Alpha Troop

2nd Squadron/17th Cavalry

101st Airborne Division (Airmobile)

Alumni Association

Such Good Men

By Terry L. Garlock

I recall TV reports of fellow soldiers arriving at an airport, survivors of the Vietnam gauntlet, relieved at their 1st step on home ground. Their grins morphed to astonishment as protesters threw packets of animal blood at them, shouting "Baby-Killers!" Welcome home.

Joseph Galloway, senior writer for US News & World Report, would differ with the protestors. Unlike more sensible journalists reporting on the war from relative comfort and safety, Joe preferred working close up, hot, tired, hungry, scared, dirty and bloodied along with the men he wrote about.

Joe conned his way into hot spots like the 1965 battle of the la Drang Valley, aka The Valley of Death, where 450 of our men were surrounded by 2,000 well-armed NVA enemy. Over 4 days 234 young Americans died as each side chopped the other to pieces. In that battle Joe set camera aside to charge with a Medic through enemy fire in a desperate attempt to help an injured soldier. The Medic was killed, the soldier later died, and Joe Galloway was awarded the Bronze Star with V (valor), the 1st civilian ever to be decorated for valor in combat by the US Army.

Consider some of his remarks at the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association banquet in Washington DC last July.

"What I want to say now is just between us, because America still doesn't get it, still doesn't know the truth, and the truth is- you are the cream of the crop of our generation, the best of an entire generation of Americans."

"You are the ones who answered when you were called to serve. You are the ones who fought bravely and endured a terrible war in a terrible place. You are the ones for whom the words duty, honor, country have real meaning because you have lived those words and the meaning behind those words. You are my brothers in arms, and I am not ashamed to say that I love you. I would not trade one of you for a whole trainload of instant Canadians, or a whole boatload of Rhodes Scholars bound for England, or a whole campus full of guys who turned up for their draft physicals wearing panty hose."

"On behalf of a country that too easily forgets the true cost of war, and who pays that price, I say thank you for your service. On behalf of the people of our country who didn't have good sense enough to separate the war they hated from the young warriors they sent to fight that war, I say we are sorry. We owe you all a very large apology, and a debt of gratitude that we can never adequately repay."

Joe talked about how his friend Mike Norman, who searched out the survivors of his platoon and wrote 'These Good Men,' explained why we veterans sometimes gather.

"I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite. Not to tell storied or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep. Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted their best, men who suffered and sacrificed, who were stripped raw, right down right down to their humanity."

"I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military. But I know them in a way I know no other men. I have never given anyone such trust. They were willing to guard something more precious than my life."

"I am sure that when I leave this world my last thought will be of my family and my comrades, such good men."

In closing Joe said " I salute you. I remember you. I will teach my sons the stories and legends about you..."

The media seems to forget that Washington botched the war, but continually portray veterans as fragile, crazed or trigger-happy. Its about time America learned what Joe Galloway knows, that we are normal, patriotic citizens, proud of having served with honor and courage.

Here's to the memory of every one of our brothers who paid the ultimate price-for his country, for those who sent him to that miserable war while they enjoyed the comforts of home, for those who dodged, even for those who insulted our service.

We remember each one, such good men.

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