It has been over forty years since the men of the 199th Infantry Brigade left Southeast Asia. Much has passed in those four decades,time has moved progressively forward, and many things have been forgotten or neglected. Worse, portions of history have been re-written or revised and changed for political effect(s).
This is true of the history of the 199th LIB and the war in Vietnam in general. Many years ago, when I first became interested in my father’s tour in Vietnam (Bobby Jack Gouge HHC-199, 1969-1970) I was very frustrated at the lack of information, accuracy notwithstanding, about the Redcatchers and their history from 1966 – 1970. For years, nothing could be found that amounted to anything.
Many times, I came upon bits of misinformation about the 199th being apart of the 23rd “Americal” Infantry Division, the 199th Infantry “Division,” or that the 199th had never served in Vietnam. There were also several instances that occurred when seeking information that I noticed that the 199th was passed over or grossly neglected altogether. I had even spoken to other 199th veterans who stayed in the military after the war and had to wear the combat SSI of another unit because there were no 199th insignia's to be found!
Thankfully, this has changed to a great extent with the introduction of the internet. Since then, I have made it a personal mission if you will,to seek, find, and accurately record all the quality information that I can find about the 199th LIB and the men that served in its ranks.
That is one of the objectives of this website. My intent is to clarify and correct this misinformation and to try and educate the younger generations, particularly the kids and grand-kids, about these gallant men that served with this particular unit during one of the most turbulent times in American history. Hopefully, this is off to a good start in doing so. Who knows where this project will end up?
