Battle Scars Fade, But Never Heal

By Sgt. Jerry R. Gandy

The American public was totally unaware of the real events that took place during the Vietnam War. The media sometimes exaggerates the facts about the battles and missions. I feel sure that most of the fighting soldiers in Vietnam did not write home and give all the details about

• Language: English
• Publisher: CITIOFBOOKS, INC.
• Release date: Dec 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9781960952875

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Copyright © 2023 by Sgt. Jerry R. Gandy

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2023913567

Table of Contents

Dedication 

Chapter 1 THE EARLY DAYS 

Chapter 2 ROUGH DAYS AHEAD 

Chapter 3 FIRST ASSIGNMENT 

Chapter 4 IT'S A DOG'S LIFE 

Chapter 5 FIRE IN THE HOLE 

Chapter 6 TOO TIGHT FOR ME 

Chapter 7 THE SHOW MUST GO ON 

Chapter 8 THE LONGEST THREE MINUTES 

Chapter 9 TOWER #23 

Chapter 10 PINNED-DOWN 

Chapter 11 CHOPPER-FLOPPER 

Chapter 12 I HOPE HE'S EATEN ALREADY 

Chapter 13 JUNGLES REALLY DO EXIST 

Chapter 14 INEXPERIENCE CAN BE DEADLY 

Chapter 15 ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE 

Chapter 16 SILENT KILL 

Chapter 17 GHOSTS OF BATTLES PAST 

Chapter 18 A REALLY BIG SNAKE 

Chapter 19 SHORT-TIMER 

Chapter 20 AN KHE PASS 

Chapter 21 INCOMING 

Chapter 22 SECRET MISSION 

Chapter 23 FREEDOM BIRD 

Glossary 

Dedication

Iwould like to dedicate this book to my beloved wife of fifty-two years. She has been the love of my life and is the one who completes me. Her name is Faye and she is more beautiful today than she was when I returned from Vietnam. There is no doubt that God put us together, and I thank him for that every day. She stood by me through some really bad times, and I don't think that I would have had the will power to keep going if she had not been by my side. She has blessed me with three beautiful and wonderful daughters. Their names are Pollyanna, Shellie, and Ashley. They are grown up now and all have successful lives. Faye has been the most graceful wife and mother that any family could hope to have.

I hope that this book will help my wife and daughters to understand me a little better. They have seen my good sides, as well as my bad sides. I still have an occasional nightmare, or period of depression, but I have been able to put most of it in the past. I am occasionally given the privilege of speaking to groups of young people and I am able to use some of my past experiences to keep their attention. I like to think of myself as a Christian motivational speaker for young people. God has been good to my family and me. Each of my family members has come to know Jesus, as their personal savior. What more can a man ask for?

Chapter 1

THE EARLY DAYS

My childhood years were fairly normal. I grew up in a small town in Mississippi, the younger of two boys. I made average grades in school, and was very popular among my school mates. As I entered my teen years, new problems began to develop. I was extremely small for my age. The other guys would pick on me and crack jokes about me. They called me things like; shorty, half-pint, and shrimp. These remarks embarrassed me and made me mad. This caused me to get into a lot of fights. Luckily, I was pretty good at fighting, so I was usually able to hold my own, with most of the fellows. The principal at my school seemed to shun on fighting, so I got to spend a lot of time with him. I had my own assigned chair, in the corner of his office.

I never cared very much about sports, so I spent most of my spare time working. My best friends lived on a farm next door, and their dad would pay me to do odd jobs. I started out making

50 cents per hour, and earned every penny of it. I didn't mind the hard work, because I got to spend time with my friends and we had a lot of fun. We did things like milk cows, hauling hay, and working in their chicken houses. These things weren't done the same way back then, as they are today. My family wasn't poor and I didn't have to work, but I enjoyed it. I always had spending money, even before I was old enough to need it. I can't remember when I actually started working, I was probably about eight years old. At least, when I was working, I didn't have time to get into trouble. Around the ninth grade, I started thinking about the Army. The Vietnam War was beginning to produce a lot of American casualties. My interest in the military heightened, as the next few years went by. I watched a lot of news reports and followed our involvement in the Vietnam War. The paratroopers really got my attention, and I knew that someday I would be one of them.

In the eleventh grade, I began to enter a new world. I grew rather fond of my next-door neighbor, and I asked her to go out on a date with me. She must have had a very weak moment, because she agreed and we started dating regularly. She was three years younger than me, but we were extremely compatible. I shared my dreams and desires, about the Army with her, and she seemed to understand.

About halfway through my senior year, I went home one day and informed my parents that I was going to drop out of school and join the Army. My parents thought that this was probably a phase that I was going through, so they didn’t really worry about it. They told me that I should finish school, and then I would have plenty of time to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I went down to the local recruiting station and told them that I wanted to join the Army. When I told them that I was only seventeen years old, they explained to me that one of my parents would have to come down and sign forms, giving their parental permission, before I could be accepted into the military. I went home that afternoon, and asked my parents to sign for me. My mom bluntly refused, and my dad said that he would have to think about it. A few weeks later, my dad came to me and said that he would make me a deal. He explained to me that Mother would never sign the form, because she was afraid that I would be sent to Vietnam, and I would get killed. Dad said that he would sign for me, because he knew that I was going to go in anyway, as soon as I had my eighteenth birthday. He said, that in turn for his signature, I must agree to graduate from high school and stick around long enough to receive my diploma. One of my mother’s dreams was to see both of her sons graduate. This would only mean a few more weeks in school, so we shook hands and sealed the deal.

I was officially in the Army, about two weeks prior to my graduating from high school. I only requested three things from the Army: that I be placed in an infantry unit, that I be sent to Vietnam, and that I could be a part of the Airborne program. The Sergeant said, there should not be a problem with any of those three requests, ha. They delayed my entering basic training, for a few weeks. I joined the Army, as an infantryman, with the option of becoming a real live paratrooper. I was walking on cloud nine. As my departure date got nearer and nearer, I began to have doubts about the decision that I had made. To be truthful, I was scared to death. I didn’t share my feelings with anyone. I wanted everyone to forget my size, and look at me as a brave young man who was volunteering to serve his country, and possibly give his life for it.

Faye and I had really fallen for each other. We had even discussed marriage, but I knew that would be a dumb thing to do, at this point in our lives. I didn’t think that it would be fair for me to put that kind of pressure, on such a young girl. I had heard about other guys who got married then immediately went off to war and got themselves killed. I cared too much for this girl to put us through that. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, but I had to get this out of my system first. She needed to focus on graduating from school, and not on her boyfriend who was on the other side of the world. We both needed to mature a lot, before we jumped off into a marriage. This would certainly be the ultimate test, of our love for each other. We tried to make my last few weeks at home very special, and we spent as much time together, as was possible.

My family had all finally accepted my decision and were treating me real good. The days flew by, and all of a sudden, it was time for me to leave. The day that I left home was a miserable time for me, and I’m sure for my family and Faye, also. I had to act brave, so somehow I managed to keep from crying. I promised to write often. I told them that I loved them and would be seeing them real soon.

Chapter 2

ROUGH DAYS AHEAD

My military career began with basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. This place had been labeled with several names, but I probably don't need to repeat them. I had heard a lot of horror stories about this place and basic training, but it was like nothing that I could have imagined. The days were long and the nights were short. I was intimidated by the size of the other fellows, but I fit in real well, and made a lot of friends. I was very determined and I was going to give them one hundred percent. I had always worked on the farms, so I was in pretty good physical condition. I didn't have any trouble with the training and I actually enjoyed most of it. I was truly amazed with the fact that so many young men had never even held a gun in their hands.

Cultures vary tremendously throughout areas of the United States. I had done very little traveling during my earlier years, and I enjoyed listening to guys tell about their different lifestyles. The nine weeks of basic flew by a lot quicker than I had expected them to. Some of the guys couldn’t make it through Basic Training and were rotated out of the Army with a Undesirable Discharge. I sure didn’t want something like that on my record for the rest of my life. My family and Faye came to see me when I graduated from basic training, and they all seemed very proud of me. I was sure proud of myself. I must admit that I thought that I looked pretty good in my dress uniform.

My next duty station would be at Fort Gordon, Georgia, where I would enter my advanced infantry training. They had portions of this camp set up, to resemble Vietnam. They had mock villages, VC base camps, booby traps, and even an active landmine field. Some of the advanced soldiers were given the roles as enemy soldiers. This training should prepare us for the obstacles, that would be awaiting us in Vietnam, and hopefully keep us alive. I especially enjoyed this phase of my training, because it taught us how to use all different types of weapons. They even familiarized us with weapons that the enemy would be using. We spent most of our days and nights in the surrounding hills and valleys, and we learned how to survive under all type conditions. I especially enjoyed this part of the training, because I was a country boy, that spent most of his time outside and in the woods.

I excelled in most of the areas of training. At the end of our infantry training, we were given a series of exams. I was told that I had qualified for an opportunity to attend the Army Academy at West Point. They said that it was a privilege and honor to even be considered for this appointment. I don't know how I pulled that one off, because I wasn't exactly a rocket scientist in school. If I chose to go, and completed the program, then I would be commissioned as an officer. Attending this program would require me to sign a six-year contract with the Army, and I would not be allowed to get married during this period. After I considered this option for about ten minutes, I declined the offer and continued to pursue my earlier dreams. Marriage seemed a lot more fun than having bars on my shoulder.

My next big obstacle would be airborne training. This is what the Army has labeled its paratrooper division. This is where one of my childhood dreams would come true. I was going to find out if I really had the guts to jump out of a real airplane. This training would take place at the famous Fort Benning, Georgia. This school would only last for three weeks, though it was supposed to be some of the toughest training that the Army had to offer. I figured that I would be able to stand up under any kind of abuse and treatment for three weeks. Members from all the other branches of the military would also be training with us. There would also be all ranks involved in the activities. I heard that the Black Hat Sergeants really liked to pick on the officers.

The airborne training was broken down, into three phases, each lasting one week. The first week was called ground week and it was primarily based around extensive physical training. The purpose of this was to prepare your body for the tremendous impact that happens when you hit the ground. It was unbelievable how hard you land. They told us that it would be like jumping out of a two-story window. A lot of the physical training was running. The Black Hats knew how to make it into sheer torture. A lot of the guys dropped out during the ground week. Airborne training