Replying to a message of Bob Klahn to Tim Richardson:

 TR>> Near as I can find....it was about a 4 month deployment
 TR>> aboard the Gridley. The Gridley went to several places
 TR>> between February of 1968, and June of that year. Not all of
 TR>> that time was spent in the Vietman area such that anyone
 TR>> could count that time toward `in country' time. The Gridley

 BK>  From what I have read, no one on ship off shore counted any time  as
 BK> in country.

Hmmm.  How about pilots?

In any case, not everybody who qualified for combat pay during the Vietnam
War was stationed in South Vietnam.  The 6990th Security Squadron crews
based on Okinawa flew missions over the South China Sea and over Laos,
and got combat pay (and flight pay, and exemption from paying income tax)
without setting foot on the ground in country (long missions, 20-24 hours each,
Kadena to Kadena).  Likewise the B-52 crews at Kadena and Andersen AFBs.

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