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I noticed today is August 24th. It was 51 years ago today that I arrived home from Da Nang Viet Nam. I actually left there at 23:30 hours on the 23rd, crossed the International Date Line about 2 hours later and was back into the 23rd which I refer to as the longest day of my life. It was a long time ago but I remember it well. We were on a chartered American Airlines 707. It was very quiet as we rolled down the runway and when we heard the thump of the landing gear come up everybody hollered.
Last edited by redoldsman; Aug 24, 2021 at 02:07 PM.
Reason: Add pictures
Glenn thank you for going there and not Canada. Although Canada might have been a bit more pleasant. And thank you for coming back. You guys were doing important work over there, even if no one thought it at the time.
Glenn, A event in your life that will never be forgotten. Thanks for your service! I was in the army during that time and remember 80% of the guys in my basic training group were sent there. I was fortunate to get assigned elsewhere. The thing I remember is the terrible way all of us in uniform were treated. during that time.
Rick
Right on. Thanks for your service and effort. I know that war was tough all the way around. Glad you survived and got home. I bought my 442 from a Navy vet that was there 64-70.
I was in the army, during Viet Nam, 1966-1968. I was lucky I went to Germany, When I got out, it has to be one of my greatest days. My wife asked me, more than day I was married, and I say yes,. I was married 6 months when I was drafted. Even thought I was in Germany, you always knew any day they could send you to Nam. Will remember the day I got out the rest of my life.Bought my first Olds when I got out,1968 442
The thing I remember is the terrible way all of us in uniform were treated. during that time.
That's why I take time to thank anyone wearing anything identifying them as a Vietnam conflict veteran.
I have long thought LBJ and McNamara should burn in hell for what they did to the American military 1963-1975. I don't believe either ever intended to win that war, because as long as the country was at war, defense contractors were running wide open and the economy was booming. A lot of young men paid an awfully high price as a result, and the rest were treated like pariahs when they came home- just for doing their job as a soldier. Never thought that was right. Lay the blame where it belonged.
To tie this to cars, if McNamara had gotten his way we'd have all been driving underpowered six cylinder Falcon sedans with no creature comforts. Had he not left Ford for secretary of defense when he did, the Mustang and Fairlane/Torino performance variants would never have seen production.
Lyndon Johnson was a typical scheming politician. McNamara was not only a schemer, but fundamentally evil on top of it.
Last edited by rocketraider; Aug 24, 2021 at 08:07 PM.
Charlie I did spend a year with the Phantom. We had two squadrons of E models and one squadron of D models. From the stories I heard I am glad we did not have the C models. We also had A1's, AC119 Stinger Gunships and the C123 Ranch Hands spraying Agent Orange. I did a two week TDY to NKP Thailand. I was there my last year in the USAF. Thank you for your service Charlie.
rocketraider my opinion and yours and exactly the same on LBJ and McNamara.
We thought we were on R&R Charlie. We could go downtown while Da Nang was always off limits. There was a group of about six of us that went over there to get an F4 ready to fly out of there after a RAM Team had repaired battle damage to it. NKP only had recips and no jets. All their ramps were made out of PSP. The F4 was a very heavy plane for each square inch of tire displacement and left ruts in the PSP. It was a fun two weeks.
Thank you for your service Glenn, and I respect you and all that served and serve now. 51 years I bet it almost can feel like yesterday in some ways glad you made in back home.
From the stories I heard I am glad we did not have the C models.
Glenn , I don't think the F-4 C's were any better or worse than any other models .
They were older . The ones I worked on at Davis - Monthan in '69 were Vietnam Vets .
They had been there for the early part of the war and had been replaced by "D" models.
They were all built in 1963 .
The F-4 D's were almost identical to the F-4C ' s . The biggest change was to the radar package .
Hence the " adam's apple " on the radome " chin " . The F-4 D 's were built in 65 & 66 .
In 67 McDonnel Douglas came out with " The Bomb " . The F-4E .
They put the 20 MM gatling gun right in the nose . Instead of hanging it underneath , where it couldn' hit a barn door at five paces .
I had a Major tell me that he had a MIG in his sights and fired a missle . The missle motor failed to fire .
He got him in his sights again and switched to the 20 MM gun and " hosed " him .
He said " It cut that MIG in half , like a giant chainsaw ."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie JonesView Post That's why generals , not politicians , should run wars .
Thanks for your service all of you who have given freely of several or many years of your life to the defense of our great country. I was in submarine duty and making patrols in the Mediterranean during the mid 1960s. It was generally difficult to be released from submarine duty but during that time period if you had the right skill set and volunteered for the river boats you were gone!
I think that of late, some O6s getting their "star" become too political and forget what they were originally commissioned for.....maybe it's a hazard of being in D.C.!
In any corporate structure, armed forces included, very few make it to the top, and it's assumed the rest suck, whereas the reality is people get pushed off the path for thousands of reasons, and not many of them have to do with not being good at the job. People that want to go to the top are political to begin with, and they know that being seen to do hard work by the people that matter is more important than actually doing that work. I've seen people in my company get promoted up because they kiss management butt, yet treat everyone else like crap. I don't know how you can go through life like that; I try to treat everyone the same until someone pisses me off, but, until then, unless you're interfering with me, I treat the bottom level worker the same as the president, and I don't waste time kissing butt, which is one reason why I am stuck at my level. Point being, the people who are generals have been the way they are since day one, and their style of leadership is lesser (do what I tell you or face punishment) than someone who is an actual leader (let's do what he asks because we believe in him and he believes in us.) Most of those actual leaders get stuck in the middle because they aren't slimy enough to climb to the top.
My old man may lose a Vietnam vet who is his buddy soon as the guy is in poor health. As he says to any other Vietnam vet, "welcome home."
In any corporate structure, armed forces included, very few make it to the top, and it's assumed the rest suck, whereas the reality is people get pushed off the path for thousands of reasons, and not many of them have to do with not being good at the job. People that want to go to the top are political to begin with, and they know that being seen to do hard work by the people that matter is more important than actually doing that work. I've seen people in my company get promoted up because they kiss management butt, yet treat everyone else like crap. I don't know how you can go through life like that; I try to treat everyone the same until someone pisses me off, but, until then, unless you're interfering with me, I treat the bottom level worker the same as the president, and I don't waste time kissing butt, which is one reason why I am stuck at my level. Point being, the people who are generals have been the way they are since day one, and their style of leadership is lesser (do what I tell you or face punishment) than someone who is an actual leader (let's do what he asks because we believe in him and he believes in us.) Most of those actual leaders get stuck in the middle because they aren't slimy enough to climb to the top.
My old man may lose a Vietnam vet who is his buddy soon as the guy is in poor health. As he says to any other Vietnam vet, "welcome home."
Correction, Jim Mumma just passed. USAF in Vietnam. Ground guy who went out looking for suitable airfield places. He told us his hairiest night one time at a car show when we were sitting drinking beer. United Airlines ticket agent for many years afterwards. Nicest guy you'd ever meet. Mopar man.
Jim, in the plaid, is facing my old man, having a conversation, between their cars circa 2007 or so. Jim's love was this big New Yorker he restored and painted himself. "Desert Rose...Yankee for 'pink.'"
