Tommy Counts grew up in Columbia, Tennessee, about 50 miles southwest of Nashville. While attending Columbia Central High School he probably didn’t think too much about the Army or the draft until graduation in 1968. He soon discovered that others had been thinking of him — he was drafted and shipped off to Fort Campbell, Kentucky for basic training sooner than he imagined. This was followed by Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk. By February 1970, Counts had arrived in Vietnam and was assigned to Delta Company, 2/506th Infantry of the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Evans.
His platoon leader was Lieutenant Anderson, and his squad leaders were Stanley Diehl and Mark Skinner. Stanley was killed by a mortar round after exiting a helicopter that landed on Ripcord — a loss that stayed with Tommy long after the war ended.
Delta Company and Counts walked over hills and ridges around and on Firebase Ripcord in search of enemy troops until the battle for the hill started in earnest during July 1970. During that dangerous period, Delta and Charlie Company assaulted Hill 1000. Later, the two companies teamed up to relieve D 1/506 and recover the body of Captain Workman near Hill 605.
Finally, on July 23, 1970, Delta Company walked in to relieve and extract the badly mauled A 2/506. It was during that last relief assignment that Tommy met Frank Marshall of Alpha Company for the first time — Frank said something to the effect of “I’m from Philly.” That has stayed with Tommy ever since.
As an SP4 and grunt, Tommy felt fortunate to have served with the members of the Delta Raiders under the command of Captain Rollison. In his opinion, Rollison was an excellent company commander and the reason many of the Delta Raiders are alive today.
Counts spent a few more months in the field following Ripcord and was then assigned his “best job in Vietnam” — assistant to Chaplain Fox — until he returned to the States in February 1971.
In the photo below, a young Tommy Counts is pictured with two of his best squad buddies. George Kitzmiller was from West Virginia and opened a business in Miami, Florida after returning home. John Mason hailed from Maryland — however, Counts has not been able to contact him since the war.
Since returning to the States, Tommy has been in the billiard business. For a period of time he was a tournament pool player. Today he lives in the Columbia, Tennessee area where he owns and operates Shooters Sports Bar and Grill. He married his one and only wife, Judy, in the 1970s, and they have three children — Lisa, Leslie, and Tommy Jr. Their children have presented them with grandchildren Blake, James and Julie, Alex and Anna Stewart, Kayden Counts, and Sebastian Fletcher.
Tommy says there were many great guys in Delta Company and he wishes more would attend the reunions so they could discuss the many memories. Counts can usually be found at the reunions seeking other Delta Raiders and enjoying the fellowship of fellow Ripcord survivors.
