Patrick Morello

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Patrick Morello Vietnam War U.S. Army Rank E-5
HHB108 Artillery Unit 1968-1970
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Before the Army

• Patrick was born in New York, in 1947.
• In 1966, Patrick lived at home in California at
  the age of 18.
• He lived with his parents and six younger
  sisters.
• He was living a relaxed life, going around doing
  simple odd jobs.

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Application

• Patrick applied for the Air Force in 1966.
• The Air Force paid the most money.
• Unfortunately, Patrick had bad eyesight from an
  incident as a child.
• The Air Force declined his application.
• Patrick knew he would eventually be drafted into
  the army.

4
Army

• Patrick did not wait long to be drafted, he was
  drafted in 1968.
• He was sent directly to Basic Training.
• After B.T. he was sent to Fort Stewart, Georgia
• Then to he was sent to Vietnam as a replacement.

5
Vietnam Base

• Patrick went to Vietnam and stayed there for 1
  year.
• At the base, the soldiers lived in underground
  sand-bag bunkers.
• They were located 7 miles from the demilitarized
  zone.

6
Unit Background

• Patrick was ranked E-5 in the HHB108 Artillery
  Unit.
• His group was not a really well defined group.
• The soldiers were transferred into and out of the
  base constantly.
• The soldiers would be in one position for a few
  weeks and then be switched to a new position.

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Patrick's Job

• Patrick helped keep the guns in good working
  order.
• The soldiers controlling the guns would report
  back to Patrick at Headquarters.
• He would help direct them to where to aim the
  fire from the bunkers.

8
Guard Duty

• When Patrick or the other soldiers were on Guard
  Duty
• They set off sirens and alarms in the bunkers.
• The Vietcong would send rockets and missiles over
  the fences.
• The Vietcong tried to destroy the guns on the
  base.
• The Marines were stationed nearby and helped
  protect the base.

9
Monsoon

• Vietnam was a center for Monsoons.
• Monsoon season lasted 3-4 months of the year.
• Monsoons consisted of rain and wind up to 150
  mph.
• Everything on the base turned to mud.
• Nothing would stay clean, which made the living
  conditions really bad.

10
Almost an Early Release

• President Nixon was considering getting rid of
  the department Patrick was stationed in.
• Although, Patrick's commanding officer had never
  been to the base in Vietnam.
• The officer persuaded Nixon to keep Patrick's
  department because of that fact.
• Every soldier wanted to go home but the only way
  was to be shipped home, in a body bag.

11
Most Memorable Moment

• While Patrick was in the the service, his most
  memorable moment was when his daughter was born.
• He received a picture of his six month old
  daughter that he kept with him all the time.
• Patrick kept the picture with him and it
  encouraged him to keep going on.

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Most Memorable Moment

• Another memorable moment Patrick had was when he
  first arrived in Vietnam.
• When he stepped out of the plane, there was no
  air. There was so much humidity he could feel it
  pressing down on him.
• He did not know where he was going or what he was
  being assigned to do.

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Greatly Needed Releases

• Since they were always surrounded by the war, the
  soldiers needed time away.
• The soldiers in Patrick's unit had ways to have a
  release.
• One way they did this was going to USO shows.
• They would also project movies onto a sheet of
  plywood.
• They even would occasionally take a trip to a
  town.
• The soldiers would grab a beer and had singers
  who would put shows on for them .

14
Return Home

• Patrick found it very depressing when he returned
  because there was nobody welcoming him home.
  There was no fan fair.
• He felt bad because no person congratulated him.
• Not until later on did they discover that Patrick
  suffered from PTSD.

15
Medals

• Patrick received a few medals for his service
• NOSM GCMOL
• VSM mkmm-14
• 2 OS Bar
• He never received the actual medals, just the
  papers.

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Thoughts On the War

• Patrick questioned what he had accomplished while
  in Vietnam.
• He did not feel like any difference had been
  made.
• After the Army left, the government just took
  back over.
• The same things are still occurring today as they
  were then.

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What He Learned From War

• He learned things about himself from being in the
  war.
• Patrick learned how to trust and how to survive.
• In order for him to survive, he had to trust the
  guys in his unit.

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Life After War

• Patrick had seen enough of the war and did not
  want to ever go back.
• He did not like the violent nature of man that he
  had seen in Vietnam.
• He wanted to stay home and raise his kids.
• Patrick said that Bad things are harder to
  forget than the good things.

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After War Beliefs

• The violent nature Patrick saw made him question
  his beliefs.
• He saw the way life was in Vietnam, and
  questioned how his God would let this happen.

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Against the War

• Vietnam was the first published war, and it was
  shown openly to the public.
• Many people protested the war, and that
  discouraged the soldiers.
• Everyone should be the way they want and you
  don't have to believe in the war and what's going
  on, you just have to believe in yourself and your
  country.

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This is Patrick Morello of the US Army's story.