Dennis,
having gone to
Hey Bob, do you remember what time of the year you were at Ft. Ord, I was there this time of the year, April, May, June and July, what a beautiful place this time of the year, and with the weather we are having I'm almost homesick for basic and Infantry training. Wally
Wally,
You're not homesick Bro, you're real sick if you're missing Basic training. I
was in Ft Jackson SC in July, Aug, Sept, Oct and Nov. Did Basic and Advanced
Infantry there. Hated the place. Hot and humid and the locals hated our Army
asses. The only time they would even talk to us was on payday. I lost about 60
pounds in those months. They ran our asses off everywhere we went. We had a kid
go AWOL in the second week of basic and we never got off post the whole time I
was in basic. I would have killed the little SOB myself if I could have found
him.
Peace, Rag
The first night I was in Ord, in January1969, a fellow came rushing
into the wooden barracks yelling for help. A guy was trying to light himself up
with some turpentine! We
Rag,
That brings back memories!! I went through basic at
Wally,
I would have given anything for Basic at Ft Ord. I was at Ft Gordon
Wally, You know what I liked the most about Basic Training??? NOTHING-- Merk Nerk
Hey Mikey,
Basic was really tough on me, it was the first time I had been away from
home, literally, in my neighborhood none of us attended summer camp. The worst
thing about Basic was being away from home, the rest was a piece of cake, I was
a squad leader right from the first week of training so I never had to do Kilo
Papa.....(as SS would say), I was also a squad leader in AIT so I did not do
any KP until about the 5th week of AIT, so things were not so bad. What did I
like about Basic??? Late in the afternoon, at
Bob, Yeah basic was a bummer. I was a northerner sent to a southern fort.
They were still fighting the Civil War down there then and they figured
everyone from NY lived in the city and rolled fags in the subway for a living.
They came down pretty hard on us Yankees. We had a kid from
Ours wasn't a north/south thing much Rag...it was a black/white, ghetto/anywhere else thing. Not cool at all. But I didn't have a terrible time personally...also a good shot (came with in a couple of points of the Bragg record they told me, if you believe that shit) and your right, that doesn't hurt but it's the dietary deal that astounded me most.....over fifty pounds in eight weeks!!!! They should sell this on TV!!! It's taken me nearly thirty five years to get most of it back...I am 225 now.....need to re-up I guess. Bob [Rebbec]
Most of you guys went in to basic training pretty heavy and lost weight.
I did just the opposite. I went to basic at
JT, I was like you, skinny and needed nourishment. I went in to Ord in Oct of 1968 weighing around 165. I got sick with the stomach flu while waiting to get assigned to the basic company. The sargeant told me that I was just home sick. I finally threw up in formation in front of a Lt. They took be to sick call and I was finally assigned a basic company. They had me filling sandbags. I lost 15 pounds. I should have thrown up on that sgt. We were confined to the company area for the duration of basic due to meningitis. We wore maggot tags. I still have mine, 3-D-5-1. Finally got to AIT at Ord and got to drink some beer.( Stillwell Hall). or something like that. Haven't quit since. [Bob Taylor]
I went in at 205. After AIT at Ord I was 168. Came home from
I have you all beat, I went into the Army at 135 left basic
at 160 and came back from Nam at 165. I guess the Army made me grow up and out.
Keith
Wally
You damn young kids. I grew up in NY and the drinking age then was 18 yrs old. I'd been to college already and was back home when I got drafted at age 21+. So the women and booze had already corrupted my life, not that that is a bad thing mind you. When I reported to basic in Ft Jackson SC I couldn’t believe all these poor young 18 yr old kids that had never had a beer or even seen a naked women in the flesh. I felt so sorry for these kids. I remember this one little guy, only about 5 ft tall, that had flunk out of cooks school so they dumped him into our advanced inf. training group. This kid, small fry we called him, was as green as they come. Had never been away from home and really lost. This kid stuck to me like stink on crap. He was always asking me questions about life and things. I worried about this kid like he was my younger brother. I had to protect him from some of the other guy’s cause they loved to bust his balls and play jokes on the little guy. I know he went to Nam and I hope he made it back in one piece. Our last day in AIT the drill sgt. came up to me and thanked me for keeping the kid going. Seems he was just as worried about small fry as I was. Like I said I was 21+ but I felt like an old man compared to some of these kids. They would get all shit faced on that 3.2 beer they had on post and all it did for me was make me piss all night. I at least knew that if my number was up I had lived a lot of life that these young kids would never have a chance to see. I guess it kind of stayed with me in Nam cause Baynes and Barnes were young, Hall was a little older but he too needed guidance. I asked for those three guys when I took command of A14. I had to argue with Top cause he told me I was nuts to take three green FNG's but I told him I'd feel better training them my way as they had no bad habits yet. They all turned out fine, at least while I was there until Dec 69. You were right Wally. There weren't to many guys older than Myself, Mills, Dye, Larson and a few others. Most of the officers weren't much older either. You young guys hang in there. Hopefully I can collect some SSI before it goes broke. Peace, Rag
Gosh, you guys were awful young. Hell I was drafted in 1966, at the ripe old age of 25. Yep, Valentines Day. I told them that I was almost 26 (In May) and would be ineligible. I missed the keyword "almost" as the Drill Sergeant so kindly pointed out. Man back then when you got a divorce, the divorce papers and draft notice passed each other in the mail. I think my ex mother in law must have hand carried the divorce papers to the draft board. JOE BYRNE
I guess I was on the young side when I got drafted. My cousin and I volunteered for the draft in Oct 1968, one month before my 19th birthday. He served with the 1st Cav. Both of us spent 6 months at Ft Ord as 11C10. We went to our local draft board in the summer of 1968 and asked them to draft us in October. They were happy to oblige. bob t
I'm another "old" draftee. I was 22 when the letter came in '68. It's a long story of why the letter even came, because I was in college, in good standing, about to start the 2nd semester in my junior year. It wasn't until I was in for about a year and in the 'Nam when I realized how inequitable the draft really was. Not everyone had to serve, there were too many holes in the system. My good buddy sat the war out because he got married and had a kid with a woman he really didn't love, as soon as the lottery came in and his number was really high, they got divorced. He was in college too. Of course, we all know how the wealthy in this country kept their sons safe. I think the all-volunteer army of today finds the same problems of avoidance by the majority of the country's young, only this time it's even easier to let your neighbors do the fighting. GeorGersaba
I think I was of a typical age. I did poorly in collage and 'volunteered for the draft by going to the local draft board chairwoman and telling her let's get it over with. She did. I had turned twenty a couple of months before I went off to basic in Jan. 1969. Twenty, twenty-one seems to be a pretty average age for a draftee.....twenty-four and five year olds were ....well, real OLD! (-: George, I too have thought about the "system" and it kind of grates me when people get a free ride. Not that I resented serving, I am very proud and glad I did. But had I not been drafted I probably wouldn't have enlisted. So I could have been a "free rider" too. Maybe the most equitable way would be like Israel and have compulsory service....doing something.....????? Bob REBBEC
Man you guys were nuts. There was no way I was volunteering for the draft. I had the world by the ass. I was operating tower cranes for Eastman Kodak construction Co. and making about $350 to $450 per week on average. That was real good money in 1968. I was driving a new 1968 hemi Roadrunner that was all paid for. Out every night drinking and womanizing. I also had a 1940 Willys coupe I was drag racing about 4 times a week. There was no grass growing under my feet. I was living at home and had a ton of money to piss away on whatever I wanted. I often think my Dad had me drafted cause my brother Don and I was eating him out of house and home. Many a night we would get home just in time to shower, change cloths and go to work. Man them were the days. There was no way I was leaving that if I didn’t have to. I figured if they called me I'd go if not I just keep drinking and having a good time. But you guys are all right. I'm glad I got drafted and had the opportunity to serve with all you great Americans. We had some bad times but we also had a lot of laughs. I've got a lot of great memories that I often think back on and it often times makes my day. Rag
I was working as a Honda motorcycle mechanic and also living at home. I was racing TT scrambles on my Norton 750 every week and having a good time. ( I was second in points. open novice) I wasn't old enough to drink but had a few when available. All my friends and brother were in at the time so I just wanted to get it over with and be free when they were discharged. My brother was drafted and never left the states. He was at Ft Meade, in F Troop, 7th cav, as a turret mechanic. My close friend was a mechanic and sent to Germany. Another friend was a mechanic in Vietnam. Since I was also a mechanic, I figured to get to be a wrench turner somewhere. Wrong, I got infantry. bob t
I was at Ft. Ord at D-2-1, spring of 69. I waited as long as I could to join up cause I was having a good time cruising the Strip and eating hamburgers at Tommy's at all hours of the night. towards the end of '68 and early '69 the Strip had begun to fade away, the cops were really cracking down, the guys coming out to the strip were not the same cool guys that were cruising in 66 and 67. The world had started to change before our very eyes. It was no longer getting high for the fun of it, everyone was trying to overdose, no shit!!!. The music was also changing, and none for the better...The cars had begun to lose their horsepower, except for the Chevy’s...the world because a different place, literally overnight. Things always happen for the best and I ended up in Nam with all of you.....thank God for that. Wally
I was in 3-D-5-1. I still have my maggot tag. In the spring of 69, I was at Ft Benning flunking out of NCO school. I didn't want to be there but the CO stated that there were only two ways out. Graduate or get kicked out. I chose the latter. Took me 4 weeks or so. Bob t
Ft. Ord is beautiful, as you know, but they told me it does not get cold up there. Bullshit!!! We were there soon after one of the wettest winter we had had in So. Cal. It was green and wet. All in all I had a good time there, the only thing that bothered me was being homesick. Ended up going down the hill for Infantry training, now that was a drag, the D.I.'s were assholes there and the C.O. was a middle age dude that was a 1st Lt., he had come from the Marine Corps where he was an E-7. They count cadence different in the Corp and we kept tripping all over ourselves with him singing that bullshit he would do. Finally some of the other D.I.'s told him the truth, he was pissed and let one of the guys in the training cycle sing the cadence, he was good too. Pvt. Williams, did not make it back home.
Wally