The Mighty Ninth

Strive To Reach The Summit

Why Is This Man Smiling? Because he is going home!
Because it's April 10, 1970 and I'm getting out of Dodge.  Had another white tee shirt in my AWOL bag that had been in storage at Enari and they gave us new boots and jungle fatigues.  Getting ready to board a bus to the Pleiku Airbase and hop on the big Air Force jet with 71 other guys to accompany the colors of the 3rd BDE to Ft. Lewis, Washington.  We were all E-5 and above or O1 or O2s.    No one knew how or why we were selected, but in trying to puzzle it out we decided that apparently the primary qualification was having over 10 1/2 months in country, holding the ranks someone thought appropriate, able to clean up well, and capable of being retrained to march.  Enari had been moved over to Radcliff, so to the best of our knowledge the 72 of us, minus confiscated weapons, were alone inside the huge basecamp with just the 1/12th (no offense intended) the worst battalion in the brigade sleeping a couple of guys in every 2nd or 3rd perimeter bunkers.

Why Is This Man Smiling? Because he is going home!

Because it's April 10, 1970 and I'm getting out of Dodge. Had another white tee shirt in my AWOL bag that had been in storage at Enari and they gave us new boots and jungle fatigues. Getting ready to board a bus to the Pleiku Airbase and hop on the big Air Force jet with 71 other guys to accompany the colors of the 3rd BDE to Ft. Lewis, Washington. We were all E-5 and above or O1 or O2s. No one knew how or why we were selected, but in trying to puzzle it out we decided that apparently the primary qualification was having over 10 1/2 months in country, holding the ranks someone thought appropriate, able to clean up well, and capable of being retrained to march. Enari had been moved over to Radcliff, so to the best of our knowledge the 72 of us, minus confiscated weapons, were alone inside the huge basecamp with just the 1/12th (no offense intended) the worst battalion in the brigade sleeping a couple of guys in every 2nd or 3rd perimeter bunkers.

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