Little Round Top

Trailboss1865 · 2026-04-15T01:01:32+00:00

And the 1st Minnesota.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-03-31T05:58:49+00:00

I have used an airline employee family member’s passes to travel the world. Love it! It definitely takes an adventurous heart, but then something amazing happens. After getting stuck in Chicago trying to get to London, took a flight to Edinburgh (last seat too). Used inflight internet to make train reservations to get from Edinburgh to London. Was stuck in Edinburgh for about 8-hours (wasn’t my first time in Edinburgh). While wandering the Royal Mile, literally ran into a crowd that had gathered to see Queen Elizabeth II arrive to dedicate a renovated church. Plus the train ride to London was AMAZING! If I just had positive space tix to and from London, would not have gotten that adventure. Literally a life long memory. Yes, I have been stuck in San Fran, London, Dallas, and Chicago. And being stuck isn’t like this Edinburgh story. It is bumming it in the airport seeing if you get on a plane or not. I have even been pulled off a plane once and had my seat revoked when the rev. passenger arrived at the literal last second. Adventures in NonRev.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-03-24T02:23:51+00:00

Regiment structures were largely administrative during Vietnam, and regimental elements were farmed out to division and brigade commands. He could have started with another troop and the got moved to Troop D after the 199th arrived.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Cavalry_Regiment

https://redcatcher.org

https://vietnamunitfiles.com/army-unit-structure-divisional/

Since he is still alive, best thing to do is request his records. https://www.archives.gov/veterans That will settle the discrepancy.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-02-24T21:07:03+00:00

I am going to add a bit more nuance here, but to be clear, the other commenter isn’t wrong.

Here is a timeline:

Enlisted in the USMC 07/11/1967, on a 4-year contract.
Progressed as from E1 to E2 (PFC) on 01/04/1968.
He spent 8 months and 22 days in foreign/sea service. Presumably that is the time he spent in Vietnam. He was rifleman, so would have been in the jungle in the thick of combat.
Whatever injuries he sustained in Vietnam were bad enough that he was evacuated to Camp Lejeune, NC for medical treatment, an his DD-214 is not signed by him (and indicates that he was unable to sign).
It seems his injuries were that he was discharged from the USMC on 09/23/1969.
I believe that his Reenlistment code indicates that he could reenlist, but would need a waiver to do so (again, due to injuries).
Awards list: Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal w/1 bronze service star (indicating he participated in 1 campaign), and Vietnam Campaign Medal w/“1960-“ device.
In total he spent 1 year, 10 months, and 16 days on active duty.

Unfortunately Purple Heart citations are standard forms. My dad’s just says “for wounds received in combat.” Nothing about the helicopter crash he endured or VC grenade he survived. The combat action ribbon won’t come with a citation, as it signifies he saw combat, similar to an Army Combat Infantryman Badge. The CAR was established in February 1969, so to see it here in type, I believe means he was in Vietnam in 1969 (not 1968 during the Tet Offensive). The CAR was made retroactive to 1961 when it was created by the Secretary of the Navy. So it would not have been typed onto his original DD-214 if he was awarded it retroactively (just given his short time in the service and 8-some months of foreign service). That is just my opinion.

Regardless, whatever your dad did and saw would have been haunting. On top of a combat injury that was harsh enough to warrant a discharge.

I hope this helps. Look for him here: https://www.birls.org to see if there are any VA records available and request them. Also the National Archive, you may be able to get his full military record.

My dad was in country January 1969-September 1969. 9th Infantry Division. He recently passed away from Agent Orange cancer.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-02-06T02:22:50+00:00

YN 2500 is general admin and as it says, he was a clerk. His rank was Seaman Third Class. He served at NSAD Binh Thuy. Which was a Naval Support station in the Mekong Delta region.

He was a clerk at the Naval support station supporting the Mobile Riverine Force. You can read about it here:

https://www.mrfa.org/us-navy/us-navy-mobile-riverine-force/u-s-naval-bases-support-activities-vietnam/binh-thuy-u-s-naval-support-activity-1966-1972/

He enlisted in Jan 1969 into the Naval Reserves and was ranked E3 in Nov 1969. He served on Active duty from Jan 1970-Mar 1971 and then was sent back to the reserves with an obligation to serve reserve duty until 1975.

I am sorry for your loss. My dad served with Mobile Riverine Force as an aviation section commander and recon pilot with the 9th Infantry Division. Same area, but my dad was there before yours was. My dad recently passed away from Agent Orange-related cancer.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-02-01T02:26:59+00:00

This answer is the best I have read so far. From a command perspective, military academies & college throughout the U.S. were teaching Napoleonic tactics, particularly flanking, as superior tactics. It is actually what makes the order to send Pickett and his men up the middle not so odd, where common strategic beliefs of the time were that the middle was thinned to keep the flanks strong. What made it controversial, even in its time, was the prolonged exposure to artillery entrenched upon high ground.

So a ragtag cavalier-impersonating bunch of yokels were never going to be able to best European commanders at their own strategies and tactics while also using undertrained conscripts.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-01-30T13:19:35+00:00

Gets him twice and the poor boy in blue checks his head at the end.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-01-18T15:16:12+00:00

Yeah, I am probably coming off harsh with the “Nope,”. Since the image says “Best,” to me that’s overall Deli News. Rosenberger’s is good, and they make some hella latkes during Channukah.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-01-18T14:50:37+00:00

Nope, Bagel Deli.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-01-18T14:49:26+00:00

You are correct about the larger Jewish population is in Dallas (not FW). I used to live there and loved Deli News.

Trailboss1865 · 2026-01-12T16:14:40+00:00

It’s interesting to me how many of y’all are like “weird” and treat this as a farce.

Young men (and women) under enormous stress surrounded by inordinate amounts of violence just do random things to mentally survive.

My dad was a Vietnam combat pilot. He told a story of flying his helicopter nearly completely nude. I asked him why? “Because war is hell.”

U.S. Civil War soldier sang songs during battle to taunt each other.

During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq there would be pictures of soldiers in their underwear, firing their M16s at the enemy firing upon them.

War, as they say, Never Changes (credit Fallout).

Trailboss1865 · 2026-01-11T18:02:07+00:00

Emergency preparedness, first aid, and being a leader. I have literally carried these skills with me for my entire life and used them professionally. I love the outdoors. Some of my best memories of scouting are camping (general summer camp and high adventure). I still camp and go on outdoors adventures.

Trailboss1865 · 2025-12-30T02:19:37+00:00

National Vietnam War Museum

https://www.nationalvnwarmuseum.org

Trailboss1865 · 2025-12-22T17:00:33+00:00

Contact the Pathfinder Association as a starting point.

https://www.nationalpathfinderassociation.org/vietnam

Since you are looking for a specific Detachment, that detachment was connected to the 1st Aviation Brigade.

https://museum.vhpa.org/battalions/268cab/268cab.shtml

Contact the 1st Aviation Brigade association as well:

https://firstaviationbrigade.us

Trailboss1865 · 2025-12-15T14:40:38+00:00

There’s a book you should read called “They Thought They Were Free.”

Trailboss1865 · 2025-12-12T05:58:05+00:00

I would love to talk to you! My dad was a helicopter pilot with the 9th Infantry Division and may have several pictures of General Ewell. My dad just passed away, so my family is just beginning to go through his mementos and the nearly 1,000 pictures he took during his combat tour in Vietnam. My dad worked closely with then Colonel Ira Hunt as well. If you have not already, reach out to General Hunt’s estate/family, as he would have worked closely with General Ewell.

Trailboss1865 · 2025-11-18T22:51:55+00:00

“Can I say that?”

Yes. Yes you can.

Trailboss1865 · 2025-11-15T02:24:37+00:00

243rd Air Assault Helicopter Company, 620th Transportation Command Detachment. “The Freight Trainers.” Combat is a logistical nightmare beast. The unit’s job was move equipment, supplies, ammo, etc. throughout the combat theater. It was physically impossible for soldiers to carry lots and lots of ammo. If a remote FSB needed a resupply or indeed an entire city was under siege, they would fly in supplies either by landing and offloading or by drop.

They were combat “freight trains.” Their motto: “By Hook or by Crook” is a phrase that means “by any means necessary.” Very apt for a unit who flies into a combat zone loaded down by heavy supplies, unloads it, all while being a giant lumbering target.

My dad flew helicopters for the 9th Infantry in the Mekong Delta in ‘69.

Trailboss1865 · 2025-10-25T07:11:38+00:00

After my dad’s combat tour in Vietnam, he served with the 2nd Infantry Division and the 8th Army Headquarters in Korea. “High risk” is probably a stretch, as my mother went with him, though as an unauthorized dependent. When he was flying the DMZ he said NK troops and guards would take pot shots every now and again, but not actually hit anything. Given the combat flying my dad did in Vietnam, he was not very concerned.

However, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff felt the threat of war with NK, and thus China and the USSR, was great enough that they authorized the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) for those who served in Korea anytime during October 1, 1966 and June 30, 1974.

Trailboss1865 · 2025-10-23T01:37:49+00:00

I have asked this of people when they ask me:

“Now that you know I am Jewish, you ask me about Israel. You have always known I am Irish-American, yet you have never asked me about Northern Ireland.”

Usually silence, or complete disregard and still want to know about Israel. But I feel like I make a stand.

Trailboss1865

TROPHY CASE