Command Sergeant Major Ballogg ..25th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War
 

Command Sergeant Major Ballogg

This article gives the thoughts of Command Sergeant Major Ballogg of JTF 6 on 25th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

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There are less than 2000 active duty military with RVN service in uniform today. All of us are senior enlisted / officers. On the eve of the anniversary of the fall of Saigon I feel impelled to talk about the soldiers who served during that conflict.
The barrage of misinformation about the war and who fought it is a national disgrace. The B.S movies- Rambo, Apocalypse Now, Deerhunter and Platoon - - Oliver Stone's rendition of guys in the same unit killing each other, smoking dope on patrol - the sad thing is Oliver knew better but wants to be one of the Hollywood insiders. Some of the things portrayed in these movies did happen - as they happen in all wars, but they are portrayed as everyday occurrences in Vietnam, as every man's experience.

Why? My guess is that those in Hollywood and the media who avoided service have this need to reinforce their decision not to serve by vilifying those who did. This continued effort to disgrace those who went saddens me and makes me furious.

I am going to compare two conflicts as a vehicle to define the RVN combat soldier. My intent is not to denigrate any other veteran but to shed some light.

"The Greatest Generation" and W.W.II. This was 'The Good War', there was an evil foe bent on conquest and the destruction of the world as we knew it. Our whole society was galvanized behind the war effort. Every organization supported the war and total victory. There was every reason to fight and no excuse not to.

The 60's generation and Vietnam. The not-so-good war. The American public initially supported the war - but it was a side bar. The reserves and National Guard were not mobilized. There was no societal effort. The goals were ambiguous and the threat undefined. The only reason to fight was a sense of service to the Nation. And yet:

W.W.II - 33% enlisted 67% drafted - - initially only 21 to 35 year-olds were to be taken but not enough volunteers came forward so the draft was lowered to 18.

RVN - (65 -73) 67% enlisted 33% drafted - and of the draftees, 10% volunteered for the draft.

W.W.II - 4 year period- 350,000 draft evaders

RVN - 8 year period- 500,000 draft evaders - developed to a fine art by some we know well.

W.W.II - Desertion "in the zone" Europe and Pacific theaters: 20,000 convicted servicemen. Prior to D-DAY the British jails were full of US deserters that were brought to dockside in handcuffs.

RVN - Desertion in-country: 250.

W.W.II Units surrendered to the Enemy - From Bataan to Europe many units with the ability to fight surrendered without one. Platoons, Companies, and (in the case of the Battle of the Bulge) Regiments with the ability to fight chose not to.

RVN - Not one platoon in 9 years of fighting surrendered. Some were overrun but chose to fight to the death. LTG H. G. Moore, when revisiting hisbattlefield 20 some odd years later, was told by the North Vietnamese Officers that they were astonished at the American soldiers "Fanaticism" to fight to the end.

My unit was the 3rd squad C Company 2nd Bn 14th Infantry of the 25th Inf. Division (Tropic Lightning) or the "Electric Strawberry" as we called it with pride. The Division fought in RVN from early 66 to late 71. The Division had a little less than 17,000 assigned. During its tour the 25th had over 5,000 killed in action and just under 25,000 wounded in action.

That's about twice the Divisions rolls. The 25th ID never lost a position to the enemy - never had a unit overrun - never had a soldier surrender under fire.

I am proud to have served as a grunt in RVN and have never served with finer men.

CSM

2/14
 

Worked with the Golden Dragons on a few ocasions, Fine buch of men.

Ron

Reply to MORTARDUDE's excellent entry into the Forum:
 

After reading MORTARDUDE's excellent entry, I just had to reply and give my own input.

First MORTARDUDE stated that less then 2000 Vietnam Veterans are still on Active Duty at this time. That is probably a very close estimate. However shortly after September 11, 2001 many Reserve Units were called back to Active Military Duty in support of Homeland Defense. Some of those units were deployed to the Middle East and even saw action during the Afghanistan Campaign to destroy Suma Bin Ladden and his cutthroats. Many Vietnam Veterans were among that number as they had chosen to keep a limited Military affiliation by serving in a Guard or Reserve Unit.

I was one of those Reservists and was activated on October 2001. I served one year of Active Duty and was then released on October 2002. I was not the only Vietnam Veteran in my unit, as there were five others also. All served the one year, and two of that number volunteered to remain on Active Duty for an additional year. This figure only represents my Reserve Unit, however many Reserve and Guard Units were Activated. Each of those other Reserve and Guard Units must also have contained a few Vietnam Veterans in their ranks also. If all Reserve and Guard Units were not included in compiling the 2000 estimate given by MORTARDUDE, I am sure that the total number of Active Duty Vietnam Veterans would be much higher.

MORTARDUDE also stated that the crop of Hollywood Movies portraying the Vietnam War, and the guys that fought in Vietnam, were a very poor example of of the Average Vietnam Veteran. I agree entirely. I have forced myself to watch most of them and have found myself disgusted at the way all Vietnam Veterans have been depicted.

However there was one Hollywood Movie that did make an honest attempt to show the Vietnam War, and the guys that fought it, in an accurate context. That movie was "WE WERE SOLDIERS" which Stared Mel Gibson. Finally someone decided to make a movie about the Vietnam War which portrayed the average Vietnam Veteran in a most favorable light. It also showed how Vietnam effected every single Veteran who ever served there from the very early sixties until the fall of Saigon in 1975. Hopefully Hollywood will continue to turn out more accurate films about the horror of Vietnam in the future.

I hope that none of my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters will take offense to anything I have written here. I am only attempting to add further information to MORTARDUDE's already excellent entry.

To all my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I again state:


WELCOME HOME:


VIETNAM 1968