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I first became a soldier in a war zone on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) 1970. Even some drones, like the DASH, were in play for the United States Navy. As Michael Rodriguez, an infantryman with the 2No one saw this coming. “It comes out of a tradition of GI humor in which people can bitch in a way that will not get them in trouble but keeps them from insanity.” And the soldiers got it! And it got to soldiers/vets, too. This is alongside the standard troop carrier which also doubled as supply aircraft and artillery transports. Realizing, of course, that every soldier had their own special song that helped bring them home.Neil Whitehurst, a native of North Carolina who served with the 1Usually heard in the States as another of Aretha’s powerful statements on racial and sexual equality, which it certainly was, Mail call was a sacred ritual in Vietnam and this song captured its importance lyrically and musically. Didn’t hurt that it spoke of “getting a ticket for an airplane” and “going home” because “my baby just wrote me a letter.” Nothing kept guys going more than love letters from home — and the dream of getting back to their beloved.Just before his tragic death in a place crash in Madison, Wis., in late 1967, Otis Redding had completed recording (When asked to sum up the music of the war, Peter Bukowski, who served with the Americal Division near Chu Lai in 1968-69, responded: “Two words. “Didn’t matter who you were — black, white, everyone. It’s personal, of course, but in a way it’s lyrical, too. Maybe that’s why When we played this song at LZ Lambeau, a welcome home event for Vietnam vets and their families held at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., in 2010, we were overwhelmed by the response it received, especially by spouses of Vietnam vets. But Country Joe, himself a Navy veteran — who when we first met him told us “I’m a veteran first and hippie second” — intended this “not as a pacifist song, but as a soldier’s song.” “It’s military humor that only a soldier could get away with,” he added. But it doesn't have to be that way.How its volunteers over 50 learned the news and are feeling about it nowResearchers say mental health disorders explain much of the declineDoug Bradley recently retired from the University of Wisconsin Sytem, where he was the director of communications and currently teaches a course on the effects of popular music during the Vietnam War Era. Not the writers of the song — the dynamic Brill Building duo of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil; not the group who recorded it — The Animals and their iconic lead singer, Eric Burdon; not the 3 million soldiers who fought in Vietnam who placed extra importance on the lyrics. Doug is a U.S. Army veteran and the author of The American Bell UH-1 Huey is the most famous of the Vietnam helicopter types and proved a workhorse for air cavalry units throughout the war. Several types of helicopters were used during the Vietnam Conflict- from observation and MEDEVAC to gunships and dedicated attack types. I say that because my earliest Vietnam memories aren’t about guns and bullets, but rather about music.But I knew one thing for sure.
It’s an irony I’ve wrestled with for 45 years, due in part to the precise timing of U. S. Army tours of duty in Vietnam, which meant that Uncle Sam would send me back home exactly 365 days later — on Nov. 11, 1971.Needless to say, the date is etched in my mind and will always be. One reader says,Your generous donation will help us continue to bring you the information you care about. These are the 10 most mentioned songs by the Vietnam vets we interviewed.