9 Ranks the Army Sent to Vietnam That Fought Completely Different Wars

From the general reading reports in Saigon to the private filling sandbags on the bunker line, every rank in Vietnam lived a different war: different pay, different beds, different fears, and for the officers, often a different length of command. They all drew the same sixty-five dollars of hostile fire pay, and on the Wall in Washington, none of their names has a rank. Chapters: 0:00 One firebase, nine ranks 1:41 The same sixty-five dollars 1:58 The general 4:08 The lieutenant colonel 5:46 The warrant officer 7:15 The captain 9:09 The lieutenant 10:44 The platoon sergeant 11:58 The shake 'n bake 13:40 The Spec 4 15:16 The private 17:13 How it ended for each rank 18:07 The Wall 18:56 Back on the firebase Your turn: what was your rank in Vietnam, and what was the war like from where you stood? Rank, unit, place and year, one line is enough. Sources: - 1968 U.S. Military Basic Pay Chart (effective 1 July 1968) and hostile fire pay, via NavyCS and DTIC, History of Combat Pay - HistoryNet, Vietnam War: The Individual Rotation Policy; and Shake 'n' Bake Sergeants - NCO Historical Society, The Shake 'n' Bake NCO - Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, helicopter loss and casualty records - National Archives, Vietnam War casualty statistics #VietnamWar #VietnamVeterans #MilitaryHistory