Bloods
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February 8, 1962 The U.S. established the Military Assistance Command in Saigon. Meanwhile, U.S. Special Forces were training Montagnards for combat against Viet Cong guerrillas.
December 29, 1962 South Vietnam proclaimed 39 percent of its population living in fortified “strategic hamlets.”
December 31, 1962 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 11,300.
May 8, 1963 Twelve people were killed in Hue in rioting during a celebration of Buddha’s birthday. Rioting and anti-government demonstrations spread elsewhere in the following weeks.
September 2, 1963 President Kennedy criticized the Saigon government for being out of touch with the people and said that the U.S. would play only a supportive role.
November 1, 1963 A military coup with tacit U.S. approval overthrew President Diem. Diem was assassinated with his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu.
November 4, 1963 The U.S. recognized the new government in Saigon.
December 31, 1963 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 16,300.
February 4, 1964 The Viet Cong launched an offensive in Tay Ninh province.
June 20, 1964 General William C. Westmoreland took command of MACV.
August 1964 North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the U.S. destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy, prompting the U.S. Congress to adopt the Tonkin Gulf Resolution endorsing measures needed to repel attacks on American forces.
December 31, 1964 The first North Vietnamese Army regulars appeared in South Vietnam. U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 23,300.
February 7, 1965 The Viet Cong attacked the U.S. base at Pleiku, killing eight Americans.
March 2, 1965 “Operation Rolling Thunder,” a sustained American aerial bombardment of North Vietnam, was launched.
March 8, 1965 The first U.S. Marine battalion arrived at Danang.
March 19, 1965 The first full U.S. Army battalion arrived.
April 7, 1965 President Johnson proposed negotiations to end the war and offered $1 billion in aid to Southeast Asia, but Hanoi denounced the plan.
July 28, 1965 President Johnson announced his decision to greatly increase U.S. combat forces in Vietnam.
October 1965 U.S. troops launched the month-long Ia Drang campaign, which was the first major confrontation between U.S. and North Vietnamese forces.
December 31, 1965 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 185,300.
January 31, 1966 Bombing of North Vietnam resumed after a 37-day pause.
April 12, 1966 B-52s from Guam bombed North Vietnam for the first time.
October 24, 1966 President Johnson met Premier Ky and leaders of five other nations involved in the war and pledged a 4-point “Declaration of Peace.”
December 31, 1966 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 185,300.
August 3, 1967 President Johnson announced an escalation of troops and requested a 10 percent income tax surcharge to finance the war.
September 3, 1967 General Nguyen Van Thieu was elected president of South Vietnam with 35 percent of the vote.
December 31, 1967 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 465,600 and those killed in combat totaled 9,378 for the year.
January 30, 1968 The month-long Tet Offensive erupted throughout South Vietnam, raising questions about the capacity of U.S. military forces to end the war.
February 24, 1968 The royal palace at Hue was recaptured by Marines and South Vietnamese troops after 25 days of struggle.
March 16, 1968 The My Lai massacre took place, killing at least 450 unarmed South Vietnamese.
March 31, 1968 President Johnson ordered a partial halt in the bombing of the North and announced that he would not seek reelection.
April 6, 1968 Relief forces arrived at Khe Sanh, ending 77-day siege of the Marine combat base.
May 13, 1968 Delegates from the U.S. and North Vietnam held their first formal peace meeting in Paris.
October 31, 1968 President Johnson announced a cessation of all bombing of North Vietnam.
November 1, 1968 Hanoi announced that the Paris peace talks would be expanded to include South Vietnam and the National Liberation Front, but Thieu refused to participate.
December 31, 1968 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 536,000 and those killed in combat totaled 14,592 for the year.
March 1969 President Nixon secretly authorized bombing raids over Cambodia.
May 12, 1969 Communists launched some 200 attacks against military and civilian targets.
June 8, 1969 President Nixon announced the first U.S. troop withdrawal.
October 4, 1969 According to the Gallup Poll, 58 percent of the American public believed the war was a mistake.
December 31, 1969 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 475,000 and those killed in combat totaled 9,414 for the year.
March 27, 1970 South Vietnamese forces, supported by U.S. helicopters, attacked Communist camps across the Cambodian border.
May 1970 Demonstrations opposing the Cambodian bombing took place on U.S. college campuses. The protest intensified after National Guardsmen killed four students at Kent State University.
December 1970 The U.S. Congress repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and approved an amendment barring U.S. military personnel from Cambodia.
December 31, 1970 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 334,600.
February 8, 1971 South Vietnamese forces invaded Laos to interdict North Vietnamese supply lines.
June 13, 1971 The New York Times began releasing the “Pentagon Papers,” a study of U.S. involvement in Indochina.
December 1971 U.S. planes staged heavy bombing raids over the North.
December 31, 1971 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 156,800.
January 25, 1972 President Nixon revealed that Henry Kissinger, his national security advisor, had been conducting secret Paris peace talks since August 1969.
March 30, 1972 North Vietnamese forces launched an offensive against South Vietnamese bases throughout the country.
April 16, 1972 B-52s resumed bombing raids around Hanoi and Haiphong.
May 8, 1972 President Nixon ordered the mining of Haiphong and other North Vietnamese harbors.
August 12, 1972 The last American ground troops left South Vietnam; airmen and support personnel remained.
October 26, 1972 Kissinger announced that “peace is at hand.”
November 7, 1972 President Nixon was reelected. His opponent, Senator George McGovern, had offered a plan to end all bombing and withdrawal of all forces.
December 18, 1972 President Nixon ordered resumption of full bombing and mining of North Vietnam.
December 31, 1972 U.S. forces in Vietnam totaled 24,200.
January 23, 1973 Secretary of State Kissinger and North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho initiated an agreement to end the war and provide for the release of POWs.
January 27, 1973 A cease-fire began.
April 1, 1973 The last American POW arrived at Clark Air Force Base.
January 4, 1974 President Thieu announced that the war in South Vietnam had resumed.
April 17, 1975 Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents.
April 30, 1975 North Vietnamese troops entered Saigon while the remaining Americans were evacuated.
March 26, 1976 Kissinger announced that the U.S. was prepared to normalize relations with Hanoi.
This book is for my wife, Janice, who did not defer the dream that it would one day happen.
Acknowledgments
Every book is born in debt. In this small way I acknowledge the debt this book and I owe to those who made the birth possible. Without the generous support of those friends of the black Vietnam War veteran and their belief in me, these stories would not have been told here.
I thank them all.
Marc Jaffe welcomed the concept of this book when I brought the idea to Random House. Erroll McDonald, the editor of the book, guided its development and provided invaluable suggestions for its form and shape. Robert Wyatt contributed his gifts as the editor of the Ballantine edition.
Roslyn Targ, my literary agent, never wavered in her belief in the boo
k’s importance. She freed me from my doubts and held my hand.
Richard Boone, president, Leslie Dunbar, past president, and The Field Foundation supported my early research into the experience of black Vietnam War veterans.
Franklin Thomas, president, and The Ford Foundation made their support available for the completion of that research in the form of this book.
John Quinn and John Seigenthaler granted me a leave of absence from the editorial staff of USA Today in order to complete the interviewing and editing.
Ronald H. Brown, chairman of the board of trustees, Robert L. Green, president, and the community of the University of the District of Columbia made me feel at home at the university during that time.
I found some of the veterans included in this book through the assistance of the Veterans Administration’s Vet Center Program. Especially helpful were Dr. Arthur Blank, the program director, Elaine Alvarez, Harold Doughty, Husher Harris, Tom Harris, Michael Jackson, George Knight, Edward Lord, Erqin Parson, Leonard Porter, Robert G. Smith and Arto Woods.
In the military community I received the wise advice and counsel of B/Gen. Richard Abel USAF, M/Gen. Harry Brooks, Jr., USA (ret.), Cmdr. Carlos C. Campbell USNR, Capt. Kenneth Norman USA (ret.), M/Gen. Frank Petersen USMC, Maj. Gilford Robinson USMC, and CMSGT James H. Smith USAF (ret.).
Many members of my family shared their love, support, and, most of all, patience, during the research and writing. I am especially grateful to Gus and Betty Hamilton, Billye and Cedric Jessup, and my children, Wallace III, Lisa and David.
Wally, the oldest, was virtually a second editor of the book. He devoted several months to the research and preparation of the stories. He was a veritable sounding board, for I had at my side a young man of the approximate age and with similar thoughts and feelings as those GIs who fought the war. His opinions gave the book a special grace.
During the time that I was covering the Vietnam War for Time magazine, my wife, Janice, made eighteen trips to visit me in Saigon. Each time she would go upcountry to visit an aid station, hospital or base camp to help boost the morale of black fighting men. They were her “heroes.” And to them, she was “Soul Sister No. 1.” She gave this book and its author the same mothering care.
For reasons best known to them I am also grateful to: Sallie Blake, Don Brandt, John Britton, Kristin Clark, Marsh and Pippa Clark, Rep. Ron Dellums, Shearon Dishman, Eugene C. Dorsey, Ted Van Dyk, Murray Gart, Michelle Gundy, Charles Harris, Carl Holman, Mary Jane Hunter, Bruce Jessup, Gayle Jessup, Larry L. King, Stephen Lane, Bernard Lang, Carl McCarden, Dan Martin, William Mayo, Frank McCulloch, Nancy Nelson, Michelle Nielsen, Anne Elizabeth Oliver, Ed Pfeiffer, Pat Reis, Sandra Roberts, Pat Smith, John and Bunny Sanders, Gerald Sass, Jack A. Scott, Dick and Germaine Swanson, Wallace Terry, Sr., Raphael Tisdale, Ron Townsend and Patricia Woodlin.
The twenty veterans whose stories comprise this book opened their hearts and homes, minds and memories to me, often on several occasions, sometimes across a dozen years or more. They shared more than time and friendship; they shared their spirit and soul. And that is what I tried to capture in the telling of their stories for posterity. They and their families have my special appreciation for their gifts to this book.
Glossary
AIT advanced infantry training, which usually follows basic training for enlisted personnel.
AK an AK-47.
AK-47 a Soviet-made assault rifle, copied by the Chinese and used by the Communist forces in Vietnam.
Amtrac amphibious armored vehicle used by Marines to transport troops and supplies.
APC armored personnel carrier.
article 15 non-judical punishment, meted out by an officer to enlisted personnel.
ARVN the Army of the Republic of Vietnam or the South Vietnamese Army.
AWOL absent without leave.
B-40 rocket-propelled grenade launcher used by Communist forces.
BAR Browning automatic rifle.
BCD bad conduct discharge.
BK amputee below-the-knee amputation of the leg.
Charlie the Viet Cong, short for the phonetic representation Victor Charlie.
CIB combat infantryman’s badge, representing actual time in combat.
CID criminal investigation division.
chieu hoi surrender program, aimed at Communist soldiers.
Cobra the AH-1G attack helicopter.
connex a large metal box used for shipping and storage.
CP command post.
cyclo a motorized three-wheel passenger conveyance.
di di mau move quickly.
DMZ demilitarized zone separating North and South Vietnam at the 17th Parallel.
eagle flights large air assault of helicopters.
EM enlisted man.
GED general education diploma, equivalent of a high school education.
JAG judge advocate general, the legal department of the armed services.
KIA killed in action.
KP kitchen police.
LURP long range reconnaissance patrol.
LZ landing zone.
M-16 American-made assault rifle.
M-60 American-made machine gun.
Mach the speed of sound.
mama san female Vietnamese, usually older, child-bearing woman.
medcap Medical Civic Action Program.
medevac medical evacuation by helicopter.
MP military police.
mpc military pay certificates, used in lieu of American green currency in war zones to discourage black marketeering.
NCO non-commissioned officer.
Nung Chinese tribal troops found in the highlands of North Vietnam.
NVA the North Vietnamese Army.
Phoenix Program U.S. program aimed at Communist subversion.
platoon approximately 45 men belonging to a company.
profile a description of medical problems during military service.
purple out-zone emergency evacuation.
quad-60 four .60 caliber machine guns mounted as one unit.
rabbits white American soldiers, according to black vernacular.
RPG rocket propelled grenade.
ROK the Army of the Republic of Korea or the South Korean Army.
SAM Soviet-made surface-to-air missile.
SEAL highly trained Navy special warfare team members.
search and destroy offensive operations designed to destroy enemy forces without maintaining holding actions.
slicks Huey helicopters used to lift troops or cargo.
Tet the Chinese and Vietnamese lunar new year.
track GI slang expression for an APC.
USAID United States Agency for International Development.
USO United Service Organizations.
VC the Viet Cong or members of the Communist insurgency in South Vietnam, the National Liberation Front.
white mice South Vietnamese police.
the World the United States; home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wallace Terry was a Vietnam-veterans advocate, a pioneering journalist, and one of the most accomplished and honored correspondents of the Vietnam War. He was educated at Brown, the University of Chicago, and Harvard, and ordained in the Disciples of Christ ministry. He produced documentary films on black Marines for the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a race-relations consultant to Gen. David C. Jones, a U.S. Air Force commanding general in Europe. From 1967 to 1968, he was the Saigon deputy bureau chief for Time magazine. His work appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post, and for many years he wrote regularly for USA Today and Parade magazine. In 1989, he received the President’s Award in recognition of his contribution to American culture. Wallace Terry died in 2003.
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