Just wanted to wish all my fellow vets a great Vietnam Veteran’s Day. Wayne
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My uncle served with the 101st Air Assault Division. 1968-69. SP5 Carlos Castillo.
Wish I knew what unit he was assigned to. He’s always been tight-lipped about his time out there.
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Thank you for your service and sacrifice.
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To all the Vietnam Veterans, thank you for your service. Well done.
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Thanks for the thoughts, most appreciated. I hope anyone reading this takes a moment to reach out to anyone serving in the Military at this time or their families. Let them know they’re not forgotten.
JJC 25th Infantry, 1970
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I’m one of those who cannot pass a veteran without asking to shake their hand and say thank you. Just last week I had a chance to thank two WWII veterans. All one could say was that it was an honor. It brought me to tears. Not ashamed to admit that. The other was a Marine who hoped to go to Okinawa next year for the 80th anniversary. Amazing boys who are now proud men in their waning years. May God bless all who served.
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If your Uncle is still with us, I suggest you simply ask him…most Veterans will answer a direct question. Let any elaboration be his call. If he has passed on, the family should have his DD-214, that should have his last unit assignment. If not, his NOK can obtain it from the National Personnel Records Center.
Hope this helps.
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Trust me. It’s not for a lack of trying. But I’ll ask my cousin to see if she can dig a little deeper. My uncle’s still kicking around back in Puerto Rico, so I’ll ask her.
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Thanks, Wayne and JJC, and any other Vietnam Veterans on this site, for answering the call and serving in Vietnam. You paved the way for servicemembers of my generation. As the son of a Vietnam Veteran and as an Army Brat whose friends all had parents who were Vietnam Vets as well, Vietnam Veterans had a pretty important influence on my life. When I was a little kid, I knew my dad had served in Vietnam, and when Saigon fell in 1975, I remember all of the Vietnam Vets who lived in the same court as us at Fort Wainwright, AK getting together. I was only 5 years old, but I could sense that something somber had happened based on the reactions that I witnessed. In 1979 when Apocalypse Now came out, my Dad and I went to see it at the post theater at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. After that, we went on many long drives around post and he would talk about Vietnam. What he spoke about was interesting to me and right around that time I started making Vietnam figures, models, and dioramas. Growing up, I read every book, magazine, and comic book and watched every documentary, movie, and TV show about Vietnam. Most of our parents spoke candidly about Vietnam, which kind of was opposite of the stereotype of a Veteran remaining silent about their experiences. Perhaps they knew most of us would join the military and they wanted to let us know what we were getting ourselves into. When I joined the Marine Corps Reserve and became a Recon Marine, many of our senior Officers and NCOs were Vietnam Veterans. Our I&I Staff LtCol was Mikal Stahl who earned a Silver Star in the hill fights around Khe Sanh. Our Battalion Commander served with LtCol Stahl and was well decorated as well. They were both Corporals at the time. My First Sergeant was a M60 gunner in Vietnam and the Master Sergeant who was in S2 was a helicopter crewman during the evacuation of Saigon. When I joined the Army, the situation was similar as there were Vietnam Veterans in the ranks. When I transitioned from regular active duty to AGR status in the TXARNG, we had a bunch of Vietnam Veterans in the units. Most were E4s and E5s still because the didn’t want the “responsibility”, but they set excellent examples for the new guys as they were some of the most ptoficient and reliable Soldiers I served with. We learned so much from them. When we deployed to Iraq the first two times, we had several Vietnam Vets in our ranks. The ones who got medically disqualified or were too close to mandatory retirement age were quite upset that they couldn’t go with us. That should say something about the character of these fine Soldiers. Then when we would go to and from Iraq and Afghanistan, there were always a group of Vietnam Veterans welcoming us and showing their support. I found these times to be quite emotional for me (although I could not show it) because here these men and women who had been treated so badly by the people of our nation for doing their duty, even by WW2 and Korean War Vets who you would think would be supportive of them, were making sure that my generation of returning warriors were supported and welcomed home. I am forever grateful to our Vietnam Veterans, so I put my heart and soul into every figure, model, and diorama I build depicting and honoring their service.
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Nice. M79.
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Yup. M79 on o e shoulder and an M16A1 on the other.
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For the longest time I’ve been working with vets from all over the world, on things like PTSD and TBI and integration back into the civilian population… the nam vets are getting fewer and fewer and that includes the Aussie ones but those on my list actually reach out to the younger vets from the later conflicts.
Many orgs. Include model building to help with PTSD I call it plastic Prozac because it’s therapeutic. On all of that’s good on Y’ALL.
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This is something for real? Is there some significance as to why March 30 is Vietnam Veterans Day?
Served with or have known many Vietnam Vets over the years. Most that I served with were damn fine soldiers. 
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Yes, it is a real recognized day,but it is 29 March,not 30 March. If I remember correctly, 29 March was chosen because 29 March 1973 was considered the end of US involvement in Vietnam.
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March 29th 1973 was when the last combat troops left… My buddy was a Marine on Greenville Victory rescuing the people escaping during the fall of Vietnam in 75.
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Thanks for the information on this date. I had no idea that such a commemorative event existed. Apparently this has been around for many years.
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