Not His First Rodeo: Service In Vietnam As A Civil Affairs And Infantry Officer

Joe Webb was born in 1946 and grew up in Elk City in western Oklahoma with a younger sister. His family farmed and ranched, raising the food they ate and bartering for what they needed. His father was a cowboy, raising cattle and growing cotton and wheat, and his mother was a homemaker who kept the books. Joe remembers riding a horse as a boy, milking cows, and learning to drive a tractor at 12 and a pick-up truck at 16. Later, in college, Joe was on the Rodeo Team. Joe enjoyed playing baseball and basketball in high school, graduating in 1964. He first attended college at Panhandle State, majoring in agronomy and crop science. ROTC was mandatory for the first two years of college, but he enjoyed the training and kept with it. He was supposed to graduate in 1968, but because he was working a full time job to pay his way through college, he needed a few more credits and ended up graduating in January 1969. In college he worked for a Korean War Veteran who had wheatfields that he leased to cattle ranchers, and Joe rode herd on the cattle. In June 1969, he went on Active Duty as an Infantry Officer. He deployed to Vietnam on May 1, 1970, as the Cambodian incursion was beginning. Reporting to the 90th Replacement at Long Binh, he was assigned to the 29th Civil Affairs Company in Hoi An because of his agricultural degree from college. His mission? Teach the Vietnamese how to grow rice. Even though the Vietnamese were not interested in changing their ancestral methods of rice cultivation, and they did not like the modified rice that the Americans were advocating, he found it interesting working with the Vietnamese. He had a young SPC 4 as an interpreter and he worked primarily with the Village Chief and Agricultural Chief. Generally, they thought Americans were rude, but Joe enjoyed interacting with the people and found it satisfying helping them improve their lives. While working with the 29th Civil Affairs Company, he ate mostly Vietnamese cuisine, which he describes as “fishy and hot” with plenty of Nuoc Mam. The 29th was headquartered in Da Nang at Camp Tien Sha, and after three months with Civil Affairs, Joe volunteered for service with the 101st. He reported to Camp Eagle where he completed SERTS training (Screaming Eagle Replacement Training School), learning good techniques for surviving in Vietnam. He was assigned to 3rd Platoon, D Company, 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry and felt like he had a good reception to the company. Since he had already been in Vietnam for three months, he was “the old man.” His first Platoon Sergeant, a black NCO, was excellent; he was on his second tour, and he tolerated no racial tensions within the platoon. His squad leaders were all Airborne, but most of his Soldiers, 95% of whom were draftees, were not, although they were all airmobile. Joe made sure to spend time face-to-face with each Soldier and he got to know their names and birthdays among other facts. His Platoon Sergeant, Squad Leaders, and RTO were his core group. He describes pulling security at Fire Base Birmingham, and notes it was just after the attack on Fire Base Ripcord. Joe remembers that Operation Lam Son 719 was a disaster. After that, his platoon went to the Rockpile on APCs, and after fighting the NVA, he observed North Vietnamese tanks along the DMZ from the top of the Rockpile. Trying to get fire support to shoot at the NVA from the Rockpile was his most memorable experience. In early April, he returned to Phu Bai and from there he went to Da Nang to support the III MEF Headquarters. When his tour ended, he left from Cam Ranh Bay on a “stretch 8” DC8. When he arrived home in May 1971 in his Khaki uniform, it was snowing at McChord Air Base. Flying into LA, he remembers people turning their backs and snubbing the returning veterans. Back home he began to understand his dad more. His father had served as a tanker during WWII in North Africa and Italy. Joe remembers his dad “had a bad case of PTSD” from carrying dead crewmates from the front. Reflecting on his time in Vietnam, he describes patrolling in different environments consisting of elephant grass or jungle. Frequently military dogs accompanied his patrols. They moved slowly, worried about ambushes. Sometimes a Chiêu Hồi (Open Arms – a North Vietnamese defector) accompanied Joe’s patrols, and he remembers communicating with the Chieu Hoi scout. He describes operating in rice paddies, traversing defoliated areas, and never following trails. High in the mountains, it got cold. He compares fighting NVA and VC and remarks that he preferred fighting the NVA because they stayed and fought. His medic was a Conscientious Objector who carried no weapons, not even a knife, but was the bravest Soldier in the platoon. “He always went to the wounded,” Joe recalls. Remembering his time on the Rockpile, he describes being shot at by 122mm rockets, and then trying to find the launchers. He saw Russian artillery and the flagpoles along the DMZ, which were daily targets. He states, “They always knew where we were at.” He took R&R to Hawaii to meet his wife and he “hated it.” It was around Christmas 1970, and he had just left a firefight. In Hawaii, the Japanese tourists and firecrackers for the holiday celebrations gave him flashbacks. After returning from Vietnam, he had orders to report to Ft. Polk, Louisiana, for Basic Training, but was then assigned to 2-12 Cavalry at Ft. Hood. 2-12 was the Test Battalion for the Army and Joe was assigned as the S2. After 18 months, he was due to return to Vietnam to take company command, but he volunteered for Flight School instead. He completed flight training at Ft. Wolters, Texas, and Ft. Rucker, Alabama, before being assigned to Ft. Dix Readiness Region II, where his job was flying high ranking advisors to the National Guard and Army Reserve around Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. On October 1, 1975, he was involuntarily separated and he went to work for the Custom Cattle Feed Yard. He also joined the National Guard, resigning his commission and entering the Guard as a Chief Warrant Officer 2. He transferred to the Colorado National Guard and worked for a fertilizer company, again using his college degree, and flying Cobras. When he developed a cataract, he was grounded, so he switched back to the commissioned side and retired as a Major. Even though he could not fly in the Army, he continued flying civilian air ambulances in Oregon, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. He describes being on call and able to get his helicopter in the air within 10 minutes of notification. He also conducted classes with fire and police departments on LZ operations. By the time he retired in December 2013, he had 12,000 hours flight time. He still suffers from Post Traumatic Stress and he gets jumpy with sudden noises, but he feels his four years of Active Duty and his National Guard time helped him readjust. He is frustrated, confused, and angry because of the time and effort we spent in Vietnam just to walk away. Starting in 2013, he began attending reunions, which he feels helps him with his Post Traumatic Stress and keeps him connected. Now he is the chair of the reunion committee and he feels personally connected to the 101st. Overall, he is proud of his service to the country.