Pete and all:
I heard of people who flew in and out of and even over RVN just long enough to collect combat pay.
I remember once when a young Lt. was sent to me to strap hang on an operation. The idea was to give the staff and faculty some first hand experience of what it was like on the ground. It really put the teams at risk assigning unknown and untried personnel to accompany us. The young Lt. came panting up to me and said:
" Sarge, I sure hope we make contact."
I ask: "Why?'
He replies: "So I can get my CIB."
I replied: "Sonny, this is recon and if we make contact it will be because we screwed up. " I said a few other things and sent him packing but they may be unprintable.