Navel Lint?

Hey, didn't do much today haha. I had the fruit salad for breakfast which rocked and I was going to trek on foot across town to check out a market that might have military stuff and check out the Vietnam People's Air Force Museum. North Vietnam didn't have a big air force during the American War, and because of that they have a lot of Ace pilots. To be an Ace pilot you have to have shot down 5 aircraft, which isn't an easy thing to do. The US did have such a huge air force that there was always something in the sky to attack haha, weather it was B-52 bombers about to erase a grid off a map, to spy planes taking pictures of truck movements down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, KC-135 Refuelling aircraft just waiting for an aircraft that needs fuel or an A-1 Skyraider which has no radar or missiles but helped provide ground support while the US Air Force rescues a pilot behind enemy lines. The main aircraft were MIG-17's and MIG-21's which were Russian and there main role was inception. A US aircraft would be in North Vietnamese airspace, the Northern pilots run and jump in their jets to go shoot down that aircraft, see if there's any more and come back for a landing until something else was detected. North Vietnam didn't have the resources to afford attack planes to stop the US Navy from parking on the coast, or enter South Vietnam and attack US troops, although the US was ready for aerial attacks from the North. It was rare but there are a few cases of enemy aircraft entering South Vietnam but considering the US always had fighter and bomber aircraft in the sky, the enemy aircraft didn't stay too long! One was spotted during the Tet Offensive in Hue city and it was last seen headed out to sea, where the US Aircraft Carriers would put a stop to it. Other's had been encountered by the DMZ and inside Cambodia. There were American Aces too, but as they had so few aircraft to shoot down, there weren't too many. I'll get into that after I actually see the museum. My main reason in going though is they have jets and helicopters you can take pictures of, and I'm mostly excited to the the Mi-24 Hind, famous from it's actions in Afghanistan during the 80's. Think of it as a Russian hovering tank that can carry 8 combat troops inside of it. More on that later, I just started it since I haven't done much today haha.

I did go out for lunch, got a grilled cheese sandwich as thats what I use to have on weekends sleeping in, wake up and around lunch have some grilled cheese, and it was pretty good. I also looked into getting some custom stuff done and asked how much it would cost to get a B Company, 2d Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment parade flag done. In Canada it would be about $150 just for the flag and no pole. Here it's about $25 muhahaha. I also have to see about getting some N Company, 75th Ranger Battalion patches done. Each major unit US unit in Vietnam had their own Recon company, recon being a group of special troops to sneak around and look for the enemy and report back to base. They were the eyes and ears of their parent unit. Each unit had different tactics and training, and one day someone said "You know what? Why don't we get every unit the same training and skills!?" and they were aligned with the 75th Infantry Battalion, which first started as a regiment in WWII doing almost impossible missions. So now all Recon for the US Army line units was done by the 75th Ranger Battalion, each unit having their own company and the 173rd Airborne Brigade was tasked with N Company. Say the 173rd moved somewhere, N company would follow. If the 173rd wanted an area checked out, N company went first and if the area had tons of bad guys they'd radio back to the Brigade and call in artillery and air strikes, then get back to base. More or less like a special force at the parent units disposal. Not to be confused with Special Forces units, as those are the hardcore guys that report to bigger people in the military, like the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, or there's units that don't exist and don't report to anyone, yet somehow six guys would take on thousands of enemy troops, those are the Rambos and Schwarzeneggers you'll never hear about except in Soldier of Fortune magazine. Sidetracked... Yes! N Company/75th Rangers are the 173rd's recon team, and I think everyone in our group has thought about doing a recon impressions, drop the heavy stuff, grab extra ammo and cool shit. We want to represent the everyday grunt, as not everyone was special forces and that's the first thing everyone wants to be when they start re-enacting. If everyone is special forces though 1) It's not special and 2) Where are the regular troops that do the regular fighting and dying? We don't represent the tip of the spear, but the long blade of the sword, the guys slogging it out 16 hours a day with 80lbs on his back, the old dependable. The 173rd is considered a bit sharper of blade. I read someone who commented on the 173rd. "Everybody wanted to be in the 173rd Airborne, but nobody wanted to be in the 173rd as they caught the most shit." That's how it works. The unit that's seen as the best gets put in the tougher situations. A division has three brigades and there was about 26 brigades of Infantry troops. Of those 26, the 173rd took the most causalities. Greatness has a price and that price in Vietnam was 10,076. The 173rd had 1,731 fallen troops and 8,345 were wounded in combat, most of them occurring during the Dak To Campaign losing 376 troops and 1,441 wounded, most being the 173rd's troops in three weeks! Costliest battle of the war but it's over shadowed by Hamburger Hill (which had 72 troops KIA) and Ia Drang Valley, the 1st Cavalry Division with 304 killed (but remember the 1st Cav is at least 3 times bigger than the 173rd). I'm waiting for the Dak To movie or video game to come out by the way haha.

I didn't like the weather forecast as it looked like rain. Well I go out for dinner with an umbrella and not one drop of rain. I would have been fine today. I guess Vietnamese weather casters are as accurate as Canadian ones! I watched a documentary on the Peace process during the Vietnam War. Interesting stuff. The US more or less had to level the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in order for North Vietnam to come to the Peace table, the US and North Vietnam made a deal, they just had to get South Vietnam to agree to it, which was a horrible deal and rightly so the South Vietnamese shouldn't agree to it. The US more or less said "Look, if you don't accept this deal, you will not get one more dime from us." and sadly South Vietnam had to sign. The US did promise if the South was in trouble though, the US would help. Nixon was kicked out of office because of Watergate and the new President Ford took over. The South Vietnamese were getting slaughtered as the North rolled over the country, they begged for US help and the US just looked away. Peace with honour? I'm not an expert on the politics, I just watched a documentary and thats how I felt. True if nothing was signed the war would go on forever and the US wanted out. I just feel they sold South Vietnam out in the process.

I went out for dinner, had some Mexican food and it was pretty good, but spicy. I had to cool off with ice cream after (yea that's my excuse haha). I might watch a movie, see what the weather might be like tomorrow and debate my next move

PS: This was going to be a short one, but like I say I can write a 12 page report on navel lint if I try :)