My name is Larry Carson, and I am a Vietnam Veteran.

I served in the Army from 1968 until 1976 and was deployed to Vietnam from June 1969 until May 1970 with the A troop, 3/17 Air Cav.

While I was in high school, I understood that it was my turn to do what men in our family had been doing for generations. You live here, and you have an obligation to defend our country and its citizens.
My stepfather was an Army lifer. He served three tours in Nam during his 27 year military career. He and I were both In-country on his last tour. My Dad was a Navy landing craft operator in the Pacific during WWII. Several of my uncles served in WWII and Korea. Almost all of my cousins served in Vietnam, most in the Navy with one or two in the Army. It was the era we were raised in and the values we learned from our families that led us to join.

On my last leave before I left for Vietnam, I flew from Aberdeen Proving Grounds to Monterey, Ca. My stepdad and mom were still stationed there. I lived there with them my last three years of high school. It is also where I met and married my wife Kandi, another Army Brat. My Father-In-law was stationed at Ft. Ord and my wife was staying on base with them until I got back from Nam. The last night of my leave, my wife and I went over to say goodbye to my parents. We visited for a while just before we left when my stepdad called me aside to say something to me in private. I could never have guessed what he had to say…

He told me that the next day he and I would go over to the base personnel office and get new orders cut for me, orders for a stateside transfer. I looked at him in disbelief and said “What are you talking about? He said he had checked the regs and pulled some strings (as a CSM can sometimes do.) He said the government frowned on both a father and son being in country in a combat zone at the same time and that even though he was my “STEP” father instead of my real birth father it still applied. I was shocked that he would even consider it. I think he just didn’t want my mom to go through losing me. The Army had done a pretty good job getting me all fired up and ready to go. I told him that I had already accepted that I was going and that I might not come back. If I stepped back and didn’t go, I’d never be able to look myself in the face again. I said, “I guess I will see ya over there,” and he said, “You don’t get it. I am a career soldier and once I put this in motion and don’t see it through, my career is over”. I told him I was sorry but I could not back out on this. Two weeks later he was the CSM of the Provost Marshalls office and I was the new Armorer in A troop 3/17 Air Cav.

One of our Scout pilots and his observer crashed and they both died. Both of them were great men with the potential of living long happy lifes. I know they were just two of the thousands of my Brothers that never made it home. But these were our guys and one of them was more than a Cav Trooper. He was my friend. He volunteered to be an observer, when he had a safe job at the Basecamp and could have most likely served his tour and went home. No, not him, he wanted to do more. When we lost him, it put a lid on my feelings that stayed in place for over 40 years. You learn that if it hurts, you shut it out. If it makes you sad or mad, you put it in that part of your brain where you don’t go. I never lost my sense of constant threat assessment which is not an easy thing for a wife and kids to put up with.

When I came home, we were offered a steak dinner and a new set of dress greens before we left Oakland. I couldn’t wait to leave and shared a cab with three other guys and rode to San Fancisco. We just sat in that cab and stared at the protesters at the gate. Being from a military family, my welcome home was okay. But I didn’t go off base for a long time before reporting to Ft. Hood. I wish we could have gotten base housing.

My life is in the 4th quarter and I’m looking for some overtime. But I think my prostate cancer from Agent Orange has other plans.
~Larry Carson, Vietnam Veteran

UPDATE: I interviewed Larry for this story in March 2015. His last message to me was that he was going to find some service pictures to accompany his story, as I like all veteran stories to be showcased with a service photo. However, I did not hear back from Larry and when today his birthday reminder appeared, I went back to view his page and look for pictures and that is when I sadly discovered that Larry Carson passed away on February 2, 2016. Happy Birthday in Heaven Larry.
~ Jenny Lasala