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pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)

30. I served in Vietnam; it affected my life profoundly

Mon Feb 20, 2012, 08:46 PM

Feb 2012

At 18, I volunteered for the draft (I called up my draft board and asked them to draft me; they said okay and sent me an induction letter). That way, if I didn't like the military I could get out in 2 years.

After Basic Training, Leadership School, and Advanced Infantry training I went to Infantry Officer Candidate School. After 6 months of that training the Army made me a Second Lieutenant at 19, and at 20 I was leading an Infantry platoon in the jungles of I Corps, mostly doing search-and-destroy operations from Phu Bai out into the A Shau Valley.

My war ended when I was wounded by AK fire in the face and shoulder. I was Medevac'd and, after 18 months in the hospital, I was retired for partial disability.

At least, I thought my war ended. I suppressed the experience for 16 years before discovering how profoundly I'd been affected psychologically.

That war will always be with me. Hell, my avatar is the Vietnam Service Medal and my username is the last radio callsign I had in-country, lol!

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Is there anyone on DU-3 who lived through Vietnam War Era..whose life was changed by the DraftWar? [View all] KoKo Feb 2012 OP

I was there. I got the last draft number. It was too low to go and they never called me. Vincardog Feb 2012 #1

I worked on a military base that soldiers came through for courses they took. I even dated a southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #8

I totally agreed w/ your FIL jaysunb Feb 2012 #11

Your point is well taken. It really did have an impact on people. I think the younger guys really southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #15

I probably should have added that jaysunb Feb 2012 #22

Wow, I am sorry for your lose. Many good young men come back left with deep scars of emotions. southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #26

No one ever spat in any soldier's face (at least as can be coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #68

The media lost respect long ago. southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #90

I was among the last drafted in '72. My number was 23 (bd 6/26) SteveG Feb 2012 #21

The "dirty hippies" were a small percentage of the people who protested the war... rfranklin Feb 2012 #2

Lost Interest....When exactly did Kent State and Jackson State events occur? Bandit Feb 2012 #85

Kent State was May 4, 1970 and Jackson State was May 14, 1970 rfranklin Feb 2012 #92

My husband and I lived through that time; we were young then. CaliforniaPeggy Feb 2012 #3

I hope you can convince your brother to post here (if he does not do so already). Failing coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #69

Alas, my brother would never post here: he's the sole Republican in our family. CaliforniaPeggy Feb 2012 #94

1965-1975 were an unbelievably intense period of time. Warren Stupidity Feb 2012 #4

This is pretty much the way I remember it too. annabanana Feb 2012 #52

+1 ....that's my take on "Communes" morphed into today's "Communities for Sustainable Living." KoKo Feb 2012 #111

I lived through it, both as a war protestor, and the spouse of a vietnam vet. one of the things niyad Feb 2012 #5

Well, it led to my career. trof Feb 2012 #6

Did you meet George Bush? HubertHeaver Feb 2012 #60

HA! Nope. trof Feb 2012 #83

Damn! Still no eyewittness he was in Alabama. HubertHeaver Feb 2012 #118

Never was and never will be. trof Feb 2012 #121

on the crux-- I turned 18 in '73, a high school dropout with a LOW lottery number.... mike_c Feb 2012 #7

Minor quibble but Watergate would never have occurred without Vietnam, a point made coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #70

A very significant change in my family's lives HeiressofBickworth Feb 2012 #9

When I was 8-11, the nightly news reported on our dead soldiers daily. DCKit Feb 2012 #10

Um, minor quibble, but I think the number of U.S. combat fatalities was coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #71

The total U.S. military fatalities in the war is now 58,272 pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #80

And even sadder, more than that have taken their own lives after they got home. AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #113

Having lived through it, I would say that everyone living at that time who was of draft age, or enough Feb 2012 #12

How could a 10-year war not affect everyone in America?? Major Hogwash Feb 2012 #13

I ducked the war with an academic deferment like that bastard Newt Gingrich. dimbear Feb 2012 #14

Willie was the ultimate chickenhawk. WhoIsNumberNone Feb 2012 #23

Romney believe that saving vietnam from communism was worth dying for, but flexnor Feb 2012 #29

He believed it was worth dying for- WhoIsNumberNone Feb 2012 #43

As long as the person doing the dying was a Sp*c, a coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #73

Like Cheney, Romney simply had "other priorities". Those coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #72

Willard Rmoney's attire shows why he NEVER was in tune with the people. Bozita Feb 2012 #49

his attire wasnt out of step for 1966, when the picture was taken flexnor Feb 2012 #63

This message was self-deleted by its author onenote Feb 2012 #103

Breathtaking change of culture from 1965 to 1968 flexnor Feb 2012 #16

Thanks for your post...It was what I was asking about. You are Not Vietnam..but a little Younger... KoKo Feb 2012 #38

My experience was similar to flexnor's Art_from_Ark Feb 2012 #53

Funny, what you said about Nixon is somewhat true of W, raccoon Feb 2012 #88

Bush was no Nixon, although his dad was Nixon's ambassador flexnor Feb 2012 #93

Well said. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #98

Only 16 in '73, but dad and I had some heated arguments over Vietnam,, benld74 Feb 2012 #17

born in 1956 - remember it as a horrible/stressful time. My parents were ready to ship me to Canada NRaleighLiberal Feb 2012 #18

I was born that same year Mojorabbit Feb 2012 #41

I was A1 for two years and I was determined not to go even if I had to leave the country. Sancho Feb 2012 #19

Wow, that is a hell of an anecdote and proof that casualties coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #74

first lottery 1969...my number was 111. spanone Feb 2012 #20

9/14 WAS THE FIRST DRAWN NUMBER..MY BIRTHDAY... angstlessk Feb 2012 #24

Here is how I know... angstlessk Feb 2012 #28

My boyfriend came back a junkie..... glinda Feb 2012 #25

There is experience and there is experience malaise Feb 2012 #27

That is one hell of an anecdote and proof positive that coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #75

It messed me up malaise Feb 2012 #77

I served in Vietnam; it affected my life profoundly pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #30

thank you for your service flexnor Feb 2012 #31

You undoubtedly mean well. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #40

I hope the sign I carried.... moriah Feb 2012 #48

Thanks..I know what you say... It goes both ways these wars... n/t KoKo Feb 2012 #58

The stories of "hippies spitting on returning vets" Lydia Leftcoast Feb 2012 #55

Thankyou pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #99

Were you there pre- or post-Tet '68? coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #76

After Tet pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #81

My Cousin served in the 101st Airborne. AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #114

Draft number 15. So I enlisted in the Air Force slater71 Feb 2012 #32

I was in the Marine Corps donco Feb 2012 #33

As a result of the Viet Nam War, I became a full-fledged liberal and I'm never going back. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #34

The PBS documentary "Vietnam" (based on Stanley Karnow's coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #79

Notwithstanding the inter-service rivalries, there are some cultural differences AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #97

Of course, one would have to have been dead to not have been effected by that debacle... Alameda Feb 2012 #35

There was a huge shift in families-some survived, some not. Its never been documented. And should be MichiganVote Feb 2012 #36

Agree...there's never been a movie that showed how it affected the families and what it did to KoKo Feb 2012 #59

My husband had a low number so he was told if they signed up marlakay Feb 2012 #37

I wasn't born yet, but my mother was... and her views influenced mine. moriah Feb 2012 #39

So many heartfelt posts about their experience...I'm still reading.. KoKo Feb 2012 #42

Some of the vets that post in the veterans group have responded here, denbot Feb 2012 #45

I'll second that pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #101

In 1969 I was 19, 1-A and my number in the lottery was 98. hobbit709 Feb 2012 #44

I can't even describe the effect it had on me and my friends graywarrior Feb 2012 #46

I was young and stupid. I joined the Navy before they started the lottery. Stinky The Clown Feb 2012 #47

It was about May 1965 and one yer earlier I had decided to join the Navy while INdemo Feb 2012 #50

Huh?!1 Well, *yeah* my and everybody's life was impacted UTUSN Feb 2012 #51

Yes. lonestarnot Feb 2012 #54

Drafted in June of 1970, number was 181... aka-chmeee Feb 2012 #56

It was the beginning of the end of my family's conservatism Lydia Leftcoast Feb 2012 #57

I don't know his entire story but my brother in law's life was changed csziggy Feb 2012 #61

Mr. Tikki was drafted... Tikki Feb 2012 #62

When I was in college (1968-1972) ... frazzled Feb 2012 #64

My brother went to the Nan. My husband s-cubed Feb 2012 #65

65 replies and 800 views, I show up late AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #66

Drafted during Vietnam. Elwood P Dowd Feb 2012 #67

Born in 1949, Golden Raisin Feb 2012 #78

"It is impossible today to describe the influence and ominous omnipresence of �the draft� to those raccoon Feb 2012 #89

The last things you say: AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #117

The War was a central fact that was up front every day! Are_grits_groceries Feb 2012 #82

There are things I will never forget newblewtoo Feb 2012 #84

It defined everything we did. grantcart Feb 2012 #86

I don't see how anyone who lived through Vietnam War Era, could say their life was not changed raccoon Feb 2012 #87

+1 onenote Feb 2012 #102

Whole family affected Mad-in-Mo Feb 2012 #91

Many years after the war, my then-wife insisted she'd been unaffected by it pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #95

Technically, I was a draft dodger malthaussen Feb 2012 #96

When they asked me to extend my enlistment to kill people for LBJ, I told them to fuck off. Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2012 #100

Born in '53. Lottery number in mid-40s. Called for physical. Avoided physical. Got CO deferment. onenote Feb 2012 #104

You might find this study interesting. onenote Feb 2012 #105

My dad served in the early years of Viet Nam (mid 60s) - TBF Feb 2012 #106

That's one of the consequences that's not talked about much in wars... KoKo Feb 2012 #109

I flew 250+ air combat missions in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia. DemoTex Feb 2012 #107

Great to see you back, Mac pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #108

From what I've read from you we are almost same age... KoKo Feb 2012 #110

My brother was drafted and died there Autumn Feb 2012 #112

Sorry to hear about your loss. It must have been extremely traumatic for you. grantcart Feb 2012 #115

I was born just in time to get my dad a deferral varelse Feb 2012 #116

I never got the sense from any documentary about Vietnam that it was not a mistake. Jennicut Feb 2012 #119

....1 KoKo Feb 2012 #120

I watched it on TV and wondered why the country south of me had gone insane TrogL Feb 2012 #122

You mean Southern USA....they've always been that way... KoKo Mar 2012 #123