Page 68 - Stand Down Vietnam

The TET Offensive officially had three phases:

Phase 1: January 30, 1968 – March 28, 1968
Phase 2: May 5 – June 15, 1968
Phase 3: August 17 – September 23, 1968

We had to be careful because a lot of the so-called
“friendly” Vietnamese were aiding the North. We just

had to always be alert to that possibility. One tip-
off was when they didn’t show up for work. That was
almost always going to be a day we would get hit.

My departure from Vietnam was by helicopter to Da Nang.
That is also where I turned in my weapons. I was in Da
Nang three days before leaving. We were attacked every
day. I had thoughts of guys being killed just days
before leaving. I was ready to go home.

A few of the group I was with were killed while waiting
for their flight home. As we were walking to the
airplane, I was thinking about getting home to my
family, hoping it didn’t get hit by rocket fire and
praying. Two hundred fifty of us caught a commercial
chartered airline to Okinawa.

We landed at the Los Angeles airport. I was in
uniform. I met a gentleman that took me to a restaurant
there at the airport. He told the waiter to “feed me

anything and everything he wants”. It was a bar-type
atmosphere and it rotated around. I found out that he
was the manager of the place.

I flew from Los Angeles to Knoxville, Tennessee. My
mom and dad and Jean and the kids were there to meet
me. I had a thirty-day leave before reporting for duty
in South Carolina.