|
|
|
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Vietnam 1967-68 - Ft. Bragg, NC
 |
Ft.Bragg, NC - 24 Nov 1966 - On the day before Thanksgiving I reported to the Reception Center at Ft. Bragg, NC to begin my induction into the U.S.Army. Some weeks before that day I had received a draft notice from the Selective Service Board in Lynchburg, Va. I was 24 years old, married and part of the first group of people, originally deferred because of marriage, to be drafted from that area because they had run out of eligible single people. |
 |
Pvt. Albert E. Simms Jr. - The
main
player
in this story is, of course, me! I was 24 years old, married and working in a grocery store in
Boydton, Va. when I got my draft notice. A little bit of my personal history to indicate how in the world I got to that point. I had graduated from Newport News High School in 1960 in the middle of my class academically. I went to the U. of Richmond for one and one half years and failed miserably the whole time; I wasn't stupid; just not ready to be on-my-own yet. The one thing that I excelled at U.of R was R.O.T.C and this was to serve me well later. After dropping out of the University, I went to work in the grocery business in Lynchburg, VA, where I had worked part of the summer after my freshman year in college. In a few months I moved from check-out clerk to Dairy and Bakery Department Manager. Because of a labor union and seniority rules, I found that I would have to transfer to another "area" of the chain that I worked for in order to be promoted further. I was transferred to a store in Chase City, VA as Senior Clerk. This did not work out well and I soon accepted a position as Assistant Manager of Boydton Supermarket in the neighboring town of Boydton, VA. In the meantime I was married to a girl I had met several years prior in Fredericksburg, VA. When she finished college she moved with me to Boydton and began teaching in the local school system. I escaped the draft for a couple of years because I was married but eventually the single guys were "used up" and I got drafted anyway. This event was to change the course of my entire life by getting me into a technical field where I really belonged. |
 |
Capt.Robert J.Warren - Company C
Commander - I did not know him well but he did talk to me a couple of times, trying to get
me to sign up for OCS. The second time I refused he took me squad away from me and gave it
to
someone else. Big mistake on his part. A week later he gave it back to me when the 17 year old
kid he gave it to made a fool of himself in a battalion formation. SFC Frank A.Frabotta - Senior Drill Sergeant - I hated this guy all the way through boot camp....do you know anyone who liked their Senior Drill Sergeant. I later realized that it was his job to make us hate him and he did it well. The reality is that we got reasonably good "boot" training. Sgt.Willie G. Siler - I had a great deal of respect for this guy. He knew his job and did it well. If he told you to do something you could bet that he not only could do it too, but probably about 10 times better than you could. Sgt. William Cutler - Sgt.Cutler was the Drill Sergeant that everyone liked. He was softspoken, easy to get along with and would do most anything to help you. If one of the others gave you a bad time, he would sympathize and then tell you how to avoid a future problem. I would be willing to bet that this was all part of the plan to take civilian kids and turn them into fighting men. |
 |
Reception Center - Ft. Bragg, NC -
In the late afternoon, on the day before Thanksgiving in 1966, I arrived at the reception center at
Ft.Bragg, NC. We were screamed at, yelled at and ushered into a large auditorium where we
were yelled at some more. There were various legal and other explanations recited to us by
military people who seemed bored with the process. There were a few Sergeants around who
seemed to have a sadistic desire to make our day miserable...I realized later that, in fact, these
"mean" Sergeants were really the ones who cared the most. They knew that these smart aleck
civilian kids must learn to obey orders instantly if they were to stay alive in combat. They also
realized that some of us would go to Vietnam and return in a box or not at all. We made it through the initial orientation and then were treated to Thanksgiving dinner in an army mess hall. Not Mama's cooking but it really wasn't all that bad. |
 |
Near the end of this week we were offered the opportunity to change our individual status from Draftee to Enlistee and get a guaranteed future. I took advantage of this and am not sorry that I did. I signed up for the longest electronic school that was available - 6.5 months. I was then discharged and enlisted for three years. This was the moment that changed the course of my entire life...and I am glad that I did!! |
 |
Basic Training for real - Now that
the orientation and classification was over we began training in earnest. Because of ROTC, my
other prior marching experience and the fact that I was 4 or 5 years older than most of the people
in the training company, I was made a squad leader. In the picture at the left I am at the right
front. There is a world of difference in a 18 year old just out of high school and a 24 year old who is married and has been working for a living. Taking orders was easy for me but very hard for some of the younger ones. Unfortunately there is also a world of difference in physical condition in the opposite direction! We marched and drilled, did pushups and "walked" the horizontal ladder. I think that the thing I hated the most was the lack of privacy and the inability to sit and enjoy a meal. I think that we were graded on how fast we could eat. |
 |
Physical Training - Thankfully, I
had the good sense to "work-out" for the month BEFORE I reported for duty. It was hard
enough keeping up with the younger guys as it was. Had I not done that it would have been
impossible. In the mental stamina line I could beat them hands-down but in a contest requiring
pure physical effort I was very much at a disadvantage. But survive I did and I also was in better
physical shape when I finished than when I started. You younger guys who have been through boot camp recently should take note of what we wore when we ran; fatigues and BOOTS!! Todays soldiers have it much easier in training than we did. They get to wear shorts and running shoes. Not a big difference in weight until you figure how many times you lift that couple of extra pounds in a mile. Of course I wonder....Are they going to have their running shoes and shorts in combat? After a couple of weeks the Drill Sergeants would turn the Squad Leaders loose to drill their squads on their own. I told my squad that if they would take care of me, I would take care of them. On many of these occasions I would march my squad a couple of barracks away, post lookouts at each end of the building and then we would smoke and otherwise goof off for 20 minutes or so. We never got caught and my squad worked very hard to be the best in the battalion. On reflection, I suspect that the DIs knew exactly what we were doing and allowed it because it made us work as a team and built esprit de corps. |
 |
Horizontal Ladder - This was not
one of my favorite things. We had to walk it at every meal before we were allowed into the mess
hall to eat. I gathered many a blister because of it and was never very good at it. Hand to Hand Combat Training - I suppose that this was needed to build our confidence but REALLY...Does the guy in the picture look very dangerous. I thought then and still do today that we learned just enough in that short 8 weeks to get ourselves hurt bad if we picked a fight with a real fighter. I vowed to never run out of bullets!! At one point during this training, Sgt. Frabotta was teaching us how to break a "bear hug" from behind. After watching for a few minutes I got a bit cocky and told him that if I grabbed him he would not be able to break the hold in that fashion. He said OK, come try it. I grabbed him below his elbows and he was not able to break my hold. Then he proceeded to pull his arms out of mine - easy since I had him low - and to flip me very hard onto the ground. That was the last of my cocky challenges! |
 |
Rifle and Bayonet Training - This is of course the "meat" of the story. We learned how an M-14 works; how to take it apart, clean it and then put it back together in the dark. We learned how to put a bayonet on it and use the bayonet and butt as weapons. Finally we learned how to acquire and hit targets with it. We spent many hours in the classroom and on the range. One of the things that I enjoyed the most was the "Advance and Fire" training. This was kind of a simulated war, not all that different from games we played as kids. |
 |
Other Important Stuff - In addition
to learning to fight we also took first aid classes oriented towards gunshot and other severe
wounds that we would be likely to encounter in a war. We learned how defend ourselves against
chemical attack with gas masks and various anti-gas agents. We learned which gasses were
heavier than air and which were not. We got to experience breathing tear gas - not much fun.
We got aggression training - pugil sticks and just plain screaming. It is amazing how many
attackers will just plain wilt if you attack back with a lot of screaming and violence. The infamous Infiltration Course - At the left you will see a flash lit picture of the infiltration course, laced with barbed wire, mud and other such obstacles. There were live machine gun bullets being fired overhead that looked as if they would hit us if we stood up (reality is that they were too high for that. There were deafening explosions inside of sandbagged pits. There was the ever present D.I. on the sidelines screaming at us. We were graded on how fast we were able to crawl or slither through it. Some found it nerve-wracking. I kind of enjoyed it. |
 |
Graduation - Finally the long eight
weeks was up. We marched in a battalion formation and rather well too. In just eight weeks we
had been transformed from civilian, smart-aleck kids into soldiers who knew how to fight, take
care of themselves and take orders. A big event for us, all in a days work for the Cadre. From
the training center we went in many different directions; some to Infantry AIT where they would
really learn to fight and others to more technical schools such as the one I was going to at Ft. Sill,
OK. Ft.Bragg, NC aerial view - My barracks are marked with a red arrow. |
 |
|
 |
No. I am not still in the army; I was
discharged in November of 1969 after completing my 3 year enlistment. My wife and I had a lot
of laughs this morning as I tried to get into this 31 year old uniform. Either it shrunk or I
expanded. I managed to get the coat on and button the top two buttons but no way can I do that
with the trousers.Click here to contact me by
Email. This site is best viewed with a maximized 800 x 600 size and a high color display setting. Placing your cursor over any of the pictures will display a description for that picture. The music that is playing on this page is 'I Gotta Get Outta This Place', a popular song of the 60s. |
the rest of our website and Email us.
|
Home Page ||
God's Music ||
Genealogy ||
Carcinoid ||
Vietnam ||
Flight Sim
Ft.Bragg || Ft.Sill-Student || Trip to Vietnam || Chu Lai || Cherry Hill 1 LZ Clifford || Cherry Hill 2 || LZ Bowman || Cherry Hill 3 || LZ Young 1 LZ Professional || LZ Gator || LZ Young 2A || LZ Young 2B || Ft.Sill-Instructor Maps || Awards || Tribute || Chu Lai Today || Links 1/14th Roster || Letters || Mementoes || Chronology || Reunion || Q4 Radar |
Copyright ©2000 Al Simms All rights reserved.