A early Christmas Present

I am happy for you, Ray. I can only imagine how precious to you a reunion like this is. Being able to reconnect with some of the good memories of those otherwise terrible times has to be a great feeling. :thumbup:
Merry Christmas!
 
Warming story Ray. Enjoy the reunion.
Hey Ray..... Thanks man for all you did for us.
Merry Christmas my friend.
Bruce and Kaye
 
That is amazing. I am very happy for you! I don't think that I can even imagine what something like that would be like. Thank you for your service.

Allen
 
fitzo said:
I am happy for you, Ray. I can only imagine how precious to you a reunion like this is. Being able to reconnect with some of the good memories of those otherwise terrible times has to be a great feeling. :thumbup:
Merry Christmas!
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Hey Mike,

Today has been filled with good emotions for me. I guess I really hit the perfect time to be over there or maybe it was just the location. I look back to the first couple days I spent over there before I left for the field. Not quite the same as the Movie "Platoon" at the very beginning but somewhat similar. Guys that had maybe been over there just a few weeks telling stories about fellows heading to the Central Highlands and never coming back. I just happened to land there in the right period of time. We spent most the time playing basically cat and mouse. We'd move into a new area and Charlie had basically pulled out of the area a day or two before we got there. We'd finally get set up and start to relax and the next thing we knew we were breaking camp and getting flown to another hill and start all over again. Just as big a danger as the enemy was friendly fire. That could have even been worse depending on where you were at. Just surviving the monsoon season could almost be compared to setting up camp under Niagara Falls. Waking up in the middle of the night floating on your air mattress if you had one that still held air. Having some officer in pressed starched fatigues tell you, you looked pigs. If you didn't have a good sense of humor surviving would be awful tough.

I'm sure thoughts of going to Canada entered every GI's head after they were over there. Maybe I should have gone but I don't regret being over there. Who cares what Jane Fonda said......
 
Congrats Ray, and thanks. I wasn't even born then, but my father served.

You couldn't ask for a beter X-mas gift
 
Ray,
I was there in 68, just in time for Tet (January). Lost an argument to an NVA with an RPG in July, got dusted off and sent to Japan and then stateside. Never saw any of my fellow targets again. About 6 years later I looked up one of the medics (Doc of course) by making a phone call to Dallas for anyone with the same last name. The first one was his aunt, gave me his home number in Corpus Christie. Called him, asked if he was in 11th Cav,then told him I was Chip Kunkle. Got long silence then "Holy shit, I thought you were dead". He had gotten hit by the same blast, got sent home from hospital since he was short. It was interesting and pleasing to talk to him and BS. I know it was great for you.
Merry Christmas
Chip Kunkle
Former indestructable, immortal, thrill seeker, tunnel rat, idiot.
 
Great story Ray, and a fantastic Christmas present! Although I sure wish you hadn't tossed your knife.
 
Ray,
Thanks for sharing, my father was over there, but he doesn't talk about it much to me. I'm gald you could reconnect. Thank you for your service.
Del
 
Kunklec said:
Ray,
I was there in 68, just in time for Tet (January). Lost an argument to an NVA with an RPG in July, got dusted off and sent to Japan and then stateside. Never saw any of my fellow targets again. About 6 years later I looked up one of the medics (Doc of course) by making a phone call to Dallas for anyone with the same last name. The first one was his aunt, gave me his home number in Corpus Christie. Called him, asked if he was in 11th Cav,then told him I was Chip Kunkle. Got long silence then "Holy shit, I thought you were dead". He had gotten hit by the same blast, got sent home from hospital since he was short. It was interesting and pleasing to talk to him and BS. I know it was great for you.
Merry Christmas
Chip Kunkle
Former indestructable, immortal, thrill seeker, tunnel rat, idiot.
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Chip, Welcome home! Just in time of the 68 Tet. Where in Nam was your AO? A couple of the fellow that were still in country when I got there got to experience it also. We got all geared up for it in 69 but nothing happened. Sorry to hear you got hit and hope the recovery went well without having to change your whole way of life. I never got to experience any tunnels and not sure if I would have even wanted to.

Merry Christmas to you!
 
efleming said:
Ray,

That is an awesome Christmas present. Thank you for your service! I was just a snot nosed kid at that time. Your service helped pave the way for this great country. Nothing said here can express my gratitude for your service as well as others that have followed in your footsteps. God bless America and all that has helped to make it so.

Merry Christmas!

Respectfully,

Eric
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Eric, I just happened to notice you are from San Diego. I was born in Paradise Valley Hospital and at the time I believe it was just part of San Diego county. I graduated from Sweetwater High in 65. Actually I think they graduated me just to get me out of the system. It was 2 years later that I got drafted.
 
Great story Ray, am glad you found your old buddy.
For that kinda environment, what would be the ideal size/shape of blade that you would have carried? Quite a few Vietnam vets that Ive talked to said that anything larger than a K-Bar would be too heavy/awkward to carry..
Merry Christmas!
 
TALON158 said:
Great story Ray, am glad you found your old buddy.
For that kinda environment, what would be the ideal size/shape of blade that you would have carried? Quite a few Vietnam vets that Ive talked to said that anything larger than a K-Bar would be too heavy/awkward to carry..
Merry Christmas!
Click to expand...

Knowing what I know now a knife with a 4 or 5" blade would be more than plenty. I'm not sure about others but when I got to Nam I didn't even get issued a bayonet. Each platoon had 3 or 4 machetes and they were always being used. This next photo shows a log we harvested with the machetes. It became one of the main beams for a bunker we were building. If I remember that tree also had to be moved a good ways to get to our position. Guess thats why they called us grunts. When we cut that tree down it got hug up in another tree and one of the fellows climbed up that tree with the machete to free it up. I think as soon as he got up the tree a sniper opened up and he was left hanging. No one got hit. Thats my friend Gil on the right. Just to the right of Gil you can see a hill top with a clearing on it. That was LZ Terrace. One of our previous homes.

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Ray,
I was in 11th Cav. BAse was in Xuan Loc. We spent most of our time in the Iron Triangle and Hobo Woods. This is in the PArrot's beak, northwest of Saigon. Spent parts of some days in Cambodia, but don't tell anyone. We weren't supposed to be in Cambodia. Got hit near An Loc, just east of Cambodian border. Tet was an experience that I hope to never see again.
Glad that I got home and thanks for your well wishes.
Chip Kunkle
 
Kunklec said:
Ray,
I was in 11th Cav. BAse was in Xuan Loc. We spent most of our time in the Iron Triangle and Hobo Woods. This is in the PArrot's beak, northwest of Saigon. Spent parts of some days in Cambodia, but don't tell anyone. We weren't supposed to be in Cambodia. Got hit near An Loc, just east of Cambodian border. Tet was an experience that I hope to never see again.
Glad that I got home and thanks for your well wishes.
Chip Kunkle
Click to expand...

Chip, I recall hearing a lot of bad things about the Hobo Woods. I also heard Cambodia was visited pretty regularly without a Welcome Matt. That whole area you were in was considered a real hot bed. Glad you made it out alive! Did you ever get together with Doc? I gave Gil another call yesterday and convinced him he needed to get an email address. He called a few hours later to tell me he did and also wanted to make sure he had my address correct. I'm really enjoying finding my old friend! I see us getting together sometime this next year. Did find out he also has a nice full head of skin. I'm guessing he looks something like the little grinning green thing in the picture :D

I just went back and re read your first post. You last word was idiot. There's a reason they send young men off to war. :D
 
Gil had sent me a few pictures on Monday. Its funny when I think of Gil I think of the fellow I served with still being a young man like in the photo's. He'd sent a few pictures of him at a reunion that our company had two years ago at the Wall. It reminded me of seeing pictures of old WWII reunions. A bunch of old men standing in front of the Wall. 39 years has a way of changing things. :D
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I have no idea where we were at. Looks like we were building some type of livestock fence. Thats me looking like I'm either holding up the fence or I'm in charge of this detail. Gil is the fellow to my right in the white T shirt. The fellow to my left is Walter Lee Brown who's nickname was "Hawk".
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Picture of Gil and I with LZ Terrace in the foreground.
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A picture of Gil abusing the M-60 I borrowed from a friend that was with artillery. I don't think I ever gave it back.
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A sunset or a sunrise. Not sure which.
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