Native Hawaiian Allen Hoe was drafted into the Army in 1966 and did his basic training and AIT at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, where he was inducted into the medical service and trained to be a combat medic. He was assigned to a Nike air defense command station at Travis Air Force Base before volunteering to go to Vietnam in December 1967. He describes meeting Connie Francis and Janis Joplin (on separate occasions), burning human feces, and committing to a policy of volunteering for every opportunity, including long range reconnaissance operations. He recalls sleeping on the ground, being trained to use explosives, calling in artillery and airstrikes, handling the M60 machine gun and M79 grenade launcher. He remembers the Animals and Joe Cocker, steak and cigars, helicopters (Hueys) and armored personnel carriers (M119s), awful combat experiences and near-death experiences, and MIAs. And he tells the extraordinary story of a very special flag.
Key Words: Territory of Hawaii, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Uncle Sam, Fort Ord, Fort Sam Houston, basic training, AIT, Presidio, Tripler Hospital, Nike air defense command station, Travis Air Force Base, 90th Replacement, Chu Lai, Charger Academy, LRRP, long range reconnaissance, M79, M60, M119, armored personnel carrier, APC, C-123, LZ Baldy, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Gimlets, USS Kitty Hawk, Blue Angels, Battle of Kham Duc, McChord Air Force Base, Fort Lewis, Big Brother and the Holding Company, ohana, University of Hawaii, JPAC, DEROS, spy satellites, You're My Hero buttons, Vietnam Women's Memorial
Key Names: Sergeant Jackson, Connie Francis, Raleigh Morrison, Lieutenant Charles Fincher, General David Petraeus, Captain James Gibbler, Colonel Michael Gibbler, Janis Joplin, First Lieutenant Frederick Ransbottom, Dickie Heights, Staff Sergeant William E. Skivington, Jr., Colleen McCarty, Bill Skivington, Sr., Staff Sergeant Danny Widner, Jan Scruggs, Diane Carlson Evans