#khe sanh

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Lance Cpl. Ernest Delgado (US Marines) . . . is from Los Angeles and has been checking the months off on his helmet. [February 1968.]", Battle of Khe Sanh, South Vietnam by David Douglas Duncan. [600x887]

[mary-maud]

And I've travelled round the world from year to year And each one found me aimless, one more year the worse for wear...

Cold Chisel - Khe Sanh

[loudhorizonmusic]

Cold Chisel: 'Khe Sanh'

(Contributor: John Allan, Bridgetown Western Australia,July 2024) I left my heart to the sappers round Khe SanhAnd I sold my soul with my cigarettes to the black market manI’ve had the Vietnam cold turkeyFrom the ocean to the Silver CityAnd it’s only other vets could understand. I first met Col when we moved here to Bridgetown in 2000. I had worked with his partner Bob in the nineties when I…

[onceuponatimeinthe70s]

Khe Sanh.

I left my heart to the sappers round Khe SanhAnd I sold my soul with my cigarettes to the black market manI’ve had the Vietnam cold turkeyFrom the ocean to the Silver CityAnd it’s only other vets could understand. I first met Col when we moved here to Bridgetown in 2000. I had worked with his partner Bob in the nineties when I was at Royal Perth Hospital in the capital. Col had quite a few…

[pitch-and-moan]

I Lost My Heart at Khe Sanh

Hallmark's further attempts to branch out sees two elderly men who met in Vietnam reuniting on Veteran's Day at the Vietnam War Memorial and rekindling a once forbidden romance.

[captain-price-unofficially]

Three-man sniper team, U. S. Marines, Khe Sanh, Vietnam, February 1968

[usafphantom2]

Battle of Khe Sanh (Jan 21 - April 14, 1968) by Linh Yoshimura Via Flickr: Air Force B-52s drop their loads of bombs on a close air support mission over Khe Sanh. Even from very high altitudes, they could accurately place their bombs within one-sixth of a mile of the besieged American forces. The aerial bombing campaign in support of the besieged American forces at Khe Sanh was named OPERATION NIAGARA (January–March 1968) for this “waterfall” of bombs. Operation Niagara was a U.S. Seventh Air Force close air support campaign carried out from January through March 1968, during the Vietnam War. Its purpose was to serve as an aerial umbrella for the defense of the U.S. Marine Corps Khe Sanh Combat Base on the Khe Sanh Plateau, in western Quang Tri Province of the Republic of Vietnam. The base was under siege by an estimated three-divisional force of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

[casbooks]

Book 57 of 2024 (★★★★)

Title: In This Valley There Are Tigers Authors: Charles McDonald

ISBN: 9781508819004 Rating: ★★★★

Subject: Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.ARVN.Airborne Division, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.Green Berets, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.Specops.Green Berets.Project Delta, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Advisor, Books.Military.20th-21st Century.Asia.Vietnam War.US Army.Infantry

Description: In 1964, Charles A. McDonald was at Camp Khe Sanh before the first wholesale introduction of North Vietnamese Army troops onto the battlefield against U.S. forces. For twenty-four years in war and peace, McDonald served his country in its elite units as an Airborne Infantryman and Special Forces soldier. He trained and armed Bru tribesmen, Chinese mercenaries, Vietmamese Airborne and Special Forces troops. Stories as seen through his eyes "In This Valley There Are Tigers", McDonald tells a narrative of the personal violence and desperate suicide attacks in combat with vivid detail as it was from his own perspective during his three year experience in the Second Indochina War. He was there!

My Review: Charles McDonald writes like few others do - and that is both a good and a bad thing!

Let's get the negative out of the way, this book is an absolute SLOG to get through that a good editor should have been able to tighten up and clean up. But at the same time, doing so would have removed one of the things that makes this book so unique! McDonald tells the story of his three tours in Vietnam, starting with his last one as an advisor to the ARVN 7th Airborne battalion, followed up by his first tour with team A-322 in 1964 at Khe Sanh, and finally his middle tour split between Project Delta B-52 and the 1/327th 101st Airborne.

He flows back and forth between his own experiences, the experiences of others, and as a 3rd person historical narrator of events. When he is telling the stories of others, you often get much more detail of who / what / when, whereas when he is telling his own stories, you get stream of consciousness writing explicit with minutiae and details… what things smelled like, what he heard, what he was feeling. You get a lot of stories about bugs and birds and animals, about dew and the weather, you rarely ever hear a name or explanation of who he is serving with, and so many story elements are lost in all of the commentary about the cicadas and the mosquitos and the noises and the smells.

It's a slog to get through but at the same time, it's powerful to to experience these events through his eyes and thoughts in a way few authors bother to do.

Most authors tell you what is going on … we went here, we did this, we ended up there, we then went back to camp and slept. McDonald shows you footfall by football, kneel down by kneel down, almost every breath he took and every though and emotion he experienced. It's an insight into such a wide ranging experience with 4 different units doing 4 very different things, and you are really along for the ride … even when he's telling the history or the stories of others. Definitely not for the timid, but if you can handle it… go for it!

[gadawg-404]

This is Sgt. Ernie Delgado seen at Khe Sanh in February 1968. His M1 helmet has his short timer calendar on it showing he has nearly completed his 13 month tour. He also has D.E.A 5685, which is likely his initials followed by the last four digit's of his service number. This has been referred to as a medevac number or a meat tag by some veterans.

He also has the slogan "Can you dig it" and his blood type. Delgado served with 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

US Marine soldier w M 16 gun & guitar Khe Sanh Vietnam war, 1968 

[joeinct]

Untitled (Khe Sanh), No. 240, Photo by David Douglas Duncan, 1968

[elevenshrub]

[haveyouheardthisband]

[aviationgeek71]

Pfc John L Lewis, Khe Sanh, February 1968

[bonjourdraws]

Khe Sanh, South Vietnam — January 21, 1968

[blubushie]

No Delilah? Come on, mate. Up your game.

reblog and put in the tags the 5 most recent songs you liked on spotify