Oh, ok ... got'cha.

Kind of a downer story actually.

Here's one that's a little more upbeat. I've always wondered where this guy came up with his PFC Kribbs character. Our family name was actually spelled with a "C" (Cribbs) but according to what I was told as a kid, my great (don't know how many greats) grandfather had a major falling out with the family and changed the spelling of his last name to begin with a "K". I have no clue if the story is true, but I've met quite a few Cribbs' but was told anyone who spells it with a "K" is a relative (I've never met one that wasn't connected to known family).

Anyway, I'm no war hero. I was in Mil. Intel. and was always highly protected. Sure, there were always ways to get in trouble, there WAS a war going on and all ... but I was headed to 'Nam right at the time we were pulling out. My orders got shuffled around and after a bit of bouncing around here and there, I was sent to Thailand, which became my base of operations (with a bit of added excitement thrown in from time to time).

In the 3+ years I was there (never came home) I worked the Vietnamese mission, then the Laotian mission, moved to the Cambodian mission and had developed and was working the Burmese mission (now Myanmar) when I decided to throw in the towel. So S.E. Asia was my home away from home.

But back to the story. I was on a flight out of 'Nam with a bunch of crazies and quite a few of us bonded a bit. I remember a few guys who were as nutzo as I was at that age and we spent quite a bit of time together doing some heavy drinking and partying. I don't remember any of their names and they were basically there awaiting orders to ETS or DEROS. Anyway, I ran across this story many years ago and although the names are bogus, I have always wondered how the guy came up with the name PFC Kribbs in the story. (I was a PFC at the time this story took place) I thought maybe the author was one of the crazies I partied with back in '72, but I "think" I emailed him about 20 years ago and can't remember if I ever heard back from him. The ONLY one of that group who happened to end up staying in Thailand, actually trained me on the Vietnamese mission. He never left and has been there since '72 after leaving Phu Bai ('Nam). We've remained friends all these years, still stay in touch and I get together with him whenever I'm in country (he's at the American Embassy in Bangkok).

Well anyway, it's a fun read and a little more upbeat if you like this kind of stuff.

http://www.vietvet.org/kicked.htm