9 Habits Vietnam Grunts Brought Home and Never Lost

#VietnamWar #VietnamVeteran #MilitaryHistory The Army took eight weeks to teach him how to stay alive. Nobody ever taught him how to stop. Nine habits, counted down: keeping the P-38 can opener, looking up at the sound of a Huey, sitting with his back to the wall, sleeping with one ear open, getting through the Fourth of July, checking his skin before sleep, walking the perimeter of his own house at night, not talking about it — and finally, telling somebody. The opening scene at a granddaughter's birthday and the second-person scene at a Fourth of July barbecue are composites drawn from many accounts, and they say so. Every other account is attributed to the man who told it or the record that holds it. Which habit did you bring home from Vietnam? Do you still look up when you hear a Huey, or sit with your back to the wall? Is there still a P-38 on your key ring? And if you grew up with a Vietnam veteran, what did you notice that he never explained? Unit and year if you want. One line is enough. Chapters {chapters} Sources Milwaukee Magazine, "Small Wonder" (2009) — Fernando Rodriguez and his P-38 U.S. Army, "The best Army invention ever" (army.mil) — Paul and Ted Paquet, John Koehler U.S. Army (army.mil) — Tony Blas, 1/7 Cavalry, at the Huey farewell ceremony U.S. Army, "CCAD Says So Long to UH-1H Huey" — pilot Castagneto's words LebTown (2024) — Pete Galvin and the Huey at Lebanon VA Juicy Ecumenism (2019) — veteran Ingalls on the sound of a helicopter Jerry Glazer, "The War Ended but the Memories Remained" (Substack, 2026) — back to the wall, checking skin Harry Croft, M.D., and Chrys Parker, "I Always Sit with My Back to the Wall" (Military.com excerpt, 2012) Loren Webster, "Could this really be PTSD?" (lorenwebster.net, 2015) — sleeping light CNN via KVIA (July 4, 2020) — Bill Green, July 4, 1968 Paul Woodruff (San Antonio Report) — Fourth of July in a national park News9 Oklahoma (2016) — Vern Babcock THV11 Arkansas — Mark Diggs Los Angeles Times (Aug. 5, 2008), "For Veterans Home from Iraq, Sleep is Now the Enemy" — Bill Rider, Hill 689 KQED, "After 40 Years of Silence" — Steven Burchik NEH Humanities, "Speaking About Vietnam" (2016) — Gene Feher Craig Daily Press — Archie Albaugh's 21-page journal Seneca Valley Senior High School — Kenny Rozycki U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and GAO report HEHS-96-113 — Vet Center history (P.L. 96-22, 1979) Stars and Stripes (April 2025) — Library of Congress Veterans History Project, Vietnam collection Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, item VIVE 06000 — P-38 left at the Wall, 1987 Archival photographs and film: U.S. National Archives (NARA) and U.S. Department of Defense, public domain; copies via Wikimedia Commons. To every Vietnam veteran watching: welcome home. #VietnamWar #VietnamVeteran #VeteranLife #USArmy #MilitaryHistory