[week of heroes] Vietnam Vets “LT” Scott Jackson and Green Beret Del Albright

Lifestyle November 13, 2018 ModernJeeper

As we continue our Week of Heroes, today is dedicated to all Vietnam vets and their families, showcasing Scott Jackson and Del Albright. Technically,...

As we continue our Week of Heroes, today is dedicated to all Vietnam vets and their families, showcasing Scott Jackson and Del Albright. Technically, the war in Vietnam ran from 1955 to 1975, with most American involvement starting in the 1960’s. 58, 220 service men lost their lives in this war, with many unaccounted for still today (MIA). We are thankful to them all, and especially proud to bring you two men who came home to share their stories, wisdom and experience with us all. Patriots!

The Editors

Scott Jackson

“LT” on the Rubicon Trail

Scott Jackson is a Vietnam vet who has attended all 10 years of Wheelers for the Wounded of California (WFTW) in his loaner Jeep with Tim Downs. A true warrior you want to have covering your “six,” Scott was a Lieutenant in the war who led men into battle, who carries to this day the nickname “LT.”

This is his story.

Most combat vets come home with a lot of mental and physical baggage; I was no different after my deployment to Vietnam. I was an Infantry Unit Commander who received my platoon in Duc Pho, just south of Quang Ngai in 1971.

I think how I introduced myself to the 3rd Plt , C Co, 3/1, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, got their attention. I told my men that they had 2 weeks to get my “shit together”. It worked. We worked and acted like a well-oiled machine.

Our mission was to “close with and destroy the enemy”, Search and Destroy was the terminology. We worked entirely outside the wire (meaning outside the safety of a barbed wire perimeter), and only saw the forward fire support base for 3 days at the end of each mission.

My first mission, (5 weeks) I lost our platoon leader Sgt Todd to a booby trap (we didn’t have the term IED back then). I lost 5 men in my 8 months in the field, 3 of them on March 6th, 1971, the main reason for my nightmares over the years. I have been haunted for some of the things I did and was done to us.

One thing that put me and my men on the same page is that I would never ask my men to do anything I would not do. I hate tunnels, to this day. So, instead of sending men in to search the multitude of Viet Cong tunnels, I just blew them up with 43-lb “Composition B” explosive charges…. much more fun. The down side is my Tinnitus from the destructive noise from the blasts.

As I was diagnosed with PTSD, my shrink started me on remembering the “good things” that happened to me –not just the ugly.

At first, I had nothing. There was nothing good about war. Then slowly, one by one I came up with cool memories of things we had done.

For instance, we were humping back to our fire base one day and had to a pass a canyon that the Viet Cong (VC) used for hiding their supplies. There was a bomb crater about 50′ across, full of water, and covered with bamboo.

As we approached what became our swimming hole, my radio operator (RTO), Medic, and myself heard kids playing in “our” swimming hole. No civilians were allowed here. We low-crawled through the bamboo to see the Vietnamese family playing in the water, “Papa-Son” and his kids.

By the rule book there were several things we were supposed to do according to our SOP, (Standard Operating Procedure), however… here were 4 little piles of clothes all folded up in neat piles. So, forget the SOP’s, I took all of their PJ’s (farmer like pajama bottoms) and tied all the legs together, and quietly left. To this day I know that Papa-Son gave us free travel through his canyon.

Post-Vietnam: The most incredible thing that happened to me was an event that a bunch of crazy Jeepers had put together– Wheelers for The Wounded of Calif. These folks’ main purpose was to get combat vets and Purple Heart recipients together to learn of the many programs offered by the Veterans Administration, and to get us connected. About 25 of us with 25 drivers take on the Rubicon Trail every year for a weekend of fun, friends, and a few tears now and then. They have truly saved my life, as I as on a very bad path. Off Roaders Forever!!

Lt. Scott Jackson and Del remembering POW and MIA.

Wheelers for the Wounded of CA on the famous Rubicon “slabs.”

LT Scott Jackson — hero!

His face says it all.

Army Special Forces Green Beret Del Albright

Del with his first “Jeep” in Vietnam

Del Albright serves on the ModernJeeper Media Team and brings his patriotic love of this country to everything he does. The U.S. Army sent him to Central/South America and then Vietnam during his active duty time. This is his story of combat and lessons learned.

In 1967 I volunteered for the Army and prepared myself for Vietnam; I knew where I belonged. My country was at war. I signed up to be a “line repairman” climbing telephone poles and keeping the lines of communication alive, as did my Uncle Lloyd in Korea. Uncle Sam decided I had too many skills to just climb poles; and wanted me to see the sights — the sights of a rifle in combat. I became Infantry nearly immediately in my training.

In 1968 I was an extra on the set of “The Green Berets” being filmed by John Wayne at Ft. Benning, Georgia. I was in awe of The Duke and he gave me the final push to make the jump. It wasn’t long before the powers that be groomed and trained me to join the elite fighting forces of America.

I became an Officer, graduated from “Jump School” (Airborne), excelled in Ranger School training, and then attended Special Forces (Green Beret) training. To this day, the cadence many soldiers “sing” when running and marching includes the words: I wanna be an Airborne Ranger, living the life of luck and danger.” Yea, that was me.

To finish out my training and experience, the Army sent me to Central/South America to head up an A-Team of Green Berets. Jungle fighting became my expertise, along with the further enhancement of military dive/SCUBA and Para-SCUBA training. I was jumping (paratrooping) out of airplanes over the ocean, at night, dressed in combat gear. They were making me a combination of jungle fighter, SEAL, Ranger, UDT and half-spook. Crazy times.

Then came Vietnam. I served as an infantry combat adviser to the Army, Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in the Mekong Delta. I was in battle two to three weeks a month for about 11 months. I was awarded four (4) Bronze Stars (a few included the V for Valor); 2 Air Medals for combat assaults by helicopter; and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry as well as other chest cabbage.

Biggest lesson I learned…

No one wants to die when the time comes; good guy or bad. But when faced with the choice; humans will fight hard and kill others to survive. War should never have to be a choice for any nation.

Funniest thing that happened…

In a remote village of southern Vietnam where “white people” were just non-existent, I encountered a group of young kids that were fascinated with my freckles. They had never seen a red-haired man with freckles. I spent an hour squatted down in the middle of the village dirt road while they attempted to count the spots on my arms. I laugh about that to this day.

Worst memory from war…

Coming home left a pretty sour, life-long bad taste in my mouth. I landed in the airport looking for my family, and got spit on the back of my neck by a passing anti-war hippie. The entire country, for the most part, began the systematic destruction of the Vietnam war and the military who fought. Most of us “disappeared” into the masses, not talking about the war for 20, or 30 years. We became the old soldiers whose family would say, “he doesn’t talk much about it.”

Best thing I remember about the Army and war…

Simple put: Coming home in one piece (physically) and helping others understand the treasure we have called freedom.