This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CW4 Ward T Blanchard, Jr.
to remember
Carlson, Sam (OCITA), CPT USA(Ret).
If you knew or served with this Soldier and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
I retired from the Army (again) in late March 2010 and from Lockheed Martin effective 1 July 2010.
I'm currently enrolled in school at Kennesaw State University drawing down my Post 9/11 GI Bill in order to take fun and interesting courses. I was only able to use 6 months of my Vietnam GI Bill before I received my MS degree and the Vietnam GI Bill expired in 1989. The VA subtracted those six months from my Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits. This means I can be a professional student for 3 1/2 years!
I almost feel like Rodney Dangerfield in "Back to School".
Other Comments:
I am the third generation of five generations of US Army.
1. Grandfather, PFC Charles A. Carlson, a Scandinavian immigrant, served from 1917 to 1919 in the Army's Air Service (23rd Balloon Company) in France during WWI. His TWS memorial profile is located at http://army.togetherweserved.com/profile/280259
2. Father, LTC Carsten Carlson served from 1937 to 1963... WWII in the Pacific ('41-'42) and Europe '44 -'45) & Korea (1950) plus the Vietnam era. His TWS memorial profile page is at http://army.togetherweserved.com/profile/388780
3. I served in the Regular Army from 1967 to 1987; in the TX Guard from 1992 to 1995; and again in the Regular Army from 2005 to 2010 as a recalled retiree.
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4. My son, 1SG Sam Carlson, was active duty starting in 1984, served as a tank commander with the 2d ACR during the first Gulf War and was the 1SG of the Laghman PRT in Afghanistan at about the same time as I was there with the 3d IBCT, 10th Mtn Div (LI) during my 2009 - 2010 deployment He retired with over 26 years AFS effective September 2010.
5. Grandson, SGT David Carlson, was also on active duty and recently returned from a deployment to Iraq where he was an Army UAV Pilot. His TWS Profile is at http://army.togetherweserved.com/Profile/88564
Uncle, Vernon L. Carlson, USMC, served from 1940 to 1946 with combat service at Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guam, Okinawa and as a China Marine. See his proile on the Marine TWS site at http://marines.togetherweserved.com/profile/219359
Brother, Carsten D. Carlson, LTC, USA (Ret), served in combat with C Co, 2d Bn 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam from approximately January 1968 to August 1968 when he was medically evacuated with serious wounds. He enlisted in the USAR in 1962 and was commissioned in about 1966. He later went on active duty, retiring as a Regular Army officer with 20 years of active service.
Uncle Charles R. Carlson, SGM, USA (Ret) / CPT, AUS (Ret), served from 1947 to 1968 with combat service in Korea and Vietnam. See his profile at the Army TWS site at http://army.togetherweserved.com/profile/87789
In addition to my time with the US Army, I served in the Texas Guard from 1992 to 1995. I served as the XO of the 502d Military Police Battalion and later as Commander, 2d Bn, 4th Bde from 1993 to 1995. I entered the Guard as a Captain and was soon promoted to Major by the State AG.. I left the Guard in 1995 as a Lt Colonel.
Other members of my famly have served, particularly on my father's mother's side of the family, with Union forces in the Civil War, the War of 1812, the American Revolution, French & Indian Wars.... and others, going back to my 10th Great Grandparents who came over on the Mayflower in 1620. Their daughter (my 9th Great Grandmother), Rebecca Towne, was hanged as a witch during the time of the Salem witch trials. She was later found not guilty, but that verdict came a little late. Another ancestor from that side of the family participated in the Norman Invasion of 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. That side of the family has aslo been traced back to ancient royals of the House of Wessex as well as other French and English Royalty, including ancient French, Scandinavian and Germanic Kings.
Description This campaign was from 30 January to 1 April 1968. On 29 January 1968 the Allies began the Tet-lunar new year expecting the usual 36-hour peaceful holiday truce. Because of the threat of a large-scale attack and communist buildup around Khe Sanh, the cease fire order was issued in all areas over which the Allies were responsible with the exception of the I CTZ, south of the Demilitarized Zone.
Determined enemy assaults began in the northern and Central provinces before daylight on 30 January and in Saigon and the Mekong Delta regions that night. Some 84,000 VC and North Vietnamese attacked or fired upon 36 of 44 provincial capitals, 5 of 6 autonomous cities, 64 of 242 district capitals and 50 hamlets. In addition, the enemy raided a number of military installations including almost every airfield. The actual fighting lasted three days; however Saigon and Hue were under more intense and sustained attack.
The attack in Saigon began with a sapper assault against the U.S. Embassy. Other assaults were directed against the Presidential Palace, the compound of the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, and nearby Ton San Nhut air base.
At Hue, eight enemy battalions infiltrated the city and fought the three U.S. Marine Corps, three U.S. Army and eleven South Vietnamese battalions defending it. The fight to expel the enemy lasted a month. American and South Vietnamese units lost over 500 killed, while VC and North Vietnamese battle deaths may have been somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000.
Heavy fighting also occurred in two remote regions: around the Special Forces camp at Dak To in the central highlands and around the U.S. Marines Corps base at Khe Sanh. In both areas, the allies defeated attempts to dislodge them. Finally, with the arrival of more U.S. Army troops under the new XXIV Corps headquarters to reinforce the marines in the northern province, Khe Sanh was abandoned.
Tet proved a major military defeat for the communists. It had failed to spawn either an uprising or appreciable support among the South Vietnamese. On the other hand, the U.S. public became discouraged and support for the war was seriously eroded. U.S. strength in South Vietnam totaled more than 500,000 by early 1968. In addition, there were 61,000 other allied troops and 600,000 South Vietnamese.
The Tet Offensive also dealt a visibly severe setback to the pacification program, as a result of the intense fighting needed to root out VC elements that clung to fortified positions inside the towns. For example, in the densely populated delta there had been approximately 14,000 refugees in January; after Tet some 170,000 were homeless. The requirement to assist these persons seriously inhibited national recovery efforts.
