Last night, we had our first full blown reunion of JAGs that served in Vietnam. There have been other reunions, but this was the first that included everyone. It was held at the Hilton Garden Hotel in Fairfax, Virginia. JAGs showed up from every corner of this country. The number from California was remarkable. Chuck Spradling, Barry Steinberg and Bill Suter were principally responsible for making this reunion happen.
We had about 80 JAGs, plus their wives and friends. It was not a riotous affair, but it was great. Thank goodness, the organizers judiciously scrubbed the wet t-shirt contest. I guess the younger JAGs in attendance were in their mid-sixties, but those in the seventies and eighties were well represented. Energy dissipates, but not spirit. Spirit sores.
We were seated, to a great extent, by the units we served with. There were so many JAGs present who were with the 1st Air Cavalry Division that we took up two plus tables. The 1st Air Cav could deploy most of the division through the air. This lead to the motto, “Freed forever from the tyranny of terrain.” This lead my boss, Lieutenant Colonel Ron Holdaway, back in 1970, to poke his head out of the office tent during one of our nastier monsoon storms and say, “Ah yes, freed forever from the tyranny of terrain.”
Our guest speaker was Fred Borch, the Army JAG historian. He had been instructed not to speak over ten minutes I think that’s a bit harsh to tell an historian not to speak over ten minutes. I think we should have given him at least twelve minutes.
Fred did provide us with some remarkable information. We had JAGs in country from 1959 to 1975. Of course, in the early years, they were very few and they were part of a military advisory group. And, toward the end, we had just a few closing doors and turning out the lights. The vast majority were from 66-67 to 70-71. Fred advised us that his research determined that 352 JAGs served in Vietnam. John Hatcher, who was sitting next to me and served as one of my captains was quite impressed that he was part of such a small number. I thought about that and decided that within a few years, we may be placed on the endangered species list. I think what that means is that developers will not be permitted to encroach upon our habitat. I am not sure that will solve our problems.
When we were in Vietnam, there were only two places you could be. One was “in country,” which meant you were in Vietnam and the other was back in the “World,” which meant you were anyplace other than Vietnam. The airplanes taking soldiers back to the World were called, “Freedom Birds.” Toward the end of my tour, the 1st Air Cav headquarters moved from Phouc Vinh to Ben Hoa. My second boss, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Conboy and I used to drive out by the airport and watch the Freedom Birds take off. It was relaxing. It was sort of like stretching out in your den with a brandy and listening to your favorite music.
It is now Sunday morning and there are no pills in my idiot pill container. My idiot pill container handles two weeks for me. It makes sure that I take the right pills on the right day. No double dipping. I need to get out my pill bottles and load up. So enough of this JAG Vietnam nostalgia. I’m back to the serious stuff.
