The book became the first volume in aCenter of Military History series, U.S. Army in the Cold War. Another difference was the sense of solidarity he felt. I expected it would be worse in Vietnam, but it was a more satisfying experience, Shkurti said. 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. I volunteered for the draft and was sent to Ft. Lewis, Wa. Their story got eliminated. In addition to meeting locals, walks off-base could provide valuable intelligence. I had an uncle that was drafted out of Brooklyn, NY. It was painful to even be around them. 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. Morale was bad, and there were racial problems, Shkurti said. The conventional wisdom was that everybody carried a rifle, patrolled the jungle and faced death daily, but thats false, said William Shkurti, who served as an artillery officer in a remote area about 300 yards from the Cambodian border in fall 1970. Youre in the hot seat. was told," you are going to Germany, get your wives in german class". They also ate pretty well. The following individuals may qualify for benefits related to Agent Orange exposure: Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposure to Agent Orange residue on post-Vietnam C-123 airplanes. Germany will remain strategically important for the US. Along with its allies, the US had liberated Germany from the Nazis. My middle brother died five years ago from extended PTSD and the ravages of the drug addiction he endured while trying to cope with his memories from Vietnam. In response the Corps of Engineers drastically reduced the size of EUD and reconstituted it as the Europe District. It's easy! Being a noncombatant doesnt mean they didnt feel scared, that there wasnt a looming sense of danger even onthe biggest bases that were considered safer areas, Lair said. I thought, hot dog, going to go relic hunting. WebThe entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Engineers and USACE remained in Europe, still proud of their contribution to defending Western Europe and ending the Cold War. Home was tough because my parents did not agree with my volunteering. They would tell him not to go down certain streets because it wasnt safe, so you would know something was brewing there, Lomperis said. Still, a ration card would allow personnel to buy $2,000 to $3,000 worth of goods, she said. To preserve morale, the ration program ensured that all personnel were able to buy highend goods, but it was limited due to the possibility they might resell goods on the black market, Lair said. 8) Bruges, Belgium. The big problem was that Saigon was Sodom and Gomorrah. The experience that most people likely associate with Vietnam is the horror and deprivation of war, so its ironic that that wasnt the real experience of most Vietnam veterans, Lair said. But that tradition was set on its ear back in the late 1960s and early '70s, when the PFCs stationed overseas formed their own pop bands. Over 220 others have already been closed, mostly following the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. 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. would have to use the scheduled bus service to get around the base, Lair wrote in Armed with Abundance.. One would fly overhead about every 60 seconds, remembers the professor emeritus of political science at Saint Louis University. In November Thornton journeyed to Da-Nang, Vietnam, with his wife as a keynote presenter at the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum. After completing his enlistment, Shkurti returned to Ohio State University to earn a masters degree in public administration. From the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991, Army Engineers played a key role in providing the facilities for arming, supplying, training, and housing American soldiers and airmen and their families in Europe. 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. He never carried a gun because if he was shot, the enemy soldier could have claimed it was self-defense, he said. Supercharge your procurement process, with industry leading expertise in sourcing of network backbone, colocation, and packet/optical network infrastructure. This lasted for 5 months, then we were told, Okanawa. Find out if you qualify for VA health care. I thought it would be easy, but it was actually tough, said Shkurti, who served as a fire direction officer and supervised a six-person team. Arriving in West Germany, was a shocking experience for the new Army recruit. 800-829-4833, Veterans Crisis Line: Especially from the minority groups, our black comrades, because they bore the brunt of the draft, were very unappreciated, and made the ultimate sacrifice above and beyond other groups, and for what? Thornton said. 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). They wore fatigues and carried M16s. Peace activists, however, saw them as a threat and held massive demonstrations. At the height of the Vietnam War, Ali refused induction into the United States Army, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to the conflict. For website corrections, write to hqwebmaster@usace.army.mil. File a claim online. Most of his time was spent protecting government buildings from Vietnam War protesters. They wore dirty boots and dog tags hanging around their necks. Then, there was the shopping. Buddy C. Thornton learned from his military service was Always live for the day. This is not about being negative or complaining, but simply having a balanced outlook for your transition. If you dig into it, it becomes a very grey war, he said. Please switch auto forms mode to off. So many servicemen came home and saw how the story (of the Vietnam War) was being told. This often creates barriers to their full integration into German society. One strong memory I have is how tough it was for the families, Thornton said. To make it even more complicated, just what is a combat veteran? They were also stationed in Germany, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Korea, Guam and the continental United States. The men and women at the main bases such as Saigon, Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Bien Hoa and Long Binh had a fairly sedentary life and plenty of downtime compared to combat soldiers, Lair said. I was going for many reasons, but the most important was to close a chapter of history I felt needed closing, Thornton said. GRAFENWOEHR, Germany More than 30 veterans of the Vietnam War living in Germany were awarded pins Tuesday by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post in recognition of their service. The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where they have been for the past 40 years. At least we all went to the same unit, one guy and I went through basic together. Here are a few of their stories. The sky swarmed with helicopters. 5) Venice, Italy. So many popular movies feature the combat side of war ground combat or maybe the air war. You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links. Out of our entire class I believe two, maybe three guys got orders for Korea. Deliver vital engineering solutions, in collaboration with our partners, to secure our Nation, energize our economy, and reduce disaster risk. We wore different uniforms. Thats not how the military works, though. From the end of World War II until the end of the war in Southeast Asia, the Army component command in Germany, the U.S. Army, Europe (USAREUR), managed military construction in the theater with its own Engineer organizations. WebAs the threat of imminent invasion receded in the late 1950s, U.S. Army Engineers continued to build and maintain facilities that supported American and NATO combat power and housed and supported U.S. forces and their families, now permanently stationed in West Germany. I was in Boston when the Chelsea fire occurred in October 1973, received a meritorious unit citation for fighting the fire that consumed a large portion of Chelsea 18 blocks one way, 16 blocks another. "So this was a very viable way to avoid active duty in Southeast Asia.". WebThe conventional wisdom was that everybody carried a rifle, patrolled the jungle and faced death daily, but thats false, said William Shkurti, who served as an artillery officer in a remote area about 300 yards from the Cambodian border in fall 1970. For recreation there were basketball, volleyball, tennis and multipurpose courts, football fields, miniature golf courses, a driving range, an archery range and a skeet-shooting range. Hollander says it isn't clear what the Army planned to do with these recordings, especially since so few copies of them have surfaced just three dozen in East of Underground's case. The Office of History, Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Army Center of Military History jointly published this book,Building for Peace: U.S. Army Engineers in Europe, 1945-1991 written by Robert P. Grathwol and Donita Moorhus. Your message has not been sent. 7) Cologne, Germany. It was a huge fire. They deserve our respect. I served at the naval hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts, for 18 months. "Bear in mind that these bands were all engaged in a show band contest in 1971 and 1972, and the winners of the that contest would then be able to tour Europe, and would also record an LP in the Armed Forces Network studios in Frankfurt. Anyone who served in the military during the war faced the possibility of being sent to Vietnam, though. Expert architecture and design solutions for private carriers, next-generation metro and long-haul optical networks, ultra low-latency networks, and Internet backbones. She was a USO (United Service Organizations) volunteer who entertained servicemen. 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. "I've done my own searches on Google and so forth, but I cannot find anything," Hitt says. As my husband likes to preach: expectation management.. At the end of the Vietnam War, the United States adopted a volunteer Army, but declining military expenditures made it difficult to keep the American forces combat ready and maintain the quality of life for soldiers and their families. 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.. The challenge was figuring out what the enemy would do. When I left Korea, the first thing I did when I got to Germany was to find Special Services, which happened to be right next to my barracks," Hitt recalls. 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 Soldiers bought goods with their ration cards, which were punched when purchases were made, Lair said. When they got home they were all the same (veterans), but they did not all have an equal experience. And there were the German-American friendship weeks every year. Veterans must show on a factual basis that they were exposed in order to receive disability compensation for diseases related to Agent Orange exposure. Some 20 years later, US President George W. Bush went to war with Iraq over its alleged program to develop weapons of mass destruction. The band formed while its members were stationed in Germany during the Vietnam War. Life athome goes on without them, and it must have been difficult to navigate when they returned, she said. An average of 311,870 troops were stationed in Europe per year during 19861990. I ask this because many guys of draft age enlisted, enlisted specifically for three years to chose their MOS, and in a great many cases avoid serving in South Vietnam. Veterans (including some Reservists) who state that they flew on or worked on a C-123 aircraft between 1969 and 1986 are eligible for the Agent Orange Registry. Napoleon said, An army marches on its stomach, and the U.S. military followed his advice. 3. Despite separate residential districts, there has always been contact and exchange between German and American families. After Nazi Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945, four countries representing the Allies (the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France) asserted joint authority Six out of seven served on bases. They were selected during something called "The U.S. Army's Original Magnificent Special Services Entertainment Showband Contest" let's just call it a battle of the bands. He was stationed in Gillenhausen, protecting a valley called Folda Gap. They proudly served their country, but were derided by combat troops as REMFs or rear echelon mother (insert expletive here), Appy said. Upon graduating, I was the only one in our Company sent to Ft. Knox Ky.. All of the other Draftees in our class stayed at Ft Lewis in Infantry. Because he was one of the last there in that formation and those three went to the ROK. Even today, many see otherwise, but only at home., One place the guys in the rear and combat soldiers would cross paths was at rearward bases, which ranged from isolated fire bases less than a city block in size to major bases like Long Binh Post that resembled an American city, said Chris Appy, author of three books about the American war in Vietnam: American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity, Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides and Working- Class War: American Combat Soldiers and Vietnam.. I worked in an air-conditioned office and wore khakis, starched shirts, spit-shined shoes and a belt with a shiny brass buckle. As opposed to the goldbug society, or service personnel who were not interested in meeting locals and learning about Vietnam, Lomperis sought out opportunities to get off the base and interact with the Vietnamese. It's from here that controversial drone missions are flown against targets in Africa and Asia. The enemy was the Soviet Union and the other signatories of the Warsaw Pact, including the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. We would take orders from Washington and from the five information streams (personnel, intelligence, operations, logistics and political implications) and use all that information to create an order of the day, Lomperis said. I talked to many men who felt sheepish that they didnt have those (combat) stories to share, Lair said. This is the official public website of the Headquarters U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 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. His unit lost more men to overdose and traffic accidents in Germany than to combat in Vietnam. 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 says it was completely random, some bodies had to go to 7th Army and his lucky number came up. American expenditures on construction in Europe declined sharply. Is it if you might be in danger of a mortar attack versus projecting violence and delivering it to the enemy? For guys drafted during Vietnam, what really were the odds they would be sent to Vietnam as opposed to remaining stateside, or sent to Germany or Korea? The entire emphasis is on the narrow combat experience, Lair said. 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. So there was a great need for personnel outside South Vietnam through out the entire period, and the refusal to mobilize the Reserves and National Guard only exacerbated the problem. I would have been called a coward by others from the small town I grew up in, so I never considered not volunteering. When support servicemen crossed paths with combat troops, We felt guilty. 9) Luxembourg Opposition to the war made military personnel band together. Attention A T users. After the defeat of Germany, the relatively small American force in Europe was preoccupied with the administration and reconstruction of their former foe. I was able to get into a band there. He now is an adjunct professor in the John Glenn College of Public Service. 877-222-8387, TDD (Hearing Impaired) His unit in Germany lacked the leadership and necessities to get their job done, he said.

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