Page 145 - Stand Down Vietnam

About five years later I would become a Supply Systems
Technician, Warrant Officer (920B).

I believe we lost the Vietnam War on all fronts. We
lost the respect and credibility of the American people
and I think we left the South Vietnamese people in
worse shape than what they were when we went there. In
my opinion, we destroyed the countryside with our bombs

and chemicals, agent orange, and napalm. In the end,
they reunified with North Vietnam.

The thing that made a major impression on me was the
flag-draped coffins of our soldiers. When I saw the
coffins on the evening news, I just kept asking why we
were there and what we were fighting for. Why is that
our place to be? Who’s next?

If the question is “Was there a stigma attached to
having not served “In-Country”?; it is difficult to
respond, because it all depends on who you are talking
to. Some of the multi-tour Vietnam War combat Veterans
did look down upon the ones who, for whatever reason,
never got called to serve “In-Country”. It is not just
my “opinion”; it is a fact, although I did not serve
“In-Country”, nearly all the units I served with had a
direct mission to support the troops in Vietnam. I
never felt bad about not going to Vietnam. I did my
job to the best of my ability.

How was it that you didn’t serve “In-Country”? I was
in supply, starting out as a warehouse person. I won a
three-day pass and without going into a lot of detail,
my company First Sergeant decided to make me a clerk;
sort of like Corporal O'Reilly on the TV show MASH.