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Gary,
You gotta love it! You were trained to be a real killing machine. I know that tank training came in handy in Vietnam.
I started basic at Ft. Polk in November, 1969 and we were the first BCT unit to train with the M-16. Since the war had been going on already for several years and the 16 was the issued weapon, you’d think they would have started training troops with it much earlier. But, the Army is still the Army. I don’t know where the weapons came from, but they were FAR from brand new! The only real break we caught from being the first was that the rifle PT drill had not been adapted to the M-16 yet, so it was a piece of cake.
I did have to train on the M-14 in Infantry AIT though because we were all going to Germany and it was the standard issue weapon there. We got literally one day of training which culminated in record fire.
Of course, the Army then put me in a tank unit and I was issued a .45 cal. “grease gun,” which I’d never seen before and was expected to know how to clean the 7.62mm coaxial machine gun on an M-60 tank, which looked NOTHING like the M-60 machine gun I’d trained on. The only similarity between an M-60 and the coaxe machine gun was that they fired the same bullet.
Terry,
I heard it was nothing but peace & love Calif style at Ft. Ord with passes every week end.
I did basic and AIT at Ft. Ord from Feb.’69 to June.M-14 for basic, !6 for Ait. Contrary to the sunny warm reputation of california, that cold wind coming off the ocean in Feb/March while you are laying down on the wet beach made alot of people sick,including me.In AIT Dan Riley was in our platoon.Looking forward to seeing himm again one of these days.
Rick,
I remember the M14 training & seeing the M16 to qualify for. I remember being in WWII barricks for basic & then a 2 man room in a dorm style brick building. That’s about it. I do remember begging for a 3 day pass from the Drill Sgt so I could fly home for my sister’s wedding in Louisville, KY (LT & BILL). He told me it was good for 90 miles & if I got caught he knew nothing about me going there. I have no idea what company I was in. You guys have great memories. I on the other hand am going slowly insane.
SR No need to be nasty to us O’s!
Bill;
I did Basic Training at Ft Dix at the same time as you. I was in E-3-2, I’m pretty sure that was the unit. May 68 to Sep 68.
Lt;
We also trained with the M14. Drill Sgt Ace used to make us lay the M14 on our hands while we were in the front leaning rest position, and would make us drop onto the charging handle of the M14. Right in the middle of your chest!! Ouch.
Later in Basic, we were given the M16 and had to qualify on that, too.
bill–i think lt was referring to the brass tradition of applying KY jelly to all 2nd lt`s as they de-planed in nam. having never de-planed and sent to officer quarters, i can only repeat what i heard. no need to go into visuals descriptions.
Sorry Lt…….I wouldn’t be knowing anything about that……I was just an enlisted man.
Bill,
We might have actually been at Dix at the same time. I got drafted in early June 68, went to Ft. Campbell KY for Basic and then on to Dix for AIT.
Bill Connell, Do you think there is anything significant about the initials for Kentucky being KY and taking basic at Ft Campbell??
LT,
Did both basic & AIT at Ft. Dix. From April, 68 until I believe Sept, 68. Boy i am getting old!
Bill,
You are right about WWII training at Ft Dix. Where did you do your basic? We carried M14s in OCS but a heck of a lot of indoctrination and Vietnam oriented training at Ft Benning. We got told alot that if we didn’t listen up we would die in Vietnam! I must have listened!! On the back of the clipboards we carried to and from classes was a Sticker which read WIN IN VIETNAM.
OK guys, real men trained at FT Dix, NJ & got WW II training & then sent to NAM. If you lived to tell this story you got a “Good Conduct” Metal, a slap on the back side, & sent home in a charter plane. Right LT?
I’ll admit that Monterey was/is an awesome place, especially when they let us leave Ord….after about 6 wks. But training in that sand was also something special. I can remember FNG’s coming into Charlie Co. and not in good enough shape for our humps. But not the Ord guys……..haha.
Ah, Fort Polk…. And if you wished to mingle with the locals you could visit the lovely little town of Leesville…….or was it Fleasville……or maybe Diseaseville.
have to agree with gary–if you didn`t experience the louisiana wildlife, close up and personal, you missed some of AIT`s fond memories, specially the pleasant august evenings, like they are having now–memorable.
and yes–i still hate fort puke–D-3/5
Just got back from a wedding and at the reception I ran into Mrs Hal Zehr. Hal was one of the 90 RR guys attached to us in 69-70. She said they just had a reunion in DC in May. Names she mentioned were Jim Intravia, Dale Usher and Tommy Denton. She said there were about 10 of them.
Dan:
I’ve been a first responder before and you’re right..it’s chaos, usually UNORGANIZED, but who better to make sense of it than a Veteran of the unorganized chaos of a firefight?
It’s strange, though predictable, that I easily slip right back into “combat mode,’ during a disaster and I personally think that’s a good thing.
Dan and Gary,
Thank you both and any others who volunteer there time of love and caring regardless of where it is done. Lord willing, one of my volunteer jobs outside of church ministries will be at the VA. There this week & seeing less WWII and more Vietnam and the Middle East war Vets now.
Gary, I think you will like being a first responder. I retired from ComEd electric utility and worked in construction for 15 years and engineering for 5 years and safety / health for 15 years. I worked a lot of storms including ice storms, the Chicago flood, and the Plainfield tornado. It seems like we make plans as to what to do in an emergency and than when it happens it’s like organized chaos.
Dan:
During the last year, I was asked to train as a first responder damage assessor, which I did, and I may limit myself to doing just that in the future. It has a somewhat limited application as we are among the very first into a disaster area and our job typically would not last but a few days. However, even after the initial response, there’s still an on-going need for assessors to preceed chain saw and flood mud out crews, so I could still do that.
We’ll just have to see how it goes. At least we have the assurance that what God calls us to do, He empowers us to do and I’ve found that to always be the case, without exception.
Gary, I am 63 years old and I quit doing the hard labor volunteering a couple of years ago. I worked on four houses doing the “rebuilding together” projects. I was the house captain on two of them. I also did several Chicago Cares projects painting schools. Now I slowed down and do the easy stuff, one day a week at IL Dept. Vets. home in Manteno pushing wheel chairs to and from physical therapy. When we go to Tampa Bay in the winter I am a wheel chair escort at Bay Pines VA.
Dan:
If I happen to see it, I’ll come back with a report for you. However, since we’ll be working all over Port au Prince building houses all day long in the 106-115 degree heat index weather, I doubt I’ll be in much of a mood to look around by the end of the day. LOL
This is going to be a struggle for me on a couple of levels. One, I’m 61 years old and may come to the conclusion that physically demanding mission work is something I ought to leave behind. I’ve done chain saw, mud out and debris cleanup and it gets harder every time. The recovery time gets longer and longer too.
Plus, I have to give up my cigs for the whole week. But, the Spirit told me just as plain as day that His strength would get me through that without any problems and I’ll stand on that. He’s already reduced my daily intake of cigarettes from about 60 to 3 in preparation for leaving. That alone is a miracle! LOL
Gary, we have been contributing money to The Friends of the Orphans for several years. One of the Orphanages we suupport is in Hati. Our church also collects old sheets and linnens and sew’s crosses on them to be used as burial cloths for the children in Hati. I hear that they average seven funerals a day and they don’t have coffins. You may get a chance to see the FOTO facility. Good luck, we’ll be praying for you.
Amen Brother!
Bill:
Thanks for the kudos.
Yes, it’s not really a mystery as I can see the hand of God working all through my life, even before I knew Him. Amazin’, ain’t it?
There will be Baptist’s in heaven, but I think those of us who occassionally sneak a beer and smoke will be put with someone besides other Baptist’s. 🙂
Gary,
Bless you and your group for your efforts. God does not work in mysterious ways. He has a plan if we will only listen. If God can use me, he can use anyone. Here I was trained to kill the body & now Jesus uses me as a Methodist pastor to save souls. Being a Methodist I am convinced there will be a Bapitist or two in Heaven despite what those other Methodist say.
Gary;
Godspeed. You have obviously wrapped your heart and mind arount this mission. You’ll wrap your arms around it when you get there.
These fine people have been dealt a devastating blow, from which they may never recover. People like you, are the only link to hope that they have.
My wife, Barbara and I will keep you in our prayers and thoughts, as we do those affected by this catastrophe.
Please use this medium to keep us up to date on your progress.
go with the grace of god be careful proud of all who continue to help tough the yrs are ageing our bodies faster than we would like to admit-larry fry
My brothers:
Please pray for me next week. I’ve been chosen to spend a week in Haiti building permanent shelters for the victims of January’s earthquake. Our team leaves Sunday.
I’ve been doing disaster relief with the Southern Baptist’s for about 5 years now, but this is the first time I’ve been offered the chance to do it overseas. I’m as excited as a kid before Christmas! This will be my 14th or 15th deployment in response to 10 or 11 disasters, so this isn’t anything new, but the chance to impact the lives of desperate people in the name of Jesus in Haiti is a blessing which I can’t quite wrap my arms around.
Who woulda thunk that someone like me, chief among sinners, could have such an opportunity? The last time I was in a third-world country, the mission was to kill and destroy. This time, it’s to build and love.
God works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?
I just had to share this with my brothers and ask for your prayers.
Lt,
I was sent to Ft. Dix as I was going to be an officer. I had elected artillary & armor. However they said we all were going to be infantry or go as an enlisted. I chose to go as a PFC. Stayed two extra weeks & got out after my return with 19 months as an RA. Remember the marches well.
Hey Gary,
Training must have been OK. Still kicking today. Not sure about LT, but when I was there it was WWII training. Had two weeks of jungle training when I hit Nam. Not sure any training could prepare a guber like me for Vietnam.