Captain Drez grabs the mic and begins to speak some profound words about some of the history of H 2/5 in the Vietnam War in 1968 during our reunion in Branson 2023. You will want to listen to his short talk about H 2/5 “In the History Books” of the Marine Corps.
During the Vietnam conflict, there were no individual personal cellular or landline telephones available for soldiers or sailors to use for calling family members back home. To address this, United States MARS (Military Affiliate Radio Service) stations from all branches of the service, Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, were deployed throughout Vietnam. The MARS system offered soldiers and sailors…
In March 2008, I was invited to attend an Asian Banking Conference in Hanoi. After weeks of soul searching I decided to attend and see what the city looked like. I flew into China and then flew into Hanoi. To begin the journey, I had a huge problem getting onto the plane from China to Hanoi because the travel agent…
In popular culture
They never trained us in boot camp or during infantry training about how to survive from many of the elements of Vietnam or its challenging environment. We were trained very well on how to use our weapons to kill and to protect ourselves from the enemy, but we never had any training for all the other ways you can catch…
I am sure every Vietnam Infantry Marine recalls the water in our canteens and where it came from during those long excursions in the countryside. In the rear, there were water buffalos. We would dip our canteens into a river or a creek and fill it up with the local water. Of course the water was muddy, full of little…
Zippo lighters captured a wide range of feelings and opinions about the war in Vietnam, from the obscenity-laden anti-army mottoes of the unwilling draftees, to the simple love notes of the homesick, to the eight Special Forces emblazoned lighters, conspicuously absent of any further embellishment. These lighters were used for lighting cigarettes, heating food, illuminating letters from home, or setting…
What the U.S. Government states: The VA states: Veterans, including activated Reservists and members of the National Guard, are [Combat Veterans] if they served on active duty in a theater of combat operations…and have been discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. [The above definition is for eligibility for VA benefits] The American War Library states: What is a Veteran? –…
My Thoughts While Walking Point in the Arizona Territory Many Vietnam veterans struggled upon returning to the United States. They wrestled with the psychic trauma of the war and felt isolated and out of place, rejected by their country. As point man, the greater danger wasn’t from an ambush or getting shot from a sniper, it was from the booby…