Contract Update

[Jarhead_1775]

A note on yelling "Short" for context:

“Being short” (end of tour) was not only the goal of every soldier, it was also the ultimate status. Even the Vietnamese understood the importance of a soldier being “short”, and treated short-timers differently. Fellow soldiers also gave short-timers a wider berth, accepting behaviors that would not be tolerated in others.

While there was no official definition of “short”, 30 days remaining was a common first step – then 15 days, 10 days, and finally seven days. At the 30-day mark, soldiers began to withdraw from the “Nam Reality” and become much more cautious. They’d shy away from the more dangerous jobs, and stay closer to base. Some carried an object, called a short timers stick that displayed to all that this person was going home soon. They began to think first before they acted. This would serve them well back in the “the world”, instead of the act-first, think-later attitude required to survive in Vietnam.


I believed I would die in Vietnam but when I suddenly felt short, I began to think I might make it home in one piece.


When my number hit 30, I made the change in thinking. I was listening to Jose Feliciano on the radio, and I remember him signing “Come on, Baby, Light my Fire.” It was the last song I’d heard in the States on my journey to Vietnam. All of the sudden I felt that I could survive – that my numbers could dwindle from 30 to 15, then 10 and seven.


Zero was possible!

Thank you for looking out for each other over there. Don't forget the usual lame jokes that come with it... I could do pull ups on a staple, I'm so short. We still used those jokes 20 years removed from you.

 

[junglehusky]

A note on yelling "Short" for context:

“Being short” (end of tour) was not only the goal of every soldier, it was also the ultimate status. Even the Vietnamese understood the importance of a soldier being “short”, and treated short-timers differently. Fellow soldiers also gave short-timers a wider berth, accepting behaviors that would not be tolerated in others.

While there was no official definition of “short”, 30 days remaining was a common first step – then 15 days, 10 days, and finally seven days. At the 30-day mark, soldiers began to withdraw from the “Nam Reality” and become much more cautious. They’d shy away from the more dangerous jobs, and stay closer to base. Some carried an object, called a short timers stick that displayed to all that this person was going home soon. They began to think first before they acted. This would serve them well back in the “the world”, instead of the act-first, think-later attitude required to survive in Vietnam.


I believed I would die in Vietnam but when I suddenly felt short, I began to think I might make it home in one piece.


When my number hit 30, I made the change in thinking. I was listening to Jose Feliciano on the radio, and I remember him signing “Come on, Baby, Light my Fire.” It was the last song I’d heard in the States on my journey to Vietnam. All of the sudden I felt that I could survive – that my numbers could dwindle from 30 to 15, then 10 and seven.


Zero was possible!

Thanks for the explanation, I was going to ask. And for your service. Another great Jose Feliciano cover was his version of "California Dreaming"...

 

[MTHusky]

A note on yelling "Short" for context:

“Being short” (end of tour) was not only the goal of every soldier, it was also the ultimate status. Even the Vietnamese understood the importance of a soldier being “short”, and treated short-timers differently. Fellow soldiers also gave short-timers a wider berth, accepting behaviors that would not be tolerated in others.

While there was no official definition of “short”, 30 days remaining was a common first step – then 15 days, 10 days, and finally seven days. At the 30-day mark, soldiers began to withdraw from the “Nam Reality” and become much more cautious. They’d shy away from the more dangerous jobs, and stay closer to base. Some carried an object, called a short timers stick that displayed to all that this person was going home soon. They began to think first before they acted. This would serve them well back in the “the world”, instead of the act-first, think-later attitude required to survive in Vietnam.


I believed I would die in Vietnam but when I suddenly felt short, I began to think I might make it home in one piece.


When my number hit 30, I made the change in thinking. I was listening to Jose Feliciano on the radio, and I remember him signing “Come on, Baby, Light my Fire.” It was the last song I’d heard in the States on my journey to Vietnam. All of the sudden I felt that I could survive – that my numbers could dwindle from 30 to 15, then 10 and seven.


Zero was possible!

Thanks for your service, I drew 345 in the first lottery so I didn't go, but lost many a friend there.

 

[John Greene]

A note on yelling "Short" for context:

“Being short” (end of tour) was not only the goal of every soldier, it was also the ultimate status. Even the Vietnamese understood the importance of a soldier being “short”, and treated short-timers differently. Fellow soldiers also gave short-timers a wider berth, accepting behaviors that would not be tolerated in others.

While there was no official definition of “short”, 30 days remaining was a common first step – then 15 days, 10 days, and finally seven days. At the 30-day mark, soldiers began to withdraw from the “Nam Reality” and become much more cautious. They’d shy away from the more dangerous jobs, and stay closer to base. Some carried an object, called a short timers stick that displayed to all that this person was going home soon. They began to think first before they acted. This would serve them well back in the “the world”, instead of the act-first, think-later attitude required to survive in Vietnam.


I believed I would die in Vietnam but when I suddenly felt short, I began to think I might make it home in one piece.


When my number hit 30, I made the change in thinking. I was listening to Jose Feliciano on the radio, and I remember him signing “Come on, Baby, Light my Fire.” It was the last song I’d heard in the States on my journey to Vietnam. All of the sudden I felt that I could survive – that my numbers could dwindle from 30 to 15, then 10 and seven.


Zero was possible!

I think this is the first time I don't feel bad about hijacking a thread. Funny how things you haven't thought about in years come back. Our finance section had a shortimer stick we passed down on our last night before leaving for the the bird home. It was mohagony, I think, about 18 inches long, carved to look like a snake. The guy giving up the stick drank free that night complements of the guy getting it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Aresco better hurry. We could be in the B1G by next week

 

[huskypantz]

A note on yelling "Short" for context:

“Being short” (end of tour) was not only the goal of every soldier, it was also the ultimate status. Even the Vietnamese understood the importance of a soldier being “short”, and treated short-timers differently. Fellow soldiers also gave short-timers a wider berth, accepting behaviors that would not be tolerated in others.

While there was no official definition of “short”, 30 days remaining was a common first step – then 15 days, 10 days, and finally seven days. At the 30-day mark, soldiers began to withdraw from the “Nam Reality” and become much more cautious. They’d shy away from the more dangerous jobs, and stay closer to base. Some carried an object, called a short timers stick that displayed to all that this person was going home soon. They began to think first before they acted. This would serve them well back in the “the world”, instead of the act-first, think-later attitude required to survive in Vietnam.


I believed I would die in Vietnam but when I suddenly felt short, I began to think I might make it home in one piece.


When my number hit 30, I made the change in thinking. I was listening to Jose Feliciano on the radio, and I remember him signing “Come on, Baby, Light my Fire.” It was the last song I’d heard in the States on my journey to Vietnam. All of the sudden I felt that I could survive – that my numbers could dwindle from 30 to 15, then 10 and seven.


Zero was possible!

Thanks for this and thanks for serving our country. It's too easy for us to sit behind a desk, computer or steering wheel and forget the extreme sacrifices many have made to keep our country secure.

 

[whaler11]

Thanks for this and thanks for serving our country. It's too easy for us to sit behind a desk, computer or steering wheel and forget the extreme sacrifices many have made to keep our country secure.

I'm only 39 but my father was in Vietnam. It's a shame that the Vietnam era generation of soldiers weren't treated well upon their return home. As a nation we've improved greatly in this respect, but the Vietnam vets never got the respect or help they deserved.

 

[John Greene]

I'm only 39 but my father was in Vietnam. It's a shame that the Vietnam era generation of soldiers weren't treated well upon their return home. As a nation we've improved greatly in this respect, but the Vietnam vets never got the respect or help they deserved.

One of the things that bugged me is that for the longest time some people thought that if you went through Viet Nam there had to be something off about you. Can't tell you how many times, in the 70's & 80's, people expressed surprise that I was a Viet Nam vet. I was pretty normal, having a successful career, and raising a family. It's almost like they expected that would be impossible .

 

[RS9999X]

I clipped that from anther site. I forgot to attribute it correctly. Here's the guy you should thank below

http://www.vietnamsoldier.com/pages/a-soldiers-stories/short.php

I didn't serve and missed the draft by a year. The last numbers were March 12, 1975. Had it run for another year I would have gotten a number. Seniors were getting numbers when I was a Junior. I like to think Ford knew better than to give me a number. If National Security depended on me and a gun we'd be in a lot of trouble .

And yes, hate the war, honor the soldier is an improvement over the 1960s. I know too many who needed to take advantage of the Gi Bill for education but didn't know that in the 1970s. Manufacturing was still robust and jobs were relatively easy to come by. By 1980 they were unskilled, broke, and unemployable. In CT it was the end of the Reagan defense build up that forced many on to the doles.

 

[huskypantz]

I'm only 39 but my father was in Vietnam. It's a shame that the Vietnam era generation of soldiers weren't treated well upon their return home. As a nation we've improved greatly in this respect, but the Vietnam vets never got the respect or help they deserved.

I'm in about the same boat as you, 38 and my dad was in Vietnam. He never talks about it - not a single story. I never really questioned why, but my guess is either bad experiences or the public stigma of bein. Kind of stinks because I'm proud of the guy either way.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I honestly can't imagine being in high school or college and being shipped across the world, given a gun, sent into a jungle and getting shot at by soldiers.

Thanks for your service to our country guys.

 

[whaler11]

I'm in about the same boat as you, 38 and my dad was in Vietnam. He never talks about it - not a single story. I never really questioned why, but my guess is either bad experiences or the public stigma of bein. Kind of stinks because I'm proud of the guy either way.

My father died of stomach cancer in his mid 40's. He did share stories from the war but they were mostly about things like poisonous snakes falling from trees.

My mother ended up part of a class action suit related to agent orange that netted her like $100 in the end. My father died in 1991 and this seems crazy but it's true: She has been paying off his hospital bills $10 a month for 20+ years.

I know my family was hammered by the recession in the early 80's. The timing of that had to be brutal for vets with young families. It's interesting how many people from that era are staunch conservatives who don't support government programs.

 

[CTMike]

My father died of stomach cancer in his mid 40's. He did share stories from the war but they were mostly about things like poisonous snakes falling from trees.

My mother ended up part of a class action suit related to agent orange that netted her like $100 in the end. My father died in 1991 and this seems crazy but it's true: She has been paying off his hospital bills $10 a month for 20+ years.

I know my family was hammered by the recession in the early 80's. The timing of that had to be brutal for vets with young families. It's interesting how many people from that era are staunch conservatives who don't support government programs.

That's crazy... Wow.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

My father died of stomach cancer in his mid 40's. He did share stories from the war but they were mostly about things like poisonous snakes falling from trees.

My mother ended up part of a class action suit related to agent orange that netted her like $100 in the end. My father died in 1991 and this seems crazy but it's true: She has been paying off his hospital bills $10 a month for 20+ years.

I know my family was hammered by the recession in the early 80's. The timing of that had to be brutal for vets with young families. It's interesting how many people from that era are staunch conservatives who don't support government programs.

Your Mom should look into it again. The rules have changed.
I personally know people who have recently received substantial payouts because of agent orange.
My friend just got 10k cash and 400-500m per month.

I didn't go myself but lost a few friends over there. Most of my friends who returned are no longer with us.
My best friend died at 40.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Question for you media apologists.
I don't pretend to understand the contractual stuff.
If the C7 signs with Fox and The Big East with NBC/CBS.
Assuming UConn stays were it is. Hasn't ESPN just written off NYC and Philly.
Two of the best basketball hotbeds in the country.

 

[whaler11]

Question for you media apologists.
I don't pretend to understand the contractual stuff.
If the C7 signs with Fox and The Big East with NBC/CBS.
Assuming UConn stays were it is. Hasn't ESPN just written off NYC and Philly.
Two of the best basketball hotbeds in the country.

ESPN has Duke, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Rutgers so writing off NYC is strong. (In theory Rutgers could matter)

No Temple and Nova in Phili would be bleaker.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Isn't Rutgers in the B1G. Is that ESPN or Fox/BTN?
If schools 4-5 hours to a plane ride are the best NYC could do for a local team, thats pretty sad.
Thats a return to pre-big east days.
Seems to me it's a void which somebody with vision could exploit.
Dave Gavitt we are you?

One more question?
I live in Az and watch all the UConn games either on ESPN, SNY,or Mas? out of Baltimore all in HD.
SNY comes with the Fox sports package for about 8 bucks a month

All the feeds seem to be ESPN. What is the relationship?
I also have the BTN (not impressed).
Arizona is huge B1G country. ASU is a stranger in its own land.
Arizona is the Florida of the midwest especially during the winter.
Try to find an Az license plate.
I know people mentioned the number of B1G fans at bowl games in AZ.
Half the fans are locals.

 

[whaler11]

Isn't Rutgers in the B1G. Is that ESPN or Fox/BTN?
If schools 4-5 hours to a plane ride are the best NYC could do for a local team, thats pretty sad.
Thats a return to pre-big east days.
Seems to me it's a void which somebody with vision could exploit.
Dave Gavitt we are you?

One more question?
I live in Az and watch all the UConn games either on ESPN, SNY,or Mas? out of Baltimore all in HD.
SNY comes with the Fox sports package for about 8 bucks a month

All the feeds seem to be ESPN. What is the relationship?
I also have the BTN (not impressed).
Arizona is huge B1G country. ASU is a stranger in its own land.
Arizona is the Florida of the midwest especially during the winter.
Try to find an Az license plate.
I know people mentioned the number of B1G fans at bowl games in AZ.
Half the fans are locals.

Well I watched Indiana and Michigan State tonight on ESPN.

You aren't impressed by the BTN? Not sure what might impress you, their coverage is excellent.

If you think Arizona is Big 10 country then certainly you can understand that Duke basketball is a huge draw in NYC. They haven't owned the East Rutherford regionals by accident.

 

[CL82]

I'm in about the same boat as you, 38 and my dad was in Vietnam. He never talks about it - not a single story. I never really questioned why, but my guess is either bad experiences or the public stigma of bein. Kind of stinks because I'm proud of the guy either way.

For what it worth, my wife researched the medals earned by my father-in-law in WWII and we mounted them on green felt and double matted and framed them. It came out great.

Now I was hesitant about it because he, too, rarely talked about the war. I wasn't sure how he would feel about the gift. Well, it turned out great. It really opened him up to talking, mostly to me, about his experiences, some funny, some sad, some pretty bad. Just thought that I would throw that out there.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I know that.I'm just saying it sucks .
It actually will be a reversion to the basketball status of the 50's,60's,and 70's.
In that era if you wanted to follow big time basketball you adopted teams competing on the big stage.
There was no Northeast Power
The Big East did help bring back Northeast Basketball.
I have been a basketball fan since the 50's.
Just after the point shaving scandels almost killed Northeast basketball.
Ironically schools like UNC and later Duke became powers by importing NE Talent.
Dukes first final four team had a Connecticut kid on it.
The 1956 UNC national champs were all NY guys. Mcguires NY pipeline.
That was before intergration and the star player was Kenny Rosenbluth.

City BB was pioneered in Jewish areas.
The talent followed the best coaches as they left NY
UNC beat Wilt's Kansas team. (from Philly)
I listened to that game on the radio.
Alcinder(NYC) went west and made UCLA a legend..
5-10 years ealier these players might have stayed home.
I also was at the regional finals in 1999 at the meadowlands.
I saw that great Duke team that couln't be beat,but thats another story.

 

[RMoore1999]

I hope you are right. You want to show me the math on the 99.990411%. It might make me feel better.

No math. Just something about the combo 99 04 11 that makes me feel better ....

 

[junglehusky]

My father died of stomach cancer in his mid 40's. He did share stories from the war but they were mostly about things like poisonous snakes falling from trees.

My mother ended up part of a class action suit related to agent orange that netted her like $100 in the end. My father died in 1991 and this seems crazy but it's true: She has been paying off his hospital bills $10 a month for 20+ years.

I know my family was hammered by the recession in the early 80's. The timing of that had to be brutal for vets with young families. It's interesting how many people from that era are staunch conservatives who don't support government programs.

Sounds like the genesis of a Springsteen song.

 

[whaler11]

Sounds like the genesis of a Springsteen song.

Please it's not like we were stuck living in New Jersey.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

My father died of stomach cancer in his mid 40's. He did share stories from the war but they were mostly about things like poisonous snakes falling from trees.

My mother ended up part of a class action suit related to agent orange that netted her like $100 in the end. My father died in 1991 and this seems crazy but it's true: She has been paying off his hospital bills $10 a month for 20+ years.

I know my family was hammered by the recession in the early 80's. The timing of that had to be brutal for vets with young families. It's interesting how many people from that era are staunch conservatives who don't support government programs.

It was very different for the previous generation. My dad joined the Navy a few months before the bomb was dropped. He lied about his age to enlist, which was not unusual back then. He went to college on the GI bill, and lived the dream for the next 25+ years. He ended up dying too young (too much Don Draper-esque lifestyle takes its toll on the body), but his entire post war experience was very different from that of the Vietnam generation. The economy was great for most of his life, and the opportunities for someone with a college degree, courtesy of the GI Bill, were outstanding.

I have other family members that were members of the resistance in occupied Europe and another that was a POW of the Japanese for 3.5 years. Their service was honored by their countrymen for the rest of their lives, and I think it made a big difference in how they adjusted to the post-war world. American's treatment of returning Vietnam war veterans was unforgivable in many ways, and I hope and expect that it will never be repeated.