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TET
#1
For those of us who were in the military in the 60’s maybe you remember yesterday was the beginning of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, commonly called Tet.

1968 Uncle Ho decided that he would drive the US out of Vietnam and coordinated attacks from the DMZ to Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City.

Fun times.

Rob
Once More Unto The Breach, Dear Friends, Once More.
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#2
Thanks for your service Gunny......................
PAULETTE and "Two Cats and THE DOUG"

Whereabouts unknown...……...
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  • Gunny (01-24-2018)
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#3
I lost some good friends to the TET offensive ...... Angel .......

I'm sure you did too.

That said , glad you made it through that mess and are here with us now !

I appreciate the time you spend here with us.

(You're the closest I can get to my long lost friends ,,,, ya know ?)
stay tuned 
popeye


 Weirdo Overlord : FMS Fleet Ops , Awards , Badges ,  aka Tamerlane the Impaler Mod.
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  • Gunny (01-24-2018)
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#4
Exactly what Popeye said. I’m awfully glad you’re with us.
Two gloriously stinkin' badges.
Official YARC ship’s navigator.
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  • Gunny (01-24-2018)
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#5
Also glad you're here.

TET was interesting, from  political, philosophical, and psychological perspectives.

The southern Viet Cong were so badly decimated as to be practically wiped out, and from that point on, the war was fought by North Vietnamese Regular sent south to oppose us.

Was the leadership, Ho and the rest, actually delusional enough to believe there would be a mass uprising in the south (which they claimed TET would cause) which would defeat us?  Or was it a cynical ploy to wipe out any southerners who would be rivals for power after the war?

In any event, coming after assurances from Washington we were winning the war, it caused support for war here at home to plummet, and led to the withdrawal of American forces.

Brilliant strategy on the part of the North's leadership, or pure dumb luck?

I'm sure they took their secrets to their graves with them, so we'll most likely never know.  But fascinating questions.
Regards

John


I don't like to make advance plans.  It causes the word PREMEDITATED get thrown around in the courtroom!
I'm NOT crazy!  My mother had me tested! Cool
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  • Gunny (01-24-2018)
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#6
My family left the US to live in Australia in 1968 because my dad was fed up with all the rioting and assassinations.  We returned to the US in 1970 when my dad discovered that despite its failing America was still a great country. My memory is we left a "Leave it to Beaver" America and returned to the land of "Sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll." I missed a lot of the Vietnam story while we were gone. It had changed America significantly. I went into the Coast Guard in July of 1974...just in time to get the Vietnam campaign ribbon. They stopped handing it out a few months after I joined. 

For years I lived with a hole in my American psyche. Vietnam had changed so many things, had a huge impact on Americans, but I didn't get to experience it. Whenever I saw anything to do with the Vietnam war I would cry uncontrollably. I was an American, I had the ribbon, but I hadn't lived through the experience. It tore me up somehow. I hadn't felt the pain of something that was enormously painful for my fellow Americans.

Weird.

Thanks for your service, Gunny. I wish I had been able to serve in that time. My angst is nothing compared to what many others felt...and that missguided pain still hurts to this day. I can't imagine what so many others have had to live through.
YARC : Drunk in the Mud/Keeper of the Dingy/Ears [Image: L3000.gif]/Potluck Contributions Restricted
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  • Cammalu (01-24-2018), Texjbird (01-25-2018)
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#7
When I was working and active I didn’t have too many issues with the insomnia and night sweats but when there was nothing to do my mind, or what’s left of it, would relive some of the old days, both good and bad.

I have a small group of friends who I will exchange war stories with, mostly the funny ones. Might sound contradictory but there was a lot of hijinx and just general grab ass. Very seldom do we go into anything too bad, why bother? Most of the humor civilians don’t quite get but to me it’s worth a smile.

You know you did your part being a Coastie, I’ve got many pictures of the things you guys did and still do.


And damn , can you build a van!

Rob
Once More Unto The Breach, Dear Friends, Once More.
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  • Cammalu (01-24-2018), rvpopeye (01-24-2018)
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