Author Topic: AK47 Burnout  (Read 6511 times)

Chris

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AK47 Burnout
« on: March 13, 2015, 11:46:32 AM »
Literally!  :main_grin:


HankG

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2015, 06:42:40 PM »
I burned out on them real fast back in "69" in the Ashau Valley.

Chris

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2015, 11:27:34 PM »
Hamburger Hill location?   :main_blink:

I was active the same time you were, but over on Diego Garcia, among a bunch of other places. Navy.

HankG

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2015, 03:22:19 AM »
I was an Infantry Officer with 9th Marine Regiment. Yes...Hamburger Hill took place in the A shau Valley. Spent 52 days in the "Valley of Death" on an operation called Dewey Canyon, before finally being pulled out. Hamburger Hill went down a month or two after we were pulled out. I remember hearing about what was happening to those paratroopers. The scuttlebutt was...if they couldn't take the complex, they were going to send us back in to do it. They should have used B-52s and Arc Lighted the bunker complex and the hill but someone figured troops could do it. It was a slaughterhouse for both sides.

I'm 70 this year. That hell hole is still the reason I wake up in the middle of the night and go on the computer to clear my head so I can go back to sleep.







Chris

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2015, 11:58:59 AM »
 :main_ohmy:  I looked into those conflicts, and all I can say is...HOLY COW, you were in the thick of it over there! Glad you made it out ok. I hope you weren't a victim of our countries 'indifference' towards those that served, especially in frontline combat. That 'courage under fire', so to speak, is what keeps this country free, but damn if I don't see it falling apart. I hope I'm wrong.

HankG

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2015, 01:08:47 PM »
It's good to see the country backing the troops the way they have since this middle east situation started. When i came back there was rioting going on all over the country because of the war, the draft and racial problems and I'm afraid the troops became scapegoats for it all. It didn't bother me personally. I joined the Corps for personal reasons. The war was just an necessary evil I had to get involved with again. We'll always have those that will "step up"... the problem is those that determine what they have to step up for.

http://www.historynet.com/vietnam-war-operation-dewey-canyon.htm

Go to the comments section at the end of this article. There are pages of comments from Marines who fought in the operation looking for friends but even more gut wrenching is the fact that people still come on the site 45 years later, asking if anyone knew their fathers, brothers, loved ones who died in the A shau in 1969.

Chris

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2015, 04:40:34 PM »
Great article! I saw some of your comments that followed (how many HankG's can there be, right?). You did good, mister, and as always, thanks for serving and defending our freedoms!

Say, how about a pic or links when you were young and fearless. I enjoy looking at veteran's pics and trying to imagine what their life must have been like, given their circumstances. I can post one of myself in the Navy, but how boring would that be. But I'll throw one in there of Diego, just for fun!


HankG

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2015, 05:14:02 PM »
Ya know...sometimes I feel just like the dog! Question...how did you ever get over getting sea sick on one of those flat bottom LSTs. They sent my rifle company and me to Japan from Okinawa after Nam and I got so sick i was begging people to shoot me and put me out of my misery!

Chris

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2015, 08:29:28 PM »
LST's rock! No, really, they rock hard! LOL. It wasn't uncommon to see hammocks strung all over the ship to try and stay level. The gun mounts were a great location.

Here's a pic in calm seas...

 

HankG

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2015, 08:37:17 PM »
I see a seaman walking with a list to starboard in the second picture.....Sorry.....gotta head to the head!

Short Bus

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Re: AK47 Burnout
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2016, 06:51:08 AM »
Thank you both for your service.

 

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