Vietnam 2nd battalion
John F. Teece
D, E Companies 1971 – 1972
I served with Co. D, 2/327th Inf from March,1971 till October, then I transferred to Co. E, 1/327th Inf until the early withdrawls brought me home in January, 1972.
I joined the Army as soon as I turned 18 and quit high school in 1970. I’d had 4 yrs. of high school Army ROTC besides 10 years in Scouting and it looked like the war was winding down, so like an idiot, I quit high school two months before graduation and joined the Army – requesting infantry – Vietnam. Not wanting to totally waste my high school diploma I instead passed the GED test a month after enlistment. I’ve always had a wish to be as good a soldier as my great-uncle had been (went from Private to Lt. General in every grade) so I went to NCO school at Ft. Benning after AIT in Louisiana and graduated a “shake n’ bake” sergeant in November, 1970.
My orders for Nam brought me to Cam Rahn Bay in March, 1971 where I got orders to report to the 101st Abn. Div in Hue. I went to Camp Eagle and was assigned as the rifle squad leader of 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon under a Lt. Fudge from Georgia. The other squad leader’s name was Sgt. Pat Husted. My MOS was 11C40 so when an opening on a 81mm mortar position became available later in October I transferred to Co. E, 1/327th where I stayed until going home in January, 1972. Processing out of a unit that was disassembling and going back to Ft. Campbell, KY was chaotic and I never even got the paperwork for the typical awards at the time for an active infantry soldier in that unit — Bronze Star and Air Medal. I demanded that the clerk give me those medals or I wasn’t leaving, so he just gave them to me and assured me that the paper work would follow – NOT!!! I wore those ribbons along with the CIB I did have paperwork for, at an inspection later at Ft. Hood, TX and was questioned as to why they weren’t included on my paperwork. They seemed to understand about the paper work screw up and didn’t make a problem. Twenty-some years later I checked with the 101st Abn. Div. and they said they didn’t have any records from that time!!! Now I’d have to find more than one person ( I only stay in contact with one old squad member) to support my claim for those medals and I just decided it wasn’t that important. Hell, many acts of heroism went unreported to “the right people” and thus no medals were awarded, so I’m okay with that.
I’m glad that you have a website to commemorate our old unit. Thanks for including me.
No Slack,
John F. (Jack) Teece
