Back home from Nam

[USNAviator]

I wanted to start this thread about what it was like for the Marines on here to come home to America after having been in Vietnam.

It was a different country 40-45 years ago. I've talked with some members via PM and ran it by them out of respect

Gentleman, please feel free to share what you want. I think it's important that the poolees, wanabees and the civilian public know and understand what you went through when you came home

The first time someone thanked me for my service was in 2003. If it hadn't been for 9/11 2001, I suspect I'd still be waiting

Many of you have called me brother. I can think of no higher praise for a Squid than to be called brother by a Marine

Fair winds and following seas

[Cpl Heglar]

This Marine is planning on buying you a cold tasty beverage very soon Dan.

[ChuckH]

My first night back I ended up sleeping in the Los Angeles airport Jan 1970. We went through processing at Norton AFB and got to LAX to late to catch a flight home. The next moring I had to catch a flight to San Jose, CA while walking through the terminal I had 2 hippie chicks come up to me and call me a baby killer and spit at me.
While on the short flight from LAX to San Jose, an older woman (40 something) sat next to me who was a school teacher.. we chatted a bit and told her I was coming home after 2 tours in Vietnam... as we departed from the plane, she came over to me and gave me a big hug and said Thank You for doing what you do and slipped something in my hand and said this for the taxi...
I didnt look at it until I hailed a cab... she slipped me a $100.00 bill..
This was back in 1970 when a $100.00 was ALOT of money..never knew who she was or what her name was....
I havent thought about that in 30 something years...
Thanks Dan for the memory jog....

[m14ed]

With all due respect Commander, I don't think you're going to get many favorible posts on this question.

The Civilian Population here at home, wasn't overly pleased to see us return.
"Not counting family and brother veterans"
Civilians can all take a "Flying *UCK
at a rolling donut."

Welcome Home Brothers
"dont look for me at the parade"

[USNAviator]

With all due respect Commander, I don't think you're going to get many favorible posts on this question.

The Civilian Population here at home, wasn't overly pleased to see us return.
"Not counting family and brother veterans"
Civilians can all take a "Flying *UCK
at a rolling donut."

Welcome Home Brothers
"dont look for me at the parade"

Ed anything you want to say is OK. Favorable, unfavorable it makes no difference. There are so many people in this country who have no clue as to what it was like when all of you came home

[Cpl Heglar]

Ed anything you want to say is OK. Favorable, unfavorable it makes no difference. There are so many people in this country who have no clue as to what it was like when all of you came home

It was horrific to say the least and I personally applaud you for this thread Dan. Thank-you to all the Vietnam veterans that served proudly I hope that you can forgive the arrogant edjucated rectums that gave you a hard time upon your return.

[Mongoose]

Dan, I think the hardest part for me to grasp, was that everyone acted like there wasnt a damn thing going on. It was like you woke up from dreaming a war was going on. Those that knew you had been in Nam. Never asked about it or commented on it. It was like it didnt exist. I remember wondering if these people didnt know there was thousands of young men getting killed and wounded. Hell, I was afraid to even ask any of the guys I hadnt seen in years, if they had been to Nam. You never knew who was for you or who was against you, or how they would react. So, other than my friends and family I just kept my mouth shut.

[DRB]

Thank you for your service Vietnam vets!

[Zulu 36]

Well, I got called a baby killer while home on boot leave. My father beat the dog crap out of the guy for saying it. Cost the guy some time in the hospital getting his face put back together (my father was a mean motherf*cker). The azzhole also got charged essentially for resisting assault (all the cops knew my father and they were all WWII, Korea, or VN vets). No pity for dirtbag.

Going to Vietnam was kind of a "lucky" deal for me as very few Marines were left in Nam when I went to boot camp. The NVA started up the 1972 Easter Offensive while I was on the Rock and my unit (VMA-211) was one of those sent to help deliver CAS for the ARVN forces.

After I came home from Vietnam, I invented a retort to the "baby killer" accusation. I would ask if they had ever seen a Vietnamese baby in person (of course, the answer was no). Then I'd say, "Well, if you had you'd know they're really tiny and don't make much of a meal, so they weren't worth killing." Got one hippie b*tch to puke on that one.

I came home to a family who thought I had done the right thing by enlisting. Long history of military and combat service on both sides of my family. My neighbors and HS teachers felt the same way. Any one who thought different wasn't worth my time.

Back in the World, since I still had over half of my original enlistment to go, I returned to the Marine Corps, many of whom were Nam vets. So, it wasn't that bad. I was with family, so to speak. Plus the war was (sorta-kinda) over, 99% of US forces were out, so things started settling down a tad in dirtbag world.

I was back on the Rock with MAG-36 in 1975 when the embassy evacs in Vietnam and Cambodia took place. Also the Mayaguez incident. There were already MAUs on scene to handle the action, so I was stuck on Oki.

[Bruce59]

Right off the bat I'd like to say I am not a "Vietnam Vet" I am a Vietnam
era Vet. Got out of Marine Corps in Nov.27,1963 The war officially started
in 1964. I would just like to say that the men and women that fought that
war are my heros, because with all the crap they took when they came home. Because they would not let their dead brothers go with out honor.
So the Vietnam Vets would put up a Wall of names to help give closure for
them and the families of the dead and missing. They would not forget their brothers and sisters.

[rufus1]

It was after dark when we got into California and a friends wife had him a car waiting so he took several of us to LAX. I bought my ticket and it was a direct flight to Charlotte, N.C. but it was close to boarding time. I ran towards the gate attempting to make it then the metal detector, After setting it off several times I got to the boarding site and the plane was pulling away. Thank God I did not meet anyone like you guys did or I would still be in jail. I got scheduled for the next milk run flight and went to the bar and started drinking. Me and another Marine Sgt. hooked up and started putting them down. A little later a boot Lt. came in and wanted to know what the world we were doing and I really told him and was about to take him on. Good thing the Sgt. got in the middle and took him off to the side and explained it would not be a good idea to say anything to me since I had just returned from Nam and missed my flight home. The boot left - me and the Sgt. continued to drink - got on my plane - flew almost around the world and finally made it home. God really watched over me and kept these people away from me. THANK YOU LORD!!! AMEN

Zulu 36 I was there the same time just another part of the woods during the Easter Offensive too....when they were trying to over run everything

[Deduke]

Something I wrote a few years ago :

Ultimate Endeavor


War is the epitome of every human endeavor. We have experienced the ultimate in love and hate, courage and cowardice, humanity and inhumanity, honor and evil, medical arts and mortician's arts. We have seen hunger and feasting, fear and comfort, patriotism and terrorism. We learned to understand life and death. In our young lives we grew from punk kids to warriors. We knew the terror of being alone on watch in the dark, and we knew the incredible power of buddies who depend on each other.

We understood life while we were in Vietnam. As we slowly became the old salts, we passed on our hard earned knowledge to the boots. We were the possessors of knowledge, of courage, of power, of life itself. We were respected by those from whom we earned respect. Those who earned our respect were all but revered. Those who earned our scorn were lucky to survive.

To us, that village was Home. The people around us were family. Our brothers-in-arms were closer than blood because we had to know how each brother would react in a tight situation. We would rather die than let down our buddies.

When we came back to the world, we found a place we did not recognize. Oh, it looked the same as before, but it was an entirely different place than when we left. The friends we had growing up were gone- gone to their jobs, gone to their families, gone to some different plane. Our families and girlfriends didn't understand. How could they? The WWII vets didn't understand. After all, they fought a real war.

We learned that Vietnam was our Home, even though home was an abhorrent place. We left our buddies when we left our Home, and with them we left everyone who could possibly understand what makes us tick. We learned that Home is on the other side of the world, but that The World really isn't our home. Some of us learned that Home is gone.

[HST]

The first thing I can think of is the shock of it all...one day I was in the bush, humping every day digging in every night, my rear calls, tells me my relief in coming out on the next chopper, my flight date came in.

I went to Dong Ha with a buddy from Lima who was rotating, spend a day or two there, which was worse that the bush because Dong Ha was getting hit all the time and you had to run and find a trench every time there was incoming.

Flew to Da Nang, spent a night in a big building like a hanger, I remember I was freaked because I didn't have my rifle, I had absolutenl nothing but the cloths I was wearing, all my personal stuff, records and gear got destroyed when the gooks hit the ammo dump in Dong Ha. Got on a civilian jet to Oki. Went to I think it was Hanson. Got our seabags that had our uniforms, found they had been ruined, They issued us new uniforms and the ribbons we were supposed to wear but they were out of Cpl's stripes so we had to go as privates.

We stayed there for a few days, got on another civlian jet to the world, stopped at some B52 base in Guam and bought 5 fiths of booze at a duty free store, got sh*tfaced with my buddy and a Gunny from 2/9 that I knew when he was running a platoon.

Went to El Torro got our orders, pay, got issued temp. ID cards by some great guys, I was still a little out of it, one of them helped me figure out what year I needed to be born in to be 21 for the birth date on my ID.

There was busses and cabs at the base, 5 of us bucked up for a cab and went to LAX

The only hassel we had was at LAX when 2 azzhole Marine MP's gave us a hard time, one of them a guy wearing the ND ribbon accused us of impersonating whatever, and threatened to take us in, a Capt who had been on our plane, saw it came over, said he would personally vouch for us, if doubted his word and took us in there was going to be some real bad sh*t and it wasn't going to be us that was in it. They let us go.

The rest was like Billy said, the protest thing hadn't gotten to the midwest yet but people I hung with for years acted like nothing was happening, if they asked where I had been, I told them, they said ok like I just got back from a vacation, they were doing the same things they had been doing when I joined, there was just no connection between us, I hung around with them for a couple of days and then kept to myself. I never did re-connect with them. I just wanted to get out and away from all of the bullsh*t that was going on in this counrty. I met a girl who's father made Normandy and uncle was career Marine, We were married a couple of years after I got out, we hung with mostly vets. My brother, the other Cpl. Simpson , Baker 1/7 Chosin, became very tight. When we moved here we only had 8 neighbors and they were all WWII vets except for one WWI.

I guess you could say that I withdrew, whatever. I think a lot of it was the rapid transition from the war to the world, from sleeping 2 or 3 hours a night in a hole to a bed, tanks ontos, 6x6, dirt highways to I-66, from getting the news on a PRC 25 or from a 2 week old stars and stripes to a tv set and mostly from being "aware' all the time, from being able to hear your call sign when you were sound asleep and respond immediately....the whole thing. I don't now how they handle it today but I hope they do a better job than they did with us. I think a lot of the WWII guys eased back into everyday life because they came back on ships and to took a lot longer... maybe the stuff we post here will help the Marines coming in behind us...who knows.

[HST]

I didn't mention the worst but I might as well get it down. All of the sh*t, the firefights, incoming arty mortors rockets, the booby traps were a b*tch but you could breath and blow them off when it was over. For me it was the medevacs, carrying hit, bleeding, sometimes dying, Marines out to the choppers, I've never forgotten them. Everyone in the grunts saw it but HST's FAC's and Corpsmen saw more of that than anyone. When I got back no one, not the Corps of later the VA, ever said hey lets talk about it. I really hope that has changed.

[exnitro]

We went my military bus from Norton to L.A. I took a train home to Il. to save money. A young boy, 8 or 10, latched onto me. He was going to New York City to catch a plane to England, by himself. Guess he felt safe next to me. I got off the train about 20 miles from home. Caught a cab home. The driver didn't charge me a dime! First night home in bed the wife got up to take care of the baby. When she got back in bed and lay her head on my arm I had her in a choke hold and didn't even wake up. Luckily, I released her when she started beating on my belly. Made her leary of sleeping with me!