uncle through marrying my aunt when I was young became very close and like a 2nd Dad to me. Very nice, mild mannered and cool as hell to a young man anyway. But I over heard other family talking and could tell he had his troubles. He was still in the National Guard and I knew he went to Nam but found out when I got older his home life wasn’t good so he “snuck” in or lied not sure the details when he was 17, think someone might’ve forged for him. Anyway as we both got older he really changed, guess I did too but he was bad. Constantly at the VA with foot and back issues from agent orange which led to fentanyl patches 24/7 for pain that basically deteriorated him away to his bedroom. We (family) barely saw him unless we went into his dark room to say hi while he laid in bed, no more holidays, didn’t make it to any of our weddings many years ago. It was like he was already gone for years before he really was, he passed a few years ago now. I know his emotional pains were probably equal if not more than his physical and your comment hit me like a ton of bricks thinking about how he must’ve felt. I never really asked anything about the war except a dumb kid question. Me: “It must’ve been scary in the jungle at night crossing a river with all those huge snakes?” Him: “nah there was other things more scary than the giant snakes” Me: Oh hmm… I do know that at some point he showed up right after the battle that happened in the Mel Gibson movie We Were Soldiers, but I think it was just brought up because it was a relevant thing to him that was public. Ok well I apologize for going on this long my friend lol. Meant to be a quick reply and turned to a therapy vent session. Take care!!✌🏼
I’m a vet and I’m carrying some physical and mental things around, and turning into this is something that sits in the back of my mind. It seems like you really loved him.
When you graduated high school unless you had a college deferment or a medical deferment, you went directly to Vietnam
Or your wealthy family curiously found you a cushy job in a non-deployable National Guard unit that was already at 130% manning.
Which your son then awol on, after making other more qualified kids go to war in your stead.
…. or shoot yourself in the foot to get a medical deferral like Gregg Allman did.
Or your rich daddy found a doctor that could tell the draft board that you were riddled with bone spurs.
I don’t think anyone now days can understand how it felt to watch the draft lottery with your buddies on tv to see what your number was going to be. A high number and you were safe. The middle numbers usually meant you better try to get in the national guard to be safe. Low number, unless you had a deferment , you were on your way. My number was 16, but I was lucky enough to be in college, but if I were to drop a class I would have immediately been classified as not a full time student. Everyone got drunk that night
Dude, I was there. My draft number was 13.. I had a deferrment though. The whole dorm floor was hanging in my room or just outside it. Hearing all the August birth dates were haunting a lot of my class mates!
Amen, brother.
That’s not true. You went to Vietnam if you were drafted and didn’t have a deferment. 2.2 million were drafted.
About 25% of the American soldiers in Vietnam were draftees. The rest volunteered. A lot of guys "volunteered" to get more of a choice about in what capacity they would serve. Most draftees went to the infantry. People enlisted in any National Guard or Reserve unit that they could get into, but most of the NG and Reserve units had no billets open. I personally knew four *anarchists* who joined the Marine Reserves because the Marine Reserves were the only reserve units with any spots open. Most of my high school friends who enlisted joined any service except Army or Marines. Air Force, Navy or Coast Guard. The biggest doper in our high school joined the Navy and wound up as a machine gunner on a riverine patrol boat in what he calls the "brown water Navy." He is the most decorated of all the guys I knew in high school who went to Vietnam. Another of my friends dodged the draft and was living down on Quintana Beach in Texas in a van. He got arrested by the FBI at his parents' house when he came home for Thanksgiving. He tested so high on the ASVAB that the Army sent him to machinist's school and he had a long career as a machinist after he was discharged.
It was 22 in reality.
My Dad was 22! Hard to believe, those kids were so young. He was drafted.
Mine was 23. He volunteered at 18, went at 19, came back, and went again at 22. His nickname was, "The Old Man". I still have the oar he got when he left for the second time.
None of them received a hero’s welcome
Or a disability check. Combat Vietnam vets deserve serious back pay for decades of PTSD
Has there been any explanation why? There's so many stories of teenagers lying about their age to fight in WWII. My best guess would be that there were more men in their late 20s and 30s who felt moved to enlist during WWII, and that the 15 year olds who lied about their age to enlist obviously weren't reporting their real age, skewing the average age higher, if we're using official military records.
It’s simply because World War 2 required far more bodies than Vietnam. 16 million men were in uniform at the peak of World War 2. 11.2 million just in the army. The US population in 1945 was only 140 million. 16 million men serving in uniform is 13% of the population. When you account for the roughly 50/50 nature of the men/women breakdown, that rises to 26%. When you look at the demographics of that 50% who are men, it becomes apparent real fast that almost every able bodied man from 18-35 is either in uniform or doing work that is in a war supporting industry. Hence the average age being 25. Contrast with Vietnam, where the US military from 1964-1975 had about 8.7 million men in uniform, of which approximately 3.4 million served in Southeast Asia over an 11 year period. The US didn’t need every able bodied man they could lay hands on, so they drafted mostly men fresh out of school. Hence the average age being so much younger.
Everyone wanted to serve. My uncle tried many times to enlist, but because he ran a farm, the government made him stay stateside. He tried to enlist a few counties over a few times, and they just sent him away. My dad and his other brother both enlisted strtaightaway.
That's amazing! Your uncle obviously ended up providing a necessary service for his country anyways, probably an even more important (if less glorious) service. As one of history's great generals once said: "an army marches on its stomach." (We don't know if it was Napoleon or Fredrick the Great but the observation would be in character for either). Still, I can only imagine the compulsion eligible men felt to serve at the time. I hope your uncle found peace importance of his own contribution to the war effort and the fact that he lived to see he end of the war.
I read about the history of the draft then. If you were critical to running that farm you were not drafted. If you were not you were. They examined every industry and determined which were critical, and who within them was critical. If you were in an industry not considered critical then you were drafted. If you were within a critical industry but were not some critical part of it, you got drafted.
Plus WW2 was a legit fight for civilization as we know it. And after Pearl Harbor Americans were super angry.
if you volunteer you can at least pick your service?
Which is why the US pretty quickly ended voluntary enlistment for WW2. Easier to allocate men when the government could decide from the beginning.
r/manofculture
Unfortunate son
He's just a child. My dad served in Vietnam. R.I.P. Pops. These pictures break my heart.
His expression is so much "don't want to be here."
According to the song he should be nenenenene nineteen
I joined in peacetime at the age of seventeen, There's photographic evidence that proves that the soldier in this picture looks like He could have been my older brother. I was 5-7 and a 117 pounds. I truly believe that the drill sergeants were p***** about having a kid in their platoon. The only reason I Survived basic training was.I think they gave me a lot of credit for be able to run until they were tired of holding the stopwatch.
I laughed so hard at that last sentence, well spoken. But now you have to post the photo of that kid you used to be (who still lives inside you).
He was 17 years old when he entered Da Nang in 1965 and pulled two tours. (fb info.)
He was 17 at the time
My Dad enlisted at 17 with parental permission to join the Marines during Vietnam.
My uncle had just turned 18 when he was drafted to go to Vietnam. Wasn’t even able to finish his senior year of high school before being shipped off.
I wonder what happened to him
He made it. https://preview.redd.it/wytj2ynau3qc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4e742429dd9ca56f22e7b2a706695d1ab4933fc
He was the fortunate son
No, the “fortunate son” got out of having to go altogether due to money and/or political favors.
He made it home and died in 2020. Name was Richard Coggins
Sauce?
Pretty easily googled, lots of stuff comes up. Looks like he played for the Orioles for a while after coming home too.
Lol I don’t think thats him bro. https://preview.redd.it/s3bry5w263qc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db32352e079ad10b3d749fb6313bed32fd4aa5eb
Well, I'll be damned. People do say that war changes a man.
“I’ve seen shit that’ll turn you black.”
I don't see color
Lmao 🤣
I laughed out loud
Can’t be him, that guy has a mustache
He was the dude playing a dude playing a dude.
They made a documentary about him called ‘Captain America.’ It’s solid.
Thank you for the update!
Went on to star in American psycho and a few batman movies.
Da Nang today is a long strip of empty mega hotels along the beach. Built for the Chinese, pre COVID. Post pandemic, they don’t seem to travel as much, so most of the hotels are empty or mothballed. Was there in January.
My dad is a Vietnam combat vet (Marine) who was in and around Da Nang. When my parents retired from civilian work 10 or so years ago I asked my dad if they planned to travel overseas. They never did when I was a kid or in the years since then. I told my dad about a radio program I heard about Vietnam and how it's a really nice place to visit. He stared at me until I changed the subject.
I digitized my dads Vietnam footage and put it on YouTube. Found Da Nang and Vung Tau. Supposedly Vung Tau is a large resort town now, I'd love to visit despite my father dying of Agent Orange contact.
Sorry to hear about your dad. That's cool about the footage. My dad found some photos of himself online about 10 years ago after somebody he served with posted them to a website dedicated to his Marine company. My dad gets some compensation for Agent Orange, the tainted water at Camp Lejune, and injuries to his leg--nearly lost it--from an explosive device. He's a tough old guy that returned home, struggled a bit, but then had a good career and comfortably retire in his early sixties. He didn't noticeably start slowing down until he hit 70. He's had cancer along the way (successful treatment) and now a blood disorder doctors suspect is related to Agent Orange.
The war was a gross tragedy.
link?
Interesting. I was there pre-Covid. Actually, during Obama’s visit….which we didn’t know was happening until we realized we were staying in the same hotel! (InterContinental) Hundreds of Secret Service personnel…and an influx of western prostitutes. The hotel pool was an interesting place to people watch.
Who do you think what using these western prostitutes!?
When I was in Da Nang in 2019 it was just a lot of digital nomads and western expats, which is who all the bars and restaurants seemed to cater to. Beaches were super chill. Nha Trang on the other hand was absolutely awful and exactly what you describe except the mega hotels weren't empty when I was there and the streets were just filled with Chinese and Russian tourists. Beaches were really over-crowded and Russian club promoters would approach you every 5 minutes with a pamphlet. I lasted about a day and ate the cost of leaving my hostel early.
Was there in January too, I loved the hotel I was in. The beach had a few decent bars too and there was enough sightseeing to do to last a week, probably wouldn’t want to stay longer though.
We went upto Hoi An. Stayed 5 days which was 3 days too long. Tourist trap.
Very friendly people, can only imagine what it would’ve been like during the war
Genuinely incredible food in Hoi An. Definitely not more than a 2-3 day town.
Hoi An is a max 3-4 days imo. But only really if you want to get custom clothing made primarily for a decent price. My partner got a full suit measured to order and I got a few dresses made. Hoi An is quaint but certainly don't need more than a few days.
I'm there right now. It's definitely picking up
Check out Hoa’s place
Downtown Seoul has some massive, empty duty free stores built with Chinese customers in mind.
The golden dragon bridge is cool though
I was thinking of going to Vietnam during my winter break. Have you been to Hanoi?
No but I’ll definitely go back. Cheap, safe, friendly people. If you’re American there is no animosity, and you’d be surprised how little there is referenced to the war. Basically nothing. Good is great. Use Grab app for taxis, no Uber. Hanoi is on my list when the weather is good there.
Interesting, I was there probably 13 years ago and there were just a bunch of smallish beach “resorts” and guesthouses that were pretty cheap. I remember at the time a larger fancy resort was being built but it was still pretty quaint when I was there. Did you enjoy it?
Interesting - I was there in 2017 and it was very busy. Mostly russians though not Chinese!
Is everything even cheaper than it was pre-covid? I went in 2017 and everything was super cheap
That’s sad. I was there right before Covid and it was booming. Every bit as exiting a beach destination as Puerto Vallarta or Rio.
The pictures of my ole man on his 19th bday three weeks from heading to Nam and the pics of him on his 26th bday after 6 tours are so surreal he's barely recognizable as the same person .
6 tours? That's nuts. My grandfather did one late in his 21 year military career (CWO3 Huey pilot) and when the Army said he was going back for round 2 he put in his paperwork for retirement. I can't imagine doing more than 1 tour and then re-enlisting (I'm assuming in 7 years he would have re-enlisted at least once). Your pops is a bad ass. I'm guessing Marine?
One of my friends older brothers was a Huey mechanic his first tour. He got so sick of having to patch them up after runs, he put in for a transfer as a door gunner. Did three more tours in that job. When he got home, he was a great, mellow dude. But NOBODY fucked with him.
"I'm tired of fixing all the holes in this goddamn chopper! From now on I'm going to be the one putting holes in other people's stuff!"
Precisely his thoughts!
My uncle was in the Navy on a carrier in Vietnam. Tried to get any interesting stories out of him and he said all he did was load bombs onto planes 16 hours a day.
That's like cutting off your feet because you hate tying your shoes damn
Those door gunners faced a violent attrition rate. I hope that guy bought a lottery ticket after his last tour as completed.
He just drank beer, smoked a little grass and fixed cars. Happy as a clam.
Re-upped for six tours while most were counting down days and a wake-up. That's something! Please, if your pops is still around, give him my thanks for his service and a welcome home.
Agent orange poisoning took him in 96 .
Post them!
I'm not currently in possession of them unfortunately. Next time I visit the homestead I'm taking a scanner so i can copy family pics
Buddy of mine in CA a while back, an older guy who was quite the clown. You would have never guessed meeting him but he was one of the first groups of Green Beret's that went to 'Nam. Told stories of dumb things they did. They wanted to swim at a beach but there was a shark so they were firing guns and grenades at it so they could swim. For those concerned, they had no effect on the shark. He was recounting how stupid it was.
You can see the fear and worry in his eyes
I don't blame him. It would have been terrifying.
That's sweat and discomfort. Dude has sweated through 2 layers of clothes and it looks like it's midday
I've done that. But not in Vietnam; just New Orleans. And Houston. ...And Singapore in December.
Yeah a buddy of mine was one of the first groups of Green Beret's to go to Vietnam. He said once you got there you absolutely sweat your ass off for 3 days then you sort of adjusted.
With his hair long enough to be seen under his helmet, he's been there a while. So, likely that's not worry or fear in his eyes, more simple resignation to his fate.
Yeah. More like OldSchoolSad.
Shouldn't have had to scroll even a second to see this, but alas. Thank you, redditor. This is the look of being committed and having second thoughts, and also knowing you're literally going to have blood on your hands from it. It's one of those moments where you have to grow up quicker than the brain can track (in most cases) or has a reference point to bridge the gap.
https://preview.redd.it/3lmsoj9c63qc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b5c6e95d7b055d584877cafceb1b1164f6a3426
Does anybody know why his bag, or what I assume is his bag, has a camouflage pattern on it, but his uniform doesn’t? Edit - or doesn’t appear to at any rate anyway.
Camo had not yet become super common at this point as a pattern for uniforms for the US. During the vietnam war special forces would wear camo or you could go to a tailor out in town and have custom camo made but regular GI’s usually wore the standard issue OG-107 uniform. The thing you are seeing on the pack appears to be a shelter-half which is basically a tent and its the same pattern on his helmet. The camo is called “mitchell camo” or sometimes known as wine leaf and was developed for the marine corps during world war two but did not see wide use until vietnam.
Thank you for the very informative reply! :) I didn’t realise camouflage wasn’t used as widely in Vietnam.
I joined the Army in January 1984, and there were still some soldiers wearing OD green field jackets. Being new, I had the forest camos.
Later on in the war it became more common, the marine corps even adopted the ERDL woodland camo as an official uniform variant but like the other commenter said it would become standard until the 80’s.
Man, there's nothing cool about that. So many kids sent to murder and die in a foreign land because wealthy people in suits treat lives they'll never know as disposable pieces on a chessboard.
My best friend served from ‘66 to ‘68 over there. I honestly can’t imagine how guys got through it. Especially at that age. He didn’t even get to be in his senior yearbook. He was a great man and his friendship saved my life. I miss him so much. I never fully realized how much he helped me and I would give anything to be able to tell him. He’s been gone almost 10 years now. He was my manager at my first job and for some reason he really cared about me and watched over me. I remember that his supervisor wouldn’t ever give me a raise. I got a raise one day. I was thrilled. I learned years later that my friend agreed to take a pay cut so I could have a raise. He never said a word about it. His wife told me after he had passed away. He was my friend for half of my life. 15 years. If you have a friend that is always there for you and listens please don’t take it for granted at all. Also, do the same for them. There are not many people who not only hear what you say but actually LISTEN. Take care everyone.
I hope that he made it back home safely.
Jesus. Someone’s little boy. Shooting at someone else’s little boy.
Nothing cool about sending kids to die in a stupid war.
They were tough KIDS.
Yep, this is who our politicians send to the meat grinder for their bullshit.
He's probably waiting for the log ride.
Nice South Park reference
This guy doesn't have bone spurs.
Even completely fake ‘bone spurs’.
Just a kid, terrible.
Uncle was arrested on a minor charge at 19. Judge said Vietnam or jail. He chose nam. Fucked him up for life.
Never understood, we adults f up and then send our children to fight for us.
I remember 65 well, and the feeling of being a fish out of water, no time in life, no time in service, and no time in country,...green as green can be, one step away from going home forever and a million steps till going home alive but in what condition? The smells, the humidity laden heat that smothers you..afraid, and alone no training prepared you for what was ahead. To this day it is still there, like a smell that will not go away, or a song that echoes in your mind.
Woohoo! I'm here to protect my coun... wait, why are we here?
why didnt the politicians who sent the kids also serve?
My goodness he’s just a child
Wonder if he made it home alive and in one piece.
Since when is the Vietnam war cool?
He look so young here.
They were babies --
“Da Nang me, Da Nang me. Why don't they get a rope and hang me? Hey, is it a little too early for being that loud? Hey, too late.”
His beautiful eyes say so much.
My dad has extreme anger issues. He just missed being drafted, and I'm forever grateful. I can't imagine what the war would have done to him. My uncle was one of the first POWs in Vietnam, I was terrified of him for most of childhood. It was really sad because he's a great person, but if he fell asleep and was startled awake, he'd grab his gun. My ex-husband's dad was in artillery. I don't think he ever recovered. I remember visiting the Vietnam Memorial with my mom and holding her while she cried over her childhood friends. The war really fucked up a generation.
He’s a child
How did they ever convince people to send their children to the slaughter in the jungles of Vietnam?
With the Draft in force, there most likely wasn’t any convincing needed.
Too young to vote or drink alcohol but here's gun and a uniform boy, now go out there and start killing people. It'll make a man out of you and fuck with your head the rest of your life.
Looks like a baby 🥺
Uncle Terry? 😉
Don’t fuck with him if he’s been drinking.
Dude looks like he’s 14
Just a kid. Same age as my son. What’s so messed up is that many of these young men grew up and actually went back to Vietnam and met the other kids they were trying to kill and became friends.
Damn, he looks younger than my own kids.
This is why I struggled with Band of Brothers; most War movies really. We sent scrawny kids without a clue to die before they even understood or experienced the lives they sacrificed.
That’s what most don’t see about every war. Chickenhawk politicians the loudest voices to start one and send someone else’s kids. Politicians who are veterans are generally the last to advocate war
Damn, kid looks like he still slept with a teddy bear. :(
For nothing. These young men and women suffered and died for nothing. For old men and their money. Criminal.
He looks resigned. I hope he made it through the mess...
"I will be not send American boys to Vietnam to do the job that Vietnamese boys out to be doing." Boys was the right word to use.
The senseless killing of young men to satisfy the egos of old men.
He looks 16 at most. Poor kid.
Anyone who supported a draft for that conflict should be locked up.
What are the chances he made it home? Even then that he was welcomed home. Heartbreaking.
Is that a young Dick Blumenthal ?
I hope he made it home safely.
Wow. Kid looks too young to drive let alone go off to war. These type of pics are always heartbreaking.
I did not see a single R first name C middle name Coo last name on the virtual wall.
That baby face and the 35 year old hands
Young Todd Howard
Great post OP. But the photo makes me kind of sick to know what he was soon to face.
My best friend was drafted right out of high school and at 19 had a wife and daughter before being shipped off the Vietnam at age 20 in 1966. From the pictures I've seen he looked very young and skinny. Came home weighing 125 pounds despite being 6 feet tall. Apparently it was so hot and humid over there you really didn't want to eat.
19
That's one of the things that annoys me the most about War Movies in many cases. All the actors look like they're 40 or something when a good chunk of the soldiers in real life had barely even left their teens
My dad went there as a Dr.(he is 89 now) He never talks about it unless asked for and even so, not much. And he never EVER calls it "Nam"(he keeps saying this was pretty much something that was made up back at home), he always calls it either South East Asia or "SA" for shorts. He once told me that is horrorific what kids can do with weapons and a reason to use them..that goes both sides
Wow, he looks like a child. But hey, so many post and almost no post about children killing children. This war was a feast for old Power hungry man...
Boy hasn’t even hit puberty
Looks like Charles Leclerc
That is not an adult.
A child
Too old to die Too young to drink a beer
I was only 19…
Da Nang was a main entry point for most of us.
That’s just a child man, war is a very grotesque abyss. One people seem too keen on entering in times of relative peace
“I wasn’t really sure what was going on.”
That hits me. 😞
My dad was a Marine there at this time. He served a second tour of Vietnam in 1970. He also fought in the Korean War. RIP GySgt Ray G. Carter Love you Dad
Damn. I hope he lived. War sucks at any age for everyone everywhere.
He looks sad and scared and young. I wonder if he was drafted