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What Are They Going to Do, Send Me to Vietnam?
Unlike any other story written about the Vietnam War, this book is written primarily for the parents, children and friends of the Vietnam veteran. Being a collection of 31 true stories, it details the adventures of my almost three years of combat as I mature from a green rookie into a hardened veteran. You'll laugh and you'll cry as you travel along with me and my buddies through the daily task of becoming men while most of our peers remain carefree back home in that distant land known to the sweat covered jungle fighters only as "The World". Learn how we sleep, what we wore and even what good old Army chow is like. Feel what it's like to read a letter from home, to walk down a jungle trail or ride on a 50-ton M48 tank as it slowly smashes its way through triple canopy jungle. More than anything else, this book tells it like it really was! Not like Hollywood wants to make it. Read about the good days and the bad, the happy and the sad, and of the days that will stay forever in your mind. Learn the meaning of the words pride, dignity and honor. What Are They Going To Do, Send Me To Vietnam? speaks for the men who even today can't find the words to tell it themselves. This is their story too.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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July 31, 2011
Written by Bernie Weisz Pembroke Pines, Florida Vietnam Historian/Book Reviewer January 10, 2010 Title of review: "The Way The Vietnam War Really Was! An Exceptionally Frank Memoir!"
I have read literally hundreds of memoirs written about combatant's experiences in Vietnam. Usually, I have found that the most accurate ones were written prior to 1980-with the war still fresh in that particular veteran's mind. However, Jack Stoddard's "What Are They Going To Do, Send Me to Vietnam" will not only give the reader the sights, smells and sounds of Vietnam War, but the feelings that Stoddard suppressed for close to thirty years, i.e. themes of "survivor's guilt", combat tactics, "P.T.S.D." and much more! Stoddard never intended to write this book. In fact, he went out of his way not to discuss his experiences, his losses nor his nightmares with anyone. This book starts with Stoddard giving the reader only a "half-truth" as to why he changed his mind. Elucidating, he wrote in 2000: "I wrote this book because like a lot of other Vets, I couldn't tell my own sons about Vietnam, but I knew I must. There are thousands of other kids like mine, and parents out there who only want to know what their fathers or sons went through and why they still carry the burden of war with them today." Stoddard's reason is sound, as if the participants that were in Vietnam do not teach the next few generations, how are we to learn from our nation's mistakes? Keep in mind, the main theme of historical research is that history per se repeats itself; those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it! Stoddard's book is his personal stake in chronicling exactly what he saw, felt and experienced, without the passage of three decades dimming his capacity to recall.
"What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam" is an important, catch all phrase that was unique to the Vietnam Veteran. For Stoddard, the phrase had a double meaning, actually serving as a motivating factor for him to finish this memoir to completion. The last four years of the Vietnam War witnessed America committed to extracting itself from the fray with the motto "Peace with Honor." Nevertheless, Stoddard and everyone who served with him knew this was all for nothing; no one wanted to be the last to die in an abandoned cause. Stoddard's title also suggested a certain irreverence to authority combined with a dogged determination to get on with the task no matter how dangerous or difficult it may have been. It captured in a phrase the spirit and the common bond shared by soldiers in Vietnam. Tom White was the Brigadier General of the Blackhorse Regiment and Stoddard's platoon leader in Vietnam. White never wrote his memoirs, insisting he can't bring himself to do it. However he understood why Stoddard would never of accomplished this without his wife's prodding, as he knows the pain of the past can be incapacitating. Found throughout the book as a sarcastic comeback to an unpopular order or request by an incompetent superior of Stoddard's, it is explained in the forward by White as such: "We were young men who, at the time, never concerned ourselves with the grand strategy or the politics or whether the war was right or wrong. The war was there and we were there and we were going to accomplish our mission to the best of our ability because that was the best way to stay alive. We were proud of our unit, valued our friendships, and did the best we could to care for our buddies. That is why the losses were so personal and the hurt has continued for so long." This is a critical assertion and learning tool for the parents, children and friends of any Vietnam Veteran alive today. Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be about 54 years old.
However, Stoddard also revealed a beauty to Vietnam rarely told by the history books. On his first Chinook flight over the terrain, he remarked: "Within a matter of minutes, we were flying over what appeared from the air to be a peaceful jungle. Being naive, I thought this was just too pretty a place for a war. The edges were a light green as new vegetation tried to reclaim the areas that had been cleared by local farmers for their rice paddies. Then the jungle took on a darker green as the younger trees mixed with the older taller trees forming, in effect, a double canopy jungle. Soon we flew over even darker sections of almost black terrain. Three layers of trees had formed together. At that point, the foliage became so thick it was almost impossible to see through it from the ground or air. I learned from one of the old-timers that this was called, logically, a triple canopy jungle. It looked so beautiful flying over that I couldn't wait to venture into my new surroundings". Little did Stoddard know at the time, but what he was describing was the exact justification the U.S. Government used to spray "Agent Orange" or Dioxin-which was a cancer causing, environmentally poisoning defoliant used to deny the enemy this sanctuary that gave refuge to the N.V.A. and Viet Cong in hiding from our forces.
After a battle with the infamous "wait a minute vines" (they were the tentacles of giant prickly vines that attacked and tormented ground troops and tankers) Stoddard had to be medically evacuated to a rear aid station to have the tentacles removed from around his eyes. Stoddard made a comment that represented the "American fighting spirit" to prevail in this war as follows: "I remember thinking, how could anybody work all day in this unbearable climate? It was only the middle of the afternoon and I was already soaked to the skin and physically drained by the heat. Just think, only 359 days to go!" In his story of "Guarding The Runway", Stoddard's tank platoon of "M" company was based at Xuan Loc. This was right after the Tet Offensive had began and both N.V.A. and V.C. units were infiltrating most of the cities. Stoddard's tank company was split in half, with 10 tanks going to Bien Hoa, the other 10, including Stoddard, going to protect Long Binh. After spotting and being ordered to destroy an enemy 51 caliber machine gun nest hidden in the bell tower of an old French Church, Stoddard described attacking the target as well as the resulting death of it's occupants. However, as a reflection of the U.S. pursuit of the war in general, Stoddard made a very interesting comment. He wrote: "Before we could move to our second target, word came down from higher command for us to get our tanks out of the city. Our tanks were destroying too many buildings maneuvering in the narrow side streets. We were doing more damage than the enemy". In reading this, I wonder how General William Westmoreland ever thought that he could see "light at the end of the tunnel". Since when did our tanks upon entering Germany in April, 1945, worry about damaging or destroying German architecture, certainly more sophisticated and antiquated then in Long Binh?
In his story "What, Me Hurt?" Stoddard injured his hand trying to repair a thrown track on his tank. Accidentally getting his hand pinned and almost crushed, he once again had to be medically evacuated by helicopter. While he was being treated at a rear medical facility, three medevac choppers brought a load of dead and wounded soldiers in to be worked on, which Stoddard gruesomely witnessed. Finding out that his hand was only jammed, he was given pain pills, told he was okay and to report back to his company. His thoughts were recorded as such: "I felt better as I walked back to the orderly room. As a matter of fact, after what I just witnessed, it felt good to be alive. I sure never wanted to go back there ever again. Instead of going directly back to my company, I stopped off at the Non-commissioned Officers Club and had a beer. Sure, I wasn't supposed to be there (NCO clubs are only for officers, a rank Stoddard didn't possess), but what were they going to do, send me to Vietnam"? One would have to be in Vietnam to understand the following, which certainly indicated racial discord between black and white troops. This had to do with the practice of "dapping". For some reason, Stoddard never mentioned it was a racial thing, but in Cecil B. Curry's book "Long Binh Jail", it certainly was. Curry wrote as follows: "Black Power had become an issue that tore at the fabric of American society by 1967-1968. Clenched fist salutes, Afro hairstyles, and motto's such as "Black is beautiful" became symbols of solidarity among African Americans, and they sought to emphasize "black pride" among the people of their race. Social conflict raging at home soon made it's way across the Pacific to American military units assigned to Vietnam. Black troopers became "brother" to one another, whether they knew each other or not. Their shared color is what mattered. They sported the new Afro hairstyles and grew tiny beards on their lower lips in defiance of military regulations. They developed intricate hand movements to be used when meeting one another, a practice known as "dapping". They believed (sometimes correctly) that they were given the worst fatigue duties and the most dangerous patrol assignments". In discussing "dapping" and race relations, John Trotti in his book "Phantom Over Vietnam" had the following to say: "Another factor affecting unit morale and performance was the rise of the black-power movement in the armed forces. Though they had been in existence far longer, 1968 saw the beginnings of cohesive and effective black-power cells overseas."
In terms of incompetence, in Stoddard's story "Harry and the Grenade", he had a new driver for his tank named Harry. Stoddard described him as such: "I really liked him despite the rumors that he smoked pot. I have to admit he did look a little strange with his non-regulation long hair, beaded peace symbol hung around his neck, and a driver's compartment he'd painted with an unauthorized Day-glo psychedelic paint." After "playing" with the pin to a grenade and dropping it on the floor as Harry was driving the tank, almost killing all 4 crew members, Stoddard was able to put the pin back into the grenade without incident. Next, pushing the tank hard and fast to catch up to the remaining column of tanks, the engine burned out. As the thick, black and orange smoke poured out of the rear engine grill, Stoddard's tank stalled out, and he wrote the following: "The 4 of us stood there in the street, bewildered, looking at our poor smoldering tank. I heard Harry tell Chopper, Stoddard's gunner, the following: "Far out, man. Really far out". I was so mad at Harry that for 2 cents I would have killed him." If that story wreaks of incompetence, Stoddard's next story is even better. After the tank was towed to a maintenance depot at Bien Hoa to have a complete engine wiring harness replaced, Standard incredulously wrote the following after the repairs were finished: "I walked into the hangar unexpectedly on the 6th day and caught the Sergeant off guard. I found the maintenance people pulling out the new harness! "What are you guys doing? Is something wrong?" I questioned. "We finished the job yesterday, but we're so bored we were going to do it again," he confessed. "You've got to be kidding, right?" I asked but he said no and if we didn't tell anyone, he'd have us on the road by late the next night. I agreed and headed to the club for a Tom Collins". There are so many amazing stories in this book, I can't even mention even half. There is the incredible story of when Stoddard shot a canister round at a VC soldier who was rowing a wooden canoe in a free fire zone at night. Firing his 90 mm gun and blowing the canoe in a million pieces, thus killing all occupants, Stoddard didn't realize an ARVN soldier had put his hammock up right next to the 90 mm's turret. When Stoddard fired his big gun at the canoe, the concussion from the canister round blew out the ARVN soldier's eardrum. Then, there is the story of Frank Saracino, from Colorado, who was Stoddard's close friend and roommate. Stoddard was there when Saracino walked into an ambush, was shot in the head and killed instantly by a gunshot to his head. Stoddard must have found it difficult to write the following: "We found Frank lying in a ditch. It looked like the enemy had tried to take his boots off and his weapon was also missing. The 4 of us almost religiously carried Frank off the battlefield. He had been shot in the head by the 51-caliber machine gun. He never knew what hit him". At the end of this book, Stoddard makes peace with the ghosts of the past in "Going to see Chris" and "Closing the Door for Frank" where he visited the deceased families of both Chris Cordova, killed by friendly fire 4 months after Stoddard left Vietnam for good, and Frank Saracino.
Both stories are very touching, but the reader will pick up Stoddard's "survivor guilt" as he wrote that if he were in Vietnam, Stoddard could have called of the U.S. air strike that accidentally killed Cordova.. Certainly, Stoddard himself left out stories too difficult to tell. Many a soldier would easily have preferred to leave the past alone and not recount gruesome stories of death. An example of this is Bruce R. Lake's book "1500 Feet Over Vietnam", who waited 25 years to tell his story of being a Chinook H-46 pilot, and writing such hard memories as this: "On trips we had to bring back many badly decayed bodies of Marines who had died in action. That's the first time I had to resort to using Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. We used to keep a pack in the sleeve of our flight suit. You'd chew a couple of pieces and stick the moist gum on your upper lip just below your nose to help mask the odor. To this day when I taste or smell Juicy Fruit gum it reminds me of death. Even the sight of the bright yellow package makes me think about it. The troops on the ground always hated us to have to do this, but there were times when the odor was so strong that some pilots had the crew rig up external cargo nets to carry the bodies back." Bruce Lake continued his grim recounting: "Many times when we got back to Hill 55 we would see piles of bodies being carried on the little 4-wheel drive "Mules". It's a sight that isn't easy to forget and served as another vivid reminder of what the war was really like, making me wonder what we were doing over there in Vietnam. Was it really worth it? What a tragic loss of life this whole war caused. If we could have fought the way we wanted to we probably could have won, but even if we did not win we just might have felt better about it. In the States we had been trained how to fight and survive but when we got over here there seemed to be lots of restrictions on how or when we could fight back. I still wondered if it was really worth it. I didn't live or work with the Vietnamese but it seemed to me that their life style wouldn't be any different even if we hadn't gone over there in the first place." Stoddard wrote 2 similar stories. One was when his friend Frank Saracino was killed. There was a wounded medic that had witnessed how 75 First Cavalry soldiers he was part of had walked into an NVA ambush, with 20 men mowed down instantly by a concealed enemy machine gun nest!"
Certainly a memory to forget, Stoddard with great pain remembered the following for inclusion into this book: "I remember this next part as if it were yesterday. I saw a medic crawl over to the pile of bodies trying to give some aid. He didn't have a rifle, only his aid bag as he tried to perform his magic. I watched helplessly as a series of bullets tore through his body, then he fell to the ground. This brave, wounded soldier then got up on his knees, looked me straight in the eyes, and pointed to where the fire was coming from. I nodded back to him that I understood and when more rounds hit and killed this young hero, I saw the smoke from the muzzle of the machine gun." After blowing up the NVA machine gun nest, and killing all occupants, Stoddard remembered this about this incident: "I'll never forget the look on his face. He knew he was going to die, but he tried to help those wounded Calvary guys anyway. If it was not for his selfless dedication, many more lives would have been lost because no one else could see where that machine gun was located." Next, Stoddard recalled: "Even though we weren't in the same unit and I didn't know his name, this medic is a hero in my book." If this story isn't enough, the next and last anecdote of this review will clearly show the reader why Stoddard never wanted to write this book and go to his grave with the following memory. Ordered to fly on a gun ship in triple canopy jungle to rescue any survivors of a downed Loach (OH-46 Light Observation Helicopter) that was shot out of the sky by NVA anti-aircraft fire, Stoddard painfully recalled this horrible event: "As we approached the crash site, I could see the smoke from the burning Loach and also from the rockets being fired by the cobra gun ships. We made it, we were now on the ground! Now the ARP's (Areo Rifle Platoon) would take charge of this small plot of jungle. Selective Memories of Vietnam 1969-1970 My squad was now within 30 yards of our objective, a small 2-man helicopter called a Loach. It was completely burnt and dense black smoke was pouring out of what once was a crew compartment. I tried to locate the missing pilots but I couldn't see them from where we were. We had to get closer. It took us 5 minutes to cover the 30 yards."
Finally, Stoddard's lasting memory of this event was as follows: I will never forget the horror I saw next. Our 2 pilots were lying side by side next to the chopper. They were both burnt to death, their bodies still smoldering with portions of their flight suits melted to their bodies. The VC had tried to remove their boots (note-the enemy also tried to do the same to Frank Saracino's corpse). You could hardly tell these 2 bodies were once men they were burnt so badly. These 2 poor souls were now just crispy pieces of burnt meat. I started to get the dry heaves. I wanted to vomit but couldn't. I had a job to do. I had to get these 2 young pilots out of there." Stoddard continued his grim story. "This is only the second time I'd ever been real close to our dead. With silent honor, we carefully wrapped each body in a poncho. Body parts were falling off as we lifted the bodies onto the ponchos. My squad tried to lift them up, but they were just too heavy for us. Each pilot must have weighed close to 300 pounds. Jarvis cut down 2 tree limbs to put through the plastic ponchos. "I've seen this before, Jack," he said. Burned bodies are really heavy. We're going to have a hard time carrying these guys out". Between the artillery and the cover fire, we managed to get the 2 pilots to a clearing almost a thousand yards away. It took us almost an hour to get there. We were all exhausted and even had to drag the poor pilots for the last 20 feet. The smell of burnt flesh had finally gotten the best of me and as we laid our pilots on the ground, I fell to my knees and vomited on the jungle floor. I didn't care if anyone saw me or not. Some things are just too much for any man to handle and this was one of them." There are many more stories, some actually quite hilarious. The reader will read the absurd story of Standard's crew having a pet chicken, the amusing story of how Stoddard's tank crew made a projectile partially filled with chewing gum, and much more! A must read by any Vietnam vet or student of American history!
I have read literally hundreds of memoirs written about combatant's experiences in Vietnam. Usually, I have found that the most accurate ones were written prior to 1980-with the war still fresh in that particular veteran's mind. However, Jack Stoddard's "What Are They Going To Do, Send Me to Vietnam" will not only give the reader the sights, smells and sounds of Vietnam War, but the feelings that Stoddard suppressed for close to thirty years, i.e. themes of "survivor's guilt", combat tactics, "P.T.S.D." and much more! Stoddard never intended to write this book. In fact, he went out of his way not to discuss his experiences, his losses nor his nightmares with anyone. This book starts with Stoddard giving the reader only a "half-truth" as to why he changed his mind. Elucidating, he wrote in 2000: "I wrote this book because like a lot of other Vets, I couldn't tell my own sons about Vietnam, but I knew I must. There are thousands of other kids like mine, and parents out there who only want to know what their fathers or sons went through and why they still carry the burden of war with them today." Stoddard's reason is sound, as if the participants that were in Vietnam do not teach the next few generations, how are we to learn from our nation's mistakes? Keep in mind, the main theme of historical research is that history per se repeats itself; those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it! Stoddard's book is his personal stake in chronicling exactly what he saw, felt and experienced, without the passage of three decades dimming his capacity to recall.
"What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam" is an important, catch all phrase that was unique to the Vietnam Veteran. For Stoddard, the phrase had a double meaning, actually serving as a motivating factor for him to finish this memoir to completion. The last four years of the Vietnam War witnessed America committed to extracting itself from the fray with the motto "Peace with Honor." Nevertheless, Stoddard and everyone who served with him knew this was all for nothing; no one wanted to be the last to die in an abandoned cause. Stoddard's title also suggested a certain irreverence to authority combined with a dogged determination to get on with the task no matter how dangerous or difficult it may have been. It captured in a phrase the spirit and the common bond shared by soldiers in Vietnam. Tom White was the Brigadier General of the Blackhorse Regiment and Stoddard's platoon leader in Vietnam. White never wrote his memoirs, insisting he can't bring himself to do it. However he understood why Stoddard would never of accomplished this without his wife's prodding, as he knows the pain of the past can be incapacitating. Found throughout the book as a sarcastic comeback to an unpopular order or request by an incompetent superior of Stoddard's, it is explained in the forward by White as such: "We were young men who, at the time, never concerned ourselves with the grand strategy or the politics or whether the war was right or wrong. The war was there and we were there and we were going to accomplish our mission to the best of our ability because that was the best way to stay alive. We were proud of our unit, valued our friendships, and did the best we could to care for our buddies. That is why the losses were so personal and the hurt has continued for so long." This is a critical assertion and learning tool for the parents, children and friends of any Vietnam Veteran alive today. Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be about 54 years old.
However, Stoddard also revealed a beauty to Vietnam rarely told by the history books. On his first Chinook flight over the terrain, he remarked: "Within a matter of minutes, we were flying over what appeared from the air to be a peaceful jungle. Being naive, I thought this was just too pretty a place for a war. The edges were a light green as new vegetation tried to reclaim the areas that had been cleared by local farmers for their rice paddies. Then the jungle took on a darker green as the younger trees mixed with the older taller trees forming, in effect, a double canopy jungle. Soon we flew over even darker sections of almost black terrain. Three layers of trees had formed together. At that point, the foliage became so thick it was almost impossible to see through it from the ground or air. I learned from one of the old-timers that this was called, logically, a triple canopy jungle. It looked so beautiful flying over that I couldn't wait to venture into my new surroundings". Little did Stoddard know at the time, but what he was describing was the exact justification the U.S. Government used to spray "Agent Orange" or Dioxin-which was a cancer causing, environmentally poisoning defoliant used to deny the enemy this sanctuary that gave refuge to the N.V.A. and Viet Cong in hiding from our forces.
After a battle with the infamous "wait a minute vines" (they were the tentacles of giant prickly vines that attacked and tormented ground troops and tankers) Stoddard had to be medically evacuated to a rear aid station to have the tentacles removed from around his eyes. Stoddard made a comment that represented the "American fighting spirit" to prevail in this war as follows: "I remember thinking, how could anybody work all day in this unbearable climate? It was only the middle of the afternoon and I was already soaked to the skin and physically drained by the heat. Just think, only 359 days to go!" In his story of "Guarding The Runway", Stoddard's tank platoon of "M" company was based at Xuan Loc. This was right after the Tet Offensive had began and both N.V.A. and V.C. units were infiltrating most of the cities. Stoddard's tank company was split in half, with 10 tanks going to Bien Hoa, the other 10, including Stoddard, going to protect Long Binh. After spotting and being ordered to destroy an enemy 51 caliber machine gun nest hidden in the bell tower of an old French Church, Stoddard described attacking the target as well as the resulting death of it's occupants. However, as a reflection of the U.S. pursuit of the war in general, Stoddard made a very interesting comment. He wrote: "Before we could move to our second target, word came down from higher command for us to get our tanks out of the city. Our tanks were destroying too many buildings maneuvering in the narrow side streets. We were doing more damage than the enemy". In reading this, I wonder how General William Westmoreland ever thought that he could see "light at the end of the tunnel". Since when did our tanks upon entering Germany in April, 1945, worry about damaging or destroying German architecture, certainly more sophisticated and antiquated then in Long Binh?
In his story "What, Me Hurt?" Stoddard injured his hand trying to repair a thrown track on his tank. Accidentally getting his hand pinned and almost crushed, he once again had to be medically evacuated by helicopter. While he was being treated at a rear medical facility, three medevac choppers brought a load of dead and wounded soldiers in to be worked on, which Stoddard gruesomely witnessed. Finding out that his hand was only jammed, he was given pain pills, told he was okay and to report back to his company. His thoughts were recorded as such: "I felt better as I walked back to the orderly room. As a matter of fact, after what I just witnessed, it felt good to be alive. I sure never wanted to go back there ever again. Instead of going directly back to my company, I stopped off at the Non-commissioned Officers Club and had a beer. Sure, I wasn't supposed to be there (NCO clubs are only for officers, a rank Stoddard didn't possess), but what were they going to do, send me to Vietnam"? One would have to be in Vietnam to understand the following, which certainly indicated racial discord between black and white troops. This had to do with the practice of "dapping". For some reason, Stoddard never mentioned it was a racial thing, but in Cecil B. Curry's book "Long Binh Jail", it certainly was. Curry wrote as follows: "Black Power had become an issue that tore at the fabric of American society by 1967-1968. Clenched fist salutes, Afro hairstyles, and motto's such as "Black is beautiful" became symbols of solidarity among African Americans, and they sought to emphasize "black pride" among the people of their race. Social conflict raging at home soon made it's way across the Pacific to American military units assigned to Vietnam. Black troopers became "brother" to one another, whether they knew each other or not. Their shared color is what mattered. They sported the new Afro hairstyles and grew tiny beards on their lower lips in defiance of military regulations. They developed intricate hand movements to be used when meeting one another, a practice known as "dapping". They believed (sometimes correctly) that they were given the worst fatigue duties and the most dangerous patrol assignments". In discussing "dapping" and race relations, John Trotti in his book "Phantom Over Vietnam" had the following to say: "Another factor affecting unit morale and performance was the rise of the black-power movement in the armed forces. Though they had been in existence far longer, 1968 saw the beginnings of cohesive and effective black-power cells overseas."
In terms of incompetence, in Stoddard's story "Harry and the Grenade", he had a new driver for his tank named Harry. Stoddard described him as such: "I really liked him despite the rumors that he smoked pot. I have to admit he did look a little strange with his non-regulation long hair, beaded peace symbol hung around his neck, and a driver's compartment he'd painted with an unauthorized Day-glo psychedelic paint." After "playing" with the pin to a grenade and dropping it on the floor as Harry was driving the tank, almost killing all 4 crew members, Stoddard was able to put the pin back into the grenade without incident. Next, pushing the tank hard and fast to catch up to the remaining column of tanks, the engine burned out. As the thick, black and orange smoke poured out of the rear engine grill, Stoddard's tank stalled out, and he wrote the following: "The 4 of us stood there in the street, bewildered, looking at our poor smoldering tank. I heard Harry tell Chopper, Stoddard's gunner, the following: "Far out, man. Really far out". I was so mad at Harry that for 2 cents I would have killed him." If that story wreaks of incompetence, Stoddard's next story is even better. After the tank was towed to a maintenance depot at Bien Hoa to have a complete engine wiring harness replaced, Standard incredulously wrote the following after the repairs were finished: "I walked into the hangar unexpectedly on the 6th day and caught the Sergeant off guard. I found the maintenance people pulling out the new harness! "What are you guys doing? Is something wrong?" I questioned. "We finished the job yesterday, but we're so bored we were going to do it again," he confessed. "You've got to be kidding, right?" I asked but he said no and if we didn't tell anyone, he'd have us on the road by late the next night. I agreed and headed to the club for a Tom Collins". There are so many amazing stories in this book, I can't even mention even half. There is the incredible story of when Stoddard shot a canister round at a VC soldier who was rowing a wooden canoe in a free fire zone at night. Firing his 90 mm gun and blowing the canoe in a million pieces, thus killing all occupants, Stoddard didn't realize an ARVN soldier had put his hammock up right next to the 90 mm's turret. When Stoddard fired his big gun at the canoe, the concussion from the canister round blew out the ARVN soldier's eardrum. Then, there is the story of Frank Saracino, from Colorado, who was Stoddard's close friend and roommate. Stoddard was there when Saracino walked into an ambush, was shot in the head and killed instantly by a gunshot to his head. Stoddard must have found it difficult to write the following: "We found Frank lying in a ditch. It looked like the enemy had tried to take his boots off and his weapon was also missing. The 4 of us almost religiously carried Frank off the battlefield. He had been shot in the head by the 51-caliber machine gun. He never knew what hit him". At the end of this book, Stoddard makes peace with the ghosts of the past in "Going to see Chris" and "Closing the Door for Frank" where he visited the deceased families of both Chris Cordova, killed by friendly fire 4 months after Stoddard left Vietnam for good, and Frank Saracino.
Both stories are very touching, but the reader will pick up Stoddard's "survivor guilt" as he wrote that if he were in Vietnam, Stoddard could have called of the U.S. air strike that accidentally killed Cordova.. Certainly, Stoddard himself left out stories too difficult to tell. Many a soldier would easily have preferred to leave the past alone and not recount gruesome stories of death. An example of this is Bruce R. Lake's book "1500 Feet Over Vietnam", who waited 25 years to tell his story of being a Chinook H-46 pilot, and writing such hard memories as this: "On trips we had to bring back many badly decayed bodies of Marines who had died in action. That's the first time I had to resort to using Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. We used to keep a pack in the sleeve of our flight suit. You'd chew a couple of pieces and stick the moist gum on your upper lip just below your nose to help mask the odor. To this day when I taste or smell Juicy Fruit gum it reminds me of death. Even the sight of the bright yellow package makes me think about it. The troops on the ground always hated us to have to do this, but there were times when the odor was so strong that some pilots had the crew rig up external cargo nets to carry the bodies back." Bruce Lake continued his grim recounting: "Many times when we got back to Hill 55 we would see piles of bodies being carried on the little 4-wheel drive "Mules". It's a sight that isn't easy to forget and served as another vivid reminder of what the war was really like, making me wonder what we were doing over there in Vietnam. Was it really worth it? What a tragic loss of life this whole war caused. If we could have fought the way we wanted to we probably could have won, but even if we did not win we just might have felt better about it. In the States we had been trained how to fight and survive but when we got over here there seemed to be lots of restrictions on how or when we could fight back. I still wondered if it was really worth it. I didn't live or work with the Vietnamese but it seemed to me that their life style wouldn't be any different even if we hadn't gone over there in the first place." Stoddard wrote 2 similar stories. One was when his friend Frank Saracino was killed. There was a wounded medic that had witnessed how 75 First Cavalry soldiers he was part of had walked into an NVA ambush, with 20 men mowed down instantly by a concealed enemy machine gun nest!"
Certainly a memory to forget, Stoddard with great pain remembered the following for inclusion into this book: "I remember this next part as if it were yesterday. I saw a medic crawl over to the pile of bodies trying to give some aid. He didn't have a rifle, only his aid bag as he tried to perform his magic. I watched helplessly as a series of bullets tore through his body, then he fell to the ground. This brave, wounded soldier then got up on his knees, looked me straight in the eyes, and pointed to where the fire was coming from. I nodded back to him that I understood and when more rounds hit and killed this young hero, I saw the smoke from the muzzle of the machine gun." After blowing up the NVA machine gun nest, and killing all occupants, Stoddard remembered this about this incident: "I'll never forget the look on his face. He knew he was going to die, but he tried to help those wounded Calvary guys anyway. If it was not for his selfless dedication, many more lives would have been lost because no one else could see where that machine gun was located." Next, Stoddard recalled: "Even though we weren't in the same unit and I didn't know his name, this medic is a hero in my book." If this story isn't enough, the next and last anecdote of this review will clearly show the reader why Stoddard never wanted to write this book and go to his grave with the following memory. Ordered to fly on a gun ship in triple canopy jungle to rescue any survivors of a downed Loach (OH-46 Light Observation Helicopter) that was shot out of the sky by NVA anti-aircraft fire, Stoddard painfully recalled this horrible event: "As we approached the crash site, I could see the smoke from the burning Loach and also from the rockets being fired by the cobra gun ships. We made it, we were now on the ground! Now the ARP's (Areo Rifle Platoon) would take charge of this small plot of jungle. Selective Memories of Vietnam 1969-1970 My squad was now within 30 yards of our objective, a small 2-man helicopter called a Loach. It was completely burnt and dense black smoke was pouring out of what once was a crew compartment. I tried to locate the missing pilots but I couldn't see them from where we were. We had to get closer. It took us 5 minutes to cover the 30 yards."
Finally, Stoddard's lasting memory of this event was as follows: I will never forget the horror I saw next. Our 2 pilots were lying side by side next to the chopper. They were both burnt to death, their bodies still smoldering with portions of their flight suits melted to their bodies. The VC had tried to remove their boots (note-the enemy also tried to do the same to Frank Saracino's corpse). You could hardly tell these 2 bodies were once men they were burnt so badly. These 2 poor souls were now just crispy pieces of burnt meat. I started to get the dry heaves. I wanted to vomit but couldn't. I had a job to do. I had to get these 2 young pilots out of there." Stoddard continued his grim story. "This is only the second time I'd ever been real close to our dead. With silent honor, we carefully wrapped each body in a poncho. Body parts were falling off as we lifted the bodies onto the ponchos. My squad tried to lift them up, but they were just too heavy for us. Each pilot must have weighed close to 300 pounds. Jarvis cut down 2 tree limbs to put through the plastic ponchos. "I've seen this before, Jack," he said. Burned bodies are really heavy. We're going to have a hard time carrying these guys out". Between the artillery and the cover fire, we managed to get the 2 pilots to a clearing almost a thousand yards away. It took us almost an hour to get there. We were all exhausted and even had to drag the poor pilots for the last 20 feet. The smell of burnt flesh had finally gotten the best of me and as we laid our pilots on the ground, I fell to my knees and vomited on the jungle floor. I didn't care if anyone saw me or not. Some things are just too much for any man to handle and this was one of them." There are many more stories, some actually quite hilarious. The reader will read the absurd story of Standard's crew having a pet chicken, the amusing story of how Stoddard's tank crew made a projectile partially filled with chewing gum, and much more! A must read by any Vietnam vet or student of American history!
July 30, 2011
Written by Bernie Weisz Vietnam Historian January 8th, 2010 Pembroke Pines, Florida USA E Mail address: BernWei1@aol.com
Title of Review: "The Way the Vietnam War Really Was! An Exceptionally Frank Memoir! I have read literally hundreds of memoirs written about combatant's experiences in Vietnam. Usually, I have found that the most accurate ones were written prior to 1980-with the war still fresh in that particular veteran's mind. However, Jack Stoddard's "What Are They Going To Do, Send Me to Vietnam" will not only give the reader the sights, smells and sounds of Vietnam War, but the feelings that Stoddard suppressed for close to thirty years, i.e. themes of "survivor's guilt", combat tactics, "P.T.S.D." and much more! Stoddard never intended to write this book. In fact, he went out of his way not to discuss his experiences, his losses nor his nightmares with anyone. This book starts with Stoddard giving the reader only a "half-truth" as to why he changed his mind. Elucidating, he wrote in 2000: "I wrote this book because like a lot of other Vets, I couldn't tell my own sons about Vietnam, but I knew I must. There are thousands of other kids like mine, and parents out there who only want to know what their fathers or sons went through and why they still carry the burden of war with them today." Stoddard's reason is sound, as if the participants that were in Vietnam do not teach the next few generations, how are we to learn from our nation's mistakes? Keep in mind, the main theme of historical research is that history per se repeats itself; those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it! Stoddard's book is his personal stake in chronicling exactly what he saw, felt and experienced, without the passage of three decades dimming his capacity to recall.
"What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam" is an important, catch all phrase that was unique to the Vietnam Veteran. For Stoddard, the phrase had a double meaning, actually serving as a motivating factor for him to finish this memoir to completion. The last four years of the Vietnam War witnessed America committed to extracting itself from the fray with the motto "Peace with Honor." Nevertheless, Stoddard and everyone who served with him knew this was all for nothing; no one wanted to be the last to die in an abandoned cause. Stoddard's title also suggested a certain irreverence to authority combined with a dogged determination to get on with the task no matter how dangerous or difficult it may have been. It captured in a phrase the spirit and the common bond shared by soldiers in Vietnam. Tom White was the Brigadier General of the Blackhorse Regiment and Stoddard's platoon leader in Vietnam. White never wrote his memoirs, insisting he can't bring himself to do it. However he understood why Stoddard would never of accomplished this without his wife's prodding, as he knows the pain of the past can be incapacitating. Found throughout the book as a sarcastic comeback to an unpopular order or request by an incompetent superior of Stoddard's, it is explained in the forward by White as such: "We were young men who, at the time, never concerned ourselves with the grand strategy or the politics or whether the war was right or wrong. The war was there and we were there and we were going to accomplish our mission to the best of our ability because that was the best way to stay alive. We were proud of our unit, valued our friendships, and did the best we could to care for our buddies. That is why the losses were so personal and the hurt has continued for so long." This is a critical assertion and learning tool for the parents, children and friends of any Vietnam Veteran alive today. Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be about 54 years old.
To ward off false expectations, Stoddard at the outset explained the contents of this book: "This book offers no political opinions nor is it judgmental of Vietnam or the war. Rather, it is a collection of true stories about the exciting, humorous, and sometimes frightening adventures I experienced during my 2 1/2 years of combat. This book tells it like it really was, at least for me." Jack's wife, Sue, had an active role as well. With widely circulating false stereotypical impressions of Vietnam Vets portraying them as "baby killing, homicidal drug addicts with M-16's, Sue urged he husband to set the record straight. Agreeing, Stoddard wrote: "I couldn't help but think of the past and how my wife encouraged me to write this book about the way Vietnam really was. About good men doing an impossible job as best they could. Not killers, but boys who became men long before their time-some who came home, and some who didn't."
The reader will pick up Stoddard's "survivor guilt" as he wrote that if he were in Vietnam, Stoddard could have called of the U.S. air strike that accidentally killed Cordova. Certainly, Stoddard left out stories too difficult to tell. Many a soldier would easily have preferred to leave the past alone and not recount gruesome stories of death. An example of this is Bruce R. Lake and his book "1500 Feet Over Vietnam." Lake waited 25 years to tell his story of being a Chinook H-46 pilot, and included the following painful recollection: "On trips we had to bring back many badly decayed bodies of Marines who had died in action. That's the first time I had to resort to using Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. We used to keep a pack in the sleeve of our flight suit. You'd chew a couple of pieces and stick the moist gum on your upper lip just below your nose to help mask the odor. To this day when I taste or smell Juicy Fruit gum it reminds me of death. Even the sight of the bright yellow package makes me think about it. The troops on the ground always hated us to have to do this, but there were times when the odor was so strong that some pilots had the crew rig up external cargo nets to carry the bodies back." Bruce Lake continued his grim recounting: "Many times when we got back to Hill 55 we would see piles of bodies being carried on the little 4-wheel drive "Mules". It's a sight that isn't easy to forget and served as another vivid reminder of what the war was really like, making me wonder what we were doing over there in Vietnam. Was it really worth it? What a tragic loss of life this whole war caused. If we could have fought the way we wanted to we probably could have won, but even if we did not win we just might have felt better about it. In the States we had been trained how to fight and survive but when we got over here there seemed to be lots of restrictions on how or when we could fight back. I still wondered if it was really worth it. I didn't live or work with the Vietnamese but it seemed to me that their life style wouldn't be any different even if we hadn't gone over there in the first place." Stoddard wrote about similar stories. One was when his friend Frank Saracino was killed. There was another story about a wounded medic had who witnessed 75 First Cavalry soldiers he was part of had walk into an NVA ambush, with 20 men mowed down instantly by a concealed enemy machine gun nest!"
Certainly a memory to forget, Stoddard remembered the following for inclusion into this book: "I remember this next part as if it were yesterday. I saw a medic crawl over to the pile of bodies trying to give some aid. He didn't have a rifle, only his aid bag as he tried to perform his magic. I watched helplessly as a series of bullets tore through his body, then he fell to the ground. This brave, wounded soldier then got up on his knees, looked me straight in the eyes, and pointed to where the fire was coming from. I nodded back to him that I understood and when more rounds hit and killed this young hero, I saw the smoke from the muzzle of the machine gun." After blowing up the NVA machine gun nest, and killing all occupants, Stoddard remembered this about this incident: "I'll never forget the look on his face. He knew he was going to die, but he tried to help those wounded Calvary guys anyway. If it was not for his selfless dedication, many more lives would have been lost because no one else could see where that machine gun was located." Stoddard added: "Even though we weren't in the same unit and I didn't know his name, this medic is a hero in my book." If this story isn't enough, the next and last anecdote of this review will clearly show the reader why Stoddard never wanted to write this book, especially with the following memory. Ordered to fly on a gun ship in triple canopy jungle to rescue any survivors of a downed Loach (OH-46 Light Observation Helicopter) that was shot out of the sky by NVA anti-aircraft fire, Stoddard painfully recalled this horrible event: "As we approached the crash site, I could see the smoke from the burning Loach and also from the rockets being fired by the cobra gun ships. We made it, we were now on the ground! Now the ARP's (Areo Rifle Platoon) would take charge of this small plot of jungle. My squad was now within 30 yards of our objective, a small 2-man helicopter called a Loach. It was completely burnt and dense black smoke was pouring out of what once was a crew compartment. I tried to locate the missing pilots but I couldn't see them from where we were. We had to get closer. It took us 5 minutes to cover the 30 yards."
Finally, Stoddard's lasting memory of this event was as follows: I will never forget the horror I saw next. Our 2 pilots were lying side by side next to the chopper. They were both burnt to death, their bodies still smoldering with portions of their flight suits melted to their bodies. The VC had tried to remove their boots (note-the enemy also tried to do the same to Frank Saracino's corpse). You could hardly tell these 2 bodies were once men they were burnt so badly. These 2 poor souls were now just crispy pieces of burnt meat. I started to get the dry heaves. I wanted to vomit but couldn't. I had a job to do. I had to get these 2 young pilots out of there." Stoddard continued his grim story. "This is only the second time I'd ever been real close to our dead. With silent honor, we carefully wrapped each body in a poncho. Body parts were falling off as we lifted the bodies onto the ponchos. My squad tried to lift them up, but they were just too heavy for us. Each pilot must have weighed close to 300 pounds. Jarvis cut down 2 tree limbs to put through the plastic ponchos. "I've seen this before, Jack," he said. Burned bodies are really heavy. We're going to have a hard time carrying these guys out". Between the artillery and the cover fire, we managed to get the 2 pilots to a clearing almost a thousand yards away. It took us almost an hour to get there. We were all exhausted and even had to drag the poor pilots for the last 20 feet. The smell of burnt flesh had finally gotten the best of me and as we laid our pilots on the ground, I fell to my knees and vomited on the jungle floor. I didn't care if anyone saw me or not. Some things are just too much for any man to handle and this was one of them." There are many more stories, some actually quite hilarious. The reader will read the absurd story of Standard's crew having a pet chicken, the amusing story of how Stoddard's tank crew made a projectile partially filled with chewing gum, and much more! A must read by any Vietnam vet or student of American history!
Title of Review: "The Way the Vietnam War Really Was! An Exceptionally Frank Memoir! I have read literally hundreds of memoirs written about combatant's experiences in Vietnam. Usually, I have found that the most accurate ones were written prior to 1980-with the war still fresh in that particular veteran's mind. However, Jack Stoddard's "What Are They Going To Do, Send Me to Vietnam" will not only give the reader the sights, smells and sounds of Vietnam War, but the feelings that Stoddard suppressed for close to thirty years, i.e. themes of "survivor's guilt", combat tactics, "P.T.S.D." and much more! Stoddard never intended to write this book. In fact, he went out of his way not to discuss his experiences, his losses nor his nightmares with anyone. This book starts with Stoddard giving the reader only a "half-truth" as to why he changed his mind. Elucidating, he wrote in 2000: "I wrote this book because like a lot of other Vets, I couldn't tell my own sons about Vietnam, but I knew I must. There are thousands of other kids like mine, and parents out there who only want to know what their fathers or sons went through and why they still carry the burden of war with them today." Stoddard's reason is sound, as if the participants that were in Vietnam do not teach the next few generations, how are we to learn from our nation's mistakes? Keep in mind, the main theme of historical research is that history per se repeats itself; those that do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it! Stoddard's book is his personal stake in chronicling exactly what he saw, felt and experienced, without the passage of three decades dimming his capacity to recall.
"What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam" is an important, catch all phrase that was unique to the Vietnam Veteran. For Stoddard, the phrase had a double meaning, actually serving as a motivating factor for him to finish this memoir to completion. The last four years of the Vietnam War witnessed America committed to extracting itself from the fray with the motto "Peace with Honor." Nevertheless, Stoddard and everyone who served with him knew this was all for nothing; no one wanted to be the last to die in an abandoned cause. Stoddard's title also suggested a certain irreverence to authority combined with a dogged determination to get on with the task no matter how dangerous or difficult it may have been. It captured in a phrase the spirit and the common bond shared by soldiers in Vietnam. Tom White was the Brigadier General of the Blackhorse Regiment and Stoddard's platoon leader in Vietnam. White never wrote his memoirs, insisting he can't bring himself to do it. However he understood why Stoddard would never of accomplished this without his wife's prodding, as he knows the pain of the past can be incapacitating. Found throughout the book as a sarcastic comeback to an unpopular order or request by an incompetent superior of Stoddard's, it is explained in the forward by White as such: "We were young men who, at the time, never concerned ourselves with the grand strategy or the politics or whether the war was right or wrong. The war was there and we were there and we were going to accomplish our mission to the best of our ability because that was the best way to stay alive. We were proud of our unit, valued our friendships, and did the best we could to care for our buddies. That is why the losses were so personal and the hurt has continued for so long." This is a critical assertion and learning tool for the parents, children and friends of any Vietnam Veteran alive today. Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam, less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be about 54 years old.
To ward off false expectations, Stoddard at the outset explained the contents of this book: "This book offers no political opinions nor is it judgmental of Vietnam or the war. Rather, it is a collection of true stories about the exciting, humorous, and sometimes frightening adventures I experienced during my 2 1/2 years of combat. This book tells it like it really was, at least for me." Jack's wife, Sue, had an active role as well. With widely circulating false stereotypical impressions of Vietnam Vets portraying them as "baby killing, homicidal drug addicts with M-16's, Sue urged he husband to set the record straight. Agreeing, Stoddard wrote: "I couldn't help but think of the past and how my wife encouraged me to write this book about the way Vietnam really was. About good men doing an impossible job as best they could. Not killers, but boys who became men long before their time-some who came home, and some who didn't."
The reader will pick up Stoddard's "survivor guilt" as he wrote that if he were in Vietnam, Stoddard could have called of the U.S. air strike that accidentally killed Cordova. Certainly, Stoddard left out stories too difficult to tell. Many a soldier would easily have preferred to leave the past alone and not recount gruesome stories of death. An example of this is Bruce R. Lake and his book "1500 Feet Over Vietnam." Lake waited 25 years to tell his story of being a Chinook H-46 pilot, and included the following painful recollection: "On trips we had to bring back many badly decayed bodies of Marines who had died in action. That's the first time I had to resort to using Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. We used to keep a pack in the sleeve of our flight suit. You'd chew a couple of pieces and stick the moist gum on your upper lip just below your nose to help mask the odor. To this day when I taste or smell Juicy Fruit gum it reminds me of death. Even the sight of the bright yellow package makes me think about it. The troops on the ground always hated us to have to do this, but there were times when the odor was so strong that some pilots had the crew rig up external cargo nets to carry the bodies back." Bruce Lake continued his grim recounting: "Many times when we got back to Hill 55 we would see piles of bodies being carried on the little 4-wheel drive "Mules". It's a sight that isn't easy to forget and served as another vivid reminder of what the war was really like, making me wonder what we were doing over there in Vietnam. Was it really worth it? What a tragic loss of life this whole war caused. If we could have fought the way we wanted to we probably could have won, but even if we did not win we just might have felt better about it. In the States we had been trained how to fight and survive but when we got over here there seemed to be lots of restrictions on how or when we could fight back. I still wondered if it was really worth it. I didn't live or work with the Vietnamese but it seemed to me that their life style wouldn't be any different even if we hadn't gone over there in the first place." Stoddard wrote about similar stories. One was when his friend Frank Saracino was killed. There was another story about a wounded medic had who witnessed 75 First Cavalry soldiers he was part of had walk into an NVA ambush, with 20 men mowed down instantly by a concealed enemy machine gun nest!"
Certainly a memory to forget, Stoddard remembered the following for inclusion into this book: "I remember this next part as if it were yesterday. I saw a medic crawl over to the pile of bodies trying to give some aid. He didn't have a rifle, only his aid bag as he tried to perform his magic. I watched helplessly as a series of bullets tore through his body, then he fell to the ground. This brave, wounded soldier then got up on his knees, looked me straight in the eyes, and pointed to where the fire was coming from. I nodded back to him that I understood and when more rounds hit and killed this young hero, I saw the smoke from the muzzle of the machine gun." After blowing up the NVA machine gun nest, and killing all occupants, Stoddard remembered this about this incident: "I'll never forget the look on his face. He knew he was going to die, but he tried to help those wounded Calvary guys anyway. If it was not for his selfless dedication, many more lives would have been lost because no one else could see where that machine gun was located." Stoddard added: "Even though we weren't in the same unit and I didn't know his name, this medic is a hero in my book." If this story isn't enough, the next and last anecdote of this review will clearly show the reader why Stoddard never wanted to write this book, especially with the following memory. Ordered to fly on a gun ship in triple canopy jungle to rescue any survivors of a downed Loach (OH-46 Light Observation Helicopter) that was shot out of the sky by NVA anti-aircraft fire, Stoddard painfully recalled this horrible event: "As we approached the crash site, I could see the smoke from the burning Loach and also from the rockets being fired by the cobra gun ships. We made it, we were now on the ground! Now the ARP's (Areo Rifle Platoon) would take charge of this small plot of jungle. My squad was now within 30 yards of our objective, a small 2-man helicopter called a Loach. It was completely burnt and dense black smoke was pouring out of what once was a crew compartment. I tried to locate the missing pilots but I couldn't see them from where we were. We had to get closer. It took us 5 minutes to cover the 30 yards."
Finally, Stoddard's lasting memory of this event was as follows: I will never forget the horror I saw next. Our 2 pilots were lying side by side next to the chopper. They were both burnt to death, their bodies still smoldering with portions of their flight suits melted to their bodies. The VC had tried to remove their boots (note-the enemy also tried to do the same to Frank Saracino's corpse). You could hardly tell these 2 bodies were once men they were burnt so badly. These 2 poor souls were now just crispy pieces of burnt meat. I started to get the dry heaves. I wanted to vomit but couldn't. I had a job to do. I had to get these 2 young pilots out of there." Stoddard continued his grim story. "This is only the second time I'd ever been real close to our dead. With silent honor, we carefully wrapped each body in a poncho. Body parts were falling off as we lifted the bodies onto the ponchos. My squad tried to lift them up, but they were just too heavy for us. Each pilot must have weighed close to 300 pounds. Jarvis cut down 2 tree limbs to put through the plastic ponchos. "I've seen this before, Jack," he said. Burned bodies are really heavy. We're going to have a hard time carrying these guys out". Between the artillery and the cover fire, we managed to get the 2 pilots to a clearing almost a thousand yards away. It took us almost an hour to get there. We were all exhausted and even had to drag the poor pilots for the last 20 feet. The smell of burnt flesh had finally gotten the best of me and as we laid our pilots on the ground, I fell to my knees and vomited on the jungle floor. I didn't care if anyone saw me or not. Some things are just too much for any man to handle and this was one of them." There are many more stories, some actually quite hilarious. The reader will read the absurd story of Standard's crew having a pet chicken, the amusing story of how Stoddard's tank crew made a projectile partially filled with chewing gum, and much more! A must read by any Vietnam vet or student of American history!
February 2, 2024
I have some trouble with this one. What I'm about to write will have Vietnam vets and others rise in arms against me, but here goes . . . there's just something about this narrative that doesn't quite resonate. Little things, like dates, places, people, outcomes just don't ring true. A little online research shows that. For example, Frank Saracino wasn't awarded a Medal of Honor, as stated, but was awarded a DSC. That's actually a fairly big and needless boo-boo on Stoddard's part. The novel - and it comes across as a novel - is written more as a story and not a reminiscence, since speech is used and it's in the present tense. That's fine, but one can't but feel the story is perhaps embellished because of that. But Stoddard was there and I was not, so I can only give my impression. Stoddard certainly does a masterful job in the latter part of his book trying to explain his reconciliation and his assistance to his brothers-in-arms. I've read a lot of these Vietnam reminiscences and find this particular one to be on the lower end of the "really good book!" spectrum.
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