Chick Boche has been located!!!!

I posted a listing to find Charles(Chick) Boche quite some time ago and finally I figured that he either didn't use the computer or he was living on another planet. Well, he doesn't live on another planet and he doesn't use the computer. Thank God for his wife and daughter. They came across my blog and told Chick about it. They also went to Dean's 504th website and saw the group picture of "The Best of Bong Son". It wasn't long and I started to hear from him in emails from several MP sites. I responded to his emails with an address and phone numbers and the next evening I received a call from him. I can't describe the feeling of finally talking to him after 40 years. I had so much to tell him and ask him that I forgot about all the things I wanted to say. We talked for over an hour and I really hated to end the call but Chick gets up at 3:30 in the morning to go to work. We are going to stay in touch and will get together next summer.

WHAT A TREAT THIS CALL WAS FOR ME.

I encourage all of you vets or non-vets for that matter to try to locate friends from the past. You won't be sorry if you are fortunate enough to locate them.

Ready to go on Patrol

This was taken when we about to leave on patrol. From day to day our partners on the jeep changed but as time went on we got the same partners more often. The people in the jeep are
(from left to right) Sgt George Grandish, Junior Falconer, me on the gun and Bob Gormsen on the back bumper of the jeep.

"Combat"

This picture is named "Combat" because we bought this puppy from a local merchant for 2 dollars and within 10 minutes after we got back on patrol...we got into a firefight. Hence the name "Combat" The guys in the picture:
left to right..Sam Wilder, Charlie Whitley, David McGuire, Jim Cassel holding Combat.

Ready to Kick Some VC Ass

left to right: Bob Gormsen, Bernie McCabe, Jim Cassel(me) & Henry Soto

Lunch Break for Bob Gormsen

Ewww!! I love those C-rats... Probably Ham & Lima Beans

This was the usual way that we would take our lunch breaks. We traded C-rats amongst ourselves all the time. The ham & lima beans were mostly used for the ammo feed on our M-60's

I believe this was taken shortly after we sank one of our jeeps trying to cross a river while following a V-100. A bridge had been burned or blown up the night before and we had to get around it. We found out that V-100's float and jeeps don't !!!

OnThe Road Again...

This was taken when I first came in country. I am on the gun and John Zeis is riding shotgun. I am unsure of the driver's name. The picture was taken on QL-1 near Phu My.

"Playboy" & Me

This was taken at a convoy assembling point at Camp Hammond and this boy was one of the kids that lived in the area. He was here whenever I had this spot assigned to me. I think that the kids in Vietnam were the most important to me because they wanted to be your friend and didn't ask for anything but your friendship. I tried to give them whatever I could as they had nothing of their own.

The Boys From Co "C", 2nd Platoon, 504th MP Bn

"THE BEST OF BONG SON"

A Thought On Iraq

I have watched and listened to all the things said about the war in Iraq and a lot of it makes me sick. I have heard it compared to the Vietnam War and I tend to agree with that statement. Of course, the politicians say that in no way is it like Vietnam. There is no way that they want to admit that they have screwed up on another war.
When this thing started I told my wife that even though so many people & politicians were all gung-ho about getting rid of Saddam Hussein, that when the body bags started to come home, they would change their minds very quickly. I also am fed up with the liberal news media showing only the negative aspects of this war(and there are a lot of them). If they were fair about their reporting they would report the accomplishments as well as the failures. People seem to have forgotten what kind of person Saddam was. He killed hundreds of thousands of his people and possibly over a million. If nothing else, we should thank President Bush for having the backbone to get rid of Saddam. Yes, his decision to send troops there have cost us over 3000 American lives but the sacrifice that these young men & women made has probably saved many many times that amount of Iraqi lives. I am assuming that one Iraqi life is as important as an American life or any other life for that matter.
Other than the topography, I don't see a lot of difference in these two wars. The troops are still expected to fight with only one hand and not use everything at their disposal.
How do we end this? I know that we will end up being nothing but a laughing stock to the rest of the world if we just walk away. Weather or not you agree with this war, our country signed on to win this and we need to see it through to victory and nothing less. I don't like the war, but I will support it. I understand that our men and women are dying in this war and to walk away now would dishonor them and their memories. That is one big reason why I support it. I keep hearing the phrase, " I support our troops but not the war". If you do support our troops, then support them...both the living and the dead.

Looking For an Old Friend

I have been trying to locate a guy from my outfit (The 504th MP Bn.). His name is Charles (Chick) Boche. He was about the best friend that I had in Vietnam and I had left Vietnam about 4 days before him. I've never seen him since. I've Googled my butt off and had no luck. If you know where he is, please let me know.