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This is intended to be the member's history of B/1/30 FA from 65 which morphed into C /6/16 in 67 through the end of it's service in Vietnam. This document should focus on the unit actually designated B/1/30. There is a separate document for C/6/16th. There is the strong possibility of confusion of unit identification during the period of re-flagging and the new identities that developed over the following years. Do not worry about that. Hopefully, we can sort it out as we go along. If you want to contribute to the C/6/16 history, let me know and I will authorize your access.
I hope that we can focus on the people, the places, and the events that we experienced. When I joined the battery in late '66 we were in Tuy An, just North of Tuy Hoa attached to the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Brigade. That is a relationship that had begun not long after the 30th Field Artillery Battalion arrived in Vietnam from Fort Lewis, Washington. The battery remained associated with the Airborne through April of 1967 and during that time established a unique reputation. A reputation that pulled us close to the 1st Brigade and only slightly connected to the 30th FA Battalion, with both good and bad aspects. During my time in the battery it was never attacked and only encountered one road mine. In spite of the lack of direct contact with the enemy we lost four soldiers and had a number of injuries. My experience was remarkable more for the people and the relationships we established than the combat in which we were involved.
In order to get this started I will provide a location and time based outline and one or two short pieces of my own. I invite anyone who was assigned to the battery, associated with the battery but in other units including the Headquarters of the 1/30th Battalion -- I know there are many in the headquarters from the time B Battery came back to the base camp for refitting, cleaning up, and reloading in preparation for rejoining the Airborne. So, please join in and contribute some of your memories.
Oh, and some ground-rules might be helpful:
• Keep it simple and relatively short
• Limit profanity
• Don't worry about writing the perfect entry, the end result will be edited for grammar, spelling, and content
• Name names where possible and then invite them to join the project
• Invite others you know from the battery to participate
• Make your entries first person reports, e.g., what you saw, did, experienced as much as possible
• If you disagree with what someone has written, do not delete their input. Add to it with your opinion or memory of the event. We'll sort it out later.
• Please be as specific as possible about dates and places. And, if you are willing to own up to your contribution, include your name in brackets at the end of each comment you include.
• Remember, this is a draft at this point. Enter what you can even if you think you need more information. You can always come back and edit what you have already contributed plus add information. Maybe someone else could provide information you do not remember.
'65 Fort Lewis, Washington.
'65 Arrival in Vietnam
'66
The following is quoted from the Hardchargers website. It was written by Joe Toth who was then the commander of the battery. "In late May of 1966, we were in position next to a stand of trees at Cheo Reo. On June 1, 1966 we were flown to Dak To to assist in the evacuation of Tou Morong. Operation Hawthorne I & II with the 1st Brigade involved the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry, two ARVN Infantry Battalions and several CIDG (Civilian Irregular Defense Group) units. The artillery support was from B/1/30 and B/2/320th FA. We called ourselves "B & B" because we had operated with them before and had shared several other positions together. The Infantry and CIDG units were to go out into the area and perform a sweep in hopes of finding the NVA 24th and 88th Regiments.
"We were put into a position in an abandoned and burned out Montagnard village, the next day they flew in the Infantry. We stayed that night and part of the next day and did not fire a round, so we were moved back to Dak To. Meanwhile, 2/327 Infantry was on the ground near Tou Morong with no artillery within range. They airlifted B/2/320 into a place they called LZ Lima Zulu to give them support. We were ordered to road march to Lima Zulu, but could not ford a stream where the bridge had been destroyed. We ended up setting up a firing position about 500 meters to the left and in back of Lima Zulu. After 2 days we were ordered back to Dak To, this was on the 6th of June.
"At about 0200 on the 7th they woke me and told me that B/2/320 was being hit on Lima Zulu. We knew they were out of range of our guns and those of the ARVN Artillery as well. We all had buddies in B/2/320 so we started working out how to best help them. 1LT Mike Horstman, 1LT Bill McMakin, 1SG Johnson, SFC Logan and I quickly discussed the situation and determined, that at a minimum, we should get the base platoon ready to move. I directed that the trucks be brought into position and have all but essential firing gear and ammo loaded in preparation for a quick move. The guns were still on the ground, but we were ready to hook up at a moments notice."
"We shortly received word to move several miles to an airstrip near the Brigade Headquarters and provide fire support to LZ Lima Zulu. We quickly hooked up the two guns and took off with the lights on. 1LT Horstman was in charge of the guns and they roared down the road at top speed with no security what so ever. When they arrived they had the two guns set up and firing within minutes. Within a short time I arrived with the remainder of the Battery and we quickly got all three guns in action. We put a box of steel around that 105mm Battery and fired at the maximum rate for more than four straight hours. CPT Don Whalen, the Battery Commander of B/2/320, told me later that our fires had also been directed onto a ridge immediately to the front of his position and that we had helped greatly to break up the attack. The NVA had taken his Number 6 Gun and he had his hands full."
"Then they gave us the order to “expend all ammunition,” and cooks, mechanics, radio operators and officers began dragging round after round into the firing positions to be gobbled-up and spit out by our 155mm pigs. When daylight came the enemy was found literally blown off the hills surrounding the 105 Battery, but the 105 Battery had survived. Most of the men in my Battery merely dropped down in the mud where they had been standing and fell asleep. Empty fuze cans and powder canisters lay in huge piles everywhere and stood in mute testimony to what had been a very intense encounter. The smell of cordite was as thick as coal soot and choked you if you breathed too deeply.
"A few hours later "B" Battery shook their bone weary cannoneers awake. They "March Ordered" their guns and moved into a firing position at LZ Lima Zulu along side their friends from B/2/320. The additional fire power of B/1/30 was very comforting and the NVA never challenged the Redlegs at Lima Zulu again. The battery operated from there for the rest of the campaign. After all was said and done, including a B-52 strike, they claimed to have wiped out an NVA Regiment."
Dak To: June 66, (Cliff Anderson)When we moved into the Dak To area we moved up there by road and it was the only time that I know of that the only ones on the trucks were the driver and one other, the rest of us did a combat march up the hills on each side of the road, and this was also the time when we flew out after the opertion was over that the run was at the SF area was so short and we were so over loaded that the running gears on the planes hit the top of some of the trees. (Cliff Anderson)
'66 Tuy An,
Tuy An. (Cliff Anderson)This is the place where Capt Toth turned over the Btry to Capt. Zugel, at Tuy An we set up the guns on a old dirt airstrip, and on the inland side the hills were higher then the Btry Area, so Capt Toth set 6 of us up there on a outpost, Myself, Frank Hillburn, James Moore, Richard Lacy, Vic Heiob and one other person, and somewere along the line they moved a 50 cal. gun up there, none of us had every fired one before and we received a quick leason on firing it and to make sure when we cleaned it to insure the timing was set right, one day and I do not remember who it was, had cleaned the 50 and put it back together and did not time it and when they went to test fire it, it came apart, to make a very long story short, I belive it was Capt Toth, it could have been Capt. Zugel, but anyway after this they started to think, what would happen if we were to be over run up there, that 50 could be turned down at the Btry area, as our orders were in case we had to leave the post we were to go down over the hill to a ditch and move down that ditch and wait at a bridge down the road from the btry till day light and then make our way back to the btry area, and there was no way we would be able to take the 50 with us, so they took it back and left us with just the one M60 and our M79 and M14s.
Change of Command: I was assigned to take command of B 1/30th from CPT Joe Toth at Tuy An airstrip the day after my arrival in the battery position. I had gone through the usual welcome, introductions, and tour. During the tour I was keenly interested in perimeter defense. Since this was my first day outside of a relatively large base camp and my first day in a real “combat environment” I was actually quite concerned for my safety (read scared!!). As the evening turned to night I settled in with Joe to learn as much as I could about the unit and get his guidance before I assumed command the next day. Among other things, he assured me that the position was secured and there had no problem with the VC nor did he expect any. With that thought in mind I eventually fell into a restless sleep, listening to strange noises, and hoping that he was correct.
At some point, with storm clouds moving in from the South China Sea, the moon clouding over, and a light rain falling, an alert sounded!!! Suddenly there was one rifle firing on the West side of the position. Then a Claymore was detonated and other riflemen joined in the fray. Now I was certain my fears had been well founded!
Joe and I got our gear on, grabbed our weapons, and headed out to assess the situation. With my heart pounding and some hesitation in my steps we made our way to the middle of the small airstrip that was the center of our position to see what was happening. We heard lots of outgoing fire but could not detect any incoming – which was a good thing since we were standing on the high point in the battery, fully exposed to anyone with a mind to ruin our day! After Joe checked with the First Sergeant and determined that no one had reported any incoming fire he gave the order to “check fire”, but the firing continued…he gave the command again, this time louder, but the firing went on…he then commanded at the top of his lungs, “Cut this shit out” and finally got the results he wanted. Peace settled over the position, we headed back for what ended up being a restful night, and I had learned a new command – and lost some of my anxiety!
The battery stayed at Tuy An for a week or two during which there we only two things I can remember happening. One was the supply run to Tuy Hoa:
Before the run left I checked on what kind of security the convoy would have -- only the battery members on the convoy, and what had been our experience on these convoys -- the answer was essentially, no problem, it's routine. When the convoy returned I asked how it went and was told, "No problem except for the sniper who failed to injure anyone." The NCO in charge said it was, "no big deal, he's there every time and never hits anything." My response was something like, what did you do? Answer, nothing, just keep going. I asked why don't you call in some artillery and get rid of him. The response was, "Don't want to do that. He can't hit anything and if we take him out, then someone who replaces him might be better. So, we live with it." At the time I thought it a strange attitude.
One dreary night about a week after I arrived in Tuy Hoa, we got a fire mission. Not an uncommon experience except for the fact that the direction of fire was toward the ocean and at a range which put the rounds in the water. The target was a group of sampans. As I remember we fired the full battery and a number of rounds. I believe the fire was not observed. We didn't hear anything from anyone in the military structure about the results of the mission. But a week or so later someone in the battery got an article out of the New York Times describing an artillery attack on a group of innocent fishermen off the coast of SVN. The battery firing the rounds was not identified. If anyone remembers this incident or has the article please provide any info you can.
Tuy Hoa
The battery was ordered to move to Tuy Hoa in preparation for a further move inland from Tuy Hoa in support of the 101st Airbore in operation ........? We spent a short time at the Tuy Hoa airfield and learned that we had been attached to the 5/27 FA (I believe). The reason for the attachment was given me by the battalion commander whose name I don't remember. The reason: to get the battery under control! Apparently the commander of 1/30th was not happy with how we were operating. This was a surprise to me since no one had given me any indication of it before I was given the command. The attachment was a cause of some trouble for me, the XO, and First Sergeant.
Inland from Tuy Hoa After meeting the 5/27 FA Commander I was sent on an aerial recon to pick a position for the battery to occupy. I was given three potential sites and chose what I considered the "least worst". I ranked that way because it had room for the battery and was defensible on three sides. The worst part was that the fourth side was a bluff that overlooked our position. We moved by road convoy until about the half way point. There the convoy was greeted by a crowd of local villages who were smiling and seemed happy to see us. One small boy broke from the crowd and ran next to the Battery Commander's jeep holding out his hand as if to give me something. Having heard the stories about kids dropping a hand grenade in the jeep I was extremely anxious. He persisted and I saw that his hand could not have contained anything large as a handgrenade so I opened my hand and extended it to him. Much to my surprise he dropped a coin in my hand and dropped back waving and smiling. The coin was from the French Indo China period. I have it to this day.
Unfortunately, within about a mile, a mine was detonated under the rear wheels of the first gun section in the convoy. The explosioin injured one soldier who was evacuated with numerous shrapnel cuts on his back. He was conscious and seemed to be doing well enough that we weren't overly worried about his chance of recovery. But, we never heard anything more from or about him and never saw him again. I hope someone can remember his name and enter it here. The damage to the vehicle and the gun were minor as I remember -- a couple of blown tires. Someone please fill in the blanks on this one.
After the incident, we moved on toward our intended position. Unfortunately, enroute we encountered a rickety looking bridge with no weight limit indicated. The bridge crossed a stream that was swollen by heavy rainfall. My memory of the birdge was that it was rather high. We inspected the bridge, looked for alternative ways to cross the stream, called for engineers (none available), and then decided to take the risk. We sent a small party across the bridge to secure the opposite bank and then moved one vehicle at a time over the now wobbly bridge. We disconnected the guns from their five ton prime mover and took them over the bridge one at a time, very slowly. It was clear to us that the bridge could not take much more abuse before it came down.
More to come.
Tuy Hoa Airport
• Preparation for air movement to Kontum
• Lighten the load, who needs these sleeping bags anyway? Certainly not us in this hot climate. WRONG!
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Kontum East before Christmas
• Two platoons deployed by helicopter
• Airborne engineers build/improve road to extract one platoon because the heavy lift helicopter was not available.
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Kontum for Christmas
• Visit by Westmorland and John Steinbeck
• Rest time
• A little time behind the barn for a troublesome trooper.
• Funny smelling cigarettes?
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Kontum west after Christmas
• In position as a full battery near Cambodia and Laos
• One of the strangest "occupation of position" ever -- Advanced party by Chinook landed some distance from battery location. Escorted/guided by locals. Clear the mahogany stumps -- not! (This may have been before Christmas. I don't remember for sure. Anyone know for sure?)
• Whole battery among the mahogany tree stumps next to a Montanyard village. VN security and the XO's patrol after the VN security disappeared during the night.
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Camp Townes, base camp
• Hero's welcome
• Airborne pride and conflict with the "legs".
• Supply mess
• Missing the SP time
• SSG Cartegena's overloaded gun truck
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Phan Rang
Bao Loc
• The 1/101 ABN raid into the suspected COSVN base near Bao Loc
• The loss of the battery's FO party that was supporting the VN Special Forces who were working with the Airborne
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Phan Thiet
• At the airport
• Blowing out helicopter windows:
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• VN funeral procession
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En-route to Phan Rang
• The Ledegar accident. Russell Ledegar was a member of the ammo section and lost his life while moving ammunition from one perimeter position to another. A number of other soldiers were injured and medevaced never to return to the battery. Does anyone remember who they were?
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o "NOTE BY CLIFF (Andy) ANDERSON" At the position that Russell Ledegar was killed there were 2 other that were hurt, they did return to the btry, Frank Hillburn was in charge of the detail when Russell was killed, from the time Russell arrived at the btry he told all of us that he was not going to get home ok, ever night befor we went out to the Perimeter we would set and talk and Russell would have all his gear on and ahold of his M14, Frank Hillburn, Richard Lacey, Vic Heiob and Johnnie Crow, myself, Rudy (my self and Rudy were from Maint. sec. plus on other maint. person can not remember his name. and Frank, Richard,Vic, Johnnie, and James Moore were from the ammo sect.) and at the time Russel was killed there were 2 other's that came in at the same time as he did, and they were the other 2 that were injured, Sorry got off track a little here, anywhere the night before the accident happen we had all set up out on the perimeter and later that night we pulled back in a little, (this is the only time I can remember when we moved the perimeter back in) some time that night some one threw a Grenade out and it did not go off, (this is something we did if we heard any thing outside of the Position,) (some times we ask if we could but most of the time we all played dum and not sure what happen or who did it) but this night we had the ok, and we threw about 4 or 5 durning that night, from at least 2 position and I think it was from three. the next day I had to fly back to pick up some parts for the maint sect. and Frank H. was told to get the new guys and clean up around the perimeter area, As told to me by Frank, "there were cleaning up the area and Russell found the grenade that did not go off and it still had the handle on it, some one did not pull the pin completely out before throwing it. Russell bent over to pick it up and when he did he know the pin the rest of the way out and the handly popped and he try to push the handly back down and was still bent over (if he would have throwing it we might have had a better out come) when it went off, and as I was in the rear area getting parts and this happen, I was told to go to Grave Res. and ID him, after losing every thing I had to eat that day and it seem like from a week of more, I was able to do the ID, (and this is something I hope I never have to come across again, at times it still comes back to me.) I think Frank H. still knows the names of the other two guys that were hurt.
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o "Up date 2/5/2008" Johnnie was not hurt in this accident, he got sick and was shipped out and never came back to the Btry. (Andy) Note by Cliff (Andy) Anderson, One that did not come back to the Battery was Johnnie L. Crow, From Baxter Springs, KS. and by what I understand it was reported to his Mother that he would not be coming home, and she was so upset she got rid of all the picture's he sent home and most of his things, the good news is he did made it home, I have talked to him with in the last 6 months, he has moved again so I have to start looking all over again for him.
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On the road to Khan Doung
• Battery deployed in three platoons.
• Re-flagging. Upon returning to the Battery HQ one day the BC got a message from 2/320 FA Bn ABN, to contact them immediately for an important message. The message was that IFFV Artillery HQ had decided that the Christmas attack on C/6/16 FA at LZ Bird had severely the battery and needed to be pulled out its vulnerable position. IFFV's solution for the problem was to detach B/1/30 from the Airborne and send them North to take the place of C/6/16 which was to move south to replace B Battery. There was great concern about the proposed move and departure from support of the Airborne. That concern was expressed to the CG, MG Salve Matteson, of the 1/101 Abn by the BC who suggested that it would make more sense to just put the guidons and property books in the mail and move a few people and be done with it. From the battery's point of view this was the preferable alternative. Over a period of days, the decision was made to exchange the guidons and be done with it. That satisfied the B Battery soldiers. They were more attached to the Airborne than the 1/30th FA Bn. The day of re-flagging was a celebration. The Brigade CG attended the re-flagging and presented the battery with a new slogan, the Legs of the Eagle. He also authorized us to wear the Airborne shoulder patch with the banner NAP standing for Non-Airborne Personnel. He also authorized the battery members to wear the patch as a combat patch after leaving VN. That decision was reportedly approved by the US Forces Inspector General.
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Reflagging of C/6/16 to B/1/30 April 7th 1967
We bounced around between Crystal, ROK Valley and general vicinity of Qui Nhon [pic]till sometime in late May, at which time I believe we went to LZ English.
IS THAT A BASEBALL IN YOUR HIP POCKET?
Somewhere during this period, I believe at LZ Crystal we were ordered to head over to the First Aid Station and get a Gamagoblin shot in the rear end as a precaution against hepatitis. From our batteries position on the LZ, there were two ways to get there, either the long way, or take the short-cut over some inner perimeter barb wire.
We opted for the later, and made it over to the Aid Station without incident.
Took one in the hinnie, and on the way back as I was straddling the barb wire, the shot grabbed my cheek like a donkey-bite and tightened up to the point that I couldn't go forward or back over that wire. After the rest of the guys had a good laugh at my expense, I finally was assisted and kept the jewels in tact.
Everything is pretty much a blur during this timeframe between March and mid to late May, as things were pretty much based around the same ole sh*t. Working the night shift with Robert Schmulck (sp) as many of the original section members were starting to rotate out.
Covin Pennington who was the true section chief rotated out early, as he had been with the advance party, as did George Hopkins. Then thoughout May, Ronnie Davis, Paul Meuse, and Mike Brady. If I forgot anyone please add your name........[pic]
? is the one trooper I can't remember his name. As stated it was pretty much mundane repetitive tasks, especially working up the long (350 to 500 round H&I list), punctuated with some live fire missions, but this was soon to change.
Other then the Gamagoblin shot and being on an LZ with some ROK Tiger Force bad boys and watching them literally kick the crap out of each other, and a possible mortar round at that one ROK LZ, nothing of consequence took place.
What's smarter....A RAT, A WATER BUFFALO, OR ME?
A little levity in the form of a tidbit you might enjoy. I can't pinpoint the exact time, but it was sometime during our bopping around from one LZ to another that we road marched to some LZ up in Binh Dinh Province and arrived late in the day....due to the heavy rain.....I'm guessing late May...with the coming summer monsoon's. Since I worked the night shift, that meant I had had no sleep since the day prior and needed to get some shut eye before having to go back on duty. The LZ we moved to was in a shambles and there wasn't much we could do before sunset....So I spotted one dry, or somewhat dry spot to curl up under......A water buffalo.....no no...not the kind in the fields....but the kind that you pull behind a deuce an half, the little tanker that held potable water......that kind of water buffalo.
Crawled under that sucker, pulled my poncho up over my head and it was lights out amigo. Somewhere between twilight sleep and rapid eye movement period....pitch black....I awake to what felt like something crawling on my chest......I flip back the poncho off my face....there sitting on my chest....face to face with a rat the size of Spain.....I sit up......Bong! I come back too...shake the cobwebs off....remember the rat.....Bong......after about the third bell ringing against the water buffalo.....I decided H&I's weren't all that bad and limped into FDC with a lot goose eggs on my forehead.
June 1967
It was around this time that David Charboneua (sp) joined the FDC section and lot of new faces were showing up out on the guns, by mid June everyone of the original battery that had come over on the boat in June of 1966 had rotated out.
Things really started to change during the summer, seems some of the new more powerful Chinooks were showing up, and someone had the bright idea of seeing if they could lift a 155. Well low and behold, bingo we were in a new mode of travel, and were we ever.
We were doing a lot of hit and run type of close support missions, moving every few days. Many of the places they dropped us didn't have a LZ name, just a blip on the map to stick a chart pin...some blown out hilltop in no-mans land. It was during this period, in fact I have a letter dated June 19th that I wrote home, we had just come from a spot up in the An Loa Valley where I thought we'd all meet our makers... It all started a few days prior to that....maybe the 16th of June, I had just come off shift and was just slipping into twilight zone....when they come rushing in to shake me awake, yelling "we have to break down fast, were moving up into the An Loa, seems the ARVN's had run into some big resistance as they were trying to pacify the Valley.
We broke down the radio's, charts, generators, hell we may have even had that new FADAC computer POS, and had to slit all the sandbags and be ready for the choppers that were coming.......so there we sat.....10 am, 11 am, noon, yep a classical hurry up and wait.....IN THE FRIGGEN RAIN....well sometime about mid afternoon some Chinooks showed up.....we split the battery.....half of FDC, 3 guns, the Capt's jeep w/ radios woud go on the first haul. I was in that first half of the battery along with Capt Middleton and 3 guns. All I can remember is looking out of the chopper as it was descending and thinking......you got to be shitting me....we were landing on a smoldering tree stump ridden, bombed out crater of a mountain top. I don't know if the choppers showed up late because they were all needed in bringing the CAV into rescue the ARVN's or they were waiting for the fires from the B-52 bombing to burn out.
Well the day started out bad, but that was just a prelude for things to come. As we debarked the choppers, a Black Cap was already up there trying to blow stumps out with bangalore torpedoes. To make things worse, the top of this crater ridden sh*thole was on a slanted incline. We barely had room to get 3 guns on, later it turned out that was a blessing in disguise. The minute we tunred on the radios, we were getting frantic calls for close support fire missions from the valley floor below. Robert Schmulck and myself were trying to field all the fire missions as the radio just crackled for pleas. As soon as one of the guns called in that they were laid, I called down a fire mission. The next thing I know, the tent flap comes ripping open, and SGT Dozier is reaming us out......"You don't fire till I say you can fire"....in the background were the radios crackling with pleas for support.....I pointed to the radios....said you tell them we can't fire till you say so. Things kept going down hill from there, literally. Seems everytime one of the guns would fire, it would come out of lay.....most were dug into craters that were mud holes. As stated earlier, we arrived mid to late afternoon, a cloud shear was actually below us, and about all we could see were the flashes from below the clouds and the sounds of a heavy battle taking place. Many of the fire missions we could not take, as the trajectory to the steep valley floor below would not allow us, not to mention that the downward sloping restricted the elevation of the guns. So the second half of the battery, was diverted to a drop zone south of us, and they were able to provide support for those missions we could not take. So in hindsight, we were fortunate that there wasn't any room up on that small mountain top.
As the day wore on, the battle below seemed to quiet down some, all day long we had watched load after load of Chinooks coming in, and descending out of sight under the clouds as they brought in more and more the Cav units.
Around dusk, reality took a turn, when the Capt came in and used the radio to request a situation report for getting reinforcements up to us to protect the perimeter for the night and was told there would be none, we were instructed to dig in. It was hard for him to disguise the sense of urgency and the precarious situation we were in. After all, we were on the north end of the valley and the Cav was pushing them right up to our doorstep.
Needless to say, I don't think there was one atheist on that hilltop that night. The Black Cap fired a few rounds that night as a trip flare went off right behind our FDC tent. The next morning he went outside the perimeter wire to our rear and came back with a paper-fan-folded conical type helmet that had a bullet hole in the side of it, yet no blood trail or body.
Picture of me wearing the hat. This was also when I lost faith in the M-16 as it had jammed on me.
The next day, when I woke up, found out that Captain Middleton[pic] had left the LZ to rotate back home. Captain Bezek took command up there on that hilltop. Don't know when they arrived, but infantry were now on the hill. Around noon, I headed for the latrine, and as I approached, noticed they were burning the cans, did an about face and was walking back up past one of the guns, had just passed when I heard this gigantic whooshing sound that sounded like a huge blow torch. Then I felt the heat on my back. Apparently a spark from a wind born burning piece of TP had touched an open powder canister and blew a torch like flame right into a bunker where spanking new recruits had been sent into to get some sleep. We retrieved them from the bunker, but I doubt that one of them made it, and the other wasn't much better off. They were Medivaced off the hilltop, never knew their names, nor how they faired.
That day or the next, we lifted off that hell hole and were flown over across the valley to to LZ Glenn. Once there we set up the tubes to fire back across the valley to blow that hilltop to kingdom come, knowing the NVA had occupied it and were going through our garbage dump for anything they could use. In talking to Capt Bezek, he remembered that with great detail, and I believe he said he used the binoculars to watch the rounds land.....all I can say is good bye and good riddance and happy we made it off that spot in one piece.
[pic]Looking down in the valley, with the clouds below us. Anyone that was there, will recognize the small hill in the middle of the valley, where most of the action was taking place.
Soon after, we were called upon to go up just over Corp I boundary, to a place called Bato Special Forces Camp
Things were a blur about that time, as we had been driven hard for what seemed like eternity......here a few days.....breakdown....move...rebuild....every few days it seems.....between having to pull night shifts moving during the day, fill sand bags and set up all the equipment.....just to do it all again....sleep was a luxury and commodity that was hard to come by. At night Schmulck and I would take turns manning the radios and calling down H&I's while the other one would try to catch a few winks under or on the chart table.
I remember right after arriving at Bato SPC, Capt Bezek mentioned how he didn't like where the camp was located, mentioned some famous historical battle, I believe he may have been a history teacher at one time, but he knew his history, and told us to be on our toes and keep our weapons clean.
Things at Bato, weren't what I would describe as terrible, just weird, real weird.
Shortly after I had arrived in country, witnessed the carnage at Bird, my biggest fear was being overrun, so I had requested that my Mom head down the nearest gun shop and buy the biggest revolver she could find and send plenty of ammo. Well, what showed up was like a small canon, a Ruger Blackhawk that probably weighed in about the same as a medicine ball. Well, I'd lugged that piece around for months, and wasn't allowed to wear it even though I had a holster.....some kind of military compliance thing about having your own weapon.....or maybe it was a case of my gun is bigger then yours.......at any rate, had to tuck this small canon in some oil soaked rags, and chances were if the crap hit the fan, I'd never be able to fetch it anyhow......so I traded it to a Green Beret at Bato. Now, nothing demeaning about the green berets in Nam, but I think they really were criminals that escaped to a war zone....I never saw so much contraband as I saw at Bato. I traded my canon for a wild looking left over WWll machine gun...it fired .45's so I wasn't giving up much in the way of firepower. Or so I thought. Month's later when had moved to LZ OLLIE in Sept. I dug that sucker out of the oil clothes and snuck it on a laundry run to some river close by. I fired it at some snake and it jammed.....good trade. The grunts guarding the bridge let it be known they were not too happy with me. A few days later back at OLLIE, I tried to get it un-jammed......well.....don't ever stick your thumb in a machine guns breech, as the bolt came slamming down on my thumb and ended up losing a nail.....and come to think of it, lost that gun shortly thereafter.
Back to Bato.....a little more levity....I know why they called it Bato.....one night we're in the FDC tent.....and it wasn't unusual to attract some very large bugs due to the lights we had to work by. I don't know what they were, but we always referred to these giant flying insects as B-52's, they were the size of a finch and would dive bomb and hit you in the noggin, felt like you'd just gotten nailed by a ball bearing from a slingshot.
Anyone know what those critters really were?
Well we had pretty much gotten used to this B-52's, and as stated earlier we were some dead tired troopers about this time. I was sitting at the radio, half asleep, Schmulck was sleeping on the charts, when I heard this buzzing sound, opened my eyes expecting to see a B-52 and there about 4 inches from my nose was a bat fluttering around. I jumped up and screamed at Schmulck, and there we were swinging wildly at this bat with anything we could get our hands on, unfortunately we struck the center pole of the tent, down it came. And there we were trapped under the canvas with a bat screaming bloody murder......well so much for our brave fighting men.
That was the last good laugh I had Bato, the next evening Savell and I were just taking some time out down by the perimeter, sitting on a sandbag wall shooting the shit, because we both worked different shifts we didn't really have too many opportunities to talk even though we were in the same section. So we were watching this very picturesque sunset, smoking and joking, couldn't have been a more tranquil and beautiful scene looking out over the rice paddies with a big orange sun stetting behind some palms. As we were cocked sideways on that wall talking to each other, this flash of light splits the difference between us with a simultaneous crack that sounded like a bullwhip. Had it not been for that cracking sound as confirmation, I'd have checked the label on the cigarette I was smoking. We both dove behind the wall like ass over tin cups. Pretty soon we hear the Special Forces SGT yelling for us to stay put. All that went through my mind at that time, was Capt Bezek saying stay on our toes, and there we were down by the perimeter, no helmets, and worst of all no gun.....duh.
We had to stay there pinned down till it got dark enough, then the SF Sgt showed up and walked us back up through a maze of trenches. He told us it was a sniper that had plagued the camp and his MO was to fire and miss, so that we would run out into the open and he could then nail us both.
A few years ago when I was talking to Capt Bezek, he told me that a few days after we left Bato it got overrun, and they shut it down, and it had been one of the oldest SF camps in VN.
The rest of the summer we continued to move a lot, many places with out names, just pins stuck in a chart. I think we went back to English for a breather, possibly LZ Twobits, don't know exact locations, just know we most likely were somewhere north of Bong Song, maybe even over into the 506 or up in An Loa.
By this time we were starting to get another influx of some new faces as we headed into late summer.
Late August possibly first of September, we road marched to LZ OLLLIE coming in from the south if I remember correctly......somewhere around Phu Cat the convoy halted.....I believe a Vietnamese got hit by one of trucks......don't think if it was one of our trucks.....possibly a truck in the ROK convoy that was halted and we pulled up next too...
OK, time for ROK story.....these Tiger Force ROK soldiers had a reputation that preceded them.....BAD ASSES.....and supposedly all were rumored to be black belts. After witnessing first hand them beating the living shit out of each other back in May down by ROK Valley, I didn't question their reputation. Little was I too know how soon I'd find out. As were road marching to Ollie and the convoy was halted next to the ROK convoy, our section was basically in the back of one of deuce and a half’s.......so being a good GI that I was......we had a C Ration carton and I thought they'd enjoy some M&M's and candy. So I threw some into the back of one of their trucks thinking they would be grateful. Holy shit they came out of that truck like a swarm of bee's, irate and yelling some Korean profanities, I guess. At any rate, they wanted to clean our clocks right there on the spot. I don't know which officer, one of our or one of there's or both came back and broke it up. Not knowing what I had done, was later told that I had disgraced them tossing food to them like they were dogs.....so from that point forward my motto was melt in my mouth not yours....FU
OLLIE was one of those spots that it was easy to let your guard down, but by this time I was becoming a short timer and my antennae was always erect. If I went out, I had my helmet on, if I went to the perimeter I had my flack jacket on too, and my M-16 had been kept spotless ever since we left that hilltop up in the An Loa.
We shared the LZ with some ARVN unit, and besides the outer perimeter that surrounded the entire LZ there was also some concertina wire that separated our half of the LZ from the ARVN's. Out to our front, was a rice paddy and about 450 to 500 meters out was a tree line of palms, that lined up in front of a small village just on the other side. To our back was Highway 1. Things seemed pretty pacified around there, but something told you that looks could be deceiving.
We arrived at Ollie to give support, and a show of strength for the upcoming provinical elections.
A series of personal events made me very paranoid.
One night, we had just finished firing a heavy load of H&I's and taking a short break when we received a live fire mission. Two of the guns that had been firing were ready to go, while the other crews prepared. We had just fired some ranging rounds, were ready to salvo the battery when the commo went out to one of the hot guns that had been firing the H&I's. After knowing what happened at Bird with a round in a hot tube, I grabbed the red flashlight and tried to get my bearings to the gun in the pouring rain and pitch of night. As I approached the gun, I saw the light on the gunners side, and just then they let loose when I was right in front of the gun. I don't know if they took it upon themselves to fire or commo was restored, but I was knocked to the ground by the percussion. I don't remember much of what happened after that, only what Savell told me he remembered what happened.
Apparently some of the gun crew saw me at the last minute, and came to my aid, and helped me back to the FDC bunker. They woke Savell up, and he said when he came into FDC, I was covered in mud and blood. My nose, ears and just about every orifice was seeping blood. The medic cleaned me up and gave me a few Darvon, as my head was reeling and couldn't hear anything but ringing. The Medic told me to rest and to watch for a fever. I'm sure I had a slight concussion, but the headache subsided after a few days, but I couldn't hear the radio's, so I pretty much was delegated to checking the computations that were made. Savell and Charboneau had to alternate standing in for me for a few weeks, but finally the ringing stopped and it was back to usual. The strange thing about it was the little pink thing in the corner of the eye, was Marlboro red even when I mustered out at Ft Bragg in the summer of 68. Of course today, I wear two hearing aids......huh
STORIES FROM LZ OLLIE
The Dofus and The Snake
There were a few other things that took place on Ollie, like when a PVT (Unamed), a real gem from Detroit, feel asleep while on guard duty at the gate, when they found him there were a lot of empty Darvon capsules surrounding him on the floor. Needless to say, Private unamed couldn't be busted any lower, so if I remember correctly Capt Bezek gave him the task of rotating all the old rounds from the back of ammo bunker to front, and vis a vis. I forget all the details, but while green was in that bunker he had requested that someone hand him an ammo box rod because he saw a snake....if anyone remembers they may be able to complete the story. All the stories I heard of drug usage in VN, that was about the only incident I can remember. We had one fine group of dedicated men that it was an honor to serve with.
Proud To Serve
The proudest moment in VN was when a FO came to LZ Ollie, literally went out of his way, to come into the FDC bunker and personally thank us for saving he and the men's lives he was with, and told us that of all the fire missions he'd ever called in, that was the finest display of accurate fire he'd ever witnessed. A few years back, I got together with Ronnie Savell when he came to visit me. And both us remembered that day like it was yesterday, I think that FO helped define what we were there for, and hearing that also defined what being a Redleg is all about.
Barbecued Elephant
There were two types of Elephants in VN, the known variety were used from time to time by the enemy to move supplies and heavier weapons. While at Ollie, we had a fire mission called in revolving an elephant, and from what we were told it took a direct hit, the colonel flew out to the scene, so it is my guess those tusks are hangin over a fireplace somewhere. But the Elephant this story is about was a dog, he became B/Batteries mascot. It was under the care of a SSGT (name?) that was the cook, he absolutely loved that little mutt. And as a battery that had been moving all summer onto remote locations, it was the first time we had a real cook and a mess line. One day the cook woke up and Elephant was missing, so this rather small in stature, but fiesty cook grabbed his M-16 and went stormin over the ARVN's side of Ollie. About the time we got a few guys together to assist the cook, here he comes with a big smile on his face and little Elephant tucked under his arms. Seems Elephant was about to become gourmet fare, or so he said.
Terrorizing the Neighborhood
One night during a mundane H&I firing, I had called down to the gun to fire, Boom!, then this erie high pitched whine, followed by roaring laughter.
"Gun #?, what the hell was that?" I called down. "Oh nothing" was the reply. Next gun "fire", ditto same thing and even more laughter. "OK, what the hell is going on?" I asked, "Just havin a little fun" came back the reply. If memory serves me correctly, A Battery had initated it, and it passed along by the ammo section to our guys, that if you took a razor blade and carefully screwed it between the fuse and the round, it made a loud erie whistling sound as the round flew to it's target. Physhological warfare as it scared the crap out of locals and probably those LRRP's that it passed over. Well it didn't take long to hear from Battalion, as the word came down "I don't now WTF you're doing, but the shit stops here and now!!" The whistling soon stopped, but the laughter and memory still lives.
Two Gentle Giants
For recreation[pic]well other than that kind of recreation, we had a volleyball net, and each evening after chow, the guys used to play, usually against the ARVN's and sometimes with the grunts. Although the ARVN's probably were more skilled, we had two secret weapons..... Cannon and Ferglus, two goliath''s. Talk about being able to hump rounds, these two could lift multiple rounds by the fuse-rings just with their fingers inserted, of course there fingers equaled the size of any two fingers on a normal sized person. These two were not only massive, but tall, and both were gentle giants in demeanor. Seems that whenever ARVN's or whomever were getting the better of us, spiking balls into our face, the call would go out for Cannon or Fergie to come in and spike, sometimes it wasn't the ball that got hit and game soon would be turn in our favor or called over due to some harsh exchanges. But entertainment it was and a good morale booster, thanks CPT Bezek.
Mystery Solved
One night as the LZ was shrouded in darkness and so quiet you could hear a mouse fart, I was trying to stay awake by the radios, when the silence was broken by the sound of a swab bucket getting tipped over. A few the guns called into FDC and said something was going on over by one of the guns. We quickly made sure all the crews were woke up and started lighting up the LZ with illumination, till it looked like Broadway.
The infantry weapons platoon were poppin mortar illum up, and joined in the search of the LZ.......not a damn thing. But I think solved the mystery, in a recent conversation with Terry Foote (C/1/12th) he said they used to raid a lot of the various batteries of just about anything that wasn't nailed down. So a resonable deduction would be that it wasn't that we were getting paid a visit that night by "Charlie" but more likely "Charlie Company" Bet they were laughing their butts off as we scrambled around that LZ locked and loaded.
Friendly Fire Accident
A live fire mission was called in, the FO was eyeballing some enemy from a ridge and had called for a WP round, soon after firing, we were told to cease fire. The round had either looped and hit the ridge at bottom of the loop, or the round had fallen short. An official inquiry was made, where they came in and checked our computations, the guns set-up, etc. Weeks later we were told that it was an accident, not a friendly fire incident, and that none of our battery was at fault. Even though we were all relieved, I think we all felt badly that someone was hurt, or worse. I had always been under the impression that the WP had been stored improperly on it's side and that had caused it to loop, but a few years back, CPT Bezek informed me that the official results of the inquiry had determined that the gun's tube was worn out, and caused the round to fall short.
Man vs Computer
About the time we had arrived at LZ Ollie a new contraption was issued to the battery, called FADAC (Field Artillery Digital Automatic Computer ), I think at first we all were skeptical, after all it was 1967 and Bill Gates must have just been in 3rd grade.....I remember my first thoughts were, now we don't have to be bent over the charts for hours doing H&I's, but that wasn't to be. Once we started to use it, we gained a little more faith in it, but damn, this thing could be slower then a snail. So we used to pit ourselves against Freddie the FADAC to see who could come up with the fastest computation. Results in....any mission where the range would dictate a charge 6 or 7, we won hands down, a charge 5 was a toss up, and under a charge 5 Freddie would spit that computation out before we could get the alitude from the target site. As things turned out, FADAC didn't lessen the load, just added one more step, but it's real significance became safety. We would still use manual computations + FADAC results for validation no matter which one came out first.
Tropics My Arse!
It wasn't necessarily on LZ Ollie, but I can remember especially on some of those remote hilltop's during the rainy season, that it was so cold you could see your breath. A musty old poncho liner didn't even help as they were probably damp and wet. I can remember shivering uncontrollably and not being able to find a way to get warm for days. Unless you wanted to wam-up by a burning can down by the latrine...... nah, I'll pass. Thank god for C-4, the fastest way I know of heating canned anything.
Francis Coppola Eat Your Heart Out
The opening scenes to Apocolyse Now, where it shows the Huey's silouhette flying in front of a line of palm trees with fronds flying, doesn't hold a candle to the display of firepower one night on LZ Ollie. It was late in 1967 and I was getting short, real short, and we had been on high alert for over a week after days of very close-in live support missions and a lot of activity in the area. Up on a little knoll, behind FDC on the ARVN's side, set two Duster's with quad-fifties and dual 40mm pom-pom's. It was well after dark, when I had one of the guns call in and say something was going on, they could see the infantry weapons platoon were active. They no more then got that out of their mouths, when all hell broke loose. I ran out to make sure CPT Bezek was up, and told Schmulck to go wake up the rest of the crew. As I ran towards Bezek's hooch I could see he was already out, the place was lit up by illumination from the grunts, and dusters were firing into the palm tree line about 450 meters to our North. All you could see were tracers outgoing, and the tops of those trees coming off like they were in Hurricane Katrina. Soon after, one of the Spooky gunships got on station and we watched them write in the sky as they continued to circle further and further east. Never witnessed any incoming and to this day, don't know what the hell they were shooting at, never did find out.
My only concern about then was my DEROS. I remember CPT Bezek offering me an E-5 allocation and an early out if I extended by my tour by three month's. I opted to stay E-4, and left a month before TET. I was at FT Bragg when the news of the TET offensive hit the States, my mind and heart was with those that I left behind.
It wasn't till 2004, that I attended a Hardchargers reunion in Cleveland to find out that none of those in my unit were casualities during TET, what a relief after all those years.
COL Ray Zugel (Ret) and I have discussed dedicating a separate area of this site to Bird, hopefully you all will support it and help to contribute your eye witness account.
In the days and months to come, I will share with you the research that I've collected over the past few years regarding LZ Bird. Hopefully I can also get some of those that were not only with C/6th/16th, but also invite those from the 12th Cav, 9th Cav, 5th Cav, 2/19th FA, and many others that participated both during and after the Attack on LZ Bird to share in a joint collaboration to document the story that needs to be told.
It is a part of your heritage as a Battlin Bastard, along with the other units heritage to honor all those, from all units that came together to defend and serve.
We are not getting any younger, so let's stop talking about it and do it!
Sincerely,
Raleigh Baughman
Yankster@
If anyone can identify, correct statements regarding LZ, dates, or add to story, please email me -Yankster 2/22/07 1:23 PM
Email input from Woody Alexander, LTC, US Army (Retired):
I commanded the Battery from late 1969 through early 1970, during the time you were given only six months in command (aka ticket-punching.) Before and after that, I served as the Battalion’s nighttime Fire Direction Officer, running the FDC in Phouc Vinh at 1st Cavalry Division base Camp.
In 1969-1970, the Battery was General Support Reinforcing to 2nd Brigade, 1CD, located FSB Buttons at Song Be in III CTZ. I got the job of CO late one night when the existing commander was evacuated for multiple rat bites and evacuation for rabies treatment. At that time, the battery was located near the Black Virgin Mountain north west of Saigon.
The day I took command, we moved from that location by helicopter to Phouc Vinh, fired about ten anti-rocket fire missions, then loaded up again and flew to Song Be, a total of 85 miles in a day. We landed at two small FSB’s that had blown on hilltops on an infiltration routes north on Nui Ba Ra mountain. Battery Rear was at Song Be and MSG Jesse Frost, a WWI veteran, keep ammo and food coming to the two platoons in the field. I rotated through the three locations, trying to keep the guys supplied and supported (bringing in beer and doughnut dollies.) The base camp was hit by a major sapper attack just after Ho Chi Minh’s death and we flew in reinforcements from the guns and held the NW perimeter assigned to the Battery, killing most of the attackers.
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We had a lot of action up there but didn’t have to worry about shooting friendlies as we were not near any population centers. We were a major test of the Vietnamization, as the 2nd Brigade was attached to the 1st RVN Airborne Divison in November 1969. We had visits from TV news many times, including Walter Cronkite.
I changed command in a hurry because I was needed to plan and execute the move into Cambodia we made in May 1970.
I had a lot of interesting details and stories recorded in letters home to my pregnant wife, but she burned them because they smelled so bad.
We still had veterans from LZ Bird including SSG Dozier, who won the Silver Star if I remember correctly.
From Don Schaclette -- Hardcharger 43S
I joined B Battery in October of 1969 at LZ Mary (YU138072) to stand in for the FDO who was on R&R. Terry Barcellos was the XO at the base and Urey (Woody) Alexander was the Battery Commander. Upon the return of the FDO, Captain Alexander sent me to LZ Judy (YU254149) as they only had one officer (1LT Paul Pedrotti) at that location. We were supporting 2/12 Cav at that time and the base had just been opened. We worked out of GP Small tents until the FDC bunker and XO Post bunkers were finished.
I ran into two old friends there, one was a pilot with the 229th who I knew from Fort Knox four years earlier. The other was a sniper with 2/12; we had shot together a number of years earlier and had lifted a few beers together after hours at the NCO club.
We quickly settled into a routine after the bunker was finished. I set up my bed under the chart tables so I could be available when needed. The FDC crew at that time was made up of Gerald (Nik) Niklaus, Jerry Upton (my California surfer), James Doughty, Nick Correa and Mitch Seborowski.
I had attended a course at Fort Sill on FADAC before coming to Vietnam and I believe Dan Gillotti was the instructor. Although FADAC gave very accurate data we found that manual computation was faster in almost all occasions, especially when firing for aerial observers. I would check firing data on FADAC while the crew produced firing data using the “Charlie Factor” and “100 over R” for computations. We always seemed to check within 1 mil.
The only mission I remember from this time was the destruction of a bulldozer near a bridge to our northeast. It was right at the edge of our charge 7 range but we managed to score several direct hits and finally rolled it into the ravine.
The NVA were quite busy in our area as we were near the “Jolley Trail” and “Serges Jungle Highway”, main branches of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. We started to be a little concerned about our time of occupation at Judy as November rolled around. We had been there too long and the NVA were scouting the base. My sniper buddy and I were talking one night and he told me of an OP to the South of the base. The next day we left the perimeter on the pretext of me firing his sniper rifle. We passed near the OP and noticed a fairly well worn trail leading into the area. That probably explained the accuracy of the mortar fire we received.
Right after Thanksgiving we received word that 2/12 would be leaving Judy and they were to be replaced by ARVN. We had a number of meetings among the officers and NCOs about precautions to take with an ARVN unit on the base. What to do about beefing up security and our fighting positions were chief among the discussions.
On 1 December the ARVN arrived, 6th Battalion ARVN Airborne and Battery B2, ARVN Airborne Artillery (box trail 105mm). Being Airborne troops set them above the normal ARVN troops and we felt a little better about our situation, that is until our first incident. One of the ARVN troops removed the aiming stake marking the end of our OL and used it for support for his poncho hootch. We retrieved the stake, but the re-location was suspect and we worried about accuracy. We called battalion and requested survey support to establish a new end of OL.
The survey team arrived the next afternoon and quickly established the OL for us. They had to spend the night since no helicopters were available to return them to Phuoc Vinh. I was sitting on the sandbags at the entrance to the FDC talking with the survey chief when the NVA sent us a welcome in the form of a barrage of 82mm mortars. When the first round impacted I rolled backward, forgetting about the steps leading down to the FDC. By the time I had retrieved my helmet and managed to recover from the fall and some bruised pride the mortars had stopped and the survey chief yelled for us to do a crater analysis.
Before I get to far ahead with this story I need to pass on one bit of information. The ARVN had told us that we had to make sure and wear helmets at night. Anyone moving around at night with soft hats or bareheaded were considered to be NVA and would be shot. We located a crater and we ready to shoot an azimuth, following protocol we removed out helmets so the steel would not interfere with the reading. The next sound we heard was a M16 bolt racking. Sergeant Sau had chambered a round and was ready to spray with group of bareheaded NVA doing something in the dark. He held fire because we were BIG NVA. After our hearts stopped pounding and a chewing out in Vietnamese about Dien Cai Dau Americans we finished our job and wasted a number of rounds making toothpicks of a hill top to our North. The mortar team was long gone.
Among the less memorable events during this time was the invasion of the FDC by a 21 centimeter centipede. It took 2 cans of aerosol bug spray to put him down and I wrote to the owner of the company about the quality of his product. I had gone to school with both his children and I guess it didn’t insult him too badly. Another event occurred when one of the guns shot down one of our 292 antennas during H&Is. We rigged a makeshift antenna to last until morning when we could replace the shattered mast and I could talk to the section chief about watching Minimum QE for his gun.
I had formed a good relationship with the ARVN Battery Commander (Dai Uy Hai) and the ARVN FDO (Nguyen Thahn Long). We met that morning and talked about closer coordination between the units. This resulted in a land line being run between the FDCs. Between the FDOs English and my French we could hopefully work out problems that arose. Little did we know how much that landline would be used that day.
At 0900 hours that morning the 61 Company left the perimeter to scout the area where the mortars had fired. Within an hour they had made contact with the NVA. Around the last of November the 285th NVA Regiment had moved into prepared positions to our North and East in preparation to assault the base and set back Vietnamization in our area. The phone rang and I was given coordinates to fire. The situation was fluid and battalion FDC refused permission to fire since we did not have an accurate location of friendlies. After a visit by the ARVN Artillery Battalion Commander we lost commo with battalion and started to fire the mission. Danger Close with Charge 1.
A couple events happened almost at once. Lieutenant Pedrotti requested a TAC-E resupply of HE and green bag powder, the first of the day; and we received word that Bill Bonner, the US Advisor with 61 Company had been wounded. The day became a blur as we continued to fire close support for the ARVN. The phone rang again and I was told that the ARVN had received an intercept of an NVA radio message. It was to the NVA Artillery Commander and the text was roughly, “get that damned heavy artillery off us, now.” I passed word to the guns to stand by for incoming. I know someone was either shot or reduced in grade that day because the NVA lay down a perfect barrage of 82 and 120mm mortars across a hill 1000 meters to our East.
One other memory I have if that day is of a Cobra diving on the NVA area firing the minigun and rockets while 3 lines of 12.7mm tracers came up. A hit separated the rotor from the Cobra and it lawn darted. Firing continued most of the day and the targets shifted to routes of egress from the bunker complex. Loads of ammunition continued to arrive and they were dropped between the gun pits. Our firing continued into the night as the NVA moved out of the area. A side note to this action, as the NVA command element was moving from the area they passed near an element of the 11th ACR that was bivouacked for the night. Some snuffy got bored while sitting on guard in the turret of his M48 tank and was playing with the infra-red scope. He spotted the unit moving across a clearing and alerted the rest of the unit. Most of the 285th command group disappeared in a hail of canister and .50 caliber rounds.
As a result of the action Captain Alexander was awarded the Gallantry Cross with Silver Star and the Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star went to 1LT Pedrotti, SFC John Shanklin and myself. We also received a visit from LTC Calloway concerning our “loss of commo.”In mid December we received word that 1LT Bill Bonner had died of pneumonia at 3rd Field Hospital.
I began working closely with the ARVN FDO, teaching them to do an Eight Octant Met and a number of other procedures. In return I was introduced to Chinese Chess and Vietnamese food. When the ARVN were paid they gave part of their money to an individual who was responsible for buying food for the unit. The food was distributed to individuals responsible for cooking for his unit.
We continued to receive harassing mortar fire throughout my stay at Judy. On one occasion I was accompanied by a squad of ARVN while moving outside our wire to do a SHELREP. We were just approaching the area when a HUEY flew over and dropped a CS bomb of some kind into the tree line near our area. Not having gas masks we beat a teary and hasty retreat back to the base. So much for coordination.
We tried to work closely with 1/9 Cav as they flew a number of Pink Team missions in our area. In late January we received a call for fire from a team that had spotted a number of individuals near a stream junction. Since the location was good I asked about the type of terrain and received word that it was grassy and ideal for “Fire Cracker” rounds. A Battery One was right on target and we then switched to HE and chased the survivors back through the trees. During the night we fired H&I with HE and Time into the area. The next morning we got a call that the Pink Team was going back into the area and we readied more “Fire Cracker” in case he found something. We soon got word to fire on the area and quickly had rounds on the way. The team had found 100 plus individuals burying about 40 bodies from the previous days firing. Our firing combined with Cobra gun ships and a few air strikes apparently put a dent in the NVA force. When I left Judy I think we had more than 700 confirmed KBA to our credit.
Tet of 1970 was the beginning of the end of my association with B Battery. We prepared for action as usual based on the actions during Tet 68 and also began stocking the larder for the celebration. Our medic, “Doc” Washington, went hunting with the ARVN from a Huey. They shot several deer, peacock and wild pig during their hunt. Unfortunately “Doc” caught a fragment from a M79 in his eye. This hunting trip cost us our medic and “Doc” lost his eye.
Soon after Tet I began having stomach problems and found it hard to keep food down. CPT Alexander ordered me back to LZ Buttons to see the US doctor at that location. The doctor ordered me to go back to the 93rd Evac Hospital for some tests.
I waited for the next helicopter headed that way and soon a medevac arrived with several wounded troops on board. I went out to help carry stretchers and promptly fell on my face, too weak to move. After the surgeon stabilized the patients I was placed on a stretcher and loaded on the HUEY. Another stretcher was placed above me for the flight back. The flight medic was working on the man above me, squeezing the blood bag to get blood into him. It seemed to run out as fast as he pumped it in and I was soon soaked from neck to ankle.
Upon arrival at the 93rd we were hustled into the operating room and a nurse cut my uniform off me. When I informed here that I was not wounded and only sick she told me to get up and sit in the hall. I got off the stretcher and promptly did a face plant on the floor. I left the 93rd almost 30 days and 52 pounds lighter. I had to report back to the hospital every two days for a check up and was placed on light duty for 30 days. CPT Dave Wiley found a temporary place for me with Service Battery and thus ended my tour with B Battery.
Memories and photos by Bob Fuggiti "B" Battery 1/30th Artillery April 1967 to January 1968.
The below picture was probaly taken sometime in September 67. I have to admit my memory has deteriated with age or maybe like many of us we blocked it out with our return home.
Pictured on right is me (upper center) about 80 lbs ago below me waving a fist is Bob Curran. I can't remember the other two hardchargers so if you know, add their names Just add them in. [pic]
I orginally served in the "C" Battery 2/32nd Artillery (8" Self propelled Howitzer). In, I believe was around April of 1967, Myself and Pvt. Carter were reassigned to the 30th. I do remember talking to some of the guys who were part of the crew of the LZ that was overran. All I could think of is what have I got into now.
I use to pal around with Bob Curran from Pennsylvania ,Bob Foster from New Mexico and the cook who can be seen in the below picture, pictured taking pictures. I don't recall his name because we use to call him the Mother F**kin Cook all the time I believe he was from California.
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I do remember having to move our guns to different LZs the one I remember the most is when we were airlifted or transported to the Special Forces Camp. The things I remember best is Hunting rats in the trenches after they were flooded by the rain and taking a break up in the mountain stream bathing and swiming.
Other exciting things I did included digging, building, unloading ammo and fire missions. I also remember a Sgt who would make his own moonshine in the 5 gal water cans. I think he made them out of potato peelings. I do know that it was some nasty tasting shit. In the middle of the night you would hear the pop of the lid of the 5 gal water can. It took a few pops until the magic potion was ready. Maybe this is why I don't remember the names of the people in these pictures.
Other effects of drinking the moonshine and smoking those funny "cigarettes" can be seen in the next picture shown below.
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Right picture is Section Chief __________[pic]_
Fill in names.
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Lt Fleming is pictured on below.
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ID the Smoke breathing Hard Charger.
Below Left: Left _______________________ squading(From California) _______________________
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Above Left:Bob Fuggiti (Chicago), Bob Curran (Pennsylvania) Even if you recognize the LZ just add it or E-mail me at Fuggii@ and I'll update the info.
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