the floor You Stand Upon is a real tale of my father’s existence as an infantryman within the Republic of Vietnam from 1966 to 1967, and the lads he served with. My father is Wilbur E. Bowe. He was once residing on his family’s farm whilst he was once drafted in 1965 and assigned to Alpha corporation, fifth Battalion, seventh Calvary.
The 5/7th Cavalry used to be shaped as a brand-new battalion on the way to fill out the first Air Cavalry Division’s third Brigade. The younger males of the battalion have been principally drafted jointly in 1965 because the build-up of normal military forces in Vietnam had simply began. jointly, those impossibly younger males will be informed in airmobile infantry strategies and turn into what have been referred to as “skytroopers”. they might then be despatched deep into the significant Highlands of Vietnam, the place jointly they might study what “search and smash” intended and face the truth of this new war.
The tale beneficial properties the various letters and images my dad despatched domestic from the conflict sector. His dispatches have been despatched from one of the most distant valleys and outposts in Vietnam, written below the main austere of stipulations, frequently scribbled in haste prior to one other challenge, or by means of flashlight, lower than a poncho within the rain. they might go back and forth over 8,000 miles around the ocean, to be put in a mailbox that stood throughout from a farmhouse, alongside a rural county street in Wisconsin.
Many former skytroopers of Alpha corporation have been interviewed for this tale, and their own money owed keep in mind a lot of the humor and friendship they shared, in addition to the disappointment and tragedy that might accompany a yr spent within the jungles of Vietnam.
The tale additionally attracts upon the 5/7th Cavalry’s day-by-day employees journals and scenario studies for each day of the battalion’s first yr in Vietnam.
This is their tale, informed in nice aspect from their time spent education jointly at citadel Carson – via their ancient trip around the ocean aboard the USNS Gaffey, the place they might stumble upon a huge hurricane – via their many battles fought jointly in Vietnam – and at last, their ultimate patrol.