The stress of military life was constant. I served at the naval hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts, for 18 months. We served honorably. File a claim online. They were the rear echelon. I was thinking I would have a better chance of determining where I would be sent.. 7th Army in particular suffered heavily, especially with loses of combat arms NCOs Then The cover of East of Underground's self-titled LP. ". US MILITARIA FORUM - COLLECTORS PRESERVING HISTORY Regardless of how we each served, part of our soul was left in that place with those who never came back alive, and with those who suffered and died after, and we should be honored for our collective loss if for no other reason. I am focused on peace and conflict reduction on a global and local scale, he said. If I am sad about anything Vietnam-war, it is how other global players view that period of history when compared to the American perspective. He served as budget director for the state of Ohio from 1985 to 1987. People dont understand how consequential the decisions were that were being made at headquarters, he said. stationed in Germany We had an Infantry MOS Soldiers on one of our Sheridan Tanks. If you have health concerns about Agent Orange, talk to your health care provider or contact yourlocal VA Environmental Health Coordinatorto help you get more information from a health care provider. Germany Being Stationed in Germany The entire emphasis is on the narrow combat experience, Lair said. The liner notes of East of Underground: Hell Below conclude with a sort of benediction, lifted wholesale from the U.S. Army Field Manual: Because of the unique ability of music to communicate, bands will serve in different capacities of publicity and recruiting, and in the support of civil affairs. of United States Army installations in Germany Huge streams of paperwork came through military intelligence offices that allowed Lomperis a birds eye view of the war and how it functioned. There werent enough NCOs (non-commissioned officers), not enough support or spare parts. Since his older two brothers were already serving in Vietnam he was not allowed to go. You had no say in what your MOS would be. They were touted as filling an important gap in NATO's deterrent shield against the Warsaw Pact. And there were the German-American friendship weeks every year. Reflecting back, Im more skeptical whether a war of choice can help defend a country in the long run. The mood around the country was not good for the military, not like today with cheers and applause for returning members. He also wrote the liner notes, which reveal a surprising fact: The U.S. Army spends an estimated $200 million a year on music, and is the largest single employer of musicians in the country. Executing the construction program was a complex affair because American forces in West Germany had to use German construction offices and procedures to build facilities. You could watch The Beverly Hillbillies, 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. 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. Situated in a remote area with the enemy about 300 yards away over the border, Shkurtis unit was constantly in harms way. Youth activity centers in Germany included this facility in Wiesbaden. Your message has not been sent. The rockets, armed with nuclear warheads, became a political issue. After completing Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Shkurti was sent to Germany not Vietnam. Is it if you might be in danger of a mortar attack versus projecting violence and delivering it to the enemy? But as the confrontation between the Soviet Union, our former ally, intensified with the Berlin blockade and the outbreak of the Korean War, American leaders grew fearful that the next target of international communism was Western Europe, which contained our most important democratic allies and a rapidly rebuilding capitalist economy. In-depth strategy and insight into critical interconnection ecosystems, datacenter connectivity, product optimization, fiber route development, and more. It's easy! Out of our entire class I believe two, maybe three guys got orders for Korea. This massive program to improve American weaponry and conditions for troops and their families, supported by the commitment of huge resources to building the facilities required, was one factor in shaking the resolve of Soviet leaders and exposing the hidden weaknesses of the Soviet military and political systems. During the war, in-country combat and support troops could be identified on sight, said author Timothy Lomperis, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam in the Army and Defense Intelligence Agency. David Hollander produced the compilation. They deserve our respect. To make it even more complicated, just what is a combat veteran? Then, there was the shopping. Call: 988 (Press 1), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420. Knowing that the threat is so close by is an incentive for people to work together. He now is an adjunct professor in the John Glenn College of Public Service. 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. The winners toured other military bases and made records. Grafenwoehr is a tiny base compared to almost anywhere youve been stationed in the US. They were so talented, I just assumed they would have a contract with the first studio they walked into.". TCDD, the toxic substance in Agent Orange, may be inhaled as an aerosol or ingested by contaminated food or water or from hand-to-mouth transfer. "The song selection includes songs that were playing in the States, and very much expressed the countercultural sentiments of political resistance in this country at that time," Hollander says. Thanks, your message has been sent successfully. They wore dirty boots and dog tags hanging around their necks. This large and rapid buildup required a tremendous amount of construction, carried out by Army Engineers and largely financed by occupied Germany. There were Viet Cong all over the place, but if you were street-smart you stayed safe, Lomperis said. One of the toughest parts of service was seeing people whose lives were ruined or lost because of the war, he said. If you dig into it, it becomes a very grey war, he said. Six out of seven served on bases. WebIn An Army in Crisis Alexander Vazansky analyzes the social crisis that developed among the U.S. Army forces stationed in Germany between 1968 and 1975. When we got home, everybody was the same, said Lomperis, a Saigon warrior who served in a support capacity at MACV (U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam), also known as mafia HQ or Pentagon East.. I would have been called a coward by others from the small town I grew up in, so I never considered not volunteering. Patches, In 1968 you could volunteer for the draft and serve 2 years active duty. I say 16 months because his orders were involuntarily extended because he was in the ROK when the USS Pueblo was taken. Well, one. He was with the 3rd Infantry Division in Schweinfurt. 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. The enemy was the Soviet Union and the other signatories of the Warsaw Pact, including the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. 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. 3. This includes individuals who performed service in the Air Force or Air Force Reservewho regularly operated, maintained, or served onboard C-123 aircraft known to have been used to spray herbicides during the Vietnam era. For military intelligence officer Timothy Lomperis, the constant whup, whup, whup of helicopters flying overhead is one of many things that stand out in his mind about the time he spent helping make critical war decisions in Saigon serving under Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, from 1968 to 1972. Lewis Hitt played guitar in East of Underground. His unit lost more men to overdose and traffic accidents in Germany than to combat in Vietnam. 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. It was a huge fire. After Boston, Thornton served at Marines Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. "I initially was stationed in Korea. 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. Dave. "So this was a very viable way to avoid active duty in Southeast Asia.".
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