Leon Baldwin Captain, Medical Service Corps 9th Medical Battalion 9th Infantry Division Old Reliables

Army Meritorious   Unit Citation	Vietnam Gallantry  Cross, Unit Citation	National Defense   Service Medal	Vietnam Service Medal	Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

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| Visit the 9th Infantry Division Webpages |

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This page is not a chronicle of personal adventure or tribulation. Nor is it a repository of profound insights into a perplexing decade of American history. These are just a regretfully few fading memories of my year in Vietnam. I suspect that many of my fellow veterans feel the same way. We did not have the foresight to keep diaries of our boring routines. We did not have intense combat adventures which burned their details permanently into our minds. If the latter is what you seek, check your local bookstore, library or Internet links. There are many excellent books by veterans who have that certain clear vision of past people, places and events. They are good story tellers too. In the end you will find the mundane and hum drum a part of the whole story as well as the heroic and tragic.

After starting this page I realized how little I knew about the 9th Infantry Division's role in the war. For many of us, Vietnam was a duty station in a support area. It just happened to be in a war zone. You got up each morning, followed the routine, shot the bull over beers in the evening, and checked one more day off the calendar. Then we did it again the next day. We read about the war in the Stars and Stripes or heard about it on Armed Forces Network radio and television. That seemed enough then. Being in a medical support unit, we were not privy to the combat plans and operations of the division and brigades. Perhaps it is the job of historians to let the rest of us know what we did.

This page is the beginning of my search for some of that history. I am finding a trickle of information on the 9th Infantry Division on the Internet and in local libraries. So far I am surprised at the few references to specific combat units. Most historical books on the Vietnam War focus on the country level operations, national and international politics.

Copyright © 2003  Leon Baldwin