Florida Display Recalls Tet Offensive

[unhappycamper]

Florida Display Recalls Tet Offensive
February 02, 2009
Tampa Tribune

TAMPA -- Gerard Abbett of Brandon remembers well the weapons and gear stocked at a Vietnam-era command post set up in Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday.

Grenades, helmets, guns and ammunition nestled near cots with bug netting. A Vietnamese phrase book, waterproof matches, unopened cans of Schlitz beer, and vintage copies of Life and Motor Trend magazines rested on a table.

"It brings back a lot of memories for me," Abbett said, poking through a meal kit to describe how the cans of peanut butter and beans were served with the labels on the lids hidden so troops had to trade for the good ones once they found out what they had.

For the second year in a row, a group of military aficionados -- many veterans of the service, if not combat -- set up a special display at the park at 3602 N. U.S. 301 to commemorate the 1968 Tet Offensive, a strike against U.S. troops and their South Vietnamese allies that turned into a public-relations debacle.

The display continues today from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Some of the re-enactors, dressed in authentic military uniforms, planned to camp out overnight.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/florida-display-recalls-tet-offensive.html?col=1186032310810