The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

Vietnam War – Battle of Camp Bunard (1969)

Vietnam War – Battle of Camp Bunard (1969)

Gazing out the open cargo doors of the Huey flying over Phouc Long Province, boyish-looking Specialist 4 Robert Pryor took in an endless landscape of mountains, meandering rivers and rolling hills covered with dense evergreen vegetation, bamboo thickets, and triple canopy tropical broadleaf forests. The forbidding wilderness had an odd virginal beauty. It was also one of the most dangerous places in South Vietnam. This sparsely populated highland plateau, nestled along the Cambodian border...

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Service Reflections of 1st Lt David G. Poedel, U.S. Air Force (1971-1990)

Service Reflections of 1st Lt David G. Poedel, U.S. Air Force (1971-1990)

In June 1971 I planned to enlist in the Navy Reserve as a Personnelman, which was guaranteed because I was a Navy Sea Cadet and did US Navy Reserve Boot Camp in 1968 and did a 2 week cruise on the USS Lexington (CVT-16). A complication for my future is that I decided I wanted to become a Hospital Corpsman. That meant Class A School, then Fleet Marine training and then 2 years active duty. Well, I was 6’3″ and weighed 136lbs.. Me hauling a Marine out of a firefight was laughable with my physique and I had my first existential crisis.I. The only logical thing to do (given my age and the fact that my draft lottery #32) enlistin the Air Force for 4 years and by the grace of God and my big mouth, I bypassed Air Force BMT and did the briefest amount of medical training the Air Force offered: Medical Helper. It was pretty amazing Drill Sergeant, I don?t intend to be disrespectful, but I already know this stuff; in fact I taught it in my Navy Sea Cadet unit?. His response: Would you like to become an assistant drill Airman or some such thing (I got a 100% on the test)? No Sergeant, I enlisted to become a medic. A year or so later I found out that the Air Force took my entire BMT Flight and made them all Security Policemen. My evidence was a Security Clearance form with the AFSC for Security Police. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me my assertive and fearless mouth and mind to seldom take for an answer.

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