CraKaJaX
Lifer
Took a new career gig back in the beginning of Sept and had to relocate to a new apartment.
I've been running into my downstairs neighbor quite a bit as he is frequently outside in his wheelchair smoking good ole' seneca cigs. Older guy - probably late 60's if I had to guess. We hit it off right away the first week I moved in .. talking about sports, cars, booze, how fucked up the world is today, etc. on a daily basis.
Yesterday as I am pulling into my apartment after a long day at work, I see him getting out of one of those medical vans that cart around people in wheelchairs to their daily appointments or wherever they have to go. I shout "Hey Bob" as he waves and shouts back a "What's goin' on?". The van pulls away and as it did, I see Bob drop a plastic bag of something. Now I know that he is able to get up if necessary from his wheelchair for a limited time as I've seen him do before, but instead I run over to help him out and pick up the bag for him. I hand him the bag which happened to be some prescription meds that the van just took him to pick up. At this point what really caught my eye though was that he was wearing his 196 Light Infantry Vietnam Vet hat.
Being a pretty big war junkie, I knew one of the major operations (operation Attleboro) involved the 196 LI. I immediately thanked him for his service and he thanked me for picking up his bag. He jumps right into 'Nam like it was yesterday. He explains he has not only one, but two purple hearts. "The first one wasn't bad - caught some grenade shrapnel in my left arm when we initially ran into the 9th division Vietcong. The second one I got hit twice by some mother fuckers sprayin' through the jungle at me. Caught one flush in my right thigh and another one that grazed the base of my spine. My back held up for 30 years after the fact, but now I'm in this fuckin' wheelchair until I'm 6 feet under."
Then he starts at square one - training back in the states. Why the operation is named after the town of Attleboro. How he was only 18 years old when he got dropped off in Vietnam. How he specifically was in the light infantry and they didn't require artillery and were in very high demand because of their maneuverability. How he was in Company A, 4/31. How Company B were the guys that saw the initial action of this battle. How Company B lost 70 guys the first night. How his Company was pinned in the "triple canopy jungle" for approximately 24 hours before backup showed up, hugging a tree the entire time hoping a bullet and or ricochet doesn't hit him - "by the grace of god I didn't get hit". Explaining how much of a rush it was to "mow down" the Vietcong. Or better yet spot a Vietcong guy strapped high up in a tree and "ruin his day".
For those of you that don't know about this operation, this was a very successful operation in that they were able to seize a major VC supply of food, tobacco, guns, ammunition, rockets, explosives, etc. My neighbor Bob was one of these guys to not only be part of that operation.... but to survive it. This shit is so amazing to me.
Meanwhile I'm standing there thinking to myself "well I spent 8 hours in the office today....."
To all past, present, future servicemen - I salute you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Attleboro
I've been running into my downstairs neighbor quite a bit as he is frequently outside in his wheelchair smoking good ole' seneca cigs. Older guy - probably late 60's if I had to guess. We hit it off right away the first week I moved in .. talking about sports, cars, booze, how fucked up the world is today, etc. on a daily basis.
Yesterday as I am pulling into my apartment after a long day at work, I see him getting out of one of those medical vans that cart around people in wheelchairs to their daily appointments or wherever they have to go. I shout "Hey Bob" as he waves and shouts back a "What's goin' on?". The van pulls away and as it did, I see Bob drop a plastic bag of something. Now I know that he is able to get up if necessary from his wheelchair for a limited time as I've seen him do before, but instead I run over to help him out and pick up the bag for him. I hand him the bag which happened to be some prescription meds that the van just took him to pick up. At this point what really caught my eye though was that he was wearing his 196 Light Infantry Vietnam Vet hat.
Being a pretty big war junkie, I knew one of the major operations (operation Attleboro) involved the 196 LI. I immediately thanked him for his service and he thanked me for picking up his bag. He jumps right into 'Nam like it was yesterday. He explains he has not only one, but two purple hearts. "The first one wasn't bad - caught some grenade shrapnel in my left arm when we initially ran into the 9th division Vietcong. The second one I got hit twice by some mother fuckers sprayin' through the jungle at me. Caught one flush in my right thigh and another one that grazed the base of my spine. My back held up for 30 years after the fact, but now I'm in this fuckin' wheelchair until I'm 6 feet under."
Then he starts at square one - training back in the states. Why the operation is named after the town of Attleboro. How he was only 18 years old when he got dropped off in Vietnam. How he specifically was in the light infantry and they didn't require artillery and were in very high demand because of their maneuverability. How he was in Company A, 4/31. How Company B were the guys that saw the initial action of this battle. How Company B lost 70 guys the first night. How his Company was pinned in the "triple canopy jungle" for approximately 24 hours before backup showed up, hugging a tree the entire time hoping a bullet and or ricochet doesn't hit him - "by the grace of god I didn't get hit". Explaining how much of a rush it was to "mow down" the Vietcong. Or better yet spot a Vietcong guy strapped high up in a tree and "ruin his day".
For those of you that don't know about this operation, this was a very successful operation in that they were able to seize a major VC supply of food, tobacco, guns, ammunition, rockets, explosives, etc. My neighbor Bob was one of these guys to not only be part of that operation.... but to survive it. This shit is so amazing to me.
Meanwhile I'm standing there thinking to myself "well I spent 8 hours in the office today....."
To all past, present, future servicemen - I salute you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Attleboro
