Page 106 - Stand Down Vietnam

I was with MACV, but I served in combat. We were sent
to Saigon to set up an ambush during the Tet Offensive.
Our Lieutenant got the wrong map coordinates. We had
an Australian unit set up behind us. They didn’t expect
us to be there. If we’d moved, they would have wiped
us out. It just so happened that nothing happened that
night. The next morning, we saw all those troops; I
had a good long talk with my Lieutenant. I told him I

didn’t appreciate him jeopardizing all our men; we took
the Vietnamese sailors with us too. I let him know how
a small mistake could have killed a lot of us. I think
the junior officer didn’t have very good training.

They were fresh out of officer’s school; they went by
the book but had no real experience. When you get into
a situation like that, you can’t work out of no book;
you gotta have a little bit up here and you have to
know what you are doing.

Like I said, when you are fighting guerrilla warfare
there ain’t no set way of doing it. Everywhere you go
is a front line, you could be killed at any time. I’d
say after a while most of the officers were trying to
learn from us and they were pretty well trained. Those
first few weeks and months was dangerous. They could
have done another tour without any problems.

I stayed in the National Guard for 26 years, I wasn’t a

yes man; when I saw that something was wrong, I let
them know about it. Maybe I didn’t always put myself
forward in the right manner, I’d lose my temper when
I’d start talking to them. I just told them the way it
was. They didn’t always like that, they wanted a yes
man, and I wasn’t that man. I was promoted to Staff
Sergeant while in the National Guard.