Vietnam War Veterans Association

09/15/2021

Heres the group at Kokomo Vietnam Veterans Reunion

08/02/2021

"Went through Benning jump school with Captain Richard Flaherty but he was a 2nd LT at the time. On break one time a PFC came up to us as we sat just visiting. He asked LT Flaherty how tall he was. Flaherty told him 4' 9" soldier, why do you ask?” The guy must have realized he was talking to an Officer and got nervous and said, “I don’t know Sir you just look funny.”
The LT jumped up to full height and replied, “Soldier I’m a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army! I’m not funny, I’m unique!”
No s**t this really happened, I was there." - Roger D. James

Picture below is of 2nd Lt. Flaherty standing next to one of the tallest soldiers. At 4' 9" 97lbs Green Beret Captain Richard Flaherty is believed to be the smallest man to ever serve in the US military. He earned the Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars, & 2 Purple Hearts for his service during the Vietnam war. The book, The Giant Killer was written about his incredible life.

07/28/2021

American Hero!
Patrick Gavin Tadina is pictured here in an undated photo wearing North Vietnamese Army fatigues and carrying an AK-47. A 30-year Army veteran who was the longest continuously serving Ranger in Vietnam and one of the war's most decorated enlisted soldier.

Patrick Gavin Tadina served in Vietnam for over five years straight between 1965 and 1970, leading long range reconnaissance patrols deep into enemy territory -- often dressed in black pajamas and sandals, and carrying an AK-47.

A native of Hawaii, Tadina earned two Silver Stars, 10 Bronze Stars -- seven with valor -- three Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry, four Army Commendation Medals, including two for valor, and three Purple Hearts.

His small stature and dark complexion helped him pass for a Viet Cong soldier on patrols deep into the Central Highlands, during which he preferred to be in the point position. His citations describe him walking to within feet of enemies he knew to be lying in wait for him and leading a pursuing enemy patrol into an ambush set by his team.

In Vietnam he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, 74th Infantry Detachment Long Range Patrol and Company N (Ranger), 75th Infantry.

Tadina joined the Army in 1962 and served in the Dominican Republic before going to Southeast Asia. He also served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury in 1983 and with the 1st Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

A 1995 inductee into the Ranger Hall of Fame, he served with "extreme valor," never losing a man during his years as a team leader in Vietnam, a hall of fame profile at Fort Benning said.

Some 200 men had served under him without "so much as a scratch," said a newspaper clipping his daughter shared, published while Tadina was serving at Landing Zone English in Vietnam's Binh Dinh province, likely in 1969.

Tadina himself was shot three times and his only brother was also killed in combat in Vietnam, Stars and Stripes later reported.

The last time he was shot was during an enemy ambush in which he earned his second Silver Star, and the wounds nearly forced him to be evacuated from the country, the LZ English story said.

As the point man, Tadina was already inside the kill zone when he sensed something was wrong, but the enemy did not fire on him, apparently confused about who he was, the article stated. After spotting the enemy, Tadina opened fire and called out the ambush to his teammates before falling to the ground and being shot in both calves.

He refused medical aid and continued to command until the enemy retreated, stated another clipping, quoting from his Silver Star citation.

"When you're out there in the deep stuff, there's an unspoken understanding," he told Tate in 1985. "It's caring about troops."

After retiring from the Army in 1992, he continued working security jobs until 2013, Poeschl said, including stints in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Giant Killer page celebrates these unique warriors. To learn about the smallest man to ever serve in the US military that became a Green Beret Captain and War Hero please check out the book, The Giant Killer available as a Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook on Amazon and other major retailers.

Story Source Military .com

05/16/2021

SAILORS - OLD SCHOOL!
· A Sailor will walk 10 miles in a freezing rain to get a beer but complain about standing a 4 hour quarterdeck watch on a beautiful, balmy spring day.
· A Sailor will lie and cheat to get off the ship early and then will have no idea where he wants to go.
· Sailors are territorial. They have their assigned spaces to clean and maintain. Woe betide the shipmate who tracks through a freshly swabbed deck.
· Sailors constantly complain about the food on the mess decks while concurrently going back for second or third helpings.
· Some Sailors have taken literally the old t-shirt saying that they should “Join the Navy. Sail to distant ports. Catch embarrassing, exotic diseases.”
· After a long sea deployment, Sailors realizes how much they miss being at sea. After getting out of the Navy, they consider taking a cruise and visiting some of their past favorite ports. Of course they'll have to pony up better than $5,000 for the privilege. To think, Uncle Sam actually had to pay Sailors to visit those same ports while they were in.
· Sailors can spend two years on a ship and never visit every nook and cranny or even every major space aboard.
· Campari (Italian liqueur considered an aperitif) and soda taken in the warm Spanish sun is an excellent hangover remedy.
· E-5 is the almost perfect military pay grade. Too senior to catch the crap details, too junior to be blamed if things go awry.
· Never be first, never be last and never volunteer for anything. And everyone knows what NAVY stands for = Never Again Volunteer yourself. 🙂
· Almost every port has a “gut.” An area teeming with cheap bars, easy women and parties. Kind of like Bourbon St., but with foreign currency.
· If the Guardia Civil tell you to “Alto,” you’d best alto, right now. Same goes for the Carabinieri, gendarmes and other assorted police forces. You could easily find yourself in that port’s hoosegow or shot.
· Contrary to popular belief, Chief Petty Officers do not walk on water. They walk just above it. That’s only the “BLACK SHOES“. The “Airdales” - or "Brown Shoes" - think they fly, but that’s a myth.
· Sad but true, when visiting even the most exotic ports of call, some Sailors only see the inside of the nearest pub.
· Also under the category of sad but true, that lithe, sultry Mediterranean/Asian beauty you spent those wonderful three days with and have dreamed about ever since, is almost certainly a grandmother now and buying her clothes from Omar the Tent maker.
· A Sailor can, and will, sleep anywhere, anytime.
· Do not eat Mafunga or Balut ever!
· Yes, it’s true, it does flow downhill.
· In the traditional “crackerjack” uniform you were recognized as a member of United States Navy, no matter what port you were in.
· Most Sailors won’t disrespect a shipmate’s mother. On the other hand, it’s not wise to tell them you have a good looking sister.
· Sailors and Marines will generally fight one another, and fight together against all comers.
· If you can at all help it, never tell anyone that you are seasick.
· Check the rear dungaree pockets of a Sailor. Right pocket a wallet. Left pocket a book.
· The Sailor who seemed to get away with doing the least, always seemed to be first in the pay line and the chow line.
· General Quarters drills and the need to evacuate one’s bowels often seem to coincide.
· Speaking of which, when the need arises, the nearest head is always the one which is secured for cleaning.
· Four people you never screw with: the doc, the cook, the disbursing clerk and the ship’s barber.
· In the summer, all deck seamen wanted to be Signalmen. In the winter they wanted to be Radiomen.
· Do snipes ever get the grease and oil off their hands?
· Never play a drinking game which involves the loser paying for all the drinks.
· There are only two good ships: the one you came from and the one you’re going to.
· Whites, coming from the cleaners, clean, pressed and starched, last that way about 30 microseconds after donning them. The Navy dress white uniform is a natural dirt magnet.
· Sweat pumps operate in direct proportion to the seniority of the official visiting.
· Skill, daring and science will always win out over horsesh*t, superstition and luck.
· We train in peace so that in time of war the greater damage will be upon our enemies and not upon ourselves.
· "Pride and professionalism" trumps "Fun and zest" any day.
· The shrill call of a bosun's pipe still puts a chill down my spine.
· Three biggest lies in the Navy: We're happy to be here; This is not an inspection; We're here to help.
· Everything goes in the log.
· Rule 1: The Chief is always right. Rule 2: When in doubt refer to Rule 1.
· A wet napkin under your tray keeps the tray from sliding on the mess deck table in rough seas, keeping at least one hand free to hold on to your beverage. (Maybe on a carrier. On a Tin Can, one hand holds the tray level with the drink on it with one hand while eating with the other.)
· Never walk between the projector and the movie screen after the movie has started.
· A guy who doesn't share a care package from home is no shipmate.
· But...if I had to do it all over again, I would. Twice.
· When I sleep, I often dream I am back at sea.
· Good shipmates are friends forever.

03/29/2021

03/16/2021

This was a bad ass Boatswains Mate.

In the history of the U.S. Navy only seven men have earned all of the “Big Three” valor awards: Medal of Honor, Navy Cross and Silver Star Medal. Six were World War II officers, including one aviator and four submarine commanders. The seventh was enlisted sailor James Elliott “Willy” Williams in Vietnam.
In 1947, Williams, a 16-year-old from Fort Mill, South Carolina, enlisted in the Navy with a fraudulent birth certificate. His first 19 years in the Navy included service aboard the destroyer USS Douglas H. Fox during the Korean War and tours on a variety of naval vessels from 1953 to 1965.
In May 1966 Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Williams was assigned to River Squadron 5 in South Vietnam to command Patrol Boat, River 105. The approximately 30-foot fiberglass boat usually carried a four-man crew who patrolled inland waterways to prevent the Viet Cong from using them to transport troops and supplies.
On July 1 Williams led a patrol that came under fire from a Viet Cong sampan. His deft maneuvers and accurate fire killed five VC and resulted in capture of the enemy boat, earning Williams a Bronze Star Medal with a “V” for valor. Twenty-two days later the capture of another sampan brought Williams a second Bronze Star for valor. Less than a month later, he received a Silver Star and his first Purple Heart.
On Halloween, Oct. 31, 1966, Williams was commanding a two-boat patrol on the Mekong River when he was fired on by two sampans. He and his crew killed the occupants of one and then went after the other. That pursuit put the Navy boats into a VC staging area containing two junks and eight sampans, supported by machine guns on the river banks. Williams called for helicopter gunship support while holding the enemy at bay. During this movement he discovered an even larger force. Not waiting for the armed helicopters, Williams attacked. Maneuvering through devastating fire from enemy boats and the shore, his two-boat patrol fought a three-hour battle that destroyed or damaged 65 VC boats and eliminated some 1,200 Communist troops. For his actions, Williams was nominated for the Medal of Honor.

On Jan. 9, 1967, the Navy dredge Jamaica Bay was blown up by mines in the Mekong Delta, and PBR-105 arrived to pick up seven of the survivors. Another man was trapped in the rapidly sinking dredge. Williams dove into the water and, with a rope attached to a nearby tug, pulled clear an obstruction, then swam through a hatch to recover the sailor.
Six days later Williams was wounded while leading a three-boat patrol that interdicted a crossing attempt by three VC heavy-weapons companies of 400 fighters. He and his boats accounted for 16 VC killed, 20 wounded and the destruction of nine sampans and junks. Williams was awarded the Navy Cross.
When Williams returned home in spring 1967, he had a list of awards unmatched by any enlisted man in Navy history. He retired after 20 years of service and began a career in the U.S. Marshals Service.

03/12/2021

Before he died last month artist, Steve Maloney created a traveling artwork, documentary and book to thank veterans