Boocoo Dinky Dow
  • Home
  • Buy the book
  • Excerpt
  • Blog
  • The authors

What those one-year Vietnam tours meant to the troops -- and the war

2/2/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
Grady Myers in Vietnam
What war story would be complete without expletives and acronyms? In the latter category, the word DEROS is key to understanding the entire Vietnam War. In his memoir "Boocoo Dinky Dow," Grady explains its meaning and importance soon after his boots hit the red dirt of Southeast Asia:

On the way to our own barracks, we encountered soldiers with their own theme song: “Short, We’re Short!”  They were short-timers, their Date of Estimated Return from Overseas close at hand. Or, at least, they wanted us replacements—who faced a year in Vietnam before our DEROS—to feel bad. When a soldier stepped onto Vietnamese soil, he was shorter than the man getting off the plane behind him.

Men counted their 365 days. I've wondered why the Army limited soldiers to a year "in country," when that's not how it worked in wars before or after.  This is on my mind because I just came across The Vietnamization of Public Education. in which Washington Post blogger Steve Cohen cites Tom Rick's new book, "The Generals." Cohen writes:

Those in command positions generally served for six months in a staff position and six months in the field.  When individual stints were up, officers and soldiers left the field and substitutes arrived.  Back in the field, no community was built.  No sense of allegiance to each other emerged that was as strong as that which had helped soldiers and officers survive so many other conflicts.  ... As one historian noted, it meant that rather than having an Army in Vietnam for eight years (1965-1973), we had an army in Vietnam for one year eight times.

My curiosity about this led me to Mark DePu's Vietnam War: The Individual Rotation Policy.  Here's a snippet:

When defending the policy, the Army's senior leaders invariably cited their desire to create an equitable system of treatment for all soldiers. That was the sentiment expressed by both Generals Westmoreland and Johnson. 'The one-year tour was adopted primarily so that the hazards of combat might be shared by more that just a limited number of people,' explained Johnson during an interview in 1973. Westmoreland asserted that it "spread the burden of a long war over a broader spectrum of both Army Regulars and American draftees…I hoped it would extend the nation's staying power by forestalling public pressure to 'bring the boys home."


But, as the thought-provoking article explains, that logic only went so far in explaining what became, in the 1960s and '70s, a national fact of life (and death).
 

6 Comments
lindzeylacie link
9/5/2013 04:35:35 pm

Great site, did I read this right that its free from Weebly?

Reply
Julie
9/7/2013 02:27:42 am

You can create a free Weebly website, but pay for additional features and the simplified domain name.

Reply
http://health.proconview.com/ link
10/21/2013 03:39:33 pm

This is on my mind because I just came across The Vietnamization of Public Education.

Reply
Cora link
4/4/2018 02:31:38 am

great tour to discover Vietnam war

Reply
Vietnam Fast Tours link
8/1/2022 01:45:45 am

Thank you for posting this awesome blog content on Vietnam tours, Kudos.

Reply
Kenneth Fendley
9/23/2022 07:36:49 am

I’m researching information on veteran suicide for a book I hope to write. The one element that I don’t see as a causative factor in Vietnam veterans suicide is DEROS. All of us who were there understand the deleterious effect of going over one at a time and coming home one at a time. We didn’t march through the airports as a unit to the cheers of adoring crowds, we came home alone and isolated. At worst, we were spared upon and called names by the hippies in the crazies. At best we sat in airports waiting on standby, wearing our uniform, and noticing the ugly stares of passersby. That was my experience, and it’s had a lasting impact on me.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    

    Julie Titone is co-author of the Grady Myers memoir "Boocoo Dinky Dow: My short, crazy Vietnam War." Grady was an M-60 machine gunner in The U.S. Army's Company C’s 2nd Platoon, 1st Battalion, 8th Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in late 1968 and early 1969. His Charlie Company comrades knew him as Hoss. Thoughts, comments? Send Julie an email.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    November 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    May 2016
    November 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    1st Air Cavalry
    Against Football
    Ambush
    Apollo 8
    Art School
    Audiobook
    Barracks
    Betty Rodgers
    Bill Crist
    Bob Benzon
    Bob Robbins
    Boise
    Boocoo Dinky Dow
    Book Signings
    Boonie Hat
    Branson
    Bravo!
    Bush Hat
    Carroll McInroe
    Charlie Company
    Chicago
    Christmas 1968
    Creighton Abrams
    Dak To
    Dan Webster
    Dave Mueller
    Dennis Harris
    Depression
    Dispatches
    D'Wayne Hodgin
    Ed Bremer
    Ernest Hemingway
    Ford Thunderbird
    Fort Lewis
    FORWARD
    George Callan
    Grady Myers
    Grady Myers
    Guest Readers
    Hawk
    Helicopter
    Infantry
    Jane Cherney
    Jeffrey Fellin
    Jess Walter
    Joe Tschida
    John Titone
    Joint Base Lewis Mcchord
    Joint Base Lewis-McChord
    Joseph Heller
    Julie Titone
    Ken Rodgers
    Khe Sanh
    Krfp Radio
    Krfp Radio Interview
    KSER
    Letters
    Library
    Maree Mchugh
    Memorial Day
    Michael Herr
    Michael Simpson
    Microphone
    Morgan Sports Cars
    National Veterans Art Museum
    Native American
    Neill Public Library
    Oak Harbor
    Patrick Flanagan
    Paul Ridley
    Pilot
    Plei Trap
    Podcast
    Ray Heltsley
    Reunion
    Richard Nixon Quote
    Sherman Alexie
    SPAM
    Spokane Public Library
    Spokesman-Review
    Steve Almond
    Steve Orr
    Teddy Fisher
    Texas Tech
    Tim Woodward
    Tom Williams
    Veterans
    Veterans Day
    Victor Villanueva
    Vietnam Archive
    Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association
    Vietnam Veterans Memorial
    Walt Morrow
    Washington Dc
    Washington State University
    Willys Jeepster
    World War II
    Zack

    RSS Feed