Green Beret John Smith's Excellent Adventure

[Team Sergeant]

Note: We're on this and it's aleady being investigated as I post this. Anyone see any glaring holes in Mr. Smiths "story"? :munchin:rolleyes:




Vietnam War veteran gives back to Red Cross that helped him in his time of need

Posted: Monday, October 19, 2015 12:00 am

By RITA SHERROW World Scene Writer | 5 comments
For three harrowing months during the height of the Vietnam War, as he struggled to find his way through dense, dangerous jungles of Vietnam, 18-year-old Green Beret John Smith was certain he was going have to give up his life for his country.
That he didn’t is why the now 64-year-old Collinsville resident is more than willing to give his time, effort and blood to help the American Red Cross.
Smith had been dropped off to man a solitary observation post, but dense fog prevented him not only from doing the job he was supposed to do, but also meant that the helicopter that was to rescue him wasn’t coming.
“I was sitting pretty close to the Viet Cong and I knew our guys couldn’t come and get me, so I had to go to them,” said Smith, in a recent interview. “I didn’t know what direction to go since they helicoptered me in. They apparently searched for me but couldn’t find me because I had to keep moving my position. I couldn’t stay in one place too long because I would be detected.
“They taught us real good how to escape and evade so I was good at that... I was well-trained, and I was scared the whole time, but I guess fear keeps you alive.”
His parents, however, feared the worst, as the Army informed them that their son was missing in action.
Smith made his way stealthily through the jungle, trying to figure out where he was. Armed only with his weapon, a crude map he tried to draw as he went along and no way to contact anyone for help, the only thing he could do was keep moving.
The observation post where he started was roughly 10 miles from his base. But Smith’s journeys through the jungle would take him in different directions, as he went from village to village, and to Army compounds he knew would be resupplied.
“I was out there three months and they had given me up” he said. “I was 60 miles away by the time I finally made it back to the road and got a ride back to base.”
His first thought was to call his parents. Not an easy task. During this period in the Vietnam War, there was no regular overseas phone service on base and the military’s phones were off limits. He had to use a two-way radio to call the American Red Cross who got him a ride to Saigon to call his mom and dad, he said.
“My mother couldn’t believe it was me,” said Smith, who also served for a time as a sniper for the U.S. Army. “She kept saying ‘I still don’t believe it’s you’ so I had to tell her things about my childhood to convince her it was me.
“I just told my wife that’s the loneliest feeling you can have when you have to be out there by yourself, 17,000 miles from home at age 18... but I survived. And, I ate most anything, most things I don’t want to talk about.”
While he served out the rest of his 21-year military career at Fort Hood, Texas, and then in South America, he never forgot what the American Red Cross did for him.

cont;
http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/features/vietnam-war-veteran-gives-back-to-red-cross-that-helped/article_ec174ae1-15bf-551d-9f09-f3025c81d731.html?mode=story

[BuckiBill]

This wouldn't even make a good fiction movie. John Smith needs to answer a few questions

[Team Sergeant]

Note: We're on this and it's aleady being investigated as I post this. Anyone see any glaring holes in Mr. Smiths "story"? :munchin:rolleyes:




Vietnam War veteran gives back to Red Cross that helped him in his time of need

Posted: Monday, October 19, 2015 12:00 am

By RITA SHERROW World Scene Writer | 5 comments
For three harrowing months during the height of the Vietnam War, as he struggled to find his way through dense, dangerous jungles of Vietnam, 18-year-old Green Beret John Smith was certain he was going have to give up his life for his country.
That he didn’t is why the now 64-year-old Collinsville resident is more than willing to give his time, effort and blood to help the American Red Cross.
Smith had been dropped off to man a solitary observation post, but dense fog prevented him not only from doing the job he was supposed to do, but also meant that the helicopter that was to rescue him wasn’t coming.
“I was sitting pretty close to the Viet Cong and I knew our guys couldn’t come and get me, so I had to go to them,” said Smith, in a recent interview. “I didn’t know what direction to go since they helicoptered me in. They apparently searched for me but couldn’t find me because I had to keep moving my position. I couldn’t stay in one place too long because I would be detected.
“They taught us real good how to escape and evade so I was good at that... I was well-trained, and I was scared the whole time, but I guess fear keeps you alive.”
His parents, however, feared the worst, as the Army informed them that their son was missing in action.
Smith made his way stealthily through the jungle, trying to figure out where he was. Armed only with his weapon, a crude map he tried to draw as he went along and no way to contact anyone for help, the only thing he could do was keep moving.
The observation post where he started was roughly 10 miles from his base. But Smith’s journeys through the jungle would take him in different directions, as he went from village to village, and to Army compounds he knew would be resupplied.
“I was out there three months and they had given me up” he said. “I was 60 miles away by the time I finally made it back to the road and got a ride back to base.”
His first thought was to call his parents. Not an easy task. During this period in the Vietnam War, there was no regular overseas phone service on base and the military’s phones were off limits. He had to use a two-way radio to call the American Red Cross who got him a ride to Saigon to call his mom and dad, he said.
“My mother couldn’t believe it was me,” said Smith, who also served for a time as a sniper for the U.S. Army. “She kept saying ‘I still don’t believe it’s you’ so I had to tell her things about my childhood to convince her it was me.
“I just told my wife that’s the loneliest feeling you can have when you have to be out there by yourself, 17,000 miles from home at age 18... but I survived. And, I ate most anything, most things I don’t want to talk about.”
While he served out the rest of his 21-year military career at Fort Hood, Texas, and then in South America, he never forgot what the American Red Cross did for him.

cont;
http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/features/vietnam-war-veteran-gives-back-to-red-cross-that-helped/article_ec174ae1-15bf-551d-9f09-f3025c81d731.html?mode=story

OK I'll start, here's the first one. :D There are a few others that really stand out.


to man a solitary observation post,

[DIYPatriot]

An 18 year old QP? I knew some of the old timers were hardcore, but I never knew of any high school boys entering the pipeline back then. I would have to imagine that it is extremely rare to find very many 18 yr old QP's. And what about that 17,000 mile hop from Vietnam to the US of A? It's around 8k from Memphis. Where was Mr. Smith from?

[SF18C]

“I didn’t know what direction to go since they helicoptered me in."
Hey V-Vets, doesn't the Sun rise in the east and set in the west in Vietnam...just like at Ft Bragg?

[Team Sergeant]

“I didn’t know what direction to go since they helicoptered me in."
Hey V-Vets, doesn't the Sun rise in the east and set in the west in Vietnam...just like at Ft Bragg?

In Asia it's opposite. :rolleyes:

[ddoering]

All that shit in one story. He has enough crap for three posers.

[VVVV]

An 18 year old QP? I knew some of the old timers were hardcore, but I never knew of any high school boys entering the pipeline back then.


There were some.

[Sdiver]

Hey V-Vets, doesn't the Sun rise in the east and set in the west in Vietnam...just like at Ft Bragg?

Nope.

You can clearly see the Sun setting in the East in that one John Wayne movie, "The Green... something-or-other" ....

.... and if ya can't trust The Duke (or his movies) ... who can ya trust? :munchin

[abc_123]

In Asia it's opposite. :rolleyes:

And before they drop you off by yourself on your poser mission, they make sure that you don't know where you started from don't have any checkpoints enroute, and make sure that you don't know where you are going, Its all part of OPSEC... Oh, and before you lift-off they blindfold you and spin you around three times just to try and disorient you. :rolleyes:

Sorry i'm of more recent vintage and not a V-vet so I don't know how it was done back then exactly.

[Oldrotorhead]

And, I ate most anything, most things I don’t want to talk about.”

I don't know what could it have been that was so ugly he wouldn't talk about eating?

Never mind I've got ugly chicks in my head already.:D

[full cooler]

Damn tough assignment.

One man OP and no communication with base camp. Fogged in so couldn't see anything to report anyway. No way to get any help and so well trained that he went 60 miles in the wrong direction.

Yep, damn tough assignment.

[Team Sergeant]

The observation post where he started was roughly 10 miles from his base.


I really liked the 10 mile LP OP........ Ten miles from the base......( Even if it was 10 clicks its dumber than dirt, we don't place outposts out that far in the "jungle". One maybe two clicks out, yeah, maybe. )

And I agree with abc_123, before we put you out we take your map/compass away and spin you around 25 times so you don't have a clue where you are......:rolleyes::munchin

[Guymullins]

If you are already in the East, surely the sun rises somewhere else?

[mark46th]

If he was qualified and in Vietnam, he must have enlisted when he was 16...

[PRB]

So Rambo was a one man OP...10 miles from whatever (who ever used miles btw) and no comms?
What was his SOP for alerting his higher? Screaming?

I'm not much on Las Vegas but if they had a 'poser' convention I might check out the participants just to hear the terrible war stories.....I'd probably get PTSD.

[B36reconman]

He had two soup cans but only 8 miles of string..Jeez..There I was:lifter

[Richard]

Well, the name sounds familiar - I think I heard of him when I manned the outpost 10 miles out from the next A Camp down the ridgeline - he was either at Ben Phuct or Phuc Mi. :rolleyes:

Richard

[DIYPatriot]

I asked a 2lt fresh out of OCS about this. After looking at his map and compass he said in Asia the sun rises in the north and sets in the east to the story is very plausible.

You may be onto something...

[TrapperFrank]

Maybe he forgot what rank he was. Lost for a couple of months, wandering around the jungle, sounds like most 2LTs I knew.

[RomanCandle]

"The observation post where he started was roughly 10 miles from his base. But Smith’s journeys through the jungle would take him in different directions, as he went from village to village, and to Army compounds he knew would be resupplied."

I read that the big army took a while to warm up to SF but this is just ridiculous. I suppose they just gave him some C rats and sent him back out into the jungle saying: "Sorry brother but the phones are off-limits at this time".

[BuckiBill]

No compass, no map, no comms?
Maybe back in the day they still used smoke signals for comms.

I'd imagine if he was SF, he'd have a Rolex or Seiko dive watch, a Sapphire ring and a Baht necklace.

If he had a watch, he had a compass. Maybe he missed the class on using your watch as a compass.

[Team Sergeant]

Smith had been dropped off to man a solitary observation post, but dense fog prevented him not only from doing the job he was supposed to do, but also meant that the helicopter that was to rescue him wasn’t coming.

Dropped off at the LP OP by helo, check.

Fog stops you from doing your job, check.

In need of "rescue"? How did we go from being at an observation post to rescue? :rolleyes:

And how long did that fog last? Weeks?

Poor John Smith was bounced from camp to camp with no help in sight. A baseless green beret that no one loved. I wonder if he stood at the trails edge with a sign,

"Baseless, please help. Vietnam Veteran."

[Old Dog New Trick]

Of course I wasn't there in the height of the Vietnam war, but all my 12+ years in the rest of SE Asia, the only fog I remember was in my head after consuming too much fermentation in the Ale the night before.

Musta been one of those LP/OPs at high altitude where the clouds envelope the mountains for a few hours to, well, a few more hours.

Yep, I woulda done just what he did under them conditions. Left my post and wandered around for three months in the jungle. I can'ts really talk too much about it though as it was a highly classified mission and we weren't really there. There's just something about being on the wrong side of an imaginary line the government says we wasn't over. Insomuchasfact, when I came upon them's Army compounds, I used my special forces super secret stealth techniques learned in the SERE school to keeps me from being detected by them's U.S. Army soldiers, while ins I resupplied my butt pack and canteen with potible (sic) water. Also's cants talk about what's I ate for them's three months in the bush, justs sometings (sic) you just gots to keep private. Can't talk about that's!

:Do

[MR2]

We need to co-author a book: Tales from the Poser side.

[Guymullins]

We need to co-author a book: Tales from the Poser side.

I'll write a review!

[UWOA (RIP)]

Of course I wasn't there in the height of the Vietnam war, but all my 12+ years in the rest of SE Asia, the only fog I remember was in my head after consuming too much fermentation in the Ale the night before.

Musta been one of those LP/OPs at high altitude where the clouds envelope the mountains for a few hours to, well, a few more hours.

Yep, I woulda done just what he did under them conditions. Left my post and wandered around for three months in the jungle. I can'ts really talk too much about it though as it was a highly classified mission and we weren't really there. There's just something about being on the wrong side of an imaginary line the government says we wasn't over. Insomuchasfact, when I came upon them's Army compounds, I used my special forces super secret stealth techniques learned in the SERE school to keeps me from being detected by them's U.S. Army soldiers, while ins I resupplied my butt pack and canteen with potible (sic) water. Also's cants talk about what's I ate for them's three months in the bush, justs sometings (sic) you just gots to keep private. Can't talk about that's!

:Do

Whose privates did he eat? Must have cost him plenty of dong!

.

[Team Sergeant]

“I was out there three months and they had given me up” he said. “I was 60 miles away by the time I finally made it back to the road and got a ride back to base.”
His first thought was to call his parents. Not an easy task. During this period in the Vietnam War, there was no regular overseas phone service on base and the military’s phones were off limits. He had to use a two-way radio to call the American Red Cross who got him a ride to Saigon to call his mom and dad, he said.


"Who wants to use the phone to call home?"

"Smith Sir"

"Who the hell is Smith?"

"Smith's been MIA for 90 days Sir, he's a green beret/sniper that got lost in the jungle. Had to eat those things we don not discuss. He'd like to call home Sir."

"I thought we wrote off Smith months ago?"

"We did Sir, figured he pulled a Bergdahl on us."

"Screw Smith, tell him to call the Red Cross via two-way radio and have them pick him up and drive him to Saigon for his phone call."

"Roger Sir. Sir, what's the freq for the American Red Cross?"




:munchin

[x SF med]

TS, you need to remove "Bergdahl" and replace with Benedict Arnold.... Bergdahl wasn't even born until almost 20 years after VN.... Unless...... the officer was Doc Brown, who had been to the future with Sergeant McFly and they knew things they shouldn't.:rolleyes:;)

[Streck-Fu]

Clearly he had to eat the messenger pigeons that he was going to use to communicate his observations....

[Team Sergeant]

Clearly he had to eat the messenger pigeons that he was going to use to communicate his observations....

That's just so wrong..... but then again I wonder what recipe he used?:munchin

Little birds are telling me that "Green Beret" John Smith has gone quiet.... I wonder if the green beret sniper is lost again?



(And for the really funny part, we are some of the best navigators on the planet and as a sniper, double that ability. This is what makes his "story" just that more funny. )

[bushmaster11]

Well the newspaper now has statement that due to questions of story, that further efforts made to re-contact John Smith.

J R sends
DOL

[bushmaster11]

I was cruising google for JOHN SMITH. I got a hit on a football coach who had claimed 3 year tour as Special Forces. Three years/SF seems impractical.

http://www.hornetsports.com/information/directory/bios/athletic_admin/smith_john



J R sends
DOL

[VVVV]

I was cruising google for JOHN SMITH. I got a hit on a football coach who had claimed 3 year tour as Special Forces. Three years/SF seems impractical.

http://www.hornetsports.com/information/directory/bios/athletic_admin/smith_john



J R sends
DOL


3yr tour = SF Baby

[UWOA (RIP)]

I was cruising google for JOHN SMITH. I got a hit on a football coach who had claimed 3 year tour as Special Forces. Three years/SF seems impractical.

http://www.hornetsports.com/information/directory/bios/athletic_admin/smith_john



J R sends
DOL

Based on the time line, he would have had to entered the Army before 1970 at least four years and probably five before he left to go back to school and earn his bachelor's ... that means enlisting (or being drafted), going through BCT, AIT then OCS then on to Airborne school and SFOC as an officer before serving a three year stint on an ODA. Since he would have had to have been Vol-Indef then the only way he could have left active duty would have been because of a service-connected disability because the Viet Nam RIF actions didn't begin until 1973, although early outs were offered to SF officers with Reserve commissions as early as 1972. All in all, that would have him entering service no later than 1964-65; had he stayed the enlisted route it would have been much longer to qualify and an even earlier entry date (BPED). Bottom line: given the information I would have a tendency to think that his claim is bogus because that would put him in his seventies and he doesn't look that old ... but then I'm pretty much a skeptic about what I see in biographies like that ....

.

[Team Sergeant]

Well the newspaper now has statement that due to questions of story, that further efforts made to re-contact John Smith.

J R sends
DOL

This means they re-read the story and now see the humor..... it was supposed to go in the "fiction" part of the newspaper.:rolleyes:

[Old Dog New Trick]

Damn, MIA again. Well at least the phones are more accessible these days. Maybe someone should call his Mom.

[Guymullins]

You have to question the name John Smith. We had a National Rugby captain of the same name and I still don't believe he won the World Cup in 2007 under his real name.

[BuckiBill]

John Smith, you are a No-Go at this navigation station.


Also, He's not returning calls from his Red Cross super, or the regional director either. The Director called me.

[VVVV]

Based on the time line, he would have had to entered the Army before 1970 at least four years and probably five before he left to go back to school and earn his bachelor's ... that means enlisting (or being drafted), going through BCT, AIT then OCS then on to Airborne school and SFOC as an officer before serving a three year stint on an ODA. Since he would have had to have been Vol-Indef then the only way he could have left active duty would have been because of a service-connected disability because the Viet Nam RIF actions didn't begin until 1973, although early outs were offered to SF officers with Reserve commissions as early as 1972. All in all, that would have him entering service no later than 1964-65; had he stayed the enlisted route it would have been much longer to qualify and an even earlier entry date (BPED). Bottom line: given the information I would have a tendency to think that his claim is bogus because that would put him in his seventies and he doesn't look that old ... but then I'm pretty much a skeptic about what I see in biographies like that ....

.


I didn't see anything in his bio to suggest the he served as an officer.

SF baby was a 3 year enlistment. He could have enlisted in June 1966...BCT, AIT, BAC, SFQC, served in group, ETS'd. June '69 and been back on the streets in plenty of time for the 1970 college baseball season.
:munchin

[Pete]

....SF baby was a 3 year enlistment. He could have enlisted in June 1966...BCT, AIT, BAC, SFQC, served in group, ETS'd. June '69 and been back on the streets in plenty of time for the 1970 college baseball season.
:munchin

As many times as this comes up on the board, at least a couple of times a year, people still forget about the 3 year SF Enlistment Option.

No recycles and straight through and a weapons or engineer troop would be on a team in under a year. Plenty of guys served and got out.

BUT - any school worth going to had a TIS requirement meaning you had to extend or reenlist. The command loved to dangle those schools in front of young troops getting near ETS.

[UWOA (RIP)]

I didn't see anything in his bio to suggest the he served as an officer.

SF baby was a 3 year enlistment. He could have enlisted in June 1966...BCT, AIT, BAC, SFQC, served in group, ETS'd. June '69 and been back on the streets in plenty of time for the 1970 college baseball season.
:munchin

I was suggesting that as the shortest possible time line. The pre-qual training wouldn't be part of the 'three years in Special Forces' so that would put him entering the service years before 1966. My interpretation of the 3 years is time served on an ODA ....

.

[Utah Bob]

After carefully reading his story and ruminating (with a bourbon) I'm afraid that I must conclude that it is, in the vernacular of the uncouth, bullshit. ;)

I believe my opinion would be the same without the bourbon. :rolleyes:

[UWOA (RIP)]

After carefully reading his story and ruminating (with a bourbon) I'm afraid that I must conclude that it is, in the vernacular of the uncouth, bullshit. ;)

I believe my opinion would be the same without the bourbon. :rolleyes:

I concur, but would substitute Scotch for the bourbon ....

.