Page 143 - Stand Down Vietnam

About five years later I would become a Supply Systems
Technician, Warrant Officer (920B).

I believe we lost the Vietnam War on all fronts. We
lost the respect and credibility of the American people
and I think we left the South Vietnamese people in
worse shape than what they were when we went there. In

my opinion we destroyed the countryside with our bombs
and chemicals; agent orange, and napalm. In the end,
they reunified with North Vietnam.

The thing that made a major impression on me was the
flag draped coffins of our soldiers. When I saw the
coffins on the evening news, I just kept asking why we
were there and what we were fighting for. Why is that
our place to be? Who’s next?

If the question is “Was there a stigma attached to
having not served “In-Country”?; it is difficult to
respond, because it all depends on who you are talking
to. Some of the multi-tour Vietnam War combat Veterans
did look down upon the ones who, for whatever reason,
never got called to serve “In-Country”. It is not just
my “opinion”; it is a fact, although I did not serve
“In-Country”, nearly all the units I served with had a
direct mission to support the troops in Vietnam. I
never felt badly about not going to Vietnam. I did my

job to the best of my ability.

How was it that you didn’t serve “In-Country”? I was
in supply; starting out as a warehouse person. I won a
three-day pass and without going into a lot of detail,
my company First Sergeant decided to make me a clerk;
sort of like Corporal O'Reilly on the TV show MASH.