European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 11, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                              Page 8 the stars and stripes monday March 11, i veterans Back in action airborne gripes but Job goes on " Landing zone Gator Vietnam a i be been with the airborne when water iced up in their canteens. But not a word was said. I be been with the airborne when they be been in the Field came Back for two hours an went out again. Not a word. I be been with the airborne when they made a practice jump in puerto Rico in a 25-Knotwind and took 20 per cent casualties. Not a word. This is the first time i reheard the airborne complain said capt. Bob Gushwa of South Bend ind., chaplain for the 1st battalion 508th airborne infantry 3rd brigade 82nd All american division. What s the airborne complaining about not so much that the 3rd Bri Gade has come to War but that so Many of its 4,000 menabout85 per cent Are going around for the second time. The Veter ans unprecedented ordered  Ond tour began last month at Chu Lai and two outlying Heli copter Landing zones about 330 Miles North of Saigon Nick named Gator and fat City. The 1st battalion commander it. Col. Archie Carpenter of Seattle wash., said the air borne is strictly a Volunteer out fit. It s the Job of paratroopers to move fast. That s what we be done. I m sure Many of the Mentren t ecstatic about coming Back  brigade and a regiment of . Marines Are the Core of the latest reinforcements sent to Vietnam. They arrived a week after the massive communist tet offensive began Jan. 31.the returnees feel the one year they already put in Viet Nam was enough. Practically to a Man they were members of the 101st and 173rd airborne brigades that participated infighting from War zone a to the Central Highlands. Many Wear the purple heart and there Are Silver and Bronze stars among them As Well. I think that if a Man comes Over Here once he should be kept away for Good said sgt. Dick Digiovanni 22, of Norfolk a. Once is  mostly the veterans resent having their plans Cut Short. I was All set to be a jump training instructor said sgt. Harold Price 23, of Appalachia a. I had no idea i was coming  Don t mind coming Back but it s too soon Man said spec. 4 Lincoln Walton 24, Ope Lika Ala. He was supposed to remarried this week. Hell i just bought a new sports car and spent $300 on racing tires and magnesium hubcaps said another returnee sgt. Dan Varner 23, of Rockhill . Now Varner s going ," said a paratrooper lounging against a  stands for leather personnel carriers boots. A  the brigade is heavy with sergeants As Many As four and five to a squad. This is a result of a sweeping brigade promotion intended to boost morale. Though Many of the returnees would rather not be Here they go about their work cheerful Lyas can be expected and few try to do anything about it. Chaplain Gushwa a returnee himself estimates that Only a half dozen men have complained to him though the chaplain is a traditional safety valve for disgruntled soldiers. The defense department has announced that it was consider ing ways of getting the returnees Home quickly and resuming the policy of Only one mandatory Tourin Vietnam. Yet nothing has been done Here. Carpenter said he would not have a combat effective battalion if he lost his veterans. So far the brigade has taken it easy. A three Day Jungle refresher course has failed to show the veterans anything new. That could be trouble said Walton. Everybody thinks they know  a Znuj Cam rank Bay special when the first contingent of . Nav men arrived Here to establish an air facility All they found was 58,000 Square Yards of con Crete ramp and nothing else. All that is rapidly  living and working in tents and other temporary Shel ters Cam Ranh Bay now has a permanent hangar and it flight and maintenance facilities Are growing More Complete everyday. Our primary Job is to sup port rotating Fleet Squadron patrol aircraft said it.  l. Helms Cam Ranh s former executive officer. Operations Here Are going like mad. We be got patrol air Craft coming or going every Day men Tad to Japan the Philip Pines and Saigon for training or support missions Helms said. Cam Ranh is also a terminal Point for airlifted supplies to the surrounding Navy activities an the base is still very much in the building process. Helm said. We Are in temporary Mili tary trailers As Well As rebuilt junk trailers roofed Over by ship s labor. Every Man Here has helped build everything we work in he said. Aircraft of the Market time patrol Force operate from the base checking ships and Small Craft off the coast of the Republic of  combination of Navy ships and aircraft continually patrolling the coast has virtually Cut off supplies coming in from the Seato the insurgent Viet Cong. The Navy shares the runway with the air Force and army. Sailors working on the ramp continually hear the Roar of combat or transport aircraft Landing or taking off. Along with supporting squad Ron planes and building a new base Cam Ranh also has the novel task of providing its own professional Security  whole Navy area is laced with rolled concertina wire an bunkers. A life or death message brings Good news to Gas hoc Mon South Vietnam up the radio in the com Mand track crackled loudly an the men in the scattered armoured personnel carriers waiting forthe assault perked up their ears. The message could mean life or death for them. Tell the flame track to re turn to base the dispassionate voice said through the radio Static. Capt. William Coomer 27, of it. Thomas ky., acknowledged the message and leaned Over the blistering Alumina skin of his track. Okay ser Geant you men can go Home he called out. It looks like we won t need  sgt. Grover Hicks 24, of Chattanooga tenn., laughed and his helmet fell from his hands and rolled unnoticed in the  War was Over for Hicks. His year was up. I be made it. I be made  m going Home he said. Sgt. David l. Major 23, of monks Corner ., was stand ing nearby. He grinned. It mad him feel Good to see somebody being rotated Back to the .one Day he Hopes to be in the same  was the commander of an armoured personnel Carrier ready to go Navy f4 aircraft Are lined up on the flight deck of the Carrier Bon Honimer Richard in support of the Ein bottled marines defending Khe Sanh. A photo mounted with the ugly snout of Flamethrower. A few moments before he had been waiting wit the men of Alpha troop 3rd Cav so 25th inf div to attack battalion of entrenched Viet Cong armed with .51 Calibe machine guns and rockets. These weapons Are deadly against american Armor. They Pierce the Armor As though it were paper. Hicks climbed aboard his track. As it rumbled away the men of Alpha troop began Snapp ing on their flak jackets. A few checked their .50 Caliper machine guns a last time wiping the Dusty surfaces with oily  Mission is cancelled. Re turn to night base immediately the radio said. It repeated the message several times. The me cheered and took off their flak jackets. A refugee flown to Danang air base from Khe Sanh licks his lips in anticipation after being served bread Aad hot Rice. The hot food for the refugees was prepared by the 366th service so. Of photo unit lives up to motto that others May live Saigon special when .aircrews take off on a combat Mission anywhere in Southe Astasia they know that if their plane should become disabled Asa result of enemy fire or other mishap a Force of resourceful air men stands ready to bring them Back to  3rd aerospace Rescue and recovery group from head quarters at Tan son Nhut air base provides search and Rescue support for an area of More than a million Square Miles fulfilling its motto that others May  the unit s capabilities was the recent announcement that it had passed the 1,000 com Bat save Mark in rescues of personnel since Southeast Asia operations began in december 1964."when the history of the War in Vietnam is finally written Secretary of the air Force har old Brown declared recently the Story of air Rescue May Well become one of the most out standing human dramas in the entire history of the air  teamed with a1k  bombers whose Mission is to locate the downed Pilot an suppress enemy ground fire air Rescue helicopters have Range from the Mekong Delta in the South to within Sam m i s s 11 Range in the North to carry out rescues of airmen of All serv ices and vietnamese military and civilian personnel. It is indicative of the risks they take and their skill and Perse Verance that air Rescue person Nel have received More decorations for valor than any other group of comparable , mf1"" ing 11 awards of the air orce Cross second Only to the Mead of Honor for heroism. 104 Hiye stars 532 distinguished i Lyns crosses 88 Bronze stars Ami 2,426 air medals. The group s joint Estial la  Center controls Ami Tooi i nates Ull Rescue in Lollon Southeast Asia. Controllers of Tain tactical Mission plans Ami after thorough analysis pre potion Rescue forces Aee Ordini