Tree in a Tube: by J. Thomas Sykes

Christmas Tree from a Tube

Best as I can recollect, a handler by the name of Pfau (silent "p") from Kalamazoo, Michigan, received a four-foot long by three-inch in diameter cardboard mailing tube from his wife a week or so before Christmas of 1968.

Now most packages were of the "regular" size and shape. You know, rectangle, square, etc., so the size and shape of this thing was a bit mystifying.

Pfau opened the package with a crowd of people watching. Out of the end of the tube came this "thing" sealed in a plastic pouch matching the approximate length and width of the tube. It appeared to be a tree of some kind. 

Opening the pouch there was indeed a tree inside.  It was a small, almost four-foot balsam pine. It was "squeezed" into the pouch and then into the tube -- not unlike how Christmas trees today are squeezed into fine netting for transport. 

Pulling away the plastic, the tree limbs started to fall away from the main stem, and the tree took on a more natural shape. But what was most striking about the tree was its intense aroma. Pine. Real honest-to-goodness pine scent. Not something out of a bottle or spray, not one of those dangly little scent thingies you get at the car wash. Real woods aroma. 

It sounds a little silly, sending some green, plant-like material to Vietnam. Kinda like sending coals to Newcastle. But it wasn't so much the appearance of the tree as it was that wonderfully intoxicating smell of north-woods pine. Talk about nostalgic. 

I think there was also another small package that accompanied the tree -- it either arrived on the same day, or shortly after. It contained Christmas ornaments and a small tree stand. 

That tree stood in Pfau's hooch. (He shared his hooch with the Vet Tech, Dowdy.) That hooch became the most popular hooch for miles. Not only did guys from the unit hang out there -- guys from other line units heard about it and would stop in for a whiff. 

Whenever we could, many of us would gather around that tiny keepsake from "the world," reflecting on Christmases past, talking about what it would be like at home this time of year. We talked of snow and cold, and Christmas songs... 

As I recall, Pfau said a letter from his wife explained that some tree grower in the Kalamazoo area had made trees available, pre-wrapped and packaged, for families in the area to send to their loved ones in Vietnam. All they had to do was pay the postage. The trees were watered down, wrapped and then squeezed into the tubes. What a great idea! 

Whenever I smell pine, I can still remember that little tree and what it meant to all who experienced it.

J. Thomas Sykes



“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


Feel free to comment on this post. You are also invited to write about anything you want to share. Memoirs From Nam is YOUR blog. You are writing America's history.

Our Generation: by Frank Fox

Misplaced Trust ...

Is it just me who thinks we have aged faster than our fathers who were in WW2 and Korea? Somehow, it seems like it took those veterans longer to reach our age.

This has all gone by too fast. Even some of the film footage on file seems like it was done with WW2 vintage photo equipment.

 
We (our generation) should be able to speak the loudest about getting sucked into a useless, uncalled for conflict, but with as many of us as there are, we didn't prevent losing all of the precious young American lives.

If there is one positive, it is that now is the longest we have been in combat overseas, and we haven't managed the numbers that was Vietnam, thank the Lord. 

My heart is broken for all the parents and loved ones of men and women who have obeyed orders in good faith from leaders who have lied and misled the American people, starting with GW, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Halliburton. 

Vietnam it was LBJ, Robert McNamara, and Gen. Westmoreland, Brown & Root, and the US Tire manufacturers. 

I visualize these parents looking at video's of the children they have lost with heavy hearts, especially at this time of year. 

Before I would waste that many young lives, if I were President, we would only go to war when we absolutely had to, and then it would be short and sweet -- we make bombs that can turn the desert into glass in a twinkling. 

I would give that terrorism group an overdose of radioactivity. We need to be respected again. If I had done what GW and company had done, I couldn't sleep at night for what I caused, and I would have already starved to death, because I couldn't eat after having seen the faces of parents and loved one's when they got the news. How does Bush go to sleep at night? Or Cheney?

God Bless everyone who has skin in the game at this time.  We have a blue star in our window for our son.

Certainly God Bless those in every war who have lost loved ones, or had them come back home disabled. We have to do better than this, I would have thought after the sin of Vietnam we would have done better. It appears that after a time people forget. 

When I was active duty, I was gung-ho, I believed everything they told me -- the leaders of the USA would never lie, or sacrifice men for nothing ... Even for years after discharge I felt that way.

Then as I started to pay attention more and read more, I found enlisted men were taken advantage of and used for profit and egotistical leadership. 

No veteran should feel guilty. They followed orders and had 100% trust and faith in the military's leadership, and the leadership of the nation.

It was our leaders who betrayed that trust of young men and women who were willing to sacrifice their lives for each other and a free USA.

I better stop I hear the national anthem starting to play ...

Frank Fox

Frank Fox

Combat Medic
Sea/Air Rescue
US Navy with USMC
August 1964 – August 1970 (6 years 1 month)

More Articles by Frank Fox:

The Marine and the Cure
More Thoughts on War and Youth
Opinions, Thoughts and Feelings
A Different Perspective

A Worthy Rebuttal to Mr. Garrison

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


Feel free to comment on this post. You are also invited to write about anything you want to share. Memoirs From Nam is YOUR blog. You are writing America's history.

Christmas Eve in The Nam

Christmas Eve in The Nam

It was Christmas Eve, 1969, Camp Love, Vietnam, just south and west of DaNang. 

The War Gods had essentially called a "time out." 

The officers of my battalion were gathered in a rather safe structure made from granite stone and mortar which was appropriately called the "Officers Club."

On this night, we were kicking back, drinking beer and being entertained by a USO-sponsored band from the Philippines. 

The three gals and two guys really slaughtered the Christmas carols we knew and remembered but we all joined in, nevertheless, in a surrealistic celebration of Christmas Eve. 

Weapons, helmets and flak jackets were hung on the pegs in the wall by the door and the evening was transitioning to a pleasant state of melancholy.

All of a sudden the familiar sounds of M-16 and M-60 machine gun fire broke out in the northern sector (my sector) of our compound. 

The officers all scrambled for their weapons and gear and returned to their respective sectors of the defensive perimeter. (I'm sure the Filipino band hit the deck, but I didn't turn back to check).

Flares and Tracers

By the time I reached my company's position, the sky was lit up like the 4th of July. 

Flares hung in the sky everywhere. Tracer rounds streaked out over our wire into the valley between our compound and the FLC compound a half-mile away.

My Battalion S-3 was shouting over the radio asking, "Where the hell is the fire coming from?" 

Nobody knew. 

All of the fire seemed to originate from our side of the barbed wire and no fire was being returned. 

"Cease Fire, Cease Fire!" was relayed to every fox hole and every bunker until only the hiss of the remaining flares in the sky could be heard. 

A call out for a report of casualties was made. 

"No casualties."

"Who started firing, first?"

(No response).

"What the hell were we firing at?"

(No response).

"Why in hell were we firing our weapons?"

A humble voice from a yet-to-be determined foxhole finally replied, "'Cause it's Christmas, sir."

by Monty K. Nereim
San Diego, CA

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


Feel free to comment on this post. You are also invited to write about anything you want to share. Memoirs From Nam is YOUR blog. You are writing America's history.

Military Life - Service or Career: by John McClarren

Published: Createspace Publishing

Paperback and Kindle

224 Pages

About the Book

Military Life - Service or Career is a book for young people who are interested in the military as a service, or a career.   It should help anyone trying to make such a decision

It is also for older readers who have had military service and would like a good read to reminisce about the old times and remember their own experiences.

It is also a good read for those who enjoy reading about military affairs or engagements. I include many of my personal experiences as examples of my major points in the book.

The book is informative, exciting, sad, and at times, very humorous, all in one volume. It is full of stories that are entertaining, as well as educational and emotional. It emphasizes the good, as well as the less than good elements and what to expect. 

Buy at Amazon

Buy at Barnes & Noble

Reviews:

"John and Debbie McClarren are friends from my hometown in Oscoda, Michigan. John felt that joining service, or considering joining service should be no surprise, shock, or blind experience. He clearly shares his experiences in boot camp and in peaceful and wartime action. No holds barred. 

He offers many sides to the decision about whether to join or not join in the first place. He emphasizes PERSONAL ORGANIZATION and ACCEPTING STRESS and making it work for you. I believe even if a young man or woman chooses NOT to join one of the services he/she understands more about the importance of these two assets in any career. 

I am gifting this book to my own grandsons and highly recommend it as a GOOD READ and ESSENTIAL MANUAL in making a choice that could lead to a temporary term of service or a lifetime career. I bought this first in Kindle and then 2 copies in paperback to share with family and friends." --L. Bartus


"Good read! In "Military Life – Service or Career", John McClarren writes an interesting perspective on reasons why a career in the military can be a very wise choice for some people. It also acknowledges that it is not the life all may desire. 

McClarren shares many of his personal experiences from his military career, including tours to Vietnam. He writes with vivid descriptions, family experiences in their military service, and a sense of humor. 

Although today’s military life may be slightly different than the days of Vietnam with its more ‘strict’ military atmosphere, it should give a young person who is considering this as a career, or just a few years of service, an idea of what military life is like. Interesting and informative!" --D. Chase

John McClarren - US Army (Retired)

About the Author

John McClarren was born at the end of World War II in San Diego, California.  He grew up in southern California, developing into a "beach rat" early in life. 

Body surfing was one of his primary activities, and he developed his publishing logo because of that very strong interest. 

Some major influences caused him to gravitate toward the military for a lifelong career, although circumstances also oriented him toward education. 

He ended up majoring in German and minoring in English at the University of Arizona after having been active in the US Army and serving a tour of duty in the Republic of South Vietnam. Including reserve components, he served a total of thirty years with the Army, as well as being a high school teacher for twenty of those years. 

His first published book is currently available in print and e-book formats, titled Military Life - Service or Career, A Soldier's Perspective. He has a memoir coming out shortly, titled Taking Risks, Defining Life

John and his wife, Debbie, raised three boys together, two of whom have been on active duty with the US Army and one is a geologist. Of the two who have been in the Army, one became a heavy equipment operator, the other a forester with the US Forestry Department. 

John is currently living in northern Michigan. He is retired from everything but writing and substitute teaching, and Debbie is still an active special education teacher.

Besides his first two books, John is working on a humor book that most likely will be titled Hey, it Wasn't My Fault, and he is also working on a novel, but that may take a while before completion, and it is already looking like it may well become a lengthy series. The reason for that is because it is going off into a realm of no time and no space; at least not with any dimensions or limitations. It is a spiritual realm, but one with physical beings as well.

John's Website
John's Facebook Page


“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


Feel free to comment on this post. You are also invited to write about anything you want to share. Memoirs From Nam is YOUR blog. You are writing America's history.

Send it to me in an e-mail and I will be proud to post it for you.

History/Archival Sites for Vietnam Vets: Byron Edgington

"We Remember" ... and We Should Share

With the fortieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon approaching next April, there may possibly be a renewed interest in Vietnam veterans and their stories.

I compiled this short list of resources for my fellow vets who may wish to contribute their Vietnam stories, or to read the accounts of others.

The list is by no means exhaustive. A quick check of a local library or college history site will produce many more, and likely better resources. A few of these sites are taken from various college history departments.

Texas Tech seems to have a pretty thorough website dedicated to Vietnam vet stories, for example. Rutgers University does as well. 

If a local college offers veterans a chance to record their stories, we should do that. Many schools do, and it isn’t difficult to track them down.

One site includes methods for teaching students about the Vietnam conflict, and could be used for our grandkids’ teachers, or for those of us who’ve been asked to visit high schools. 

I was asked last year to visit a local school to talk about my Vietnam experience, and the time I spent with those kids was priceless. I encourage any veteran to seek out these opportunities, and take advantage of them.

With the war in Vietnam fading into history, and with current similar conflicts around the globe today, our stories must be told, because they still resonate. These history and archival sites should help keep our experience in Vietnam alive:

Memoirs From Nam
The Vietnam Graffiti Project
The Vietnam Center and Archive
The Vietnam Center and Archive/General
Research Military Records: Vietnam War
Military Resources: Vietnam War
Electronic Data Records: Military Objectives & Activities: Vietnam War
Digital Archive: Documents on Vietnam War
The Virtual Wall
The Wall of Faces
The Vietnam War Song Project
Veterans History Project
Vietnam War Student Project
Vietnam War Commemoration
Vietnam Era Veterans Oral Histories
The Vietnam War: Oral Histories
Rutgers: Oral History: Participate
Veterans History Project
University of Kentucky: Oral History Project

Byron Edgington

Byron Edgington

The SkyWriter

Website
Blog
Byron's Book

Other Articles by Byron Edgington:

Vietnam: Arriving at the Truth
Do Guns Equal Safety?
Laotian Rescue Mission
Ho Chi Minh
Terror and Hilarity
A Return to Vietnam
The War That Will Not Let Us Rest
War: A Waste of Youth
The Right Seat is the Wrong Seat
Jim, Frank, and The Snake
Smokey, The Alcoholic Pup


“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


Feel free to comment on this post. You are also invited to write about anything you want to share. Memoirs From Nam is YOUR blog. You are writing America's history.

Send it to me in an e-mail and I will be proud to post it for you.

Crew Chief's Memory of Thanksgiving '68

Thanksgiving - Vietnam War-Style

by Lance Pinamonte

Sometimes one person’s story inspires another, only from a different angle, but still from the same day.

Like most days, a helicopter crew's day begins the day before. 

After landing from a 12-hour day, we went to work on the aircraft, most of the time in the dark.

The Pilots had already gone in to be debriefed and get their assignments for the next day. The Gunners took their guns to the cleaning station and began their tear downs for cleaning.  The Crew Chiefs were pulling intake barrier filters, wiping, lubing rotor heads, and inspecting every inch of the ship. 

When the Gunners were done with the cleaning, they returned to the ship to help the Crew Chief with maintenance. So around 2300, most of the crews were done, and many finished their aircraft and were helping those who had more to do, like intermediate inspections.

Maybe by 0100, all the crews were done and they had a chance to go in and check the mission board for the next day, grab a bite to eat at the mess hall, take a shower, and change clothes..

This was Thanksgiving and the mess hall smelled great, as they prepared for the next day. Nothing was ready, of course, but it smelled great.

After my shower and a change of clothes, I checked the mission board and saw "Resupply, 0600 report" and knew it would be an early wake up. If I could get to sleep, I could maybe get a solid four hours of shut eye. So I went out to my ship, strung my hammock, dug my poncho liner out and hit the sack.

The pilots and Gunner woke me up at 0500 by opening the doors.  I wiped the sleep from my eyes, put up my hammock and liner, helped the gunner haul his guns/ammo, and went over the pre-flight with the AC and Pilot. 

Once all was in place, we fired up the bird, and with a quick "Clear Left/Clear Right", we were on our way to the resupply pads of Lai Khe.

Contact with the resupply crews and landing in between their rows of supply's, we would usually load up the ship with C rations and ammo, but today was different.  Today they had deuce and a halfs just off the pads and were hauling insulated containers for hot meals to the pads. 

We loaded our ship with everything and took off, all of this while the ship was running. Then we flew towards the boonies.

Smoke popped in a small clearing in the middle of nowhere as we swooped down to deliver chow to a worn out looking group of grunts, 11B. They would be waking up in a bug infested jungle, tired, eaten, wet, and smiling at our arrival.

Sometimes the temps would be in the high 90's, humidity at 98%, and they had been walking for days. "Looking for trouble", is what my ex-grunt Gunner would say. 

These guys were our reason to be thankful. They were the ones who were sleeping in the mud, while we slept, showered and were clean. 

We would sometimes steal ice cream from the VIP supply pads for them -- it was always good to see them smile -- they were our brothers. When they said "Thank You", we knew it was felt and it made our day...  on this day, the smiles were contagious.  

We helped them unload the containers, then took off for another sortie to another group. This went on all day and then we returned to the outfits later to pick up the empty containers.

The funny part is the fact that we only got to eat some beanie weenies from our C's, and had very little time to think about what we were missing meal-wise.

So another day ended and once again we went to work on our evening inspections, cleaning, then finally going to the mess hall for our turkey sandwich, a cold shower -- and if we were lucky, the "Thank you’s" would be our reason for a good night’s sleep ...

Happy Thanksgiving to all the 11Bravos out there.

God bless America.

Lance

Lance L. Pinamonte

U.S. Army - 1967 to 1970
67N30 Crewchief/Doorgunner Helicopter Mech.
Champagne Flight

Other Articles by Lance:

Enough
A Fearful America

A Nation Unwilling to Change

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale


Feel free to comment on this post. You are also invited to write about anything you want to share. Memoirs From Nam is YOUR blog. You are writing America's history.

Send it to me in an e-mail and I will be proud to post it for you.