Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled 'My "Hamburger Hill" War Trophy' and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/my-hamburger-hill-chicom-sks-rifle/.
My "Hamburger Hill" War Trophy
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
CAPMARINE276
Master Class
Came home from the hospital, Millington Naval august 71. Started school in Sept, after being retired from the Corps. In one of my classes was a 101st troop, bayoneted in the A Shau. Never thought to ask if it was on HH?Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled 'My "Hamburger Hill" War Trophy' and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/my-hamburger-hill-chicom-sks-rifle/.
CAPMARINE276
Master Class
Our little souvenir from fire fight
Attachments
SFC Coody USA (ret)
Alpha
This was an interesting, though sad, story with the provenance of this SKS being the actual person possessing it, something a piece of paper could never convey. I was thinking of perhaps getting an SKS to add to my little collection alongside my two AK-47s, one with a straight stock and the other an under folder. They shoot the same ammo: 7.62x39.
My brother-in-law has an SKS bring-back from his service in the Navy while deployed to Vietnam in the late 60s. One of his jobs was to transfer the liquid contents of 55-gallon drums of Agent Orange to other containers. He said he and his shipmates would be splashing around in puddles of the stuff. Unfortunately, from that job in the late 60s, he died of diverse cancers July 2022 of service-related exposure to Agent Orange. His widow - my sister - is still waiting on V.A. action. It's been a long battle.
My brother-in-law has an SKS bring-back from his service in the Navy while deployed to Vietnam in the late 60s. One of his jobs was to transfer the liquid contents of 55-gallon drums of Agent Orange to other containers. He said he and his shipmates would be splashing around in puddles of the stuff. Unfortunately, from that job in the late 60s, he died of diverse cancers July 2022 of service-related exposure to Agent Orange. His widow - my sister - is still waiting on V.A. action. It's been a long battle.
Dear
Sir,
Thank you for a very heartfelt story.
My older Brother was a Vietnam Veteran as well, served in the US Army in the 101St Airborne also at the same time your friend was there. He was in the same location A-Shaw Valley, Hue and near the Hamburger Hill area. He never spoke much about his time there. He passed away at 57 y/o lung cancer, like four of my other dear friends did none of them ever got to be 60 y/o.
Again thanks much for your thoughts and keeping their legacy alive.
Sir,
Thank you for a very heartfelt story.
My older Brother was a Vietnam Veteran as well, served in the US Army in the 101St Airborne also at the same time your friend was there. He was in the same location A-Shaw Valley, Hue and near the Hamburger Hill area. He never spoke much about his time there. He passed away at 57 y/o lung cancer, like four of my other dear friends did none of them ever got to be 60 y/o.
Again thanks much for your thoughts and keeping their legacy alive.
Great article! I'm intrigued by the internal 10-round capacity.
Mr Dabbs wrote that Mike was "one of as many as 2.8 million American vets who have thus far had their lives cut short" by Agent Orange. How is that possible?
The American Legion states (emphasis added):
"3,403,100 (Including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the broader Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters). 2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1, 1965 - March 28, 1973). Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964. Of the 2.6 million, between 1-1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack."
Even assuming all 3.4 million anywhere near Viet Nam could have conceivably been exposed to A.O. (a very generous assumption) then as many as 82% of them ultimately died from exposure? An honest question, I'm cursed with a Math degree.
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Mr Dabbs wrote that Mike was "one of as many as 2.8 million American vets who have thus far had their lives cut short" by Agent Orange. How is that possible?
The American Legion states (emphasis added):
"3,403,100 (Including 514,300 offshore) personnel served in the broader Southeast Asia Theater (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, flight crews based in Thailand, and sailors in adjacent South China Sea waters). 2,594,000 personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam (Jan. 1, 1965 - March 28, 1973). Another 50,000 men served in Vietnam between 1960 and 1964. Of the 2.6 million, between 1-1.6 million (40-60%) either fought in combat, provided close support or were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack."
Even assuming all 3.4 million anywhere near Viet Nam could have conceivably been exposed to A.O. (a very generous assumption) then as many as 82% of them ultimately died from exposure? An honest question, I'm cursed with a Math degree.
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CAPMARINE276
Master Class
2.8 million have died- No
Only a little over 2.7M served in Vietnam, 300,000 WIA
Talyn
SAINT
Dabbs is Dabbs.
Someone needs to proof-read/fact-check his articles, before they're posted.
N
nmedge
Guest
Also used in Korea. Especially in the DMZ area
Try as he might, my dad was unable to obtain an SKS before he left Vietnam. It remained at the top of his wish list for many years until I gave him one for Christmas several years ago. Range days with that rifle became therapy for him, and were history lessons for me. Vietnam killed him, albeit slowly…. another casualty of Agent Orange. Thanks for a great read and taking me back to good times with the old man.
Shootist43
Operator
I've come to appreciate your knowledge about firearms, and the military. However, lose the word "cool" in your articles. It's OK for yuppie wannabes, or teenagers but using "cool" to describe guns misses the purposes of these tools. Also give up on the "dress-up" costumes. Whether you're dressed as a nazi talking about a WWII firearm or as a sniper in some unknown war the dress up sort of says "don't take this guy serious" unless he's talking about trick or treat on hollow ween.
How does Agent Orange kill slowly? Serious question, none of the many VN vets I've known have succumbed to it.
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one of the ingredients is TCDD or maybe its TCCD I cannot remember for sure, but this is the most powerful of the chemical dioxins and it was used in the mixture, along with other chemicals. Back then they didn't use chemical suits, or PPE when dispensing the chemical. You were lucky if you had a dust mask.
I don't know the numbers and I don't know if all who have been affected have even been counted. I am speaking about the children that have been born of these individuals that were exposed to Agent Orange. I know of one individual who was born with physical ailments because of his fathers' exposure to Agent Orange while stationed in Vietnam.
If these children are counted how much would that amount add to that total? 2.8 million? I don't know!
There's virtually no way to be sure an offspring's ailments were caused by a father's exposure to a chemical. But I'd appreciate access to any details available.
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Pretty much everyone knows how forthcoming the U.S. Government is about acknowledging fault right? Eye roll!
Anyway, this individual I know has spina bifida and has multiple issues. Google is your friend but one I found is:
Can a Father's Agent Orange Exposure Cause Birth Defects? | CCK Law
There is currently no definitive evidence that a father’s exposure to Agent Orange exposure causes birth defects. Click here to learn more on possible links
Take from this what you will. The Vietnam War has had many victims and many are not easily observable.