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Author Topic: My Tour of Duty, Interview & 'Soundtrack'  (Read 61024 times)
FACman
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« on: 15 March 2009, 04:58:55 »
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Thanks to Rattler's persuasive nudge, I found the music and video's at UTube quite the memory joggers. Then Koen nudged me to make this thread. It is with much gratitude that I dedicate this first installment to Rattler & Koen, for their excellent ideas.

It was Koen's idea to do an interview as well. So we have combined the two, since it has proven to be far more efficient, as the videos themselves sometimes prompt questions (once again Rattler was ahead of the curve).

Eric Burdon - The Animals - We Gotta Get Out Of This Place



« Last Edit: 18 December 2009, 20:47:22 by FACman » Logged

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Rattler
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« Reply #1 on: 2 April 2009, 17:45:54 »
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Ah! What music!

If you care to answer: What do you feel/think -today-

- when you see this vid? What memories does it induce?

- About "Apocalypse Now"?

- About the Phantoms coming in and bringing relief (?) ?

- About the "gooks"?

- And, about the US (or any other if you care to comment) mil culture?

Just asking, and with all due respect, do not feel obliged to answer publicly.

Rattler
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FACman
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« Reply #2 on: 2 April 2009, 19:55:24 »
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Rattler:
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- when you see this vid? What memories does it induce?


Various parts of the vids, elicit different memories. As one would expect, seeing wounded and dead GIs is an unpleasant experience, for it is easy to see in my minds eye, my buddies in their agony once again. Watching the ordinance go off, no longer elicits the 'Git some!' reactions it did back then, but then again, I am no longer filled with the hate and anger as I was. Now I am more saddened by the unnecessary loss of life that I know is occurring.

Quote
- About "Apocalypse Now"?


While I can appreciate the artistic nature of the film, it bears little resemblance or relevancy to my Vietnam experience. Better he should have kept to the original setting in my eyes, as it seemed a gratuitous exploitation of us GIs. The only scene of any empathy,was during the encounter with the Tiger. For that is a fear I have known. "Full Metal Jacket" & "Platoon" are far more reflective and relevant of my experience. The first for its depiction of the training I went through. While the latter, more closely resembles my experiences in 'Nam'.

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- About the Phantoms coming in and bringing relief (?) ?


The vids don't do justice to the awesome physical & audio experience of being there in person when an airstrike is occurring. See my response above to ordinance going off.

Quote
- About the "gooks"?


The strange fact of the matter is, 'Gooks' as was explained to me, is a Korean word indicating 'foreigners', so technically, I was the Gook! As for my enemy, who can blame them for trying to determine their countries future. I was the one butting into their business. I only hope the simple folks working their plots, can work in peace.

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- And, about the US (or any other if you care to comment) mil culture?


It would seem that we are a long way from evolving into a species that can live without war. Until that day, we shall sadly have the military as a substantial part of our culture, sucking away at the economies of the world, when there are people in need. I can only do my best to help us evolve, so that one day. my progeny, shall live without need for war, for war is truely not good for living things.

Jefferson Airplane, Somebody to Love
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FACman
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« Reply #3 on: 2 July 2009, 21:39:02 »
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A classic anti-war song of the era...

The Youngbloods - "Get Together" Re-Post Prev (anippygirl)


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FACman
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« Reply #4 on: 3 July 2009, 14:36:31 »
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Yes, such a good time to be wild...

Steppenwolf - Born to be wild 1969
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FACman
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« Reply #5 on: 4 July 2009, 16:08:37 »
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Bob Dylan, 'Masters of War'

Masters of War

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Koen
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« Reply #6 on: 4 July 2009, 16:21:44 »
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The same airplanes seem to re-appear...I can identify an F-4 but what is this one? A Sabre?
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FACman
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« Reply #7 on: 4 July 2009, 16:35:37 »
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It's an F-100 Super Sabre, from the lack of camo, I would put it early war. During my tour, I only worked with 1 F-100 and it was totally camo'd. In these clips, you will see a lot of repeated footage. I am always looking for new ones, and while it may have been the most well covered war ever in terms of filming, access may be a bit difficult to procure for those who make these videos.
« Last Edit: 4 July 2009, 16:45:20 by FACman » Logged

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« Reply #8 on: 4 July 2009, 16:41:37 »
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Here's an instrumental version of 'White Rabbit'. I included it, because you can hear a piece from 'Hanoi Hannah', she played pretty good music between the propaganda bits.

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« Reply #9 on: 4 July 2009, 16:42:15 »
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It's an F-100 Super Sabre, from the lack of camo, I would put it early war. During my tour, I only worked with 1 F-100 and it was totally camo'd.


were they important? mostly we see F-4's
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« Reply #10 on: 4 July 2009, 18:19:00 »
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In my experience, that lone pair I worked with indicates they were used infrequently up in my AO (Leatherneck Corner) Most of my air support was in the form of US Navy aircraft. A-4, F-8, F-4 and the occasional A-6 (from high altitude, with quite the payload) All USAF support I recvd was in the form of F-4s (except for nighttime gunship cover 'Puff the Magic Dragon/AC-47 & Spooky/AC-130') It has long been my suspicion that the F-100 & A-1 SkyRaiders I worked with were RVNAF aircraft.
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« Reply #11 on: 4 July 2009, 19:54:12 »
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In my experience, that lone pair I worked with indicates they were used infrequently up in my AO (Leatherneck Corner) Most of my air support was in the form of US Navy aircraft. A-4, F-8, F-4 and the occasional A-6 (from high altitude, with quite the payload) All USAF support I recvd was in the form of F-4s (except for nighttime gunship cover 'Puff the Magic Dragon/AC-47 & Spooky/AC-130') It has long been my suspicion that the F-100 & A-1 SkyRaiders I worked with were RVNAF aircraft.


thx for the info, we need to set up a Vietnam Aircraft topic!
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« Reply #12 on: 4 July 2009, 19:59:14 »
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This thread would not be complete without this addition. You see I had two cassette tapes with me during my tour., both S.F. bands that I had the pleasure of seeing in person many times, The Grateful Dead's first album & Quicksilver Messenger Service's second album. ('Happy Trails') We played them every chance we got and since they were the only two cassettes we had, we played them repeatedly (I daresay I know every note by heart).  Here is a long version of one song on the album...'Cream Puff Wars'

(footage is typical S.F. street scene from the time)

« Last Edit: 4 July 2009, 20:54:46 by FACman » Logged

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« Reply #13 on: 4 July 2009, 20:11:55 »
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And this is perhaps my favorite music from the two cassettes I carried...

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Who Do You Love Suite (1969)



This being a Live version, sound quality is rough, but very rich in improv licks.
Quicksilver Messenger Service - Who Do You Love (Live 1970)
« Last Edit: 5 November 2011, 17:15:57 by FACman » Logged

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« Reply #14 on: 4 July 2009, 20:12:04 »
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do you recall on what you listened to tapes?

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And this is perhaps my favorite music from the two cassettes I carried...


I like it...although that's not a real surprise...
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« Reply #15 on: 4 July 2009, 20:23:35 »
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do you recall on what you listened to tapes?



unsure of what exactly your asking here. I'll answer as best I can...

My buddy 'Goody' (D.R. Goodland) owned the cassette tape player, but had no tapes, I had no player, but did have the two aforementioned tapes. It would seem we were fated to be best buds. The depleted radio batteries for my PRC-25 radio supplied ample power to run the player for a few days all we had to do was jury rig some wires to pass the power on. Since we had no access to other tapes we played the hell out of those two. Neither one of us thought to ask for the folks back home to send more, I guess being grunts humping the highlands of Vietnam discouraged us wanting to have too large a collection to lug around.

Hope that answered your question. There was always someone with a radio (transistor type) around, but Goody's was the only tape player I knew of in the company.


Here's a cut from side 2 of the 'Happy Trails' album


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« Reply #16 on: 4 July 2009, 20:47:45 »
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This is from Quicksilver's first album....but still part of my Tour 'Soundtrack'


Quicksilver Messenger Service - Gold and Silver
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« Reply #17 on: 5 July 2009, 11:26:26 »
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carrying all that weight...how long were the walks/marches in distance/time?
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FACman
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« Reply #18 on: 5 July 2009, 11:49:20 »
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Queston:
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carrying all that weight...how long were the walks/marches in distance/time?


 
Our AO was in the highlands bordering Laos & North Vietnam, it was called 'Leatherneck Corner'. Therefore the horizontal distance covered might be less than a mile (~1500m). However, the nature of the terrain was mountainous and it would take us the entire day to reach the next peak. I guess you'd say we used the tactics that the Brits learned in Afghanistan. 'crowning the peaks'. We rarely stayed down low in the drainages, as we did not wish to allow the NVA to have a height advantage on us, for obvious tactical reasons. Therefore, while I cannot give you how far we humped, we generally humped until just before dusk.


I never heard them play this long version on AFVN...
Eric Burdin & the Animals, Sky Pilot

ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS- "SKY PILOT" (LONG VERSION)
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« Reply #19 on: 5 July 2009, 11:52:02 »
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ok, so I should see it as patrolling a pre-defined area?

were troops always deployed in the same area or did that change to keep the men alert?
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