Still, a ration card would allow personnel to buy $2,000 to $3,000 worth of goods, she said. Napoleon said, An army marches on its stomach, and the U.S. military followed his advice. 800-829-4833, Veterans Crisis Line: At any moment all hell could break loose, Lair said. Engineers and USACE remained in Europe, still proud of their contribution to defending Western Europe and ending the Cold War. He never carried a gun because if he was shot, the enemy soldier could have claimed it was self-defense, he said. My close friend had a similar experience in 69-70. Since his older two brothers were already serving in Vietnam he was not allowed to go. Because he was one of the last there in that formation and those three went to the ROK. Germany 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. We had each other, and we understood it takes so much honor to serve during the tough times. 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. They worked in intelligence. Back at home over the decades, veterans themselves may have helped camouflage the roles they played during the war. Soldiers bought goods with their ration cards, which were punched when purchases were made, Lair said. 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 The rockets, armed with nuclear warheads, became a political issue. After graduating AIT at Fort Knox I was sent to their NCO Armor School. The big problem was that Saigon was Sodom and Gomorrah. His unit in Germany lacked the leadership and necessities to get their job done, he said. In addition to meeting locals, walks off-base could provide valuable intelligence. would have to use the scheduled bus service to get around the base, Lair wrote in Armed with Abundance.. 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. He was with the 3rd Infantry Division in Schweinfurt. In November Thornton journeyed to Da-Nang, Vietnam, with his wife as a keynote presenter at the Asia Pacific Mediation Forum. 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. 7th Army in particular suffered heavily, especially with loses of combat arms NCOs Then This lasted for 5 months, then we were told, Okanawa. In the early years, dances were held on the streets of Berlin in summer months and in winter, the US Army organized Christmas parties for local children. 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). So he was off to Camp Casey and the 9th Infantry Manchu's for 16 months, I was in the same unit a couple of decades after him. They were the rear echelon. 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. In their spare time, servicepeople could go to the library, join a service club or take a spin on the go-kart track. Six out of seven served on bases. In Vietnam everyone knew everyone and what job they had. Instead of breaking them up, Army brass sent them on tour. Heavily guarded Pershing-II rockets were brought to the US base in Mutlangen in 1983. 3) Paris, France. With two sons already in the war, they felt I should not go. If you dig into it, it becomes a very grey war, he said. Attention A T users. Expert architecture and design solutions for private carriers, next-generation metro and long-haul optical networks, ultra low-latency networks, and Internet backbones. I was going for many reasons, but the most important was to close a chapter of history I felt needed closing, Thornton said. "I met the singers and the other players and we got together and played, and it just kind of all meshed together.". None would be here if Vietnam never happened, so it creates bittersweet feelings but no regrets, Thornton said. 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. Germany 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. 2 weeks before we graduated they told us, " Class 17, RVN". Good food makes people feel at home, Lair said. Home was tough because my parents did not agree with my volunteering. 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. Germany Additionally, not all Vietnam-era veterans served in-country. His unit lost more men to overdose and traffic accidents in Germany than to combat in Vietnam. Boy, I thought I had it made, Shkurti said with a small laugh. Army's Rock 'N' Roll Past Here are a few of their stories. Ammunition storage facility, Heilbronn, West Germany (left); "So this was a very viable way to avoid active duty in Southeast Asia.". And there were the German-American friendship weeks every year. Like all the other members, he was a draftee, and had come from a tiny town in Mississippi. 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 family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where they have been for the past 40 years. 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. American expenditures on construction in Europe declined sharply. You could watch The Beverly Hillbillies, Appy said. The King of Rock 'n' Roll, as Elvis Presley would eventually become known, was drafted in as a soldier and began his military service in Germany in 1958. After completing Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Shkurti was sent to Germany not Vietnam. Please switch auto forms mode to off. However, their wartime ally, the Soviet Union, soon became an enemy. Call: 988 (Press 1), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs | 810 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington DC 20420. Well, one. The U.S. military presence in Germany peaked at 274,119 in 1962, nearly eight times its level last year. 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. This was because they had relatives (brothers) already serving in Vietnam. At least in our case. Some 20 years later, US President George W. Bush went to war with Iraq over its alleged program to develop weapons of mass destruction. have hearing loss. visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for more resources. By 2. 2) Amsterdam, The Netherlands. It was a huge fire. and child care facility in Bad Kreuznach, West Germany (right). 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 initially was stationed in Korea. 6) Berlin, Germany. 7) Cologne, Germany. 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. "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. 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. People dont understand how consequential the decisions were that were being made at headquarters, he said. Hollander says it's not a mistake to read a hint of resistance into the band's repertoire. The chow halls tried to replicate moms home cooking with menus of grilled hamburgers, roast beef with gravy, French-fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, buttered corn and asparagus, ice cream, vanilla pudding and cherry pie, Lair said. 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. While having a positive attitude about any PCS is important, its equally important to have realistic expectations. Its important for people to know they exist. They were touted as filling an important gap in NATO's deterrent shield against the Warsaw Pact. They also ate pretty well. Our AIT class in 1971 at A.P.G. The Federal Republic of Germany became an important strategic location during the Cold War. Lomperis served two tours of duty in Vietnam in the Army and Defense Intelligence Agency. Thats not how the military works, though. During World War 2 Volunteering for the draft was a common term, that is that after a point enlistment in the Army was halted for the duration, only draftees where accepted (This is for the Army only, the Navy and Marine Corps still took enlistees), and if a 18 year old or in many cases older guys in their 20s/30s who have not yet received a notice, or had a deferment, and gave up their deferment could "Volunteer for the Draft", this also applied (within the Army) for those 17 year old's who wanted to go into the Army.