Montagnards & 9 yards proposal

[Se�n Fitzpatrick]

On 25 Jan I sent an e-mail to 30 Special Forces veterans who had served in I Corps RVN during the 1960s, principally in the middle of the decade.   I got five replies (plus 8 unknown address responses).  All five recalled referring to their *montagnard* troops as "yards", and all seemed familiar with the expression, but none recalled hearing "whole nine yards" in I Corps.  One person reported hearing his father (a WWII vet) using the expression with *his* buddies all his life.  I wrote back, and he was emphatic that he had heard his father using it before he went to Viet Nam.

I'll be happy to send Stephen Goranson copies of the correspondence.

Seán Fitzpatrick
The ends had better justify the means.