| 6/25/2013 8:00:26 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard
Coxs Creek, KY
68, joined Apr. 2012
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I was sitting around with a couple guys at the Post and a movie was on...it portrayed a lot of drug use in Vietnam, so we started talking about it.
I know that at the same time a drug "culture' was developing back home, and we could get them pretty easily. It was a real no-no in the field, but lots of guys were taking pills, mostly speed. In the rear or at a firebase or on stand downs lots of guys got stoned and it was easy to get drunk too. They used to bring in some steaks, ice cream and a jeep trailer full of beer for us on those rare occasions...
So Im wondering how prevalent others will say usage was among their unit..just curious..
BTW..I never used drugs before Vietnam,and had never even seen pot....but I smoke it from time to time now...and have grown it in the past for "personal " consumption..
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| 6/25/2013 8:52:03 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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liber8
Traverse City, MI
68, joined May. 2013
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I didn't see hardly any drug use other than Marijuana. One exception was an acquaintance that got hooked on speed and ended up departing to somewhere. I assumed they shipped him home. I think he was a doper before he was army. I smoked some weed maybe a half dozen times in Vietnam. Not allowing beer on fire support bases was sort of dumb. Some of the guys just got high on pot instead. A Couple of ice cold beers after a long patrol would have been a major morale booster.
[Edited 6/25/2013 8:53:17 AM ]
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| 6/25/2013 10:45:36 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard
Coxs Creek, KY
68, joined Apr. 2012
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Hell liber we got beer easily..and the lifers got their "jugs"also on firebases...I spent more than a few nights on top of a bunker half drunk watching the Cobras lighting it up the outside the berms.... and a lot of guys would sit out there and smoke...NCOs just turned their heads.
I never smoked pot before Vietnam.We had one guy who went to R&R in Hong Kong and got busted there.He got himself a hooker and she asked him if he wanted some dope.I think it was weed.She got it for him and then the police kicked in the hotel room door .He went to prison.I dont know for how long...and she collected some kind of reward! That scared the hell out of me! I sent him a few bucks a month for a while ...Im pretty sure the government eventually got him out, but I wasnt about to use anything on R&R or any place where I could get in trouble.
I remember guys talking about "CID". Every once in a while somebody would show up and start asking questions and trying to fit in, but notout in the field.They were army dope cops.We had them especially when I went to Eagle Dustoff...
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| 6/25/2013 11:06:53 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard
Coxs Creek, KY
68, joined Apr. 2012
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You got me thinking liber...when I was reassigned from the 501st to the 326 Air Ambulance I kind of got hanging around with this older guy.He had been drafted, but took the deal for 3 years and picked a medical MOS, but wasnt a combat medic..some technical job.Anyway he was from Seattle and said he had been a DJ on a radio station etc...I thought he was pretty hip..
He was in to all kinds of dope and always seemed to have stuff, I think he was some sort of dealer or something. He had access to a jeep and a couple times we went to the village outside the wire at Phu Bai to seek "lower companionship" and do things we probably could have regretted! LOL (ya know, penicillin and tetracycline could follow)
As I remember the Vietnamese didnt have an pharmacy/drug laws that came anywhere close to ours...and once we went to this little store front shack where you could basically ask for "prescription" meds and buy them but also other stuff that Im sure OUR docs wouldnt, prescribe or use !
I remember buying a product (he told me to get it) called Obesotol...it was $1.00 MPC, about 6 ounces,in a slender thin bottle with with a really crude label and the outline of a fat person on it...it was nothing but pure amphetamines! I bought 3 or 4...a bottle would keep you up for 36-48 hours and then you just crashed . I did some of it.
I never got into the other stuff and my experience with that stuff really scared me.
[Edited 6/25/2013 11:08:23 AM ]
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| 6/25/2013 1:09:51 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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liber8
Traverse City, MI
68, joined May. 2013
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Beer wasn't a problem back at base camp; but, it was a no-no on the fire support bases. I don't remember anybody having any; unless they hid it well. I would think I'd have been able to sniff it out if someone opened a can? 
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| 6/25/2013 1:12:48 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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twohawks
Bothell, WA
78, joined Feb. 2008
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My Special Forces team was on a fire base. We had been doing some recon in the area. This fire base had two person guard posts around the whole area. They were supposed to call in every half hour with a report. One post didn't call in. They were radioed and got no answer. We got in a vehicle and drove out to the post. We found the two guys.....both dead.....throats slit. We also found about a half dozen roaches in the area. These two guys were out there smoking dope while on guard. They fell asleep....Charlie snuck in, slit their throats and stole their weapons. Their commander had to write to their parents and tell them that they had died "honorably". "Honorably" my ass!
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| 6/25/2013 3:39:01 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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uga1785
Dardanelle, AR
43, joined Nov. 2012
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i cant speak for back then yet now a days its very wide spread pot painkillers and steroids were are very rampent in the military. We ure to get hydros or peks like candy. I understand the pot hell im all 4 the pot my friend use to take 50ty pills a day for cancer then he found maryjane . Gone are the pills and his life is alot better.
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| 6/25/2013 5:01:56 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard
Coxs Creek, KY
68, joined Apr. 2012
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Maybe we had a little different experiences there liber..we had some firebases that were good sized and established for a long time,they ringed Phu Bai and Camp Evans.Those actually had simple structures and were different from the ones that were "forward operating bases" with a few Conex containers reinforced with sandbags, some artillery and a handful of grunts living like rats in little holes and trenches. Anytime we went to a firebase we got our mail caught up, could sleep, eat a bit and usually got replacements...it mostly came when everybody was totally worn out and we couldnt go much farther...and yeah, we never had any trouble finding a drink, but a "cold beer"? Hell no, unless you shot it with a fire extinguisher....
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| 6/25/2013 6:57:40 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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jrbogie1949
Ventura, CA
68, joined Mar. 2009
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saw very little drug use but my time in vietnam was with aviation units and for the most part crewmembers stayed clear. my guess is the job you did in vietnam had much to do with whether or not drugs were a problem. i will admit to overinduldging in jd and coke on too many occasions closing the O club at 0200 with a 0600 mission brief. ah, to be young and stupid again.
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| 6/26/2013 8:15:00 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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liber8
Traverse City, MI
68, joined May. 2013
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whiskey; our firebases were about a hundred yards in diameter, consisted of a dirt berm pushed up around the parameter, with lots of barb wire and sand bagged above ground bunkers. The artillery was in the middle. Very crude for sure and there were usually shell holes from mortars all over the ground that we didn't make . If we'd had beer, we'd have figured out a way to keep it cold. Generators and a refrigerator come to mind? Fire extinguisher would probably work too.
[Edited 6/26/2013 8:16:20 AM ]
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| 6/26/2013 8:23:18 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard
Coxs Creek, KY
68, joined Apr. 2012
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I know what you are talking about liber, the sort of where the top of a mountain was scraped a bit and the vegetation was knocked down beyond the wire and some artillery was choppered in and set down, maybe a tank or two sitting on the berms.Pretty primitive living , but more security than sleeping in the bush and a place to return to once in a while..we had those also.I dont know how many the 101st operated ,but it would have been in the high teens or maybe more. But our main bases were Phu Bai, Camp Evans, LZ Sally,and a few more I cant recall the names of right away... they were small, like you are describing.
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| 7/18/2013 9:46:15 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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59tucsonmale
Tucson, AZ
63, joined Jul. 2013
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I didn't see any. But I wasn't there in the 60's. I was there 8 months of '72 and was isolated with a special force. I never have used illegal drugs.
However, when they sent me to Baumholder, Germany in 1973, the drugs were rampant! There were unannounced room and locker searches for syringes, needles, eyedroppers, etc. I was the Redeye missile section builder for aircraft recognition models and all my tools had to be locked up in a special cabinet in the TO&E room.
When trucks and jeeps were parked, drivers had to take the portable fire extinguishers with them because they would be stolen. The articulated brass nozzles were used to smoke pot/hash in.
It took a long time for others to trust me because I didn't even smoke cigarettes and they all thought I was CID.
Germany was where most Viet Nam vets were sent who had time left to serve and their attitude was "What are you going to do? Send me to Viet Nam?"
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| 7/18/2013 6:23:20 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskyrichard
Embarrass, MN
68, joined Jul. 2013
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FU€K! I was the biggest waster you ever saw! Thousands of innocent men died because of my incompetence!
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| 7/22/2013 8:49:28 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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bier96
Rockford, IL
64, joined Jul. 2013
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The convenient lie! Liberal claims of a coming ICE AGE in the '70's never materialized. So they invented GLOBAL WARMING. Now that 'THE CONVENIENT LIE' has been revealed, they refer to CLIMATE CHANGE hoping that no one notices the implied admittance that they have been wrong the whole time!
The LIBERAL AGENDA to support their SCARE CAMPAIGN to further their nit-wit ecological diversion tactics was the coming Ice Age! Just like now scientists dispute global warming but the LIBERAL AGENDA, to support their SCARE CAMPAIGN, was changed (switch & bait) and re-based on the convenient lie of GLOBAL WARMING. Now that too many people LIKE ME who remembers the "coming ice age" campaign laugh at the "convenient lie", they combine both extremes into one NEW LIBERAL AGENDA based on CLIMATE CHANGE! Now they can use any unpredictable climatic event in the future by claiming "See! We told you climate change was coming!"
To those who will cry "The coming ice age claim is a LIE!" I was there in school when the liberal teachers preached about THE COMING ICE AGE!
CLIMATE CHANGE the liberals new GLOBAL WARMING!
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| 7/22/2013 9:01:21 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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uga1785
Dardanelle, AR
43, joined Nov. 2012
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what does ur rant hav to do with drug use in the military. Maybe u had sum spacecake tnite. Lmfao
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| 7/22/2013 9:02:32 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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bier96
Rockford, IL
64, joined Jul. 2013
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The convenient lie! Liberal claims of a coming ICE AGE in the '70's never materialized. So they invented GLOBAL WARMING. Now that 'THE CONVENIENT LIE' has been revealed, they refer to CLIMATE CHANGE hoping that no one notices the implied admittance that they have been wrong the whole time!
The LIBERAL AGENDA to support their SCARE CAMPAIGN to further their nit-wit ecological diversion tactics was the coming Ice Age! Just like now scientists dispute global warming but the LIBERAL AGENDA, to support their SCARE CAMPAIGN, was changed (switch & bait) and re-based on the convenient lie of GLOBAL WARMING. Now that too many people LIKE ME who remembers the "coming ice age" campaign laugh at the "convenient lie", they combine both extremes into one NEW LIBERAL AGENDA based on CLIMATE CHANGE! Now they can use any unpredictable climatic event in the future by claiming "See! We told you climate change was coming!"
To those who will cry "The coming ice age claim is a LIE!" I was there in school when the liberal teachers preached about THE COMING ICE AGE!
CLIMATE CHANGE the liberals new GLOBAL WARMING!
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| 7/23/2013 3:04:20 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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cowboy4672
Lillian, AL
70, joined Dec. 2012
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Drug use in the military was a fictionalization of Ted Turner. TNN / TNT
He was Anti War: He instituted the policy of not showing dead or wounded Soldiers, specifically would not report on any atrocities by the Cong!!
He would show any pictures of civilian casualty. Accidental or done buy a loose cannon!!
He sponsored/paid for most of the movies made at the time that showed drug abuse by military. I guess it worked for him, He wound up marrying Hanoi Jane!!
Anybody who was in remembers the Random test and the frequency. Every 30 days 15% by random number would have to pee!!
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| 7/30/2013 7:17:09 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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passi0n8
Tucson, AZ
63, joined Jul. 2013
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Proof whiskeyrichard is a liar!
Re: whiskeyrichard
Ben Buckley sent it to me on Jul 29, 2013, 2:56 PM Show details
From: Ben Buckley [email protected]
Format: Plain text
To: Mark XXXX [email protected]
Replied: Jul 29, 2013, 4:31 PM Location: Inbox
Forwarded: --- Priority: Normal
Labels: no label
Mark, I would just ignore all future correspondence from him. Like the old
saying goes, don't get in a pissing contest with a skunk.
Ben
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| 7/31/2013 4:06:09 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard
Coxs Creek, KY
68, joined Apr. 2012
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I remember arriving in Hawaii en route to Ft. Lewis from Vietnam and they too us into a room with a "amnesty box"...long story short anyone considering carrying any weed (or whatever home could drop it , no questions asked ( nobody did).We weren't tested back then, thats a more recent thing.
I watched a story today that was about "bath salts" and its use in the military.I know next to nothing about it, but evidently it doesnt show on tests like the other drugs...at least that was the claim, and in a few areas its becoming a big problem.
[Edited 7/31/2013 4:06:53 PM ]
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| 8/14/2013 6:03:46 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whinkeyrictard
Chicken, AK
68, joined Aug. 2013
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I am such a PATHETIC liar!
The PROOF that the MAN I accused of lying, REALLY IS A PATHFINDER is in my photo file!
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| 8/15/2013 4:18:25 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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youarean_idiot
APO, AE
42, joined Aug. 2013
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WILL tHe reAl whI$keyrI€@rD pLe@se BL0W Up?%
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| 8/15/2013 4:43:13 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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newlady2
Goldsboro, NC
78, joined Apr. 2008
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Just me *G
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| 8/15/2013 5:27:24 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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bob_o_link
Stamford, CT
66, joined Aug. 2013
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jez me 2
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| 8/15/2013 5:30:13 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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gdaddy47
Columbia, TN
70, joined Sep. 2009
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In the years I was there I did see pot. We never used it outside the wire. Did use it inside the so called wire. Just a reinforced hilltop where we relaxed a day or two and pulled short patrols and ambushes.
When we hit the bush we were all business.
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| 8/15/2013 5:31:48 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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gdaddy47
Columbia, TN
70, joined Sep. 2009
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Block the dude from tuscon. He's the fake. Wipe him out of the thread. He pisses me off.
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| 8/15/2013 5:35:22 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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buzzballsdrop
Rockford, IL
42, joined Aug. 2013
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A$$h0les
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| 8/16/2013 12:11:47 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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vvizkeyrichard
Rockford, IL
42, joined Aug. 2013
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I kept recycling basic because I abused drugs.
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| 10/10/2013 12:33:54 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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barstoolguru1
Dallas, TX
57, joined Oct. 2013
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even though I was in the service just after Vietnam (1977) hard drugs where not around BUT over the counter drugs where plentiful when I was in Korea, you give your woman some money and she came back with a all kinds of pharmaceuticals. you would wake up the next morning in some strange places with no pants on 
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| 10/10/2013 12:58:18 PM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskeyrichard1
Burlington, KY
70, joined Sep. 2013
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Anyone who tells you drugs weren't prevalent in Vietnam must have had a very different experience than I did.
I was a medic.During my training it was incorporated into our curriculum.Before enlisting I knew almost nothing about drug abuse and addiction or how to recognize it.
When I got to the 101st it took a while for me to figure out who was using. In the rear or at a firebase a lot of guys smoked weed.It was very easy to obtain and not a problem usually.Because of the odor nobody used it in the bush.
Speed, amphetamine's was another story, not much different than barstoolguy posted.I saw a lot of it.
Vietnam did not have drug regulations like we have back then.If you could get to almost any little town you could buy anything prescription and a lot of guys did.
I used speed. At first it was great. I could be sharp as a tack for a day or so on end, but it catches up with you and you crash or get aggressive and can even hallucinate .I never got that bad, but I did use pills on occasion. I know for certain a lot of troopers did including officers.
One particular story I will share happened after I was out of the field and at the 326 Air Ambulance. I got tight with two Green Berets, one was a SF medic. WE had to go to Nha Trang (HQ 5th Special Forces) and they took me to town. We went into a tiny hootch on a dumpy side street and these guys were into smoking opium.We went inside this little room and mama sans were sitting on wooden beds nodding off and high as hell.A "hit" cost $1.00, a mama san would prepare it for you-I laid on one of the little wooden rack on a piece of wood shaped like a "pillow". Each hit looked like a rabbit turd or milk dud. I bought two and bought mama san two. She had a pipe with a hole in the bottom and she held the dope over a candle at the bottom of the pipe.As it cooked, it shrunk into a resin and she showed me how to draw the smoke up through the pipe and told me to hold it as long as I could.Then she gave me tea to drink because my throat was burning.When the opium hit me I felt like I was floating-almost an "out of body" experience, and I only did two hits.My buddies did a bunch and passed out. I left them and found my way to a main street and got back to Camp Kennedy on my own.The next day we left. I never did that again and this is one of the few times I ever talked about it.
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| 10/22/2013 1:59:11 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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whiskevrichard
Rockford, IL
98, joined Oct. 2013
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YOU CAN ALL SU€K MY HILLBILLY A$$ M0THERFU€KER$!
this is added to satisfy the requirement of not posting all capitals.
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| 10/24/2013 6:49:54 AM |
Drug Use...circa Vietnam |
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cupocheer
Assumption, IL
68, joined May. 2010
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