1.  INTRODUCTION

Hello again.


 

First off, on behalf of all Vietnam veterans, I want to thank you for being interested in the Vietnam War; as is the case with many fellow combat veterans, the extraordinary events associated with that experience would change and define us in very profound ways. 

 

To provide you a glimpse into that extraordinary experience, I will be doing two things:

1) speaking about it and

2) inviting you to role-play being in my platoon. 

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TERMS & CONCEPTS

 

An essential requirement will be to provide you some explanations of the terms and concepts associated with the US Army.

 

US ARMY

The Army is one of three "Services" in the Department of Defense:

1. Army

2. Navy

3. Air Force

(The Marine Corps is a part of the Department of the Navy)

INFANTRY 

The army groups Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) into categories called “BRANCHES."  As infantrymen and officers we are part of the "Infantry Branch." 

 

Infantrymen are foot soldiers armed with rifles, bayonets, machine guns and grenades who are trained to directly engage and, if necessary, kill enemy soldiers in order to take or defend territory. 

The MOS of the basic infantryman is "11B" (referred to as an "Eleven-Bravo").

This is the insignia for the Infantry Branch:  

Note:  Since infantry are usually at the forward edge of the battle area (front lines), statistics show that 8 out of every 10 (80%) of casualties (killed and injured) in war (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) were infantry.   

Infantry soldiers that have been in combat are awarded the Combat Infantry Badge (CIB).

                                    COMBAT INFANTRY BADGE




All other branches of the US Army -- ie: Artillery (cannons), Armor (tanks), Combat Engineers, Signal (communication), Military Intelligence, Quartermaster (supplies), Ordnance (ammunition), Transportation (trucks), Aviation (helicopters) and others -- exist to support the Infantry in their mission of taking and defending territory.


Examples of Branches and related insignia:    

PLATOON

This is the basic fighting unit of the US Army.  It is composed of 37 infantrymen and 1 infantry officer.

More on ranks and organization will be found as you progress through the links in this website.



 
MECHANIZED



We are a "Mechanized" Infantry unit.  What that means is that we get to the battle on an armored tracked vehicle, the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) ... more commonly called a "Track."

This is one of the tracks in my platoon in Vietnam. 




Other ways that infantry gets to the battle are: on foot; by helicopter (Airmobile); and by parachute (Airborne) ... in Vietnam the two main methods were Mechanized and Airmobile.  

 

 

DRAFT

During the Vietnam War there was a severe shortage of recruits for the Army and Marine Corps.  Hence, the President of the United States authorized the forced recruitment of young men as soon as they turned 18 y/o to fill vacancies.  Most of these vacancies were in the Infantry Branches of the Army and Marines.

 

To give you and idea of exactly why there was such a shortage of infantry soldiers, in 1968 --from January through December -- over 14,000 Americans died in Vietnam …

... about 269 deaths per week! 

 

Who in their right mind would want to join the army under such circumstances?

 

(BTW, I joined the US Army upon graduation from high school in 1968).

 
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ROLE-PLAY

We will organize your class into an INFANTRY PLATOON by assigning you and your classmates various jobs and ranks associated with this combat unit. 



Since our platoon is in combat, some of you may be WOUNDED IN ACTION (WIA) or KILLED IN ACTION (KIA); as was the case with my situation, you do not know if you will survive our Vietnam experience ... you will learn your fate during the presentation. 



 

If you do not want to possibly be maimed or killed in Vietnam, you can role-play one of these four scenarios to avoid the draft and the war (no more than 10% of the class may do this):


1.  College: If your parents are relatively wealthy, you can go to college and get a deferment from the draft as long as you’re in school; or …

2.  National Guard/Reserves: If your parents are politically connected, you can get into a National Guard or Reserve unit (these units were not sent to Vietnam and positions in them were very, very scarce); or …


3. Refuse: Just don’t show up for your draft/recruitment appointment.  You will be arrested and sent to prison for 5 years.

4. Canada: Run away to Canada (if you re-enter the US for any reason, you will be arrested and sent to prison).

In any of those above four cases, you will experience the Vietnam War from the comfort of your college dorm, stateside National Guard/Reserves training area, prison cell or Canadian apartment while the rest of your classmates -- drafted into the infantry -- face the danger and uncertain fate of the Vietnam War.

You may proceed to the next page ...