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View Full Version : Interview with "Gaffer"



jimnyc
05-24-2011, 05:53 PM
Gaffer is another that's been with us for as long as I can remember. Mucho respect to him for his service to our country, his honesty to his fellow members and his ability to get along with the majority. He seems like a "happy go lucky" kind of guy to me, but I don't know him in real life. Let's get some answers from him and see for ourselves!


So am I onto something, ARE you a happy go lucky kind of guy?

Interesting question. If we sat down and talked over a beer or heath drink as it may be, you would say I was a happy go lucky guy. With people I like I usually smile a lot and like to joke. I do tend to be cynical and sarcastic. I don't talk to people I don't like. You can can pick out people I don't like in any group. I don't acknowledge their existence.

For those that don't know already, can you tell us what you can about your military background?

In 1966 I was drafted into the army. I was 19. I was shipped off to Vietnam as an infantryman. My avatar is the brigade patch I was assigned too. I was in the 2nd of the first infantry regiment. Semper Primus is the motto. A very historical unit as it's the oldest unit in the army. As a young man I didn't really appreciate the historical factors of it at the time.

I was in the recon platoon for the first four or five months until they revamped the battalion. We then became a regular line company. We operated in the Iron Triangle and along the Cambodian border until about April, then we were moved north and operated in the central highlands.

I arrived in Vietnam Christmas eve of 66 and returned home Christmas eve of 67. The first line of my signature reflects my time there.

I got out of the army in 68. By 1973 the aerospace industry was tanking and jobs were getting scarce so I decided to go back into the military. I saw how the Air Force lived in Vietnam and decided that was better than army. The Air Force made me an air traffic controller. But after doing it for a while I did not care for it and switched over to the information office. I was on a SAC based and had access to anything and everything in that job. I handled the media releases escorted VIP's and even school field trips to the base. I wrote and eventually edited the base news paper and won a lot of writing awards. To include getting the best and the worst written articles.

I got out of the Air Force in 1977. It was no longer worth staying in. Note who was CIC by then

What part of the country do you live in? Have you always lived there?

I am currently in Ohio. Have been here on and off since 74. Born in Indiana and moved to California when I was 14. Left there in 73 and never looked back. Lived in a number of states for short periods, but my kids are settled here so I stay here too.

How long have you been posting on my boards? I know you've been with DP since the beginning, but I can't remember how long you were with us on my old board...

Been on this board since it started, maybe a week or so after you got it up. Was on the other board two or three years don't remember for sure.

Married? Kids? I believe one of our other members is your daughter, no?

Not married. I live by myself. Trinity is my daughter and Krissy is my daughter in law. My son doesn't care for message boards so he doesn't post.

Besides military and collecting guns and getting to kill the bad guys - what are some of your hobbies?

I don't collect guns. I just know how to use them real good. I don't get into as many hobbies as I use too. I love wargaming and have done it since I was 12. I love reading. Use to play guitar and drums but haven't done that in a while. I'm not to shabby an artist.

What cool places have you traveled to in your lifetime? Which were part of military and which personal?

Only travel outside the US was curtsey of the military. A week in Hawaii was lots of fun and interesting and a week in Tokyo was even more interesting. I did get to tour SAC headquarters in Omaha, that was a fascinating experience.

I mentioned a movie this week that I watched and you were familiar with it, and the real event. Are you a movie/TV enthusiast? And if so, which are some of your favorites and styles?

I don't watch TV at all. I like a good historical movie if they do it accurately. There are very few. I usually prefer scifi or fantasy where they aren't making political statements. If I do find a movie I like I go looking for the book cause I know it will be even better. Movies I like; Master and Commander. The Longest Day, The Alamo (newest version), and Zulu.

I could be remembering incorrectly, but aren't you a member of my brothers website (Sir Evil)? Do you still go there at all?

Oh yes I have been on his board for almost as long as on your boards. I visit his site daily, sometimes two or three times a day.

I know I'm being repetitive and asking questions similar to what I drew up for DragonStryk, but I'm a dumbass like that! Are you a fan of any major league sporting teams?

I don't get into sports at all. Don't follow any of it. I played sports constantly as a kid, but I could never stand to watch it. I have always been a doer.

Are there any members of our community that you ever felt like reaching through your computer screen and choking the shit out of?

You want names? I better not go there. The answer is yes. Most of those I keep on my ignore list so I don't have to see what stupid comments they have to say. Kinda like the way I would treat them in person. Talk around them and act like the don't exist.

I know you hold back often on your feelings for our president, Barack Obama, so would you like to take this time and give us your heartfelt opinion of him? LOL

LOL, yeah like I hold back on my feelings of the dark lord. He's elected to govern and run the government, he thinks he rules. He may be the president but he's not MY president.

Brief or in depth, as I kind of know your stance on the issue already, what are your thoughts on waterboarding terrorists? And how did you come to this opinion/belief?

I'm a realist. If waterboarding gets results, then do it. Those that are brought in and subjected to that discomfort are not innocents. I don't think we should take them to another country for questioning, do it right here. Hiding what your doing and having others do it for you does not make you look better. It was part of our training in AIT. Escape and evasion. The only reason I didn't get waterboarded was because they never caught me. But I watched it from outside the compound. when your dealing with well trained fanatics you use whatever means necessary.

Sometimes being Mr Niceguy or hesitating because your actions might look bad can come back to bite you on the ass. For example, bin ladin could have been captured or killed the early 90's which would have changed history.

If YOU could change a few things about the community here, which would they be?

Can't think of anything I would change. I like what you have established here. Keep up the good work.

Trinity
05-25-2011, 06:14 PM
Are there any members of our community that you ever felt like reaching through your computer screen and choking the shit out of?

You want names? I better not go there. The answer is yes. Most of those I keep on my ignore list so I don't have to see what stupid comments they have to say. Kinda like the way I would treat them in person. Talk around them and act like the don't exist.

:laugh:



For those that don't know already, can you tell us what you can about your military background?


awww come on dad you left out the best story of all!!! :salute: The tunnel rat!

jimnyc
05-25-2011, 06:18 PM
:laugh:


awww come on dad you left out the best story of all!!! :salute: The tunnel rat!

Normally we ask that members refrain from replying in the interview threads, to keep them clean for future readers. But how often do we have a chance for a daughter to reply to her father? :thumb:

Also, now I want Gaffer to to tell us about the tunnel rat!!! :coffee:

Gaffer
05-25-2011, 07:18 PM
Normally we ask that members refrain from replying in the interview threads, to keep them clean for future readers. But how often do we have a chance for a daughter to reply to her father? :thumb:

Also, now I want Gaffer to to tell us about the tunnel rat!!! :coffee:

The tunnel rat was me. Being one of the small guys in the platoon I could fit into the tunnels easier than most so checking tunnels became one of my jobs. Along with setting the explosives and blowing them up. There was no specialized training in those days. They handed you a flashlight and a 45 and in you went. Everything was OJT (on the job training). My first ever helicopter flight was into a hot LZ in the iron triangle.

Trinity is referring to one of my tunnel adventures that is funny when told in person but not sure if it comes off the same when writing it.

I went into a tunnel that went down at a 45 degree angle about 4 or five feet then turned right for about 6 feet then appeared to turn right again. I got to the second right turn and it appeared to stretch quite a ways. I was worried there might be some one waiting just beyond my sight. I had a grenade still on my belt so I pulled it up and pulled pin and tossed it down the tunnel, which turned out to be two feet long. Needless to say the grenade bounced off the tunnel wall and back in front of me. So in a matter of seconds I weighed all the possibilities of that grenade going off and what I could do about it and the only option was to get the hell out of there. So I did a quick shuffle backwards for 6 feet turned and dove up as the grenade went off. It's like being in a small pipe and the blast has no where to go but along the pipe. So I flew out of the hole like superman and landed flat on my face. I felt like a total idiot for doing something that stupid, but when I looked around no one had noticed. They were busy watching the perimeter. I kept my pride intact and went back and blew up the tunnel.

It's Trinity's favorite story.

jimnyc
05-25-2011, 07:25 PM
That's hilarious! Good thing I was only drinking water, can't do any long term damage to my shirt!!

I thought I saw a movie in the past few years about guys that were responsible for checking out the tunnels, I'll have to look around for the name...

Gaffer
05-25-2011, 08:23 PM
That's hilarious! Good thing I was only drinking water, can't do any long term damage to my shirt!!

I thought I saw a movie in the past few years about guys that were responsible for checking out the tunnels, I'll have to look around for the name...

The 25th Infantry had a group that specialized in that stuff. All little guys. Not sure when they formed them into a special group. They were used on the massive tunnel system that was discovered during operation Cedar Falls. everyone else just grabbed the smallest guy in the unit. Tho some Sgt's and Lt's wouldn't order anyone to do it, once you had the experience they would say get in there and check it out.