Reservists who were assigned to flight, ground, or medical crew duties at the following locations between 1969 and 1986, and who developed an Agent Orange related disability. WebDuring the Vietnam War, the U.S. Air Force used C-123 aircraft to spray Agent Orange to clear jungles that provided enemy cover in Vietnam. Vietnam has come to symbolize certain things that arent necessarily true. They gave up their lives back home. visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for more resources. If youre stuck on the base for days on end, visit the Wild B.O.A.R. Troop Deployment, 1950-2003 Hollander says it isn't clear what the Army planned to do with these recordings, especially since so few copies of them have surfaced just three dozen in East of Underground's case. From the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991, Army Engineers played a key role in providing the facilities for arming, supplying, training, and housing American soldiers and airmen and their families in Europe. At the end of the spraying campaign in 1971, the remaining C-123 planes were reassigned to reserve units in the U.S. for routine cargo and medical evacuation missions spanning the next 10 years. Soldiers bought goods with their ration cards, which were punched when purchases were made, Lair said. 2. Those recordings were lost for decades, until a collector discovered an East of Underground LP in 1997. Dotted around US bases are numerous residential districts for American soldiers and their families, such as this residential district in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. Thornton returned to school later in life and is now finishing his doctorate in business administration in the field of cross-cultural competency and conflict management. We had an Infantry MOS Soldiers on one of our Sheridan Tanks. Germany The mood around the country was not good for the military, not like today with cheers and applause for returning members. We served honorably. There were swimming pools, bars, cheap booze, entertainment, dancers and strippers, American TV. Deliver vital engineering solutions, in collaboration with our partners, to secure our Nation, energize our economy, and reduce disaster risk. Based on the HMD report, VA has decided to acknowledge exposure to Agent Orange for personnel whose military service involved regular contact with the contaminated C-123 aircraft. 2) Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Mastering these complicated and delicate international arrangements, EUD accomplished a large and complex construction program, especially during the 1980s. Their lot was really rugged, Lomperis said. I was in Boston when the Chelsea fire occurred in October 1973, received a meritorious unit citation for fighting the fire that consumed a large portion of Chelsea 18 blocks one way, 16 blocks another. None would be here if Vietnam never happened, so it creates bittersweet feelings but no regrets, Thornton said. Their story got eliminated. When we graduated we lined up in front of a building that you entered one at a time on one side and after getting your paper work you exited out the other side. So many servicemen came home and saw how the story (of the Vietnam War) was being told. It's easy! At least in our case. The cover of East of Underground's self-titled LP. Adopting a variety of organizational arrangements, including an engineer command from 1966 to 1974, USAREUR and its engineers attempted to find the most efficient and effective means to use the scarce resources available for construction and maintenance. The enemy was the Soviet Union and the other signatories of the Warsaw Pact, including the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. Hollander says it's not a mistake to read a hint of resistance into the band's repertoire. They lived in an apprehensive state. Office of Accountability & Whistleblower Protection, Training - Exposure - Experience (TEE) Tournament, Military Exposure Related Health Concerns, War Related Illness & Injury Study Center, Clinical Trainees (Academic Affiliations), Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft, local VA Environmental Health Coordinator, Find out if you qualify for VA health care, diseases related to Agent Orange exposure, Call TTY if you Over the years the US Army has become firmly entrenched in the German landscape. I served at the naval hospital in Chelsea, Massachusetts, for 18 months. Why is Netflix pouring billions into South Korean shows? It was still no guarantee you wouldn't be sent to Vietnam and in some cases even be sent to do something else besides what you trained for. Vietnam War At the end of the spraying campaign in 1971, the remaining C-123 planes were reassigned to reserve units in the U.S. for routine cargo and medical evacuation missions spanning the next 10 years. And there were the German-American friendship weeks every year. He never carried a gun because if he was shot, the enemy soldier could have claimed it was self-defense, he said. 1. Ask me or any other serviceperson and they will tell you they are proud of their service, Shkurti said. In Vietnam everyone knew everyone and what job they had. Anyone who served in the military during the war faced the possibility of being sent to Vietnam, though. Then, there was the shopping. 8) Bruges, Belgium. There werent enough NCOs (non-commissioned officers), not enough support or spare parts. After discharge in 1976, Thornton took his 4-year-old daughter and pregnant wife home to her family and used the GI Bill to earn an a degree in allied health sciences from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. One strong memory I have is how tough it was for the families, Thornton said. Sign up for a new account in our community. "I initially was stationed in Korea. By Expert architecture and design solutions for private carriers, next-generation metro and long-haul optical networks, ultra low-latency networks, and Internet backbones. It's also a mystery what happened to the bands apart from Lewis Hitt, none of the members have come forward. Boy, I thought I had it made, Shkurti said with a small laugh. His unit in Germany lacked the leadership and necessities to get their job done, he said. 18th Military Police Brigade (United States May 31, 2017 in MILITARY HISTORY DISCUSSIONS. Hitt says he had already been in one Army band by the time he joined the group. My middle brother died five years ago from extended PTSD and the ravages of the drug addiction he endured while trying to cope with his memories from Vietnam. Right, I got you, very interested to know that fine point. Our AIT class in 1971 at A.P.G. Being Stationed in Germany After completing Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Shkurti was sent to Germany not Vietnam. The conventional wisdom was that everybody carried a rifle, patrolled the jungle and faced death daily, but thats false, said William Shkurti, who served as an artillery officer in a remote area about 300 yards from the Cambodian border in fall 1970. Find out if you qualify for VA health care. The tensions between the two sides were demonstrated when US Army and Soviet Union tanks faced off in a divided Berlin. It was painful to even be around them. This often creates barriers to their full integration into German society. Attention A T users. have hearing loss. 7th Army in particular suffered heavily, especially with loses of combat arms NCOs Then there was the two infantry brigades in Alaska, the 171st and 172nd, both gave up one battalion each for transfer to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii before it left there for South Vietnam, two full battalions had to be raised to replace the ones sent away. I can only speak from my own experiences. I am focused on peace and conflict reduction on a global and local scale, he said. 3) Paris, France. Stationed Thanks, your message has been sent successfully. After the defeat of Germany, the relatively small American force in Europe was preoccupied with the administration and reconstruction of their former foe. The entire emphasis is on the narrow combat experience, Lair said. I would have been called a coward by others from the small town I grew up in, so I never considered not volunteering. An Army in Crisis 877-222-8387, TDD (Hearing Impaired) I ask this because many guys of draft age enlisted, enlisted specifically for three years to chose their MOS, and in a great many cases avoid serving in South Vietnam. Still, a ration card would allow personnel to buy $2,000 to $3,000 worth of goods, she said. Life athome goes on without them, and it must have been difficult to navigate when they returned, she said. Your message has not been sent. Its important for people to know they exist. After completing his enlistment, Shkurti returned to Ohio State University to earn a masters degree in public administration. Only about one out of seven were combat troops, said historian Chris Appy, history professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst. After graduating from Ohio State University in 1968, William Shkurti said, I knew I was going to be drafted so I enlisted. It's there to boost morale, it's there to provide entertainment and comfort for soldiers, it's there to sort of represent what the U.S. is musically, culturally to the rest of the world.". Being a noncombatant doesnt mean they didnt feel scared, that there wasnt a looming sense of danger even onthe biggest bases that were considered safer areas, Lair said. In response the Corps of Engineers drastically reduced the size of EUD and reconstituted it as the Europe District. Army's Rock 'N' Roll Past 800-829-4833, Veterans Crisis Line: Powered by Invision Community, Vietnam Era Draftees Stationed in W.Germany, South Korea, and CONUS, US MILITARIA FORUM - COLLECTORS PRESERVING HISTORY. Its easy to forget how large a US military presence in West Germany and Korea was maintained during the late 60s and early 70s aside from the forces fighting in Vietnam. He could take that information back to the base. The winners toured other military bases and made records. In the late 65 through 1966, the Army Divisions outside of Vietnam, specifically CONUS and West Germany were hemorrhaging personnel for service in South Vietnam, these being primarily if not exclusively volunteers, these numbers had to be made good. They wore dirty boots and dog tags hanging around their necks. Maybe they didnt risk their lives but they risked risking their lives, said Meredith Lair, a Vietnam War historian at George Mason University and author of Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War, which examines the non-combat experiences of American soldiers in Vietnam. His unit lost more men to overdose and traffic accidents in Germany than to combat in Vietnam. Supercharge your procurement process, with industry leading expertise in sourcing of network backbone, colocation, and packet/optical network infrastructure. Even as the war drew down in 1975 and early 1976, the pressure was intense as huge numbers of men came home with addictions and injuries too horrible to really describe, Thornton said. Veterans must show on a factual basis that they were exposed in order to receive disability compensation for diseases related to Agent Orange exposure. He was awarded the U.S. Patches, In 1968 you could volunteer for the draft and serve 2 years active duty. "So this was a very viable way to avoid active duty in Southeast Asia.". During the era of the Vietnam War, American troops and facilities were neglected forcing Engineers to marshal their slender resources augmented by host nation contributions to keep American forces ready for war and take care of Army and Air Force personnel and their families. Youth activity centers in Germany included this facility in Wiesbaden. 2018 Petabit Scale, All Rights Reserved. We wore different uniforms. You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. No matter where veterans served in Vietnam, they were a close witness to danger. Of his entire graduating platoon, only he and one other trooper were sent to West Germany, all the others got orders to RVN. After Boston, Thornton served at Marines Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Once we got our orders, the guy Just below me went to Germany. The U.S. has had personnel stationed in Germany and South Korea, two of its military allies, for several decades, yet the number of active-duty troops in each country is at a modern low. Heavily guarded Pershing-II rockets were brought to the US base in Mutlangen in 1983. When I left Korea, the first thing I did when I got to Germany was to find Special Services, which happened to be right next to my barracks," Hitt recalls. The stress of military life was constant. After Nazi Germany surrendered on 8 May 1945, four countries representing the Allies (the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France) asserted joint authority Executing the construction program was a complex affair because American forces in West Germany had to use German construction offices and procedures to build facilities. While having a positive attitude about any PCS is important, its equally important to have realistic expectations. Knowing that the threat is so close by is an incentive for people to work together. As opposed to the goldbug society, or service personnel who were not interested in meeting locals and learning about Vietnam, Lomperis sought out opportunities to get off the base and interact with the Vietnamese. If you enlisted you would serve 3 years and chose your MOS. Both Germany and Vietnam were on the front lines of the Cold War. Health Care Well, one. "Bear in mind that these bands were all engaged in a show band contest in 1971 and 1972, and the winners of the that contest would then be able to tour Europe, and would also record an LP in the Armed Forces Network studios in Frankfurt. There were more prostitutes than bureaucrats, and every kind of club and bar from high-class to low-class. The U.S. military presence in Germany peaked at 274,119 in 1962, nearly eight times its level last year. "I was shocked when I found that out myself, but it kind of makes sense," Hollander tells Guy Raz, host of weekends on All Things Considered. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). So he was off to Camp Casey and the 9th Infantry Manchu's for 16 months, I was in the same unit a couple of decades after him. Their silence carried a message and concealed the fact that many veterans served in the rear echelon and not in combat capacity, Lair said.
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