Grandparents that wanted to fight for our country and now tell their stories after being out for a while.

 

BASE CAMP VIETNAM -- The night ended abruptly with the floor shaking and the crackling sound of bombs blowing up near by.  

 

The 25 year old, Joe Baldridge was trying to sleep after a hard 12 hour shift in the military when mortars were being sent into their base camp.   This had happened a couple of times before but never this close to the house he was staying in.

 

“Everyone was taught in training to fall to the floor from their bed and pull the mattress over their head to protect from any debris falling from the ceiling.  I was on the second floor so I was scared to death that I would fall through the floor and not fully fulfill my young life.” Explained Baldridge.

 

The enemies would come set up a mortar outside the forty mile perimeter and light the fuse.  They would run like heck to get out of dodge from the mortar going off.  The bombs would land somewhere in the camp, normally not coming near any barrack.

 

Being on the second floor, which was a bad design in Baldridge’s opinion, he was worried that if one support beam broke that he’d fall right through the floor.

 

“The floor shook and we all fell and wrapped ourselves in the matresses.  I was absolutely scared to death.” Baldridge said about what the event felt like.

 

That is just one of the many stories that Baldridge could tell, that one is just his favorites.  

 

Let’s start from the beginning now and find out why and how Joe Baldridge joined the military.  He took a ROTC class in college that was a “two hour a week class” and then when he went directly into the military he got “a much bigger paycheck than others from being an officer.”

 

It was in July, 1968 when he graduated from college and began his services in the army.  His family did have prior military experience though.  His dad was in World War II and was a trainer in Alabama.  “He never had to travel overseas.” Baldridge said.

 

Baldridge decided in high school that he wanted to be in the military.  He went to Stanton Military school to get a head start on being in the military: “My dad suggested on being in the army, but I pretty much made the decision on my own.”

Chris Conner and Ed Conner, who met in the army and left to get married were questioned about this topic too.  “I didn’t ask my parents.  My friend and I just signed a form to enroll in a military store.” Chris said.  Ed commented too saying, “I was drafted from them pulling my name from I had to sign up when I got my license.”

 

Many always wonder what the food and bed was like in the barracks.  Thoughts people could have were bunk beds and the food was skunky like the lunch food in elementary schools, but he changed my opinion on what it was like.  Baldridge said that it wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible.  His favorite food the cafeteria made was an egg over easy.  That seemed to be a pretty common food to like in the barracks because the other two people that were interviewed for this article said that their favorite was also a type of egg.

 

It seems that being in the army would be all work and no play, but Baldridge said that it was very common for the soldiers to “play volleyball” or “swim in a portable pool”.  To get out of the forty mile perimeter fence surrounding the grounds, the guys might go to the zoo, shop, eat, or go to orphanage to volunteer.

 

Now to the business side of things.  Baldridge worked on supply management.  That doesn’t sound like a very hard job, but coordinating cars, jeeps, trucks and tanks (which were limited in supply) to every place that needed them and keeping track of where every piece of equipment is a very mentally draining job.  “It was a pretty straight forward job besides when an officer or higher ranking officer asked for a jeep and we didn’t have enough of them to go around to all of them.” Joe Baldridge explained.

 

None of the three kept in touch with friends they made in the army; except the two Conner’s because they’re married.