CHAPTER TWENTYIn Cu Chi, the grunts learned firsthand about those rumors circulating during the last few weeks in the bush – some were true, but others were way out in left field. Yes, it was correct that the 25th Division was pulling out of Vietnam and returning to Hawaii, but not everyone was receiving an invitation to come along.
The official cutoff time was nine months, and only those soldiers with nine – or more months – in country were leaving with the division. Some of the men in this grouping were receiving early discharges from the service, returning home as civilians. Another portion received orders to various stateside bases, reporting after a thirty-day leave; the luckiest ones would be relocating to Hawaii with the division flags. The unlucky ones who had less than nine month
