Al Santoli - Leading the Way: How Vietnam Veterans Rebuilt the U.S. Military: An Oral History

Copyright 1993 by Al Santoli
Maps copyright 1993 by Virginia Norey

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously
in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER : 93-70002

eISBN: 978-0-307-80089-3

v3.1

To Colonel James Nick Rowe:
His courage inspired all who knew him. A
warrior, writer and up-front leader. He
sacrificed his life so that others might
have freedom.

This book would not have been possible without the vision and enthusiastic support of my editor at Ballantine, Pamela Strickler. My agent, Anne Sibbald is always there for me. I am grateful to them. Walter Anderson, former Marine and editor-in-chief at Parade, permitted me for a decade to follow the development of the American military and to write a series of articles that strengthened my knowledge. My wife Phuong and daughters Christina and Julia provide the love that keeps balance in my life.

In the process of researching this book, I traveled to military bases and headquarters around the United States. This would not have been possible without the consent of the respective branches of the armed forces and the assistance of a large number of public affairs officers in the Pentagon and in bases in the field. Among those who opened key doors for me: in the Army, Colonel David Rick Kiernan, Colonel William Smullen, Lt. Colonel Larry Icenogle, Major Jesse Seigal, Major Barbara Goodno, Major John Marlin, Major Lewis Boone, Captain Bill Buckner, Sergeant Alex Gray, and Specialist Wendy Westlake; the Air Force, Colonel Don Black, Major Ron Fuchs, and Major Gail Hayes; the Marine Corps, Colonel Fred Peck, Major Nancy Laluntas, Major Rick DeSchaino, Chief Warrant Officer Eric Carlson, and Sergeant Renee Reyna; and the Navy, Lieutenant Mark Walker, Lieutenant Matt Brown.

Only half of the senior officers and sergeants whom I interviewed appear in this book. Those whose stories do not appear here provided valuable insight and are very much a part of this work of history.

ARVN: South Vietnamese army

ATO: air tasking order

AWACS: the Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft

BDA: bomb damage assessment

CINCLANT: Commander in Chief, Atlantic

CINCEUR: Commander in Chief, Europe

CINCPAC: Commander in Chief, Pacific

CENTCOM: Central Command; area of authority, Southwest Asia, Horn of Africa, Persian Gulf

CORPS, THE: Marine Corps

CP: Command Post

CSAR: combat search and rescue

DELTA FORCE: top-secret, antiterrorist unit

DEPMEDS: deployable medical systems

D.I .: drill instructor

DOCTRINE: military battle-fighting philosophy

ECM: electronic countermeasure

EOD: explosive ordnance disposal

FAC: forward air controller

FID: foreign internal defense

FLIR: forward-looking infrared

FMLN: Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front; a coalition of Communist and revolutionary organizations in El Salvador

GPS: Global positioning satellite navigation system

G3: Division Operations & Planning officer

GUNNY: gunnery sergeant

HARM: high-speed antiradiation missile

HUEY: transport helicopter

HUMVEE: or Hmmwv; High-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle

J3: Operations & Planning officer on a Joint Command Staff

KIA: killed in action

KHMER ROUGE (KR): quasi-Maoist Cambodian Communist movement

LANTIRN: Low-Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared System Night

LAW: light antitank weapon; shoulder-fired

LIC: low-intensity conflict

LZ: landing zone

MEDEVAC: medical evacuation

MEU: Marine Expeditionary Unit

MIA: missing in action

MLRS: Multiple Launch Rocket System

MP: military police

M113: armored personnel carrier

MTT: military training team

NCO: noncommissioned officer

NVA: North Vietnamese army

OCS: Officer Candidate School

PAVE LOW: Air Force MH-53J electronic warfare helicopter

PDF: Popular Defense Forces; in Noriegas Panama

PSYOPS: Psychological Operations

RPG: rocket-propelled grenade

RPV: remotely powered vehicle

RULES OF ENGAGEMENT:: military rules for conducting hostilities

SAM: surface-to-air missile

SOCCENT: Special Operations, Central Command

SOCOM: Special Operations Command

SOG: Studies & Observation Group

SOUTHCOM: Southern Command; area of authority, Latin America

SPECIAL FORCES (SF): U.S. Army special operations forces

S2: Intelligence officer

TAC AIR: jet fighter bombers

TACC: Tactical Air Control Center

THEATER: area of war operations

TLAM: Tomahawk land attack missile

TOC: Tactical Operations Center

TOT: time on target

TOW MISSILES: Targeted on wire antitank missiles

TRIPLE-A: antiaircraft artillery

USSOCOM: U.S. Special Operations Command

VC: Viet Cong

WIA: wounded in action

Everything We Had
To Bear Any Burden
New Americans: An Oral History

A L S ANTOLI served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 as a Sergeant with the U.S. 25th Infantry Division, and received a Bronze Star for valor and three Purple Hearts. A contributing editor for Parade Magazine, he has published articles in The Atlantic, The New Republic, Readers Digest, and other leading magazines. Santolis Everything We Had was published in 1981 and became a New York Times bestseller.

Human beings differ very little from one another;
but the ones who come out on top
are those who have trained in the hardest school.