ok guys I need some help. I am putting together a make shift combat patch ceremony at the request of my Plt. We are a national guard unit that has been spread all over iraq and tasked out with supporting CJSOTF (sounds cool right? Gayest mission ever. we are infantry fobbits)
my plt has become rather close and they guys would like me to give them their combat patch (for many it will be their first). I have a really cool location for it, and it will fallow a long foot march I have been wanting to do since we got here. Also I had custom engraved Kbars made up for all my guys that I will surprise them with as a reward for finishing the march and a thank you for serving me as honorably as they have.
Anyways I would like a motivating war story to throw into my little speech. Preferably vietnam involving SF as a result of us working with them on this deployment and the obvious connections between the quagmire both wars turned out to be. Any cool SF story could work, however i think vietnam would work best. My googlefu is weak because I haven't slept in two takes dealing with stupid admin shit. thanks for your help!
I don't know if this is what you are looking for... but it DOES Illustrate the kind of war it was for the GIs.
A young black kid, fresh out of training, got sent to a fire base in VN. There was a nearby village, where for just pennies a day he could get his uniforms cleaned, his boots polished, and his face shaved. (For those who don't know, many African Americans cannot shave daily because their skin breaks out. This barber gave him a blade shave and also treated his face so it didn't break out.) Kid was living the life of Riley.
One night he was on guard duty, manning a machine gun. He heard some noise down by the wire and called for lights. Seeing a VC doing somethign down there*, he opened fire.
When the dawn came he went to inspect the body, and discovered... it was his barber. The same guy who'd had a razor at his throat every day for the last 2 months!
He never left the base again.
*Their favorite trick was to turn around the Claymore mines, so they'd point at the US troops.)
Here's the story of how my Great Uncle Robert W Hartsock got the Medal of Honor in Vietnam
http://www.mishalov.com/Hartsock.htmlOriginally Posted By wvusoldier217:
ok guys I need some help. I am putting together a make shift combat patch ceremony at the request of my Plt. We are a national guard unit that has been spread all over iraq and tasked out with supporting CJSOTF (sounds cool right? Gayest mission ever. we are infantry fobbits)
my plt has become rather close and they guys would like me to give them their combat patch (for many it will be their first). I have a really cool location for it, and it will fallow a long foot march I have been wanting to do since we got here. Also I had custom engraved Kbars made up for all my guys that I will surprise them with as a reward for finishing the march and a thank you for serving me as honorably as they have.
Anyways I would like a motivating war story to throw into my little speech. Preferably vietnam involving SF as a result of us working with them on this deployment and the obvious connections between the quagmire both wars turned out to be. Any cool SF story could work, however i think vietnam would work best. My googlefu is weak because I haven't slept in two takes dealing with stupid admin shit. thanks for your help!
There's always Afghanistan. With any luck at all, the shit in Yemen or Syria or Libya will go hot..... Maybe the Central Africa advisory mission that was just announced will suffer mission creep and turn into a real war.
Tell them not to give up hope... the next chance to shoot Haji is just around the corner.
I also would lay off the "quagmire" bullshit. Sounds like you are a squad leader or a platoon sergeant. Save the geopolitical commentary for HIST498 next year and concentrate on the everlasting glory of the infantry today.
Originally Posted By FightingHellfish:
Originally Posted By wvusoldier217:
ok guys I need some help. I am putting together a make shift combat patch ceremony at the request of my Plt. We are a national guard unit that has been spread all over iraq and tasked out with supporting CJSOTF (sounds cool right? Gayest mission ever. we are infantry fobbits)
my plt has become rather close and they guys would like me to give them their combat patch (for many it will be their first). I have a really cool location for it, and it will fallow a long foot march I have been wanting to do since we got here. Also I had custom engraved Kbars made up for all my guys that I will surprise them with as a reward for finishing the march and a thank you for serving me as honorably as they have.
Anyways I would like a motivating war story to throw into my little speech. Preferably vietnam involving SF as a result of us working with them on this deployment and the obvious connections between the quagmire both wars turned out to be. Any cool SF story could work, however i think vietnam would work best. My googlefu is weak because I haven't slept in two takes dealing with stupid admin shit. thanks for your help!
There's always Afghanistan. With any luck at all, the shit in Yemen or Syria or Libya will go hot..... Maybe the Central Africa advisory mission that was just announced will suffer mission creep and turn into a real war.
Tell them not to give up hope... the next chance to shoot Haji is just around the corner.
I also would lay off the "quagmire" bullshit. Sounds like you are a squad leader or a platoon sergeant. Save the geopolitical commentary for HIST498 next year and concentrate on the everlasting glory of the infantry today.
I'm the pl, and don't worry, I wasn't planning on giving a political speech, but i think the style of warfare as well as the "fighting a war with rules" ideas between the two wars bear a striking resemblance. As for killing haji's, we were def hoping to get redeployed to astan. I think I will personally miss that one though. Not by choice, but I think it will be over in the next 12 months
awesome story! especially since he is a MD boy like me!
Originally Posted By wvusoldier217:
awesome story! especially since he is a MD boy like me!
He entered the service in Fairmont,
West Virginia. Dau Tieng is pronounced Yao Zingh.
