Adin M. Tooker
Summary of Tour of Duty
Vietnam
September 1966 to September of 1967
 

(Writer's disclaimer: It has been close to 40 years since my tour in Southeast Asia. My memory never did absorb all the details of this chaotic period in my life and the passage of time has not helped in my attempts to recall events and dates. I apologize in advance for errors, mental lapses, embellishments of the mind, wrong names and incorrect spellings. I welcome your corrections and comments.)

I entered the Army through a college ROTC program. As a male student, I was required to take two years of military training with weekly drilling sessions. I elected to continue my military training and to accept a reserve commission with a two-year, active duty commitment. I made the decision because I respected the Regular Army officers teaching the course material and I did not have any career plans or aspirations. The Army discipline and demanding physical training sounded challenging. Certainly, it was a very different life than I had experienced up to that point in my life. At the time, it sounded like fun and I chose the Field Artillery branch of the Army because it sounded like the most fun. What young male would not like to be involved in cannons, guns and howitzers?

Our 1965 graduating class knew that the Vietnam War was expanding and that we would be likely candidates to participate. Ironically, only two of us got the Vietnam tour while the remainder of the class went to Korea.