The Days Forward

West Point Class of 1969

Suzanne Rice

Laos Invasion: The Following Weeks – 1971

The main mission and reason to reoccupy Khe Sanh was to build a forward base capable of supplying the two ARVN Divisions who would cross into Laos and “cut” the Ho Chi Minh Trail. That meant a new C-130 capable airstrip. In the interim, supplies would be sent by chopper in to the existing and damaged strip that was parallel.

We started clearing the grasses and the surface immediately upon return from opening QL9 (the land route from Quang Tri) to the plateau. It was a joke to think that the small airmobile earth-moving equipment that I had could handle this size job – a great deal of cut and fill would be needed to make an air strip.) We would be reinforced by construction equipment from a real Army Corps Engineer Battalion (27th Engineers) that was brought in over QL9 – but as far as I understood they continued to work for, and were under the command of TF 326 (our 101st  Abn Div engineer task force).

We supervised some work and my guys dug in the infantry and our own men on the perimeter. It was dicey as we kept encountering marine anti-tank mines.  We would blow those in our way in place.

SFC Tietz, LT Murphy, SP4 Martin, Khe Sanh Feb 1971

One of my most frightening exercises turned out to be trying to locate a water point. We wanted to try to limit sling loads coming in to us so, if we had a water point, we could cut that a bit.  We noticed on the map what appeared to be a stream on the south side of our position. I sent a small dozer (M450) to cut a path through the high grass. Soon, my guys called that the operator had come on barbed wire with a mine warning sign (triangle).  Only problem was that the sign pointed the wrong way – the dozer was in the mine field!

I went to the path the dozer had cut. Sure enough, we could see some mines that had been unearthed with time just off the track marks. I walked out to the dozer stepping on the track marks and climbed on. We called for a Medivac chopper to be in the area with a jungle penetrator (hoist to take us up) if things went wrong, and we started to back the dozer out –exactly as he had entered. We made it, but no water point.

We then went off the plateau a bit to the east and found a waterfall! We (me and two of my guys) decided to take a shower.  As we soaped up, out of the jungle came some black clad Vietnamese.  Turned out they were ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) Rangers – but I tightened up a bit as we were several feet from our weapons.

At the east end of the new airstrip, we encountered more mines and debris. I had the job to clear a path and we decided to use several boxes of bangalor torpedoes. These were pole-like charges linked together and pushed along the ground across a barrier. You probably remember them from the movie “The Longest Day” used to breach a barrier and get the troops and Robert Mitchum off the beach.

 

Using a bangalor during WWII

We set quite a few charges. About this time, a flag officer from 5th Mech landed about 200 meters from our site. We asked that they move the chopper, but they said it was clear of our work – and it was for the bangalors.  So, we gave our warnings, popped red smoke, and set things off. Boy, did we ever! The explosion apparently included a lot of rounds left and buried by the Marines in 1968 in unmarked ammo storage. The blast looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off with a mushroom cloud and all. Choppers were veering left and right, and the general’s radios had been knocked out of the mounts in his chopper by the concussion. We slinked back into the high grass.

The work continued nonstop as the ARVN invasion (Lam Son 719) was to start with or without the base. We completed the dirt strip in four days, having compaction problems with the very moist laterite soil, as the monsoon had just begun to end. The Air Force brought in the first C-130.

C130 in action in Vietnam

It landed but at the end of the runway the soil turned plastic (permanently deformed) as the wheels sunk a bit. To get the aircraft off we had to turn it using dozers and cables.  The AF was NOT HAPPY. It was clear we had to do a surface treatment to spread the load more evenly and the decision was made to use matting (MX-19) to stabilize the surface. It was trucked in along QL9 — all the aluminum matting in country, and it seemed that all of the available trucks were used to haul it.  We got to lay it down.

Army Engineers Laying Aluminum Matting

We started at the center and had to precisely lay the first rows perfectly perpendicular to the center line of the strip (as any angle other than 90 degrees would take the extended matting as it was laid off the runway at the ends).  We then worked towards the two ends. We had three platoons and other operators, so we made two teams and worked round the clock trying to beat each other to the end.

LT Murphy – lunch – Khe Sanh Air Strip Feb 1971

We did not complete before the ARVN invasion, so everything was initially brought in by helicopter – literally hundreds of Hooks and Cranes (large helicopters CH-47s and CH-54s). The ground dried a bit and the dust was unreal. I lost my goggles (used for airmobile operations) early on and essentially “sand blasted” my corneas. I still have effects.

CH-54 carrying a bulldozer
 CH-47 Chinook

The air cavalry was based at the old Marine strip. They came in with Cavalry hats and spurs and a lot of bravado. They were impressive. Lam Son 719 kicked off and the situation turned badly.  We were told the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) had placed radar controlled .51 caliber guns in triangular positions. No matter how they were attacked, by Army gunships or AF jets, the attacker was broadside to a machine gun. The Cav took heavy casualties and the hats and spurs our cav guys initially sported disappeared.  A more somber tone prevailed.

Our project got a firsthand look. We had finished almost half the matting when we got a call that an observation fixed wing pilot was pretty shot up and was going to try to land.   His aircraft was a small piper cub type and he landed in a few hundred feet and taxied to us. The plane was full of holes and the tail section held together by no more than a wire. He was glad to see our partially completed strip and walked away!

(Let me add a word about my experience with the “American” press in country. I never saw an American. We did have TV film crews at Khe Sanh after a while. They were all Thai or Vietnamese, or some other Asian ethnic background.  I asked a division officer about it. He said the US press guys usually stayed back in the cities at this time in the war where there were hotels and added their piece from a hotel garden of brush as if they were on the line. We did not seem to have the brave guys that were on the ground in 1967 like Galloway.)

Joseph Galloway reporting from Vietnam for United Press International

During the initial invasion my platoon was sent one afternoon when we were resting from the construction job forward towards the old Special Forces camp at Lang Vei to put in an LZ (landing zone) fuel site to help alleviate the traffic at Khe Sanh.  Lang Vei still had burned out hulls of old Soviet tanks from the battles in 1968. We created the LZ and storage areas for fuel – and set them up.

We were then directed to stand by to assist as necessary to cut out any downed pilots with an aero-rifle platoon from the 101st (infantry troops assigned to the cav unit) commanded by my classmate Harrison “H” Lobdell.  Again, it was like old times.  An ARVN Ranger platoon would go in, if the pilot went down in Laos.  You see American troops were to stay on the Vietnam side of the border (except pilots and engineers, I guess).  Never was sure where that border was. Anyway, we sat for a while at the LZ and then returned to Khe Sanh.

When the airfield was completed, the C-130s started to come in.  My relief platoon arrived with them. We got to load up on a C-130 with our gear and flew out to Phu Bai. The whole thing lasted about three weeks for me. Lam Son 719 turned even more badly for the ARVN. They ended up losing most of two divisions (each had over 10,000 men), our guys ended up getting shelled at Khe Sanh from probably the same positions the NVA used in 1968.  We did not stay.

My attitude towards the whole Army thing was a bit jaded by now. And the next incident reflects my belief I was getting out after five years (new class motto – Army No More in 74). When we got to Camp Eagle and our engineer Sea Bee camp, we got the first real showers in weeks.  My fatigues could literally stand by themselves. I went last with my NCOs and as we soaped up the water was turned off.  I was told my current CO had ordered it to conserve water and power – apparently, we had exceeded our time allotment. I was furious and stormed up the hill to his CP in soap and a towel. I asked why the showers had been turned off and he reiterated the “battalion policy.”  I told him we had no idea. He told me that was our problem. I got rather heated and told him what I thought of it – and that if the water was not on in five minutes he and any other consummate REMF (Rear Echelon Mother F$#@%), might find out what real combat was like.

Someone intervened (the First Sergeant, I think) and the water was turned on.  The CO gave me a benefit of the doubt this time and did not charge me with anything, but we never really clicked after that to say the least.

Freedom Bird – 1972

Ol’ Weird arrived in Vietnam early in 1972 and served entirely in the mountainous part of II Corps, the central section of South Vietnam, mostly flying Huey helicopters in support of the Korean Army [ROK] White Horse and Tiger Divisions.  He got as far north as Marble Mountain, outside Da Nang, and as far south as Phan Thiet, the nouc mam [fermented fish sauce] capital of the world, east of Saigon.

Central Section of Vietnam

When Ol’ Weird was there, the Vietnamization program had been under way for three years under President Richard Nixon and GEN Creighton Abrams.  The idea was that, if the US would continue to provide aviation, intelligence and logistics support, the US would transition all ground combat over to the Vietnamese forces to assume the entirety of the fighting and bleeding to defend their country.  That was the deal – our definition of winning the war.

When ’Ol Weird arrived in early January, all of South Vietnam was holding their breath, because intelligence said the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was planning something really big and nasty for Tet (Vietnamese New Year), the end of January.  But Tet came and went and nothing happened, so MACV headquarters in Saigon heaved a huge sigh of relief and resumed drawing down the US forces.  First came 30-day drops from the one-year tour length, then 60-day drops, then 90-day drops, and by the end of March, 180-day drops were stripping troops out wholesale.  By that time, there were more ROK troops in country than Americans.

On the first day of April 1972, everything changed.  The NVA came out of the woodwork in the so-called “Easter offensive,” rolling tank formations across the Central Highlands and using heat-seeking missiles against some of our helicopters, which had become accustomed to flying at 2000’ altitude. That got scary, as we tried to devise techniques to survive the missiles.  The fighting was so bad that the NVA actually drove the ROK Tiger Division out of the An Khe pass.

In II Corps, QL 1, the major national north-south coastal highway, was jammed with refugees fleeing the onslaught, streaming south.  The South Vietnamese Army may not have done well elsewhere, but back in their own home villages the Regional Forces/Popular Forces, so-called “Ruff-Puffs,” dug in and fought like hell.  They took horrific losses, but where ’Ol Weird was they stood their ground and eventually, with our support, drove back the NVA.  They had done everything we had asked of them in the Vietnamization program.  In 1972, we had won the Vietnam war!!!

It makes his blood boil when ’Ol Weird hears people, including military types who should know better, saying we lost that war in Vietnam.  Anyone who saw what ’Ol Weird saw in 1972 knows damn well we had won it, by the standards we had established.  The NVA threw everything they had against the south, and they lost it all.  That is why they were finally willing to come to the bargaining table – they had been wiped out.

In fact, the day the North Vietnamese finally agreed to sit down at the peace table was his 366th day in country [leap year, no less], his departure date or DEROS, so Ol’ Weird has always told people he is the guy that won that war.

One great thing about serving in Vietnam is that we had Royal Australian troops as allies, fighting alongside US forces as they have in every American conflict for the last century.

Australia Troops in the Vietnam era

When Ol’ Weird was there the troop count may have been way down, but the chow supply still worked the same: a whole shipload at a time, provided by the lowest government bidder.  When a shipload of chicken came in, the mess halls in country served chicken three meals a day until it was gone.  Then tough stringy beef three meals a day, and so on.

But every so often, a ship arrived with beef from Australia.  The Aussies took great pride in supporting their troops, so the beef they sent was the very best they grew.  For a couple of weeks, the troops got to eat the finest, most tender steaks imaginable.  No one will ever enjoy more superb meat than the troops in Vietnam did when the Australian beef ship came in.

Australian Beef (This seems to  actually be Australian beef according to the internet!)

One other benefit from Australian logistics was the liquor.  Alcohol purchases by the troops in country were closely controlled using ration cards, which limited the duty-free liquor per troop to “one bottle per month.”  American booze was shipped in fifth bottles [about 26 fluid ounces], and European liquor came in liter bottles [about 33 fl.oz.], but the Aussies provided the system with huge Imperial quarts, measuring over 38 US ounces**.

Ol’ Weird determined to souvenir himself some of a famous-brand liquor with a black label for his trip back to “the world.”   The day of his departure on the so-called “Freedom Bird,” he carried his helmet bag with him, containing his liquid treasure.  The plane that day was an ancient narrow-body Convair 880, the kind with two seats on the left of the aisle and three on the right.

Configured for military use – Ol’ Weird was seated five rows back at the left window 

As soon as the plane took off and had cleared into international airspace, to the great cheers of all aboard, the stewardess started down the aisle taking beverage orders.  When she got to Ol’ Weird, she offered his choice of hot beverage or soft drink, but he said, “Just a cup of ice, please.”

“Is that all?  Can’t I get you something to drink?’

“No, thank you very much.  Just some ice will be fine.”

After she brought the cup of ice and moved on down the aisle, Ol’ Weird reached under his seat, extracted his Imperial quart of the famous liquor, and poured a healthy cupful over the rocks.  He set the bottle on the tray table in front of him and settled back to enjoy his first drink with ice in months.

When the stewardess passed by the next time, she noticed his bottle sitting there.

  “I’m really very sorry to have to tell you this, sir, but alcoholic beverages are not allowed on this contract flight.  My, but that’s a really big bottle, isn’t it?  I don’t think I have ever seen one so big.  I’m afraid I am going to have to secure your bottle in the storage area in the back of the plane until we land in Honolulu in nine hours.  You can have it back after we are on the ground, but you aren’t allowed to keep it while we are flying.  I’m really very sorry to have to tell you this, because I know that you have had to do without for so long, but I just have no choice.  I hope you can forgive me.”

Ol’ Weird smiled at the stewardess, and said, ‘That’s ok.  I don’t mind at all,” as he handed her the bottle.

“Are you sure?  I’m just so very sorry to have to enforce this rule on you.”

“Don’t think twice about it.  It’s fine, I assure you.”

And as she turned to carry the bottle to the back of the plane, Ol’ Weird reached under his seat to his flight helmet bag.  Very quietly, he brought out his next Imperial quart bottle, poured himself another inch over the remaining ice, and tucked it back under the seat.

It really was nice to be flying home.

** By the way, the whiskey was a Black Label Sour Mash bottled in Tennessee in Imperial Quart bottles, exported to Australia, and then shipped to Vietnam. Ol’ Weird was unknowingly bringing it right back to the USA!

The Dogs of Camp DeBeau – 1972

During the final months of my Vietnam tour I was assigned to a support battalion at Camp Debeau on the Tan Son Nhut Airbase perimeter outside Saigon. Most officers lived in a Saigon hotel, but I was one of five who lived in two man “hooches”. Since American involvement in the war was winding down, the other occupant of my hooch was not replaced when he returned to the States. I had it all to myself.

A previous occupant added a sign identifying the hooch as the “Saigon Hilton”. Like the other two hooches it was a small structure surrounded by “blast barrels,” 55-gallon drums filled with sand to absorb shrapnel.

Bernie’s “Saigon Hilton” hooch closest to the water tower

 

(Note blast barrels around each hooch.)

One of Camp DeBeau’s attractions was a pack of semi-wild dogs. These dogs knew that if they appeared outside the mess hall at the end of the day, they would receive any leftovers. You could set your watch by those dogs.

Dogs of DeBeau

My favorite thing about the dogs was that they would bark at any Vietnamese who entered the camp. As the only Infantry officer in the battalion, I was responsible for defense of the camp and felt that the dogs added a bit of security.

So, it was with some concern when in the middle of the night I was awoken by barking. It seemed to be coming from the far side of the camp, near the generator – a likely *sapper objective. Soon, the barking got louder as the dogs charged in the direction of my hooch, clearly in hot pursuit. As was the case with everyone except the guard, I was unarmed. I took some comfort knowing that about 50 feet away the officer and non-commissioned officer of the day were in the headquarters building and were armed.

There wasn’t much time to wonder what to do as the intruder jumped on the blast barrels and leapt on my roof. The dogs surrounded my hooch and the barking reached a frenzy. Clearly panicked, I heard the intruder’s footsteps run across my roof as he tried to leap to safety. As he leapt, the dogs went wild – and were suddenly quiet. A few sniffs and huffs, and then they dispersed.

A quick look out the door, and I ran to headquarters. The officer was asleep in a cot, and the non-commissioned officer had his head down on a desk, also asleep. I woke him up, but obviously he had heard nothing.

The dilemma now was whether or not to sound the alarm.  Had the dogs vanquished the intruder, or might he return with reinforcements? For reasons I can’t explain (or remember), I did not sound the alarm.

In the morning I walked around the hooch to look for signs of the enemy. I found his body behind the hooch, between the wall and the blast barrels. Clearly his leap had ended badly, as his neck was obviously broken. One less cat in Vietnam.

*Technically, a sapper is a military engineer.  In Vietnam the term was used to indicate someone who could infiltrate through the defensive line, disarming booby traps and possibly placing explosives.

Reading for Pleasure

Reading for Your Pleasure 

from the Authors and Readers of

The Days Forward.com

The Days Forward Team recently asked our authors to share what they have been reading while we have been cooped up at home. Here are their suggestions for you. We hope you will find a book or two from our list to read yourself. In the comment section at the bottom of this page, please add the titles and authors of books you have enjoyed reading while we have been sheltering at home. Thanks for sharing! Enjoy!

Fiction

Kingfishers Catch Fire by Rumer Godden – Novel of Colonial India depicting an independent but naive British widow living in a village in Kashmir polarized by conflicting Hindus and Muslims.  – Meredith Rice

The Outsider  by Stephen King – An investigation into a horrible murder which first seems straightforward takes many turns leading the investigators to question everything they believe in. – Ryan Keysar

Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom – The story about a man’s life in Philadelphia and his eventual journey on the Underground Railroad – Cindy Maxson

Armor by John Steakley – Military science fiction – Explores psychological trauma and loss through the eyes of a human soldier fighting a war against giant insects. – Christopher Rice

Fall; or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson – What would happen if we could build our own afterlife? This book uses a post-Singularity world to investigate human nature, good, and evil – Christopher Rice

The End of Eternity by Isaac Azimov – Written in 1955, this science fiction features time travel and social engineering. – Ray Dupere

My suggestion is to read the Bruno, Chief of Police series by Martin Walker. There are 12 books in the series, and they are very enjoyable light reading. They feature Bruno who is the local policeman in St. Denis which is in the Bergerac area of France. Each book offers a little history lesson. Also, the food and wine mentioned throughout the books is yummy. Matter of fact – better not read these books when you are hungry, unless you can sip a nice glass of wine with a few snacks while reading. It’s best to read them in order, as they build on each other, even though the cases are solved in each book. – Art Nigro

For fiction, going back and revisiting Arthur Conan Doyle’s canon of Sherlock Holmes stories enjoying again these excellent treatises on deductive reasoning. – Bill Taylor

Any books by John Grisham, David Baldacci, WEB Griffin and Brad Meltzer – Gary Dolan

 Non-fiction

Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary, tells the rich story of world history as the Islamic world saw it, from the time of Mohammed to the fall of the Ottoman Empire – Christopher Rice

Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter’s by R.A. Scott – Suzanne Rice

The best book I have read thus far during the pandemic sheltering is The Splendid and the Vile by Eric Larson.  Larson, a great narrative historian, covers the first year of Churchill as Prime Minister during England’s entry into World War II.   He gives an anecdotal account of the Churchill family along with many of his closest aides and ministers.  One of the threads follows daughter Mary Churchill who turned 18 during the Blitz.  Beautifully researched with all quotes taken from actual conversations, diary entries, letters, etc., I wished Larson had added the rest of the war years to the story.  One year in the lives of this remarkable family was not enough! – Sally Robyn

Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance – Family memoir highlighting Appalachian values – Cindy Maxson

Spearhead by Adam Makos – The story follows a tank crew, through the eyes of the gunner, as they cross northern France and ultimately into Germany after D-Day.  Well-written and accompanied by official Army combat footage of some of the action described in the book.  A page turner for any Armor officer, and compelling for anyone interested in the military – Jim Russell, Joe Gelineau

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee – A history of the gene from Aristotle to those who mapped the human genome – Bruce Wheeler

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder – The life story of Dr. Paul Farmer focusing on his work fighting tuberculosis – Cindy Maxson

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou – True story of a Silicon Valley startup with a fantastic product idea, only it didn’t work. Even after they knew that, they hyped and faked it for years, meanwhile bilking millions out of venture capital investors. Reads like a novel – Pat Porter

The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe. Enjoyable collection of musings, thoughts, memories, perspectives about a wide variety of things, from the “Dirty Jobs” guy – Pat Porter

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis – Written in 1952, the book is an adaptation of a series of BBC radio talks (1941-44) of Christian apologetics – Ray Dupere

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, A biography of a man of great faith who stood up to Hitler during WWII – Joe Gelineau

Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain – A travel book published in 1869 humorously chronicling what Twain called his “Great Pleasure Excursion” through Europe and the Holy Land – Joe Gelineau

For Non-fiction: how to learn/manage in new ways (SCRUM, Kanban, DevOps) with Agile project management pioneered by – among others – Jeff Sutherland (USMA ’65; CO L-2)  A Scrum Book:n new ways (SCRUM, Kanban, DevOps) with Agile project management pioneered by – among others – Jeff Sutherland (USMA ’65; Co L-2) A Scrum Book: The Spirit of the Game by Jeff Sutherland – Bill Taylor

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, a Indian-born American oncologist. Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Price for General Non-Fiction – Bruce Wheeler

Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story by Wilfred McClay – a new history of the USA – Joe Gelineau

Even without a quarantine or “stay at home” orders, Grant by Ron Chernow is well worth the read!  Although weighing in at 965 pages, I found myself losing track of time as I followed the exceptionally well-written life of a truly unique American.  His reputation and contributions were so slandered, misunderstood, belittled, and mischaracterized for more than 100 years, that even West Point did not erect a statute in his honor until 2019.

Chernow did an outstanding job in researching every aspect of this complex man.  His humble upbringing, West Point education, his love of horses, his complete devotion to his wife of 37 years, business failures, drinking, military genius and 2-term presidential accomplishments, and his untiring efforts to heal the bitterness left by the Civil War.  His 8 years as president brought him as many enemies, inside and outside the Republican Party, as the War did.  But his actions invariably aimed for peaceful resolution. Highly recommend Grant!  His humble life of service still teaches us much today, especially in our contentious times.  – Eric Robyn

American Crusade by Pete Hegseth – Gary Dolan – This well written and well-documented book about the current political situation in our country is one of the best books I have read in many, many years.  Pete identifies, explains and critiques the array of “isms” currently prevalent in and plaguing our country.  He calls for action and describes in detail what should and can be done by patriots to defend our freedoms and American way of life.  READ THIS BOOK!

Sua Sponte: The Forging of a Modern American Ranger by Dick Couch – For anyone, enlisted or officer, who wants an in-depth account of what it takes to become a Ranger in the 75th Ranger Regiment, this book is a must read.  Based on his permitted embedding, he accurately details the training and the demands soldiers must endure and achieve to earn the right as Rangers to join the 75th Ranger Regiment. – Gary Dolan

Craig and Fred by Craig Grossi, a true story about a soldier in Afghanistan who is adopted by a dog and all this man went through to bring the dog home. The subtitle speaks to how they saved each other. – Cindy Maxson

Historical Fiction

“These are the best historical novels ever written.” NY Times referring to books written by Patrick O’Brien, the first being, Master and Commander, commonly called the Aubry-Maturin series of novels. Warning – these books are addictive. Once you’ve read one, you can’t wait to begin the next one. The novels have been equally popular with men and women. – Tom Ramos

Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom.  The story of a man’s life in Philadelphia and his eventual journey on the Underground Railroad – Cindy Maxson

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – A historical novel of France published in 1862 – Joe Gelineau

Books written by our authors

Platoon Leader by Jim McDonough – A memoir of commanding American soldiers in Vietnam

The Defense of Hill 781 by Jim McDonough – In this story, an officer’s lost soul earns redemption by leading a battalion of spirits through a post-death battle at the National Training Center

Limits of Glory by Jim McDonough – a novel of the Battle of Waterloo

Of Their Own Accord by Gary Dolan – a novel of Rangers in the Vietnam War based on true events

Blogs

Get an early glimpse into a soon-to-be published book by Tom Ramos

For those who want a quick reading fix, may I recommend reading my blogs that I have been posting over the past several weeks. They include excerpts from my manuscript for From Berkeley to Berlin – https://physicsandhistory.com. Just find them through the Search button, then sign up as a follower and you’ll automatically be notified when the next blog is out.  – Tom Ramos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Ready for Vietnam – 1970

I chose Armor branch in the main because of the large number of positive Armor role models on the Academy faculty.  As I was also volunteering for a Vietnam assignment – 3-4 Cav, 25th Inf Division – I also chose the required six to eight-month detail in a like unit to get some experience before being thrown into combat.  So, I wound up first in the 3-1 Cav, 1st Armored Division at Fort Hood, TX.

Looking back choosing the hot, dry Texas desert full of rattlesnakes to train for combat in a triple canopy tropical jungle full of cobras should not have earned me a passing grade on any rational geography quiz.

My Fort Hood assignment situation may help to understand some of the context we faced at that time.  With respect to my armored Cav platoon, I was extremely fortunate.  It was pretty much at full strength and most of the vehicles could move, shoot, and communicate.  One downside was that four of those vehicles were M114’s – probably the most worthless piece of crap I ever had to try to work with.

M114 Scout Vehicle

Those so-called scout vehicles had problems moving in mud, had runaway electrical turrets that cost literally days of training time due to constantly needing repairs and to causing rib injuries to the crew.

Fortunately, I had great soldiers – literally, the best in the Division.  For those not knowing about armored cavalry platoons, we were arguably the smallest combined arms team in the Army.  At the Division level, my Sheridan section (3 vehicles) won the Sheridan tank gunnery qualification competition, my scout squad won that competition by a wide margin, my infantry squad got the only perfect score in the infantry squad attack course, and my mortar track tied for high score in the mortar crew annual qualification firing exercise.  Those results were all due to having an experienced NCO leadership team that included a fiery old corps E-7 Irish platoon sergeant with more than 15 years’ service.  I literally got a master’s degree in small unit military leadership working with him.  To distinguish this situation from what was to come later – my equally excellent platoon sergeant in Vietnam was one year younger than me (having spent some time at both Lehigh University and Penn State before getting my USMA appointment my high school graduation year was two years ahead of many of my  classmates); was on his third tour there; and got his 7th, 8th, and 9th Purple Hearts while we served together (you can decide if you think that made me a good or bad platoon leader).

One more story will also reinforce my satisfaction at being in the Cav.  At the end of one training exercise, our Squadron Commander had just left the tank gunnery range we had been on for three days of firing when we got an idea.  At a range of slightly more than 2 miles (3340 meters on the range finder) were a few Armored Personnel Carrier hulls that were used primarily for tank Sabot gunnery.  Since we had already notified Range Control we would be closing down shortly, I got on the radio to ask the Squadron Commander for permission to try hitting one of the far targets with one of our missiles (costing $3000 each).  His reply as I remember it was that we had already notified Range Control we were leaving, it was getting dusk, visibility was not the best…and that he bet us a case of beer we could not hit one.  The crew and I sprinted to the firing line, raced through the firing checks, carefully laid the gun tube from low to target, and fired.  After tracking the missile to the selected target, we jumped in two jeeps and raced down range to check the result.  When too many holes would not let us visually identify our point impact, I waved my hand several inches over each hole in the target until I found the one that was still hot – and it was only 18 inches from dead center of mass.  I relayed the results to the Squadron Commander immediately.  To his credit, his driver dropped off a case of Michelob at our orderly room at noon the following day. The entire Sheridan section shared in the spoils.  It was a good day to be in the Cav.

One more story is required to set the stage for my tour in Vietnam.  For those of my classmates wondering why they could not get a date with Jane Fonda on that Memorial Day in 1970 when we were still 2nd Lieutenants, it was because she was with me at Fort Hood…eat your hearts out.  My platoon was on riot control duty that weekend having been through training that included bayonet drills and weapons qualifications. We were all lounging in the day room when the call came in to report to the Killeen Gate at Fort Hood to repel protestors.  When we got there, we jumped off our trucks to form up behind a single thin line of some two dozen MPs who were blocking the gate from Ms. Fonda and a couple hundred of her closest friends along with their usual TV camera crews.  The MPs in the back line saw us forming up and seemed a bit relieved that reinforcements had arrived.

Jane Fonda 

That’s when the fun started. We were in roughly four columns of ten with NCO’s at the rear, me at the front.  We had our M14 rifles, gas masks, and bayonets.  Live ammo was only issued to NCO’s, the designated sniper, and me.  As the visiting group engaged in anti-Vietnam and anti-military rhetoric my platoon got swept up in the joy of the holiday.  I started hearing urgent requests coming from behind me in the ranks: “Hey sir – can you move to the left?  I can’t see her tits!” followed by “Hey, sir – when you’re done with her could you pass her back?”  I turned around, called them all from at ease to attention, and then pointed out to them that the TV cameras accompanying the protestors also had microphones, so we would all wind up being in trouble depending on who heard what.  That just brought out a round of giggles from most of them, including some of the NCOs.  Never have had a problem telling friends and family this story when asked if our soldiers have great senses of humor.  But they did quiet down.  Then one of the protestors using a bullhorn shouted: “We demand the right to lower that flag (the large holiday flag on the post flagpole just inside the gate and to our immediate right) and burn it in protest!”  Don’t honestly remember what I thought, then, but believe the current vernacular for my reaction would be “WTF?”.  I spun quickly to face my platoon, called them to attention, then followed with the commands: “Fix…bayonets!  Sniper, one magazine lock and load!”  I looked over my shoulder and saw most of that back line of MPs had clearly heard my commands and were now looking over their shoulders at me with eyes opening ever wider.  I then instructed in a very loud voice: “Make all bayonet thrusts below the waist!  Above the waist use the vertical butt stroke series.  Sniper – aim below the waist.  But nobody – and I mean nobody – reaches that flagpole.  Is that clear?”  The aggressiveness of the replied chorus “Yes, Sir!” let me know comfortably that giggle time was over and executing our mission was not in doubt.  The Sheriff showed up just then, telling their crowd to clear his street since they did not have a parade permit.  They disbanded and we returned to our barracks day room assembly location.

Later that afternoon, we watched the protesters on TV burn one of their own American flags in the high school football stadium.   Our dayroom discussion then moved on to how we each felt about their right to burn their flag and how it felt to get ready to use bayonets and bullets against the citizens of the very country whose constitution we had sworn to uphold and defend.  It was something of an existential experience.  When asked by my sniper if I would have given him the order to shoot one of them, I told him only after I had shot the first one in the ass, leading by example.  Here the mission was to protect the flag not to kill the “enemy”.  Ms. Fonda’s protests would later inflict themselves again on my world in Vietnam when it was broadcast that she encouraged our soldiers to mutiny.