My close friend had a similar experience in 69-70. During the era of the Vietnam War, American troops and facilities were neglected forcing Engineers to marshal their slender resources augmented by host nation contributions to keep American forces ready for war and take care of Army and Air Force personnel and their families. "So this was a very viable way to avoid active duty in Southeast Asia.". File a claim online. Home was tough because my parents did not agree with my volunteering. Youth activity centers in Germany included this facility in Wiesbaden. Youre in the hot seat. The Federal Republic of Germany became an important strategic location during the Cold War. Ammunition storage facility, Heilbronn, West Germany (left); Maybe they didnt risk their lives but they risked risking their lives, said Meredith Lair, a Vietnam War historian at George Mason University and author of Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War, which examines the non-combat experiences of American soldiers in Vietnam. American expenditures on construction in Europe declined sharply. 3) Paris, France. I was able to get into a band there. He now is an adjunct professor in the John Glenn College of Public Service. Reservists who were assigned to flight, ground, or medical crew duties at the following locations between 1969 and 1986, and who developed an Agent Orange related disability. It's there to boost morale, it's there to provide entertainment and comfort for soldiers, it's there to sort of represent what the U.S. is musically, culturally to the rest of the world.". Expert architecture and design solutions for private carriers, next-generation metro and long-haul optical networks, ultra low-latency networks, and Internet backbones. Right, I got you, very interested to know that fine point. I assisted a medical officer suture up a Marine after a bar fight who was so drunk he didnt need an anesthetic. Boy, I thought I had it made, Shkurti said with a small laugh. Once we got our orders, the guy Just below me went to Germany. I served at the naval hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts, for 18 months. The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. These facilities supported the large American and NATO forces stationed for almost fifty years on the front lines of the conflict between East and West, ready to confront a Soviet invasion. "I initially was stationed in Korea. They proudly served their country, but were derided by combat troops as REMFs or rear echelon mother (insert expletive here), Appy said. Patches, In 1968 you could volunteer for the draft and serve 2 years active duty. With pressures on USAREUR in the mid-1970s to reduce the size of its headquarters and budget, the command asked the Corps of Engineers to take responsibility for military construction in the theater. Built over time for more than $130 million, Long Binh eventually had 3,500 buildings and 180 miles of road covering an area bigger than Cleveland. Most of his time was spent protecting government buildings from Vietnam War protesters. Lockbourne/Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Ohio (906th and 907th Tactical Air Groups or 355th and 356th Tactical Airlift Squadron), Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts (731st Tactical Air Squadron and 74th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, International Airport (758th Airlift Squadron). During the war, these men felt like they were part of the military endeavor, but its not what the public celebrates. "I was shocked when I found that out myself, but it kind of makes sense," Hollander tells Guy Raz, host of weekends on All Things Considered. An official website of the United States government, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters Website, About the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters Website, Historical Vignette 105 - Engineers Played an Important Role in Europe During the Cold War, Deactivated Nuclear Power Plant Program (DNPPP), Regional Environmental and Energy Offices REEOs, Industry Information Re: COVID-19 Support, Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity, G-1 Reserve Component Augmentation, Office of Human Resources Directorate, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil. The goal of keeping soldiers well-fed was that they would be happy, stay out of trouble and avoid vices like drugs or prostitution, she said. The sky swarmed with helicopters. The US Army employed 17,000 American civilians in Germany in 2019. The book became the first volume in aCenter of Military History series, U.S. Army in the Cold War. Office of Accountability & Whistleblower Protection, Training - Exposure - Experience (TEE) Tournament, Military Exposure Related Health Concerns, War Related Illness & Injury Study Center, Clinical Trainees (Academic Affiliations), Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft, local VA Environmental Health Coordinator, Find out if you qualify for VA health care, diseases related to Agent Orange exposure, Call TTY if you
They gave up their lives back home. As my husband likes to preach: expectation management.. David Hollander produced the compilation. They wore dirty boots and dog tags hanging around their necks. The U.S. military presence in Germany peaked at 274,119 in 1962, nearly eight times its level last year. He remembers his commanding officer Abrams as a political genius who turned the war around.. Hitt says he had already been in one Army band by the time he joined the group. The American military presence in Germany began at the end of World War II. Instead of breaking them up, Army brass sent them on tour. Grafenwoehr is a tiny base compared to almost anywhere youve been stationed in the US. In response the Corps of Engineers drastically reduced the size of EUD and reconstituted it as the Europe District. 3. Reflecting back, Im more skeptical whether a war of choice can help defend a country in the long run. The songs East of Underground played weren't your run-of-the-mill patriotic marches in fact, some of them included controversial lyrics about race and politics. As the Soviet system, like the Berlin Wall, collapsed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it appeared that American and allied forces in Europe had accomplished their mission without war. Bronze Star and the Vietnamese Army Staff Medal First Class and is the author of four books about Vietnam including The War Everyone Lost and Won.. Everyone else went directly to Vietnam, or a few were sent to Ft. Benning to attend the NCO School or Airborne Training. I say 16 months because his orders were involuntarily extended because he was in the ROK when the USS Pueblo was taken. It was painful to even be around them. Saigon was considered relatively safe, but life wasnt easy and violence erupted. Ukrainian soldiers find remains of German WWII soldiers, LGBTQ+ rights situation at home drives young Slovaks abroad, Remembering the horrors of Colonia Dignidad in Chile. Lewis Hitt played guitar in East of Underground. I personally met over the years quite a few guys in my neighborhood that enlisted in the Army, 3 years like you said, interesting thing was that not one served in South Vietnam, even up to two duty station changes, in example serving in CONUS then Panama, etc, I recall one guy I met in a bar who enlisted for 3 1967-70, an Ordnance guy, said he served his whole three years after Basic (Bliss) and AIT (Aberdeen) as wheeled vehicle mechanic at West Point, you know in the regular army component at the academy. Adopting a variety of organizational arrangements, including an engineer command from 1966 to 1974, USAREUR and its engineers attempted to find the most efficient and effective means to use the scarce resources available for construction and maintenance. The NATO maneuver Reforger I (Return of Forces to Germany) in Vilseck/Grafenwhr in 1969 was one of many joint war games held by the US Army and the Bundeswehr. Even before Erhard succeeded Konrad Adenauer as West Germany's second chancellor, the conflict in Vietnam had Attention A T users. Thanks, your message has been sent successfully. And there were the German-American friendship weeks every year. I can only speak from my own experiences. Those recordings were lost for decades, until a collector discovered an East of Underground LP in 1997. His unit lost more men to overdose and traffic accidents in Germany than to combat in Vietnam. A new compilation pulls together some of those old records it's called East of Underground: Hell Below. I didnt carry a gun, Lomperis said. Active duty personnel who served in a regular USAF unit location where a contaminated C-123 was assigned who had regular contact with the aircraft through flight, ground, or medical duties between 1969 and 1986, and who developed an Agent Orange related disability. Responding to these concerns, VA asked the Health and Medicine Division (HMD) (formally known as the Institute of Medicine) of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study possible exposure and increase in adverse health effects in C-123 crew members. To prop up sinking morale and keep soldiers safe on base rather than heading into Vietnamese towns, the U.S. military strove to make bases as home-like as possible, Appy said. Upon graduating they lined us and announced that if your last name started with A through J your orders were Germany and K through Z your orders were Vietnam. Soldiers bought goods with their ration cards, which were punched when purchases were made, Lair said. One colonel joked, If we ever really got attacked, the V.C. Its kind of like playing goalie for a soccer team. It was a game of cat and mouse that almost turned deadly when he was nearly killed by some drunk Vietnamese soldiers, Lomperis said. You guessed it, my last name started with a T. Got a question 11Cav, during the Vietnam era/60s early 70s period, was there a difference between volunteering for the draft and outright enlisting? Combat veterans offered a truly unique and special contribution to the war, but that doesnt mean it wasnt a sacrifice for people who served as support, Lair said. May 31, 2017 in MILITARY HISTORY DISCUSSIONS. Back at home over the decades, veterans themselves may have helped camouflage the roles they played during the war. We have four children, plenty of grandchildren, both biological and through marriages, and five great-grandchildren. The tensions between the two sides were demonstrated when US Army and Soviet Union tanks faced off in a divided Berlin. WebHere are our top 13 places to see while youre stationed in Germany: (click on any city name below to learn more) 1) Prague, Czech Republic. There werent enough NCOs (non-commissioned officers), not enough support or spare parts. At the end of the spraying campaign in 1971, the remaining C-123 planes were reassigned to reserve units in the U.S. for routine cargo and medical evacuation missions spanning the next 10 years. He was awarded the U.S. They were touted as filling an important gap in NATO's deterrent shield against the Warsaw Pact. In the late 65 through 1966, the Army Divisions outside of Vietnam, specifically CONUS and West Germany were hemorrhaging personnel for service in South Vietnam, these being primarily if not exclusively volunteers, these numbers had to be made good.