Milsurp After Hours

This is a reproduction of only known yearbook edition ever produced by and for the 6th battalion 31st Infantry, 9th Division. Each page image can be clicked on for a better look and to enlarge and read the wording. I posted this primarily for old veterans of the 6/31st who may want to see it but have no book or who came before or after this book was published. This printed momento was published in December of 1969 or more probably early January of 1970 for soldiers serving in Vietnam at the time. All the photos seem to have been taken in November or December of 1969 in and around Can Giouc Vietnam. It was produced and assembled entirely by battalion members who are listed in the book. Some enterprising publisher produced the hard cover books. The same probable entrepreneur produced a similar book for another battalion of the 9th Division that I am aware of also existing about the same time . The original book had a blue cover so the book is now referred to as the "Blue Book".

I enjoyed looking through the book, saw a few familiar faces. Since I left with the 9th in August, there are no photos of
my smiling face in there. I always thought it unfair that the 6/31st had to stay when the rest of us went to Hawaii and had such
easy duty there. Although many didn't stay in Hawaii and rotated back to the states, hopefully they got their first choice on
the wish list that we all filled out.

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Running through those photographs made me thinK that the style of most of the specticals reflects the date.....

One thing that occurs to me is the attempt at humor with the written quips under the photos....."damn right we are going to say grace" under a photo of a group at a mess table. This was done at a battalion level of a Division that only had one brigade left and the highest ranking man with brigade was probably a bird colonel at the time. The men assembling the images and writing the quips were, with one or two exceptions, bottom of the pyramid enlisted men. There was no high end headquarters oversight to edit the comments or the direction the publication took. It was below "official" Army oversight level for sure. If there was an approval for this undertaking it probably came from the battalion commander.....a LT Colonel who was well liked by his men.

I have another yearbook from the 101st. It was Division centered. No individuals in groups like a school yearbook. No quips. Just lots of highly professional artwork and images and stories about Operation such and such and a lot of glossy stuff of no substance for the individual soldier to want to ever look at again after bringing it home. Written for the glory of the Division and at the approval of high ranking rear echelon, mostly ticket punching, officers and NCO lifers who spent more time in the senior NCO club than behind a desk filling out forms in a city sized basecamp.

Duncan .... Almost all of those glasses were Army issue, certainly not what was popular in the civilian world.
They were free and you didn't care if you looked dorky in a combat zone. ....

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