O
ODA 564
Guest
First, my sympathies for your loss. Obviously you loved your uncle.
However, the chances of your description of his service being accurate is about as high as mine are of being PM of Canada (here's a hint, i'm a Yank, so it ain't happening).
As an advisor, he would not have been a driver. Advisory teams were not staffed with administrative or support personnel for the advisory team's internal needs.
Secondly, no non-SOG personnel ever made a combat jump into North Vietnam (Hanoi is in the former North Vietnam, which was the Peoples' Democratic Republic of Vietnam prior to 1975 and with the collapse of the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam in 1975 the entire country became the PDRVN). To be in SOG and have made a combat jump into North Vietnam he would have had to have been in such a select group of highly qualified, extremely experienced Special Forces non-commissioned officers that he would have literally been one of a dozen.
NO SOG operations were conducted into Hanoi.
There were several Special Forces combat jumps into South Vietnam (the Republic of Vietnam). There was one conventional unit (airborne unit) combat jump in South Vietnam (OPERATION JUNCTION CITY).
No armored cavalry or armored engineer units participated in these airborne operations (combat jumps) as airborne units. Cavalry units in the US Army at the time were either armored cavalry, air cavalry (helicopter reconnaissance and attack helicopter) or infantry units in the 1st Cavalry Division that bore a historical designation as cavalry (as in "We Were Soldiers").
The US Army's standard tour in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) was 12 months (one year). This could be extended to 18 months by volunteering for an extension. Personnel were required to spend a minimum of one year in CONUS (continental US) between overseas tours.
Some personnel did repeatedly extend their incountry tour but it was on a by-exception basis. To serve 8 consecutive years beginning in 1963 means serving in RVN until 1971. The chance of a soldier doing a tour and 14 extensions is so low as to not exist.
So a number of items as described do not add up.
However, the chances of your description of his service being accurate is about as high as mine are of being PM of Canada (here's a hint, i'm a Yank, so it ain't happening).
As an advisor, he would not have been a driver. Advisory teams were not staffed with administrative or support personnel for the advisory team's internal needs.
Secondly, no non-SOG personnel ever made a combat jump into North Vietnam (Hanoi is in the former North Vietnam, which was the Peoples' Democratic Republic of Vietnam prior to 1975 and with the collapse of the South Vietnamese Republic of Vietnam in 1975 the entire country became the PDRVN). To be in SOG and have made a combat jump into North Vietnam he would have had to have been in such a select group of highly qualified, extremely experienced Special Forces non-commissioned officers that he would have literally been one of a dozen.
NO SOG operations were conducted into Hanoi.
There were several Special Forces combat jumps into South Vietnam (the Republic of Vietnam). There was one conventional unit (airborne unit) combat jump in South Vietnam (OPERATION JUNCTION CITY).
No armored cavalry or armored engineer units participated in these airborne operations (combat jumps) as airborne units. Cavalry units in the US Army at the time were either armored cavalry, air cavalry (helicopter reconnaissance and attack helicopter) or infantry units in the 1st Cavalry Division that bore a historical designation as cavalry (as in "We Were Soldiers").
The US Army's standard tour in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) was 12 months (one year). This could be extended to 18 months by volunteering for an extension. Personnel were required to spend a minimum of one year in CONUS (continental US) between overseas tours.
Some personnel did repeatedly extend their incountry tour but it was on a by-exception basis. To serve 8 consecutive years beginning in 1963 means serving in RVN until 1971. The chance of a soldier doing a tour and 14 extensions is so low as to not exist.
So a number of items as described do not add up.
arn, late again. Sharky aleays has all the fun.
