I was an Infantry LT in Vietnam 50 years ago. I got there by one of the standard processes. I finished college and commissioned ROTC. I then went to the Infantry School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. From there, I went to jump school. While I graduated with the jump wings, I did not make a combat parachute jump in Vietnam. I served in Vietnam because many of the boys I had grown with were going. The Vietnam War will be debated for 100 years, but you cannot always pick the fight that you will be in. Their fight was my fight.
Some were volunteers and some commissioned. Many were from the Advanced Infantry School out of Tigerland, North Fort Polk, Louisiana. Others were swept up by the tentacles of the draft. I was with a regular line unit for the first six months. This included day searches and night ambush patrols that have haunted me to this day. The second part of my tour was as ground commander with an Air Cavalry Troop which was primarily a helicopter assault force flown by beloved Huey pilots.
I was surrounded by a number of brave men and luckily, most of us made it home. Like many units, we had some heartbreaking losses that have stayed with us through all of these years.
Over the years, I am often asked about some of the many war films, and the various character portraits. From John Wayne to Mel Gibson, we saw Tom Hanks and a host of others. Many of them sought to show the command decision structure from Gettysburg to Normandy to the Battle of Midway. While no war film is perfect to a veteran, I appreciated the work that went into many of them. Some were dazzling. Some were very circumspect.
One of my favorite portraits was that of Radar O'Reilly on the TV show MASH. As many viewers know, the plots are full of surgeons and nurses, colonels and generals as well as the many wounded troops. At the center of it all is Radar. He is a rather ordinary towhead corporal from Iowa. Everything moves through him. The ordering of supplies, personnel as well as the mail and meals. He is the center of the operation. "Where's Radar?" was often the clarion call of the entire outfit as he stood ready to fulfill as many need as possible. To me, he represented the everyday GI who is thrown into a horrid circumstance and somehow makes it all work.
In every unit I was in, there was a young enlisted guy who sort of held it all together. He was the "Go to Guy". In the field , it was the fabled RTO (radio telephone operator) who helped me coordinate air strikes, artillery missions, and incoming ammunition and mail. It was true in the rear as well. They supported machine maintenance, helicopter crews etc. They ran everything from the tiny pizza hut to the mail delivery.
I have read many books on the great decision makers of American History. The modern list is endless, but richly told biographies are everywhere and accessible. From Lincoln and Churchill to FDR, Colin Powell and many others.
But when we raise a glass of praise, it is always to the day to day GI. The ordinary soldier, sailor, airman and marine who stood his ground day in and day out. He was "just some kid from somewhere". So when us old vets gather to tell lies and drink too much. we raise a toast to the every man. It is a toast to Radar.