1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Am I a real Vietnam Veteran

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Am I a real Vietnam Veteran?

An essay by Robert Kuhn
B-Co. 1/22 Infantry 1971-72

Have you ever asked yourself that question? I have, and I’ve struggled with the answer to that question since the day that I
returned home from Vietnam in January 1972. That in itself seems to be an odd statement. Of course, I am a Vietnam Veteran
if I did a tour in Vietnam. Right? Well yeah, I was there but the question is: “Am I a "REAL” Vietnam Veteran?”

When I think about all of the stories I have read, and the movies I have seen, “real” Vets had a much different experience
than I had. I didn’t get shot; I didn’t even get wounded. Other than a battle with malaria, I came home unscathed… physically.
So why wasn’t I a happy camper? What more could I have asked for? And why did I feel so guilty about that? And why
did I have nightmares? And why do I even question whether I am a real Vet or not? None of it makes sense to me.

For many years after I came home, “back to the world”, I never talked to anyone about my Army service and I chose
not to seek out other veterans. I kept to myself for the most part. But then on one unexpected occasion when I had an
opportunity to speak with a fellow Vet who was a bit older than I was, he asked me what year I served in? When I replied “1971,”
he laughed in a friendly way and said: “OHHH, that doesn’t really count, we had the war mostly all wrapped up by then!”
I’m sure his intent wasn’t malicious, but man those words stung! And that for sure strongly reinforced my doubt…
coming from another Veteran… Nope, I’m not a “real” Vet!

The most devastating years of the war as far as the number of casualties was during the peak years of 1967-1968-1969.
That is when 2/3 of all of the war’s 58,318 American deaths occurred. Those three years were the heaviest combat years
from what was America’s longest war at the time. Those were the times during the war that most of the books and movies
were about. The guys that fought in the actual “heavy combat” during those three years were real Vets for sure. They have
absolutely and unequivocally earned and certainly deserve the highest respect and recognition from all of us.

But what about the earlier 60’s and then the 70’s years of the war? Do those years count? As the war was winding down
when I was there in 1971, the casualties had dropped way down. There were “only” 2,357 men killed. Only!!?
That counts, right? Of course it does, those 2,357 men and the men who fought in the battles with them, large or small,
are for sure real Vets, but what about the rest of us in 1971 and the other years? Should being a “real” Vet be defined
as ONLY those who have been in “heavy combat” that resulted in heavy casualties?

I don’t think there is any doubt that receiving military orders to report to Vietnam for a one-year tour of duty was traumatic
for anyone, no matter what year it was. The big unknown is: Will it be bad? or really bad? Will I live or die? Will I ever
come home again? There’s no way around those thoughts. Those contemplations and fears were real, and in my mind,
all of us who had to face that basic reality from day one and going forward, are “real vets” regardless of what years we served in
and regardless of what our assignments were.

However, I am sure that some would disagree, so let’s delve into it deeper to try to determine if some of my following
listed encounters and experiences, that I have described in detail in my book, “count” towards being a “real” Vet or not.

Does just being assigned to an infantry unit as a rifleman and sometimes a grenadier and at times a machine gunner count?

Does pulling guard duty on the perimeter of an LZ or a Firebase or an Airbase, sometimes for 30 nights in a row or more count?
Even though the “only” casualties that my unit suffered there were accidental?

Does going outside the wire with just a small squad of 6-8 men on dozens and dozens of ambush patrols overnight
into the rice paddies count? Even though the “only” casualties my unit suffered there were from friendly fire?

Does the fear and exhaustion of carrying a rifle and humping a heavy rucksack up and down the mountains and jungles
of the dangerous Central Highlands count?

Does being pinned down by snipers as bullets whiz by you on a hot and humid afternoon in the jungle count?
Even though none of that resulted in any casualties at all?

Does the intense fear of hearing artillery explosions that you know came in too close and you can hear the shrapnel
cutting the tree branches above and around you count? Even though there again we somehow avoided casualties?

Does being in a convoy roadside ambush count? Seeing trucks get blown up right behind me, seeing soldiers wounded
and bloodied? Watching and hearing the sounds of the gun-truck’s 50 caliber machine guns firing up the hillside
where the rockets were fired from, so very close by. Even though my platoon was out of position to be able to assist
and I never even fired my weapon during that particular terrifying incident? Does that still count?

Does the fear and adrenalin of flying around the country in helicopters and being dropped into remote areas to perform
search and destroy missions count? Even though we rarely made enemy contact?

After all, the casualties in my battalion were comparatively minimal during 1971 as the war was winding down, and as I stated
earlier, I didn’t even get shot, or see any of my buddies get killed. I know of some that did get killed while I was there,
but I didn’t see it happen. So maybe that doesn’t count. None of what I saw or participated in would be called
“heavy combat.” I have never been in a “real” combat battle. Real combat battles have names. Right? The reality is:
any battle you’re in is a big one, no matter how small it is, because it doesn’t take a large enemy force or a big battle to kill you…
it only takes one man, with one gun, to shoot you one time.

I don’t even want to get into how the majority US population felt about all of us vets when we returned home, questioning
why we as individual soldiers even chose to go over there in the first place! Chose!!? Everyone knows those regrettable stories
about how disrespectful we Vietnam Veterans were treated. Not like “real” veterans, that’s for sure!

And then there was the time that I was sitting around a campfire one night with 3 or 4 older Vets that were from the
Korean War and WWII, drinking beer and listening quietly to their military service stories. Like many Viet Vets, I never
talked much about Vietnam before. But I decided to join in and take a turn that night. I simply mentioned how hot and humid
it was over there, and how much rain there was during the monsoon season, and how I hated sleeping on the wet ground.
One of the old guys replied: “Well that’s your own fault because you didn’t do a good job trenching around your tent.”
I cordially laughed and said “what tent? We didn’t have tents, we just draped ponchos over tree branches in the jungle!”
The Old Vet then scolded me: “Why do you Vietnam guys always think you had it so bad and came back
always whining and complaining about how bad your time over there was!?” Ouch!

Well, maybe I shouldn’t have dropped it, but I bit my tongue, as I was raised not to talk back to my elders. I think you can
see the point though, that negative attitude was prevalent, not only in American society as a whole but also in some of the older Vets
from previous wars as well. And it had a devastating effect. Yep, it reinforced that I wasn’t a “real” vet.

Even some of older Veterans organizations such as the VFW that were predominantly run by the much older “real” Vets
back then, shunned and rejected Vietnam Veterans as rogue soldiers that were not even in a declared war. To them,
Vietnam was simply just an unpopular, poorly run, failed police action. And we were not “real” war vets worthy of
membership, regardless of the level of our combat experience! WTF, they were actually saying that nothing about
Vietnam counted as a “real” war and the soldiers were not “real” Veterans!

At some point, many many years later, actually fairly recently, I became involved with the DAV as a volunteer driver.
I transported Veterans to and from their medical appointments at the VA hospital. That was really the first time I had
any serious interaction with other Veterans. And I discovered something that I never really gave much thought to before:
There are tons of Veterans who served in Vietnam without seeing any combat, let alone “heavy combat.” The fact is,
only a small percentage of those who served were in the infantry. The vast majority of the troops served in non-combat
support roles while in Vietnam. However, the war engulfed the entire country of South Vietnam and there were no front lines
or rear lines, so as a result, EVERYONE who served, lived with the reality that anyone could get hit at any time, regardless
of where they served in-country or what branch of the military that they served in, or what year it was. The reality was
that any base, large or small, could be subject to sapper attacks or incoming mortar rounds at any time. Still, they all
bravely reported for their duty and faced whatever unknown dangers and fears lie ahead of them. Does that count? I think it does.

I had a lot of free time while waiting for the guys to finish up with their Dr. appointments. So, I wandered around the VA
medical center to kill time. I often walked past a doorway that opened up into a large room. There was a sign over top
of the door that said “Heroes Hall.” I was amazed and wondered what elite honor groups were allowed to go in there!
I would just peek in sometimes to see what “real” heroes looked like. But I couldn’t really see them very well, and I
certainly wouldn’t dare go in there! I wasn’t even sure if I was a “real” Vet, and I was positive that I was no hero!

Eventually, at some point, some of the guys that I was transporting as a volunteer, invited me into Hero’s Hall to have
a cup of coffee with them. Well, I could tell from talking with those guys that they were no different than me and certainly
didn’t seem to be heroes either. They were just veterans who were a lot like me. It was interesting but surprising to discover
that the men in Heroes Hall seemed to be just regular guys too. I felt good about that.

But you know, believe it or not, The Army thought I was a “real” war veteran. They awarded me the Combat Infantryman Badge
(CIB), along with some other medals. I put them all away in a drawer, hiding them for 40 years, and didn’t get them out again
until I became a grandfather.

And, the VA thinks that I am a “real” Vet too. A disabled Vet in fact! The more I volunteered and the more time I spent
in the VA facility, the more comfortable I got with it. I even started seeing some of the Dr’s there. As it turns out,
I didn’t return from Vietnam unscathed. The wounds just took a while to be diagnosed. Besides having had malaria,
I have been diagnosed by the VA Dr’s as having service-connected PTSD, and also service-connected cancer,
which the VA attributes to agent orange exposure in Vietnam. Does that count?

You may have read the following assertion regarding the ticking time bomb named agent orange, which goes something like this:

We survived and came home from the war,
and we brought death home with us.

10 years ago, I wrote this preface in my book: “Rucksack Grunt”

You can engage in a conversation with 1,000 different Vietnam Veterans and get 1,000 different stories about their
war experience. Some guys had it bad; some guys had it not so bad. It all depends on what part of the country
they were in, what year they served in, and what their specific MOS and duty assignments were.
They all served.

So to all of my Vietnam Veteran Brothers that may have asked yourselves
the same question that I have asked myself:
“Am I a real Vietnam Veteran?”

Yes, We all served!
and Yes, it all counts!

An essay by Robert Kuhn
B-Co. 1/22 Infantry 1971-72.

With contributions by Michael Belis
C-Co. 1/22 Infantry 1970-1971.

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