War Buddies
This page contains pictures of soldiers that I knew during the Vietnam War. I don’t remember everybodies name, which is a shame. I hope I will be able to put names to all the people that I served with in the 1st Platoon. As you can imagine, we had new guys joining 1st Platoon all the time. Some of the guys were new to our platoon as I was getting to be a ‘short timer’ in Vietnam.
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3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, Company C, 3/187th, 101st Airborne:
3rd Squad - Ed Raines in shirt, Sgt Alvin Dunn, unkown, Jack Schmitz, Ray Fleming, unknown with hand on chin and Ralph Crutts crouching.
Sp4 – Jeff Crabtree:
Jeff/Jerry 'Hillbilly' Crabtree
SP4 – Jack Schmitz with Woody:
Jack Schmitz & Val 'Woody' Wuthrich
Val 'Woody' Wuthrich and Ralph Crutts
Sgt Alvin Dunn and Sgt Roman Perez:
Sgt Alvin Dunn and Sgt Roman Perez at Camp Evans or Eagle.
Sgt. Dunn at fire base near A Shau Valley.
Bandolier:
Bandolier
Alfredo Hernandez and Greg West:
Alfredo Hernandez and Greg West at firebase
Wilkerson and Val ‘Woody’ Wuthrich at LZ
Wilkerson with Val 'Woody' at LZ
ARVN soldier and Acker:
ARVN and Acker at mountain LZ
Val ‘Woody’ Wuthrich and Wilson:
Val 'Woody' Wuthrich with Wilson at firebase near A Shau Valley
Jack Schmitz and Val ‘Woody’ Wuthrich:
Jack Schmitz and Val 'Woody' Wuthrich
Hunter:
Hunter on fire base.
Val ‘Woody’ Wuthrich and Nohn:
Val, 'Woody' with Nohn, a Kit Carson Scout attached to Charlie Company.
Jack Schmitz:
Jack Schmitz at firebase
Jack Schmitz and Ralph Crutts:
Jack Schmitz and Ralph Crutts at firebase
Unknown:
Unknown war buddies playing cards late in the day at a firebase
Unknown:
Unknown war buddy at firebase.
Unknown soldier between ARVN soldiers:
War Buddy between two ARVN soldiers, with me trying to get into the picture.
Val ‘Woody’ Wuthrich and Ed Raines:
Raines giving me a 'G.I.' haircut on a firebase. I'm drinking a beer, it's probably a warm one.
Bell:
Bell at camp Evans, writing a letter home.
Unknown buddy:
Unknown buddy on firebase near A Shau Valley
First of all this is more then an impressive web site!!!! Jack Schmitz is a good friend of mine, we went to high school together. He was drafted in May ’68 and I was drafted in Sept. ’69. He got the short end of the stick and went to Viet Nam & I went to Okinawa. I would like to give him some of these photos as a surprise, if he doesn’t already have them, I would be glad to pay for the photos & postage. Please let me know if this is possible.
Thank You
Vic Guenther
My great Uncle Ronnie Anderson was in Vietnam. It’s sad though. My family doesn’t know if he did comunications, or infantry. They don’t know what hospital he’s in now. They forgot his birthday, rank, middle name, and all of that simple stuff you learn as kids. It hurts to know that he could pass away, if he hasn’t already, without knowing someone in his family loves him, though I’ve never met him. I’ve been looking for him for the past 2 years. He’s not to blame for how he is now. He gave something that’s worth more than his life, his sanity. If anyone that sees this knew or knows of a Ronnie Anderson please let me know. CageRageCannibal@yahoo.com thank you
Floyd, I’m sorry that you never got to meet your uncle Ronnie. I’m also sorry that you don’t know if he is dead or alive, and if he’s alive where he is at. Can you tell me more about him? I will tell you that if he was in the Vietnam War, he is a war hero. There are men that I served with in Vietnam that I can’t find now. It is hard to find people, but with the help of the internet it’s easier than it used to be. I don’t know how you can go about finding your uncle, but hopefully you can find men who knew him in Vietnam. Please right again.
Woody, I am so glad you posted this info about my brother Terry Wender. The idea of a sense of peace surrounding him at his death is most conforting. I and another sister live in Atlanta and his other siblings live in Bozeman, MT, Houghton, MI, and Manitowoc WI. Today is Memorial Day and so I salute you and all who served in Vietnam. The ripples seem endless.
Awesome pics! I appreciate the post so much!
Hi again Woody, just another note to let you know we do read and gain much from your blog. It has opened up a whole new dimension to memory and history. Through it I have met you and in the future might be able to make contact with others who served with my brother Terry. I know what you are doing is not easy but know it is appreciated and keep up the good work and most of all your spirits.
Hi Anita, it was great to talk to you on the phone today. I have been thinking a lot about the things we talked about. I have decided to step back from writing about ‘Hamburger Hill’. Like I said, I’m going to go back to the first of 1969 to try and fill in some of the blanks before ‘Hamburger Hill’. I’m going to use the letters that I wrote home in conjuction with the letters that Terry wrote home and try and flesh out the stories of us ‘boys’ as we progressed towards those fateful days in May of 1969. As I said I have really been struggling with writing about my experiences. It’s hard to put those memories out there and then not really knowing what people are thinking of it. I do get some feedback, but not as much as I would expect or like to see. Woody
I typically don’t reply on sites but you have some good information material.