My Story When I Was One Here goes my first time trying to telling all of you out there, the hows and whys I got into the Army in the first place. I had been in trouble in my younger days in life. I was one of those who thought he was a real bad ass back then. But later on over in Vietnam I found out I wasn't that at all. Anyway, back to telling of my story as best as I can. I needed to get away from here at home but was on probation at the time. No fighting was allowed - if I did I had to do my time. So with the help from a judge is how I got into the Army. Back on September 6, 1967 I went into the Army. So here goes my start in the new life away from home. I thought I was going down to take a physical to see if I could get into the Army. So when the day came, mom and dad took me down to New Cumberland early in the morning. I thought I was going to go there take the physical then go back home. You see I had no idea how things worked. So I did not know that after they were done, I would raise my right hand and take my oath to defend our home land. Then thinking I'd be going back to my home then come back later to go away. This is how dumb I was about how things really worked. The next thing I know I'm on a plane for the very first time in life. Me and some of other guys were flying in a plane off to Fort Benning Georgia, for basic training, never truly knowing what I was in for. I didn't have any one to turn to ask what was going on or what I was supposed to be doing. I had no idea what I was in for - I just knew I was there. Really it was my first time out on my very own, along with being far away from home or any thing I had ever known. Somehow I made my way through it, finding out what the Army was about. They showed me I needed the others to make through it all - how you needed to take the weakest link and make it stronger than all the others. This was how everyone became a real team of one. With everyone taking care of each other as one unit working on being the best there ever was. They trained us to be able to do this with any others that came in our unit. We learned how important it is to always do this. That was the only way for us to stay alive in anything that came at us in life. Then they sent me to Missouri for Advanced Infantry Training in Fort Lindenwood. Man, did I learn to hate that place. We called it the land of misery and it was cold as hell out in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, after that was over, I got my orders for the 3rd time in the Army. Much to my surprise I find that I'm off to Vietnam for the first time. So I get to go home for 30 days to spend time with family and friends. So now I'm off flying once again only this time it's to Fort Lewis, Washington to get ready for Vietnam in a few weeks. So when I got done with that, once again I was back on another plane, only this time is was 21 hours in the air. No one moved or anything else - us just setting there on the plane as time was slowly flying by. It seemed like a lifetime up in the air. Then looking out the window I get my first look at Vietnam. As we did a fly over before setting down in a place called Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam. We all slowly got off the plane and set feet on the ground for that first time, not really knowing what was going on or where we are to be going or how we are to get there. So now we all are getting processed to in-country, with them giving us most everything that we would need for now. They gave us everything but our weapon to carry - just a piece of paper that was our orders, telling each of us where we are going and where we are to report to. It was up us to find our way there. I remember I was little scared walking about without any weapon, till I made my way to the building I was told to go to. Once there they gave me more orders and sent me on my way to get on another plane. This time it was a C123 to fly me to a place called Da Lat up in the highlands. Off I go to find out what is next. As we were coming in to land we did a fly over. The first thing I seen was this little plane like a Piper Cub setting in the top of this tree at the very end of the runway. Man, it was so full of bullet holes, and just setting there made me wonder what I was in for. Then ever so slowly my plane set down on the old runway. With all kinds of noises coming from within the plane and outside, it sounded like everything was coming apart. But it wasn't really - just sounded that way to me. Now I am wondering where it is I'm going to be going next. My orders said I was to report to C Co. 87 Eng somewhere out here. I walked to the one building and stood there to ask if someone there could help me. The guy just looked at me and said "another newbie". Then he told me just go out that door turn right and walk down the road and at the very end of it I'd be there. So in February 1968 I was truly in Vietnam for my first tour of duty. Once I was there, they give me my weapon and ammo told me where to set up a spot to be mine. They showed me around the place telling what was going to be my job. This was my new home away from home. Now here is where my story gets hard to tell because of jumping all over the place, along with some of the things that had happen up there to me and others who were there. So here goes - please try to understand how hard some of this is for me. They told me our job was to take care of this airstrip and make a bunker to park the planes and choppers. That meant making high enough walls so it would be harder for them to get hit. I remember being inside of one them making the wires tight to hold them together. So there we are down inside of one of the walls working and the dozer is just on the other side getting things ready for another one. About that time we heard this big bang and the sides of the thing shaking like hell. Man our ears were ringing big time from being down inside there. As we come climbing out of this wall to see what the hell was going on, we had no idea what had happened - if we were getting hit or what was going on. When we all had gotten out and hit the ground they told us what had happened. As the dozer was making way for another wall, he ran over a grenade. The brother running it said all it did was lift it a little and nothing more. But he said he jumped the hell off of it till they knew what happen. That was just one of the things that had happen up there Da Lat. We also had another thing to take care of at the same time. Some of our men were down here at the airstrip and the others were up at Lyn Ben Mountain. This was the highest place in South Vietnam - 7,618ft above sea leave. Our job was to build anything they needed up there as well as a chopper pad for them to land on. So as a Company, we were cut a little thin in man power, trying to take care of two places at once but man, we did it and then some. It was kind of funny up there because of what we got to see. One thing was that we saw snow up there - it didn't stay long but we got to see it. Then there was the morning we get up and walk over to look down to see what kind of day we were going to be having. You see, the clouds were down below us most of the time. Then there were days when we were in them. Man, you couldn't see a damn thing at all. To us it was funny, but in reality it was truly a bad thing for us to be in because we couldn't see what was in our way at anytime or anyplace at all. But I have to say we were lucky at those times up there. We did the roads coming up there along with everything that had to be built. We built artesian wells on the sides on the mountain to hold water for us up there. Anyway that was some of the things we did. One of my jobs was taking care of the perimeter, like the flares and booby traps. We had us a mongoose up there to help keep the snakes out of our bunkers every night for our men. Every morning I'd go do the perimeter and I'd pick up every snake I could find for him to eat. After that was done, I laid out flypaper at every opening in the bunker. That way at night, in the dark, they could hear if one tried to get in. That was some of what I did up there. Now back down to the airstrip and my time there. It was February 1968 when I first got there, just in time for Tet - most everyone knows that is Chinese New Year. The very first time all Hell would be coming down all over Vietnam at the same time for everyone. You see, every night about 2 AM we got hit with mortars - at least 3 to 5 of them, not really hitting much of anything and just short of everything. We use to make jokes about what charley was doing and how he was missing things. But then came the one like nothing we were truly ready for - we got more than we bargained for. Just before 2 AM, the night's sky came raining down. All of those mortars from hell were tearing us all apart in many ways. The first few rounds took out command, ammo, officers and NCOs, then our full tanks. Then they started to pound the hell out of us all. After those first few hits we were down to 45% hurt or dead. Man, we were in one hell of a mess with only an E4 to take charge of us for now. I can't tell you just how many days we were like this. Our supplies had to be air dropped in as they were trying not to get shot down. We had one hell of a ride but we did what was needed - all of us. There was no doubt about if any of us could do the job we trained to do. We did that and more than many would ever get to know. During that first night when the shit hit the fan, I went back out of the bunker looking for our team leader. When I found him he was laying there looking right into my eyes telling me to do him before he bleeds out and dies. So I did, because we had made this pact that we never leave any one in pain or falling into the enemy's hands. What you didn't know at that time was that he was split right up the middle far enough that I could see his heart beating. Believe when I say there was not anything we could have done to save him. He was my friend and he was the first life I had taken before I even seen my enemy's faces. So to this very day I have this hatred for all of them. This was all within my first few weeks there in country. From then on, I didn't give a damn about anything - I was just hunting and going farther on out there. So much so that I liked it out there past the edge without any fears of life or death in anyway. Let me tell you something about that my friend - there is nothing more dangerous then someone who has no fear of life and death. They just don't care any more if they live or die - they'll just keep coming at you till you are gone. Enough now - it's time to move on. We spent most of the year up there going back and forth from the airstrip to the mountain. We moved off and on from one to the other. One time we were going to the airstrip with a dump truck - don't remember what for. The only thing I remember is that we were behind the Lt in his jeep and trying to keep up. When he went around a slow moving truck on the right side going up this hill to the airstrip, we tried to do the same thing. That is when it happened - the shoulder gave way and down over the side we went. Man, the first 3 rollovers were easy but those last 3 were way to fast to keep up with. On the way down we pick up a big-ass rock inside the cab with us. That big ass-rock beat the shit out of us both all the way down the hill. We bent the truck all to hell and back like nothing we had ever seen. That was just one of the rides from hell l took on of my two tours over there in Vietnam. But we did find us some good times over there. Not all was bad memories for me from over there. I don't know how you tell things from good to bad - I just had both, that is all. I got sent out a few times to other places to do other things. I flew all the way up to Da Nang - been to so many places I can't remember them all. Let's just say I got a taste of many different things to do with war in that country and with its people too. You know what I think of all of them anyhow - that is not much. That is about it for my first go around over in Vietnam in 1968 to 1969.   My Story Part II Now before this one gets started, there are a few things I'd like to say. I was places they say we were not, done things they say we didn't do. I have come down from the sky a few times and went back up to the sky a few more times - been shot at and sometime shooting back a few times as well. But you see, I believed in what Uncle Sam told me we needed to be. So at those times I became those things because of my faith in the Country I believed. This was what was needed of me to be. Just as many others did the very same things. After my first tour over in Vietnam, I tried to play soldier and they sent me over to Germany. I don't remember too much about it over there. You see it was really hard to play soldier after being in a War over in Vietnam. So needless to say, I was in and out of trouble a lot over there in Germany. Then, before 3 month was up, I was on my way back over to Vietnam. All this in 1969. So then I started my second tour from 1969 to 1970 with C Co. 815 ENG up around Pleiku for starts. Going back over to Vietnam was a lot easier this time then the first. You see, it was like going back home to me - the one place I felt I belonged, even though I wasn't going to be with the same men as before. It was still OK for me because I knew what I was in for this time. Some things would be different, but yet still the same. I knew I could do what was needed of me to keep my brothers alive. In my heart I knew I would be better at it then I was that first time. I was never more ready than I was to be this time. I must say that I had traveled more than the first time. I was all over the damn place doing so many jobs. No matter what that job was, I did it better than I ever could have done before. I knew how to work with my men and have my men want to work with me. There was no job that we could not do or get done. But one of my best jobs was when I was the driver of the 815th C Co ENG guntruck. We did mine sweeps every morning before anyone else got out. It was our job to make sure things were safe for everyone else to come out. Man, I have to tell you I was never so much alive than doing the mine sweeps. There was never a "I'm sorry can I do that again". You see if I screwed up, someone could die or would be hurt. When you find one mine, you never know if it was the same as the last one. You see, Charley is always changing things on you. You had to always stay on your toes and have your shit together, or brother, you weren't there too long, because any one who has ever been to war knows there is one thing you never wanted to have to live with - knowing that one of your brothers died because you didn't do your job. Because this would eat you up inside in no time. You see most of us became at home being way out there over the edge. In no-man's land, where dying didn't mean a thing to you at all. You see, a man who has no fear of death is one who is very dangerous to deal with. They'll kill you faster than anything else in this world. I have been there and I do like it out there a lot more then one should in life. Like they say - too much of a good thing can be bad. But what you may not understand is this - that is the one thing that keeps most of us alive for this long. We don't know how to get through most of what we have without it. It's almost like being a junky - we need that high we got from it to feel alive in this world. Those who have never been there cannot understand why we need it. But please believe it - we do feel like we are alive more in this place than what you call the real world. I remember the good times and the bad ones too. I can't remember the names of all who I was with or all those places I have been. I can tell you bits and pieces from things that happen here and there. But don't ask me which one was where and when - I don't know. Just that they did happen and I was there at those times. To this very day I can see all their faces from back then along with what happen or what. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing - just know this is how it is. I take it for what it is and make peace with it in my life for now. I would not change a thing that I went through or those times in my life. I believe that by being in the Army in those times made me the man I am right now. As most of you who get to read this can see, there really isn't much here to tell you what I did or where I have been. But this is just how our minds work with these things about the War we were in. It just jumps from place to place, never really staying in one place too long. My guess is it is our bodies' way of dealing with everything that we had gotten into. We do our best to tell you like it is. Some times things work out all right &endash; other's not so right. I'm not sorry for doing those things I did, or giving of the time out of my life doing them. I would do it all once again. Even to this very day, I would go over there to where our young men and women are today and stand right there by their side to see their lives are not taken. If they would let me go I would have been right there with them - right till the very end of it, to stand with any of them. It would be an honor for me to have been there. With that all being said this is now the end. Just would like to thank any of you who have taken the time read this by me.   Forever brother To all those men and women In uniform today Written By R.C.Keckler 06/24/11   2d Tour - continued I had just written a short story of my time in the Army from 1967 to 1970. That had to do with my two tours over in Vietnam. The first one was 87th C Co ENG 18th Brigade 1968 to 1969. The second tour was with the 815th C Co ENG 18th Brigade 1969 to 1970. I had a lot of jobs to do from all kinds of things and I had traveled all over that country and others over there. Got to spend a lot of time riding with the 57th Air Cav, going to and from a lot of places had a few hard times in them. Just a few times where they fell from the sky - the first time was the hardest - got beat up really good from that one. After that first time I always set on the floor with my feet on the skid bars so if they started to fall, I could bail from the bird before we hit the ground - worked a lot better for me to get away from the bird easier. I have to say they were some really good times flying with them boys. You want to talk about guys who could fly - there wasn't anything they couldn't do with their birds and I mean anything. One day when we were coming back in from the field, the Pilot thought he would have some fun with us by going under a bridge and just above the water. He thought it was really funny when he heard I had two wet feet from that trip. Then there was a few times he took us up high then turned a hard right bank, with us who were setting on his floor looking straight down at the ground. But he was turning so fast that you couldn't fall out of his bird. Those were some very good fun days for us. We had a very high respect for those men and what they could do with their birds. Those men saved so many lives for being able to do what they do and a lot of us owe our lives to them. But I still liked driving the guntruck best of all of my jobs and doing the mine sweeps. One day they asked if any of us would drive dump trucks loaded with stone, taking the loads all the way up to Hue for the roads. So we asked just how many did they need to go up there. They said about 35 trucks and a shotgun rider with each one of them. So my men and I said we would do it without a worry about anything. We all left Pleiku headed up the road to Hue loaded with stone for their roads. Well we never made it up there because they said it was just too hot. We had gotten about 5 miles from Hue when they turned us around to head back down. Needless to say we didn't make all the way back down to Pleiku because after about the 23rd truck, we hit a landmine that blows our truck off the damn road. We never heard the bang - just found ourselves trying to drive the truck, not realizing that it was on its side. I just remember trying to drive when I noticed that the windshield was all black - I couldn't see anything at all out of it. My shotgun was lying on me - he got the worst of it. It had hit on his side of our truck. So after kicking out the windshield, I and some of the other guys got us out of the truck. Then we went for another ride in a bird to a Mash unit. They tried to talk to us but neither of us could hear anything at all - just this ringing in our ears all the way back there to the mash unit. As I have said before I was always one of the lucky ones over there. I had gotten through more shit than most and walked away OK. So there, my friends, you have some idea as to what I did in the Army from, 1967 to 1970. Thanks for all your time you have given to read this. Forever a brother To all the men and women Who are in uniform today Written By R.C.Keckler 06/28/11

 

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