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A-10 SEA scheme! Awesome


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That is nice. Originally, the A-10 was supposed to be delivered in SEA. The prototype, however, was rolled out in ADC gray. The first production aircraft were in two tone gray, ironically similar to what they have now. It was found that they were too visible "down in the weeds", so they went with the Euro I scheme.

Edited by Darren Roberts
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5 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

Originally, the A-10 was supposed to be delivered in SEA. 

When I first saw the front-3/4 photo it screamed "in-country" to me, it just looks so right.

 

I need a 1/72 Hog kit and these markings as decals. What an amazing tribute.

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5 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

That is nice. Originally, the A-10 was supposed to be delivered in SEA. The prototype, however, was rolled out in ADC gray. The first production aircraft were in two tone gray, ironically similar to what they have now. It was found that they were two visible "down in the weeds", so they went with the Euro I scheme.

I've seen them in a two tone green camo flying in my area of Indiana

gary

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Yeah, that one green is wrong but, what are you going to do.

\Another scheme was the spotted one they used for a short time early on.  I think they called it the leopard scheme but it was a long time ago.  There's a coiuplel pictures of one doing a pylon turn around a tree in England during a demo of how it can take out tanks.

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Having flown the 105 with the 354th TFS in the late sixties out of Takhli it's a great tribute and it's a Republic product too. Know to many of the guys on the side panel.

Will try to get to Moody to see it in person.

Itch

Edited by Cajun21
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4 hours ago, Cajun21 said:

Having flown the 105 with the 354th TFS in the late sixties out of Takhli it's a great tribute and it's a Republic product too. Know to many of the guys on the side panel.

Will try to get to Moody to see it in person.

Itch

slow hand salute!

gary

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6 hours ago, Cajun21 said:

Thanks Gary, much appreciated. Returned.

Itch

there were several 105's that went down out front of us in Laos. Usually five to fifteen klicks in bound. Used to listen to them refuel a little north of us all the time. It was like the U.S. inventory out there at times. Much of it also unarmed

gary

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Gary,

And Cambodia also, but we weren't their remember? I had to eject over Laos just south of the NV boarder, fortunately pick up was fairly timely. The brown anchor tanker track covered that area. If you were ever able to listen to a "broken arrow" (US ground troops in trouble) call they definitely had the entire US inventory gathering in one spot. At one time we were in a wagon wheel of a/c that started at 7,000 feet and went up to 37,000 feet. Those and CAS were the most satisfying  missions to do.

Cheers :cheers:

Itch

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5 hours ago, Cajun21 said:

Gary,

And Cambodia also, but we weren't their remember? I had to eject over Laos just south of the NV boarder, fortunately pick up was fairly timely. The brown anchor tanker track covered that area. If you were ever able to listen to a "broken arrow" (US ground troops in trouble) call they definitely had the entire US inventory gathering in one spot. At one time we were in a wagon wheel of a/c that started at 7,000 feet and went up to 37,000 feet. Those and CAS were the most satisfying  missions to do.

Cheers :cheers:

Itch

can't say I ever heard the call on the fire push, but have heard everything else!! The base camp we used was really an SF camp (A102) and it came under siege about the end of January 69. It looked like a parking lot overhead 24/7. The real issue was they got so close that an air strike was virtually impossible. That's when you learn to shoot a second on the time fuse and the lowest powder charge in a 155 mm howitzer. I've shot WP inside the wire several times as well as HE. There was an AC47 overhead all the time. I managed to get outta there around the first of March, and anybody else was stuck in there till mid July no matter what your ETS date. How they never took that place is still a mind boggling to me. There were a total of 82 Army folks and perhaps 120 Strikers surrounded by three full strength NVA divisions. A CAV unit to the east and the 196th to the north with their hands completely full. Anyway, we had NVA inside the wire in the daytime as well as the night shift. They did a BDA around the first of April, and counted 1800 bodies just outside the wire to maybe five hundred yards out. They had every Tom, Dick & Harry trying to break that siege for months, and believe it or not it was my Brother In Law that did it! Once they got a couple Sheridans in there, that was the end of that idea. That one has lived with me for way too long of a time.

 

I went on R&R with the guys from Khe Sahn back in 68. if half of what I heard was true, they should have took some folks out back and shot them! Then there was Ben Het! That place was under siege for 18 months or longer. Plei Me wasn't any better. But I thought Kam Duc was the last place on earth to ever be dumped. I got stuck there for four or five days, and just knew I was going to die there. Then I was in Cam Rhan Bay riding on a bus to the transit depot. I'd been in country awhile, but forgot to sign my pay card. Mortars and rockets by then had become a matter of fact, and had become kind of numb to them. The place gets rocketed while I'm on the bus. everybody runs off the bus in a panic! I can see the impacts maybe four miles away (Yawn!), and just stroll into this PX looking around. A guy comes in there and says where did you come from? I told him the bus, and he says we're being rocketed. I said yep they are over there. He thought I was nuts. I went back to the bus and took a nap. Mortars and rockets were a daily event up north. I came from an A.O. where the only entertainment you got was listening to the fire push rolling thru Apache or the skip. (well also getting drunk). Guess there was a lot of places that could have done a Broken Arrow, and some places that should have and didn't.

gary

 

P.S. a you can see I'm an I-Corp rat that dwelled at the bottom of the food chain

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I have to say it's amazing to read these stories, gentlemen. For someone born more than a decade later it's fascinating.

Edited by K5054NZ
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4 hours ago, K5054NZ said:

I have to say it's amazing to read these stories, gentlemen. For someone born more than a decade later it's fascinating.

officially, I've never been in Cambodia, but Top has photographic proof of me taking a leak on the concrete marker between Laos and Cambodia with Vietnam on the otherside. Give a lot for that picture. I've been in Laos officially once, plus two other times (just a few hundred feet). The other time I help blow up a certain very classified airplane. I lived near the fence for nine months, and it still is home. Ventured as far north as a couple klicks south of the Ashau Valley and as far south as the Two Corp border, but that was purely a stroke of bad luck. Most of the time I was a Que Son Valley rat (give or take forty miles either way). Most of the time out west, but screwed the pooch a couple times even then. (think an island visit with Marine Force Recon). Most of the time I just did what I was told to do, and then disappeared. I was five feet eight inches, and weighed 140 to 145 lb. Had a 44" chest and a 29" waist (no fat boys out west). Otherwise not much different than anybody else. I hated the roads, and anything with tracks or wheels. Rather jut walk, but mostly flew everywhere. That can also be a bad thing. Met quite a few most interesting people in my 15 months, and might have set a record for bar room brawls. I learned to not get too involved in them, but will confess to loosing a couple. I like to remember the fun times and not much about the bad things. Yet in my old age I'm learning to even take some of that stuff lightly these days. I've learned to fight with the Devil over my never ending train ride over PTSD (we all got it). Somethings I'll simply tell you we aren't going there, and let it die. Other things I will speak about, but usually lightly. I try to make a joke out of it, and let it find it's own road outta town. The other poster spoke of punching out of an F105 not too far from the Mu Gai Pass! Most here have no idea what's the reference about. I know, and it sent chills down my spine. Yet that's a hundred miles north of nowhere to me. I my day, the local population looked and saw the F105 patch on his pajamas (sorry but that's the nickname) and he was regarded as a top hand amongst boys. I did many OP's with the 101st, and they were considered the go to unit in country. Most turned into a boring mess, but a couple were interesting. Other units treated me good, and a couple stunk. The press never showed their faces out our way, and never regretted them staying put on their nice warm dry beds. Even the Red Cross Girls on came out once, and vowed to never return. (only time we had a woman within forty klicks). We did get a General a couple times, and I at least respected him for that as it gave us a sense of hope. I had a seriously fine Colonel and an equally fine Sargent Major. My First Sargent was at the top of the list for his rank amongst others. He was hand picked for that slot by the General. The rest could have just stayed home as they were only in the way. I have little use for ticket punchers and not a lot of love for the lifers who resided in the rear. But I'd walk thru the gates to hell right behind that First Shirt! He knew it, but also knew I only wanted out of this indentured slavery. I was simply not good military material, but could do my part with the best of them.

gary

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9 hours ago, ChesshireCat said:

officially, I've never been in Cambodia, but Top has photographic proof of me taking a leak on the concrete marker between Laos and Cambodia with Vietnam on the otherside. 

 

You didn't have a pic of Jane Fonda handy ??? 😉

 

Great story, and thank you for your service.  I turned 18 in '74 and got a draft number but, as things were starting to wind down then, didn't get called up.  Had a lot of friends in college that were vets, and knew well it was not a subject for conversation or questions.

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5 hours ago, habu2 said:

 

You didn't have a pic of Jane Fonda handy ??? 😉

 

Great story, and thank you for your service.  I turned 18 in '74 and got a draft number but, as things were starting to wind down then, didn't get called up.  Had a lot of friends in college that were vets, and knew well it was not a subject for conversation or questions.

to tell you the truth, we knew very little about that slut. The only thing we knew about her was from FNG's that were up on the latest news in the states. Besides they probably didn't want you to know anything going on. I was just not good Army material to be truthful. Yet I never minded it all that much, as it was just a new adventure. I wouldn't trade my adventures for a million dollars, but also would not ever do it again. And trust me, it wasn't all blood and guts like the movies. Some of it was as funny if not funnier than MASH. 

 

    Speaking of Fonda. I actually got three dear johns from the same girl! The last one was final (well almost final), and we used that eight by ten photo to zero our rifles in. Right eyeball everytime! I came across her the second night home, and we talked about an hour in a cold parking lot. She told me she still loved me, but had also gotten engaged to a guy I only slightly knew. Wished her well, and simply moved on. The one I should have went after was single till about ten years ago. I lost my job while I was over there, and everybody said they can't do that! Well you can't argue your case when you twelve thousand miles west. The JAG Officer took it and ran with it. Yes I got my job back and two folks went strait to jail and didn't collect the two hundred dollars. Never went back to it, as that part of life was over with. I was a completely different person upstairs when I got back home. Values were different, and money didn't mean anything. I still have the letter stating that that job is mine anytime I want it in my life. 

I'm better than that now. Now in life I just watch all my buddies going into the ground, and this makes me sad. Agent Orange took most of them. It'll get me sooner than later, but I won't loose sleep over it. 

 

Last October I started a new project, and have challenged friends of mine to do it. I read the daily KIA Obit's for the day; everyday. I see names I know every now and then. Worst of all is that I've learned to read most of the codes they put in there to makes it read nicely. Sometimes I wish I was ignorant of that part. For the last six weeks it seems like a rerun of my basic area of operations. Sometimes I learn new stuff, but most of the time it's a rehash. I ran into one yesterday that opened a new door to what was going on when we were under siege. The guy should have gotten the Legion of Merit at the minimum, and really the CMH. Guess he wasn't into hardware, and let it be known before his demise. He was a full bird Colonel over an infantry unit, and I'd been proud to eat dirt with him. We have seven CMH's awarded in my area and at least three still in review. I'm waiting on three medals myself, but really don't care if I see them or not. DSC's and Silver Stars are a matter of fact out my way, so in a sense they loose their value. Seems like everybody got at least one Bronze Star. 

 

The sad thing is that I've learned to be somewhat critical of folks when I should just give them the nod and move on. I came up with folks that did time with Bennie Adkins (for the longest time I thought he wasn't real!). I would loved to have really known that man cause he was bigger than life. Still I just laugh at most of it these days. You should have been at the American Legion Post down my way when a guy was slapping challenge coins. I tossed mine next to his, and Gloria asked what was going on? I tell her, and she reaches in her purse and bangs a 5th SF coin!! You saw eyes as big as silver dollars (mine too, and I had the big one). Her brother in law was SF in my area, but a year later. He was with Don Sloat when he got his CMH. Bud gave her that coin, and another from the 196th Light Infantry. Two crack units, and she's got both! Life just goes on.

gary

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Gary,

 

I cycled out in '68 on my second tour. Total of 186 1/2 missions North. Both tours I lost a lot of friends. First tour there were 8 of us in our hooch in the beginning when I left there were only 5 of us left. Second was a bit better we lost 2. We tried not to get to close to each other. I remember one guy "Digger" O'dell who was on his 5th mission (first 4 were in Route Pack 1 & 2 and the 5th was RP 6 and he got hit just north of Hanoi and was a POW for the duration. He was one of the guys betrayed by Hanoi Jane when she met with the POW's on her "fact finding mission". To this day at most fighter bases in the head is a stick on pic of her in the urinals.

 

Cheers Brother :cheers: and Welcome home.

Itch

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5 hours ago, Cajun21 said:

Gary,

 

I cycled out in '68 on my second tour. Total of 186 1/2 missions North. Both tours I lost a lot of friends. First tour there were 8 of us in our hooch in the beginning when I left there were only 5 of us left. Second was a bit better we lost 2. We tried not to get to close to each other. I remember one guy "Digger" O'dell who was on his 5th mission (first 4 were in Route Pack 1 & 2 and the 5th was RP 6 and he got hit just north of Hanoi and was a POW for the duration. He was one of the guys betrayed by Hanoi Jane when she met with the POW's on her "fact finding mission". To this day at most fighter bases in the head is a stick on pic of her in the urinals.

 

Cheers Brother :cheers: and Welcome home.

Itch

she does make a very nice target to work on. At My old VFW post there was a score card on the wall above her. If you missed you had to start all over. I led the pack with 202 hits in her right eyeball. No love lost here!

 

I lost my section (squad) twice, so kinda know the feelings. I told some Marine friends a couple years back about what the worst job in the world was (and you know). Going thru and sorting out the guy's personal belongings and then filtering it so as not to cause any more anguish back home. Every unit is different, yet it's all similar. Must have the OIC present and usually the First Sargent. His buddies will go thru the stuff piece by piece, and also packing it all so carefully. You kind of harden to it, and avoid doing it like the plague. I had a very (VERY!) close friend that caught four rounds out on 219 in the early fall of 68. He wasn't gonna die cause then I'd be alone. My left hand man also got shot up pretty bad, and I also told him his butt was mine and he wasn't going to die. I somehow get a foot long gash in my right leg. So we all end up in the 312th Medvac in Chu Lai. We flew back in the Colonel's chopper as a Dustoff was probably forty minutes out when we called. The pilot said he was taking us to da Nang and Top said NO your going to Chu Lai and you best hurry (Randy was going into shock). Top put his 45 at the pilots neck and told him Chu Lai and make it fast! There's just a pilot and Co-Pilot plus the four of us. The Colonel said he'd take the lead and Top yanked the door gunner off the ship and said your light infantry today. I give the Colonel Fred's M16 covered with blood and my 28 mag bandolier plus three 45 mags. Then remove the M16 from the chopper and give him Fred's bandolier and the rifle. We all survived, but Randy gold bricked for a month. Fred went home to Ft. Dix, and I was all alone again. About ten days later Top has two guys bring Fred's stuff to my bunker and they lay it on top my bunk. I knew who's it was, cause Freddie and I bunked together for two months. Guys asked what it was, and if they could use the record player. Never answered them and just put it up. A couple weeks go by and Top asked me what I felt about the two of us doing the job. Said I was not ready and went on. About a week later I walk up the hill and tell him I'm ready as Fred isn't coming back to me. The Captain and Top come down and I set everything on my bunk. Guys are looking at it and one fumbles with the lock on his foot locker. I run him off with a 45 in my hand as Top comes in the other door. The section leader spy's a stack of letters and starts looking at them, and I stick a 45 in his eye. Top clears the bunker and we do it in tears. Then there is the record player with all his damned opera recordings. Fred's wife tells us to keep it! The records were used for target practice. I had his WWII issue Walter P38, and roll it up in some tee shirts my Mother sent us stashed in the bottom of the box. Just about done when we decide to write a letter to his wife. The three of us signed it, when the section chief comes barging in like he owned the place. I run him off with a 45 and was ready to get rid of him forever. He whines to top that I might have shot him, and Top said he would have. Three weeks later he was relieved along with a First LT for just being stupid (in my book). I saw Top make the call and from then and it was done. Fred fully recovered, and Randy came back after Top went to Chu Lai and drug him onto a chopper. Randy should have been sent home as he had developed the worst case of PTSD I've ever seen. For that I'll never forgive them. I packed my stuff up that afternoon and moved to the ammo bunker as I didn't know those guys. Fred had a hammock, and I did steal it from him. Hung it in the ammo bunker. I'd rather live with the snakes and rats. 

 

I made the comment about being alone a couple times. When I lost everybody the first time I was fairly new and didn't know everybody very well. The second time was different, and Randy and I survived by doing what I told Randy when we first met. But we had each other to lean on. Freddie was a couple hundred yards east of us, but were still close. I told Randy to get to know the guys, but also keep your distance from them. Probably got too close to Freddie and Randy; let alone Tommy (KIA 2/24/69).

Randy and Fred were exactly like me, and just wanted to go home to a nice warm dry mattress with a roof overhead. Nothing more and nothing less. Top got shot up a couple weeks later, but recovered back home. Became the Sargent Major he long coveted to be. I still humped Digger II till my very last day out there, and my body is paying for it now. Top called me last fall (I figured he was dead) to give me hell. Then asked me why I refused the section chief job? I simply said I wanted out as I was burnt out. Randy reupped after his girl friend dumped him when he returned to the states, and stayed in for almost thirty years (he vowed to never wear green again). Fred retired a multi millionair in New York. I could write a book about the stunts Randy, Freddie, and I pulled off. Be funny and with no blood and guts in it. That was probably the toughest I'd ever been and also mentally. Top once stood on a ridge line and looked around. Said looking due north into 101st country; They're tough up there. and you gotta be tough out there (looking west) then turned east and said there ain't a lot of tough guys over there. Noticed he said nothing about the south, and now I know why. 

gary

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