How did american soldiers acquire drugs during the Vietnam war?

[buddhallah_the_christ]

It was one of the most corrupting factors during that sad and bloody campaign.
I know drug use was prevalent among soldiers during the war. It seems like it would be hard to acquire considering they were in Vietnam, and I doubt the locals had any.
Our soldiers killed viets and drugs killed our soldiers...
What are your thoughts about the issue?

 

[defcon4]

What difference does it make at this point?!
--Hillary Rodham Clinton

 

[Ringel05]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

 

[Pogo]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I suspect some had all four simultaneously....

 

[Mad Scientist]

Thats right Rigel. Govt bringing drugs into Vietnam AND America is a Conspiracy Theory!

Killing Yellow people in Vietnam protected our Precious Rights that we still enjoy here today!

 

[BluePhantom]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

 

[Ringel05]

Thats right Rigel. Govt bringing drugs into Vietnam AND America is a Conspiracy Theory!

Killing Yellow people in Vietnam protected our Precious Rights that we still enjoy here today!

That's what you thought I was saying......... No it obviously didn't in the long run as for your first claim......... When was the last time you had a CAT scan? Is there anything there to scan?

 

[Ringel05]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

 

[BluePhantom]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

 

[Ringel05]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

 

[BluePhantom]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

Well the nation was at war and the infrastructure was destroyed as well. Importing goods was probably not very easy. My guess is that heroin and pot was probably easier to get than whiskey quite frankly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, I don't really know (I wasn't there) but it would seem logical given all the circumstances that it might be easier to find heroin than a bottle of Jack Daniels.

 

[BluePhantom]

I obviously wasn't there, but my father was a major in the army during that time and I have several friends or parents of friends who served int he war as well, including a rare 2nd Lieutenant who beat the odds and survived the whole thing. I am not sure how long he served but it was a couple years. The life expectancy for that rank in Vietnam was very short from what I understand. I have noticed that it is rare that many of them talk about it but when they do I have learned to shut up and listen with enormous respect to what they are willing to share. It's very interesting to me that their view of the war is very different than the historical view.

I do remember many years ago thinking out loud and asking "I wonder how many men we lost in that war?" and my father, with a very sad voice and sullen expression, immediately responded "58,289". Apparently it's been updated since but he knew the exact figure at the time. That was kind of a wake up call for me

 

[Ringel05]

Oh please, pot was and probably still is grown all over Vietnam, the Golden Triangle (Burma, Laos and Thailand) were right next door. Heroin and pot were readily accessible and plentiful.
To deal with the stress of being at war some had religion, some had girls, some had booze and many had drugs.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

Well the nation was at war and the infrastructure was destroyed as well. Importing goods was probably not very easy. My guess is that heroin and pot was probably easier to get than whiskey quite frankly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, I don't really know (I wasn't there) but it would seem logical given all the circumstances that it might be easier to find heroin than a bottle of Jack Daniels.

They didn't have supply problems, they had bureaucracy problems but beer and hard drinks seemed to have little to no problem getting through and there were a couple of local Vietnamese brews of inconsistent qualities.
I missed Nam by 2 weeks, was reassigned to Central America instead. Had a lot of friends and my dad who had spent some time to lots of time in Nam, a few who didn't come back and a few who did physically but not mentally.

 

[BluePhantom]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

Well the nation was at war and the infrastructure was destroyed as well. Importing goods was probably not very easy. My guess is that heroin and pot was probably easier to get than whiskey quite frankly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, I don't really know (I wasn't there) but it would seem logical given all the circumstances that it might be easier to find heroin than a bottle of Jack Daniels.

They didn't have supply problems, they had bureaucracy problems but beer and hard drinks seemed to have little to no problem getting through and there were a couple of local Vietnamese brews of inconsistent qualities.
I missed Nam by 2 weeks, was reassigned to Central America instead. Had a lot of friends and my dad who had spent some time to lots of time in Nam, a few who didn't come back and a few who did physically but not mentally.

Tough time for those veterans. My father tells stories of getting spit on when he came home in uniform. The father of a friend of mine named Barry Adams was a cobra pilot who had been shot down multiple times, captured by the enemy and managed to escape...he has some very difficult stories to listen to. The 2nd Lt. I referred to earlier doesn't say a whole lot, but he does tell a story of the day he got home. The next morning his wife woke him up by shaking him and he grabbed her by the throat, threw her on her back and almost killed her before realizing what was going on. For the next year she woke him up by throwing things at him from the doorway.

Tough time for those soldiers and as a nation we failed them terribly.

 

[BluePhantom]

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. 'HUH? That part of Asia is one of the biggest producers of drugs in the world. How did they get them? There would be pushers all over the place.' The real question is 'why didn't the military do something about it?'

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

Well the nation was at war and the infrastructure was destroyed as well. Importing goods was probably not very easy. My guess is that heroin and pot was probably easier to get than whiskey quite frankly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, I don't really know (I wasn't there) but it would seem logical given all the circumstances that it might be easier to find heroin than a bottle of Jack Daniels.

They didn't have supply problems, they had bureaucracy problems but beer and hard drinks seemed to have little to no problem getting through and there were a couple of local Vietnamese brews of inconsistent qualities.
I missed Nam by 2 weeks, was reassigned to Central America instead. Had a lot of friends and my dad who had spent some time to lots of time in Nam, a few who didn't come back and a few who did physically but not mentally.

One of my best friends in high school became a tank commander and fought at the Battle of Medina Ridge in the Gulf War. He has a lot of problems as a result. He says that our technology was so superior that it was a turkey shoot. He explained that they were so amped up that they weren't thinking about what was happening at the time. He said it was like a video game to them and that they would intentionally let the Iraqi tanks close until they were just about in range to shoot at us just to tease them, and then they would pluck them off.

Afterwards he started to realize that there were men in those tanks and he wasn't playing a video game, he was killing people and it really fucked him up. Not because he had killed the enemy. That was his job. But because he toyed with them before doing it. He has some big emotional problems as a result. He has never forgiven himself for what he calls his 'total disregard for human life'. I think he is being very unfair to himself but I can't pretend to understand what he is going through. I have never experienced it so I can't talk, you know?

 

[defcon4]

2nd Lieutenant who beat the odds and survived the whole thing. I am not sure how long he served but it was a couple years. The life expectancy for that rank in Vietnam was very short from what I understand

I think it was 2 weeks, if I remember correctly from corresponding literature. I was not there.

 

[defcon4]

The 2nd Lt. I referred to earlier doesn't say a whole lot,

I was invited to a biker Christmas party once. It was a US Marine Viet Nam veterans biker club. They did not talk about what happened. One of them was called "Tunnel Rat." He was phased out, pulled pistol on another guest. I was protected by the Gunny who was the leader of the club, nobody messed with me. They were good guys.

 

[Ringel05]

The Military and South Vietnam did try but most field grade officers didn't care, it kept their soldiers from going at each other for one thing, kept them mellowed out when they weren't on patrol, etc, made the commander's job that much easier.

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

Well the nation was at war and the infrastructure was destroyed as well. Importing goods was probably not very easy. My guess is that heroin and pot was probably easier to get than whiskey quite frankly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, I don't really know (I wasn't there) but it would seem logical given all the circumstances that it might be easier to find heroin than a bottle of Jack Daniels.

They didn't have supply problems, they had bureaucracy problems but beer and hard drinks seemed to have little to no problem getting through and there were a couple of local Vietnamese brews of inconsistent qualities.
I missed Nam by 2 weeks, was reassigned to Central America instead. Had a lot of friends and my dad who had spent some time to lots of time in Nam, a few who didn't come back and a few who did physically but not mentally.

Tough time for those veterans. My father tells stories of getting spit on when he came home in uniform. The father of a friend of mine named Barry Adams was a cobra pilot who had been shot down multiple times, captured by the enemy and managed to escape...he has some very difficult stories to listen to. The 2nd Lt. I referred to earlier doesn't say a whole lot, but he does tell a story of the day he got home. The next morning his wife woke him up by shaking him and he grabbed her by the throat, threw her on her back and almost killed her before realizing what was going on. For the next year she woke him up by throwing things at him from the doorway.

Tough time for those soldiers and as a nation we failed them terribly.

Yeah, my mom spent more time sleeping in the guest room than in the master because of my dads violent dreams, she would toss things at him to wake him up also. He only told me one story where he was on a Huey and for some reason decided to take the door gunner position, suddenly something exploded in front of him. He realized he was laying on his back in the chopper wondering if he was still alive, looked down and saw his flack jacket was shredded but not a scratch on him. One thing I never had the chance to ask him was how he won his Silver Star, didn't know about it till after his death last year.
A school friend (a year ahead of me) was a front gunner on PBRs on the Mekong, had three blown out from under him and was almost captured but got away by pure luck with the rest of of the crew, never had a scratch and never lost a winks sleep over it. Another friend and I both ended up in northern Virginia working at a major metropolitan hospital, he had been a medic in Nam and with us in Central America. He had been married a year with a new daughter, was having some marriage problems and ate a .45 slug, he was in his late 20s.

 

[BluePhantom]

Well it was a different time then too, I suppose. Not necessarily in regard to a drug culture but soldiers were being drafted and going to fight against their will. Harder to get them to follow the rules when they don't want to be there to begin with

It's estimated that drug use during the late 60s into the 70s in Vietnam was more prevalent than back in the US during the same period. In 69 when S. Vietnam cracked down on pot the soldiers simply started using more heroin as it was easier to get.

Well the nation was at war and the infrastructure was destroyed as well. Importing goods was probably not very easy. My guess is that heroin and pot was probably easier to get than whiskey quite frankly. Maybe that's an exaggeration, I don't really know (I wasn't there) but it would seem logical given all the circumstances that it might be easier to find heroin than a bottle of Jack Daniels.

They didn't have supply problems, they had bureaucracy problems but beer and hard drinks seemed to have little to no problem getting through and there were a couple of local Vietnamese brews of inconsistent qualities.
I missed Nam by 2 weeks, was reassigned to Central America instead. Had a lot of friends and my dad who had spent some time to lots of time in Nam, a few who didn't come back and a few who did physically but not mentally.

Tough time for those veterans. My father tells stories of getting spit on when he came home in uniform. The father of a friend of mine named Barry Adams was a cobra pilot who had been shot down multiple times, captured by the enemy and managed to escape...he has some very difficult stories to listen to. The 2nd Lt. I referred to earlier doesn't say a whole lot, but he does tell a story of the day he got home. The next morning his wife woke him up by shaking him and he grabbed her by the throat, threw her on her back and almost killed her before realizing what was going on. For the next year she woke him up by throwing things at him from the doorway.

Tough time for those soldiers and as a nation we failed them terribly.

Yeah, my mom spent more time sleeping in the guest room than in the master because of my dads violent dreams, she would toss things at him to wake him up also. He only told me one story where he was on a Huey and for some reason decided to take the door gunner position, suddenly something exploded in front of him. He realized he was laying on his back in the chopper wondering if he was still alive, looked down and saw his flack jacket was shredded but not a scratch on him. One thing I never had the chance to ask him was how he won his Silver Star, didn't know about it till after his death last year.
A school friend (a year ahead of me) was a front gunner on PBRs on the Mekong, had three blown out from under him and was almost captured but got away by pure luck with the rest of of the crew, never had a scratch and never lost a winks sleep over it. Another friend and I both ended up in northern Virginia working at a major metropolitan hospital, he had been a medic in Nam and with us in Central America. He had been married a year with a new daughter, was having some marriage problems and ate a .45 slug, he was in his late 20s.

Damn that's rough. Too many stories like that. One of the reasons why I am so grateful for the military is because their sacrifice spares us the pain of having to experience it ourselves. That's really selfish, I know, but it's like 'thank you for doing what needed to be done so the rest of us didn't have to'. I don't know if that quote makes sense, but it's intended in the most respectful and positive manner.

When I was at the right age for service, there was really no need. I graduated in 1988 and there wasn't much going on militarily at the time so I just went to college. I do remember in 1986 when we bombed Libya, both my parents were very concerned that it would escalate into a large war, because of all the political implications at the time, and they were both afraid that it might lead to a draft and me having to go fight. I do remember telling them that if it came to war there would not need to be a draft because I would enlist and go fight for my country. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary. I was just lucky enough to be born at a time that when I was at the right age, there was no need. But that is a luxury bestowed upon me by those who did fight and sacrifice and I keep that in mind when I consider the life I have been lucky enough to live.

 

[suplex3000]

I am sure the locals had drugs. Vietnam is in South-East Asia's "Golden Triangle" one of Asia's prime opium producing regions (the other is the "Golden Crescent" which is Pakistan/Afghanistan/Iran). Here is a map.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/HeroinWorld-en.svg
They must have bought it or exchanged. I have heard about the same practice in Afghanistan.