Category: Army Stories

by Ski Ingram My Surfboard looked just like this one. I grew up in Redondo Beach, California in the 50’s and 60’s. It was a great place to grow up. I owned a 1964 Austin Healy Sprite (English sports car) and two surf boards, a...

by Ski Ingram It was in January or early February that our platoon hiked to the top of Hill 542 in order to be resupplied.  I was assigned to the 3rd platoon, Charlie Company 1/503rd Airborne Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. We...

by Ski Ingram A Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) After I was assigned to lead Sergeant Luket’s squad I was a very happy warrior.  I was working hard as a Drill Sergeant teaching infantry tactics to young men who wanted to learn how...

by Ski Ingram I came home from Viet Nam in September of 1971 with the 173rd Airborne Brigade (separate).  About six months later the 173rd was disbanded and became the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division.  I was now a...

by Ski Ingram After returning from Viet Nam in August 1971, I was assigned to Bravo Company 1/503rd Airborne Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  On April 1st, 1972, the 173rd was disbanded.  We were now...

by Ski Ingram Date:   June – July 1971 Place: RVN (Republic of Viet Nam) Unit:    N Company 75th Rangers, 173rd Airborne Brigade (separate) We were cleaning up after typhoon Alice when we found our movie projector at the...

by Ski Ingram Like every young boy, I was fascinated with blowing things up and pretended to do so whenever I could.  I had gone to Tiajuana, Mexico a few times with my parents and bought a lot of firecrackers and cherry bombs. ...

by Ski Ingram Date: September 1969 Place: Fort Ord, California Unit: Basic Training It was soon after being drafted that I saw my first one. I remember being quite surprised that it didn’t look like a pineapple. After all, in...

by Ski Ingram February 1971 to April 1971 173rd Airborne Patch I first met Randy Jones in Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  We then went on to Basic Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia.  From...

by Ski Ingram I arrived in Viet Nam in September 1970.  I was assigned to Charlie Company 1st Battalion of the 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade, (Separate). My platoon was assigned to a small hilltop overlooking the...

by Ski Ingram Date:   April 1971 Place: RVN (Republic of Viet Nam) Unit:    N Company 75th Rangers, 173rd Airborne Brigade (separate) I had just been assigned to “N” Company, 75th Rangers, 173rd Airborne Brigade at Landing Zone...

by Ski Ingram  One thing you do a lot of in the Army is “pull guard duty.”  When I was in Basic Training, we guarded things that no one cared about just for the experience of standing guard.  When I was in AIT (Advanced Infantry...