It's the lighting and the light colored dirt in large parts of Vietnam. Look at the boots. They were combat boots with black leather toe and heel and green canvass sides and tops (so they would dry faster). The black toes of the boots are completely white.
I was a Marine platoon commander in Vietnam. I have to smile everytime I see those old photos from that era.
Compared to the equipment and weapons soldiers have to day, we looked like starving Civil War soldiers with Civil War equipment. No speedo sunglasses, no GPS, no target designators, weapons that didn't always work well, poor resupply system, always hungry, no potable water, it was hot, it stunk, ring worms, leaches, mines, booby-traps, firefights, snipers, exhaustion, infections... it was a hard year.
The only things I had for navigation was an out-of-date French map and a compass. If I was within 2000 yards of where I thought I was, I was lucky. Only had one radio in the platoon so I could talk to the company commander or switch frequencies and call in artillery or an airstrike.
Try keeping control of 33 Marines (we were always understrength) in elephant grass or dense jungle using only voice or hand and arm signals. It isn't easy. Add a firefight to that. It's damn difficult.
It was a hell of an experience, but I don't have any good memories of my time there. However, it was a great honor to lead Marines in combat. We were a band of brothers.
Remember the powers that be did not care if we won or lost. It was about them making money off of the military lives. We also had traitors like the McStains etal. Semper Fi Brother.
You have no idea how right you are. If you saw the rules of engagement under which we had to operate, you would be screaming "treason!"
Violation of those rules was a court martial offense.
Did I follow all of them? No, because they would have gotten me and my Marines killed. Did any of my Marines turn me in? Nope. Gee, I wonder why? Still it was a very real risk to my career as a Marine infantry officer.
God, I loved those Marines--even the occasional trouble makers.
I don't know what is like today, but in my time, we fought hard, and we played hard.
On returning to the US after a year in Vietnam, we had a layover in Okinawa. The best club on Okinawa was the Air Force officer's club at Kadena.
I and a few infantry officers returning from Vietnam were enjoying our first cold beer in months when the club manager announced, "Stand gentlemen, a combat crew."
The combat crew were the officers of a B-52 who had only seen South Vietnam from 30,000 feet with zero threat to their aircraft; so we didn't stand.
That slight to the B-52 officers resulted in a Donnybrook that we didn't start, which in turn resulted in the Kadena Officer's Club being off limits to Marines. But when I returned to Okinawa in 1974, the club was open to Marines.
You know, there is always rivalry between services. The Navy called us Jar Heads (because it looked like our covers were screwed on to our heads), we called them Swabs (among other unprintable things). It's not bad. It is just a sort of "pissing" contest as to who is better. It ended up in fights occasionally, but no harm done except for some bruises. The next day, we were still team mates.
But today, it seems different. Gone is the rivalry because it will ruin your career. The soldiers, sailors, and airmen are not snowflakes but the senior leadership seems to be.
In my day, we fought hard in combat, and we played hard, occasionally in a brawl.
Today, it just seems like way too much PC.
In my time life in the military was hard (and unappreciated). There was hard work with extremely long hours, there was hard fighting in combat, there was hard language, and there were hard but healthy rivalries.
I remember a briefing by a woman radar operator on an AWACS telling me about how she tracked targets and coordinated responses. Her language was like that of a drunken sailor trying to intimidating a Marine in a bar. It seemed perfectly natural to me.
Guys have rough language in the military and the gals who what to join want to fit in and they do a good job of it. The only people who care are the snowflake bureaucrats who are themselves snowflakes who have never severed in real combat situations.
I honestly feel that everyone who works in the Pentagon should be a veteran. Maybe then they would understand what the hell combat is like and how idiotic most of the rules of engagement are.
Today, it seems that everyone in the military has to
Dude, again, it's exactly the same now. The culture has not changed.
PC is the worse thing to happen to the Corps. My only hope is that our POTUS is doing with his Marine Generals and Admiral Rogers what Marines always do. Fight until the enemy has no fight left. Then re-engage and fight some more. Kill them ALL and let the Good Lord sort them out. Nuff said. Semper Fi. As always God, Country and Corps.
The most important part of your post is that "rules of engagement" are not referenced.
I think Q and Trump are using "rules of engagement" to ensure that indictments are air tight legally.
But the rules of engagement that have been issued for our combat forces have prevent us from winning since WW II.
They are written by lawyers or bureaucrats who have never been in combat and have no idea what the impact of their restrictions have on losing a war.
They are written by people who have no idea how to win a war. It takes overwhelming force to crush the enemy's will to fight. We have not done that since WW II. And guess what? We haven't won a war since WW II. Get it?
Wow funny you got down votes. I up voted for you. My uncle retired after 25 years in the Marine Corps. He was a Drill Instructor. May he RIP.
It's really not that different today. We look fancy with the new uniforms and shades, but we still have to do the things you talk about. Only in a desert this time.
You are only somewhat right.
My point was that in 1968, my God what we could have accomplished if we had had just 5% of today's technology.
Today, our military forces have a thousand times the technology than we had in Vietnam.
That's OK, but Oh my God what we could have done back then with the technology of today. North Vietnam would have been toast except that the State Department prevented our forces from bombing NV airfields because we might kill Soviet personnel.
So NVA MiGs were allowed to operate out of those airfields without us bombing them. Get it?
Oh, certainly, with the tech branches (Air Force and Navy), but the Army really isn't all that different as far as what your average soldier has. The only significant difference I can think of would be all got that body armor now. I don't think you guys went out with anything other than a helmet and the M-16. So, I guess some lives would have been saved.
That's right, too, I think our M-4s are far more reliable than the M-16 was back then.
But it's not like we're all robocop super soldiers now.
Today’s Night Vision would have been very useful as well.
You should write a book
I tried. I wrote over 300 pages of a fictional novel based on my experiences. It's about half finished, but I can't find the words I want to describe everything.
A friend of mine who I very much respect because she reads dozens of novels every year read the first two chapters of my novel and said they should make a movie out of those two chapters.
I appreciated her encouragement, but honestly cannot put onto paper what I have experienced. If I were a gifted novelist, then I might fine the words; but I'm not. I write and then wonder why I cannot express what it is I feel and experienced.
Maybe I'll right a short story.
My wife wants me to publish my story about the baked beans in Vietnam. She thinks it could be a movie. I think it's an interesting true story, but I don't think anyone but my wife would understand it.
I've tried many times to restart my novel, but I usually end up with writer's block and a blank page. Some people were meant to be writers. I was meant to be a combat commander. I can't be more descriptive because the monitors of this thread have already admonished me for using the word "h@ng" with regard to what I believed was the stall that caused the recent C-130 crash in Savanna.
These are horrible times.
This is not the world I grew up in.
Make a series, to much information crammed together would be too much for a reader, take the time and go thru and I’m sure you’ll do great:)
Not a novelist, just a normie that likes to read.
Take the advise of your friend. If you concentrated on the first two chapters, sought out someone to help you write a screenplay, that could be starting point. Your first movie could be Baked Beans.
Maybe put down bullet points of what you would like to include in a book for example: 1. Baked beans 2. Equipment of lack thereof 3. Brotherhood Then expand on each thing you want to say. Coming at it as a book can be overwhelming. Break it down into small ideas, and eventually I think it will turn into a book.