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Captain Berry (right) receiving his Bronze Star at II Field Force.

Before he founded Berry Law Firm, John Berry Sr. served three tours in Vietnam, where he earned the Bronze Star.

During his service, John transferred from Infantry to the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps and worked as chief defense counsel for Vietnam’s largest general court martial jurisdiction.

John’s role took him throughout Vietnam, protecting the rights of GIs. His journeys included successfully defending members of the 5th Special Forces against murder charges.

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Cutoffs and Combat Boots: Fun and Games in Vietnam

By Herman Hughes

August 17 2021

Summary

You can’t be “at task” 24/7, even in war. You have to have some down time. Young soldiers and sailors will always find a way to entertain themselves and others whenever they get the chance

Story

Cutoffs and Combat Boots

You can’t be “at task” 24/7, even in war. You have to have some down time. Young soldiers and sailors will always find a way to entertain themselves and others whenever they get the chance. At Cua Viet, Vietnam the choices were limited to say the least. We could watch MRT, the cat we called Mobile Rat Trap, chase a chicken.

We could pay a game of horseshoes. There was plenty of sand for the pits. Or we could relax with some music. I don’t know how a guitar appeared on my bunk one day but I enjoyed plunking on it for awhile. Unlike most of the Hughes clan I never did have much luck playing a musical instrument though.

We could take an afternoon stroll with some of the guys.

Of course there was also sun bathing, boating and sightseeing. For adventure we could go out on the South China Sea during a storm with the Vietnamese Navy in an oversized canoe called a Junk.

In Danang we played volleyball. We strung up a net across the concrete space between the building and the fence. We wore cutoff fatigue pants and combat boots. Jungle rules applied which means that just about anything goes. If we could be patched up, then there was no foul. VOLLEYBALL ANYONE?

Captain Herman W. Hughes, PhD

US Navy, Retired