Finding out your father and hunting partner is tougher than you thought

[TTundra]

I've written here that my hunting partner for my Africa hunts is my father. He always dreamed of going to Africa and spoke of it highly in my youth and I was ecstatic to take him these past 3 trips. I'm 38 now and planning our 4th trip over now.

I've always know my father is a Vietnam veteran. He was a crew Chief on a Huey and then went thru SF selection to 5th group. I've also seen his medals and awards enough to know he saw some serious action. He was awarded 2 purple hearts , Bronze Star, Silver Star (Battle of Lang Vei), 28 air medals, and a host more.

I recently found and read his citation for his DFC with V device....and I was stricken with more pride than I think I had ever felt.

To sum it up as this citation is 2 full pages. Katum camp January 1968. My pops is on chalk 2 flying in infantryman from the 25th. First drop takes sniper fire, second has all hell break loose. They keep flying in and out (my father says very similar in appearance to what is seen on "We Were Soldiers"). His first bird was shot down and they made their way back to camp and got in another and resumed the fight. My father did the pre flight check while the base was being mortared and got the bird ready to go. At one point in the citation it reads he crawled to the helicopter while avoiding mortar fire to get back in the air faster.

Once fire is too much to fly into the main LZ, they are ordered to take a squad of the 25th to a cleared adjacent LZ to check for intel on some dead NVA. My father recalls thinking how dumb it was as this LZ was only a few hundred yards from the main battle.

The squad hops out and begins checking the NVA. My father then spots incoming NVA, and a lot of them. The 25th guys couldn't hear him yelling to get back to the helicopter. He dismounts his M60D, unplugs his comms, and ribbons the belt over his arm and runs out to the men in the field with the NVA bearing down on them unaware. He was holding the M60D with the front carry handle in his left hand and the butterfly style trigger of the M60D in his right (for those that don't know, look up M60D as it was an aviation configuration and not shoulder fired). After reaching them and yelling for the guys to get back on the bird the citation reads he held fire until he could distinguish friend from foe, and then opened up. He backpedaled to the Huey firing on the NVA, hopped in, plugged in his comms and said get the F*** out of there while continuing to fire upon the NVA while pitching out.

After I read this I asked my dad, "You unhooked the gun and ran out to the guys to get them back on the helicopter and held off the NVA while they ran back?! That is some Rambo style stuff, Pop!"

But it was over. After getting the 25th guys back on, they saw a Huey from their detachment take fire and go down. My father popped green smoke and the pilots landed near by. One more time with M60D in hand he now runs to the downed Huey to pull the crew out, some friends of his to this day.

Back in the fight and into the main LZ to do more evac flights, his second Huey is hit and crashes in the jungle. An APC crew from a fire support base sees it go down and heads to out them. My father recalls hearing the NVA getting closer and waiting for the fight that would come, but here comes the APC and as the back door opens he hears them say, "You boys need a ride?".

They didn't get into a 3rd helicopter that day...


My father is one who says what's on his mind. I've often said I'm his bodyguard as he doesn't hold back and I never know what may happen. Again, I always thought of him as a military hero. Reading his DFC citation is one example that really solidified how much of a bada$$ he really is.


To all of you that served and have family who served, thank you. I hope you can get to the point where you may share you're experiences and/or they share with you if ready and willing. So many acts of bravery in so many different forms to be remembered.

 

[spike.t]

WOW.......

 

[Scott CWO]

You come from good stock, Brother!

 

[TTundra]

You come from good stock, Brother!

Thank you. Certainly lots of pride in our family and happy to share one of his stories. His silver star was awarded from his efforts during Lang Vei and the march to Khe Sanh with the Laotians and Montagnards after he was hit while on a bunker with a Katyusha rocket. Blew him off the bunker into a pile of metal. The scars still visible on his back almost 60 years later.

 

[Fatback]

A true American Hero!! What is most interesting to me is how humble most of these heros are when asked about their service.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I've written here that my hunting partner for my Africa hunts is my father. He always dreamed of going to Africa and spoke of it highly in my youth and I was ecstatic to take him these past 3 trips. I'm 38 now and planning our 4th trip over now.

I've always know my father is a Vietnam veteran. He was a crew Chief on a Huey and then went thru SF selection to 5th group. I've also seen his medals and awards enough to know he saw some serious action. He was awarded 2 purple hearts , Bronze Star, Silver Star (Battle of Lang Vei), 28 air medals, and a host more.

I recently found and read his citation for his DFC with V device....and I was stricken with more pride than I think I had ever felt.

To sum it up as this citation is 2 full pages. Katum camp January 1968. My pops is on chalk 2 flying in infantryman from the 25th. First drop takes sniper fire, second has all hell break loose. They keep flying in and out (my father says very similar in appearance to what is seen on "We Were Soldiers"). His first bird was shot down and they made their way back to camp and got in another and resumed the fight. My father did the pre flight check while the base was being mortared and got the bird ready to go. At one point in the citation it reads he crawled to the helicopter while avoiding mortar fire to get back in the air faster.

Once fire is too much to fly into the main LZ, they are ordered to take a squad of the 25th to a cleared adjacent LZ to check for intel on some dead NVA. My father recalls thinking how dumb it was as this LZ was only a few hundred yards from the main battle.

The squad hops out and begins checking the NVA. My father then spots incoming NVA, and a lot of them. The 25th guys couldn't hear him yelling to get back to the helicopter. He dismounts his M60D, unplugs his comms, and ribbons the belt over his arm and runs out to the men in the field with the NVA bearing down on them unaware. He was holding the M60D with the front carry handle in his left hand and the butterfly style trigger of the M60D in his right (for those that don't know, look up M60D as it was an aviation configuration and not shoulder fired). After reaching them and yelling for the guys to get back on the bird the citation reads he held fire until he could distinguish friend from foe, and then opened up. He backpedaled to the Huey firing on the NVA, hopped in, plugged in his comms and said get the F*** out of there while continuing to fire upon the NVA while pitching out.

View attachment 672233

After I read this I asked my dad, "You unhooked the gun and ran out to the guys to get them back on the helicopter and held off the NVA while they ran back?! That is some Rambo style stuff, Pop!"

But it was over. After getting the 25th guys back on, they saw a Huey from their detachment take fire and go down. My father popped green smoke and the pilots landed near by. One more time with M60D in hand he now runs to the downed Huey to pull the crew out, some friends of his to this day.

Back in the fight and into the main LZ to do more evac flights, his second Huey is hit and crashes in the jungle. An APC crew from a fire support base sees it go down and heads to out them. My father recalls hearing the NVA getting closer and waiting for the fight that would come, but here comes the APC and as the back door opens he hears them say, "You boys need a ride?".

They didn't get into a 3rd helicopter that day...


My father is one who says what's on his mind. I've often said I'm his bodyguard as he doesn't hold back and I never know what may happen. Again, I always thought of him as a military hero. Reading his DFC citation is one example that really solidified how much of a bada$$ he really is.


To all of you that served and have family who served, thank you. I hope you can get to the point where you may share you're experiences and/or they share with you if ready and willing. So many acts of bravery in so many different forms to be remembered.

Tell your dad that a story.like that makes me proud to be an American.

 

[Pablo]

You are right, he was/is a badass! Thanks for his service.

 

[TTundra]

Tell your dad that a story.like that makes me proud to be an American.

I certainly will. Thank you for the kind words.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Your father sounds like a true war hero.

My father is my best friend & my inspiration. He turns 94 years of age this year & he is just as sharp as I remember him from my childhood. He regularly hunts jack snipe in the rice paddy fields around our family home, and is a far gifted wing shooter than I ever will be (just last month, I watched him down 16 jack snipe on the wing within the hour using only 16 rounds of Sellier & Bellot 36 gram Fortuna #7s).

He instilled all of my sporting ethics & moral values in me and I could not be half the man I am today without his watching over me. He has hunted Cape buffalo, hippopotamus & plains game with me over the years. Although his sporting preferences are invariably more towards feather than fur.

He used to be the DC (District Commissioner) of our locality. During my childhood, there were many hate crimes being committed in our town against non-Muslim minorities. But my father publicly spent two decades of his life fighting against all that. He protected churches & temples in our locality and provided protection to all minorities during those times of religious turbulence in East Pakistan. At a time when religious segregation was still rampant in our country, father helped pass many of the first anti discrimination laws. In many ways, watching him do these things in my youth inspired me & my outlook towards life in adulthood. At a time when schools in East Pakistan were teaching us to hate people of Jewish faith, father taught us to never discriminate against anybody for “Who They Pray To”. In 1950s & 1960s era East Pakistan, that truly was extremely forwarding thinking & civilized.

We had only one serious argument in the last 73 years of my life- The day I went off to serve in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. He & my mother just could not allow me to go off into the war to “Die For A Conflict Started By Old Men Sitting In The Comfort Of Air Conditioned City Offices”, but I went and joined the East Bengal Regiment anyway. When the war ended nine months later, I returned home & met my parents again for the first time in a while. The moment we saw each other, all three of us just burst into tears and uncontrollably cried for what seemed like forever (actually it would be probably for around ten minutes of so). Without saying anything.

A good father is a very crucial thing for a young boy (or even girl) to have growing up. I always strived to be just like him when raising my own two children.

 

[TTundra]

Your father sounds like a true war hero.

View attachment 672304

A good father is a very crucial thing for a young boy (or even girl) to have growing up. I always strived to be just like him when raising my own two children.

Thank you @Hunter-Habib for your kind words and post.

I highlighted your last sentence as it should be reread by all. Boys and girls need a good father as much as a nurturing mother. Mine became the better father in my later years with no doubt due to what he witnessed and did for his brother's in arms. For that, I'm truly thankful.

 

[TTundra]

A true American Hero!! What is most interesting to me is how humble most of these heros are when asked about their service.

My nephews who are older than my kids have begun asking my father for some stories. He has a plethora of funny stories from his tours he likes to tell. I do hope he continues to open up to us and maybe tell more mature more stories to my brother and I first.

My grandfather who was a WWII Marine POW only opened up later on as well and I am so fortunate to have heard his stories as well.

 

[wiyofa]

I've written here that my hunting partner for my Africa hunts is my father. He always dreamed of going to Africa and spoke of it highly in my youth and I was ecstatic to take him these past 3 trips. I'm 38 now and planning our 4th trip over now.

I've always know my father is a Vietnam veteran. He was a crew Chief on a Huey and then went thru SF selection to 5th group. I've also seen his medals and awards enough to know he saw some serious action. He was awarded 2 purple hearts , Bronze Star, Silver Star (Battle of Lang Vei), 28 air medals, and a host more.

I recently found and read his citation for his DFC with V device....and I was stricken with more pride than I think I had ever felt.

To sum it up as this citation is 2 full pages. Katum camp January 1968. My pops is on chalk 2 flying in infantryman from the 25th. First drop takes sniper fire, second has all hell break loose. They keep flying in and out (my father says very similar in appearance to what is seen on "We Were Soldiers"). His first bird was shot down and they made their way back to camp and got in another and resumed the fight. My father did the pre flight check while the base was being mortared and got the bird ready to go. At one point in the citation it reads he crawled to the helicopter while avoiding mortar fire to get back in the air faster.

Once fire is too much to fly into the main LZ, they are ordered to take a squad of the 25th to a cleared adjacent LZ to check for intel on some dead NVA. My father recalls thinking how dumb it was as this LZ was only a few hundred yards from the main battle.

The squad hops out and begins checking the NVA. My father then spots incoming NVA, and a lot of them. The 25th guys couldn't hear him yelling to get back to the helicopter. He dismounts his M60D, unplugs his comms, and ribbons the belt over his arm and runs out to the men in the field with the NVA bearing down on them unaware. He was holding the M60D with the front carry handle in his left hand and the butterfly style trigger of the M60D in his right (for those that don't know, look up M60D as it was an aviation configuration and not shoulder fired dubai internet city metro station. After reaching them and yelling for the guys to get back on the bird the citation reads he held fire until he could distinguish friend from foe, and then opened up. He backpedaled to the Huey firing on the NVA, hopped in, plugged in his comms and said get the F*** out of there while continuing to fire upon the NVA while pitching out.

View attachment 672233

After I read this I asked my dad, "You unhooked the gun and ran out to the guys to get them back on the helicopter and held off the NVA while they ran back?! That is some Rambo style stuff, Pop!"

But it was over. After getting the 25th guys back on, they saw a Huey from their detachment take fire and go down. My father popped green smoke and the pilots landed near by. One more time with M60D in hand he now runs to the downed Huey to pull the crew out, some friends of his to this day.

Back in the fight and into the main LZ to do more evac flights, his second Huey is hit and crashes in the jungle. An APC crew from a fire support base sees it go down and heads to out them. My father recalls hearing the NVA getting closer and waiting for the fight that would come, but here comes the APC and as the back door opens he hears them say, "You boys need a ride?".

They didn't get into a 3rd helicopter that day...


My father is one who says what's on his mind. I've often said I'm his bodyguard as he doesn't hold back and I never know what may happen. Again, I always thought of him as a military hero. Reading his DFC citation is one example that really solidified how much of a bada$$ he really is.


To all of you that served and have family who served, thank you. I hope you can get to the point where you may share you're experiences and/or they share with you if ready and willing. So many acts of bravery in so many different forms to be remembered.

A lot of life events that have taken place have really put things in perspective. More specifically, it had given me a greater appreciation of the time we have to spend others while we're here. In reality, I'm not getting any younger, nor is my father, and I've always said I wanted to go on a hunting trip together. Somewhere. Anywhere. I'm fortunate enough to live very close to my parents, so I see them regularly, and my dad and I even share the occasional hunt here at home, but I always thought a trip would truly be a great culmination of a hunting partnership that has been developed from the time I could run outside to see what he had brought home during the seasons.

So, who here has taken a trip with their father? Where did you go? What made you decide to finally go ahead and go for it?

I'm thinking that it may (may mind you) have to be something on the shorter end time frame (maybe a 4 day hunt) since I get very littler time off in season, and there's really no solution to that problem. Budget is always an issue, but I would like to pay for my father as a small way of saying, "thanks for giving me a lifelong passion for the outdoors that will benefit me for years to come."

I suppose I just want to hear anything you guys have to say about the experience.

 

[martin.john8880]

Wow, what an incredible account—thank you for sharing that. Your father’s actions are nothing short of legendary. It’s stories like these that put daily life into perspective. I was just checking something mundane like my NOL card balance earlier today, and now I’m reading about someone dodging mortars and rescuing crew members under fire. Truly humbling. Major respect to your father and all who’ve served.

 

[miket1]

True hero, please thank him for his service for me!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Dad was initially drafted into the V12 doctor training program during WWII. When the Army dropped the program (Navy continued with it), Dad was shipped to South Pacific as a "surgical tech" non-com. He was hit in the face with shrapnel while transporting wounded across a booby-trapped bridge at Guadacanal. The island was taken but insurgents in the jungle were still active. He pulled two guys from the river but they were both already dead. I only learned all this a couple years before he died in 1999. Because there was a medal shortage at the end of the war, GIs discharged were given certificates to be redeemed later. I ordered his medals for him in 1997. In the fifties a fire burned all the military personnel records from that era and archives were very glad to get a copy of his discharge papers. He did not get Purple Heart and was convinced he was not entitled. But he was. I still haven't obtained it. When his medals arrived the package included a Bronze Star. He sent it back. I called to see what that was about. According to the officer I spoke to, it was a very unique situation where everyone in that medical unit received one. But Dad refused to accept it. Apparently he was actually doing emergency surgery in a pinch when short on doctors. He had enough of that. Never went into medicine after his discharge. He never talked about his time in service.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Your father sounds like a true war hero.

View attachment 672304
My father is my best friend & my inspiration. He turns 94 years of age this year & he is just as sharp as I remember him from my childhood. He regularly hunts jack snipe in the rice paddy fields around our family home, and is a far gifted wing shooter than I ever will be (just last month, I watched him down 16 jack snipe on the wing within the hour using only 16 rounds of Sellier & Bellot 36 gram Fortuna #7s).

He instilled all of my sporting ethics & moral values in me and I could not be half the man I am today without his watching over me. He has hunted Cape buffalo, hippopotamus & plains game with me over the years. Although his sporting preferences are invariably more towards feather than fur.

He used to be the DC (District Commissioner) of our locality. During my childhood, there were many hate crimes being committed in our town against non-Muslim minorities. But my father publicly spent two decades of his life fighting against all that. He protected churches & temples in our locality and provided protection to all minorities during those times of religious turbulence in East Pakistan. At a time when religious segregation was still rampant in our country, father helped pass many of the first anti discrimination laws. In many ways, watching him do these things in my youth inspired me & my outlook towards life in adulthood. At a time when schools in East Pakistan were teaching us to hate people of Jewish faith, father taught us to never discriminate against anybody for “Who They Pray To”. In 1950s & 1960s era East Pakistan, that truly was extremely forwarding thinking & civilized.

We had only one serious argument in the last 73 years of my life- The day I went off to serve in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. He & my mother just could not allow me to go off into the war to “Die For A Conflict Started By Old Men Sitting In The Comfort Of Air Conditioned City Offices”, but I went and joined the East Bengal Regiment anyway. When the war ended nine months later, I returned home & met my parents again for the first time in a while. The moment we saw each other, all three of us just burst into tears and uncontrollably cried for what seemed like forever (actually it would be probably for around ten minutes of so). Without saying anything.

A good father is a very crucial thing for a young boy (or even girl) to have growing up. I always strived to be just like him when raising my own two children.

Your dad had toughness of a different kind. Swimming against that current at that time showed real courage.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Dad was initially drafted into the V12 doctor training program during WWII. When the Army dropped the program (Navy continued with it), Dad was shipped to South Pacific as a "surgical tech" non-com. He was hit in the face with shrapnel while transporting wounded across a booby-trapped bridge at Guadacanal. The island was taken but insurgents in the jungle were still active. He pulled two guys from the river but they were both already dead. I only learned all this a couple years before he died in 1999. Because there was a medal shortage at the end of the war, GIs discharged were given certificates to be redeemed later. I ordered his medals for him in 1997. In the fifties a fire burned all the military personnel records from that era and archives were very glad to get a copy of his discharge papers. He did not get Purple Heart and was convinced he was not entitled. But he was. I still haven't obtained it. When his medals arrived the package included a Bronze Star. He sent it back. I called to see what that was about. According to the officer I spoke to, it was a very unique situation where everyone in that medical unit received one. But Dad refused to accept it. Apparently he was actually doing emergency surgery in a pinch when short on doctors. He had enough of that. Never went into medicine after his discharge. He never talked about his time in service.

Your dad sounds like a real hero. One who acted out of sheer altruism rather than the desire for any recognition.

I think that he'd be quite proud to see his son today & how you turned out (unconventional but intelligent).

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I've written here that my hunting partner for my Africa hunts is my father. He always dreamed of going to Africa and spoke of it highly in my youth and I was ecstatic to take him these past 3 trips. I'm 38 now and planning our 4th trip over now.

I've always know my father is a Vietnam veteran. He was a crew Chief on a Huey and then went thru SF selection to 5th group. I've also seen his medals and awards enough to know he saw some serious action. He was awarded 2 purple hearts , Bronze Star, Silver Star (Battle of Lang Vei), 28 air medals, and a host more.

I recently found and read his citation for his DFC with V device....and I was stricken with more pride than I think I had ever felt.

To sum it up as this citation is 2 full pages. Katum camp January 1968. My pops is on chalk 2 flying in infantryman from the 25th. First drop takes sniper fire, second has all hell break loose. They keep flying in and out (my father says very similar in appearance to what is seen on "We Were Soldiers"). His first bird was shot down and they made their way back to camp and got in another and resumed the fight. My father did the pre flight check while the base was being mortared and got the bird ready to go. At one point in the citation it reads he crawled to the helicopter while avoiding mortar fire to get back in the air faster.

Once fire is too much to fly into the main LZ, they are ordered to take a squad of the 25th to a cleared adjacent LZ to check for intel on some dead NVA. My father recalls thinking how dumb it was as this LZ was only a few hundred yards from the main battle.

The squad hops out and begins checking the NVA. My father then spots incoming NVA, and a lot of them. The 25th guys couldn't hear him yelling to get back to the helicopter. He dismounts his M60D, unplugs his comms, and ribbons the belt over his arm and runs out to the men in the field with the NVA bearing down on them unaware. He was holding the M60D with the front carry handle in his left hand and the butterfly style trigger of the M60D in his right (for those that don't know, look up M60D as it was an aviation configuration and not shoulder fired). After reaching them and yelling for the guys to get back on the bird the citation reads he held fire until he could distinguish friend from foe, and then opened up. He backpedaled to the Huey firing on the NVA, hopped in, plugged in his comms and said get the F*** out of there while continuing to fire upon the NVA while pitching out.

View attachment 672233

After I read this I asked my dad, "You unhooked the gun and ran out to the guys to get them back on the helicopter and held off the NVA while they ran back?! That is some Rambo style stuff, Pop!"

But it was over. After getting the 25th guys back on, they saw a Huey from their detachment take fire and go down. My father popped green smoke and the pilots landed near by. One more time with M60D in hand he now runs to the downed Huey to pull the crew out, some friends of his to this day.

Back in the fight and into the main LZ to do more evac flights, his second Huey is hit and crashes in the jungle. An APC crew from a fire support base sees it go down and heads to out them. My father recalls hearing the NVA getting closer and waiting for the fight that would come, but here comes the APC and as the back door opens he hears them say, "You boys need a ride?".

They didn't get into a 3rd helicopter that day...


My father is one who says what's on his mind. I've often said I'm his bodyguard as he doesn't hold back and I never know what may happen. Again, I always thought of him as a military hero. Reading his DFC citation is one example that really solidified how much of a bada$$ he really is.


To all of you that served and have family who served, thank you. I hope you can get to the point where you may share you're experiences and/or they share with you if ready and willing. So many acts of bravery in so many different forms to be remembered.

@TTundra
I can relate to what you are saying mate.
It was only in his later life that my dad and I sat down together and he told me about his experience in the 3 years he spent in Korea. He was there from start to finish.
The stories he told me ranged from humourous to frightening, disgusting (for him). Stories of the horrors of war, mate ship, friends dying in his arms. These stories were told with a hint of pride and sadness.
One time he came back from 10 days behind enemy lines( he was with a unit similar to your recon at the time) . After a short debrief it was straight onto the R&R plane to Tokyo. These men were still wound up tight when the landed. To unwind they sat on the banks of the lake in the imperial gardens shooting ducks. Definitely not the done thing. No one was game enough to come near them until they ran out of ammo.
Stories of being in battles where the barrels of their SMLE were that hot the wood was smouldering. They would dash 10 yards back to a creek throw their rifle in then pick it up and keep shooting.
Being harassed by an enemy tank and crawling over under fire with a bazooka only to line up on the tank and the bloody thing wouldn't work because the magneto got wet. Back to position to get a PIAT then back to the tank all the time under fire. Then blew the shit out of the tank with a shot between the turret and body.
One battle he was in they were supported by the USA 72nd tanks and he was wounded in battle. Shot thru the mouth from one side to the other. Said lucky he had his fool mouth open at the time or it would have been worse, didn't even rattle my teeth just punched a hole thru both cheeks. He ended up in a MASH unit getting fixed up and as he was with an American unit at the time he was wounded he was awarded a purple heart.
He was also at the battle of Kapyong where the unit was awarded a presidential citation.
Later in life a family moved into his neighbourhood and he got to know a very nice Korean man. This man it worked out was North Korean during the war and they were in some of the same battles probably shooting at one another. These two veterans became friends and would talk about the stupidity and futility of war.
I learnt a lot about my father during our talks.
On his final trip we were talking in the shed and told me he was taking both his father's and his war medals with him to show his grand daughter who he hadn't seen in a long time. He told me he wouldn't be coming back from this trip and the medal would be mine. I said I know that dad it's something you have to do to see your granddaughter. I traveled with mum and dad as far as my home town where the had breakfast and continued on. My last words to my father were I love you mate and he said same to you son.
He died 20th April 2001(Kapyong day), he was right he didn't come home from that final trip.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

A lot of life events that have taken place have really put things in perspective. More specifically, it had given me a greater appreciation of the time we have to spend others while we're here. In reality, I'm not getting any younger, nor is my father, and I've always said I wanted to go on a hunting trip together. Somewhere. Anywhere. I'm fortunate enough to live very close to my parents, so I see them regularly, and my dad and I even share the occasional hunt here at home, but I always thought a trip would truly be a great culmination of a hunting partnership that has been developed from the time I could run outside to see what he had brought home during the seasons.

So, who here has taken a trip with their father? Where did you go? What made you decide to finally go ahead and go for it?

I'm thinking that it may (may mind you) have to be something on the shorter end time frame (maybe a 4 day hunt) since I get very littler time off in season, and there's really no solution to that problem. Budget is always an issue, but I would like to pay for my father as a small way of saying, "thanks for giving me a lifelong passion for the outdoors that will benefit me for years to come."

I suppose I just want to hear anything you guys have to say about the experience.

@wiyofa
Unfortunately my father would never hunt with me. He taught me how to shoot and a shit ton about guns but wouldn't hunt.
His reason I understood later in life when I asked him why he wouldn't hunt with me was.
" I've done enough killing in my time son both animals and people"
I understood.
Bob

 

[rdog]

I've written here that my hunting partner for my Africa hunts is my father. He always dreamed of going to Africa and spoke of it highly in my youth and I was ecstatic to take him these past 3 trips. I'm 38 now and planning our 4th trip over now.

I've always know my father is a Vietnam veteran. He was a crew Chief on a Huey and then went thru SF selection to 5th group. I've also seen his medals and awards enough to know he saw some serious action. He was awarded 2 purple hearts , Bronze Star, Silver Star (Battle of Lang Vei), 28 air medals, and a host more.

I recently found and read his citation for his DFC with V device....and I was stricken with more pride than I think I had ever felt.

To sum it up as this citation is 2 full pages. Katum camp January 1968. My pops is on chalk 2 flying in infantryman from the 25th. First drop takes sniper fire, second has all hell break loose. They keep flying in and out (my father says very similar in appearance to what is seen on "We Were Soldiers"). His first bird was shot down and they made their way back to camp and got in another and resumed the fight. My father did the pre flight check while the base was being mortared and got the bird ready to go. At one point in the citation it reads he crawled to the helicopter while avoiding mortar fire to get back in the air faster.

Once fire is too much to fly into the main LZ, they are ordered to take a squad of the 25th to a cleared adjacent LZ to check for intel on some dead NVA. My father recalls thinking how dumb it was as this LZ was only a few hundred yards from the main battle.

The squad hops out and begins checking the NVA. My father then spots incoming NVA, and a lot of them. The 25th guys couldn't hear him yelling to get back to the helicopter. He dismounts his M60D, unplugs his comms, and ribbons the belt over his arm and runs out to the men in the field with the NVA bearing down on them unaware. He was holding the M60D with the front carry handle in his left hand and the butterfly style trigger of the M60D in his right (for those that don't know, look up M60D as it was an aviation configuration and not shoulder fired). After reaching them and yelling for the guys to get back on the bird the citation reads he held fire until he could distinguish friend from foe, and then opened up. He backpedaled to the Huey firing on the NVA, hopped in, plugged in his comms and said get the F*** out of there while continuing to fire upon the NVA while pitching out.

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After I read this I asked my dad, "You unhooked the gun and ran out to the guys to get them back on the helicopter and held off the NVA while they ran back?! That is some Rambo style stuff, Pop!"

But it was over. After getting the 25th guys back on, they saw a Huey from their detachment take fire and go down. My father popped green smoke and the pilots landed near by. One more time with M60D in hand he now runs to the downed Huey to pull the crew out, some friends of his to this day.

Back in the fight and into the main LZ to do more evac flights, his second Huey is hit and crashes in the jungle. An APC crew from a fire support base sees it go down and heads to out them. My father recalls hearing the NVA getting closer and waiting for the fight that would come, but here comes the APC and as the back door opens he hears them say, "You boys need a ride?".

They didn't get into a 3rd helicopter that day...


My father is one who says what's on his mind. I've often said I'm his bodyguard as he doesn't hold back and I never know what may happen. Again, I always thought of him as a military hero. Reading his DFC citation is one example that really solidified how much of a bada$$ he really is.


To all of you that served and have family who served, thank you. I hope you can get to the point where you may share you're experiences and/or they share with you if ready and willing. So many acts of bravery in so many different forms to be remembered.

As a Vietnam veteran my self i can only admire your father & the things he did . Thank you for the story, as a 21 year old that war changed my life i still think about the things that happened & the friends i lost. what a brave tough man . The world needs more men like him. My closet friends are men i served with it forms a life long bond.