I read this article on Cherries Writer’s blog yesterday, and really sympathized with this poor fellow.<\/p>\n
It was January 1968. The Tet Offensive was well underway. There were firefights galore and Hell wanted its pay.<\/p>\n
One of the Lieutenant\u2019s three machine guns was down for repairs, so when he wrote his letter home to Mom, he included that he was short one machine gun in his letter. (I believe some of you gunners refer to this particular model as “a pig”. ) He forgot to include that it was in the repair shop having a spa day.<\/p>\n
The result? Mom and Grandma get together on the phone, disturb a US Senator they both know in his sleep, demand that he \u201cdo something\u201d about it, and before long, a helo with a Colonel dropped the new, but not cleaned up yet, machine gun in his lap. Meanwhile, his MIA 3rd<\/sup> machine gun had returned from the repair shop and when it was all over, the Army made him turn over the extra gun, the one which Grandma and Mom coerced (bullied) the Senator into sending to him in the field. In a shipping crate. Delivered by a colonel in a helicopter. Not cleaned up or usable out of the box. And he\u2019s in the middle of some fierce turf disputes with Charlie & Co.<\/p>\n The full story is here, with photos. Enjoy it with a cold one, and if you were there, I’m glad you got back in mostly one piece.<\/p>\n