When I first checked in to Advisory Team 51, Sergeant First Class Galindo was the team’s Admin Sergeant and greeted me to the team’s admin office. He opened up my personnel file and scanned it briefly. “I see you’ve been in-country for some time now. So you haven't had enough of Vietnam yet?” he asked.
“Well, I’ve had enough of Vietnam, but the combat and overseas pay are fabulous. You can’t get that back in the States, and I need that extra money,” I replied.
“It says here that you have an administrative specialty but assigned as security guard. How did that happen? Did MACV1 screw up again?” he wanted to know.
I informed SFC Galindo that I wanted to leave Advisory Team 99 for personal reasons2 and Advisory Team 51 had the only E-53 slot in the Mekong Delta. “Unfortunately, that happened to be a security guard slot,” I added.
“Hablas Espanol?” he asked. I replied in the affirmative.
“Temenos nomas quatro Mexicanos aqui.” he replied “Dos hablamos español.”4
SFC Galindo was from Arizona. He became a good friend and helped me navigate through the problems I always seemed to get from the admin officer.
I was once banned from the NCO club for being rude to the club manager who was an SFC and friend of Galindo. SFC Galindo advised me to not fight the issue but accept the dreaded 30-day ban. I followed his advice despite the fact there was not much else to do after hours in the team compound. I had probably three infractions with the admin officer during my time with Advisory Team 51. He disliked me as much as I did him. I once asked SFC Galindo if perhaps the young captain was prejudiced towards Mexicans. "No! Don't think that way," replied SFC Galindo. "Hell, I'm Mexican, and that son-of-a-bitch treats me like royalty. Besides, that captain probably doesn't even know you're Mexican." I suggested that maybe the young captain treated him like royalty only because he needed him. "Naw, it's not like that," SFC Galindo replied. "He's just a young captain trying to make find his way."
SFC Galindo took particular interest in one of those episodes which took place when I was managing the team’s PX and warehouse.“I heard from the admin officer about you running the Senior Advisor out of the PX because it was closed,” he stated. “Now tell me the real story.”
“Didn’t happen that way, sarge,” I replied. “The PX was closed, and we were restocking the liquor section. I had my back to the side door. Apparently, the Senior Advisor opened the side door and was looking around. A Vietnamese stocker pointed him out to me, and the colonel had his back turned to me, so I didn’t recognize him.”
“I called out to him telling him the PX was closed for the day. When he turned around I recognized him and quickly apologized telling him to take his time. He never acknowledged my apology but came and offered his hand in a handshake telling me we had a much better-stocked PX than Can Tho. He then left.”
“Well, that’s a very different story than the admin officer told me,” said SFC Galindo. “Anyway, he wants to see you tomorrow first thing about this. Just explain to him how you told me. It was just a misunderstanding."
I reported to the admin officer come morning. He thrust a letter of reprimand for my signature and waited patiently while I scanned the letter.
“Well, it didn’t happen that way, but I’ll sign your letter of reprimand, captain,” I offered.
Going into a quick and unexpected rage, the young captain began a tirade telling me “Well, I’m going to believe the Senior Advisor’s side, sergeant!” He continued his rage for a good two or more minutes.
“Now, tell me what you have to say for yourself?” asked the young captain.
“I’m leaving your army in just a few more weeks, so I’ll just take the abuse and sign your letter of reprimand, captain."
That done, I saluted and walked out past SFC Galindo’s desk.
I saw Galindo at the NCO club after dinner. “So what happened in there?” he asked.
“Well, he basically told me I did not deserve to be an E-5, and if he could do it he would reduce me to Private. He talked pretty hard to me, but I know there’s not much he can do about it. Besides, I’ll be leaving the Army in just a couple of months.”
“He said that?” asked SFC Galindo. “That ass cannot talk to you like that. You are a goddamn NCO!5 He cannot disrespect an NCO like that! NCO's are what makes this team work. If it were not for me, that sonavabitch would’ve lost his job several times over. I am the reason he’s still afloat.”
“Well, it’s over. I won't let it affect my sleep or my appetite. I’ve put that issue behind me,” I replied.
“No !” yelled out SFC Galindo. He was furious. “That sonavabitch gonna pay for that shit. I’ll fix his fucking wagon! He has a bottle of wine in the company safe. It’s been handed down from his predecessors, and every incoming admin officer signs it. It’s supposed to be opened by the last admin officer when the advisory team is deactivated.”
“Tomorrow, you and I will be drinking his precious fucking wine! After work, I’ll get into the company safe and pour his bottle into my empty bottle. I’ll fill his with 7-Up and put it back. I’ve thought of doing that anyway just for the hell of it. I have just over a month left before going to my next assignment at Bragg, and the dumbass won’t even notice his wine's been switched since the bottle is dark glass.”
It was a sinister plan. SFC Galindo came over to my hooch after dinner that day and proudly showed me the cheap wine bottle filled with the captain's precious wine. He did not have a cork to cap it so he improvised with a sheet of paper folded over twice and secured with a couple of rubber bands. I sipped on the young captain's wine from my canteen cup. It was an overly dry wine and probably several years past its prime. I didn’t finish my wine.
“Sarge, I am not a wine drinker and this one is a really terrible wine,” I said as I opened the hooch front door and threw out my cup of wine.
“Well, I didn’t do it for the taste,” replied SFC Galindo. “I just wanted to teach that young dumbass a lesson he won’t soon forget. Maybe I’ll send him an anonymous card from Bragg and thank him for the wine. There’s not a fucking thing he can do to me!”
"Well, that would be sweet revenge, but don't mention my name," I suggested. "Remember I've still got a couple of months left here. I don't want any more battles with dumbass."
SFC Galindo left a few weeks later. I left about a month after him and came back to civilian life in Texas hoping I was completely done with military life. That was a short-lived plan. I never learned about dumbass' reaction to his precious wine bottle switch.
1 "Military Assistance Command Vietnam was the highest-level command in Vietnam."
2 Life at Advisory Team 99 was getting too hostile with frequent rocket and mortar attacks. I was also flying in psychological missions dropping propaganda leaflets over enemy-held territory.
3 E-5 rank is Sergeant or Specialist Fifth Class. I was one or the other depending on the slot I occupied.
4 "We have just four Mexicans here. Two of us speak Spanish."
5 Non-Commissioned Officer.
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