I hate to go off on something but the air medal thing got to me. Just during the time I spent in-country and in the service I saw several miscarriages of justice as far as awards were concerned. We had one pilot who was so bad that I could fly better then him. He was put in charge of the ammo dump and POL. When we moved to the X-Mas tree in early 69 they had to move the ammo dump because our ships were now there. This Warrant Off. was in charge of three enlisted and they moved the ammo dump to the other side of Holloway. For this defeat he was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious achievement. The enlisted guys who actually did the work got a kick in the ass but he got the Bronze Star. Would like to hear how my dad got his Bronze Star during WW II? On the mission where we pulled the guys out of Hotel 9, our CO. Maj. Porter was put in for a DFC. Why? He was at FOB II on the day the shit hit the fan. The reason he was there was because of the steak fry. My ship went in to get the team. Cece's ship was flying chase and the Crocs were our cover. He was circling ten thousand feet above us as the C&C ship. He was very heroic that day.

When I was staioned at Ft. Eustis there were two guys from the 101st ABN in my section. One was a Sp/4 and the other a SFC. It seems that if you were in a maintenance unit at the end of your tour you got an ARCOM. If you were above the rank of E-6 you also got the Bronze Star. These guys who were E-6 and above who never once fired their sixty in anger were the same ones I had to make coffee for for because I was a low life Sp/5.

I wonder how many CIB's were awarded to Field Grade Off. and Lifer type NCO who would show up during the day and then at night catch a ride back to base for a shower and hot chow while the real grunts sat out there in the dark while death was pulling on their sleeve.

Don't get me wrong,some guys truely earned those medals. Ed Freeman earned that DFC which was later up graded to the Meadl of Honor. There were guys in our unit who did things above and beyond every day. They didn't get medals because it was there job. The reason some of us got the damn things was because some one happened to see us do something. Most of the time it was the same thing we did every day.

Sorry about this little fit but I guess it just hit a nerve. It's like the guy in the bar who was a door gunner and you ask him what his MOS was. He then gets the same look on his face that my grandson gets after he poops his pants. And then of course he forgets and can't remember what unit he was with or where he was stationed. I think the next best lie is being an army ranger. Of course these same guys have no idea what a LRRP is.