THE INFANTRY
By John Harrison

Being a good infantryman is much more intellectually and physically demanding than most people realize. It is not easy to go on today's, and even yesterday's incredibly lethal battlefields with the reasonable expectation of coming back alive, and of accomplishing your mission. The operative word in that sentence is reasonable. That is all an infantryman expects, a reasonable chance, because they intend to make up any difference themselves.

While an infantryman needs training, it is not just good training that makes an infantryman. While an infantryman needs equipment, it is not just good equipment that makes an infantryman. While an infantryman needs strength, it is not just physical strength that makes an infantryman.

OK then you ask, what is it that makes an infantryman?

It is heart. It is the heart to get up when no one else will go. It is the heart to push forward, when no one else will. It is the heart to take one more step, when one more step is sorely needed. It is the heart to care more about the man lying next to you bleeding than you do about your own blood, and that is partly because you know that if he could move, if he could still move, he would have the heart, and he would have the will to move, to help you to move, forward.
It is will. It is the will to remain alert on post. It is the will to remain awake and alert for the forty-eighth hour. It is the will to exit, an armored personnel carrier, a helicopter on or close to the ground or an aircraft in flight in order to close with, and to destroy the enemy. It is the will to take a life rather than to give your own. It is the will to finish what you start, every time. The infantry does not back down. Not once. Not ever.

And, in taking infinite care with what seem like such small, such trivial, details to others. It is important that fighting knives and bayonets are always put away razor sharp, rifles clean, well oiled, magazines stacked and gear put away in the same order, the same place, every time.

That is an infantryman.

If you are assigned a dog; that dog eats before you do every time. The same is true if you are assigned a fire team or an entire army; they eat before you do every time because you are an infantryman.

It is easy to belittle the infantry, to mock their parades and their traditions. It is very easy, until the bullets fly, the bombs burst, the blood flows bright red, and you are so very, very, afraid. Just like it is easy to forget that every Marine considers themselves an infantryman first. Just like it is easy to forget the while the United States Army is only about 8% infantry, that nonetheless over 80% of the casualties are infantrymen.

Why then, you ask, would anyone want to be in the infantry?

Think of this; what do the Airborne, the Special Forces, the Rangers, Delta, and the United States Marines all have in common they are all volunteers and they are all Infantry. Oh, and do not forget, they are all also, very, very, good at what they do. They are the best. They are deployed first. They do not ever go gentle into that good night, they rage, they fight, they kill and if necessary, they come back to fight and kill again, and again, to obliterate that dark night.
They all have the Spirit of the Bayonet. They are all prepared to go on a battlefield, any battlefield, anywhere, anytime to accomplish their mission and to come home alive because they are all, Infantry.

Hail to the Infantry, Queen of battle, shatterer of lesser souls. Protector of your freedom.

LTC Lee M. Tigner


On August 22, 1972, Major Tigner and First Lieutenant William J. Crockett in F-4E tail number 68-0477 were one of a flight of four aircraft conducting a close air support mission in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Their aircraft was hit in the right wing by hostile ground fire. The wing separated from the aircraft, which rolled inverted and within two to five seconds after being hit crashed into the ground at a speed of 450 knots, skipped, and came to rest in the Cua Viet River at Quang Tri City, Quang Tri Province. No one was seen to eject from the aircraft before it impacted and there were no electronic beepers heard. Both crewmen were declared killed in action, body not recovered.

Some more reminiscing about the men onmy list.

Edward Griggs, a new guy from his page on The Wall he came in country on 10 February 1969. He joined our Company on the 22nd, and was KIA on on the 23rd of February. He was one of the men that I took out on a patrol that fateful morning. Myself, my RTO and one NCO were the only combat experienced men on that patrol. Less than 200 meters from the Company we were hit by a lone NVA soldier, he was KIA.

James Spurley, he was from Wisconsin, a good friend of Brad Hartman that is also on the Wall. He was a tall skinny man, curly blond hair that kept a daily diary of war ex[eriences. He was reassigned to be our log bird rep on LZ Jaimie, one of the Forward Fire Bases we used. He was getting short and had had been a CP RTO earning a chance for a rear job. Supposedly a safe spot, but LZ Jaime was hit by sappers and a rocket attack on 12 May 1969. I had already left the field and was in another rear area when I heard about him being KIA. He made it home before I did

Michael "Doc Trip" Fontaine was a Medic in another Platoon. There is a medical clinc at Fort Polk named in his honor. Here is the story.
Clinic known as ‘red roof inn’ officially named for hero medic
.FORT POLK, LA, UNITED STATES
04.03.2019
Story by Patricia Dubiel
Fort Polk Public Affairs Office
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Spc. Michael Arthur Fontaine, born in New Orleans on Sept. 4, 1950, served as an Army medic during the Vietnam War. While assigned to Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fontaine took part in a search and clear mission northeast of Quan Loi on Jan. 10, 1969.
His company made contact with the enemy, who were armed with rockets, mortars and automatic and semiautomatic weapons. Repeatedly exposing himself to hostile fire, Fontaine treated members of his platoon who were wounded and brought them to a central area where they could be evacuated. During his final attempt to aid the wounded, Fontaine managed to bandage two men and was en route to a third when the enemy’s fire suddenly intensified. He threw himself onto the man to protect him and was mortally wounded by the enemy, but saved the life of his stricken comrade.
Fontaine’s awards include the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Combat Medical Badge. He was also inducted into the State of Louisiana Military Hall of Fame in Abbeville.
During the building dedication ceremony held March 29, members of Fontaine’s family and one of his battle buddies were there to help cut the ribbon.
David and Renee Fontaine are Michael Fontaine’s brothers, and they attended the ceremony with their wives, both named Linda. Another Michael Fontaine was also there — his nephew, son of David and Linda.
“The greatest thing my parents ever did was name me after my uncle,” he said. “I never knew him, but I try to live up to what he was. Being named for him is the greatest honor, and I wouldn’t have missed this event today for the world.”
Michael traveled from Oklahoma City to attend the dedication.
David and Linda came in from the Houston area to take part in the ceremony. David said the family is honored that his brother’s name is being memorialized in this way. “I think this dedication is not just in honor of my brother, but for all the combat medics — they save countless lives.”
His spouse, Linda, said the building is a legacy for the family.
“We are grateful to the Army for doing this,” she said.
Butch Watkins served with Fontaine in Vietnam. He attended as a representative of Charlie Company, 2nd Bn, 7th Cav Reg, and said everyone in the unit who met Fontaine fondly remembered “Doc Trip,” as he was called. “He was a good guy and always looked out for all of us.”
Renee and Linda live in the New Orleans area, and Renee said while the building dedication is important, he’d gladly trade it all to have his brother back. “It’s certainly an honor that the Army is doing this for him, but to be honest, I would trade this for him any day,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, commanding general, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, pointed out a group photo that was printed in the ceremony program. Fontaine and Watkins are in the photo along with a few other Soldiers in Vietnam.
“That’s a pretty awesome photo. It really captures the essence of what Michael Fontaine meant to his unit, to his Family, his Army and his nation,” said Frank.
“It is amazing when you see a hero like Michael in that picture. You can imagine what kind of hero it takes to respond, under enemy fire, to Soldiers in his formation.”
Frank also said it was fitting that the facility that now bears his name is at Fort Polk — the Home of Heroes.
“A combat infantry or cavalry unit will often refer to their medic as ‘Doc.’ That’s a term of endearment,” said Frank. “They’re not medical doctors. But they are going to respond under fire, when you are injured, when you are pinned down — they are there, not the doctor in a white coat and stethoscope, but the medic, and that’s what Michael Fontaine was. As Soldiers come through these doors, I think they’ll feel his spirit and everything he meant to his cavalry unit.”

Thanks for sharing your great stories and memorizes DC. I know you prize them .
Thanks to my Dad whom served in Army attached to Torpedo Patrol boats during WW2
and a brother whom severed during Viet Nam Conflict. All lived their life to fullest but are now gone.

Says a lot about the brutality of the Vietnam war looking at how fast/young guys were promoted to NCO's and officers. My two CAR's (Marine version of the CIB) are the awards I'm most proud of. Take care.

Lots of respect in this thread.

I'm remembering these great Americans this weekend...

Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe - 11/8/2005
Corporal Carlos Gonzalez - 3/16/2006
Sergeant Amanda Pinson - 3/16/2006
First Sergeant Robert Barton - 6/7/2010
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brad Gaudet - 6/5/2011
Specialist Hilda Clayton - 7/2/2013
First Sergeant Andrew McKenna - 8/7/2015

If anyone wants to know who was Killed in Action from the towns in Texas look at this link. Towns are listed alphabetical with names following the town. These were there home of record, not necessarily their home town.

https://www.virtualwall.org/istate/istattx.htm

Was at Lowe's this morning. God Bless.

May God Bless their memory, and their families. We are truly blessed to have people like this who will, and have fought for our freedom.