They Called Him "Ski": Death Before Dishonor

By Stan Pypniowski

Larry Pypniowski, or Ski as he was called, enlisted in the US military in June 1968 and served in the 173rd Airborne Brigade during the Vietnam War. Throughout his training and service, Ski wrote letters home to his family detailing his personal thoughts and experiences while serving. Ski was killed in action in September 1969, but his letters were preserved. In this book, the author's brother presents Ski's unaltered letters with historical and personal context for an emotional and raw look at the experiences of Ski as a soldier, bother and son.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781543977622

Book preview

They Called Him Ski

Death Before Dishonor

Stan Pypniowski

ISBN (Print Edition): 978-1-54397-761-5

ISBN (eBook Edition): 978-1-54397-762-2

© 2019. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Somewhere Outside Bon Son

Written: Saturday and Sunday, March 8, 9, 1969, Vietnam

Works Cited

September 1963

High School Years

June 1967

After High School

June 1968

Basic Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey

Most of the Guys are Draftees

Written: Saturday, June 15, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

I like the Army

Written: Saturday, June 15, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

I Was Issued All of My Equipment

Written: Thursday, June 20, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Signed up for Airborne Training

Written: Friday, June 28, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

July 1968

Third Week of Training

Written: Saturday, July 6, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Camping Trip

Written: Sunday, July 14, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

I Just Got Back from Camping

Written: Sunday, July 14, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Five Day Camping Trip

Written: Sunday, July 14, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Expert Marksmanship Badge

Written: Wednesday, July 17, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Week of Field Training Tactics

Written: Friday, July 26, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

More Combat and Final Physical Training Tests

Written: Sunday, July 28, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

August 1968

Graduate in about 14 Days

Written: Thursday, August 1, 1968, Fort Dix, New Jersey

Graduated from Fort Dix Training Center

September 1968

Fort Gordon Was Home to Camp Crockett

The Shit Hole of the World

Written: Monday, September 9, 1968, Fort Gordon, Georgia

I Think Where All Headed for Vietnam

Written: Wednesday, September 18, 1968, Fort Gordon, Georgia

Fifth Week of Training

Written: Sunday, September 29, 1968, Fort Gordon, Georgia

October 1968

Met a Real Good Buddy

Written: Saturday, October 26, 1968, Fort Gordon, Georgia

November 1968

Army Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia

Parachutist Badge

December 1968

Home for Christmas

January 1969

Off to California, Hawaii, Vietnam

An Khe at Camp Radcliff

About 400 Miles North of Saigon, (Charlie Country)

Written: Wednesday, January 15, 1969, An Khe, Vietnam

Please Send My Hunting Camouflage Outfit

Written: Thursday, January 16, 1969, An Khe, Vietnam

February 1969

General

Combat Operations

Commenced Operation Darby Crest I

Nature of the Terrain

Nature of the Weather

I’m a Rifleman in a Fire Squad

Written: Monday, February 3, 1969, Vietnam

Our Company Pulled a Beautiful Operation

Written: Saturday, February 8, 1969, Vietnam

Drive on

Written: Sunday, February 9, 1969, Vietnam

It’s Saint Valentine’s Day

Written: Friday, February 14, 1969, Vietnam

Lifeless, Motionless, and Quite Till Doomsday

Written: February, 1969, Boonies of Republic of Vietnam

March 1969

LZ Uplift

Commenced Operation Darby Crest II

Nature of the Weather

Out on a Bush Whack

Written: Tuesday, March 11, 1969, Boonies, Vietnam

Commenced Operation Darby Crest III

My Future Plans

Written: Wednesday, March 26, 1969, LZ Uplift, Vietnam

Top 10 Songs on the US Singles Chart Week Ending March 29

Letter to the Newspaper

Written: Thursday, March 27, 1969, Vietnam

Hi, Brother Dave

Written: Thursday, March 27, 1969, Vietnam

All Towns Are off Limits Because of Some Type of Plague

Written: Saturday, March 29, 1969, Uplift, Vietnam

Thinking of Good Old Home

Written: March, 1969, Uplift, Vietnam

What’s the Problem Back Home

Written: Saturday, March 29, 1969, Vietnam

What the Actual Problem Was Back Home

April 1969

Nature of the Weather

We Had Just Come Back from a Hawk Mission out in the Field

Written: Saturday, April 5, 1969, Vietnam

HAWK Operations Concept

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and Headed Back out to the Boonies

Written: Saturday, April 5, 1969, Uplift, Vietnam

Send My Movie Camera to Show You What Vietnam is like

Written: Monday, April 7, 1969, Vietnam

Overlooking the South China Sea

Written: Monday, April 7, 1969 and Thursday, April 10, 1969, Vietnam

Operation Washington Green

Concept of Operation

Pacification Operations

HAWK Team Operations

The War Here Will Be Over Very Soon

Written: Tuesday, April 15, 1969, Vietnam

Protecting the Guys Building the Firebase

Written: Wednesday, April 16, 1969, Vietnam

What Everyday Life is like Here

Written: Sunday, April 20, 1969, Vietnam

How Come You Don’t Write to Me

Written: Sunday, April 20, 1969, Vietnam

The Next Day

Written: Monday, April 21, 1969, Vietnam

Well Looks like I Made It Again

Written: Monday, April 28, 1969, Vietnam

Clear Difference between the Rear and the Field

May 1969

Combat Operations

Nature of the Weather

The Lifers Won’t Cut Us No Slack

Written: Thursday, May 1, 1969, Vietnam

The Business Man

Written: Friday, May 23, 1969, Vietnam

I Think I’m Afraid to Write Certain Things

Written: Saturday, May 24, 1969, Vietnam

June 1969

Nature of the Weather

Soldier Hears NVA Laughter and Has the Last Laugh

Written: Tuesday, June 3, 1969, Vietnam

They Walk Where Others Fear to Tread

Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRP’s)

Resupply Day

Written: Saturday, June 7, 1969, Vietnam

I Sure Hope It’s a Girl

Written: Sunday, June 15, 1969, Vietnam

Wearing Glasses Just for Reading

Written: Sunday, June 15, 1969, Vietnam

Getting Ready for My R&R

Written: Tuesday, June 17, 1969, Vietnam

I Write in My Diary Every Day

Written: Friday, June 20, 1969, Vietnam

You Guys Don’t Even Write Me Anymore

Written: Wednesday, June 25, 1969, Vietnam

A Brother’s Perspective at Home about Morale

In the Bunker Where I Sleep

Written: Thursday, June 26, 1969, Vietnam

July 1969

Nature of the Weather

The 173rd Brigade Has Been Working with the ARVNS

Written: Sunday, July 20, 1969, Vietnam

Combined US–ARVN Operations and Training

Known as the Typewriter

Written: Monday, July 21, 1969, Vietnam

I Have Come Down with What Is Know as Hepatitis

Written: Tuesday, July 29, 1969, Quin Nhon Hospital, Vietnam

I Shall Be in Cam Rahn Bay in about 3 Days

Written: Wednesday, July 30, 1969, Quin Nhon Hospital, Vietnam

6th Convalescent Center

Rehabilitation at 6th Convalescent Center, Ward H

Written: Thursday, July 31, 1969, Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam

Dustoff

Recuperation in Cam Rahn Bay

August 1969

I Feel Very Safe Here

Written: Friday, August 1, 1969, Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam

My New Address

Written: Saturday, August 2, 1969, Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam

Picking Shells While Swimming in the South China Sea

Written: Monday, August 4, 1969, Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam

The Old Soldier Is Worn out

Written: Wednesday, August 6, 1969, Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam

The Lifers Are Still Hassling Me as Usual

Written: Saturday, August 9, 1969, Uplift, Vietnam

Still Hanging in There

Written: Sunday, August 10, 1969, Vietnam

Discharged from the Hospital and the 6th Convalescent Center Getting Hit

Written: Wednesday, August 20, 1969, Uplift, Vietnam

Sending Home a Whole Bunch of Pictures

Written: Friday, August 22, 1969, Vietnam

September 1969

R&R in Singapore

Written: Tuesday, September 2, 1969, Vietnam

I Am Going Back to the Field Tomorrow

Written: Monday, September 15, 1969, Vietnam

A Strange and Eerie Experience

Days of Future Passed September 16, to September 30, 1969

Glossary of Larry’s Slang Dictionary of Words

Preface

Larry Pypniowski (Ski)

3rd Platoon, Company D, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment,

173rd Airborne Brigade, United States Army

June 14, 1968–September 16, 1969

https://theycalledhimski.com

This memoir is dedicated to the memory of Larry Pypniowski (Ski), who served and died in a place and under circumstances most of us can only imagine in our worst nightmare.

Forty-six years have passed, and I still search for answers. From the time he joined the US Army on June 14, 1968, for basic training at Fort Dix, N.J., to Infantry training at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and Paratrooper School at Fort Benning, Georgia. And finally, his tour of duty in Vietnam from January 10, 1969, and the series of events that took place there, that led to my brother’s death on September 16, 1969.

He was an army paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, internally torn between doing a job he was sent to do and getting home to his family and friends once again. He initially believed the war in Viet Nam was morally correct, but after time began to doubt the reason for a continuation of this madness.

A prodigious letter writer, he leaves behind dozens of letters with detailed written description of what he did see and hear, that comes alive with such a consistency of energy and enthusiasm. The simple eloquence in his letters conveys the physical and emotional demands on Larry during his tour of duty there that were so intense, the only outcome was one of his eventual death. Yet he remained upbeat, fearless, and brave throughout. In the end, he was a worn down, tired, sickly 20-year-old soldier. Yet, he continued to be sent out in the field, exposed to harm’s way. I leave it to you the reader, to read letters in his own words and decide what went wrong that ended his life in such a tragic way.

Because his diary was unfortunately misplaced over the years, I had to follow his journey in Vietnam through the record accounts of the 173rd Airborne Brigade I found in my research. Also, with the help of his letters, I was able to construct what I believe gives Larry his story of what he went through and honors that part of his life that should not and will not go untold.

This memoir is in honor of my brother Larry and all the men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The chapters in this memoir contain most of Larry’s letters, unchanged for the most part, with some punctuation added for understanding. Spelling is generally left as written. I left as much as possible of the chosen text to capture the essence of Larry’s personality and writing style.

For additional information and photos go to https://theycalledhimski.com/

Introduction

Letters sent home captured the harsh reality of what soldiers must endure during their tour of duty in the Vietnam War. What was Vietnam really like for Private Larry Pypniowski, a soldier serving with the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd (Airborne) Brigade?

Somewhere Outside Bon Son

Written: Saturday and Sunday, March 8, 9, 1969, Vietnam

Dear Mom,

I am gonna write you a letter you won’t forget. OK Mom, here it is, can you dig it.

I’ve been out in the boonies now for two weeks, and I’ll be here in the damm damm’s for 2 more weeks. I haven’t washed my ass in 3 weeks. I have my same clothes on for 2 weeks, and I just kneeled down in shit last week. And the water in the rice paddies takes care of that. Crawling through it up to my knees. But you see there is a gimmick. Everyone shits in the rice paddy. My feet have sores from humpin, sores that won’t go away. And my hands are full of scratches from crawling through the jungle. Which is every day. My ruck sack is my home. In their, I have my sleeping gear, chow, and all my other belongings. Frags, trip flares, bullets and all sorts of cute little bombs.

That sounds just like a poem, don’t it. Dig it. Well mom, I know I shouldn’t be talking like this. But I always talk man to man. When we hump out, my ruck sack kicks my ass. I sweat about 10 gallons of water, we walk till we can’t move. Then I complain about something I could not do without.

Well mom, that’s my living conditions. Besides all this, I have to worry about that little puke, Charles! Charles Cong. I don’t want to get into him, because he is definitely A scrounge. You can really smell him coming. That’s why I’ll be home. This is just a few of the characteristics of the sweet land I’m in.

Well mom, I’ve been here for 2½ months, mercy! Boo-Koo months more. But I’m not sweatin it. Matter of fact, this place is really Boss. Oh mercy! I must be all wrong. Well mom, when I get back to the rear again, I have to take my girl shopping. Maybe I’ll buy her a dress or something, and she will probably go hostile.

Well mom, let me talk about tonight. I’m in my little perimeter, about 50 by 25, way out in the middle of nowhere. Let me just check my diary on what happened today. Oh yea! two guys in our company got blown away by a 105, and while humpin up towards the mountains we stumbled across a nice big one. All ready to put the damm damm on someone. Someone just came in. He really screamed out Raw-Hide. If he didn’t, he’d be hurtin, under 6 feet of day. The gunship has been blowin up the mountain all day, so tomorrow we’ll hump up their & stay their for the day. (A day in Viet Nam), Real Fine, Real Fine. I hate to be so brutal, but now you know my line. Can you dig it? Hard core all the way. 173rd Airborne, is in Nam to stay! Can you dig it once again. (Man, I should have