One of the most daunting jobs of the Vietnam War – if not all of military history – was that of the "Tunnel Rats." These brave men were tasked with entering tunnels dug by the Viet Cong as forward operating bases. Once inside these enemy strongholds, they would embark on search and destroy missions, clearing the underground complexes of any men and materiel with only a sidearm, bayonet, some explosives, and a flashlight for seeing in the dark depths.
Enemy troops weren't the only dangers lurking in the tunnels beneath the jungles of Vietnam. They had to contend with scorpions, rats, snakes, booby traps, and flooded compartments – and it's not as if they had a lot of room to maneuver once inside. Illinois native John F. Baker joined the Army in 1966. He would leave Vietnam with a Medal of Honor citation. What he did didn't happen in the tunnels, but it might have been the tunnels which made him a fearless combatant in the face of the enemy.
While still a private serving with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, Baker was part of Operation Attleboro. It was an above-ground search and destroy-operation in what is today the Bin Duong Province of Vietnam. What began with the objective of finding North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong units to force them into a fight soon became the largest airmobile operation in the country at the time.
On Nov. 3, 1966, the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, and 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment were moving toward Ba Hao when they were ambushed by an unknown force of North Vietnamese regular infantry, who had held their fire until the Americans were nearly on top of them. Confused and surrounded by mines and booby traps, the U.S. soldiers fought overnight, unable to withdraw and facing multiple human wave attacks. To make matters worse, relief could not get to the beleaguered Americans.
John Baker, Jr. and the rest of the 2/27th infantry air assaulted into the area on Nov. 5. Only then could reinforcements reach their battered fellow soldiers. By noon that day, almost 48 hours after the North Vietnamese ambush began, the Americans finally broke out of the ambush zone. As you read what Baker did during the battle, keep in mind that tunnel rats had to be smaller in stature. Baker stood just 5'2" and weighed all of 105 pounds at the time – he was about to punch well above his weight class.
Company A came under withering North Vietnamese fire, and their leader was killed in action. Baker stepped up to the head of the column. He and another soldier cleared two fortified enemy positions, but his battle buddy was mortally wounded. Taking fire from four different snipers, Baker killed all four of them and evacuated his buddy to safety. He then jumped back into the fray.
As he and another soldier moved to assault two more bunkers, Baker was blown to his feet by an exploding enemy grenade. Unfortunately (for the communists), the grenade blast didn't kill Baker. It barely slowed him down. He got back up and destroyed a bunker. The other soldier, now wounded, fell next to him. Baker picked up the machine gun he carried and finished off the next bunker before evacuating his wounded buddy.
While in the rear, he refilled his ammo and headed back out into the fighting, but the American line was falling back. Baker evacuated a wounded man and came back to evacuate another but was pinned down by enemy snipers. He pushed ahead beyond the friendly lines to take them out, then returned to his wounded comrade and carried him to the rear. He returned to the battle once more to cover the unit's withdrawal with his machine gun. When his ammo was spent, he carried two more wounded men out of the fray.
For his Incredible and repeated acts of heroism and gallantry in front of a determined enemy, he was recommended for the Medal of Honor. He received the award from President Lyndon B. Johnson in a 1968 ceremony at the White House. He would survive the war and go on to be active with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, even serving as the organization's vice president. John F. Baker, Jr. died in 2012 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery. He was 66 years old.
On May 3, 1945, a Yugoslavian handyman walked out of Nazi Germany's Itter Prison on a 40-mile trek to Innsbruck (in what is today Austria). His mission was to find any American troops he could and get them back to the castle. Itter Castle was a prison for the Reich's most high-value prisoners, including the sister of Gen. Charles de Gaulle and former French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier.
With the end of the war soon coming, the prisoners had taken control of Castle Itter but knew that Hitler's most fanatical troops, the Waffen-SS, were still fighting – and were still a threat. They were right to be concerned. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division was operating in the area, killing military-age males and executing anyone who surrendered to the Allies. They now had their sights set on taking Itter and killing everyone inside.
A motley crew of American tankers, French prisoners, German soldiers, and a former SS commander would fight the SS to the bitter end at Itter Castle in what is now known as "the strangest battle of World War II."
World War II in Europe would come to an end on May 8, 1945. When the fighting started at Itter Castle, Adolf Hitler was dead, and the body of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was hanging from the girders of a service station in Milan. Victory in Europe was assured, but that didn't mean elements of the German armed forces had stopped fighting.
When the handyman didn't return to Itter, the prisoners took control of the castle, and its SS guards fled to Wörgl, the closest town and one occupied by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. The castle's Austrian cook rode to Wörgl despite the danger and was able to present a letter to the U.S. Army, written in English, to the Austrian Resistance. The Resistance connected him with a German Wehrmacht unit, which joined the Resistance, led by Maj. Josef Gangl.
Gangl reached out to Lt. John Lee of the U.S. 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, who was stationed eight miles to the north of Wörgl. Lee radioed his headquarters, and the combined force set off toward Itter Castle. When they arrived, they found the prisoners had asked former SS officer Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, who happened to live nearby, to set up their defenses.
The defenders of Itter Castle numbered 36 American and German troops, along with one Sherman tank and the castle's prisoners. The Waffen-SS attacked Itter Castle on May 5, 1945, with an estimated 200 battle-tested fanatics with 88-millimeter flak guns. The two sides fought for six hours, with the Sherman providing machine gun support before the Nazis took it out with flak.
As the fighting dragged on, the desperate defenders began to run low on ammunition. Famed tennis player and Itter Castle prisoner Jean Borotra jumped over the castle walls and ran through the SS lines to deliver news of the battle to the 142nd Infantry Regiment nearby. Almost as soon as he arrived, the 142nd sent a relief force to the castle, defeated the SS, and took 100 of them as prisoners.
Four of the defenders were wounded, but the only death in the fighting was Maj. Josef Gangl, who was shot by an SS sniper while trying to rescue former French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud. Two days after the Battle of Castle Itter, Nazi Germany formally surrendered to the Allies, and fighting in Europe finally ceased.
I "recruited" my two best friends from my U.S. Naval Sea Cadet service, which started over 57 years ago. Both are now full members of TWS. In addition, numerous other friends from my Army service are listed as well. I usually find another old friend on TWS every couple of months. Together We Served is also a great place to read about the history of soldiers from World War II, Korea, and more recent operations and to see the photos they have posted.
CW5 John Harris US Army (Ret)
Served 1969-2013
Americans love to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It's hard to imagine there's anyone who doesn't love to sip margaritas or Coronas at their favorite Mexican restaurant. Some of us probably even partake in a little dancing. However, for many Americans, the origin of this celebration of Mexican culture is a little unclear.
Some think it has to do with the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, and they're not entirely wrong—it was a display of resistance from those who opposed the war. Some believe it's a celebration of Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually on the 16th of September. The holiday commemorates a military victory, but it is not a victory for the United States.
In 1862, as the U.S. was fighting the Civil War, Mexico was fighting a French invasion. Because its economy had been wracked by a civil war of its own, the Mexican government instituted a two-year moratorium on its loans to European powers. This infuriated the British, Spanish, and French. Mexico settled agreements with Britain and Spain, but France could not be talked down. Emperor Napoleon III wanted to oust the Mexican government and make his cousin Maximilian king of Mexico.
France began its invasion in April of 1862 and broke out of the port city of Veracruz. After some initial victories, the French forces advanced on La Puebla de Los Angeles. The defense of La Puebla was left to Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, who fought in Mexico's recent civil war and was more of a guerrilla leader than a traditionally trained officer. With him was a ragged force of around 3,000 men.
The French Army numbered more than 5,000 battle-hardened troops who were fresh from war in both Europe and Indochina. Their leader, Gen. Charles de Lorencez, believed that once the battered, war-weary Mexicans realized they were outnumbered, they just might give in and be led by a European king. Not only was he wrong, his performance in the battle all but assured his defeat.
The town was surrounded by a series of five fortresses, and the French sent the bulk of their troops against the two that appeared to be in the worst states of repair. After the first few hours of fighting, the French had taken none of the fortresses, suffered heavy casualties, and expended half their artillery ammunition. Things did not get better from there.
France's elite North African troops, the Zouaves, were absolutely wrecked during the battle. The French would also use all of their artillery by the end of the day, and without fire support, the last of French reserves were repelled. To make matters worse, it began to rain, and the battlefield turned to mud. When Lorencez had enough and ordered a retreat, he found out the Mexicans had plenty of artillery ammunition left. They harassed the retreating French while singing the French national anthem until the last Frenchman was out of sight.
This big Mexican victory over the French Army was little more than a bright spot in a string of defeats. Maximilian took control of Mexico's government as Emperor in 1864, but Mexican President Benito Juarez continued fighting. When the U.S. Civil War ended, Americans began buying Mexican bonds to funnel money to Juarez while the U.S. government began sending supplies and arms. In 1867, Maximilian was ousted and executed while the rest of France was sent packing to Europe.
Ever since the Battle of Puebla, Americans have celebrated the Fifth of May as a commemoration of Mexico's distinct culture. Cinco de Mayo has even become a much bigger holiday among Mexican-Americans inside the U.S. than in Mexico itself – so feel free to tip a pint of Modelo to our Southern neighbor and our shared determination to resist European rule.
The first USS Parche (SS-384) was a United States Navy submarine. She bore the name of a butterfly fish, one of at least 114 species. Butterfly fish have a large spot that looks like an eye on the tail end of their body. Their natural eye is often much smaller or camouflaged within other body markings. This is to trick a predator into thinking the fish will move in the direction of the false eye, thereby giving the small fish a chance to escape capture.
USS Parche (Sp. pronunciation Pahr-cheh) was a Balao class submarine used during World War II. One hundred and twenty boats completed of that type, the largest class of submarines in the United States Navy. An improvement on the earlier Gato class, these boats had slight internal differences. The most significant improvement was the use of thicker, higher yield strength steel in the pressure hull skins and frames.
Her first Commander, Lawson Paterson "Red" Ramage's, famous exploit occurred during Parche's second war patrol when she joined Steelhead (SS-280) and Hammerhead (SS-364) for another wolf pack patrol in the Luzon Strait during June and July 1944. "Rather than seek refuge in a deep dive, CDR Ramage decided to engage in a close-quarter surface battle with the large Japanese convoy. Passing by the two escorting destroyers, Ramage cleared the bridge of everyone except himself and one sailor to man the deck gun. The Parche let loose three torpedoes from its bow tubes that hit one freighter and two tankers in the convoy. Now alerted by the explosions, the Japanese ships began to furiously maneuver, while firing machine guns and cannon fire toward their assailants.
Upon Parche's return to Pearl Harbor, Commodore Merrill Comstock read Ramage's report of this remarkable engagement and stated, 'This was foolhardy, very dangerous, and an undue risk. But I guess it's okay as long as it came out all right. You got away with it, but don't do it again.' " For getting mad, as Ramage described it, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, and the warship received a Presidential Citation.
Parche had sighted convoy MI-11, 29 July 1944 and, cooperating with Steelhead, closed in, sinking 4,471-ton cargo ship Manko Maru and 10,238-ton tanker Koei Maru. During this night surface action Parche barely avoided being rammed by one ship. She collaborated with Steelhead in sinking a transport, the Yoshino Maru (originally the Kleist, built in Danzig, 1906). Steelhead sank two other ships, a transport and a cargo vessel. Another tanker and a cargo ship were damaged. The attack became known as “Ramage's Rampage.” On 1 August the sub departed for Saipan where she moored 5 August, arriving Pearl Harbor 16 August.
This submarine was built by the Portsmouth Navy Yard at Kittery, Maine. Her keel was laid on 9 April 1943 and she was christened on 24 July. She was 311 feet in length, displacing 1550 tons on the surface and 2400 submerged. Powered by diesel electric her surface speed was 20.25 knots and she could make 8.75 submerged. Her range was 11,000 nautical surface miles at 10 knots. She could remain 48 hours at 2 knots submerged, and for 75 days on patrol. She had ten 21-inch torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft) with a total of 24 weapons. In addition, she carried a 25 caliber deck gun, a Bofors 40 mm and Orelikon 20 mm cannon. Her ship's complement was ten officers and seventy sailors.
In all, the Parche was deployed on six war patrols, earning 5 Battle Stars, with a total of two casualties from about 195 men aboard between 1943 and 1945.
Navy TWS lists ten members who served on her.
Her first patrol began on March 29, 1944, as part of a wolf pack with the Tinosa and the Bang. They were able to destroy five Japanese ships during the outing, two of which were sunk by the Parche. During this operation, the Parche also surveyed the island Ishi Gaki Jima to determine the extent of its military installations. Her third patrol, a three month stint from September to December, was completed without encountering a single enemy vessel.
The hunting was better on her fourth patrol in the Nansei Shoto on December 30, 1944. She damaged two anchored ships on this mission and sank the Okinoyama Maru. In 1945, with targets becoming increasingly sparse as the Japanese grew weaker during the latter stages of the war, the Parche was sent off the coast of Japan itself for her fifth patrol. They found many targets, several of which she was able to sink, including a minesweeper and a small freighter. For her last patrol, the Parche joined the "Lifeguard League," a group of ships assigned to pick up the survivors of any downed planes.
After being relieved of that mission, she was sent to the Tsugara Strait on patrol. She was able to sink several enemy ships including a freighter, two luggers, and several trawlers. On June 25, 1945, the Parche spotted a nine-ship convoy, an exceptionally large target so late in the war. She attacked the group, sinking one ship and damaging another, although she had to endure a four and a half hour depth charge attack once she'd been spotted before she managed to work away and resume her patrol, leaving an ex-Gunboat sunk and another ship badly damaged. After another round of lifeguard duty for the carrier planes of Task Force 38, on 17 July, Parche rendezvoused with Cero to take aboard three fliers and set course for Midway, arriving 23 July and to Pearl Harbor by the 28th.
After World War II, Parche was assigned to Operation Crossroads as a target ship for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Approximately 42,000 personnel were involved in Operation Crossroads, most of them on July 11, 1946; the target fleet of 95 ships waited in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll. The Task Force placed fifty-seven guinea pigs, 109 mice, 146 pigs, 176 goats, and 3,030 white rats on 22 target ships in stations normally occupied by people on board the various ships to study for diagnosis, treatment, and general protection of possible future ship crews which may be exposed to this bomb. The support fleet, consisting of more than 150 ships, withdrew to a distance of approximately ten nautical miles from the atoll. At 0900, the first bomb, named Gilda, was dropped from a B-29 bomber and detonated at an altitude of 520 ft above the fleet (missing its target point by 650 ft): Test on July 25th the Task Force conducted their first underwater nuclear explosion: Test Baker. This bomb detonated 90 ft beneath the surface of the water suspended there from LSM-60. Afterward, the Navy towed eight ships and two submarines to Hawaii for further radiological inspection. Twelve ships were deemed safe and crewed for their return voyage to the United States. Parche had survived both the air and underwater bursts, coming through relatively undamaged.
Between 1946 and 1958, a total of twenty-three nuclear tests took place at Bikini.
Following decontamination, she proceeded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard at Vallejo, California, where she was decommissioned in December 1946 and moved to join the reserve fleet in Alameda by March 1947; the Navy had 40 boats in this category.
"The USS Parche (SS-384) was a reserve boat from 1947 till 1969. It was located in Alameda, CA. I was aboard in 56/57 as a reservist. We were awarded the E for Excellence during this time, and it was presented by Adm. Nimitz himself. He was in full dress blue, what a treat for a 17-year-old." -On December 1mDecember 1cember, 1962, her classification was changed to Auxiliary Submarine AGSS-384, and she was assigned as a Naval Reserve Training Submarine in Oakland, California. Parche's name was stricken from the record on November 8, 1969, and in June 1970, she was for scrap. All that remains of her is the original bridge structure, shears, and upper gun, which reside enshrined at the Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor, and her conning tower barrel on display at another Balao class submarine, USS Bowfin museum and park nearby.
Her namesake vessel, the USS Parche (SSN-683), a Sturgeon class submarine, was commissioned on January 13, 1973. Attributed as a vital resource of the National Underwater Reconnaissance Office, the second Parche is the most highly decorated vessel in U.S. history.
And for landlubbers, although the distinction between what is a boat like the Parche and what is a ship probably has as many definitions as there are vessels of either kind, the most common being that a ship can carry a boat, but not the reverse.
TogetherWeServed.com has kept me in touch with other military personnel and helped me remember and reflect on my time in the service. I see old photos and profiles of many who I served with, and in reading their stories, I warmly reflect on things. It is a great "meeting place." After reading my profile in TWS, an old Navy buddy contacted me, and we had a great time remembering our experiences in VP-17. It turns out he lives in Oregon, a short flight from my home in California. In May of this year and again in September, I went to Oregon, and we got together along with a group of vets he meets with weekly. In May, the group also had a retired Navy Captain, Brian Shipman, who had previously served as a Weapons Officer on the USS Milius, namesake of Paul Milius, KIA from our squadron VO-67. Small world.
Many monetary benefits administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) depend on your life status. This is defined as the Veteran's marital status and the number of dependents in the family. To ensure you receive the correct payment – no less or no more – it is essential to have this information accurately reported to the VA at all times. Failure to do so can have consequences that can cause financial hardship for the Veteran.
An example demonstrates this.
Let's start with a male Veteran who is 50 percent service-connected. In this example, he is not married, or as the VA describes it, "alone." Based on the payment schedule for 2024 (you can find this schedule at https://www.va.gov/disability/compensation-rates/veteran-rates/), he will receive $1,075.16 each month.
The Veteran marries. Now, for VA purposes, he is considered a "Veteran with Spouse," his monthly payment will increase to $1,179.16, provided this information has been reported to the VA.
The first key point to understand is the VA's definition of marriage. The VA recognizes a Veteran's marriage if it was recognized by law where at least one of the parties resides. The VA also recognizes same-sex marriages and common-law marriages.
The second key point is the importance of notifying the VA of the marriage. This can be done online or by using VA Form 21-686c. The form explains the evidence needed based on the type of marriage (by a Ceremony, establishing Common Law Marriage, Tribal Marriage, or Proxy Marriage).
Extending this example, the couple has a child. The VA now considers him a" Veteran with Spouse and 1 Child." Assuming the Veteran informed the VA promptly, his monthly payment would increase to $1,262.15.
Reporting this information can be done online or using VA Form 21-686c. The instructions also explain the specific evidence to be supplied for the categories of children: Unmarried Child, School-Age Child, Stepchild, Adopted Child, and Child Permanently Incapable of Self-Support.
In both variations of an addition to the family in these examples, the timeliness of reporting the information to the VA matters. Generally, if it has been longer than a year since marriage or the addition of a child, the VA may only pay back to the date you submitted your dependency claim.
As you can imagine, reporting events similar to these, which lead to an increased family size and VA benefits, are usually done on time. When the opposite happens, there are often delays, which can have significant consequences.
Let's continue with the example to detail this.
The same couple divorces. Now, the VA describes the Veteran as a "Veteran with one child only." (This would have been the same had the spouse died.) In this new status, the Veteran's monthly payment would be $1,144.16 – a decrease of $117.99 from his payment during his married status.
If the Veteran reports this information to the VA in a timely manner, the decreased payment will take effect quickly. Issues arise, however, when there is a delay in reporting this information.
For example, for whatever reason, the Veteran doesn't report his divorce to the VA until two years after it became official. This means that during those 24 months, he was overpaid $2,831.76. That is 24 months multiplied by $117.99 per month.
Once the VA is notified, it will compute this math and begin to recover the overpayment. Without the Veteran's intervention, it will collect this money by withholding monthly payments until the total overpayment has been repaid.
In this example, the VA will not pay his regular benefit of $1,144.16 for two months, and his third monthly payment will only be $600.72. A Veteran, depending on this payment each month for living expenses, will find that withheld payments in this way create financial problems. These problems can cause stress, increases in anxiety, and frustration. To set up a more acceptable repayment schedule, the Veteran must contact VA's Debt Management Center (800.827.0648).
A similar event occurs in this example when the child turns 18 and gets a job. He is no longer considered a dependent; the Veteran is now considered "alone," and his monthly payment decreases to $1,075.16. Unless this is reported to the VA in a timely manner, the risk of overpayment and the consequences of a harsh repayment schedule exist.
This extended example clarifies the importance of having your life status accurately understood by the VA. It ensures you receive increased payments based on certain circumstances and prevents overpayments from occurring. This last point is critical, as overpayments eventually result in the VA collecting that money back from the Veteran, potentially on a schedule that may cause financial hardship. If in doubt, call the VA to confirm your status at 800.827.1000.
Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D., served as Under Secretary of Benefits at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from May 2018 to January 2021. He is the author of "Veterans Benefits for You: Get What You Deserve," available from Amazon.
Like any large organization, the U.S. military has its own distinct culture. Most civilians know that official military lingo is like a language of its own, and they can probably discern most of it from Hollywood movies and TV shows. What is harder to learn is the lingo troops develop while in the field. Every generation of American troops develop their own slang, but the Vietnam era might be the most unique.
The first American combat troops landed in Vietnam in March 1965. Over the course of eight years, 2.7 million men and women would come, and most would go home – not all, of course. It was the last U.S. conflict where troops were drafted to serve and one that allowed the troops to mingle with the civilian population. To put it mildly, that mixture of people and personalities created quite an interesting vocabulary – and it wasn't always politically sensitive.
For anyone offended by the following terms, just remember: war is hell.
Baby San: Children in a Vietnamese village.
Barbecue: How armored cavalry units requested napalm on a target.
BOHICA: An unofficial acronym, like FUBAR. It means "Bend over, here it comes again."
Bong Son Bomber: A very large joint, which is a marijuana cigarette for those who don't know.
Boom Boom: An easy, onomatopoeic way for Vietnamese ladies of the night to let a young GI know what they were selling.
Charles/Charlie: From the military phonetic alphabet, "Victor Charlie," meaning VC or Viet Cong, the communist guerrillas fighting American and South Vietnamese troops. Sometimes shortened to "Chuck."
Charm School: Initial training and orientation troops were subject to when arriving in Vietnam.
Cherry: Like a new car, this is what they called replacement troops who had never been to Vietnam. They are also known as the FNG (f*cking new guy).
Coka Girl: Derived from the Vietnamese pronunciation of Coca-Cola, the most American of all things, a Coka Girl is a Vietnamese woman who sold everything except boom boom.
Dinky Dau: Insane.
Disneyland Far East: Headquarters building of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. It was derived from "Disneyland East," also known as the Pentagon.
Donut Dolly: The women of the American Red Cross who would go deep into the bush to bring a bit of home to GIs.
Fallopian Tubing: This is the same prank U.S. troops have been using for generations. It's a snipe hunt for a Cherry. Fallopian Tubing was used for tankers the same way "Prop Wash" or "Flight Line" is used by the Air Force or "Grid Squares" for young soldiers.
F*ck You Lizard: The Tokay Gecko is a large species of gecko native to Asia. It earned its military nickname because of its nighttime mating call, which sounds like "f*ck you."
Heads: Any troop who used any kind of illicit drugs. The most common was marijuana, but heroin was also used by American troops.
Ho Chi Minh Road Sticks: An ingenious recycling of old truck tires used by the Viet Cong to make sandals.
Idiot Stick: A curved yoke used by Vietnamese women to carry two baskets, water buckets, or anything else on either end of the stick.
Indian Country: Area controlled by Charlie outside of a firebase. It's also known as the boonies, the field, the jungle, the bush, or the sh*t.
Juicers: GIs who drank too much.
Little People: Radio code for South Vietnamese soldiers.
Mad Minute: Order for all bunkers to shoot across their front for one minute to test fire weapons and harass the enemy.
Mama San: An elderly Vietnamese woman
Marvin the Arvin: Stereotypical South Vietnamese Army soldier, similar to a Schmuckatelli or Snuffy. The name comes from the acronym for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or ARVN.
Number-One GI: A service member who threw around a lot of cash while in Vietnam.
Number-Ten GI: A cheap service member.
Ok Sahlem: What U.S. soldiers called children in villages who begged for menthol cigarettes.
Papa San: An elderly Vietnamese man.
Real Life: The civilian world; the life a GI leads when not fighting in Vietnam.
Remington Raider: Derogatory term for anyone who manned a typewriter. Today, we call them Keyboard Warriors.
Re-Up Bird: A name for the Blue Eared Barbet, a bird whose song sounds like "Re-Up," which means sign on for another enlistment or another tour in Vietnam.
Search and Avoid: A term for an all-ARVN mission, the implication being that it would ultimately fail to find the enemy.
Straight Arrow: A GI who remained completely faithful to his girlfriend or wife back home. A "Broken Arrow" is a GI who did not.
Zippo Raids: Burning of Vietnamese villages, often with Zippo lighters.
There are, of course, other slang terms used by troops in Vietnam that are either timeless (like Un-Ass, which means to move out quickly) or non-offensive (like Zoomie, which refers to anyone flying a plane).
It's given me an opportunity to search for comrades
I served with and will hopefully enable me to reconnect with them.
Thank you for this great opportunity.
SGT Edwin Seils US Air Force Veteran
Served 1969-1973
As I was going upriver after the Battle of Dai Do Village, I spotted a flat-bottomed boat loaded with the bodies of dead US Marines being removed from the battlefield. They were stacked up like so many logs, so many bodies that the boat was in danger of capsizing. Those kids, most of whom were the same age as the high school students I had taught before entering the Navy, died while keeping the rest of us safe. Such a waste of precious youth and potential.
As a former English teacher, I used my writing abilities to help me cope with my experiences in Vietnam. I kept a daily journal and wrote poetry to express my feelings. Here is one of the poems from my journal.
Things I've Seen
During t
hese few months, I've been
In this war-ravaged land, I've seen
A lot of things. Some have made me glad
I'm here, and some have left me sad.
Some have made me mighty proud
Of who I am and for some I've bowed
My head in shame and felt somehow unclean.
I can't recall how many times I've seen men
Who just yesterday were boys and then
Were asked to pay the dreadful cost
Of keeping this land from being lost,
Show courage unsurpassed in the face
Of certain death in some God-forsaken place
To take a hill or help a friend.
Yes, and I've seen grown men crying,
Unashamed when they see a buddy lying
In their arms, their furtive efforts all in vain
To save his life or even ease his pain.
I've seen strong men paralyzed by fear
When enemy shells have landed near
And they were so afraid of dying.
I've seen some len
d a helping hand
To cure the sick and rid this land
Of dread disease, while others give
Much of their time to help men live
A better life than they have ever known.
By these deeds these men have shown
That they truly love their fellow man.
Then, too, I've seen the awful pain
That warfare brings and ask again,
“Why must it be? Why must men kill
And scourge the land? Is man still
So uncivilized and savage?” And then I pray
To God, and I'll live to see the day
When war shall end, and peace shall reign.
Herman W. Hughes, LT, USN
Republic of Vietnam
July 1968
PFC USMCR
1959-1962
Howard Mansfield is an accomplished author and writer of a dozen books. However, his latest, "I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid about World War II," is not his story. It belongs to Pincus Mansfield, his father, who lived the stories in the book during World War II. Howard knew his father had flown aboard a B-24 Liberator Bomber during the war, but like many of his generation, mum was the word when it came to talking about his wartime experiences.
"You're not getting any war stories from me," he'd say.
During a visit to England, his son got a taste of what World War II was like for the bomber crews who flew over Nazi-occupied Europe. He joined a British airplane enthusiasts' club for a screening of the 1941 Royal Air Force film "Target for Tonight." During the short film, he watched as bomber crews planned and executed a mission over the Rhine, and he saw just how dangerous his father's wartime profession really was. But he had never heard his father talk about it.
Years later, Pincus Mansfield went into a veterans' home, and Howard had the task of cleaning out his father's house, which was the only house his family had ever lived in. Cleaning up a small drawer one day, he came across a diary. The diary contained a detailed account of each of Pincus Mansfield's bomber missions, written when his father was just 19 and 20 years old. The writer in Howard took over, and he began to fill in the blanks of his father's war story.
"I Will Tell No War Stories" is the story of Pincus Mansfield's World War II experience with the 8th Air Force.
"I began to fill in the details, helped by miles of microfilmed records of the Army Air Forces," Howard Mansfield writes in the book's introduction. "The memories he had recorded in his last years of growing up and training for the war, memories that always stopped well short of what happened in the air at war."
Pincus Mansfield was drafted but not inducted, yet he kept trying to join the Army and serve his country until it finally accepted him as a waist gunner in 1943. On his 19th mission, he was hit by flak while on a bombing run over Kassel, Germany. He was wounded in the legs, buttocks, and face and sent back to the United States to recuperate. He was hospitalized for 164 days.
He did not receive the Medal of Honor, and there will be no big-budget Hollywood movie made about his life. He was one of millions of Americans who signed up to fight for his country during World War II. If not for Howard Mansfield's talent as a writer and his persistence in learning about his father's wartime experience, his story—that of an American who did his duty without fanfare—might never have been told.
While the glorious tales of battlefield heroics will always enthrall us, now and in the future, World War II was won by Americans like Pincus Mansfield: ordinary people who signed up to extraordinary things. But that victory came at a price; it left those countless millions unwilling or unable to revisit their deeds. Thankfully, there are those like Pincus who wrote them down so those sacrifices won't be forgotten.
"I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid about World War II" by Howard Mansfield is available in hardcover for $22.46, on Kindle for $23.50, and via Audible for $13.96 on Amazon. It's also available at Barnes and Noble and Walmart for around the same price.
Enemy troops weren't the only dangers lurking in the tunnels beneath the jungles of Vietnam. They had to contend with scorpions, rats, snakes, booby traps, and flooded compartments – and it's not as if they had a lot of room to maneuver once inside. Illinois native John F. Baker joined the Army in 1966. He would leave Vietnam with a Medal of Honor citation. What he did didn't happen in the tunnels, but it might have been the tunnels which made him a fearless combatant in the face of the enemy. 
John Baker, Jr. and the rest of the 2/27th infantry air assaulted into the area on Nov. 5. Only then could reinforcements reach their battered fellow soldiers. By noon that day, almost 48 hours after the North Vietnamese ambush began, the Americans finally broke out of the ambush zone. As you read what Baker did during the battle, keep in mind that tunnel rats had to be smaller in stature. Baker stood just 5'2" and weighed all of 105 pounds at the time – he was about to punch well above his weight class. 
While in the rear, he refilled his ammo and headed back out into the fighting, but the American line was falling back. Baker evacuated a wounded man and came back to evacuate another but was pinned down by enemy snipers. He pushed ahead beyond the friendly lines to take them out, then returned to his wounded comrade and carried him to the rear. He returned to the battle once more to cover the unit's withdrawal with his machine gun. When his ammo was spent, he carried two more wounded men out of the fray. 
With the end of the war soon coming, the prisoners had taken control of Castle Itter but knew that Hitler's most fanatical troops, the Waffen-SS, were still fighting – and were still a threat. They were right to be concerned. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division was operating in the area, killing military-age males and executing anyone who surrendered to the Allies. They now had their sights set on taking Itter and killing everyone inside. 
Gangl reached out to Lt. John Lee of the U.S. 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, who was stationed eight miles to the north of Wörgl. Lee radioed his headquarters, and the combined force set off toward Itter Castle. When they arrived, they found the prisoners had asked former SS officer Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, who happened to live nearby, to set up their defenses. 
Some think it has to do with the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, and they're not entirely wrong—it was a display of resistance from those who opposed the war. Some believe it's a celebration of Mexico's Independence Day, which is actually on the 16th of September. The holiday commemorates a military victory, but it is not a victory for the United States. 
The French Army numbered more than 5,000 battle-hardened troops who were fresh from war in both Europe and Indochina. Their leader, Gen. Charles de Lorencez, believed that once the battered, war-weary Mexicans realized they were outnumbered, they just might give in and be led by a European king. Not only was he wrong, his performance in the battle all but assured his defeat. 
This big Mexican victory over the French Army was little more than a bright spot in a string of defeats. Maximilian took control of Mexico's government as Emperor in 1864, but Mexican President Benito Juarez continued fighting. When the U.S. Civil War ended, Americans began buying Mexican bonds to funnel money to Juarez while the U.S. government began sending supplies and arms. In 1867, Maximilian was ousted and executed while the rest of France was sent packing to Europe.
The first USS Parche (SS-384) was a United States Navy submarine. She bore the name of a butterfly fish, one of at least 114 species. Butterfly fish have a large spot that looks like an eye on the tail end of their body. Their natural eye is often much smaller or camouflaged within other body markings. This is to trick a predator into thinking the fish will move in the direction of the false eye, thereby giving the small fish a chance to escape capture. 
Upon Parche's return to Pearl Harbor, Commodore Merrill Comstock read Ramage's report of this remarkable engagement and stated, 'This was foolhardy, very dangerous, and an undue risk. But I guess it's okay as long as it came out all right. You got away with it, but don't do it again.' " For getting mad, as Ramage described it, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, and the warship received a Presidential Citation. 
In all, the Parche was deployed on six war patrols, earning 5 Battle Stars, with a total of two casualties from about 195 men aboard between 1943 and 1945. 
After World War II, Parche was assigned to Operation Crossroads as a target ship for the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Approximately 42,000 personnel were involved in Operation Crossroads, most of them on July 11, 1946; the target fleet of 95 ships waited in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll. The Task Force placed fifty-seven guinea pigs, 109 mice, 146 pigs, 176 goats, and 3,030 white rats on 22 target ships in stations normally occupied by people on board the various ships to study for diagnosis, treatment, and general protection of possible future ship crews which may be exposed to this bomb. The support fleet, consisting of more than 150 ships, withdrew to a distance of approximately ten nautical miles from the atoll. At 0900, the first bomb, named Gilda, was dropped from a B-29 bomber and detonated at an altitude of 520 ft above the fleet (missing its target point by 650 ft): Test on July 25th the Task Force conducted their first underwater nuclear explosion: Test Baker. This bomb detonated 90 ft beneath the surface of the water suspended there from LSM-60. Afterward, the Navy towed eight ships and two submarines to Hawaii for further radiological inspection. Twelve ships were deemed safe and crewed for their return voyage to the United States. Parche had survived both the air and underwater bursts, coming through relatively undamaged. 
"The USS Parche (SS-384) was a reserve boat from 1947 till 1969. It was located in Alameda, CA. I was aboard in 56/57 as a reservist. We were awarded the E for Excellence during this time, and it was presented by Adm. Nimitz himself. He was in full dress blue, what a treat for a 17-year-old." -On December 1mDecember 1cember, 1962, her classification was changed to Auxiliary Submarine AGSS-384, and she was assigned as a Naval Reserve Training Submarine in Oakland, California. Parche's name was stricken from the record on November 8, 1969, and in June 1970, she was for scrap. All that remains of her is the original bridge structure, shears, and upper gun, which reside enshrined at the Naval Submarine Base Pearl Harbor, and her conning tower barrel on display at another Balao class submarine, USS Bowfin museum and park nearby. 
Let's start with a male Veteran who is 50 percent service-connected. In this example, he is not married, or as the VA describes it, "alone." Based on the payment schedule for 2024 (you can find this schedule at 
Reporting this information can be done online or using VA Form 21-686c. The instructions also explain the specific evidence to be supplied for the categories of children: Unmarried Child, School-Age Child, Stepchild, Adopted Child, and Child Permanently Incapable of Self-Support.
A similar event occurs in this example when the child turns 18 and gets a job. He is no longer considered a dependent; the Veteran is now considered "alone," and his monthly payment decreases to $1,075.16. Unless this is reported to the VA in a timely manner, the risk of overpayment and the consequences of a harsh repayment schedule exist.
The first American combat troops landed in Vietnam in March 1965. Over the course of eight years, 2.7 million men and women would come, and most would go home – not all, of course. It was the last U.S. conflict where troops were drafted to serve and one that allowed the troops to mingle with the civilian population. To put it mildly, that mixture of people and personalities created quite an interesting vocabulary – and it wasn't always politically sensitive. 
Charles/Charlie: From the military phonetic alphabet, "Victor Charlie," meaning VC or Viet Cong, the communist guerrillas fighting American and South Vietnamese troops. Sometimes shortened to "Chuck."
Ho Chi Minh Road Sticks: An ingenious recycling of old truck tires used by the Viet Cong to make sandals. 
Marvin the Arvin: Stereotypical South Vietnamese Army soldier, similar to a Schmuckatelli or Snuffy. The name comes from the acronym for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or ARVN.
hese few months, I've been 
d a helping hand 
"You're not getting any war stories from me," he'd say. 
Pincus Mansfield was drafted but not inducted, yet he kept trying to join the Army and serve his country until it finally accepted him as a waist gunner in 1943. On his 19th mission, he was hit by flak while on a bombing run over Kassel, Germany. He was wounded in the legs, buttocks, and face and sent back to the United States to recuperate. He was hospitalized for 164 days.