Recently reading the headlines about Band of Brothers coming from HBO tho Netflix and it got me thinking:
– how does the US military divide up it’s soldiers? (Eg regiment vs troop vs platoon vs squadron)
– are there different rules for each branch of the military?
– I’ve only ever heard of the 101st airborne division but not other ones… Was there a 100th division? 99th division, etc? Why is the 101st so famous?
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My good friend, now deceased thanks to Agent Orange, was a 2nd Lt in the 82nd Airborne, Ranger qualified. (He said they despised the 101st because they didn’t “jump.” In those Army rivalries they loved, he called them the “Screaming Chickens”). He did LRRP’s in Vietnam then was a Lt with a platoon. He was my manager at a Medical Company. We were out of town and went to see “Platoon.” The radio traffic freaked him out, especially when they used the term “6.” He then became a Captain and was the General’s Adjutant at Fort Ord. I didn’t know how highly decorated he was till his wife showed me a photo of him outside his “hootch” in Vietnam. He had the CIB at the top of the photo and 5 Bronze stars some with the V for valor. Apparently one of them should’ve been a Silver Star. He had two Purple Hearts. One where the tip of his finger was shot off and one for a sucking chest wound that he said wasn’t as painful as the finger. He said the reason “6” freaked him out was the radio guy handed him the mike as he was “6” and that’s when he got the sucking chest wound from a Vietcong sniper. He’s probably the toughest man I’ve ever known. His wife told me a Vietcong tried to slit his throat, (he had a scar under his chin) when he was a LRRP and he shoulder tossed him and beat him to death with his trenching tool. He died from lung cancer metastasis to his brain. He never smoked, which is why he blamed Agent Orange.
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