Page 66 - Stand Down Vietnam

The TET Offensive officially had three phases:

Phase 1: January 30, 1968 – March 28, 1968
Phase 2: May 5 – June 15, 1968
Phase 3: August 17 – September 23, 1968

We had to be careful because a lot of the so called

“friendly” Vietnamese were aiding the North. We just
had to always be alert to that possibility. One tip
off was when they didn’t show up for work. That was
almost always going to be a day we would get hit.

My departure from Vietnam was by helicopter to Da Nang.
That is also where I turned in my weapons. I was in Da
Nang three days before leaving. We were attacked every
day. I had thoughts of guys being killed just days
before leaving. I was ready to go home.

A few of the group I was with were killed while waiting
for their flight home. As we were walking to the
airplane, I was thinking about getting home to my
family, hoping it didn’t get hit by rocket fire and
praying. Two hundred fifty of us caught a commercial
chartered airline to Okinawa.

We landed at the Los Angeles airport. I was in
uniform. I met a gentleman that took me to a restaurant

there at the airport. He told the waiter to “feed me
anything and everything he wants”. It was a bar type
atmosphere and it rotated around. I found out that he
was the manager of the place.

I flew from Los Angeles to Knoxville, Tennessee. My
mom and dad and Jean and the kids were there to meet
me. I had a thirty-day leave before reporting for duty
in South Carolina.