Vietnam Veteran News with Mack Payne

This podcast is going to the dogs in this episode. Specifically, the Australian war dogs that were utilized by the Aussies in Vietnam are to be highlighted here. One of those dogs and its handler was featured in a story in The Northern Star of Lismore, Australia titled: For Macca it "ripped his guts out” to leave a mate behind.  The Northern Star is a newspaper located in Lismore which is in the northeastern corner of New South Wales. Macca is Australian Vietnam Veteran named Macca McCallum who lives in Ballina, which is located on the Coral Sea coast about fifty miles south of Brisbane and 500 miles north of Sydney.

According to the Northern Star article, as part of a tribute to war dogs at Ingleburn, south-west of Sydney, near where the infantry tracker dog training center once stood, an unveiling was held. The statue unveiled was a four-legged soldier with the regimental number D6N03, tracker dog Caesar. Caesar was one of 11 tracker dogs utilized by the Australians in Vietnam. Macca McCallum was part of the tracker dog team for the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, and he was Caesar's third handler of seven. Caesar served in Vietnam from 1967-1970, but the black labrador-kelpie cross didn't come home due to Australia's quarantine restrictions.

Macca said he honored to be able to attend the unveiling at Ingleburn. His experiences on a sheep farm near Dubbo (about 200 miles northwest of Sydney) working with sheep dogs got him into a dog handler slot with the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment in Vietnam in 1968.

When he was matched up with his scout dog Caesar, Macca said the two of them  just "hit it off”. The Aussie tracker dog teams were made up of a dog, a handler, two visual trackers, a machine gunner and an RTO. The tracker dogs, were deployed on a 10 meter leash to its handler, and they would lead troops through rice paddies or into the jungle, with the handler working with hand signals or tugs of the leash to work with the dog in silence.

One of the most recognizable weapons of the war in Vietnam was the M-60 Machine Gun or as it is officially called the United States Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60. The iconic machine gun was described in a story found in The Business Insider website Military & Defense section titled: Why the M-60 ‘Pig’ remains one of the best US machine guns ever submitted by  Paul Huard.

In Vietnam the M-60 was ubiquitous. Every combat squad had one when they went on operations. Very few Huey helicopters did not have M-60s mounted on each side for its door gunners. Most all defensive bunkers had them as well convoy escort vehicles.

It is no surprise to the writer of this piece, that the M-60 was inspired by German equipment from the World War II era. American weapon designers were highly impressed with the German MG-42, a machine gun so powerful that it was nicknamed “Hitler’s Bone Saw” by the Wehrmacht troops that fired it. The MG-42 had a blinding rate of fire and was belt fed—both qualities were considered desirable by weapons designers. The Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, or FG 42 battle rifle, also had equally desirable qualities, such as a gas-operated bolt, which were closely scrutinized by the Americans.

American ordnance experts studied and analyzed German MG-42 and FG-42 machine guns and came up with a new weapon that in 1957 was adopted by the Defense Department and it was named the United States Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60. Ever since it has served American fighting men from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the harsh country of Afghanistan. Thanks to its German inspiration, the M-60 Machine Gun stands ready to provide our fighting men (and now women) the firepower they need when it comes to facing hostile opponents in wars where ever they may occur.

In the continuing effort to execute one of the primary purposes of this podcast, the story of Vietnam Veteran Doug Gray will be featured on this episode. It is the contention of the writer of this piece, the Vietnam Veteran Generation is as great as any that ever heeded the call of duty of its country. This Podcast is devoted to telling the stories of those brave veterans who fought for their country under sometimes brutal conditions in Vietnam, came back to an ungrateful homecoming and withstood the verbal abuse thrown at them to go on and continue to serve their country in a broad spectrum of pursuits as better people.

Doug Gray served his country after his time in Vietnam in a rather unique fashion. His story is told in a story found in the Naples Daily News titled: Marshall Tucker Band gave it one more try, rest is history that was submitted by Dave Osborn - [email protected] or call him at 239-263-4896.

Osborn tells about Gray's lifelong interest in music. Along with the other original members of the Marshall Tucker Band, they had played in various bands during their Spartanburg, South Carolina-area high school days in the mid-1960s. When he came home from Vietnam, Gray liked eating so he got a job in a Spartanburg bank but he still had a passion for music. He and the others decided to give music one last try. If it didn't work out, they could always go back to their regular day jobs.

It did work out. By happenstance they were heard by an agent who recognized their talent and got them a recording contract in Macon, Georgia. The rest was history. For more than forty years Marshall Tucker has performed at the White House, the Kentucky Derby, at biker festivals and everywhere in between. Doug Gray is the only surviving original member of the Marshall Tucker Band. Their long list of hit songs include: Can't You See and Heard It In A Love Song.

If you are going to be in the Southwest Florida area this Friday, December 2, you are in luck. The Marshall Tucker Band will be performing at the Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center, 11515 Bonita Beach Road SE, Bonita Springs at 8:00pm. For more information: swflpac.com or 239-389-6901; marshalltucker.com.

You are encouraged to go and see this show and support a Vietnam Veteran, Doug Gray.

In this episode you are going to discover the story of another outstanding representative of the great Vietnam Veteran Generation. Vincent Okamoto, an American of Japanese descent, was recently declared a “Hero of America” by the American Veterans Center in Washington, DC. The event was featured in a story from The Rafu Shimpo Los Angeles Japanese Daily News title: Judge Okamoto Saluted as ‘Hero of America.’  Over 500 people, including veterans and their families, generals, admirals, celebrities Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore, and cadets from West Point and the Air Force Academy, gathered to honor veterans.

The basis for selecting Okamoto for the designation of Hero of America included his military accomplishments during the Vietnam War and service to his community and country after the War. During his three year hitch in the US Army, Okamoto received 14 combat decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and three Purple Hearts.

After he left the Army he earned a law degree from University of Southern California and began a career of public service. Beginning as deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County he went on to win election to the Gardena City Council and served as mayor pro tem.

Okamoto received a presidential commendation from President Ronald Reagan for his work in helping veterans suffering from PTSD and to obtain veterans’ benefits. In 2000, he was honored as Man of the Year by the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute.

Not stopping there, Okamoto was appointed a Superior Court judge by Gov. Gray Davis in 2002. In 2006, he was honored as UCLA ROTC’s most decorated alumnus and selected as Los Angeles County Veteran of the Year. In 2007, Okamoto was inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia.

He has served on the boards of many charitable nonprofit organizations and corporations, and was one of the founding members of the Japanese American Bar Association.

The ironic thing about this great Hero of America, he was born in a concentration camp during World War II or rather as it was called at the time a “relocation center”, the tenth child and seventh son of Japanese immigrants. Vincent Okamoto overcame this shabby treatment by his country, turned the other cheek and went on to serve that country with distinction.

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Vietnam Veteran, Robert Pempsell, participated in the now infamous incursion into Cambodia during the War. He was mentioned in a story in The Buffalo News titled: Vet helped wage the 'other' Vietnam War in Cambodia that was submitted by Lou Michel.

Pempsell of Bennington, New York told about his times in Vietnam when he was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 12th Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade. In the spring of 1970 he was a part of the forces invading Cambodia that included the 1st Cav Division, 25th Infantry Division, 11th ARC, the 199th Brigade and several ARVN units.

The purpose of the invasion was to destroy military materiel being accumulated by the NVA across the border in supposedly neutral Cambodia. The Ho Chi Minh Trail ran to the Vietnamese border not far from Saigon, the capital of Vietnam. The move made military sense but it proved to be highly controversial back home. Unhappiness with the decision to invade the country of Cambodia eventually resulted in the death of students at Kent State University involved in protests.

In The Buffalo News story Pempsell told about the three 'horseshoe' ambushes his unit experienced. He said: “the enemy would surround you on three sides, from the front and on the left and right.”  Pempsell said he radioed in for artillery support. But the enemy had carried out a maneuver known as “hugging the belt,” he said, and was close enough to the patrol to avoid being struck by the exploding artillery shells.

“They knew to get close on account of us avoiding friendly fire. A round going off at 30 or 40 meters away could end up injuring us instead of the enemy,” Pempsell said. “So I had to call in the Cobra gunships. They shot their rockets at close range.”

Pempsell survived the invasion of Cambodia where he served his country with distinction and war and afterwards he continued to serve he country back home in New York.

In the previous episode number 762 Vietnam Vet Robert Pempsell was featured. In this episode his story will be continued. It came from an article in The Buffalo News titled: Vet helped wage the 'other' Vietnam War in Cambodia that was submitted Lou Michel.

In the spring of 1970 college students across the country were raising havoc over their unhappiness with President Nixon’s conduct of the ongoing war in Vietnam. The event that set up that round of collegiate acting up was the invasion by the US and allied forces of Cambodia. Things got a little out of hand at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The protestors moved off campus and began to damage property in the town as a result; the National Guard was called out to help restore order. Unfortunately one thing led to another and four of the protestors ended up dead.

While all this was going on back in the States the brave troopers of the 1st Cav Division, 25th Infantry Division, 11th Armored Calvary Regiment, elements of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade and several ARVN units were engaged in serious combat with the North Vietnamese Army during the invasion of Cambodia.

Robert Pempsell was assigned to D Company 5th of the 12 Infantry. While his unit was in Cambodia it picked up the title “Dying Delta.” It went into the fray on May 25 with 80 men. They returned across the border into Vietnam on June 24 with 50 men. They lost 30 men as KIA and WIA as the college students wasted four of their own during the Kent State Riots.

In the case of Robert Pempsell and the men in his unit, 5th of the 12th Infantry, they did some good. While in Cambodia his unit was credited with capturing:

320 tons of rice, enough to feed 20 enemy companies an entire year

449 small arms weapons

437,000 rounds of ammunition

676 rifle grenades

4 K-62 radios

For his brave actions during the invasion Pempsell was awarded the Bronze Star with V Device for valor. After his ETS in March of 1971 he returned to his hometown of Lancaster, New York and worked at the East Side meat processing plant for 37 years before retiring and moving to Bennington.

The writer of this piece recently attended a concert by the great Nobel Prize winning performer, Bob Dylan. It was an amazing event. His show was scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm and run for 108 minutes. At the appointed time he appeared on stage with his band and immediately began performing and continued to do so for 108 minutes. There were no introduction. Dylan did not need one and he did not take the time to introduce he band members. He did not interact with the audience with chit chatting about his grandchildren or what happened on the motor home enroute to town. The show was nothing but Bob Dylan and his band performing.

Many Vietnam Veterans remember Bob Dylan as the social change folk singer who recorded the song “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” Written in 1963, just before the public began to disapprove of America’s involvement in Vietnam, the song features a simple melody played by Dylan’s acoustic guitar and harmonica. The lines “There’s a battle outside/and it’s ragin’/it’ll soon shake your windows/rattle your walls” are an obvious reference to the Vietnam War. He was a genius articulator of the universal spirit animating social thought.

In the early 1960's Dylan decided that this was not what he wanted to be. The new Woody Guthrie was mutating into something else - something that made some of his early acolytes uncomfortable. For Dylan is not only the most renowned protest singer of his era but also its most renowned renegade. In mid-1964, he explained to critic Nat Hentoff: "Me, I don't want to write for people anymore - you know, be a spokesman. From now on, I want to write from inside me ...I'm not part of no movement... I just can't make it with any organisation..."

For more than fifty years Bob Dylan has been an entertained of note to millions including a lot of Vietnam Veterans.

Oscar E. Gilbert's new book Marine Corps Tank Battles in Vietnam would be an excellent Christmas gift for any Marine Vietnam Veteran, other Vietnam Veterans, anyone interested in tank warfare and military history with a leaning toward armor applications. Even Guenther Guderian grandson of the Panzer General Heinz Guderian of World War II notoriety would probably like a copy.

A review of the book by LTC Raymond A. Stewart, USMC (Ret) found on The Marine Corps Association & Foundation website tells about the book and some of the challenges Gilbert encountered as he was conducting research of Marine tank operations in Vietnam. The lack of documentation was particularly troublesome and challenging for him. In Vietnam in the case of tanks, which were attached or in direct support of the infantry, the battalion S-3 who compiled the monthly Command Chronology often did not know the details of the day-to-day activities of the battalion’s tanks. The supported infantry—if they did report on the supporting tanks’ activity—did not cite specific tanks, let alone their crews.

Gilbert persevered and through dogged research and meticulously gathered oral interviews, he finally “brings to life” the Vietnam War-serving Marine tanker. He shows how these leathernecks made “tank country” out of the hand they were dealt.

His book described the different missions Marine tankers carried out in Vietnam. They included:

Long-range harassing and interdicting (H&I) fires supplemented long-range artillery.

Convoy

Fire base support with .30- and .50-caliber machine gun, point-blank 90 mm canister fire, and occasionally by crewmen using their .45-cal. grease guns and pistols to kill the enemy as they swarmed over their tank.

In city-street fighting,

Oscar E. Gilbert’s book is a great read, painting a real-life picture of how Marine tankers fought the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong enemy, defeating them in every encounter.

In this episode another example of delayed recognition for a Vietnam Veteran will be featured. This story about USMC Vietnam Veteran Bruce Bennett receiving a belated Purple Heart come from KSBY TV in Santa Barbara, California titled: Local Vietnam veteran receives Purple Heart 48 years after injury that was submitted by Megan Abundis.

Bennett was serving as a Marine Corps corporal in Vietnam during 1968 when his position came under a mortar attack by the North Vietnamese. He dove into a foxhole for cover but to his misfortune, one of the incoming mortar rounds hit a tree above his position and exploded. The concussion and shrapnel effects of the detonation rained down on Bennett in the foxhole. Bennett suffered a major back and leg injuries.

He was discharged due the injuries suffered in the mortar attack later in 1968. When he inquired about his Purple Heart he was told he had been awarded the medal much to his surprise. Bennett continued to pursue the issue of the missing medal. After trying to receive the military medal for a number of years, Bennett says there was government confusion. "We're all out. Our records show we already sent one to you," he said he was told.

Finally, 48 years later his persistence paid off - on Friday Congresswoman Lois Capps, who represents California's Congressional District 24, presented Bennett with the Purple Heart he so well deserved.

Currently Bennett spends his time therapeutically riding horses with other local vets at Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center, a place he holds dear to his heart. The Center offers life-changing experiences to people of all ages with a wide range of disabilities.  Since opening in 1985, approximately 60,000 lesson hours to over 2,000 members of our community have benefited from therapeutic riding. Today we have 10 horses and serve 80 riders per week.

O’Fallon, Illinois native Gary Ahle is a Vietnam Veteran who typifies the greatness of the Vietnam Veteran News. In this episode we will take a look at his story. It comes from The Belleville News-Democrat and is titled: Vietnam veteran recalls memories of service in ‘a different world’ and was submitted by Robyn L. Kirsch, [email protected].

Ahle's story interested the podcast master in several ways. First his was an Army  jumper who spent some time with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina same as your humble podcaster. In addition to that he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam. My son served with the same unit in Afghanistan. Ahle was in Vietnam about the same time I was there on my first tour and also spent time in the same areas in the Central Highlands as your podcaster.

Another admirable attribute of this Vietnam Veteran was his attitude toward the obligations citizens owe their country. This is what he said about serving your country: “We did what we signed up to do — we followed orders and rarely questioned, only if we thought it wasn’t the right way or if we thought people were going to get killed.  When you take an oath — you live up to it."

In her story, Kirsch, tells about how Ahle interrupted his college work after his first two years at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville and joined the Army. Ahle said this is the reason why: “My brother was in during the Korean War. He was a paratrooper, and I looked up to him, and that’s what I always wanted to be ... A lot of my best friends were already in, so I figured I should, too.”

After his service in the Army Ahle finished up his college career and earned a degree from SIUE, got married and started a family. He resume of service to his community includes teaching in multiple O’Fallon District 90 schools for 32 years, serving 23 years as O’Fallon Township assessor, four years as township trustee and is currently the township supervisor.

Gary Ahle of O’Fallon, Illinois truly is an outstanding representative of the great Vietnam Veteran Generation.