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

Farewell To Warrior Dan McKinney

Sergeant First Class Dan McKinney in Iraq

“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”― Heraclitus

At four a.m. this morning, I woke up to the sound of some drunk driver hitting my mailbox with his side mirror. After I went outside to check the damage, I realized that I would never be able to fall asleep again, so I checked my email.

Awaiting me was the news that my long-time friend, Sergeant First Class Dan McKinney, had passed away. He was not just my friend; he was the friend to countless numbers of his fellow Americans, especially to those who – like him – had been wounded in action. Dan and I had both served in Vietnam at different times, just as we would both serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom in different years. We were also both law enforcement officers. He worked for the feds; I was a city cop.

I wrote about Dan years ago after he was wounded in Iraq, and I related the story of his heroic actions. That article appeared in the Orlando Sentinel here:  http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2005-09-24/news/GRIST24_1_dan-mckinney-iraq-wounded and also here in my blog where I referenced the Sentinel article: http://americanranger.blogspot.com/2006/12/bravery-under-fire.html .

One incident I did not discuss was a training mission in the Army Reserve where Dan and I showed the youngsters how a couple of Vietnam vets could kick their asses.

The mission required a company sized infantry defense, with booby traps, listening posts, and about a hundred soldiers. Their mission was to defend against the ominous threat of the two of us. That’s right. We were the “Viet Cong” sappers, and before the night was over we had successfully “blown up” much of the interior of their perimeter (including trucks and generators) and “assassinated” their commander.

Of course, no one was really hurt by the two old guys dressed in black, but we enjoyed teaching them a lesson they would never forget.

Dan lived a life full of meaning and sacrifice. As a wounded warrior himself, he became an inspiration to countless other wounded warriors by helping them and their families recover from terrible life-changing injuries. He not only displayed courage in Iraq when he was severely wounded by a suicide bomber, but his recovery from those devastating wounds was also an example of immense courage.

America has lost one of its best warriors. The Army has lost one of its most valuable members. All of us who serve, or have served, have lost a friend.

Godspeed, Dan. Hold a place on the perimeter for me….

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com 

Vietnam Veteran Receives Purple Heart 45 Years Later

All I can say is, “It’s about time….”

****

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/

****

Posted by:

Charles M. Grist

www.MyLastWar.com

War Veterans And PTSD

First Lieutenant Chuck Grist
Shortly before Christmas, 1970 , Northeast of Saigon

In three weeks, I will turn 64. I retired from the Army Reserve in 2009 (with service in Iraq as well as Vietnam). In 2010, I retired after twenty years as a police officer.

Back in 1970, I arrived in Vietnam as a twenty-one-year-old Army Ranger lieutenant. I would serve as an infantry platoon leader in combat where I would experience the deaths of men I knew as well as participate in the killing of the enemy soldiers who wanted to kill us.

Every day was lived on "red alert" where you were ready for something terrible to happen. When there was no action, there was the threatening silence of the jungle around you that was filled with bad guys. Who wouldn't remember most of this, no matter how long ago it happened?

Before you read the article below on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), check out this LINK to an article about the general statistics of Vietnam veterans. You will probably be surprised, and you will also learn that the guy with the work for food sign at the overpass is probably NOT a Vietnam veteran.

I encourage my fellow Vietnam veterans, my fellow post-9/11 veterans, or the veterans of any war to seek help if you need it. You are my brothers and sisters and I care about you.

No veteran of any war can escape the curse of the memories, those ghosts that often come to you in the dark of night. Some can handle the memories just fine, but others cannot.

As a poster in the local Veteran's Administration clinic says, "It takes the strength of a warrior to ask for help."

The following article from Stars and Stripes talks about retiring Vietnam veterans like me and the possibility that PTSD might rise from the shadows even forty years after the war:

*  *  *  *

Retirement might unleash PTSD symptoms in Vietnam veterans

By Leo Shane III
Stars and Stripes
June 20, 2012

WASHINGTON — It took Sam Luna more than 35 years to get treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I didn’t realize anything was wrong,” the combat-wounded Vietnam veteran said. “I thought I had adjusted well after I came back. I had a job, I had a family, everything looked great from the outside.”

But shortly after he retired in 2004, his anxiety attacks and stress levels increased. A trip to his local Veterans Affairs hospital triggered war memories. The former soldier started to notice the hair-trigger temper his wife had complained about for years.

He found himself thinking more often about the war — and the friends he lost.

“It was like I had a black box on the mantel for years, but I could ignore it when I left for work every day,” he said. “When I retired, it was still sitting there, waiting for me.”

Mental health experts say that kind of delayed trauma isn’t unusual. Major life events such as retirement often trigger personal reassessment and forgotten memories.

But for Vietnam veterans who returned decades ago to a harsh reception and limited mental health options, that could mean a new wave of stress and serious psychological issues as their generation enters retirement age.

The average age of a Vietnam vet is 65 years old. More than 5 million of the nation’s more than 7 million Vietnam-era veterans are between 60 and 70 years old, according to data from the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics.

An additional 1 million are expected to turn 60 within the next five years.

“A lot of people coped with the traumatic experiences in war by throwing themselves into work when they got home,” said Tom Berger, director of the health council at Vietnam Veterans of America. “Now, after being a workaholic for 40 years, they suddenly don’t have that structure in their life anymore. I expect there will be more and more folks seeking out help for those issues.”

But Berger and other veterans advocates worry that if there is a flood of new cases, the already struggling VA mental health system won’t be able to handle it.

In retrospect, Luna said, his PTSD should have been obvious.

His wife, Gloria, said after he returned from Vietnam, the 22-year-old soldier never spoke about the war or his injury. He punched walls when he got angry. He stewed in silence over things that caused him stress, and he lashed out at her and their children when it became too much.

“I knew he was different, but I figured that just happens when men come back from war,” she said.

For his part, Luna said he just “forgot” everything he saw overseas. He blocked out the stress of patrols in hostile areas, the men who got hit by sniper fire and the snare trap that shot a wooden spike through his right leg.

Once he was well enough to do so, he found work with the Texas criminal justice system as a probation officer and threw himself into his career.

“I just didn’t want to deal with that stuff,” he said. “I didn’t think there was anything I needed to deal with.”

John Edwards, a rifleman who was entering Vietnam the same year Luna was leaving, said he saw the same pattern in his war experience. After two years of violent scenes and close calls, he just wanted to return home to a “normal” life. He found success in a series of technology firms. He was diagnosed only recently — more than 40 years after his return — with PTSD.

“I didn’t feel right, and someone told me I should go in [to the VA] and talk with someone,” he said. “It wasn’t about getting benefits for me. It was about getting help.”

He’s getting that help now. Berger said it’s a common story heard by those at Vietnam Veterans of America, one that shows the need for mental health services for all ages.

But he worries an influx of cases like his could overburden the VA medical system.

“They just don’t have the resources to handle that,” he said.

Last year, more than 476,000 veterans received treatment for PTSD from VA hospitals and clinics, up dramatically from about 272,000 in fiscal 2006.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans make up a large portion of that increase but still account for only about one-fifth of all PTSD patients. More than half of the new cases come from earlier wars.

In response to the demand, VA officials have added almost 7,000 new mental health specialists in the last six years. But in April, the VA inspector general sharply criticized department officials for overly optimistic estimates on wait times for mental health appointments.

Fewer than half of patients requesting an initial evaluation were seen within two weeks, and many facilities took months to schedule even basic visits.

VA officials have promised changes, vowing to hire 1,600 new mental health professionals nationwide and to fill 1,500 existing open positions across the country.

Dr. Matthew Friedman, executive director of the VA’s National Center for PTSD, said officials haven’t begun preparing for a wave of retiring Vietnam veterans seeking mental health care.

In the past, they have issued alerts around anniversaries or other large public events that might trigger war flashbacks — when the movie “Saving Private Ryan” was released, for example — about the possibility of new patients, but studies haven’t shown a significant jump in therapy visits following those markers.

“But anecdotally, I can tell you I’ve seen a lot of veterans [following notable dates or events] who just want to talk informally with someone,” he said. “We know anniversaries are important, and they evoke a lot of memories.”

The Defense Department last month launched its 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War, pushing those veterans’ experiences and memories to the forefront again.

Barbara Van Dahlen, founder of the nonprofit counseling organization Give an Hour, said the combination of that and the veterans’ ages create a “perfectly normal” situation for mental health issues to resurface.

“I don’t want to suggest that all of these veterans will need professional help,” she said. “But it’s a situation where the memories and the emotions are bubbling up. For some, it’ll be a conversation with their children or their wife, sharing things they wanted to before didn’t feel like they could. Some will need more help. The important thing to know is that it’s normal and important to address those issues, and not just to shove it away again.”

Veterans of Foreign Wars deputy director Gerald Manar, a Vietnam veteran, noted that he saw more visitors to the Vietnam Wall on Memorial Day last month. It wasn’t just veterans either, he said. Many families were there, asking questions and listening to stories.

“Vietnam veterans were slapped with a lot of unfair labels when they came home,” Manar said. “Millions went off to war, served with distinction and honor, and then came back to be major contributors to the middle class. But that doesn’t mean they dealt with everything.”

Friedman said from a treatment perspective, the age or combat era of a mental health patient doesn’t really matter.

“PTSD is PTSD,” he said, noting that recent advances in treating younger vets can be easily translated to older generations.

Luna, who is in counseling with the VA to deal with his PTSD, works with Vets’ Journey Home Texas, running weekend therapy retreats for veterans of all eras. They mainly work with younger veterans, in the hopes they can deal with their war traumas more quickly and more definitively than the older generations. But he said he’s also started hearing from a large number of Vietnam veterans who have just retired.

Said Luna: “America has no idea what the Vietnam vets are still going through.”

shanel@stripes.osd.mil
Twitter: @LeoShane

*  *  *  *

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

The Extraordinary Story of Medal Of Honor Recipient Roy Benavidez

Master Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez

The following video was sent to me by a fellow Vietnam veteran. I knew about Green Beret medic Roy Benavidez, but I never knew the details of his unbelievable valor in combat. Benavidez died in 1998.

Please take a couple of minutes to learn about a real American hero. This guy makes Rambo look like a Boy Scout:



Direct link to video:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=RZ7968BbMnU&vq=medium

I hope you will share this with your friends.

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

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

Memorial Day 2010 - Remembering Our Lost Warriors

I have fought a good fight
I have finished my course
I have kept the faith.

Timothy 2:4:7

I remember the 18-year-old kid from Tennessee who let me use his transistor radio, the baby-faced private from North Carolina with the big grin, the staff sergeant and the two sergeants stretched out in body bags at my feet. All of their names are on the Vietnam wall because they gave their lives for their country.

I also remember one particular lieutenant.

Late in 1970, after several months as an infantry platoon leader, I got sick as a dog one morning after we returned to the firebase. At first the medics thought it was malaria, but it was another miserable jungle virus, and I was laid up in the rear area for about a month. Unfortunately, another lieutenant was sent to take over my platoon.

When I recovered, I asked the battalion commander to re-assign me to another platoon in the field. He said he would let me fill the next platoon leader vacancy. When the lieutenant for the second platoon of Bravo Company rotated back to the States, I politely reminded the battalion commander of his promise.

He was nice about it, but he said he was sending another lieutenant to take over that platoon. I had gotten to know this young officer from our chess games in a firebase bunker. He was a West Point graduate and a career officer who needed the field time, so the commander said I could have the next platoon.

Less than two weeks later, the West Pointer and his men walked up on an NVA bunker complex. Along with several other soldiers, he was killed when a North Vietnamese soldier detonated a Chinese claymore mine. If I had been in command of that platoon as originally planned, I would have been the one killed.

Years later I stood in front of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. and stared at the engraving of the lieutenant's name. Only a quirk of fate put his name there instead of mine.

There are now those from Iraq and Afghanistan who don’t yet have their own place in Washington, D.C., but whose names will one day appear on a monument for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. They have sacrificed everything in this new war just because their country needed them.

From Bunker Hill to Baghdad, America’s warriors have given their lives to defend this nation and its allies from those who would enslave or kill our fellow citizens. On battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries throughout the world, we continue to lose our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers as they protect our way of life with honor and valor.

Those of us who have fought in America’s wars will never forget the faces of our comrades. We will remember them when they were laughing, sharing a meal, missing their families or lying dead in a body bag. They will always be in our hearts and souls.

We hope that, on this Memorial Day, all of you will remember them, too.

Charles M. Grist
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."

American Ranger - The New Road Ahead

Well, the final countdown is on. I will retire from the police department at the end of this month, which means only twelve more workdays because of our 12-hour shifts.

I know I haven’t had many postings on “American Ranger” recently. For that, I apologize. However, I have been re-evaluating how I will handle the blog after I retire. I started it in 2006 in preparation for my last two years on active duty. At that time, I anticipated I would deploy again to Iraq or even to Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, my unit would never release me to deploy, and I spent those last two years training and mobilizing the soldiers who did go to war. Yes, training is an important job, but there is still nothing like being “at the front” with your fellow warriors, doing the job you were trained to do.

Now I will be a retired cop as well as a retired soldier. But I’m still a “full-time” American, so there is always much to be done – even as a civilian. The only thing really happening is that one door is closing even as another opens. This old warrior cop will never really retire.

For now, I plan to spend more time promoting my book, a lot of time writing the next one, and a little time reflecting on where I am in life. I also plan to spend more time with my wife, Debbie, and together we will walk this unknown, exciting path into our future.

Trust me, “American Ranger” will continue. I will continue to support America’s warriors (whether soldiers or cops), and I will work to spread the word of what America is all about. Like most of you, I am concerned about the direction upon which the current administration has embarked. Real Americans will ultimately fix the problem, and that fix must begin with the Congressional elections in the fall.

Thanks to all of you who have read and supported “American Ranger.” Join me in the next phase of my life. Call it “American Ranger Unleashed”, if you will.

The adventure of life goes on.

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

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

Chuck Norris Turns 70

Vietnam veterans have always approved of Chuck Norris (or else). No, really; the man was among the first actors to portray Vietnam vets as patriotic, courageous warriors. For that, we shall be eternally grateful. See the following list of "facts" about Chuck Norris from Tom Cullen. Caution: Parental judgement suggested for some of these:

* * * *

Mar 10th 2010 By Tom Cullen

This man has been kicking people square in the head for 70 years ... to the day.

That's right, Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris woke up this morning (actually Chuck Norris doesn't sleep, he waits) at the ripe old age of three score and 10. And there's no question that he could still kick your organs inside-out just for breathing the same air as he does.

Anyway, despite our best efforts we could not find an address for Mr. Norris to send him a birthday cake (made of nunchucks), so we've had to settle with a round up of our favorite Chuck Norris facts. One bonus fact first: As decreed by Mr. Norris himself, Norris facts don't have to actually be, uh, true.

Keep reading and enjoy ...

1. Since 1940, the year Chuck Norris was born, roundhouse-kick-related deaths have increased 13,000 percent.
2. On his birthday, Chuck Norris randomly selects one lucky child to be thrown into the sun.
3. Chuck Norris mistakenly sent Jesus a birthday card on Dec. 25. Jesus was too scared to correct Chuck Norris and to this day Dec. 25 is known as Jesus's birthday.
4. Chuck Norris was born three months premature, because he had asses to kick.
5. Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother's womb.
6. And on the first day Chuck Norris was created ... and he took care of everything else later that afternoon.
7. Chuck Norris once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are known today as giraffes.
8. Chuck Norris can set ants on fire with a magnifying glass. At night.
9. Chuck Norris drives an ice cream truck covered in human skulls.
10. Chuck Norris can touch MC Hammer.
11. James Cameron wanted Chuck Norris to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
12. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.
13. Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
14. Chuck Norris once ate a whole cake before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.
15. Chuck Norris sleeps with a pillow under his gun.
16. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
17. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday.
18. Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
19. Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch. HE decides what time it is.
20. Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves.
21. They once made a Chuck Norris toilet paper, but there was a problem: It wouldn't take shit from anybody.
22. Police label anyone attacking Chuck Norris as a Code 45-11.... a suicide.
23. The original title for Alien vs. Predator was Alien and Predator vs Chuck Norris.
24. Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and got one.
25. There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.
26. If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.
27. Chuck Norris has the greatest Poker-Face of all time. He won the 1983 World Series of Poker, despite holding only a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game UNO.
28. Chuck Norris got a blow up doll pregnant.
29. Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
30. There is no chin behind Chuck Norris' beard. There is only another fist.
31. In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Chuck Norris could use to kill you, including the room itself.
32. It takes Chuck Norris 20 minutes to watch 60 Minutes.
33. Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
34. Chuck Norris uses a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris.
35. Aliens DO indeed exist. They just know better than to visit a planet that Chuck Norris is on.
36. When you say "no one's perfect", Chuck Norris takes this as a personal insult.
37. Chuck Norris once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"
38. Chuck Norris never wet his bed as a child. The bed wet itself out of fear.
39. If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris.
40. Chuck Norris CAN believe it's not butter.
41. We live in an expanding universe. All of it is trying to get away from Chuck Norris.
42. Chuck Norris invented black. In fact he invented the entire spectrum of visible light. Except pink. Tom Cruise invented pink.
43. Chuck Norris played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
44. Chuck Norris' first job was as a paperboy. There were no survivors.
45. When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn't lifting himself up -- he's pushing the Earth down. Observe ...


46. A Handicapped parking sign does not signify that this spot is for handicapped people. It is actually in fact a warning, that the spot belongs to Chuck Norris and that you will be handicapped if you park there.
47. Chuck Norris is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.
48. The phrase 'dead ringer' refers to someone who sits behind Chuck Norris in a movie theater and forgets to turn their cell phone off.
49. What was going through the minds of all of Chuck Norris' victims before they died? His shoe.
50. Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic didn't hit an iceberg. The ship was off course and accidentally ran into Chuck Norris while he was doing the backstroke across the Atlantic.
51. Godzilla is a Japanese rendition of Chuck Norris' first visit to Tokyo.
52. When Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets mad, he turns into Chuck Norris.
53. Human cloning is outlawed because if Chuck Norris were cloned, then it would be possible for a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to meet another chuck Norris roundhouse kick. Physicists theorize that this contact would end the universe.
54. There are no such things as tornadoes. Chuck Norris just hates trailer parks.
55. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
56. Chuck Norris and Mr. T walked into a bar. The bar was instantly destroyed, as that level of awesome cannot be contained in one building.
57. Chuck Norris does not follow fashion trends, they follow him. But then he turns around and kicks their ass. Nobody follows Chuck Norris.
58. The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.
59. When Chuck Norris says "More cowbell," he MEANS it.
60. Chuck Norris once sued Burger King after they refused to put razor wire in his Whopper Jr., insisting that that actually is "his" way.
61. Every time someone uses the word "intense", Chuck Norris always replies "you know what else is intense?" followed by a roundhouse kick to the face.
62. If, by some incredible space-time paradox, Chuck Norris would ever fight himself, he'd win. Period.
63. Chuck Norris invented a language that incorporates karate and roundhouse kicks. So next time Chuck Norris is kicking your ass, don't be offended or hurt, he may be just trying to tell you he likes your hat.
64. When an episode of Walker Texas Ranger was aired in France, the French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.
65. Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
66. In a fight between Batman and Darth Vader, the winner would be Chuck Norris.
67. The square root of Chuck Norris is pain.
68. Chuck Norris once participated in the running of the bulls. He walked.

* * * *

Happy Birthday, Chuck!

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

"My Last War" Wins "Richard Boes Memorial Award" from Reader Views Literary Awards

I am pleased to report that "My Last War" has won the Richard Boes Award from Reader Views Literary Awards. The award is sponsored by Modern History Press and the awards criteria is "Best debut book by a veteran (fiction or memoir)."

The award is named for Richard Boes who enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam in 1969 - 1970 with the First Air Cav. He was the author of two books, The Last Dead Soldier Left Alive (2007), a firsthand inquiry into why thousands of Vietnam veterans have committed suicide, and Last Train Out (2008). Right up to his death, he was writing a third, In the Valley of Dry Bones. He passed away on February 21, 2009 at the VA Hospital in Albany, N.Y.

This is an exceptional honor, especially since I also served with the First Air Cav (1970 - 1971).

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

A Fellow Cop Retires

He's a private guy, so I'll just call him Gary. By the time I joined our police department, he had been there for ten years. He retires this week after thirty years on the job. Before he made the decision to become a law enforcement officer, he courageously served his country as a door gunner in Vietnam, one of the most dangerous jobs in the Army.

When you think of a cop, this is the guy. He's worked patrol, risked his life on a motorcycle as a traffic cop, hunted down burglars and car thieves as a street crimes officer, and solved murders, robberies and scores of other crimes as a detective. Only recently, Gary and a couple of our other officers apprehended a bank robber only a block from the bank, recovering the money, the gun, and making sure not one single innocent person was hurt.

Except for his first few years, he's been a cop at the same police department for his entire career. As he has watched the older officers retire, Gary has mentored the younger cops who followed them. He is respected by his peers, by the citizens he has served, and even by the bad guys he's put in jail.

We will all miss him. I will miss our breakfasts at McDonalds, we will all miss his sense of humor, and the department will never be the same after his departure. We've talked about the fact that one door may be closing, but another will open. There is no doubt he will continue to serve his family and his community in some important way.

Gary reminds me that my own retirement is not far behind. As it was for me in the Army, so shall it be for us old guys at the police department. It is time to turn it all over to the young lions - the new, energetic cops who have followed us into a challenging profession. I'm not ready to go yet, but it won't be that much longer for me either.

Over the years, I have taught soldiers one important thing. Throughout history, there has always been one segment of society who was willing to protect everyone else; one group of men and women willing to stand between the innocents of the world and those who would hurt them. This part of society is the Warrior Class; the soldiers carry the weapons they must use against foreign enemies - the cops carry the guns that must sometimes be used against those who would hurt us here.

Gary has spent his life as a member of the Warrior Class. We should all be thankful for his service. I am grateful for his friendship and for his personal example of what a cop should be.

Godspeed, my friend...

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Remember Our Troops at Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving Day in 1970, my platoon and I worked our way toward a landing zone where we were scheduled to receive a Thanksgiving dinner as part of a resupply. A few hundred meters short of the landing zone, we stumbled upon a North Vietnamese bunker complex which was, thankfully, unoccupied.

It was a gigantic complex, complete with large bunkers and even classrooms. We had to clear every single structure, but there were no bad guys or enemy supplies. I radioed the coordinates to my company commander, and we moved to the landing zone to wait for the resupply helicopter.

A couple of Red Cross girls (we called them Donut Dollies) were on the chopper, and they delivered our turkey, stuffing and other food. It was great to see a couple of attractive "round-eyed" girls. We were out in the jungle with enemy soldiers not very far away, but the touch of Americana raised everyone's spirits.

Just as we were about to enjoy the food, we received word that our unit was dropping gas on the bunkers we had cleared. This was an effort to make them unusable for the enemy. Unfortunately, those making the drop misjudged the wind, and we started to get a little tingling in our eyes.

We had to pack up everything, including the Thanksgiving meal and the Donut Dollies, and move to another landing zone a long distance away. The girls weren't used to moving through the jungle, so they were understandably a little scared about the proximity of the bad guys.

We eventually made it to the other landing zone and enjoyed the meal. The Red Cross girls flew away on the helicopter while we moved out on our next mission - with full stomachs and renewed energy.

Today, in Iraq, Afghanistan and other lesser known places around the world, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are holding the line in the war on terror. They have placed their lives on the line for all of us, and some of them have made the ultimate sacrifice.

Remember them in your prayers on Thanksgiving. Without their efforts, this would be a much different world.

For my fellow warriors who may read this, may God protect you this day and every day. You are indeed appreciated by those you left behind...

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Upcoming Interview on my book: "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq"

Please check out this link for information about an upcoming radio interview about the book. As we get more information out via my publicist, we hope to have more of these events.

Please check out the website for the book at www.MyLastWar.com and recommend it to your friends.

If you happen to read it, I would love to hear from you at my email address of TheRangerCop@aol.com.

Thanks!

Charles M. Grist
www.MyLastWar.com

Book Trailer for "My Last War"

Take a look at the book trailer for "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq". Then take a look at the website at www.MyLastWar.com.



Thanks for checking in with "American Ranger".

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

The Book About the C.O.B.R.A. Team is Here!

I am pleased to announce that my book, "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq" is available as of this week. I hope you will visit my new website at www.MyLastWar.com. You can learn about the book, view the book trailer, and, hopefully, buy the book!

As many of you know, finishing "My Last War" has been an adventure. Some of you previewed earlier versions, but I am proud of the finished product.

I have been honored to serve with warriors in two separate conflicts a generation apart. It is my sincere wish that my fellow veterans of Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom will enjoy the story of the C.O.B.R.A. Team as told by this old Vietnam vet.

I hope you will also let me know how you like the book by commenting here or by sending me an email at TheRangerCop@aol.com.

As of today, the book is available through Barnes and Noble's website and my publishers website. MyLastWar.com will be updated regularly as new outlets are added including Amazon.com.

Thanks for checking out "American Ranger" and I hope you enjoy the book.

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

A Father, A Son, And A Tattered Flag

Here's story from AOL about a Vietnam veteran, his son who served in Iraq, and a tattered American flag (another such flag shown above):

* * * *

Dad Refuses to Take Down Tattered Flag
By Suleiman Wali, for AOL News

(Aug. 5) - It might be strange to hear that there's an uproar over an American flag that's being displayed by a Vietnam veteran in honor of his son who's serving in Iraq. But it's not who's displaying it that's got many people in a Fresno, Calif., neighborhood upset -- it's what the flag looks like.

Tattered and torn, Louis Haros' flag still flies above the front lawn of his home, despite months of protests from several neighbors. But Haros, 71, has refused to bring it down until his son, Paul, returns from his second tour of duty in Iraq.

"I made a promise to my son and I'm going keep it," Haros told AOL News Wednesday. "He was the one who put it up, and he would be the one to bring it down."

That ceremony will come soon. Paul Haros, 39, has already returned from Iraq. He had been undergoing medical check-ups at a military base in Wisconsin this week and is scheduled to be reunited with his father in Fresno on Thursday.

"When he comes back, we'll replace it with new one that a motorcycle club gave me," Haros, a veteran of the Vietnam war, said.

Haros said the flag his son put up was originally in "good shape," but that the weather took its toll.

"I never dreamed it would get in the condition it had gotten," he said.

Now, faded and with a huge tear across the bottom, the flag has become an eyesore for many people in the military-heavy block.

"One of my neighbors banged on my door late one night and brought me a new flag to put up," Haros said. "They didn't want to listen to me about why I had my flag up. They just said it was a disgrace."

Haros acknowledges that with the recent media attention he's gotten, his detractors have calmed down. But some neighbors are still upset.

"I'd been watching that flag fall apart," Bryan Walters Sr., a Navy veteran, told FoxNews.com. "It had been getting more and more tattered every day, and it was just breaking my heart."

* * * *

A Vietnam veteran made a promise to his Iraq war veteran son, and I support his efforts to keep that promise. When the son takes down the flag, it will be a greater tribute to that flag than simply exchanging it for a new one from K-Mart...

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

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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