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A few yrs back Frank down the road was having a log cabin built. He was retiring from a long distinguished military career. A friend of mine was the contractor and I was asked to do some work on the cabin. Frank was living on the land in an old house left to him by his dad. I got to know him and he is a great guy. He told me he was a Green Beret but the mold didn’t fit. He didn’t seem like a hard ass or anything and didn’t talk much about his career. About an hour ago, I was surffing through the charnels and caught the start of a show on TLC, “Special Forces Untold Stories/ Green Berets”. A few minutes into the show, there’s Frank on the screen telling the story of Lang Vei. He was one of the Green Berets that were trapped in an underground bunker. There were 22 Green Berets and 400 Montagnard and South Vietnamese irregulars with 40,000 enemy troops nearby. They went through hell on earth in the bunker, gunfire, fragmentation grenades, teargas and a hell of a C4 explosion through a ventilation shaft. Finally between the choice of staying and dyeing or going out with a slim chance of survival they went out. Frank was 1 of 8 that survived. It shocked the hell out of me that my neighbor had lived through such a thing. It’s unbelievable what a human being can go through and come out the other side o.k. Anyhow, I see Frank now in a different light with even more respect. I’m gonna make it point to thank him for his service next time I see him.
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Thank him for me, too, kc. That generation is one of our best and bravest, and modest, too.
*Same here, channel surfing and caught that show. It inspired me to check the internet and find my old army buddy. Called and talked to him for the first time since 1971. He turned out to be a plumber. I went back to Lang Vei and Khe Sanh 5 years ago and it just absolutely looks like nothing ever happened there.
*i it just absolutely looks like nothing ever happened there. Lonecat, not sure if you mean vegetation-wise, but if you do, it's easy to understand why what you saw is true. Ever drive on a non-metropolis highway? The "weeds" come up through the pavement!
*I caught that show too, please extend my thanks to him as well. What they went through, and the way they handled an ever-worsening situation makes me more grateful than I can say.
*I have been thinking about the dedication of our service people relative to the discussions on this board. Ask Frank how much he was making at the time, eight maybe nine dollars an hour to get shot at?Kinda makes pissy clients pale in comparison!
*Most things in building, business and indeed life, pale in comparison to what those guys have done, seen and been through. And all to fight for the very freedoms we enjoy right here. It just puts things in perspective for me.
*Only got as close as LZ Stud to Khe Sanh when the First Cav was getting ready to relieve the place. Looked like the horror landscape in a Disney animation background. Indeed a small world - my building inspector may have been a door gunner for a trip or two I took in that country - the OR tech that helped put me in La-La Land for a Mt Palomar telescope exam was an Army medic at Khe Sanh while the 26th Marines were stuck there. We were all soldiers once, and young, and would live forever. 58,000 of us never got the chance. You cannot tell what's in a person by what's on the outside. Go read about Desmond Doss, who won a Congressional Medal of Honor on Okinawa in 1945. 7th Day Adventist, Medic, unarmed, brave man, unassuming man. Still alive, living in rural north GA.My hat's off to all of them, and then some.Don
*My hats off to you also Don and 58,000 who didn't make it back. I don't know how anyone goes through these things. I'm sure glad I live in a country where men haven't been afraid to find out how they will get through.Merry Christmask
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A few yrs back Frank down the road was having a log cabin built. He was retiring from a long distinguished military career. A friend of mine was the contractor and I was asked to do some work on the cabin. Frank was living on the land in an old house left to him by his dad. I got to know him and he is a great guy. He told me he was a Green Beret but the mold didn't fit. He didn't seem like a hard ass or anything and didn't talk much about his career. About an hour ago, I was surffing through the charnels and caught the start of a show on TLC, "Special Forces Untold Stories/ Green Berets". A few minutes into the show, there's Frank on the screen telling the story of Lang Vei. He was one of the Green Berets that were trapped in an underground bunker. There were 22 Green Berets and 400 Montagnard and South Vietnamese irregulars with 40,000 enemy troops nearby. They went through hell on earth in the bunker, gunfire, fragmentation grenades, teargas and a hell of a C4 explosion through a ventilation shaft. Finally between the choice of staying and dyeing or going out with a slim chance of survival they went out. Frank was 1 of 8 that survived. It shocked the hell out of me that my neighbor had lived through such a thing. It's unbelievable what a human being can go through and come out the other side o.k. Anyhow, I see Frank now in a different light with even more respect. I'm gonna make it point to thank him for his service next time I see him.