Over the past two years I've received a number of emails. Many have been from guys who served in RVN. Some have been from men who served in Special Forces. I have begun integrating some of those emails into the web site.
If the email pertained to a particular segment of this web site such as Team A-109, the information submitted was incorporated into the web pages for that particular site. Therefore, please look for a link to the "Letters" page as you visit each of the different Special Forces pages within this web site.
And finally, "Thanks!" to all who sent emails and/or information. Welcome home, guys!
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If you were 'across the pond', I would really enjoy hearing from you. If you were an SF'er, please drop me a line. Have anything you would like to add? Can you provide some pictures or fill in some of the names? |
| Janis Zuments | Subject: BATO Gary: I was in-country Jan 66 to Jan 67. Started out
at Kham Duc, spent a |
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| Virgil Carter | It's Veteran's Day ahead... and the anniversary of The
Wall. Here's to those who served, and to those who didn't return. Let us never
forget. Cheers! |
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| Vernon Cole | Gary, I just came
across your site while doing a Special Forces search. I graduated from Training Group in April, 1967. I wish that we would have had class pictures at that time. The certificate is the same one I received. |
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| Bob Waller | My name is Bob Waller and I was a 1st LT, assigned to Det A-109 as the XO, Aug 1968 to approx Mar 1969, except for the brief time I was rehabbing at the C-Team in DaNang after being injured after the Sept/Oct assaults on the camp. As I remember, 1LT William Glendenning was the acting CO of the team when I arrived, and MSGT Roy Loft (the Bear) was the Team Sgt. Eventually, after the Sept 27-29, 1968 assault on the camp, CPT David (?) Blanchard arrived to be the CO. Sgt. Richard(?) Hall then became the Team Sgt a little later. Sgt. Barry Eberman was the Intell Sgt. In addition to MamaSan as shown in the pics you have on your website (I think she's the same one), there was a younger girl called Co Lynn I believe. I have more info and names if you're interested. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rick Lavoie | I have that
picture. I may have the names. I'll have to dig it out. Sorry to say, looking at the picture and seeing the names you have entered, I can't pick out anyone that I can say I "know" their name. I believe the name of the instructor lower right was Flack/Fink or something like that. |
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| Richard Grant | Is the man with
his shirt off the Captain? Do you know the names of any the soldiers in this
picture?
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| Reg Manning | I noted that you
had a photo of CPT Minutoli on your site. (The database shows it as being spelled that way instead of Capt Minutola.) I'm trying to compile a complete listing of all the SF'ers who were lost in SEA regardless of unit of assignment at the time. Right now, there are 886 names listed. Name, Rank, Date, MOS, Status (KIA, MIA, etc), Unit of Assignment, Location of Loss, etc. CPT Minutoli is one for whom I have no unit of assignment. The various databases show him with a MOS of 30210. I see that he's "3" qualified but as a what? I dunno what a 0210 was. Also the caption by the photo says that he was lost during an overflight. An overflight of what AO? We do both show the same date of loss. I'm showing him as KIA, Died While Missing. For Unit of Assignment I have zilch. Location. . . . only that he was lost in Quang Nam Province of SVN. What was his Unit of Assignment? Would appreciate your help with this. Also, if you would, please take a look at the draft version of the complete SF Loss listing at: SF Losses in SEA http://www.sfahq.com/reg Any corrections, additions, comments, etc gratefully rec'd. And pass the URL on to anyone you know who might be able to help. This listing will not be sold...... it just needs doing. BT AR |
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| Ray Watkins | I was in 'Nam from
Jan 68 to Aug 69. Lately I've been looking for former buddies from the CIDG Finance Office. Yes we were in Nha Trang assigned to HQ and probably had it better than anyone except the Saigon warriors. Also please excuse me for being a "leg" but I didn't want to be there anymore than anyone else, just following orders and doing my job. I would like to know if you know of a place or site to help track down these guys. Any help or advise you might have would be appreciated. Don't know, but if I can find enough people, maybe we could have a reunion to renew old friendships. Thanks for your web-site, while I didn't personally have anywhere near the experiences you did, it did bring back memories. I had alomost forgotten what a real "armpit" of a place it was, but your stories reminded me. I traveled somewhat while there, from Dha Nang to the A-team on the border of Cambodia and on the Gulf Of Siam. So I got to see a lot of the "beautiful" countyside. Ever think about going back just to revisit the old sod? |
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| Neill
McDonald RVN, 66-67, a lowly W-1, flying UH-1D's |
Welcome home. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barbara Ruef | Thank you so much
for writing. You are only the 3rd person I've ever found in more than 30 years of searching who knew Burt. I am in email communication with Jake Roth who was with Burt the day of the ambush and I also communicate with Bob Marler who was Burts' original XO when Burt was with the 110th when he first arrived "in country." As you may have figured out from Burt's site, I've been searching for the answers as to what happened and where was he taken after his capture. Through an "uncorrolated" live POW sighting that for years the government said was Hal Kushner, I've pretty well tracked and proved that it was, in fact, a sighting of Burt. JTFFA, is now (thank God) using this sighting to try and track him. This live sighting took place almost 30 days AFTER the ambush and Burt was being led south along the Song Vee ... from details of this sighting, it appears that Burts' shot to the left leg was in no way life threatening ... so what happened to him? If you could possible share some of your remembrances of Burt with me, it would mean more than I can express. If you can identify anyone from the group picture located at Burts' site (other than him and Bob Marler) I'd also be appreciative. Your letter expressing how everything blurs except the pain is well understood. Not a day passes that I don't wonder and very few days pass that I don't actively search for the answers. I refuse to give up on Burt ... and I refuse to abandon the search. Like you, I'd have much preferred Burt to make Life Magazine in a more positive manner... If no one has told you lately, Thank you for serving and thank you for coming home safe. God Bless... UNTIL THEY ARE ALL HOME OR ACCOUNTED FOR http://members.tripod.com/msd_24/burtsmall.html |
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| Mike Stahl | Was interested to find your site. Spent Aug 67 - Aug 68 with Co. C. The first half of my tour I was on A-102 If you want to add a picture of A-102, Tien Phuoc check out the ISLA site at http://home.rmi.net/~mkstahl Feel free to "borrow" the image of Tien Phuoc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mike Perkins | Stein was CO until
mid-Jan '67. I know. I was at Khe san and was being reassigned to B-52. He came up, offered me command of Mike Force and I jumped at the chance. I came to Mike Force as the CO. A week later he was relieved and a few days after that I became XO of Mike Force. The CO was CPT Baudistel, an Aussie. Stein became CO of Co E when he left Co C. In July 67 when I extended for 6 months, he had me reassigned to Co E. I decided to go the 101st instead. I wasn't going to go thru what I had experienced 6 months before. |
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| Mitchell (Mike) Meade | yes gary,i remember you, love to have a pic. just heard from virgil carter, got a picture from him. welcome home, Mike | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alan Johnson | I was the engineer at BaTo during 1969. I hate to brag but we had the best chow in all of I Corps. Incidentally the BaTo area, one of the most beautiful places with crystal clear streams, was the setting for a French novel. I would like ride a bike on that French built road (that connected our two camps) from the coast to Kontum. I would also like to find the A106 team, we had a really good team and fortunately most of our CIDG were Hre montagards. I spent last month of my tour at TraBong and the terrain was straight up and down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mark
Atchison |
I knew Dick Minter in SFTG. I accused him of being apathetic. He said that he didn't give a shit! Good guy from Mechanicsburg, PA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Larry Rasmussen | That pinochle bit reminded me of him. Ziggy was awarded the Silver Star for his bravery at Con Thien (Det A-101) during an action shortly before they relocated the camp to Lang Vei where it was overrun by NVA using Russian tanks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gary B wrote: It is my understanding that the first class member (of Commo 66-3) WIA or KIA was Sp4/Sgt Stapf (or a similar spelling). The word on the street in 'Nam was that he and two other people were injured when the jeep they were riding in hit a mine. I believe the mine was part of an ambush. Stapf had been in-country less than four weeks. | In
response, Steve Andreas wrote... Was in Nha Trang when he came in to the hospital. Name is Sapp, was assigned to an 'A' camp in, I think, II Corp. Jeep was ambushed with small arms and 12mm machine gun. Sapp was hit at least three, maybe more, times. Was banged up real bad before his evac to the States. Gary B wrote: It is my understanding that the first class member (of Commo 66-3) WIA or KIA was Sp4/Sgt Stapf (or a similar spelling). The word on the street in 'Nam was that he and two other people were injured when the jeep they were riding in hit a mine. I believe the mine was part of an ambush. Stapf had been in-country less than four weeks. |
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| Bob | The link to my
story works well. You wouldn't happen to remember coming up from your base camp and
contacting a Marine Recon team on your way to the ridge do you? On one of my patrols
there, a Special Forces team with CIDG met us and stopped for noon chow. The CIDG's got
out their cooking pots, hammocks and smoking fires to cook lunch and gabber away at the
top of their voices. What a lack of noise discipline, we really felt sorry for you
guys leading them. Also, wasn't Camp A-109 named after a Special Forces man by the name of Stanley Looker or Hooker? |
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| J R Williams | Saw your page.
This is the first time that I've seen Det. A-109 since 1968. What a time machine this internet has become! Your pictures of the team room and surrounding area revive strong memories. My name is John Williams. I was the Demo specialist for A-109. Our Team Leader was Captain King. The medic was John Tomkins. Sgt. Loff was senior NCO replacing Sgt. Arcand. Estel Spakes was our commo. specialist, Charlie Inot--heavy weapons. We had a pet horse, Clyde, that we either purchased or inherited from the Vietnamese. We went on many patrols, 2Americans, Radioman, Interpreter and 10-20 CIDG. Lots of contact, lots of KIA. Ambushed on road returning to camp by Company of NVA around Feb.27,1968. |
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| Dick | I was with the
31st Eng. at Song Be from April to about December 1969, My Plt. Stg and I drank at the SFclub, I think the commander was colonel Lamar. If you or you know anyone that was there,can you tell me what team it was, and do you have any pictures of the camp. Also I have been back to Vietnam three times in the last two years, and I have been To Song Be, I have some Pictures of what it looks like now. Any information would be appreciated. |
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| Gary Hedin | I was at
many different camps when I was still in Hdqs. Co. in Nha Trang. I was up at 102 and
103 at one time early in 66. Long time ago, cant't remember which one was
which. SGM Pioletti used to let us guys from base camp go to these camps when they
were under alert. Another kid from Sig. Co. and I were up there together, but he didn't make it back. He was KIA on one of the patrols we were running up in one of those valleys. I was assigned to B-50 (OMEGA) in the old Nung Camp At Nha Trang in June of 66 went home end of Dec 66. I belong to the 20 SF ASS. here in Mn. We were working mainly with the Mike Force at that time. The guy that was kia name was John Scull. not sure about the spelling of the last name. When the moving wall was here in Duluth, Mn. I went to see it , John was there. Well I have probably bored you enough, but when I saw your message on the Guest Book it brought back a lot of memories, Take care |
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| Jim
Ferguson A-107, A-111 |
I found myself laughing a lot because some of the incidents you described were apparently universal. Also, your old Team Sergeant, Billy Greenwood, was my TS in the Mike Force starting in April of 1967. Do you know what happened to him or where he is? Anyway, you being a commo man, I have been trying to remember the call signs for the A-camps in I-Corps. I remember ours at Tra Bong was "Polite Search." The only other one I remember is "Tricky Misfit", but I don't know what camp it was. Do you remember them? If so, let me know. Thanks | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eric Landry | 1.
Stafford John Landry, Jr., SGT, 91B4s, A-104, '68-'69 2. First time to your site and all I can say is "Brings back memories". I like your layout and the stories are right on. The leeches were in a foot race with us on patrol. I nearly broke out laughing about "noise control" when I read about patrolling. Different camp but similiar stories. 3. My first night in DA Nang was the night CCN was hit from inside. We hit the bunkers on night one. The gunships were spraying the inside of the compound. |
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| Gary Lamberty | Saw your post to
the SF List Teamhouse guestbook and thought I'd drop a line. I spent a couple months at Thuong Duc (A-109) during a siege up there in early '70. Best I can recall, I was there from the end of April 'til the end of June. Your photos sure bring back some memories. Guess I was just too busy a/o in deep doo-doo during my time up there to get any photos. At least, I haven't found any in all the old stuff I've got laying around here. |
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| Lee Edwards | Found your site
interesting and nice to revisit a camp/detachment I once commanded, 1967. I was Tm Ldr, so pix were memories I've put away. CPT L. Edwards, "Stanley Looker" then. Forgotten about bamboo bar in the team house, but never forgot the swimming pool, trench work, bunker, and all the team members. Some KIA (5 outstanding soldiers) and some gone off in the world to who-knows-where. I'd have to dig out the photos I have of the camp, village, dispensary we set up in town, airfield with the caribou's for resupply, etc. I later became S3 for C-1. My VNSF (S3) counterpart, Maj Que, was killed at Thuong Duc by a mortar round. He was replaced by my "old" VNSF counterpart at the camp. More stories...as we had a lot of action with the reminants of the local VC battalion and with the NVA 2d Division (2 attempts to attack us) coming from the west. We lost some good men to the NVA who we stirred up to the west, stymied some NVA regimental attacks, built a road from Danang (didn't last long, tho'), and generally accomplished our mission. You didn't mention SGM "Clyde". |
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| Bob Gorman | My call
sign was Jake 44 - stationed in Quang Naghi during the '66 - '67 time frame. Stopped in
and out of Gia Vuc more than once. Am currently working on a mini site to tell the tale of
Jake 44. Thanks. Jake 44 |
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| John Rhine | My father was there .....Lt. Col Malcolm K. Rhine (USA Ret.) Deputy Commander 5th. Special Forces Group. Bien Hoa, Republic Of Vietnam 67-68 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jon Comini | Nice site.
Was just over the hill from you at A-243. Our AO abutted yours and I remember being able to look down the valley from atop the plateau and seeing your site. Landed there a couple of times (once after being hit while VRing in a Bird Dog) and having a good commo relay during a fire fight after the other USSF was wounded. Your quick work got a USAF FAC and the fast movers in there quickly. Saved my bacon. Best regards |
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| John
Lechleiter Dec 2002 I gotcha, buddy!!! gb |
I am alive and
well. I came across your web page in April of 2002, but couldn't respond until
today. If you receive this email, let me know. From a tall skinny guy, John |
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| Thought
you might be interested in these pictures. My mother sent them to me and I scanned
them in. The years in the titles are approximate. My father, Capt. Jesse
Johnson, des., was station in Nam in '67-'68 and '69-'70. Maybe you recognize some of the people in "Formation"? Jeff Johnson
Photos are 'clickable'! |
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| John
Andrews LTC, IN, USAR Ret |
I served with the
MACV team at Thuong Duc from July 70 to Nov 70 -- reassigned up to Quang Tri Province
after 5-week siege of Sep-Nov, which was ended due to a monsoon/flood. 12 Oct was
more or less the highpoint of the siege/air show. At that time, A-109 was led by CPT Edmundo Valentine of Florida and 1LT Dick Thoeme (pronounce "Tame-ee") of Massachusetts. I was not SF at the time, just MI (Phoenix Program), sent out in anticipation of the camp's conversion to ARVN BDQ Border Ranger (79th Bn). This was scheduled for October, but did not actually happen until Dec-Jan. I later served in the USAR 11th SFGA at Ft Meade MD.....and Dick Thoeme was an ODA leader up in Massachusetts! Look forward to seeing more photos and names of residents. |
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| Robert F. Krowska |
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| Tom Heckman | I served
with forward air controllers in support of B-24 and other A-camps in our AOR. It's been 33 years ago, but it seems like yesterday. Would appreciate any info you can provide of a historical nature or even any scuttlebutt of people, events, or reminissinces by anybody of the time and place. Maybe you might refer me to someone else with such knowledge. I'd appreciate it. We last e-mailed on 5/11 when I asked you if you
had any info on SF B-24
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| Dullain | RE: Capt.
Thomas A. "Todd" Dolighan I am looking for information re: my brother. He was in the 5th on multiple tours to Viet Nam. I know that he was in CCN at one time. He has an 11 year old son that I am trying to reconstruct what I can. Todd is buried at Arlington. I would appreciate any help you can give me. Thank you. Please e-mail me |
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| Bob Waller | I was a 1st LT, assigned to Det A-109 as the
XO, Aug 1968 to approx Mar 1969, except for the brief time I was rehabbing at the C-Team
in DaNang after being injured after the Sept/Oct assaults on the camp. As I
remember, 1LT William Glendenning was the acting CO of the team when I arrived, and MSGT
Roy Loft (the Bear) was the Team Sgt. Eventually, after the Sept 27-29, 1968 assault
on the camp, CPT David (?) Blanchard arrived to be the CO. Sgt. Richard(?) Hall then
became the Team Sgt a little later. Sgt. Barry Eberman was the Intell Sgt.
In addition to MamaSan as shown in the pics you have on your website (I think
she's the same one), there was a younger girl called Co Lynn I believe. I have more
info and names if you're interested. |
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