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1968 New Guys
Air Calvary - Airmobile
Our replacements were not paratrooper and some not even infantry. Most of these soldiers never
knew what it was like to be in a stateside unit. They received orders the day they completed AIT
(Advanced Individual Training), went home on leave, and caught a plane to Vietnam.
They arrived in Vietnam on commercial airlines. They were quickly processed and assigned a
unit. They reported for duty, received weapons and ammo, and choppered into combat the same
day. Some returned the next day as casualties.
These soldiers arrived during the heaviest fighting of the war. If they survived the day, someone
would take the time to teach them the skills they needed to survive and make it home. Someone
might even learn their name. In just weeks, they would be teaching the new replacements what
they had learned.
.
Many of these men became the original members of the 101st Air Calvary Division and eleven
weeks later, they were the original members of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).
Air Calvary - Airmobile
Our replacements were not paratrooper and some not even infantry. Most of these soldiers never
knew what it was like to be in a stateside unit. They received orders the day they completed AIT
(Advanced Individual Training), went home on leave, and caught a plane to Vietnam.
They arrived in Vietnam on commercial airlines. They were quickly processed and assigned a
unit. They reported for duty, received weapons and ammo, and choppered into combat the same
day. Some returned the next day as casualties.
These soldiers arrived during the heaviest fighting of the war. If they survived the day, someone
would take the time to teach them the skills they needed to survive and make it home. Someone
might even learn their name. In just weeks, they would be teaching the new replacements what
they had learned.
.
Many of these men became the original members of the 101st Air Calvary Division and eleven
weeks later, they were the original members of the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).