Page 109 - Stand Down Vietnam

One thing is for sure, I growed up real quick. When I
was a kid, we’d play Cowboys and Indians, but when I
went to Vietnam, I found out they was using real
bullets. It was a whole lot different; it made me grow
up real quick. On the day I arrived in Vietnam, the
airbase in Da Nang was under attack. They had us
running for bunkers.

We were issued M1 Carbines when I first got there,
later we got M16s.

I didn’t pay any attention to the protestors or their
music. I believe everybody has a right to speak. It’s
all in the way it is done. Today, it is unpatriotic.
We didn’t go over there and kill people for the fun of
it. We went over there because our country sent us
there. We took pride in what we done.

When I got home, back stateside, the protestors were
yelling at us and spitting on us. Some of them threw
rocks at us. Even after I was out of uniform and in

the hospital in Tennessee, once someone found out you’d
been in Vietnam they’d treat you like an outsider.

Today, I think people are looking back on the Vietnam
war and are treating us a whole lot better. It feels
good to have someone say thanks for your service. I
think a lot of people know we did it; served, for them.