How many ever served in actual combat

[Vern Humphrey]

Joe looked at the water and said “many a time I would have loved to of had a drink of water as clear as that” I asked him if he had rusty well water and he said “no, I have drank muddy water out of tank tracts, and wished that I was home and could drink from my fathers well”

I can identify with that. I've drunk from bomb craters, and once near Cam Lo drank from a stream, then followed it up a ways and found a body lying in the water -- and not a very fresh one at that.

In retrospect, I think if I knew about the body I would have drunk the water anyway.

 

[atk]

"I have seen the elephant"

that doesn't quite put it into perspective.

I admit I did what I was trained to do, through my TIS, and felt proud of myself.

That morning when we were checking the area for survivors...well...thats when I saw what actually happened to the recieving end when a tank gets dispatched.


I won't say war changed me...but combat did. If I had a novel's worth of words to use, I would still not be able to describe how it made and still makes me feel.

Sounds silly...sorry guys.

Darrell

Darrel,

As one who has never seen combat: nothing sounds silly about what you said. In fact, your words have a very eloquent feel about them.

I suspect that those who have seen combat can empathize.

 

[GILROY]

All I really know about combat is the sounds, sights, and sadness of my aunt that could not be quieted or conforted at the funeral of her only child killed in action in Nam. I was a 14 year old kid at the time, but will NEVER forget the price for my freedoms. All I really have to say is a great THANKS to those who answered the call.

 

[Leatherneck]

I think the distinction is whether your target is actively trying to kill you, as you are trying to kill him. e.g., muzzle-to-muzzle shooting. That's when time compresses and your blood cools off.

Regrets? Only for comrades who didn't make it and most of all, for their loved ones.

TC

 

[wingnutx]

I got mortared and IED'd a bunch.

Never had anybody to shoot back at.

 

[nvrquit]

Me, No...

... but a number of family and friends have.

Father in Korea
Two uncles in Korea
One uncle in WWII(and a POW in that one)
One uncle in Vietnam
Four friends(older than me) in Vietnam
Son of a friend in the latest sandbox with the Marines into Baghdad

Various branches of service among them. Dad and the uncles would occasionally talk about it amongst themselves, but never knowingly around us kids. The uncle that went to Vietnam was there during Tet and he wasn't "right" until he came home from doing a stint with the Peace Corp(somewhere in Africa if memory serves). Friend's son was definitely changed in attitude after his experience.

I've never understood how some can not appreciate what we have, owing to the price that others have paid. When I think upon it, it moves me in ways I can't manage to set in either print or speech. Thanks to you all, each and every one.


Frank

 

[orangeninja]

I've never been in the military....everyone in my family before me has though including my brother. I will say that I have been shot at once...had a gun waved in my face once. I have fired back once only hitting a vehicle and I have been a bystander in a gangland shootout, within a few feet. I will say this....I don't think that anything a police officer will ever encounter will look anything like WW2 WW1 Vietnam or Korea. The closest police work has come is Katrina, but then they weren't charging machine guns there either.

That being said I can share a story briefly.

My uncle Joe, we used to go see him when I was a child, about 7 years old. My uncle Joe was strange to me because he was missing 3 fingers on one of his hands. He was a WW1 infantryman. I remember him telling us about how in the trench, the shelling and gas were bad, but the thing that really got to him was the rats, they were so used to humans and eating dead humans, that some would work up the nerve to try and eat you while you were asleep. That really bothered him. He didn't sleep for 3 solid days after that and told me that the best thing to kill a rat with was a helmet...see a rat, take off your helmet and wham! Dead rat. Another thing that bothered him were the guys in "no mans" land. Occasionally a medic or soldier would loose it and run out there to try and pull someone that had screamed for 2 or three days straight back to a trench...only to be shot by a sniper. Then of course there was chow.....he said the Brits would stack the dead in the trench and sit on them to keep from sitting in the mud, while they were eating chow. That never left him. Lastly he said that he and some of his friends would make an oath that when the whistle blew, they wouldn't go over the wall, they'd stay behind, they couldn't make all of them fight....but when it blew...he wen't, they all did. He would think about how he was too much of a coward to stay in the trench....all the while he said he ran through a mist. He was the first to the wire in his section so he dove on it while guys ran over his back and tried to take the trench. He eventually got in the trench where he said a rifle would loose to a spade, so he used his trenching tool as a weapon instead....the rifle was too clumsy. Later on after his story he said he discovered he was covered in blood from head to foot, everyone was, all you could see where eyeballs underneath the gore on their faces....he kind of chuckled and said that the mist that they were running through was blood from all the men being hit by shells and machine guns while they charged....he never talked about losing friends and oddly enough, he went through WW1 unscathed save minor injurys...then he got home to Louisiana and blew 3 of his fingers off with a 1/4 stick of dynamite trying to get a tree stump out of the ground. I couldn't begin to make this stuff up.

I never got to know my Uncle Joe, he lived in a really rundown house on a 10 acre plot in the woods in Jackson Louisiana. He kept to himself and lived a long long time. He outlived his wife and I don't think he ever had kids. He eventually died, and now that I am older and the house is gone, I think of him everytime I go down there....and everytime people start mouthing off about war stories. I didn't know it then, but Uncle Joe had a big enough impact on me that I remember him.....and I don't remember much from those years. Sometimes I wish I could go back and talk to him some more. I don't think the world will ever know the horror of WW1....or of Korea...because Hollywood has apparantly forgothese heros.

 

[OH25shooter]

This is ironic. I just watched "We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson. On the special feature selection, the actual commander during the battle, Col. Hal Moore was interviewed. At the end he said, their is a saying: "hate war, love the warrior." We should all feel like that.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

This is ironic. I just watched "We Were Soldiers" with Mel Gibson. On the special feature selection, the actual commander during the battle, Col. Hal Moore was interviewed. At the end he said, their is a saying: "hate war, love the warrior." We should all feel like that.

Or, as Robert E. Lee said, "It is good that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it."

 

[enfield]

I tried to be a neutral observer during the Battle of Grumbein's Island in '70 or '71, but the State Police were one side and they regarded everyone not wearing a uniform as a member of the other side, so I boogied when the teargas canisters came across the street.

 

[AirForceShooter]

Yes
Afs

 

[Edgeofthewoods]

Yup

 

[Moondoggie]

Never did the face-to-face thing in the military. Came within a couple of feet of taking hits from several heavy MG rounds once. Went into a riot situation aboard a ship once on the winning side..we had the big batons. The other side required a lot more medical attention when it was all said and done. No remorse over that situation...they started it, we finished it.

I also served 2 yrs as a reserve LEO. Two times the other guy decided not to make me shoot him with a second or two to spare...claw hammer vs. 38 special and frying pan full of hot oil vs. 38 special. Domestic disturbances, gotta love 'em. I was glad we took these folks to jail instead of the emergency room.

So, am I an actual combat vet? No.

 

[psyopspec]

No. Six months in OIF in 2003. Drive-by shootings on my camp with RPG and small arms, but they always shot from over 400m out. Almost shot someone during a riot, had my safety off and finger on the trigger, but he started to comply.

I feel lucky I didn't have to kill - I saw what it did to many who had to. However, it was comforting to know that if push came to shove I could. I'd feel more than happy to go the rest of my career without so much as another close call though.

Thanks to all who have, and to those who have shared the stories of others. This is truly a worthwhile thread.

 

[C.S.Powell]

Thank You All

I posted this thread in remberance of April and May 1967, KheSanh Vietnam hills 881n and 861. For the brave Marines of Bravo 1/9,aka. The Walking Dead and Fox 2/3 my brothers. If the discussion never happens their memory will fade and die. Freedom has a high price, but the price paid in blood, sweat and tears allows free people to voice their opinion without fear. To those that paid the ultimate sacrifice I pray:

WHEN THIS LIFE IS OVER TO ST. PETER I WILL TELL
ONE MORE MARINE REPORTING SIR
I SERVED MY TIME IN HELL

To all that participated in this thread, thank you. For all that served, God Bless You. For those on active duty and our Law Enforcement, may God protect you and keep you safe. Freedom isn't FREE!

Respect to all and I hope I offended no one.
C.S. Powell

 

[SatCong]

Yes, between 1967 & 1968, big time 68 TET. Over 1911, Mod12 and twin 50's,River Boats, USN.That's about as far I want to go with it.

 

[Stand_Watie]

I've spoken with probably hundreds of men who claimed combat experience, and only 2 of them did I take their word for it firmly enough (I'm not calling anyone a liar though) that I'd stake anything of serious value on it being the truth. Those two had the least exciting stories and were the most reluctant to talk about them.

I did know one man (served with him) who didn't claim combat experience, but the most incredible and hilarious stories ever, that I believed explicitly. Some of his boozing experiences were almost insane enough to be considered combat He was formerly Marine Recon. Apparently those guys play really hard.

p.s. Yeah, actually I will say an awful lot of those guys were for sure liars of the highest order.

 

[DorGunR]

To all that participated in this thread, thank you. For all that served, God Bless You. For those on active duty and our Law Enforcement, may God protect you and keep you safe. Freedom isn't FREE!

Respect to all and I hope I offended no one.
C.S. Powell

I wasn't offended Mr Powell.......it's just that I'd rather tell stories about the wild things we did while on R&R.

 

[Jayb]

(I'm not calling anyone a liar though)

then

p.s. Yeah, actually I will say an awful lot of those guys were for sure liars of the highest order.

You need to make up your mind. And yes, Recon DOES play hard. If your second quote refers to Marine Recon, it could make things interesting for you if you voice it face-to-face.

not worth it.......

 

[KriegHund]

Thanks to all who have, and to those who have shared the stories of others.

Indeed.

 

[Stand_Watie]

then



You need to make up your mind. And yes, Recon DOES play hard. If your second quote refers to Marine Recon, it could make things interesting for you if you voice it face-to-face.

not worth it.......

Absolutely not. To start with the Recon guy I know was truthful - how? I was there for a the making of some of the stories and there several years later at the recounting, and they were totally factual, if seeming far funnier from the way he told them than they actually seemed at the time. I actually featured in at least one. Secondly, no matter how wild a story being told is, I'm not going to challenge it to a person's face, because I wasn't there - perhaps the most braggadocious and self glamorizing of the stories I heard were true - some heroes are braggarts I presume, just like some aren't - but as a composite of all of them, I can say that I'm sure many of those stories weren't, and I noticed a specific pattern of evasiveness of details from an awful lot of them - you know "I was special forces" without saying who they were assigned to etc. Volunteering to people you don't know very well how funny is to mow down "slopes" in a rice paddy. The a-hole liars out there I'm pretty sure give genuine combat veterans (of which I'm not (did I mention that above) and even only ever served active duty on training assignment for my guard unit) a bad name.

Mastersergeant Petruk (the Recon guy) was very detailed. If you wanted to check up on his (funny, rather than self-aggrandizing) stories you could actually look up the people he referred to by name and unit. He also lacked the denigration of other military services that I noted amongst all the other "special forces without saying what unit they were in" types of guys that I met. He'd be the first guy to say that Navy Seals or Army Airborne were badasses

He is a heck of a good guy, even if he couldn't beat me to a pulp I wouldn't insult him.

P.s JayB, I just read your signature, I know it's a slim shot and the USMC was a particularly large organization in that time period, but did you ever run into a Fidel Ramirez from Bakersfield CA? He was over there I think 65 -67 (two tours) in an EOD unit. He was one of the two guys I mentioned in my first post. I worked with him in close proximity (civilian) for five years and never got anything more than extremely concise answers regarding combat from him, despite him being what I considered a pretty decent work friend and sort of a mentor. He retired as a gunny sometime in the 80's.

 

[C.S.Powell]

To Stand

A person that has been there can tell if someone "Walked the Walk" or just "Talks the Talk".
Respect,
C.S. Powell

 

[bowkill12004]

yes

3rd battalion 11th marines hotel co.1990-1994,caught the end of desert shield and then went to the mog for 6 months we were next to the bakata market sp is wrong on the market it was right on the hot zone. We got there in the middle dec. it was plenty hot still. I remember the difference when you hear a gun shoot and being shoot at are two differnt sounds and how quickly you can become part of the ground. And then we were on red alert like 5 times to go to kosavo shortly after africa but as fate would have it we never went. The only thing that i dont agree with is that war-conflict-humanitarian aid whatever they call it, its all the same all politics, like i had friends that could have shoot sadam i could have killed general adid many times we would give security for him and other local leaders for meetings. That is what makes it so difficult to understand!!!!!

 

[Stand_Watie]

A person that has been there can tell if someone "Walked the Walk" or just "Talks the Talk".
Respect,
C.S. Powell

Well never having "walked the walk" I don't know how it is, but I imagine it to be angering and insulting to meet imposters in your course of life. That said, if it makes you feel any better, many people who have never "walked the walk" have decent bs detectors too, so don't think that too many people get away with that sort of foolishness without just making themselves look kind of silly and self-loathing to a substantial number of the people that they meet. I worked in a profession for ten years that sort of attracts a lot of 'wanabees' so I got to meet perhaps more of those sorts than average, but I think everybody has a sort of mental eye-roll person they think of regarding Walter Mitty types in their life. At least Mitty (who I could in some instances be myself) didn't try to BS other people, he just had his own little fantasy world in his head.

Another thought I just had, along this thread there has been talk of "meeting the elephant". I realize that hunting animals is a totally different thing than killing other humans, but there's a guy over on the hunting forum that goes by H&H hunter - that has really "met the elephant" literally in real life. I know it's not the same emotionally as killing people, but probably more dangerous - and he does a fine job of describing his rather interesting and exciting hunting experiences. Anybody interested in accounts of hunting big game should go over there and read up. Most of us will never find the money or time to really do the serious safari thing, so if anybody's interested in living vicariously through other's experiences, go over there and run a search. There's probably enough material there for a short book.

 

[orangeninja]

We've got our fair share of wannabes at my work...they're all legends in their own minds...and jokes in everyone else's. It's funny, cause for every REAL vet...there's a faker.

1.) We have a little guy who was a Marine in Vietnam during a certain seige that has an interesting story about the worst week of his life. The only story he talks about....He's the real deal.

2.) We have his doppleganger (spell?) who also claims to be a Vietnam vet and talks all the time about his agent orange complications. Turns out he was on a Marine Corp bowling team that toured around....the most action he saw was in a seedy motel after a game.

3.) We have a guy that I work with closely who was in the 1st Cav. right after the whole Battle zone Albany fiasco....he has 2 purple hearts and a big ass scar on his thigh thanks to a punji pit that almost killed him.

4.) His evil twin is a guy who claims to have been a Navy Seal (usually an indicator of a faker) who said he is out due to an underwater demolition that went wrong. Turns out he was a boat mechanic that lifted somthing too heavy.

5.) Then we have a guy who claims to be a weapons expert in all small arms, says he has lethal hands and is a master martial artist then said he got out of the Army cause he got tired of killing people in Iraq. He also claims to have been "nicked" 5 times by AK fire...but no actual wounds. There was an IA investigation on this clown for a negligent discharge of his firearm while charging it before shift...then, he got outshot by a female officer that is one of our notoriously worst shots....I almost peed myself laughing.

6.) I have another guy who I used to partner with who went to Iraq for 18 months and did a lot of house raids, etc. He doesn't talk about it...but Iraq cost him a marriage and a house...and probably more. He hasn't been the same since he got back.

7.) Lastly we have a guy who says he used to be a Marine Recon sniper...probelm is this guy is 5'11 and 300 pounds...I guess he camoed himself as a hill. Anyhow, he told several people that he was hit in the chest in Desert Storm by a .50 cal but his flak vest stopped it.

Yeah...the fakes are pretty easy to spot....and whenever I call their BS they start yelling crap like..."where did you serve, huh?" Rest assure, if I had served clowns like this would have been serving my powdered eggs.