Unfortunately for you, the research I mentioned in my earlier post didn't take as long as I thought it would. But, before getting into specifics, here's something you obviously didn't think about when picking the timeframe for your claim of service in Vietnam:
According to the 1973 peace accords between the US and North Vietnam, the US was limited to 50 military members in country.
Yup, that's right, 50.....and and that's how many were there from the signing of the agreement until they began to depart in April of 1975. As was mentioned in an earlier post by Al, it was a very small group and they were pretty-much known to each other, if not by face, certainly by name. I spoke with my coworker again today. As I mentioned in my earlier post, he really was in Vietnam in 1975, assigned to the JCRC, and he left Vietnam for Thailand less than two weeks before the final fall on 30 April 1975. He confirmed that the 50 American military left in Nam all knew each other or at least knew of each other and I was not at all surprised when he said he did not recognize your name. However, he wanted to be absolutely certain his memory wasn't failing and produced his copy of the last phone book for US Personnel in Vietnam; published in 1975. The book is about 80 pages long and organized in two sections. The front contains an organizational list of all US Government organizations (military and civilian) including the DAO, JCRC, US Embassy, Consular and other Dept of State Offices, USIS, USAID, CIA, etc, etc. (can you tell me what color the cover is?). The back section has an alphabetical listing of ALL Americans (including the 50 military) in country by name and it gives the street address of their living quarters. Again, I was not at all surprised to find the names went from Medlin to Meeks, to Melyan, to Mench, to Mendoza but there was no Melnick where it was supposed to be (but you already knew that would be the case). Here's something else, just off the cuff. My coworker confirmed for me that there were no Air Force Special Operations units operating in Vietnam (south or north) in 1975. Just to make sure I didn't miss anything, I went through all records listing the Air Force order of battle for Vietnam, Thailand, and even small and (then) clandestine bases in Laos and Cambodia. These records contain the names of unit commanders from PACAF to NAFs, and Air divisions to Wings, Groups, and Squadrons from 1964 until they pulled out. These docs also contain a list of all Air Force units, including Air Force Special Operations units, and their location history, from the time they arrived in country until (in most cases) they were disbanded, redesignated, or withdrawn from country. Sorry, no more hiding behind "the info is classified" because the documents I have are completely and totally unclassified; they can be FOIA's by any private citizen who wantds to pay the money. I just happened to have access to them in the office. Ah, details, maddening aren't they? OK; I've given you a head start by telling you what I have on hand right now in the way of reference material. With that in mind, Mr Melnick, let's finish this up with a quick quiz. Below are five simple questions. They should be ludicrously easy for you if you were actually where you said you were; I could answer each with less than a moment's thought and I left there almost seven years before your claimed service. After we evaluate your performance on these first questions, we'll see if it will be necessary to move to more specific ones (though I suspect they won't be necessary). Question 1. What were the inclusive dates of your service in Vietnam? Question 2. Who were your NAF and Unit Commanders? Question 3. What was your unit designator? Question 4. Where was your unit located? Question 5. What was your AFSC and specific duties? That should do it, it's time to come clean now. I eagerly await your reply, though I doubt there will be one.
"The world would be a much simpler place if every one could pick and choose their obligations, but we can't and we shouldn't." Major Charles W. Whittlesey