bobby L
09-02-2013, 06:04
I took my basic armor officer training at Ft Knox in the early seventies just as Nixon had been
"Vietnamizing " the war, and there seemed to be as many South Vietnamese soldiers in training as American G. I.s. While on a LAW [Light Anti Tank] range shooting at old tanks and armored vehicles, my AOB class experienced a weapons failure where a rocket exploded in the tube when it was fired. (I know I was not alone in thinking that we may have taken fire from another range, before we found out what really happened.)
The bottom line was that one enlisted man was killed and five officers wounded with one loosing his arm and the others with mostly minor injuries due to shrapnel. One officer however was in very serious condition because a piece of the gun tube had entered his body under his arm pit pierced his lung, I believe and was right next to his spleen.
When the med-vac helicopters came in, we had to stretcher carry the wounded to them down into the a valley in front of the range where there was a steep ground drop off of about twenty feet. I happened to be one of the stretcher bearers and the officer we carried happened to be the one in the most serious condition. As the footing was particularly bad, the one thing that I had going thru my brain was "Don't Stumble and drop this guy" Of course that's exactly what I did. My leg went out from underneath me and my corner of stretcher dropped with a loud groan from our patient. The other officers said things like "you a$sshole" or other kind words and I felt absolutely terrible. I really worried that maybe my misstep caused something to jar inside the wounded man's body that could prove to be fatal.
Well things were pretty 'touch and go' with this wounded man hearing that he was in stable but still in very serious condition. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well over next week or ten days. The good news was that he did fully recover and actually was re-circulated into the next basic armor class.
As fate would have it, I was going to an open officer's mess one day shortly before coming home and I ran into the wounded officer and we had lunch together. He looked great, lost about twenty pounds was fully recovered and was ready to go thru his second armor class.
But I couldn't leave well enough alone by not talking about the accident. I said Steve, what do you remember about that day?? He said he remembered firing his rocket down range, the next officer firing his, and then getting hit under the arm pit with he could only describe as a sledgehammer. He then knew that he was lying on the ground and things were spinning... he heard helicopters and people shouting things he couldn't understand. He then remembers his body being put on a stretcher and being carried to the sound of the helicopters. He remembered the bright sunlight, of being in a blissful state, nothing hurt, he was at peace with the world.... AND THEN, he remembered..."some a$shole dropped me"!! "I never felt such extreme pain in my life!"
At that point, I grinned that grin that can only be described as when a mother asks her sons who ate the last cookie or used the bathroom last, grin. "you're the A$shole who dropped me?" he shouted. I went too far... I had been caught.
In my defense I said "Steve... I didn't try to drop you... to stumble...it just happened! In fact... I saved your life more than any doctor did that day... you were on your way to meet the Lord...that bright light!!! When I dropped you that day, I pulled your ass back from your meeting with St. Peter! If you have a son you should name him Bob, after me!"
I'll never forget his answer. "I will if I call him 'dirty bastard'!"
We both had a great laugh. I hope life has been good to him all these years and I hope if he has a son, his name is Robert.
"Vietnamizing " the war, and there seemed to be as many South Vietnamese soldiers in training as American G. I.s. While on a LAW [Light Anti Tank] range shooting at old tanks and armored vehicles, my AOB class experienced a weapons failure where a rocket exploded in the tube when it was fired. (I know I was not alone in thinking that we may have taken fire from another range, before we found out what really happened.)
The bottom line was that one enlisted man was killed and five officers wounded with one loosing his arm and the others with mostly minor injuries due to shrapnel. One officer however was in very serious condition because a piece of the gun tube had entered his body under his arm pit pierced his lung, I believe and was right next to his spleen.
When the med-vac helicopters came in, we had to stretcher carry the wounded to them down into the a valley in front of the range where there was a steep ground drop off of about twenty feet. I happened to be one of the stretcher bearers and the officer we carried happened to be the one in the most serious condition. As the footing was particularly bad, the one thing that I had going thru my brain was "Don't Stumble and drop this guy" Of course that's exactly what I did. My leg went out from underneath me and my corner of stretcher dropped with a loud groan from our patient. The other officers said things like "you a$sshole" or other kind words and I felt absolutely terrible. I really worried that maybe my misstep caused something to jar inside the wounded man's body that could prove to be fatal.
Well things were pretty 'touch and go' with this wounded man hearing that he was in stable but still in very serious condition. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well over next week or ten days. The good news was that he did fully recover and actually was re-circulated into the next basic armor class.
As fate would have it, I was going to an open officer's mess one day shortly before coming home and I ran into the wounded officer and we had lunch together. He looked great, lost about twenty pounds was fully recovered and was ready to go thru his second armor class.
But I couldn't leave well enough alone by not talking about the accident. I said Steve, what do you remember about that day?? He said he remembered firing his rocket down range, the next officer firing his, and then getting hit under the arm pit with he could only describe as a sledgehammer. He then knew that he was lying on the ground and things were spinning... he heard helicopters and people shouting things he couldn't understand. He then remembers his body being put on a stretcher and being carried to the sound of the helicopters. He remembered the bright sunlight, of being in a blissful state, nothing hurt, he was at peace with the world.... AND THEN, he remembered..."some a$shole dropped me"!! "I never felt such extreme pain in my life!"
At that point, I grinned that grin that can only be described as when a mother asks her sons who ate the last cookie or used the bathroom last, grin. "you're the A$shole who dropped me?" he shouted. I went too far... I had been caught.
In my defense I said "Steve... I didn't try to drop you... to stumble...it just happened! In fact... I saved your life more than any doctor did that day... you were on your way to meet the Lord...that bright light!!! When I dropped you that day, I pulled your ass back from your meeting with St. Peter! If you have a son you should name him Bob, after me!"
I'll never forget his answer. "I will if I call him 'dirty bastard'!"
We both had a great laugh. I hope life has been good to him all these years and I hope if he has a son, his name is Robert.