Smorgasbord Reblog – Hugh Roberts welcomes guest author Chuck Jackson – Welcome To Vietnam – A True Story

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Hugh Roberts hosted a guest post by author Chuck Jackson this week which I am sure you will find very interesting to read.

Welcome To Vietnam – A True Story And Guest Blog Post by Chuck Jackson

I’m delighted to welcome Chuck Jackson to my blog today. Chuck is an author, writer and blogger, and lives in Florida.

Chuck shares his incredible story of life as a Special Forces member of an Air Force Pararescue Team in 1968. Reading his story told me how all these men and women deserve to be remembered for the champions that they were and still are.

HH-43B (Pedro) in the foreground with a Douglas A-1 (Sandy) in the background

In December 1968, after completing 14 months of Special Forces training to be a member of the Air Force Pararescue team (PJ), I left my wife in tears and joined a hundred plus men from all branches of the military for the dreaded flight to Vietnam. Dressed in our fatigues, we boarded the aircraft at Travis AFB with stops in Alaska, Japan and then on to Vietnam. The closer we got to Da Nang, the more nervous we became.

Upon our arrival, the weather was cold and rainy; the scene was bedlam, with aircrafts of all sorts and sizes parked haphazardly. Military vehicles of various types were running back and forth-carrying men, fuel and cargo. Over to the side, I spotted a haunting site I would never forget. Lined up were many baggage carts, and on them were black bags containing the bodies of men who had given their lives. I saw no honor guard, nor flag

Please head over to read the post in full… well worth it: Welcome To Vietnam – A True Story And Guest Blog Post by Chuck Jackson

Hugh Roberts, Buy: Amazon UK – And on: Amazon US – Follow :Hugh Roberts Goodreads – Blog – Hugh’s Views and News – Twitter: @HughRoberts05

Hugh W. Roberts

Chuck Jackson, Buy: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – follow Chuck: Goodreads –  blog: Chuck Jackson

 

Thanks for dropping in and please head over to enjoy the post in full and leave your comments on Hugh’s blog.. thanks Sally.

36 thoughts on “Smorgasbord Reblog – Hugh Roberts welcomes guest author Chuck Jackson – Welcome To Vietnam – A True Story”

    • Hi Jacquie, I was frustrated last night trying to schedule a post. It kept saying I was not allowed to do such and such. But nothing to tell me what that “such and such” was. I clicked on the scheduled date and didn’t work. The post went live. I fixed it after a minute or so and was able to schedule it. But I got a comment from a blogger wight right to let me know my link (was not supposed to be out) didn’t work.
      WP switched me to Classic Editor automatically and I still have a problem doing what I want to do!

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply ↓

      • I was so nervous when I heard WP would switch automatically. I scheduled some posts but I take part in a couple challenges and I can’t schedule those or just don’t take part in them. I thought WP switched me to the new classic editor, but even the new “classic editor” is not the same as the old “classic.” It takes more work to do just a simple thing. 😦

        Liked by 1 person

      • I wish they would run LOTS of tests before launching new software. It doesn’t help that I’m stuck on my cellphone right now, either. I keep getting a sign in request when trying to post comments and then the password I give is wrong! Errr!

        Liked by 2 people

      • It got worse tonight. I copies and pastes a post from Word with font size 12. It turned into Header 1 size, even I click default. I got so mad. I ended up having to type the first sentence of each paragraph then copied the rest of the paragraph and pasted after the typed sentence, because WP doesn’t have different sizes in the same paragraph. I did that for eight or nine paragraphs for the post. It’s crazy. And after I entered all the categories and tags, it said I was not allowed to enter under those terms. Whatever it meant. I clicked here and there and finally it let me save the draft. When I clicked preview, those tags were there. It’s not fun to do the post anymore. 😦

        Liked by 2 people

      • Oh dear Miriam, I am afraid that their original mission statement was that they would make blogging accessible to everyone and keep it straightforward but they have not got far too clever. The majority of bloggers don’t need all the bells and whistles and just want to post in their own way. I hope that you work through this as we don’t want to lose you…hugsxx♥

        Like

  3. Thank you for sharing your story, Chuck. As you said, many Vietnam veterans kept their silence. There was no word to what they (and you) had gone through. My neighbor didn’t talk about his experience in Vietnam at all. He might have shared bits and pieces with his son, not enough to tell a story. When I was a rehab counselor, one client suffered from a panic attack. He said every time he closed his eyes, he saw his friend dead next to him. Your book is helpful the Vietnam veterans to verbalize themselves as well as the readers to understand them.

    Thank you, Sally, for reblogging this post from Hugh.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

      • I feel so helpless, Sally. Somehow the governments can’t just send those young men to the war zone and expect them to plug into the society the day they landed in their own soil. My friend’s son came back from Iraq and suffered panic attack for years. Even after her managed to get a job, whenever he had the attack, he had to leave work, so he ended up being let go.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Yes, Sally. It takes time and therapy and support groups for them. I know when they return, they stay somewhere to “decompress.” It just needs longer and a better system to follow up on them.

        Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Miriam for your knowledgeable comment. Until I starting writing my three memoirs, I too didn’t discuss my experiences in Vietnam. Only fellow Veterans and close family and friends even knew I served in the military. It seemed easier to remain silent and those horrible memories were limited to the occasional nightmares. Thank you for your services as a counselor, I’m sure you helped individuals dealing with their traumas.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

      • It doesn’t happen to most Veterans to have friends and family who share their experience, Chuck. Just the feeling of not being alone helps because most of the people don’t know what it was and how it affects you and it’s hard to describe to someone who was not there.

        I’m glad you have friends and family whom you could share. My neighbor passed away year ago. Otherwise, he would be most appreciated your books. Thank you for sharing.

        Liked by 1 person

I would be delighted to receive your feedback (by commenting, you agree to Wordpress collecting your name, email address and URL) Thanks Sally

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