Our Mission

Over the years, the members of the Bunny Platoon went their separate ways.  About ten years ago, one of the group, Alan J Greenwood, began trying to find fellow members.  We existed for at least 18 months and totaled between two hundred fifty (250) and three hundred fifty (350) men over all. 

With limited resources, he was able to locate and meet with several members. The process to do so was both costly and time intensive.  A few years ago, others joined the search and more members were found.   To date, we have identified over eighty original members of the Bunny Platoon.  Some are deceased, others have been located and the rest will require a more extensive search in an effort to locate. We began a web site in the hope of finding others of our group  www.thebunnyplatoon.com . We have attended a reunions of the 5^th Battalion, 60^th Infantry Regiment, 9^th Infantry Division in 2008 and 2010, and also a reunion of Bravo Company, 5^th/60^th and 1^stBattalion, 16^th Infantry Regiment, First Infantry Division in 2009 seeking others of us.  M any members have met together at the residences of members or hotels in small numbers.  Throughout this process of re-acquaintance, we have found that many have become relatively successful in life; several married the sweethearts they had while in Vietnam, most have stable lifestyles and across our group, many professions are represented.  However, upon closer inspection, we learned that a surprising number were hampered in their reentry into society after the war, and many still carry those wounds which continue to affect them.  This pertained to both battalions, several thousands of men.  These were all fighting infantrymen.

Many report negative experiences with the Veteran’s Administration upon separation from the military. Neither Post Traumatic Stress Disorder nor the affects of Agent Orange were recognized at that time.  As a result, combat veterans were treated as unworthy.  Further compounding the problem was the attitude of society towards these veterans.  The labels of “baby killers,” “drug addicts” and “drop outs” were the norm.  A large segment of Vietnam veterans came from the lower socioeconomic level of society.  The labels given to them, and the accompanying images of Vietnam war vets as a negative segment of society and/or along with the poor treatment they received from the VA or other governmental agencies and veterans groups, served to keep many veterans emotionally and financially distressed.   While the system has changed, many vets have never returned to the agencies and peer groups that initially ostracized them. This has resulted in a large number of veterans being disconnected from the individuals and agencies that can help them the most.

As our search for Bunny Platoon members continued, we became of aware of a mission which we had no idea existed; perhaps, in fact, the last true mission of The Bunny Platoon. Simply stated, this mission is to assist combat veterans and their families in their contact with the Veteran’s Administration and Vet Centers.  To involve them in peer to peer contact in groups and individually, to assist them in any way possible in an effort to improve their lives, and to raise awareness regarding military veterans.

The Bunny Platoon of Vietnam, Inc. was formed to fulfill this mission;  as it relates to members of the Bunny Platoon and other combat military personnel.

We have made contact with professionals through veteran service groups and county veteran's services.  They have assisted when we have found veterans in need of assistance with the Veteran’s Administration.  We have referred members of the Bunny Platoon and other war veterans.  We have had complete success with this process.

Our efforts to involve combat veterans in peer to peer contact have been widespread. We have attempted to physically see all we have located either in groups or individually.  We have found and visited members in such places as Seattle, WA, Austin, TX, New York, NY, St Louis, MO, Russellville, AL, Centerville, TN, Syracuse, NY and Detroit, MI.  Five members met at one reunion in Indianapolis, IN, nine at another in Denver, CO, and groups of four and five have met in Orlando, FL.  A new sense of rekindled camaraderie has been established.  In Vietnam, the members of The Bunny Platoon wore berets emblazoned with the image of the Playboy Bunny.  We recently had new ones printed and distributed to members. This furthers the sense of camaraderie among us.  

Direct contact has been established with several surviving family members.  In one case a daughter was so very happy to find out about her dad which died soon after his return home after Service.  Her remarried mother did not want to discuss her father with her because of fear of her second husband’s reaction.  We were able to fill in the gaps.  In another, we contacted the son of a member in our efforts to find his father.  He let us know his father was deceased and was very happy to receive all the pictures we had of his father.

We are continually obtaining documentation at the Archives in Washington, DC and battalion rosters in St Louis, MO.  We have the rosters from when we were in the 9^th Infantry Division and the 1^st Infantry Division rosters.  

The Search for Members and other War Veterans:

The most important part of our mission is to locate members, other war veterans, their families and families of active duty personnel so that we may help them if needed.  This is currently conducted by members and professional skip tracers.    This is an ongoing effort and will continue as long as the issues are viable.   The search is nationwide and  furthers our exempt purpose by making contact with those who need our services.

Our Outreach Program: 

Our program is to help members, other war veterans and their families. Many need our help in putting them in touch with those unpaid professionals with whom we have an established relationship.   The professionals work with applications, appeals and dealing with the Veteran’s Administration.  We meet with our guys, and stay in contact to be assured they are receiving what they need.  We coordinate with local veteran’s groups or the Vet Center to assure they receive treatment or other services if needed.  We plan to also provide those services for current war veterans, active duty personnel and their families.  As a part of this activity, we wish to provide a forum for communication and meetings with like-experienced veterans or families.  We also plant to help disabled veterans who are, or want to be self employed, to form their business and procure governmental contracts put aside for disabled veterans. This activity furthers our exempt purpose by providing the services we offer to the targeted group who need it.  Further, this activity indirectly assists the government in that VA applications and appeals will be prepared by professionals familiar with rules and regulations rather than by individuals having no knowledge and presenting irrelevant facts.

Documentary:

We are planning a documentary to be shown in the United States and the United Kingdom.  This will be a production for either the film or television industry.  We are in discussions with a British author and director to make the documentary.   We are unique for a few reasons:  We were called the Bunny Platoon of Vietnam and had the Playboy Bunny painted on our Armored Personnel Carriers (we were mechanized infantry).  We flew a Bunny banner on the radio aerials of our APCs.  We wore black berets with the bunny and our unit.  We came into being in February 1968 while we were with the 9^th Infantry Division. We were in several combat situations.  In May we were advised by our commanders that the enemy had placed a bounty on our APCs and us individually.  We were asked if we wanted to do away with the bunny moniker.  We refused.  In September we were moved to the 1^st Infantry Division but kept our bunny image.  This uniqueness is the reason for interest in the documentary being produced.

The director and a cameraman will be coming to the U.S. to individually interview as many of us as possible.  As many as possible of us, accompanied by the director and his cameraman, will go to Vietnam to be interviewed onsite as we discuss the war from our vantage point.  Of course, our mission as The Bunny Platoon of Vietnam, Inc. will be the climax of the documentary.

We see this as a great opportunity to get our message out to other vets who went through the same things.  This helps to show the military in a good light and Vietnam veterans as real people.  Through this exposure we believe we will be contacted by many members and other war veterans needing what our outreach program is all about.  This documentary will provide an excellent platform from which we can find members. We believe this helps further our exempt purpose by contacting our target groups as well as the general public and letting all who watch know what we do.  We believe this coincidentally helps the general public see the Vietnam veteran in a less bias light, decrease discrimination to those vets and show the military in a more positive light.