A Redcatcher's Letters from Nam: Book 2

By Patricia Farawell Enyedy

This sentimental book is a diary of a brother sent to Vietnam in 1968. Book 2 includes the first book "A Redcatcher's Letters from Nam" with the letters George wrote home along with the journey it sent his sister, Patricia, the author on for the next 45 years.

As Gold Star Sister she was embraced by her brother's unit the Redcatchers. Many vetsshared their memories with her over the years and are included. Special articles written by Robert Fromme he wrote later in life are included.

For my children, grandchildren and family to remember a real Hero in their family whowas a fine athlete, good friend, loving son and brother. For my mom who lived to be 100years old she quietly missed her boy for 45 years.

For old friends who still remember their friend from childhood wrote wonderful heartfelt stories are included. So many still asking about the first book for their kids andgrandkids.

Hopefully leaving a small legacy for the young people of today to know the Vietnam War through the words and tears of a small town boy who was called to duty in 1968.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504954464

Patricia Farawell Enyedy

Seeing this book in print is a dream come true. I always wanted to try my hand at writing, and what better subject to write about than a brother you loved and lost. I had to open my heart and visit grief again, but it was worth it. My journey led me to finding Vietnam veterans, learning more about another memorial he is listed on in Georgia, finding old friends, and renewing friendships. It has taken me to heights of simple pleasure I have never known. I live in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, with my husband and my mother. We built our retirement house on three wooded acres on top of a mountain. My two married children live in New Jersey, and I have two grandchildren, Tyler and Courtney. As I feel some closure in this chapter of my life and the Vietnam War, I am now facing my nephew’s deployment in Operation Freedom. We all changed forever on September 11, 2001. Life goes on, and we still have to fight to keep our precious freedom.

Book preview

A Redcatcher’s Letters from Nam

Book 2

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REFLECTIONS OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Written by

Patricia Farawell Enyedy

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AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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Phone: [phone]

© 2015 Patricia Farawell Enyedy. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 04/06/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-5447-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-5446-4 (e)

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

Book 1: The Soldier

The Beginning Of The 199th Lib

Redcatcher 199th Memorial

Redcatcher The 199th Patch

Introduction PFC George T. Farawell

My Reflections Of The 199Th Lib

Thank You

Getting Started

The Things They Carried

Reflections Of Fellow Soldiers In 2001

My Parents

My Brother

My Wedding

Saying Good Bye

Book 1: The Letters

Letters From George

The News

Ballplayer Viet Victim

Mine Kills Linden GI

Reflections Of A Mother

The Funeral

Try To Understand

Book 1: Reflections

Pfc George T. Farawell Memorial Park

My Boy

Another Death

Changes In 1998

1999

2001

Finding Each Other Again

Reflections Of My Brother

Reflections Of My Friend

Welcome Home The Return

My Reflections

Part 2

Reflections Of Family And Friends

Vietnam Era Educational Center Hosts

Friends Run For The Wall, Part Ii

Reflections Of Redcatchers Today

Elvira, First Impression

Discord In Delta Company

Time To Think

Going Nowhere Fast

Reflections Of Today

My Reflections

Pictures On The Back Cover:

About The Author

This book is dedicated to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade

In loving memory of my brother

PFC George Thomas Farawell

And all the brave men and women

Who lost their lives or were wounded in Vietnam.

Thank you to the living vets who never forgot their buddies.

May it bring you some peace to know

The families of the KIA’s or MIA’s never forgot you either.

You could have been our boy.

I thank you one and all.

God Bless You.

Check out their website: www.redcatcher.org

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you for your help from the 199th LIB: Clay Crowder, for your wonderful memorial in memory of George and giving me direction; Bob Fromme, for your patience and guidance by letting me read your letters; Tom Hays for permission to use the patch, memorial and information of the 199th and Ricky Jones and Larry Spaulding for your kind emails.

Thank you for your reflections:

Wayne Garrett 199th LIB D 4/12, Stephen Farawell, Richard (Gag) and Jennifer Gagliardi, Ronnie Kisylia, Richard Burke, Barbara Lyons Pawlowski, Steven Di Gangi, Edward Malinowsky, Diane Stracensky Pribush, Robin Kornmeyer, Paul Schlicker, Sam Iacobone, Doug Jolly, Michael Favor and Mike Brown.

Special thanks to:

My nephew Major L. A. (Jack) McLaughlin Jr., US Army for saying those words, Aunt Patti you should publish these letters and helping me edit. Elliott Enyedy, my husband, who thinks I can do anything I put my mind to. My brother Stephen for his support who helped me find the guys who along with me loved finding out more information about our brother. To my family for all their prayers and support who can tell you what they were doing when they heard the news. To my friends, who have listened to this story so many times and we still cry every time. To Richie Gag, my dear friend, who loved my brother as much as I did. Tom and Cheryl Snyder of C&T Artworks for designing this beautiful cover.

Thank you all for helping me find the closure, I needed at this time.

PREFACE

My brother PFC George T. Farawell was sent to Vietnam in January 1969. After the holidays with 8 weeks of basic training at Fort Dix, NJ and 8 weeks in Fort Polk, LA of Advanced Infantry Training our 19-year-old boy was off to Vietnam half way around the world. They had a 3-day stop over in San Francisco where the future veterans had a great time, their last fling before going to war.

Our boy was off on his own for the first time in his life. I call George boy in my book because that is what he was. Time has stood still in my memory of him. I know when he stepped off that plane in Vietnam, he was a man but in our hearts he is still our boy.

The Army gave him an M16 and he was assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Delta Company 4/12. There he would live the last 8 weeks of his life, afraid, dirty, bug bitten, in a foreign land with strangers who were now his lifeline.

My brother wrote 25 wonderful letters to mom, dad, my husband and myself in those 8 short weeks. In this book, I will share his letters. These precious letters faded with time, some written in pencil and on all different types of paper always trying to reassure us he was ok. If your loved one did not write, these could be your letters.

This book has taken quite a few turns since I started writing it. My first intention was to find Glenn, George’s bunker buddy who was wounded on 16 March 69. I still have not found him.

George and I were only 15 months apart and we were so close, we even shared a best friend. Richard and I kept in touch over the years. I was reading George’s letters recently and thought no one else has ever read these. I wanted to share them with family and his friends. What happened to all of his friends?

I decided I would try and find everyone. It was not that difficult since most of them are still in NJ. I found them one at a time. Once the shock wore off and the tears stopped flowing they were so pleased with what I intended to do. One led me to another. They were all eager to talk about emotions that have been buried for 32 years. I wanted to know how they all found out, what happened in their life. So we met one Saturday afternoon at George’s Park to reflect and have dinner. This was hard on me because I still think of them as 19 like my brother. I met all these wonderful men and women who never forgot their friend. They all have visited George at the Park, the DC Memorial, or the NJ memorial in the last 6 months.

They have all written a reflection of their friend 32 years later. They are priceless just like their friend’s letters.

BOOK I

THE SOLDIER

For us lay people I wanted to give you a little background on the 199th.

THE BEGINNING OF THE 19⁹TH LIB

Formally activated June 1st, 1966 the Brigade began small unit training on June 27th at Fort Benning, Georgia to be followed by eight weeks of field training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Fulfilling the concept of a modern Light Infantry Brigade (Light Swift & Accurate is the 199th’s motto) and its role in counterinsurgency warfare the Brigade was designed as a hitchhiker unit with heavy equipment kept to a minimum.

Following intensive preparations, a 280-man advance party left in early November 1966. After final review the majority of Redcatchers were flown to Oakland, California where they boarded the USS Sultan and the USS Pope for the more than two weeks trip across the Pacific Ocean. The USS Sultan docked at Vung Tau and two days later the USS Pope docked and everyone moved to meet the advanced party at a tent encampment north of Long Binh that was to become the Brigade Main Base, Camp Frenzell-Jones.

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REDCATCHER 199TH MEMORIAL

(199th Infantry Brigade) Memorial

Dedication May 24, 1998

The Memorial is located at Fort Benning, Columbus Ga.

Just in front of the Infantry Museum.

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REDCATCHER THE 199TH PATCH

Chances are most people cannot tell you what the Redcatcher patch stands for.

The Blue and White denote the Infantry.

The Spear, an early Infantry weapon, in flames symbolizes the evolution and firepower of the modern Infantry.

It represents early Infantry’s use of thrusting weapons and projectiles thrown or shot from bows, ballista’s and catapults.

Contrary to popular belief, the RED BALL in the center of the patch represents man’s splitting of the atom, the Nuclear Age in which Infantry fights side by side with weapons of sophisticated warfare.

The Yellow flame signifies the advent of gunpowder and the new trend in Infantry warfare.

Fusillades through the centuries echoed from reports of the matchlock, the flintlock, the percussion cap and repeating rifle.

Infantry warfare becomes more massive in the face of these weapons, but the repeating rifle dominates, with modifications, to this day.

The overall patch is symbolic of the development of Infantry and Infantry support through the ages.

The oblong blue shield of the patch is a depiction of the shields used by the forerunners of modern Infantry, namely the Greek Phalanx and Roman Legion.

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INTRODUCTION PFC GEORGE T. FARAWELL

PFC George T. Farawell

US 519 87070

199th Light Infantry Brigade

D 4/12

George was sent to Vietnam in January 1969. After a few days training in Long Binh he went into Delta Company the 199th LIB. He was stationed in Long Binh and died in Gia Dinh on the riverbank. He served as a radio telephone operator.

They had 6 men injured in his unit in 3 days, that week in March 1969 by stepping on land mines and tripping booby traps. George’s bunker buddy, Glenn was the point man and since they were walking on the road turned off the metal detector. He only made one mistake. He tripped a booby trap. George saw it all. Glenn, suffered severe leg and feet injuries in the incident. George helped his injured buddy putting him in the helicopter. All those good men not hurt by enemy fire. I am not sure if any survived or if they knew George did not. I have been trying to find Glenn for years.

George wrote home that night to his family because he was so upset over the tragedies. He was trying to deal with his emotions. The following day, George was also injured on a land mine. He suffered a penetrating missile wound, right side of his chest, multi fragment wounds to chest, abdomen and left shoulder. He died on 18 March 1969. He was only in Vietnam for 8 weeks, 17 Jan 69 to 18 Mar 69. He just turned 20 years old on 27 Jan. He was buried with a Military funeral in Colonia, NJ. In our city of Linden NJ, George’s death brought the death toll to 12.

George was awarded: The Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon (awarded by the Republic of Vietnam).

The city of Linden, New Jersey dedicated a playground in his honor in September 1969 named PFC George T. Farawell Memorial Park. My parents were presented his medals at the ceremony.

George’s name is inscribed on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC, and on the Vietnam Memorial in Holmdel New Jersey which was dedicated by General Norman Schwarzkopf. Gold families of the veterans were invited. We walked in a procession to the memorial lined with honor guards from around the state all branches of the military. Standing at attention sobbing servicemen saying thank you as we passed, some in wheelchairs, all proud and true Americans. It was a very emotional day.

George’s name is also inscribed on the 199th Infantry Brigade Memorial in Fort Benning Georgia I found out recently. He was a redcatcher never forgotten by the 199th LIB.

When you visit the memorials stop and visit George he is someone you would have been proud to know.

MY REFLECTIONS OF THE 199TH LIB

This is not a military book, it was never meant to be a military book. It is just a memoir of a soldier. These are only my impressions.

I have learned a lot in my research about the 199th Infantry. They are brothers who went through the worst time of their lives together. Can you imagine the constant fear of death for a year or two? Most of them fresh out of high school, from all different walks of life from farm boys to troubled teens who were put in the military over jail time. The officers were college graduates also taken from their homes and dropped in the middle of Vietnam to lead a group of young scared and some angry boys in war. They had to set an example for their unit and hope to God they made it.

The 199th did all foot patrol so they were in danger with every step they took. My brother wore out a pair of boots in 4 weeks. Land mines and booby traps were everywhere. You learned not to walk on the roads but through jungle, water and rice paddies with water up to your chin at times with everything they had held over their head. The 199th were the saviors who could not be saved. Their motto was Light Swift and Accurate.

They were taught to make buddies but not close friends in the war zone. The turnover time was too frequent. You could not mourn. There was no time you had to be ready for any possibility from enemy fire to tripping a booby trap. They went on ambush at night and walked in total darkness. You were responsible for the guy behind you to follow you or you could be lost for hours. You prayed the soldier on guard duty would stay awake during his watch. Your life was in his hands. They had to battle the extreme heat and they got use to being dirty real quick sometimes without a bath for weeks and some days without drinking water. One story I read during a rainstorm one soldier just striped down just to get clean with his soap. The rain let up before he could rinse but he felt clean. They learned to make do with whatever they had.

They had to battle insects, snakes, flies, fleas, ticks, termites, large beetles, roaches, leeches, red ants and even water buffalo just to name of few. They always had to check their boots before putting them on it was impossible to dry them out. They would put rubber bands on their pants to keep the leeches from crawling up their legs. If they did they would burn them off. In the river the red ants laid on the surface like red lace.

They had to do battle with people who all looked alike. Friends by day, enemy by night, they could trust no one except each other.

They had to battle bad press while still at war. Did my brother die in vain I think not, if one thing immerged from that fiasco was that it will never happen again! The American people want to know: who, what, where, when and why before our troops are sent to any conflict in the world.

Quite frankly, no one ever told me I could question or find out what happened. I never want to know what exactly happened I can guess from all the letters and information made available for me to read from some wonderful veterans who were there. It is bad enough the veterans have to carry that with them for the rest of their life but I do want them to know they served with a very special person in my life. They shared the last days of his precious life not me.

My mother for weeks had the number 18 in her head. That is day he died. Our precious boy was coming home a man. Never to be seen again by all who loved him but only in our memory. Now we had to deal with the numbness of his presence not being with us. We had to deal with the grief. Grief is not our friend, it takes you over, it makes you angry, and it goes away and comes back again. It never leaves you.

When a solider dies in combat, the pain is deeper than death on the families.

Right now writing this I feel so utterly helpless and spent with emotion 32 years later. Tears are flowing, hands are shaking and I want to scream. Why? Why? Why? Is the question we still ask today! Why my boy? What did he do to deserve this? Did he know what happened? Did he suffer? Did he get the best medical treatment? When my brother went to Vietnam I felt so guilty sleeping in a bed knowing George was in the jungle on the ground. It was worse then I imagined those bunkers along the river, dirty small bunkers, dirty water to bathe in, hot weather like an oven. You adjusted to it this was your life for the next year.

In finding the website www.redcatcher.org. I