thedrifter
10-06-07, 05:25 AM
Vietnam vets receive a training update
JENNIFER HLAD
October 6, 2007 - 12:37AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The war is different, but Marines remain the same, Vietnam veterans and active-duty Marines said Friday.
"We are a band of brothers," said retired Lt. Col. L.H. Gonzales. "We are a family. Whatever unit you're in, it's a family."
Gonzales' unit from Vietnam - Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment - came together again this week for a reunion at Camp Lejeune. The theme: Together then, together now.
As part of their tour, the veterans visited the base's Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) facility Friday.
Gunnery Sgt. Jason Glew explained how he and other instructors train Marines at the MOUT, and the veterans could ask questions about how training has evolved.
Though what the Marines had in Vietnam was state-of-the-art for the time, said veteran Lou Albert, much has changed.
"Medical, communications, supply ... everything is so much better, thank God," he said.
If the technology that exists today had been around in 1965 and 1966, when the unit served in Vietnam, "A lot of my guys would be here that aren't," said Gonzales, who served as the company commander.
Glew - who allowed one of the veterans to shoot him multiple times with a gun loaded with "paintballs on steroids" - said he enjoys hearing the veterans' stories.
"Every time vets come in, it's exciting," he said. "The legacy that they left behind is still going."
The technology isn't the only thing that's changed, the veterans said.
While they fought in rice paddies and the jungle, today's Marines face deserts, urban terrain and extreme temperature changes. Vietnam's booby traps and trip wires have evolved into complex roadside bombs. Marines in Iraq face sectarian violence, while Vietnam had more easily defined "bad guys," Gonzales said.
But the way returning troops are treated has changed for the better, he said. He said he hopes today's troops continue to get support from the public.
The veterans asked about the morale and heard from Glew and Master Sgt. Ruben Carreras that morale in-country is high - highest when there are things happening.
That was "really what a lot of us felt good about hearing," Albert said. "I think it only reinforces what I think we all know."
Ellie
JENNIFER HLAD
October 6, 2007 - 12:37AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF
The war is different, but Marines remain the same, Vietnam veterans and active-duty Marines said Friday.
"We are a band of brothers," said retired Lt. Col. L.H. Gonzales. "We are a family. Whatever unit you're in, it's a family."
Gonzales' unit from Vietnam - Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment - came together again this week for a reunion at Camp Lejeune. The theme: Together then, together now.
As part of their tour, the veterans visited the base's Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) facility Friday.
Gunnery Sgt. Jason Glew explained how he and other instructors train Marines at the MOUT, and the veterans could ask questions about how training has evolved.
Though what the Marines had in Vietnam was state-of-the-art for the time, said veteran Lou Albert, much has changed.
"Medical, communications, supply ... everything is so much better, thank God," he said.
If the technology that exists today had been around in 1965 and 1966, when the unit served in Vietnam, "A lot of my guys would be here that aren't," said Gonzales, who served as the company commander.
Glew - who allowed one of the veterans to shoot him multiple times with a gun loaded with "paintballs on steroids" - said he enjoys hearing the veterans' stories.
"Every time vets come in, it's exciting," he said. "The legacy that they left behind is still going."
The technology isn't the only thing that's changed, the veterans said.
While they fought in rice paddies and the jungle, today's Marines face deserts, urban terrain and extreme temperature changes. Vietnam's booby traps and trip wires have evolved into complex roadside bombs. Marines in Iraq face sectarian violence, while Vietnam had more easily defined "bad guys," Gonzales said.
But the way returning troops are treated has changed for the better, he said. He said he hopes today's troops continue to get support from the public.
The veterans asked about the morale and heard from Glew and Master Sgt. Ruben Carreras that morale in-country is high - highest when there are things happening.
That was "really what a lot of us felt good about hearing," Albert said. "I think it only reinforces what I think we all know."
Ellie