# 50 Years, And Old Guys.



## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

A personal anniversary came and went, and I hardly even noticed it.
September 27 & 28, 1970, were the days I got back to The World from Vietnam, and got released from active duty.
50 years ago.

Back then, the Old Guys were WW1 vets.
Then, the Old Guys became the WW2 vets.
Now, we are the Old Guys.

There were times I never thought I'd make it home.
There were several times I wondered if I'd live just one more second.
And now, I'm one of the Old Guys.
514 men of the 1st Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) never got the chance to be Old Guys. They are forever 18, 19, 20.

Each year our ranks get thinner. Being poisoned by Agent Orange defoliant speeds things up for some. 

I have absolutely no idea how I have not only lived this long, but am still relatively healthy.
Only God knows.


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Old man.. good Man, blessed man. 

Thank you for all you’ve done from a young whippersnapper


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> ...................Each year our ranks get thinner. Being poisoned by Agent Orange defoliant speeds things up for some.
> 
> I have absolutely no idea how I have not only lived this long, but am still relatively healthy.
> Only God knows.


These are the sentiments that sometimes make me sit on the front porch and just look off . . .

I don't really see anything . . . I just look . . . have a talk with the Lord . . . and ponder.

Some day . . . He will answer my pondering . . . but I'm sure it won't be in this ugly world.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

dwight55 said:


> These are the sentiments that sometimes make me sit on the front porch and just look off . . .
> 
> I don't really see anything . . . I just look . . . have a talk with the Lord . . . and ponder.
> 
> ...


On my bucket list is a trip to the Airforce Museum in Dayton.
Not next year, maybe 2022.
I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee, my Brother. And shake your hand.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

> "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
> G.K. Chesterton


Words my Grandfather was fond of. He fought in Europe during WWII. Him and his buddies would usually follow that up by saying: "There were a lot of us old guys, who learned from those old guys".

Maybe I spent to much time in the tavern with those "Old Guys" :tango_face_wink:


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

1970

My Mother's Dad, my Grandpa, died in 1970. I'm older today than he was when he died. 1970 seems so long ago. But for some reason, other than my Grandpa, I only remember baseball from 1970.

And the country that I love sent young men halfway around the world to a place that most of them didn't care about, to fight for something that they probably didn't understand, only to come home to a place they didn't recognize.

And baseball is all I can remember. Doesn't seem right.
@rice paddy daddy,

I, for one, am glad you are here, healthy and am proud to know you.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

rice paddy daddy said:


> On my bucket list is a trip to the Airforce Museum in Dayton.
> Not next year, maybe 2022.
> I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee, my Brother. And shake your hand.


I've met Dwight and I've been to the Air Force museum in Dayton.

First on the museum...

Plan on at LEAST 2 full days there, 3 would be better. It is HUGE; way bigger than the 2 Smithsonian air museums in D.C. combined. That was the absolute BEST museum I have ever been to.

Then Dwight...

Dwight is *EXACTLY* the same guy in person as he is here. He and his wife are the nicest people you will ever meet. If you go to his house, make him bake you a strawberry pie. I would literally do crime just to get another piece and I am not much of a dessert guy. Also, his place is really cool, doubly so when you consider that he and Mrs Dwight built their house themselves.

I had a business trip to Dwight's town when we were right in the middle of building our house. That was at the time in our build when I was hurting the worst. The three of sat around for a good while commiserating about building your own house. Every time I would complain about something hurting or not going right on the build, both of them would just look at me and grin, nodding knowingly. They are GREAT GREAT folks!


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Old guys were my mentors, as well as the older guys (Korea). They were invaluable.


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## inceptor (Nov 19, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> A personal anniversary came and went, and I hardly even noticed it.
> September 27 & 28, 1970, were the days I got back to The World from Vietnam, and got released from active duty.
> 50 years ago.
> 
> ...


I too am glad you made it home my friend. And welcome home.

Welcome to the Old Farts Club. It's an exclusive club since many have not made it. My brother only made it to 55.

There is a reason God put us here this long. There is still His work to be done. So we wait to go home. This I believe with all my heart. You my friend still have something to do, as do we all.


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## JustAnotherNut (Feb 27, 2017)

Thank you RPD, for all you've done here & abroad.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> On my bucket list is a trip to the Airforce Museum in Dayton.
> Not next year, maybe 2022.
> I'd like to buy you a cup of coffee, my Brother. And shake your hand.


Gimme a holler when you get that programmed into the GPS . . . I'm an hour and a half away . . . always need a good excuse to go over there.

I'll bring the doughnuts.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

dwight55 said:


> Gimme a holler when you get that programmed into the GPS . . . I'm an hour and a half away . . . always need a good excuse to go over there.
> 
> I'll bring the doughnuts.
> 
> ...


Right now I'm working toward my older daughter and i attending the 100th Annual Reunion of the Society of the 5th Infantry Division in Providence, Rhode Island next September.
When that 4 days is over we are headed on to Maine, the land of my ancestors.
On the road for two weeks.

I've never talked about the war with family, and I'm always reading that vets get old and die and family has no idea of what they did.
So, I'm gong to attempt this. Plus, I want her to meet the guys, my heroes.

BUT, after that, in 2022, I'm hooking up the travel trailer and headed to Dayton and the museum. 
And a cup joe with my buddy Dwight.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Right now I'm working toward my older daughter and i attending the 100th Annual Reunion of the Society of the 5th Infantry Division in Providence, Rhode Island next September.
> When that 4 days is over we are headed on to Maine, the land of my ancestors.
> On the road for two weeks.
> 
> ...


Some talk about it, some don't and I get that. I used to run the bars with a guy who served in Vietnam. On rare occasions, very rare, he would talk about it, what he had seen, what he had done. He was hard core and sometimes more then a little scary. It was always a sobering experience. I always thought it was a good thing that veterans share their experiences with the younger generation, if for no other reason then that they are bringing to light the horrors of war, the realities of war, rather then what they have seen in the movies or TV.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

Had a friend who was a loadmaster on a C-119 in 1970, got out in May of 1971 after a 4 year hitch.

The "cargo" they hauled was agent orange over the jungles.

By the end of 1972 he was dead from orange induced cancer, left a wife and baby.

By the end of 1973 the entire crew was dead from the same cause.

Another who will forever remain in their 20's to me. 

Another friend who's serial number was one digit less than mine(enlisted the same day) did a tour in country,

Came back on rotation, volunteered for another tour, first day back in the field he stepped on a land mine, his name is on the wall.

He was a lifer, an E-7 did not have to go back out, but did, he left a wife and three kids.

The same communist propaganda methods that had us pull out of Nam, are destroying this country, right now, and has been since the 60's.


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