TEARS
of
A CRIMSON ODYSSEY
("A Land Beneath A Shroud Of Dishonor...; America's Tarnished Legacy...!")
*****************TABLE OF CONTENTS****************
CHAPTER
1. JUMP SCHOOL................................................................
{U.S. Army Paratroopers Are To Be Forged By A Martial Environment}
2. ARRIVAL; THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM...........................................
{Common Men By Nature, Love Peace! Fools By Political Decisions Wage Wars}
3. PLYMOUTH ROCK via VIETNAM..................................................
{Those Who Seek Cake In Vietnam Lose Their Bread}
4. CHRISTMAS MOUNTAIN.........................................................
{Out Of A Cold December Rain Into The Warmth Of God's Blessings}
5. STAND DOWN.................................................................
{Light Duty (R&R); But Before Mount, Check The Girth}
6. SAIGON.....................................................................
{Diamond Of Indo-China Beneath A Scarlet Blanket}
7. DOPE ON CREDIT.............................................................
{What An Excellent Fool Dope Makes Of Man}
8. LEECHES! LEECHES!..........................................................
{Punishment Is A Nightmare, But It Unbearably Comes}
9. ISLAND ON THE TAM QUAN RIVER (The Viet Cong Stronghold).................
{"Thumbs-Up To The Thundering Herd" "Peace!" To The Cobra Assault Gunships}
10. DEAD BAIT.................................................................
{"The Art Of Guerrilla-Warfare Scientifically Applied In Vietnam"}
11. THE P.O.W./M.I.A..........................................................
{Only 1, Of More Than 1,200 Still Missing\Unaccounted-for}
12. TO BE OR NOT TO BE COUNTED................................................
{The Color Purple Throughout Eternity, Shall Always Be Their Preference}
13. IN VIETNAM; DYING HAS NO DISCRIMINATING PRIORITIES.........................
{My Mentor; Why God, Why Me! Why Any of Us?}
14. THE VICTOR OR THE VANQUISHED..............................................
{"Go With God, American GI..! God Speed Back To America"}
15. RETURNEE...! (To The Beat Of A Different Drum)............................
{Home Is The Sailor, From The Sea; and The Soldier, Home From War In Vietnam}
16. GOING HOME; A SILENT FEAR OF NOT SOCIALLY BEING ACCEPTED..................
{Roses, A Marble Orchard, and A Haze Of Dorian Gray}
-i-
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
W. H. Griffin was born in Owensboro, Kentucky the youngest of three
children. He lived on his grandparents large farm until the age of six;
with his parents, a brother and sister. A heart wrenching decision was
than made shortley after his sixth birthday by his father, due to the
untimely death of his grandfather to sell the family farm and move to
New Albany, Indiana where he was raised. And to this day, some of his
family members still live and farm.
After his graduation from high school, within less than two years; in
February of 1969, the author found himself at the U.S. Army School of
Combat Infantry Training, located at Ft. Gordon Ga., where he spent eight
weeks of Basic Army Infantry Training and eight additional weeks of Advance
Airborne Infantry Training in preparation for becoming a "Combat Infantry
Parachutist's."
Upon successfully completing his totally combined 16 weeks of training
at Ft. Gordon the author was sent to Ft. Benning Ga., arriving in late
June of 1969, where he underwent 4 specialized weeks of Jump School
Training.
With the completion of Jump School Training he was then certified
at that time as an "Elite Combat Infantry Parachutist's," under
the guidelines set-forth by the U.S. Army, in conjunction with the
Department of Defense, and in turn, while waiting for shipment orders
in a staging area at Ft. Benning Georgia he received overseas shipment
orders for The Republic of South Vietnam, with his arrival date to
be the 15th of September 1969;
Like his brother before him, his brother had served in South Vietnam,
from 1965-66, as a door-gunner aboard a helicopter Gunship. His
brother had been among the first United States Military Forces
deployed to the coastal city of Da Nang South Vietnam, to defend
the large U.S. Air Force Base located there against an advancing
North Vietnam Army and their counterparts the Viet Cong Guerrillas
in the spring of 1965 by Lyndon B. Johnson the 36th President of
the United States.
During the author's twelve months of military service in South Vietnam,
assigned to an "Elite Airborne Special Operations Combat Infantry Unit,"
he fought the North Vietnam Army and Viet Cong Guerrilla's in the sweltering
heat, the monsoon-rains, the dense triple-canopy-leech-infested-jungles,
the foul smelling scum-crusted rice paddies, the grossly stagnated-swamps,
and the unrelenting-mountains of I-CORP The Central Highlands of South
Vietnam towering into the clouds. I-CORP the mountains of The Central
Highlands which separates North Vietnam from South Vietnam by the D.M.Z.
As a Front-Line Combat Infantry Parachutist's the author saw at first
hand those horrible sights that only war in Vietnam could spawn! Those
horrible sights of his fellow airborne brothers killed as a result of
them being trussed into combat in Vietnam. Those horrible sights that
in a civilized society would be viewed as impossible for human beings
to inflict on other human beings!
-ii-
At several points, during the author's 12 months of his military
obligation to serve in Vietnam he asked himself the same question,
over and over again!
He asked,,,; If in fact, there truly is a "God" in this country called
Vietnam than why have thousands of American sons died here? Vietnam, a
country virtually unknown to the malamutes of people on earth, prior to
America's political involvement. Vietnam, a country that became known from
the four corners of the earth only by the deaths of American sons, sent
back to America in military body bags!
What a terrible way for a country to become know throughout Planet Earth;
the author thought to himself continuously; during his twelve months of
military service in Vietnam...!
And he thought the followering over and over again; as well..............!
"CAPTAIN KIRK TO SCOTTIE! I, I, CAP'N KIRK, SCOTTIE HERE, AND STANDING BY!"
"BEAM US UP SCOTTIE;" GEOGRAPHICALLY SPEAKING ON THIS THE THIRD PLANET
FROM THE SUN; IN A COUNTRY CALLED VIETNAM! "GOD'S" PRESENCE IS NOWHERE TO
BE FOUND; AND SCOTTIE AS FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENCE LIFE FORMS DOWN HERE;
THAT'S A DEFINITE NEGATIVE...! KIRK OUT...!
"SCOTTIE TO CAP'N KIRK...! YES, SCOTTIE..: BY ALL THE SAINTS; WHAT TYPE
OF ALIENS RESIDE IN THAT COUNTRY CALLED VIETNAM CAP'N KIRK?
THAT'S JUST IT SCOTTIE; THERE ARE NO ALIENS HERE; THEY ARE AS HUMAN AS
WE ARE SCOTTIE; IT'S INCREDIBLE SCOTTIE! FROM THE DATA THAT MR. SPOCK HAS
GATHERED; IT SEEMS, THAT A BLOODY WAR HAS BEEN RAGING ON HERE IN VIETNAM
FOR YEARS; A BLOODY WAR OF A NON-SPECIFIC SYNDROME; A BLOODY WAR THAT
ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION MR. SPOCK HAS ON HAND; AMERICA IS AFRAID TO
WIN DUE TO THE LONG TERM ECONOMICAL EFFECTS IT WILL HAVE THROUGHOUT SOUTH
EAST ASIA...; YET, ON THE OTHER HAND SCOTTIE; IT'S A WAR THAT AMERICA IS
EMBARRASSED TO LOOSE BECAUSE OF THE DOMINO THEORY KNOWN FOR CENTURIES IN
THIS WHOLE REGION OF INDO-CHINA. AND SCOTTIE..! I, I, CAP'N KIRK;
ACCORDING TO MR. SPOCK'S DATA, THE END TO THIS BLOODY WAR IN VIETNAM IS
LITERALLY YEARS AWAY; AND SCOTTIE, THE SAD PART ABOUT THIS ENTIRE ORDEAL
HERE IN VIETNAM, IS THE FACT THAT 10'S OF 1,000'S MORE WILL BE KILLED
BEFORE THIS BLOODY WAR IN VIETNAM FINALLY ENDS....!
ONCE AGAIN SCOTTIE, BEAM US UP; THE WAY I SEE IT, THERE'S A NO WIN TYPE
SITUATION HERE IN VIETNAM AT THE PRESENT TIME..! "THE WHOLE COUNTRY WREAKS
OF THE STANCH OF DEATH"! AND SCOTTIE, "THE GROUND RUNS RED WITH HUMAN-BLOOD."
KIRK OUT.................................................................!
I, I, CAP'N KIRK; ACTIVATING ENERGIZER...! SCOTTIE OUT...!
-iii-
The story you are about to read is based on a combination of photos taken
in South Vietnam by the author during his 12 months of military service in
that country. Photos taken (when possible) which captured the actual events
as they occurred in South Vietnam. Photos selected by the author for the
basics of several chapters found in his story.
To this day when the author looks at his photos he reflect back each time
and thinks again about Vietnam, which was; for him at different times, a
world of laughter, a world of tears, a world of hope, and a world of daily
fear that continuously stayed with him 24 hours a day when he was serving
in Vietnam as a front-line combat infantry paratrooper. A world of daily
fear of wondering if today will be his day for stepping on a boobytrap,
or taking it in his head by a viet cong sniper, armed with an AK-47 and
hiding in the dense triple-canopy jungle undergrowth of Vietnam!
-iv-
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I, wish to acknowledge those contributions my brother made toward
the preparation of this story. Personal contributions which were so
valuable, words can't express them. In addition, an enormous amount
of gratitude goes to my wife and two sons, who's energetic endurance
for working diligently for hours on in, made it solely possible for
the purpose of seeing to it that this story "Tears of a Crimson Odyssey"
would materialized to the best of their abilities..............
In closing, once again I, wish to mention at this time, the fact that,
as "Vietnam Era Veteran," the long-term outlook personally regarding my
health is questionable, but I pride myself on staying in a good frame
of mind always, regardless of how bleak my future may be. And more than
likely, on any given Saturday "weather permitting," it's possible that
you can usually find me at State and Main Streets in New Albany, Indiana
on the banks of the Ohio River.
O, by the way, if by chance you are thinking about visiting with me. I feel
and obligation to remind you not to leave without that one important item you
should bring with you from home, when you come to the banks of the Ohio River!
What is that one important item I should bring with me from home; your asking
yourself? The answer is quiet simple! Your fishing pole of course!
-v-
E-MAIL [email protected]
NOTE:
A free copy of an IBM 3.5 Formatted disc which contains nearly 700,000 bytes is available upon request at the above E-Mail
address
Photos are to remain in the author's possession and are not to be considered part of this free offer.
In addition you must be 18 years old or older in making your request for the above mentioned 3.5 disc due to the graphic contents found "with-in" the author's story.
Footnote*
ALLOW 7 TO 10 WORKING DAYS FOR DELIVERY
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