Second Edition of "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq" is Available Now

I am pleased to announce that the Second Edition of my book is available at Amazon.com.

It is available as a paperback for $12.95 LINK HERE or from the Kindle Store as an ebook for $2.99. LINK HERE .

This new edition includes a preface with updates on the Iraq situation since the First Edition was published in 2009. Included is a brief discussion of the new threat posed by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) or the Islamic State, whichever description you chose.

I have also incorporated a few suggestions from readers of the First Edition.

Thanks again to those who have read the original version. (The link to the first edition is HERE). I appreciate all those who gave me their comments and suggestions.

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

Vietnam Veteran Receives Purple Heart 45 Years Later

All I can say is, “It’s about time….”

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ARMY VETERAN AWARDED PURPLE HEART 45 YEARS AFTER INJURY

Fox News

April 14, 2013

A North Carolina veteran has been awarded a Purple Heart 45 years after he was wounded in Vietnam.

The AshevilleCitizen-Times reported Friday that U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-North Carolina, presented Dockie Brendle his third Purple Heart during a special afternoon ceremony at the Charles George VA Medical Center.

READ MORE   http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/14/army-veteran-awarded-purple-heart-45-years-after-injury/

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Posted by:

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

Remembering The Past - And Learning From It

Lieutenant Chuck Grist - Vietnam

I returned from Vietnam on August 8, 1971. A week or so later, I received a phone call from Charlie Wadsworth, a columnist with the Orlando Sentinel. Since I was a “hometown boy” back from the war, he asked me to come down to his office for a brief interview, which I agreed to do. At the time I was a twenty-two year old Army first lieutenant with fresh memories of dead friends, dead enemy soldiers, the smell of the jungle, and a country that didn't care where I had been.

To put the following column in context, the war was winding down, and the “Vietnamization” of that war was in full swing. In the last years of the war, those of us in combat became the victims of the drawdown in the sense that supplies were reduced, artillery rounds were saved, and other cost-saving measures were implemented.

These money-saving measures put us at grave risk, and we became bitter about it. Since America had decided to pull out of Vietnam short of victory, the most frequent comment in my unit was that none of us wanted to be the last soldier to die in Vietnam.

By the way, as I made my way home on August 8, I was spat on in the San Francisco airport by a group of "hippies" and called a murderer by a faceless coward in an Atlanta airport crowd. My family was glad to see me, but I took my uniform off that night and didn't wear it again for almost ten years.

Charlie Wadsworth was a legendary reporter in Orlando. His “Hush Puppies” column appeared daily:

*  *  *  *

HUSH PUPPIES

Orlando Sentinel

August 17, 1971

By Charlie Wadsworth, Columnist

Another young Orlandoan is freshly and safely home from a year in Vietnam.

Here are some excerpts from an absorbing conversation with Lt. Charles M. ‘Chuck’ Grist, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Grist:

“…I sincerely believe the reasons we went into Vietnam were good but I don’t like the way it is winding down. Support is harder to get, and in my opinion it is time to leave Vietnam altogether.

“…If after a decade that we have been there the South Vietnamese can’t do it now they won’t ever do it.

“…When you come home it hits you immediately. The people in the U.S. seem to be oblivious to what happens outside of the U.S. I think the people are concerned about Vietnam, but can’t comprehend what has gone on over there and what is going on now.

“…The war stinks, it really does.’

Lt. Grist was with the 1^st Cavalry Division in the flatland regions some 60 miles northeast of Saigon. He was a platoon leader for seven months.

He talked about the narcotics question, and his answers may be different from some of the reports you have been reading of late.

“We never had a problem with it (drugs) in the field in any way in my platoon.  When I became executive officer, I found some problems – some severe – in the rear areas.

“I found it restricted to the rear of both company and battalion, some bad heroin addiction.

“The thing I found is the people in the field won’t allow it. Every now and then someone would try it but his buddies squared him away in a hurry.

“We got some replacements once. A sergeant found one of the replacements on some stuff. He said he had found the man and straightened him out, and he also told me that it would not happen again.

“You had to have utmost cooperation in the field, and people who would not cooperate were kicked out. You make good friends out there. That’s where you make the real friendships, and a man will cooperate and straighten up rather than risk losing the friends he has made, or adding additional risk to the job they’re doing.

“With the units pulling out as they are, it is hard for units to get support, to get things like clothes, for example. Flying time of helicopters has been cut back. That is why in my opinion it is time to leave Vietnam altogether.

“…I think I accomplished what I wanted, to go out there and find out what it really is all about. I want to know what I’m talking about, not just someone shooting off at the mouth. It was the single greatest experience of my life,” he added.

*  *  *  *

That last sentence may seem unusual, but for a young man who had given so much, I guess I was attempting to justify that the scars on my body and soul were somehow worth it all.

Following this interview, I began a two year decline from the happy-go-lucky Airborne Ranger I had been before my tour in Vietnam, to a guy who saw only darkness, who drank himself into oblivion on a regular basis, who tried college but dropped out after only two weeks, and who partied like there was no tomorrow.

If not for the timely arrival of the woman who would become my wife, who knows what ditch I would have ended up in. Debbie inspired me to put the past behind me and move on.

We are now in the midst of a drawdown in Afghanistan. As we slowly withdraw our brave warriors, surely some of them must be asking themselves, “Will I be the last G.I. to die in Afghanistan?”

We must not allow the political desire to leave Afghanistan to permit a lack of support for our troops. No shortcuts, no lack of supplies, no lack of artillery or air support, and please continue to welcome them home – not like you welcomed me home from Vietnam – but just like you welcomed me home from Iraq…..

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

Victory In Iraq - Now It's Up To The Iraqis

Me at Baghdad's Camp Victory in early 2004 

I'm a Vietnam veteran as well as a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, so I know a little about guerrilla wars. Sometimes they end well, and sometimes they don't.

You see, I remember what it felt like to sit in my living room in April, 1975, staring at the television while enemy tanks rolled into Saigon. Only then did I have the painful realization that my fellow soldiers and I had fought and bled for a lost cause.

I'm not ashamed to say I cried that day. I remembered the hardships of my own months in Vietnam's jungles, and I saw the faces of my lost friends in the dark corners of my mind. To be honest, I still see them almost every day. You know - those couple of hours in the middle of the night when sleep won't come and the mind refuses to rest. Such is the legacy of Vietnam.

Although the losses are just as painful, the story in Iraq is a different one. When our last soldiers arrive home before Christmas and Iraq's security rests in its own hands, we can honestly say we have been victorious.

There are now over thirty million people living in Iraq. Because of the sacrifice of America and its coalition partners, there is a democratic government elected by the people. Is everything perfect? Of course not. But the problems that remain can only be solved by Iraqis. Whether it is sectarian differences or problems caused by foreign terrorists, it is time for Iraq to take care of itself.

What do I fear most now that we have pulled our soldiers out of Iraq? I fear the influence of Iran, a Shiite country that provides training and equipment to radical Shiites in Iraq like Muqtada al Sadr and the Mahdi Army.

But Americans cannot stay in Iraq forever. The truth is that wherever we go, we become a lightning rod for those with ancient reasons for hating foreign intervention. It was this way in Vietnam, in Iraq, and it is also the same in Afghanistan.

We must welcome our troops home from Iraq as the victorious warriors they are. We shall help them recover both physically and mentally, and they should be proud of all they accomplished.

We shall also continue to extend the hand of friendship to the Iraqi people. While many fundamentalist Iraqis will always hate us, there are a lot of Iraqis who will never forget the generosity of America or our sacrifices on their behalf. We have done all we can to give them a chance for a free and prosperous future.

The rest is up to them...

Charles M. Grist
Author of the award-winning book My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq

The Imprint of War - It Shall Be With You All Of Your Days

You remember everything about it. It's always with you, just below the surface. You think about some part of it several times a day. Why does a warrior remember his life at war? Because he left part of his soul on the battlefield. He also saw many of his friends for the last time on that same battlefield, and he shared with them the agony of their last moments on earth.

You can't describe it to those who haven't experienced war. When you meet a fellow war veteran, no words are really necessary. The eyes say it all; the tired eyes with a unique depth to them. The eyes that have seen the very worst of mankind when they peeked into the very depths of hell.

After I watched the preview below, I became hopeful that this might finally be the documentary that accurately told the story of my fellow Vietnam veterans and me. We shall see, but at least it will give you another chance to understand what makes us who we are.

After all, we were the first generation of American warriors to be scorned upon our return. Following my own bad experiences with anti-war "hippies" in airports in San Francisco and Atlanta, I arrived home only to take my uniform off and not put it on again for almost ten years.

Then, when I returned from Iraq in 2004, it was terrific to see that this generation has been welcomed with open arms by those they protected. I was finally able to come full circle as a Vietnam veteran. I only wish all of my fellow 'Nam vets could have had the same experience.

Now this generation will also have the imprint of war on their souls. And it will be with them for each and every day of the rest of their lives.

"There are some events that are so overwhelming that you can't simply be a witness, and it will be with you all of your days...." From Vietnam in HD and The History Channel.



Charles M. Grist
Author of the award-winning book "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq"

Last Vietnam-Era Draftee Retires From the Army

From Military.com and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

*  *  *  *

Army Bids Goodbye to Last Draftee

September 30, 2010
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

He was a kid who didn't want to be a Soldier. There was a war in Vietnam and a peace movement in America.

But then he got the government's letter and soon found himself on a cold December morning in 1970 in front of a post office in Sumter, S.C., listening to a Soldier read names until he heard his: "Clyde Green!" With that, the 20-year-old kid climbed on the bus headed to a U.S. Army base.

"I didn't want to join the Army," Green said last week. "The Army came and got me."

When he retired as a chief warrant officer in a ceremony this morning at Fort McPherson, Ga. --- after 39 years, 9 months and 15 days of continuous active duty --- he became, by the best accounting, the last U.S. Army draftee who fought in Vietnam.

"It's hard for us to speak in absolutes," said Richard Stewart, chief historian for the U.S. Army Center of Military History. "We're not good at keeping records like that. As soon as we say he's the last, another four will pop up. But he's certainly one of the last."

Finding a purpose

It is hard to imagine now the days when soldiering wasn't always by choice, when supporting the troops could involve a great deal more than car decals and applauding troops in uniform in airports. Often, it meant you might be one of them. It also meant you might go to war and it meant you might not come back.

Green, 60, is perhaps the last human link to those days.

The Army ended the draft in 1973 and at least one other draftee is still on active duty. But he was drafted later than Green and didn't serve in Vietnam. Green couldn't imagine serving in Vietnam either. At the time, his brother Willie was already in the Army, serving in the Signal Corps and stationed at Fort Gordon in Augusta. But Green wanted no part of this man's Army.

"When I got that letter, I thought my whole world was ending," he said.

The bus ride, induction and boot camp in Fort Knox, Ky., in January confirmed there was, indeed, a new world order and Green was at the bottom of it --- freezing his fanny.

"It was cold and really tough at first," he said. "But then I kind of got where I enjoyed it, once I figured out who was in charge."

The discipline of military life he had feared became a comfort.

"I liked the order," he said. And his uncertainty about what to study in college was suddenly a riddle solved: "I really liked the idea of military intelligence."

For the next four decades the kid who grew up on a farm in South Carolina, whose dreams had once stretched no farther than Orangeburg and South Carolina State University, traveled the world and lived a Soldier's life. Over time, the reluctant draftee became the career Soldier.

Attitudes change

He rose from enlisted man to chief warrant officer in military intelligence and served extended tours in Italy and South Korea. He visited 41 countries and posted in places --- the Middle East, Asia and East Africa --- he barely knew of, along with two stretches in the place he can least forget: Vietnam.

Green served his first stint there from June 1971 to May 1972 as an "intelligence Soldier," deciphering information gathered in the field. He examined captured equipment to determine, for instance, how many rounds an enemy anti-aircraft gun could fire. He interrogated captured enemy Soldiers in a war that a growing number of Americans opposed back home.

That experience, as a Soldier serving his country without any choice and risking his life, without much appreciation, still stings.

"At the time, we weren't really loved by the American people," Green said. "I never personally experienced it, but there was hostility. It was a different time. People weren't as supportive of the military."

It would be 23 years before Green returned to Vietnam. By then he had fought in his second war, the Persian Gulf in 1990. And he found America a different place for a returning Soldier, even an old draftee, by then a bit grizzled, who had served in Vietnam.

"If you were in uniform in public, people would come up and start talking to you," he said, "and tell you what a good job you're doing."

His second trip to Vietnam came with the Vietnam Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (MIA/POW), to seek any prisoners of war still in captivity and determine what happened to more than 1,700 Americans still missing in action in Southeast Asia. From 1995 to 2001, he and his team searched, scoured for remains and interviewed scores of witnesses.

They found no POWs but determined the fate of three MIAs, one of them an Army captain who served in Green's unit when he was in Vietnam the first time. They didn't find Capt. Frederick Krupa's remains, but they determined he was killed.

"He was shot in a helicopter and fell out during an extraction, so we were able to list him as KIA [killed in action]," Green said.

'Served ... with distinction'

At today's ceremony, Lt. Gen. Richard P. Zahner will praise the man believed to be the Army's longest serving draftee as a Soldier who "has served his country with distinction and has touched the lives of countless men and women in uniform," and who has contributed immeasurably to the Army's Military Intelligence in his 30 years as a warrant officer.

Green's family from all over the country will be there: his sons Brian, 29, and Stephen, 27, and wife of 34 years, Veria. He'll live at Fort McPherson for two more months --- "I have to pay rent now" --- in what, fittingly, is the oldest house on base, built in 1887.

After that, he has a farm in North Carolina where he might settle, unless Veria wins that argument and they move to Arizona.

"I hope I can talk her into it," he said.

And if he doesn't, it won't be the first time Clyde Green's plans for the rest of his life changed.

*  *  *  *

To think that this guy was drafted two years AFTER I enlisted in the Army. The big difference is his commitment to continued service, unlike me who had three breaks in service.

Congratulations to my fellow Vietnam vet for a long career of service.

Charles M. Grist
http://www.mylastwar.com/

A Few Interesting Statistics About Vietnam Veterans and The Vietnam War

A fellow Vietnam veteran has forwarded some interesting statistics (below) about us that the average American might not know. Please share this information with the Vietnam veteran in your family.

(The above photo is a young Lieutenant Grist in Vung Tau in 1970. Note the Vietnamese beer, the grenade pins on the boony hat, and the compass in the upper left pocket of the jungle fatigues that is attached with a bootlace. Anyone remember things like this?)

Here is the article from my friend:

* * * *

"Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be 54 years old.

So, if you're alive and reading this, how does it feel to be among the last 1/3rd of all the U.S. Vets who served in Vietnam? Don't know about you, but kinda gives me the chills, considering this is the kind of information we are used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets.

These statistics were taken from a variety of sources to include: The VFW Magazine, the Public Information Office, and the HQ CP Forward Observer - 1st Recon April 12, 1997.

STATISTICS FOR INDIVIDUALS IN UNIFORM AND IN-COUNTRY VIETNAM VETERANS:

9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the Vietnam Era (August 5, 1964 - May 7, 1975).

8,744,000 GIs were on active duty during the war (Aug 5, 1964-March 28,1973).

2,709,918 Americans served in Vietnam, this number represents 9.7% of their generation.

3,403,100 (Including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the broader Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters).

2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1,1965 - March 28, 1973). Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964.

Of the 2.6 million, between 1-1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack.

7,484 women (6,250 or 83.5% were nurses) served in Vietnam.

Peak troop strength in Vietnam: 543,482 (April 30, 1968).

CASUALTIES:

The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1958. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named for him.

Hostile deaths: 47,378

Non-hostile deaths: 10,800

Total: 58,202 (Includes men formerly classified as MIA and Mayaguez casualties). Men who have subsequently died of wounds account for the changing total.

8 nurses died -- 1 was KIA.

61% of the men killed were 21 or younger.

11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old.

Of those killed, 17,539 were married.

Average age of men killed: 23.1 years

Enlisted: 50,274 22.37 years

Officers: 6,598 28.43 years

Warrants: 1,276 24.73 years

E1 (rank of private): 525 20.34 years

11B MOS (Infantry Military Occupational Specialty): 18,465 22.55 years

Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old.

The oldest man killed was 62 years old.

Highest state death rate: West Virginia - 84.1% (national average 58.9% for every 100,000 males in 1970).

Wounded: 303,704 -- 153,329 hospitalized + 150,375 injured requiring no hospital care.

Severely disabled: 75,000, -- 23,214: 100% disabled; 5,283 lost limbs; 1,081 sustained multiple amputations.

Amputation or crippling wounds to the lower extremities were 300% higher than in WWII and 70% higher than Korea.

Multiple amputations occurred at the rate of 18.4% compared to 5.7% in WWII.

Missing in Action: 2,338

POWs: 766 (114 died in captivity)

As of January 15, 2004, there are 1,875 Americans still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.

DRAFTEES VS.. VOLUNTEERS:

25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees. (66% of U.S.. armed forces members were drafted during WWII).

Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam.

Reservists killed: 5,977

National Guard: 6,140 served: 101 died.

Total draftees (1965 - 73): 1,728,344.

Actually served in Vietnam: 38% Marine Corps Draft: 42,633.

Last man drafted: June 30, 1973.

RACE AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian; 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% belonged to other races.

86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics);

12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.

170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.

70% of enlisted men killed were of North-west European descent.

86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were caucasian; 12.1% (5,711) were black; 1.1% belonged to other races.

14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.

34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.

Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.

Religion of Dead: Protestant -- 64.4%; Catholic -- 28.9%; other/none -- 6.7%

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS:

Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups.

Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent.

76% of the men sent to Vietnam were from lower middle/working class backgrounds.

Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.

Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.

79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. 63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation.

Deaths by region per 100,000 of population: South -- 31%, West --29.9%; Midwest -- 28.4%; Northeast -- 23.5%.

DRUG USAGE & CRIME:

There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group. (Source: Veterans Administration Study)

Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.

85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life.

WINNING & LOSING:

82% of veterans who saw heavy combat strongly believe the war was lost because of lack of political will.

Nearly 75% of the public agrees it was a failure of political will, not of arms.

HONORABLE SERVICE:

97% of Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.

91% of actual Vietnam War veterans and 90% of those who saw heavy combat are proud to have served their country.

74% say they would serve again, even knowing the outcome.

87% of the public now holds Vietnam veterans in high esteem.

INTERESTING CENSUS STATISTICS ABOUT THOSE WHO CLAIM TO HAVE "BEEN THERE":

1,713,823 of those who served in Vietnam were still alive as of August,1995 (census figures).

During that same Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country was: 9,492,958.

As of the current Census taken during August, 2000, the surviving U.S. Vietnam Veteran population estimate is: 1,002,511. This is hard to believe, losing nearly 711,000 between '95 and '00. That's 390 per day.

During this Census count, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country is: 13,853,027. By this census, FOUR OUT OF FIVE WHO CLAIM TO BE Vietnam vets are not.

The Department of Defense Vietnam War Service Index officially provided by The War Library originally reported with errors that 2,709,918 U..S. military personnel as having served in-country. Corrections and confirmations to this erred index resulted in the addition of 358 U.S. military personnel confirmed to have served in Vietnam but not originally listed by the Department of Defense. (All names are currently on file and accessible 24/7/365).

Isolated atrocities committed by American Soldiers produced torrents of outrage from anti-war critics and the news media while Communist atrocities were so common that they received hardly any media mention at all. The United States sought to minimize and prevent attacks on civilians while North Vietnam made attacks on civilians a centerpiece of its strategy. Americans who deliberately killed civilians received prison sentences while Communists who did so received commendations.

From 1957 to 1973, the National Liberation Front assassinated 36,725 Vietnamese and abducted another 58,499. The death squads focused on leaders at the village level and on anyone who improved the lives of the peasants such as medical personnel, social workers, and school teachers. - Nixon Presidential Papers."

* * * *

Now you know that the guy with the "Work for Food" sign next to the overpass is less likely to be a Vietnam veteran than the business or professional person that you deal with every day.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

I hope you will read my book, "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq."

Big Problems in Afghanistan

"Send us to war to win, or don't send us at all."
From the book "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq" by Charles M. Grist

I once read an assessment of the French campaign in Indochina, a hard-fought effort that ended with their defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 by the Viet Minh, the forerunners of the Viet Cong.

This assessment said that the French ultimately lost because they could not control the countryside. Because they limited their primary efforts to defending the cities and towns, the Viet Minh overran the small hamlets and villages, terrorizing and murdering anyone who opposed them.

The American stategy in Vietnam was to take the fight to the guerrillas, not limiting the war to the defense of the major cities, but using our airmobile capabilities to keep the enemy on the run. Our civil affairs soldiers worked hard to win "the hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people.

Of course, the political will of America was defeated by the willingness of the communists to simply outlast us. We were not defeated militarily in Vietnam; we were defeated politically. The peace talks that extracted us from Vietnam let the enemy wait until we were gone. Then the communists achieved their final victory.

Now it appears that the Obama administration's strategy may very well mimick the French. By giving up on the countryside and defending only the cities, the Taliban will have a free rein, and they will use this to cement their power among the people.

Furthermore, by telling the Taliban that we will begin withdrawing our forces from Afghanistan in 2011, we have given them a timetable. All they have to do is wait for us to leave. Then, like the Vietnamese communists, these Islamic fundamentalist fanatics will do what they want.

Once again, America is involved in a "half-war" in Afghanistan. If the war cannot be won, or if we are unwilling to do what must be done to win it, then we must pull our troops out now.

I was in Vietnam after the withdrawal had begun. As we endured our hazardous infantry missions in the jungle, we would joke that we didn't want to be the last G.I. to die in Vietnam.

I wonder if some of our troops in Afghanistan are now asking themselves the same question.

The following article and video are from Military.com and the Associated Press:

* * * *

Video Shows Taliban Swarm Former US Base
April 20, 2010
Associated Press

KABUL -- Taliban fighters swarmed over a mountaintop base abandoned last week by the U.S. military following some of the toughest fighting of the Afghan war, according to footage on a major satellite television station.

The video aired Monday by Al-Jazeera television is a morale booster for Taliban fighters, though the U.S. insists the decision to withdraw from the base in the Korengal Valley was sound and the area has no strategic value.

The footage showed armed men walking through the former U.S. base, which was strewn with litter and empty bottles, and sitting atop sandbagged gun positions overlooking the steep hillsides and craggy landscape. Fighters said they recovered fuel and ammunition. But a U.S. spokesman said ammunition had been evacuated and the fuel handed over to local residents.


"We don't want Americans, we don't want Germans or any other foreigner. We don't want foreigners, we want peace. We want Taliban and Islam -- we don't want anything else," one local resident said on the tape.

Another man identified by Al-Jazeera as a local Taliban commander said the militants intended to use the base for attacks on U.S. forces.

Maj. T.G. Taylor, a spokesman for U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, said the Americans destroyed major firing positions and observation posts before they left, and if militants tried to use the base "we have two companies that can do an air assault there anytime we want."

The pullout last week of the remaining 120 U.S. Soldiers from the Korengal was part of a strategy announced last year by the top U.S. and NATO commander, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to abandon small, difficult-to-defend bases in remote, sparsely populated areas and concentrate forces around major population centers.

Many of those outposts were established years ago to monitor Taliban and al-Qaida infiltration from Pakistan but proved difficult to resupply and defend.

Last October, about 300 insurgents nearly overran a U.S. outpost in Kamdesh located north of the Korengal Valley, killing eight Americans and three Afghan soldiers. It was the bloodiest battle for U.S. forces since an attack on another remote outpost in July 2008, when nine Americans died.

"When we repositioned our forces we knew that there was a real possibility of insurgent forces going into there, but we still believe that decision was the correct one based on the resources that we have available and the objectives that we want to achieve," said a U.S. spokesman, Col. Wayne Shanks.

The withdrawal from Korengal, which U.S. troops dubbed the "Valley of Death," marked the end of near-daily battles with insurgents in the 6-mile (10-kilometer) valley in Kunar province. More than 40 U.S. troops were killed there over the last five years.

They included three Navy SEALS who died in a 2005 ambush. Insurgents also shot down a helicopter carrying Special Forces sent to rescue the SEALS, killing another 16 Americans.

Also Monday, an American Soldier was killed and several wounded in an explosion at an Afghan National Army facility just outside the capital, Kabul, Shanks said. The blast originally was reported to have killed an Afghan soldier.

Afghanistan's intelligence service also announced the arrest of nine members of a militant cell and seized nearly a quarter-ton of explosives, foiling a plot to stage suicide bombings and other attacks in Kabul.

The cell could have been linked to five would-be suicide bombers arrested April 8 at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kabul. Officials said at the time the five were planning to hide out with a support network in the capital before launching attacks.

Intelligence service spokesman Saeed Ansari said four of the suspects were arrested Monday while traveling in a vehicle in the city's eastern district, while five others were picked up at an Islamic school in Kabul.

He said security forces also confiscated six rifles, two machine guns, two rocket-propelled grenades, 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of explosives, six suicide bomb vests and a vehicle. The dates of the arrests were not disclosed.

The suspects, one of whom was a Pakistani citizen, ranged in age from 16 to 55 and had been given specific responsibilities within the group such as arranging accommodation or transporting arms, Ansari said. Three of the group were identified as would-be suicide bombers, although Ansari said the cell possessed enough explosives and vests to equip up to six suicide attackers.

He said the group was acting under orders from a Pakistan-based Taliban faction, which rented a house in eastern Kabul, shipped weapons across the border, and provided funds for the purchase of a vehicle to be used in suicide attacks.

The last major attack within Kabul took place Feb. 26 when suicide bombers struck two small hotels in the center of the city, killing at least 16 people, including six Indians. Afghan authorities blamed the attack on Lashkar-e-Taiba, the same Pakistan-based Islamist militia that India blames for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people.

* * * *

As we old Florida boys like to say, it's time to either "fish or cut bait". As a retired solder, I say do what has to be done to win (including cleaning out the Al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan), or get out altogether. If you can't control the countryside, then the war cannot be won.

I have heard stories of troops in Afghanistan with insufficient water, ammunition, supplies, artillery, mortar, or air support. For the courageous American warriors who are giving 150% to complete this treacherous mission, such poor support is intolerable. I remember being told to "conserve ammunition" in Vietnam, a comment that reflected the inadequate support that we were receiving as our troops were being withdrawn.

After all, the original mission in Afghanistan was to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and those who planned, organized and executed 9/11.

The mission was not to bring the Afghans from the stone age to the modern era with only a handful of troops.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Marine Veteran Abie Gordon Dies: Veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam

This appeared in today's Orlando Sentinel:

* * * *

He served in 2 great Marine Corps battles

by Jeff Kunerth
Sentinel Staff Writer

Bill Gordon spread his father's life as a Marine across the soft green felt of the pool table.

There was the replica statue of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima that sat on top of the television in Abie Gordon's bedroom at his Longwood home. And the two photographs of that famous flag-raising autographed by the two photographers who were on that island with Gordon on Feb. 23, 1945.

There was the framed proclamation of his service in the Korean War with the inscription on the bottom: "We Few, We Chosin Few, We Eternal Band of Brothers" that hung on the living room wall and the framed acknowledgment of his Purple Heart that adorned the hallway.

There was his father's dress blue uniform that hung in a garment bag in his closet with its rows of medals and block of ribbons from service in World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam.

"These were things he got for doing his job," said Bill Gordon, 61, of Orlando. "From his point of view, in his eyes, I don't think he ever thought he did anything special."

Abie Gordon, the highly decorated Marine of 30 years and three wars, died Wednesday of complications from pneumonia. He was 89. His cremated ashes will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary with full honors.

Gordon, who joined the service at 17, saw action in two of the Marine Corps' most famous battles: Iwo Jima in World War II and Chosin Reservoir in Korea.

Iwo Jima was immortalized in the photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal and the Clint Eastwood movie Flags of Our Fathers. But Chosin Reservoir in 1950 is just as revered in Marine Corps lore for the 15,000 men who fought in sub-zero weather against 120,000 Chinese soldiers. The survivors became known as "The Chosin Few" and "The Frozen Chosin."

Gordon didn't tell his son much about either of those experiences, except to admonish Bill whenever he complained about his life being too hard: "Let me tell you what tough is - tough is fighting in 35-degree-below weather and outnumbered 10 to one."

Gordon enlisted in the Marines in 1938 and left in 1968, around the time his son, also a Marine, was fighting in Vietnam. Abie, in essence, grew up in the Marine Corps, finishing his high-school education in the Marines, earning his officer's rank on the battlefield, and leaving the service as lieuenant colonel.

In the process, he earned more than 30 ribbons and medals, including the Purple Heart for being wounded in Korea, the Bronze Star, and five Presidential Unit Citations.

"The Marines taught him everything he learned, and it was duty, honor and country," Bill said.

Abie Gordon raised his don by the code in which he lived: Right was right, wrong was wrong.

"It wasn't about his way or my way. It was always about the right way," Bill said.

Following his retirement to a home on a golf course in 1968, Abie Gordon had a seond career of sorts as a PGA-USGA rules official for 18 years. It was the perfect retirement job for him, his son said.

"He was a right-and-wrong kind of guy."

Abie Gordon also is survived by three grandchildren, Hannah, Nathan and Luke Gordon, all of Orlando.

Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home, Lake Ivanhoe Chapel, Orlando, is handling arrangements.

Jeff Kunerth can be reached at 407-420-5392 or jkunerth@orlandosentinel.com.

* * * *

We extend our condolences to the Gordon family, as well as our gratitude for Abie Gordon's service to America.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Colonel Bud Day - Ex-POW & Recipient of the Medal of Honor - On Torture

A lesson in "torture" from Colonel Bud Day. This was sent to me by a fellow Vietnam veteran:

* * * *

The prelude to the comments below, from Colonel Bud Day, Medal of Honor recipient - prisoner of war survivor:

"I didn't expect to be reminded of my treatment some 36 years ago on this holiday weekend but our politicians find it worthy to ignore what some have tried to recount to them, who have actually been there."

I was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967...a squadron commander.

After I returned in 1973, I published two books that dealt a lot with "real torture" in Hanoi. Our make believe president is branding our country as a bunch of torturers when he has no idea what torture is.

As for me..put thru a mock execution because I would not respond...pistol whipped on the head...same event. Couple of days later...hung by my feet all day. I escaped and got recaptured a couple of weeks later...I got shot and recaptured. Shot was okay...what happened after was not.

They marched me to Vinh...put me in the rope trick, trick...almost pulled my arms out of the sockets. Beat me on the head with a little wooden rod until my eyes were swelled shut, and my unshot, unbroken hand a pulp.

Next day hung me by the arms...rebroke my right wrist...wiped out the nerves in my arms that control the hands..rolled my fingers up into a ball. Only left the slightest movement of my left forefinger. So I started answering with some incredible lies.

Sent me to Hanoi strapped to a barrel of gas in the back of a truck.

Hanoi...on my knees...rope trick again. Beaten by a big fool.

Into leg irons on a bed in Heartbreak Hotel.

Much kneeling--hands up at Zoo.

Really bad beating for refusing to condemn Lyndon Johnson.

Several more kneeling events. I could see my knee bone thru kneeling holes.

There was an escape from the annex to the Zoo. I was the Senior Officer of a large building because of escape...they started a mass torture of all commanders.

I think it was July 7, 1969...they started beating me with a car fan belt. In first two days I took over 300 strokes...then stopped counting because I never thought I would live thru it.

They continued day-night torture to get me to confess to a non-existent part in the escape. This went on for at least 3 days. On my knees...fan belting...cut open my scrotum with fan belt stroke...opened up both knee holes again. My fanny looked like hamburger...I could not lie on my back.

They tortured me into admitting that I was in on the escape...and that my two room-mates knew about it.

The next day I denied the lie.

They commenced torturing me again with 3, 6, or 9 strokes of the fan belt every day from about July 11 or 12th...to 14 October 1969. I continued to refuse to lie about my roommates again.

Now, the point of this is that our make-believe president has declared to the world that we ( U.S. ) are a bunch of torturers. Thus it will be okay to torture us next time when they catch us...because that is what the U.S. does.

Our make-believe president is a know nothing fool who thinks that pouring a little water on some one's face, or hanging a pair of womens pants over an Arabs head is TORTURE. He is a meathead.

I just talked to MOH holder Leo Thorsness who was also in my squad in jail...as was John McCain...and we agree that McCain does not speak for the POW group when he claims that Al Gharib was torture...or that "water boarding" is torture.

Our president and those fools around him who keep bad mouthing our great country are a disgrace to the United States. Please pass this info on to Sean Hannity. He is free to use it to point out the stupidity of the claims that water boarding...which has no after effect...is torture. If it got the Arab to cough up the story about how he planned the attack on the twin towers in NYC...hurrah for the guy who poured the water.

BUD DAY, MOH

George Everett "Bud" Day (born February 24, 1925) is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and Command Pilot who served during the Vietnam War. He is often cited as being the most decorated U.S. service member since General Douglas MacArthur, having received some seventy decorations, a majority for actions in combat. Day is a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

* * * *

It's always nice to hear someone tell it like it is; especially when that person has "been there, done that".

By the way, the same people who did this to Bud Day are still in charge in Hanoi, Vietnam. Yet there are those who want to be "pals" with these animals. I still can't understand why any war veteran would want to visit Vietnam and break bread with such scumbags.

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Turning 60 – The Adventure of Life Continues

"A man is not old as long as he is seeking something." Jean Rostand

Sixty years ago today, I entered the world at twelve o’clock noon – just in time for lunch. I was raised in Central Florida by my parents, John and Claire Grist, who provided my sister Jeannie and me with a wonderful life. For my contemporaries who remember the old television show “Father Knows Best”, that was my life. Businessman father, homemaker mother, middle class neighborhood, old American values.

Like most people my age, I’ve experienced both success and failure over these many years. I’ve made some good decisions, but I’ve also made really bad ones. Such is the game of life. Debbie and I have spent thirty-five years together, we’ve raised four kids through good times and bad, and we now enjoy our four beautiful grandchildren. We haven’t done everything right, but we worked hard together and we did the very best we could.

I’m a lucky man and I know it. I’ve had the opportunity to serve my country in uniform during part of five decades. Even with the breaks in service, the active Army, the Florida Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve each had a piece of me in the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, the nineties, or now in the first decade of the 21st century. I am truly blessed to have served with some of America’s greatest citizens, warriors in each of those decades who stepped forward to fight for their country. I've served with them at war in both Vietnam and Iraq, and many of my comrades gave their lives defending the cause of liberty.

My Army retirement is effective today. Although I spent most of my military service as a sergeant (and I am damn proud of it), I am retiring as a first lieutenant, my old Vietnam platoon leader’s rank. I may very well take my wife to the officer’s club every now and then, but drinking a beer with my NCO buddies will always be my first priority. I was the last Vietnam veteran in my Army Reserve unit.

I am still fortunate enough to be able to work as a police officer, although it appears that I am now the oldest cop at the police department. That’s okay; when I was an Army lieutenant, there were those who said I was too young to be an infantry officer. As an old Army sergeant and an old police officer, there are some who may think I’m too old for those jobs. I didn’t listen in 1969 and I won’t listen today. When it came time to retire from the Army, I knew it was the right thing to do. I’m also the best one to decide when I will hang up the holster, the handcuffs and the badge. And I will be the last Vietnam veteran at my police department.

Throughout my life, I have sought one challenge after another. It is the quest to live life to the fullest that makes life worth living. As I enter my final years as a police officer, I will only look ahead for the next adventure. I will never give up, I will never quit, and I will always remember that Rangers lead the way.

Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to read the ramblings of an average soldier, a common man, and an old street cop.

The journey continues, so stick around. Let’s see what the future holds for me and for all of us…..

Charles M. Grist
www.TheRangerCop
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Military Doctor Salutes Our War Veterans

The following article was forwarded to me via e-mail by a retired police officer:

* * * *

SOON TO BE GONE

By a military doctor

I am a doctor specializing in the Emergency Departments of the only two military Level One-Trauma Centers, both in San Antonio, Texas and they care for civilian emergencies as well as military personnel. San Antonio has the largest military retiree population in the world living here. As a military doctor, I work long hours and the pay is less than glamorous. One tends to become jaded by the long hours, lack of sleep, food, family contact and the endless parade of human suffering passing before you. The arrival of another ambulance does not mean more pay, only more work.

Most often, it is a victim from a motor vehicle crash.

Often it is a person of dubious character who has been shot or stabbed. With our large military retiree population, it is often a nursing home patient.

Even with my enlisted service and minimal combat experience in Panama, I have caught myself groaning when the ambulance brought in yet another sick, elderly person from one of the local retirement centers that cater to military retirees. I had not stopped to think of what citizens of this age group represented.

I saw "Saving Private Ryan". I was touched deeply. Not so much by the carnage, but by the sacrifices of so many. I was touched most by the scene of the elderly survivor at the graveside, asking his wife if he'd been a good man. I realized that I had seen these same men and women coming through my Emergency Dept. and had not realized what magnificent sacrifices they had made. The things they did for me and everyone else that has lived on this planet since the end of that conflict are priceless.

Situation permitting, I now try to ask my patients about their experiences. They would never bring up the subject without the inquiry. I have been privileged to an amazing array of experiences, recounted in the brief minutes allowed in an Emergency Dept. encounter. These experiences have revealed the incredible individuals I have had the honor of serving in a medical capacity, many on their last admission to the hospital.

There was a frail, elderly woman who reassured my young enlisted medic, trying to start an IV line in her arm. She remained calm and poised, despite her illness and the multiple needle-sticks into her fragile veins. She was what we call a "hard stick". As the medic made another attempt, I noticed a number tattooed across her forearm. I touched it with one finger and looked into her eyes. She simply said, "Auschwitz". Many later generations would have loudly and openly berated the young medic in his many attempts. How different was the response from this person who'd seen unspeakable suffering.

Also, there was this long retired Colonel, who as a young officer had parachuted from his burning plane over a Pacific Island held by the Japanese. Now an octogenarian, he had a minor cut on his head from a fall at his home where he lived alone. His CT scan and suturing had been delayed until after midnight by the usual parade of high priority ambulance patients. Still spry for his age, he asked to use the phone to call a taxi, to take him home, then he realized his ambulance had brought him without his wallet. He asked if he could use the phone to make a long distance call to his daughter who lived 7 miles away. With great pride we told him that he could not, as he'd done enough for his country and the least we could do was get him a taxi home, even if we had to pay for it ourselves. My only regret was that my shift wouldn't end for several hours, and I couldn't drive him myself.

I was there the night M/Sgt. Roy Benavidez came through the Emergency Department for the last time. He was very sick. I was not the doctor taking care of him, but I walked to his bedside and took his hand. I said nothing. He was so sick, he didn't know I was there. I'd read his Congressional Medal of Honor citation and wanted to shake his hand. He died a few days later.

The gentleman who served with Merrill's Marauders, the survivor of the Bataan Death March, the survivor of Omaha Beach, the 101 year old World War I veteran, the former POW held in frozen North Korea, the former Special Forces medic - now with non-operable liver cancer, the former Viet Nam Corps Commander.

I remember these citizens.

I may still groan when yet another ambulance comes in, but now I am much more aware of what an honor it is to serve these particular men and women.

I have seen a Congress who would turn their back on these individuals who've sacrificed so much to protect our liberty. I see later generations that seem to be totally engrossed in abusing these same liberties, won with such sacrifice.

It has become my personal endeavor to make the nurses and young enlisted medics aware of these amazing individuals when I encounter them in our Emergency Dept. Their response to these particular citizens has made me think that perhaps all is not lost in the next generation.

My experiences have solidified my belief that we are losing an incredible generation, and this nation knows not what it is losing. Our uncaring government and ungrateful civilian populace should all take note. We should all remember that we must "Earn this".

* * * *

According to my e-mail friend, this was written by Captain Stephen R. Ellison, M.D., United States Army.

Thanks to the many veterans of past wars who walk unnoticed among us every day.

Thanks also to the doctors like this man who have sacrificed so much to protect the lives of their fellow citizens.

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Remember the Troops at Christmas

During the Christmas season of 1970 in Vietnam, I managed to get to the Bien Hoa Army Base for the Bob Hope Christmas show. I remember that the stars who appeared with him included the Golddiggers, Miss World, and Johnny Bench. I was only twenty-one years old.

After the show, I returned to our brigade headquarters at Firebase Mace where I spent Christmas Eve. I later wrote about that night:

* * * *

“We were playing cards on this particular holiday night, drinking a lot of beer and feeling somewhat melancholy when we heard mortar rounds begin to hit the firebase. We were reminded that another soldier was recently wounded by a mortar only a few feet from our tent and the hole was still in the ground.

We looked at each other and someone said “Should we take shelter?” Almost in unison we said “Nah…” and continued to play cards. The explosions from the mortars stopped shortly thereafter.

I decided to take a break, so I walked to the bunker line along the perimeter. It was dark and I looked up at the moon and the stars as I thought about my family back in Orlando and how they must be enjoying the holidays.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of weapons firing near a village in the valley below. When I looked into the darkness of the valley, I saw tracer rounds arching into the sky. I recognized the red tracers of the friendly troops, but then I saw the green tracers of the enemy being fired in the opposite direction.

I don’t know why it struck me as funny (sick, war-time G.I. humor, I guess), but I realized that the tracers being fired by each side were the Christmas colors of red and green. All that could be seen in the darkness of the valley were the colored tracers as they crossed each other’s path.

For no particular reason, I softly sang, ‘Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…’”

* * * *

Please remember our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in your Christmas prayers. We can all feel very safe this year because they are taking care of us in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places throughout the world.

I especially wish a safe Christmas to Aaron Self, Kristi Self, and Chad Higginbotham, the members of the C.O.B.R.A. Team family who are once again at war.

I miss you guys…

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Death Takes Heroic South Vietnamese General

My military historian friend forwarded the following article about the death of a courageous South Vietnamese general who not only served his fellow citizens, but who worked closely with his American counter-parts:

* * * *

Pham Van Dong; Army General In Vietnam Praised for Bravery

By Joe Holley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 8, 2008; B07

Pham Van Dong, 89, a major general in the South Vietnamese army and the military governor of Saigon when the city fell to North Vietnamese forces in 1975, died Nov. 26 of congestive heart failure at his home in Philadelphia. He was a former Arlington County resident.

Gen. Dong fought with the French against Japan during World War II and later served as a lieutenant colonel in the French army. He was one of the few soldiers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who had been a French officer.

"He was a very brave and capable man," said Neil Sheehan, a reporter for United Press International during the Vietnam War and the author of "A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam" (1988). "American advisers regarded him as the most professional officer in the ARVN."

Sheehan said that he and fellow reporter David Halberstam of the New York Times relied on Gen. Dong as a valuable source of information, not only about military strategy and why the Viet Cong were winning but also about the internecine maneuverings within the ARVN itself. He was willing to talk to reporters, discreetly, even though it put him at risk of arrest, or worse.

Gen. Dong "was one of our most helpful informants," Sheehan wrote in "A Bright Shining Lie." "He obtained statistics we needed and details of how the Viet Cong were creating their new big battalions through a general at Joint General Staff headquarters who had been one of his subordinates in the North during the French war. I spent an evening at his house transcribing the information."

Pham Van Dong, who bore the same name as the prime minister of North Vietnam, was born in Son Tay, Vietnam, and grew up in Hanoi. Family members going back several generations had been teachers in the imperial court, and Gen. Dong also planned to be a teacher. He enrolled in the Ecole Normale d'Instituteurs but dropped out in 1938 and enlisted in the French colonial army. He became the first Vietnamese officer to command French troops.

A member of Vietnam's Nung ethnic minority, a group with a Gurkha-like reputation as fierce fighters, he later commanded the 3rd Field Division, made up entirely of Nung soldiers.

From 1950 to 1952, he served in various field commanding-officer positions and participated in a number of major battles and campaigns against communist forces in northern Vietnam. In 1952, as a lieutenant colonel, he commanded the 2nd Mobile Group. A year later, he was appointed commanding officer of the Bui Chu subzone and commander of light infantry and artillery forces of northern Vietnam.

As the war in Indochina peaked, he was appointed commander of the Quang Yen Military Academy and in 1954 redeployed the academy and all its personnel to southern Vietnam. After the Geneva Convention partitioned Vietnam, he moved south with his family.

In 1959, then-Col. Dong -- who as a young man had taught himself English -- attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Returning to Vietnam, he was appointed deputy commander of South Vietnam's III Corps.

After the 1963 coup d'etat that toppled the government of Ngo Dinh Diem, he was appointed commander of the 7th Division. He then served briefly as military attache to the Republic of China (Taiwan). When he returned, he was made brigadier general and then major general, and served as military governor of Saigon-Gia Dinh and commander of the Special Capital Zone.

"He was regarded by American advisers as an equal. That was very unusual," said Sheehan, who also recalled that Gen. Dong would put the American advisers to work when they were with him in the field.

When Saigon fell, Gen. Dong and his family were able to leave the country on a C-130 military transport that took them to Guam.

"He was devastated," said his son, Hiep Pham. "He felt he betrayed his men. I think it was a sensation he carried through his whole life."

With Sheehan as their sponsor, the Dong family eventually settled in Arlington County, where Gen. Dong bought a secondhand car, insisted that family members eat American food and worked to get them acclimated to their new life. He occasionally served as a translator for the Defense Department before retiring in the early 1980s. He moved to Philadelphia in 1998 after the death of his first wife, Le Thi Li, in 1992.

Survivors include his wife of 10 years, My-Lan Trinh, of Philadelphia; five children from his first marriage, his son, of Montgomery Village, and Misha Hung Pham of Falls Church, Mickey Bich-Ha Pham of Fairfax County and Pam Bich-Hang and Bic Bich-Hai Pham, both of San Diego; three stepdaughters from his second marriage; a brother and sister; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

* * * *

We extend our sympathies to the general's family.

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

My Last Few Days in Uniform

When I was a young soldier in Officer Candidate School back in 1969, the oldest man in our class was a guy named Callahan. The “old” man was a thirty-two-year-old sergeant first class, but he was also a combat veteran with multiple awards for valor, several Purple Hearts and a variety of other awards.

Naturally, since he was the oldest officer candidate in the class, all of us youngsters gave Callahan a mighty hard time. He was a tough guy and he would stare us down and tell us, “Don’t worry, kids; you’ll be where I am some day.”

Well, I not only reached his age, but I have almost doubled it. Since I will turn sixty in February, my somewhat disjointed, off-and-on Army “career” is finally coming to an end. There is a bittersweet quality about it, but I know it’s almost time to take the uniform off for the last time.

I am blessed to have met and/or served with veterans who fought in America’s wars from World War II to Iraq and Afghanistan. I have lost count of the number of uniform changes over the years, but I have a few examples of each one. The duffle bags in my attic are filled with old “fatigues” from basic training, jungle fatigues from Vietnam and all the other versions up to the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) of today. In over thirty years of total service, I have shared both good and bad times with the men and women of the active Army, the Army Reserve or the Florida Army National Guard.

It’s only natural that I always carry the memories of American soldiers I knew who died in combat. I’ve touched names on the Vietnam wall in Washington, D.C. of kids who died as teenagers or older soldiers who left wives and children waiting at home. I’ve known young men and women who entered the deserts of Iraq with determination and courage whose futures were ended before they began. I will forever feel the empty spaces inside my soul for the shortened lives of my comrades, for the parents who never saw their “babies” alive again and for the children who never knew the heroic souls that were their moms or dads.

There are many soldiers who have seen more wars than me or who have experienced worse episodes of combat. Retired Lieutenant General Hal Moore (We Were Soldiers Once and Young) and his First Cav troopers at LZ X-ray come to mind as an example of warriors who ventured far deeper into the pit than I.

Still, I have managed to evade Death in two separate wars. The bullets, mortars, rockets and even the crash landing of an airplane failed to take me out. I’m extraordinarily fortunate to have survived my two tours without so much as a scratch. Unlike others, I don’t carry the external scars of war, but I guess all of us have a few of the internal scars. Regardless, we remain members of America’s warrior class and we consider our service a source of pride that we will carry with us to our graves.

Next week is my last week in uniform. On December 3 (the fortieth anniversary of my enlistment in the Army in 1968), I have one last medical exam. The next day I will out-process and begin my terminal leave which will last until January 31, 2009. I will return to police work on February 1 and my Army retirement is effective a month later when I - it’s still hard to say – turn SIXTY.

A handful of Vietnam veterans continue to serve in the military and some of them are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I wish them well, but I also wish I could be with them. I’m the last Vietnam veteran in my Army Reserve unit and I don’t mind saying that there’s a bit of pride in being the last old guy in my battalion. (The above picture is what the young lieutenant looked like just before he left for the ‘Nam.)

As my ancestors did before me, I leave the military to a younger, capable force of dedicated men and women. Our nation is in good hands and one day these youngsters will also hand off the defense of America to their own children and grandchildren. “Old soldiers never die,” said General Douglas MacArthur, “they just fade away.”

The “American Ranger” blog will continue, although it will probably become more of an “old retired soldier’s” blog. I will still write about the heroic men and women of our military services and I will vigorously defend our liberties with the pen (or the computer keyboard). However, the day will never come when I am unwilling to pick up the sword once again in the defense of my beloved America.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me in my military service over several decades. I honor each of you as well as the families of our warriors. I will continue to support all that you do for our veterans in whatever way I can.

May God bless America’s warriors, their families and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

“This is Cobra One, out…”

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com

Marine Vietnam Vet Awarded Silver Star After 40 Years

It’s always nice to see a fellow Vietnam veteran (and fellow cop) honored, even if it’s long past due:

* * * *

Orlando-area man receives Silver Star for Vietnam heroics 40 years later

Gary Taylor
Staff Writer
Orlando Sentinel
November 28, 2008

For decades, Frank Ambrose never questioned why he didn't receive a medal for a firefight in Vietnam that killed or wounded everyone in his 15-man patrol.

After all, a medal wouldn't bring back the friends he lost that day outside Da Nang when his group of Marines stumbled upon two battalions of the North Vietnamese Army.

"We didn't care about medals back then," Ambrose said. "That was the last thing on our minds."

The enemy soldiers were just as surprised as the outnumbered Americans that day -- Feb. 7, 1968 -- which might be the reason Ambrose lived to talk about the ordeal and to hold the Silver Star he was recently awarded 40 years late.

About half his patrol was killed that day, including the Marines on either side of Ambrose when a rocket-propelled grenade hit as they took cover in a roadside ditch. "It blew all three of us out of the ditch."

He was hit above the eye by shrapnel that is still there. "My face was covered with blood," he said.

"I was the only one left conscious in the front group," he said, recalling how he stood his ground with a machine gun until another group of Marines arrived, alerted by a call from the patrol's radio man just as the attack began.

Although Da Nang was attacked by the North Vietnamese Army, it was the only major city in South Vietnam that didn't suffer a major attack, and Ambrose thinks it was because his patrol interrupted the enemy as they were preparing to launch it.

"If they had known we were coming, they would have set up a better ambush for us," he said.

But neither side was ready for the battle. "My flak vest was open," Ambrose said.

"I just opened up," he said, firing "every place I saw a muzzle flash."

At one point, so many bullets were hitting the ground in front of Ambrose that it felt as though his face was being sandblasted.

Gathering ammo from fallen Marines, Ambrose fired for 30 to 40 minutes before the first medevac helicopter arrived. "I was told to get on it," he recalled.

Instead, he got more ammunition and continued firing. He watched as more than 20 enemy soldiers ran across a dike in a rice paddy, and he shot as many of them as he could.

A somber expression crossed Ambrose's face as he talked about that.

"Every one of them had mothers, dads, sisters, brothers. That's something to think about."

When a second helicopter arrived, Ambrose climbed aboard. He could see enemy soldiers running, so he got ammunition from the helicopter's gunner and continued shooting.

"I just opened up on them," he said. "I don't know whether I hit anybody or not. I shot till I got out of range."

Soon after Ambrose arrived at a hospital, a one-star general and a gunnery sergeant showed up with a tape recorder to ask him about the firefight and told him he had been recommended for a medal. The award never came, and Ambrose never asked about it. At the time, he was a private first class, but Ambrose left the military a lance corporal.

After his discharge, Ambrose returned to Central Florida and spent more than 20 years in law enforcement, most of it with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. He and his wife of 28 years, Barbara, live in Longwood. They have two sons, both in the Air Force.

About four years ago, Ambrose attended a military reunion and ran into one of the Marines he helped save during the firefight. The man asked what medal Ambrose received, and Ambrose told him he didn't get one.

"The next thing I know, the colonel was talking to me," Ambrose said.

That was Col. William K. Rockey, his retired battalion commander, who never knew that Ambrose didn't receive the Silver Star for his actions that day.

Earlier this year, Ambrose, 60, received a phone call telling him the president had given him the award.

"They asked me where I wanted to receive it," said Ambrose, who asked if it could just be mailed to him.

Not hardly, he was told. "They told me I could pick any military base in the world."

Ambrose had never been back to Parris Island, S.C., where he reported as a recruit, so that was his choice.

In September, with a 40-member Marine Corps band playing, and with all the pomp and pageantry he likes to avoid, Ambrose received his medal.

A lot had changed in 40 years. The first time Ambrose was at Parris Island, he walked around with a drill sergeant's nose stuck to the back of his head, Ambrose said.

"This time I was the guest of the commanding general for four days."

Gary Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7910.

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Congratulations to former lance corporal and retired law enforcement officer Frank Ambrose.

Charles M. Grist
www.TheCobraTeam.com
www.AmericanRanger.blogspot.com