CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Read on for a glimpse of what it was like to be in basic training in 1970 -- not long after the Kent State University shootings -- when life could be dazed and confused. I was at a place the Army called "Tigerland," in Louisiana, the anti-war movement was gaining force, and things were tense. They had just spun out of control that May in Ohio, where National Guard rifle-fire killed four students.
Here are some pictures of what Fort Polk's Tigerland looked like as young soldiers were trained for war. Hollywood made a movie in 2000 that was called Tigerland about Fort Polk's role in the Vietnam-era. The reviewer, who trained there, captured the place pretty well, including the fact that Leesville -- the town outside the gates -- was isolated and hardly a hotbed of anti-war sentiment.
At Fort Polk, the Army cancelled its Armed Forces Day celebration in 1970, and there were several posts that apparently did the same. Some peaceful protests and demonstrations took place at other military installations.
An old drill sergeant remembers how some people went AWOL rather than complete basic, and describes the "trainees" difficulty slipping out of Leesville by Greyhound.
A Wikimapia of Fort Polk today is HERE.
Now, there's a good bit of debate under way on the Internet about whether vets were or weren't spit at during the Vietnam years, a lot of it stirred up by the post immediately beneath this one. These stories have been challenged as urban myths.
An article in the online magazine Slate from a few years back is HERE, and it directly and sincerely raises questions about the amount of expectoration aimed at troops. On the other hand, there are comments from Vietnam era vets who rebut the assertion there was no spitting.
My take: Only the spittees and spittors know the answer. But the debate will last for years -- like the contretemps over who was at fault in Kent on May 4, 1970, troops or students, students or troops. The side you take depends on what you want to believe.
Monday, January 29, 2007
1970 At Ft. Polk Louisiana: Those Were The Days
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10 comments:
My husband was an AIT DI from 1969-1972 at Ft. Polk. Anyone remember SGT Bob Wood?
I went thru Tigerland in the summer of 67. Became an OCS holdover and aggressor on Peason Ridge. I don;t have any idea why that name. I also worked for a brief time at the E & E compound.
I saw about a hundred guys "waterboarded" and only two did not break. Non were physically hurt
and all took back the simple truism-DON'T GET CAPTURED! While we did not have live ammo on the ridge we had all the pyrotechnics
you could dream of. there is much more but not enough room here.
E-5-3(67)Echo Experts,Sir!Best damn fighters in the 3rd Brigade!
I just picked up this article regarding Ft Polk, AIT, and Tigerland and it brought back a few memories. I arrived there in Aug 1970 for Basic and AIT 11C. We moved out to Tigerland in Dec in the rain and cold and arrived at night. Pitch black ..no lights ,,everything soaked..I was driving the water truck..deuce and a half with a tank ..no roof..what a trip..slipping and sliding all the way..next night a couple of guys in a bunker tried to fill a coleman type lantern with gas siphoned from a jeep. Only problem was they filled an empty 7.62 ammo can with the gas and tried to fill the lantern while lit...A lot of the drinking water in that tank truck was used to put out the fire..both guys burned pretty badly.rest of the Tigerland training as noted in the article..Ended up going to Drill Sgt school at Jackson and back to Polk as weps instructor..JH C-3-5 Dec 1970
Looking for Nolan Lang...Ft. Bragg 1969...Ft. Polk 1970....From College Park Ga. Email jackie29340@gmail.com. Thanks.
i was at ft Polk, apr-70 june-70co B51,.
i was with company B Fifth battalion, BCT
may-july,1970
Anyone remember John McPherson from Gaffney, SC?
Ft. Polk Infantry AIT May-Jun 1970 B-3-3
I did AIT 11-Bravo at Polk Oct.-Dec. 1970, arrived in the Republic of Vietnam Jan 11, 1971. An hour off the plane I volunteered to be a Scout Dog Handler and never looked back. The Grunts suffered over there...in more ways then one. I'm glad todays infantry units are better compensated for being in harms-way.
BT in NJ
i went through AIT at Polk in 1969 with the 11B MOS and on to Nam. i wish i knew who the aggressor was that fired those blank rounds in the sand by my face on the E&E course. although caught, i managed to escape but i still think of that SOB. i saw peaceful demonstrating near Post gates at Sill (yes, even Jane once). there was an airport incident, i recall the incident but not the location. the demonstrators were yelling obcenities and spitting through the chain link fence. so it happened to me but not like the egregious accounts that some of the vets or fakers make it out to be.
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