Land, Clyde, SSG

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE ARMY.
I decided to go to the United States and join the Army because I wanted to travel around the world and my perception was that it would not happen while I was in the Canadian Army. Because of my time in the U.S. Army I was fortunate enough to see many different countries and forty of the States.

Also the way I was brought up, I believed that it was a persons patriotic duty to serve in the armed forces. Even though the United States was not my country of birth, my roots are deeply set in the United States. On my fathers side, he was born in Council Bluffs Iowa and moved to Canada, with his family in 1904.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BASIC TRAINING AND WHAT UNITS, BASES OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I joined the Army in Minneapolis, did basic training in Fort Leonard Wood in the Fall of 1962 and got to spend Christmas and New Years with my family in Canada. On January 26 (my mother's birthday) I landed in Germany where I spent the next three years.

While in Germany I took a short term discharge and reenlisted for helicopter mechanics school. Upon graduation I was married (26 March 1966) and shipped out to Vietnam in October 1966.

After I returned to the U.S. I was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. After going to Tech inspectors school and being promoted to E-6, my time was up and I was discharged in December of 1968.

I later joined th Arizona National Guard in 1981, and later transferred to the Federal Reserve. When it came time for me to reenlist in 1987, it was found that I had developed a heart murmur and was unable to pass the physical. So, in April of 1987 I received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army for the last time.

IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?
While I was in Vietnam I participated in a number of combat operations while with A company, 4th Aviation Battalion, of the 4th Infantry Division. Because of these operations I was awarded 12 Air Medals and the Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars.

I was transferred into the 4th Aviation Battalion as part of an infusion operation. I was assigned as a crew chief of a UH-1 and we were responsible for combat resupply and combat assault for units operating along the Cambodian border. We also flew Air Currier flights to the units operating between Hue and Bamituet. Most of these flights were at night. On other occasions we flew missions that sprayed defoliant on the jungle along Cambodian border.

OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
That would have to be when I was stationed in Kelly barracks and the German friends I made in Stuttgart.

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
The friendship that I developed with certain individuals. One of them was David Hall and the other was James Watson. Until I was transferred to the 4th aviation Battalion we worked together and were on nine combat/ambush patrols together. These were the only two that I was really close to.

WHAT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?
There were a couple of awards that I received that I do not consider particularly valorous. Any award that I received was from doing my assigned duties to the best of my ability. These were earned during the missions in support of both the U.S. army units and the South Vietnamese units that operated in and around Pliaku.

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
I consider any of the medals, awards and qualification badges or devices that I received were from doing what I was being paid to do. Although the Air Medals and the Vietnam Service Medal do stand out a little. Most of the badges and devices came from time in the service.

WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
There were so many different people that had a major impact on me that I would be hard pressed to pick out any particular individual. Of the ones I served with the two most outstanding individuals were Captain Ostick (now deceased) and Lt Michael Lovett.

CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
One comes to mind. It involved an individual who was on his way to the mess tent for KP. He was carrying a large flash light so he could see where he was going. All of a sudden the light was knocked out of his hand. At first he thought that he had been shot at, but upon looking around he saw that the light was still on, which it would not have been had it been hit by a bullet. He picked the light up and started looking around and found that a very large bug had been attracted to the light and had flown into it.

I recall one event that I considered, after the fact, to be extremely funny. I was with a target acquisition battalion, and we spent a lot of time in the field observing Soviet artillery and mortar units when they were having firing practice. My assigned responsibilities were to care for the power generator and it was always situated under the trees. Each time we went into a location we had to dig a foxhole and being in the trees made it more difficult because of the roots from bushes and trees. Anyway, this one time we went into position and where the radar control van and dish were set up, there were a set of freshly dug foxholes (or so they thought) I was feeling sorry for myself because I had to dig a foxhole in the trees. That is until the first time that we were attack by the aggressors. All the radar personnel ran out and jumped into the ready made foxholes only to find that the ground was saturated with powdered cs tear gas. While they were all crying and coughing I was sitting in my foxhole in the trees busting a gut laughing.

Another time we were going through our monthly, pre-payday CBR training class. We had just been provided with the new atropine surettes that had the needle inside the dispenser. I was an automatic release instead of us having to stab ourselves and then roll up the tube to inject the atropine. We had one young buck Sgt that really was not very bright, and he was playing with a new surette and touched the tip with his thumb. He immediately received a shot of atropine. It was several hours before he was back to his normal self. From then on when we were told that it was an automatic injection people believed it.

WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
After the service I went into electronics and spent a number of years teaching in technical colleges. The last three years, before I retired I spent as an electronics tech doing circuit board repair at the component level. After I retired and returned to Canada I became involved in missionary work with the Southern Baptist convention.

WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
I am a member of :
The National 4th Infantry (Ivy) Division Association.
Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association
Disabled American Veterans (life member).
Vietnam Veterans of America.
They help me stay up to date with what is happening.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
Basically it taught me to take life one day at a time and not worry about the things that I have no control over and to do what I have to, to deal with the things that I do have control over.

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE ARMY?
Stay sober and keep your heads down and learn from your experiences. Look out for your buddies! your lives depend on each other.

IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.

TWS and the US Army

It has allowed me to put my service in perspective and to read about others that have served and are still serving. My perspective is some what different from most, in that I am a Canadian who served in the U.S. Army. I may also help me to locate Dave and James, if they are still alive.

DS 8/5/16