I was born, and grew up in Cleveland, Tennessee.

It’s about 25 miles from Chattanooga, and 85 miles from Knoxville. A few months after graduating from Bradley County High School in 1966, l felt it was my duty to serve my country and on November 2nd 1966, l enlisted in the US Army. I was a naive 18 year old, who had never been out of the state of Tennessee.

Well, about 6 months later that had rapidly changes as I found myself disembarking from Northwest Orient Airlines, at Cam Ranh Bay. The heat was the first thing that hit me. On those sands, it was 118-120* that day and the humidity about 76% at least. Then there was the putrid smell of the jungle. But the worst part was getting assigned to “honey pot” detail, not the most desirable mission. But as the Motto of “The Big Red One” goes: “No mission is too difficult. No sacrifice too great Duty First“! So I performed my mission in exemplary fashion. The next day, I had my orders to report to “The Big Red One” Infantry Division, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment. I took a “slick” up to the Phouc Vinh base camp, where the unit had just displaced the 101st Airborne. There were wooden barracks on each side of this dirt road in the middle with about 25 to 30 men in each one.

I had been there about 5 weeks when we were hit at about 0230 hours by a barrage of 122mm Russian rockets. I could hear the shrapnel hitting the side of music barracks. That was the last time I ever went to sleep with my boots off in Vietnam. I hastily ran down to the base perimeter in case of a ground attack. But that never materialized. When morning broke, l was able to access the damage done and about three fourths of the barracks opposite mine, had been leveled!

There were dead and mangled bodies, and of course with a copious amount of blood as if a demented modern artist had just sprayed it to hell in a haphazard fashion. Andy Warhol might have been proud! But more than likely he would have been dead before his time! That was when I had turned 19 years of age. My birthday present was my forever loss of innocence and the candles blown out, were the faces of my brothers, who would always remain forever young in my mind. A little plagiarism from the song, of one Bob Dylan! When l was wounded in Vietnam; my duffle bag was mishandled. And it was heartbreaking for me, when l found most all the pictures l had taken were gone.

The brothers that we lost over there will be forever young in my mind. They cannot speak of the war that was. It was such a waste of young lives, and they never had a chance to see their potential! That is really what can send me to the “dark place“.

It was hard for me on Vietnam Veterans Day and still not a national holiday, which to me, is a travesty!
~ Bob Edgemon, Vietnam Vet

STORY LINK: medium.com/@SoldiersWhisper/my-birthday-present-was-my-forever-loss-of-innocence-bc8a83fdfa24#.v10jobhkm

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God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.

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