Stories from Nam.

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From and About... chutes.gif (75655 bytes)

The Nam.

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Linda Schrader has many reasons to be proud of her son, Spc. Brian K. Underwood. The Chesterton High School graduate is fighting in the most dangerous place in Afghanistan. He's up for a medal for putting himself under enemy fire to retrieve the body of a fellow soldier killed in action. And the country is going to hear his story when ABC's "Nightline" and the magazine Vanity Fair run stories about his company, the 173rd Army Airborne.

Spc. Brian K. Underwood, 27, has been stationed with the 173rd Army Airborne in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan for six months of a 15-month deployment.

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A local soldier will receive national attention, all because he is stationed in a section of Afghanistan that is among the most dangerous places in the world.

Spc. Brian K. Underwood is stationed with the 173rd Army Airborne in the Korengal Valley, which lies on the border of Pakistan and is a main route for rebel fighters.

"Nightline," a national news show on ABC, will feature a story Monday night about Underwood's battle company, his mother, Linda Schrader, said.

Vanity Fair also is planning on publishing a story about the group written by famed author and journalist Sebastian Junger. The story is slated for the January issue, available the second week of December.

"I can hardly believe it," Schrader said, adding that she and her husband, Doug Scrhader, were proud of him. "I'm just waiting to see it."

The 27-year-old Underwood, who graduated from Chesterton High School in 1999, has been stationed in the valley for six months of a 15-month deployment.

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Schrader, a Wheatfield resident, said he often writes and talks about how hard it is for the general population to live there.

"They live in such rough conditions," she said. "There's no running water or electricity."

The group sees heavy fighting, sometimes up to 14 firefights in one day, she said.

Underwood, who's stationed in Italy when not deployed, also has been nominated for a medal after he helped keep the enemy from dragging away a fellow soldier killed in action.

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According to the nomination letter, Underwood ran to help retake the hill the soldier was on and left himself open to the enemy at times to do so.

Junger, who wrote the book "The Perfect Storm," has spent time with Underwood and the rest of the company since this summer.

He has written several e-mails to Schrader and told her that he interviewed her son extensively.

"Brian seems healthy and fine and holding up very well in admittedly tough circumstances," Junger said to Schrader in an e-mail. "It's really a pleasure to be with those guys."

Schrader said her son willingly signed up two years ago and feels he needs to be there.

Even though he occasionally questions why he's there, she said, he has written that he wants to keep his family safe.

"He loves it. He believes in what he's doing," she said. "He knows that if we don't stop them, they will be back in our country."

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Vietnam Vets Give What They Never Got

Philadelphia Inquirer | September 17, 2007

dragonL.gif (35442 bytes) For the last year, they saw the Iraq war up close; some fought gun battles with the enemy, and all were far from home and the comforts of family.

Then, after a marathon flight, the troops were back again yesterday, tired, excited, hungry, and still loaded down with their M-16s and military gear.

They did not expect anyone to notice.

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But at the journey's end, Michael Engi and fellow Vietnam veterans were waiting. They are always there for the troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

At 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning -- any time of the day or night -- it does not matter. They drop what they are doing and head to Fort Dix to greet the Soldiers and offer warm handshakes.

As 150 troops piled off buses at the Mobilization and Demobilization Briefing Center, more than a dozen Vietnam veterans formed a receiving line to give a welcome they did not receive decades ago. One veteran played the haunting melody of "The Minstrel Boy" on the bagpipes.

"Welcome home! Welcome back!" a beaming Engi said over and over as the Soldiers moved past him. Many lit up with smiles. Some teared up. America's newest veterans -- scores of them from Pennsylvania, Delaware and other states -- were surprised and touched by the gesture. One of them took the American flag patch from his uniform and handed it to a Vietnam-era veteran, Dexter Hawkins of Browns Mills, as a way of saying thanks.

"They become overwhelmed with emotion," said Engi, 59, of Bordentown, president of New Jersey Chapter 899 of the Vietnam Veterans of America. "They're just glad to see someone understands. You see handshakes and hugs. They can't thank us enough."

Army Reserve Sgt. Tim Simon, 22, of Franklin, Pa., who just returned from al-Qayyarrah, Iraq, and who serves in the 298th Transportation Company, said: "This means a lot because of what they went through. It feels good."

The Vietnam veterans have been going to Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base for more than three years to offer encouragement and advice. They said they felt an emotional kinship with the troops forged by the shared experience of war. But something cathartic happened along the way. Engi and his comrades said they got as much from the meetings as the troops did, maybe more. "By welcoming them home, we were getting welcomed home, too, and we never had that," said Engi, a former Burlington County sheriff's officer who organized the welcome-home events and recruited other veterans. "Every time we go out there, it's the same thing. We get as much from these guys as we give them. It's better than any parade we could have ever had."

Hawkins, who served in the Air Force from 1966 to 1989, added: "If I had a son who went to war, it would tear me up [if he returned without a greeting]. I came home and was treated badly. It just wasn't right."

Curt Anderson, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War who played the bagpipes yesterday, said the welcome-home ceremonies were "a bit like closure for us.

"It's good for both sides," Anderson, 53, of Willingboro said. "It's giving something we never got. It helps make you whole."

Tom Jellick, 75, of Wrightstown, the second vice president of Chapter 899 and the group's chaplain, said he recalled "how lonesome it was when I left for Vietnam and how bad the reception was when I got back."

An Air Force tech sergeant, he also recalled loading aircraft with ammunition and unloading bodies. "That bothered me more than anything else," Jellick said. "Some of the bags had only pieces and the blood was leaking out. "So when I first started coming out here [to welcome the troops home], I was emotional. I cried. They got their welcome, and I didn't get mine. Some folks would get so emotional they'd have to walk around the corner. Now, we're pros at it. It's like having a treatment at the psychiatrist. I feel I'm doing something, and I'm feeling better."

Moments before the buses arrived yesterday, Engi asked his fellow Vietnam veterans "to raise your hands if you want to reenlist. They're looking for a few good men." Then buses began pulling up. "Here they come," he said.

Engi recruited veterans in Chapter 899 for arrival and departure ceremonies at Fort Dix and McGuire. The veterans also spend hours at the medical hold unit, where Soldiers are treated for minor injuries as well as post-traumatic stress disorder. They bring chili and other food and talk and play pool or cards with the troops. "I wanted them to know someone cares," said Engi, a former sergeant who served with an artillery unit in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970 and who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Engi said he and other veterans tell the troops what worked for them, especially those affected by trauma disorder. Each group that arrives is different, depending on the role they had, and the levels of combat they experienced. "We get standing ovations from the troops all the time," he said. "We don't want them to be forgotten. Somebody has to speak up for them."

Army Sgt. Emmanuel Maxwell, 25, a member of the 24th Quartermaster unit from Fort Lewis, Wash., felt buoyed after the reception.

"It's always good to get a welcome home. I wasn't expecting it."

Army Maj. Marla Seeman, 48, of Harrington, Del., a member of the Delaware National Guard 198th Signal Battalion from New Castle, Del., said she was "honored that they [Vietnam veterans] would do this for us. It was wonderful."

One Soldier probably had the best perspective of any. Sgt. Maj. Robert Wilson, 57, of Bear, Del., had fought in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970 and remembered "going over and coming back by myself.

"I turned 20 in Vietnam and 57 in Iraq," he said. "It couldn't be any better than to be welcomed by these guys. I hope they get what they want out of this. There is a different feeling today than there was during Vietnam."

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The decal2.gif (1305 bytes) Front.

USArmy.gif (7438 bytes) " I once saw an episode of Mash that really upset me. All the doctors were griping about some typical irritation that occurs in a MASH unit, or for that matter, anywhere the military has work, which requires counting on another part of the organization. Their solution involved someone going against orders while seeking an immediate answer for an immediate problem.

At this point Hawkeye said, " What are they going to do send us to the front? We're already at the front. May be they'll put us in front of the front."

I felt like puking in the REMF's chow! All he had to do was go to the nearest hospital bed to get accurate directions to the real front.

relieable1.jpg (17347 bytes) The guys at the Base Camps liked to write home and declare that they were at the front. The guys at the Fire Base thought that they were definitely at the front. The engineers sweeping the roads could rationalize that they were surely at the front. Well let THIS infantryman clue YOU in...

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You weren't at the front until the Jungle swallowed you up.

At this time you were surrounded by the front. You never knew where the enemy was. Rear security can be as frightening and dangerous as the point!

You know your at the front when your being shot at by small arms and RPG's and there are NO BUNKERS to seek shelter in! You know your at the front when you encounter a superior enemy force and THEY have BUNKERS and you forgot to bring yours!

You are keenly aware of being at the front when you're being over run, and, you are completely aware of just where the hell you are when the JETS roar in and the air is full of shrapnel like steel frisbee's screaming and whining everywhere while the ground moves like waves on the ocean!

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Just in case some Doubting Dummy STILL isn't sure... When the NAPALM is dropped and some of your own men are on fire... You can rest assured that you have most affirmably found The Front!

Some REMF's asked me one time, long after the war... "What could be scarier than 122mm rockets going off outside your Bunkers?"

My irrefutable reply was simply,

decal2.gif (1305 bytes) " No BUNKERS!"

And some people question why so many of the Infantryman have PTSD.

A story Taken From "Nam Magizine." On line Now!

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Herd History…

What Our Brigade Did in Nam

173rd MAKES HEADLINES IN NAM
By Sp5 Mike Pappas

The 173d Airborne Brigade, the first U.S. Combat Unit to arrive in Vietnam, fought the enemy throughout the II and III Tactical Zones during eleven Combat operations in 1967.
It was a year highlighted at the very beginning when the hard fighting Paratroopers were picked to lead two multi-unit operations directed at the Viet Cong's two strongest sanctuaries -- the Iron Triangle and War Zone C near the Cambodian border. On February 22, 780 Paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 503d Infantry made the first Combat Jump of the war and the first since Korea to spearhead Operation Junction City.
During the past year, Airborne Infantrymen of the 173d Brigade have accounted for 1,778 VC and NVA deaths and killed a possible 735 more of the enemy. Although participating in some of the heaviest fighting in Vietnam for a unit of its size, Paratroopers suffered relatively very few casualties. Altogether, 484 Sky Soldiers had made the supreme sacrifice for their country while 1,460 were wounded on the Field of Battle.

LEADING THE WAY

In early January, American military leaders were determined to destroy a Viet Cong stronghold since 1950, north of Saigon known as the Iron Triangle. On January 5, elements of the 173d were moved to the Cau Dinh Jungle at the southern tip of the Triangle to launch Operation Cedar Falls. The strategy of Cedar Falls was to seal off the entire Iron Triangle, penetrate and saturate the area and destroy all enemy forces and installations.
With most of the other units occupying blocking positions, the 173d's three Infantry Battalions swept and cleared the Triangle -- locating and destroying small troop concentrations and tunnel systems. Many VC elected to seek refuge in the vast underground complexes, but volunteer tunnel rat teams fearlessly explored the enemy tunnels, bringing out large caches of weapons and supplies and VC captives. During the operation, the Sky Soldiers killed 185 enemy, captured 65 prisoners and 200 weapons and uncovered 1,000 tons of rice.

STAND IN THE DOOR !

  Then on February 22, 780 Sky Soldiers jumped from streaking C-130 aircraft from 1,000 feet in the air to land on a 1000 by 6000 foot rice paddy near the Cambodian border. The 2nd Battalion, 'We Try Harder' Sky Soldiers received only light sniper fire as they descended on the huge clearing. Simultaneously, two more Battalions of Sky Soldiers were heli-lifted to adjacent landing zones and immediately the biggest Allied offensive of the war was on.
  The first part of their mission was complete: with lighting speed the Airborne task force had jumped into combat, blocking the VC from the refuge of the Cambodian border. As Junction City moved into March and subsequently led to Junction City II, the hard fighting Paratroopers were credited with killing 304 VC soldiers.
  With the completion of Junction City II and the return of the Paratroopers to Bien Hoa to begin a new operation, the 173d had already that year demonstrated its fighting ability.
  From early April to the last week in May,

173rd MOVES NORTH

   The 173d conducted four smaller operations in the Xuan Loc and Bien Hoa area. Nearly 100 more VC were killed by the Sky Soldiers as they conducted Operations Newark, Ft Wayne, Dayton and Cincinnati during the two month period.
  Then on May 24, while conducting Operation Cincinnati, the Sky Soldiers were alerted for immediate deployment to the II Corps Tactical Zone. Within 24 hours of notifications the first elements of the Brigade were moving by C-130 aircraft from Bien Hoa to Pleiku. During the first 67 hours 2,239 personnel and 2,701 tons of supplies and equipment were transferred to the Central Highlands.
  The Brigade was placed under the operational control of the 4th Infantry Division and immediately began search and destroy tactics west of Pleiku during Operation Francis Marion.
  While Francis Marion was in progress, during which 173d Paratroopers made no significant contact, increased enemy activity was being observed in the Dak To area, some 54 miles farther north. A Special Forces and CIDG unit had made contact with an estimated North Vietnamese Company. Within a few days, the entire Brigade was deployed to Dak To by airlift and convoy to begin Operation Greeley.

JUNE 22

  On June 22, Company A, 2nd Battalion, made contact with and was soon surrounded by a North Vietnamese Army Battalion. On a nearby ridge overlooking the Brigade Base Camp, two more Companies of Paratroopers were lifted into the area and began hacking their way through the mountainous terrain toward Alpha Company. Their movement became bogged down by heavy enemy sniper fire.
  Although greatly outnumbered by the wel trained North Vietnamese regulars, the men of Alpha Company fought valiantly. The communists threw several human wave assaults at the Sky Soldier perimeter. The battle raged for seven hours. Although A Company itself suffered heavy casualties, its Paratroopers dealt a crippling blow to the North Vietnamese Battalion. General William C. Westmoreland, Allied Commander, later told the Sky Soldiers at Dak To that their efforts prevented the North Vietnamese from overrunning the Special Forces camp there. He saluted the 173d as one of the finest units in the history of the American fighting man.
  After completing a successful operation aimed at protecting the Vietnamese rice harvest west of Tuy Hoa during September and October, the Brigade once again deployed to Dak To, to join the 4th Infantry Division in Operation McArthur. During the ensuing battle for Dak To, the Sky Soldiers fought during their finest hour.

The Airborne Infantrymen made repeated heavy contact with large forces of North Vietnamese over a bitterly fought 20 day period.

Brigade Whips VC, New AO for 4/503

    The last two weeks of August produced the highest number of enemy killed for any like period this summer, as elements of the 173d Airborne Brigade scored heavily in four different areas of operation.
   Heavy contact with the enemy was made in Operations Cochise/Dan Sinh, McLain/Dan Thang, Walker and Binh Tay- a new operation the 4th Battalion 503d Infantry joined near Ban Me Thuot.
   Highlighting the action was a week long Search and Clear Operation along the coast east of Bong Son by elements of the 1st and 2nd Battalions 503d Infantry, in conjunction with the 40th ARVN Regiment and 1/69th Armor. The action, a part of Operation Cochise/Dan Sinh resulted in 110 enemy killed in the first six days several hundred suspects detained and large amounts of enemy supplies and equipment captured in scattered contact.
   Alpha Company 1/69th Armor working with Delta Company, 1st Battalion, got the first big prize when they uncovered 35 enemy bodies less than a week old killed by artillery.
   Nearby, only a few hundred meters from the South China Sea, Paratroopers of Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, led by First Lieutenant Ian McPherson of Tonawanda NY, came in contact with two squads of VC. After the 45-minute fire fight supported by Helicopter Gunships and Naval artillery, 10 Viet Cong were found dead while Alpha Company sustained no casualties. Within a couple of hours after the battle, more than 60 Viet Cong suspects of military age without proper identification were apprehended.
   The next day, Alpha Company, 2/503 Infantry, found day-old graves of 17 VC who were killed by artillery and small arms fire.
   While on a similar operation nearby, Delta Company troopers threw a hand grenade in a cave entrance to clear a suspected enemy hideout resulting in a secondary explosion. Examination of the interior led to the discovery of three VC killed, a 45 cal pistol, a Chicom grenade and assorted personal gear.
   Twenty miles southeast of Da Lat in operation McLain Dan Thang, Alpha Company and the 4.2' Mortar Platoon of the 3rd Battalion and supporting Artillery repulsed an NVA Battalion killing 45.

4th Bn Strikes

   With less than a week in their new area of operation, four Companies of the 4th Battalion made contact with NVA regulars in three separate incidents.
   Bravo and Charlie Companies engaged an NVA force of undetermined size and wiped out 10 enemy in the four hour-long battle that ensued. A weapons cache to include twenty-five 74mm recoilless rifle rounds, thirty-five 122mm rockets and an 82mm mortar was captured.
   The very next day, Alpha Company fired on four NVA soldiers guarding a huge weapon cache east of Ban Me Thuot. One NVA was killed and several small arms, machine guns, mortars and pistols were captured.
   While on the way to rescue a LOH that had been shot down, Delta Company found two submerged canoes, fourteen 122mm rockets, seventeen 122mm warheads and several B40 rockets.

3/503d Kill 45 Enemy

BAO LOC— Mortar-men and Infantrymen from the 3d Battalion, 503d Infantry aided by Dusters and 155m Howitzers from supporting Artillery units recently killed 45 enemy in repulsing a Battalion-sized attack on a Fire Support Base near Di Lihn about 21 miles southwest of DaLat.

A fierce rocket and mortar barrage began the four-hour early morning battle and was followed by repeated ground attacks. One Platoon of Alpha Company and the Dusters on the perimeter plus the husky Howitzers firing direct fire stopped the enemy from overunning the perimeter.

Accurate counter-mortar fire from the two 4.2 inch and the one 81mm Mortar crews of Echo Company prevented enemy gun crews from knocking out their desired targets, the Howitzers.

All three crews continued humping ammunition and firing their guns even when incoming rounds were exploding all around and the enemy broke through part of the perimeter said Sergeant Mark Migliore of Wilmington, Delaware.

A/4/503d Repulses
Bold Sapper Attack

By PFC Paul Sheehan

    FSB LANCE- So sure of themselves that they carried no firearms, an NVA sapper team bit off more than they could chew recently when they attempted a suicidal night attack against a Company of Paratroopers from the 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry near the Cambodian Border.
    The vicious battle took place at 03:30 in the morning at Fire Support Base Lance, a remote artillery site surrounded by triple canopy jungle two miles from the Duc Lap Special Forces camp, the scene of much recent heavy fighting. The NVA left 14 dead bodies and indications of more wounded in their wake.
    "We first thought it was mortars when the explosions started going off," said Private Lester Viekko of Sacramento Ca, a forward observer with Alpha Company. "Then a trip flare was hit and we saw them running in the perimeter." "They had come from the high ground, cut the barbed wire and moved in quietly," said First Lieutenant Karl Roberson of Virginia Beach Va, recalling the night's ordeal. "They carried no weapons, were wearing only loin cloths and sandals. They had satchel charges and grenades tied to their bodies."
    Roberson surmised that the sappers had done a good job of casing the Fire Base before they tried to execute their attack. "They apparently knew where everything was," he said. "They went after the fire direction center first and then the artillery positions."
    Viekko first spotted the NVA as they headed toward his bunker. "He was heading right at me with a satchel charge in his hand said Viekko. "I let him have it with my M16."

Sappers Zapped

When Viekko's muzzle flashed, two more sappers spied his position and went for him. Viekko fired them both up. The 24 year old Paratrooper then grabbed a wounded buddy nearby, put a tourniquet around his leg and dragged him to a bunker. As the battle raged, casualties mounted on both sides. Two Medics, Sp4 Henry Dunn of Washington DC and Sp4 Doc Carter, began pulling the wounded into the gun-pits and treating them.
Faced with merciless M79 fire the NVA began

rushing the bunkers in suicidal efforts, blowing up the satchel charges along with themselves. "When the enemy gets psyched like that," said 1LT Roberson, "even bullets won't stop them in their tracks."
    The close quarter fighting raged for over an hour before the NVA began retreating, dragging their dead and wounded with them. In addition to the 14 dead left behind, one wounded attacker was apprehended. "I believe all of those who escaped were wounded," said Lieutenant Roberson. The Americans suffered nine killed.
    At first light, Charlie Company of the 4th Battalion pursued the trail the NVA had left behind. Less than a mile from the Cambodian border they uncovered a bunker complex and an assortment of B40 rockets, demolition charges, chicom hand grenades and wire cutters. "We also found a lot of bandages," said 1LT William Brewster of Cheyenne, Wyoming. "They no doubt headed for the border to lick their wounds."
    The Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Weyand, who arrived soon after the battle, noted that "Alpha Company reacted extremely effectively to what was obviously a well planned and cleverly executed night attack."

LTC Percy New Boss For 1/503d

    LZ UPLIFT- Lieutenant Colonel Francis J. Percy has assumed command of the 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry in ceremonies at LZ Uplift.
   The 37 year old Colonel from Coeur d'Alene Idaho, takes over for Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. Gunderson who has joined I Field Force Headquarters in Nha Trang. A 14-year Army Veteran, LTC Percy is a 1954 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and comes to the 173d Airborne Brigade from a staff assignment at I Field Force Headquarters, where he served as an assistant operations officer.
    In accepting the Battalion Colors, LTC Percy noted that while traveling throughout Vietnam he had heard many exemplary words in reference to the 173d Airborne Brigade and the 1st Battalion specifically. "The word I came to hear most often in connection with the Battalion was 'PROFESSIONAL,' said the new commander. "I only ask that you continue what you have done."
    LTC Gunderson in his departing remarks thanked the Battalion for their untiring devotion to duty. "I will remember this tour with great pride," said LTC Gunderson, "pride that comes from being the best. Airborne, all the way!"

Tardiness Spoils NVA Trap

BAN ME THUOT- Procrastination on the part of a band of NVA bush-wackers proved fatal to them recently when Paratroopers of the 4th Battalion caught them still setting up their ambush site.
"I guess they didn't expect us so soon," said SGT Robert Smith of Boston, Mass. "They were still moving by the roadside preparing their camouflage when we spotted them." The NVA, however, spotted the troopers at the same instant and leaped for their spider holes. Members of a Reconnaissance team with Echo Company, nicknamed 'The Raiders', the Paratroopers had been moving along an ox cart trail near Ban Me Thuot in the South Vietnam Central Highlands.

Contact Quickens

"After some initial shots, we began exchanging heavy fire," said Smith. "A grenade landed right in front of me. I yelled, rolled over, got a bead on the guy who threw it and zapped him with my M16." Savage fire continued from the entrenched enemy position, and Echo moved back to call in helicopter gunships.
The NVA attempted to confuse the Chopper Pilots by dropping smoke grenades. The air-strikes nevertheless scattered the ambush platoon. "After the strikes, we moved in and took the positions," said Smith.

Army Hospitality

    A hospitable group of soldiers, the Paratroopers of Delta Company had invited the sailors of PFC 90 to hot chow. The Paratroopers have one hot meal chopper`d in every three days. The next morning, with PFC 90 anchored off shore, Delta Company received a report that 30 VC were in a village 22 miles down the coast. Returning a favor, PFC 90 volunteered to land the troopers at the village. Accustomed to Heliborne Combat Assaults, it was the first amphibious landing for the Sky Soldiers.
    "They dropped this rope ladder over the side and we all climbed aboard," said PFC Vincent Miller of Treverton Pa. "It sure beats walking," he added. PFC Michael Florian, of Coatsville Pa, was also with the Platoon that made the one hour nautical sojourn. "When we got there," he said, "we just jumped overboard into the waist deep water and ran ashore." There was a brief fire fight at the village and a number of VC were detained.
    PFC 90 harbors at Qui Nhon and operates on a 36 hour on, 36 hours off patrol basis.

Rice Cache

BAO LOC- A Rifle Platoon of the 3rd Battalion, 503d Infantry, recently found nearly a ton of rice where they expected to find only a couple of VC.
The Platoon from Charlie Company was moving through thick foliage alongside a creek bed when they spotted a small lean-to made from a poncho. "We expected a couple of VC to be relaxing underneath," said Squad Leader Sp4 John O'Keefe "so we fired the place up." 1LT Bobby Stewart of Portsmouth Va, then moved his Platoon up to the shelter, but instead of finding dead enemy, found the rice sitting in a large depression.

NVA's Luck Runs Out In Friday 13th Fight

By PFC Paul Sheehan

    BAN ME THUOT- Friday the 13th proved an unlucky day for the NVA, as elements of the 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry destroyed a regimental size enemy base camp while killing 14 North Vietnamese.
    In the 10 hour battle Bravo Company and Echo Company's Reconnaissance Platoon "Raiders", accounted for the NVA's bad luck by overrunning their fortifications and accounting for the dead, 11 weapons and a large quantity of enemy equipment. The action took place in the thickly jungled Highlands two miles from the Cambodian border, west of Ban Me Thuot, where the 4th Battalion was working as the major manuever element for Task Force Bright under Operation MacArthur.
    Moving through the dense terrain the Paratroopers evidently surprised the base camp's occupants. "The base camp was near a previously bombed area," said Platoon Sergeant Luther K Bernhart. "I guess they figured we wouldn't hit the same place twice."
    "We had filed out of our night perimeter less than two hours before," said Lieutenant Philip Reid of Alexandria Va, "and were within 50 yards of their fortifications when their lookouts spotted us and opened fire." "At first we thought it was snipers," recalled Echo Company's SGT Robert Smith of Boston Mass, "then they opened up all the way across our front."

Surged Forward

Dropping their rucksacks, the Sky Soldiers shoved forward to gouge a path through the thickening undergrowth and boldly shoved into firing lanes, laying down such a tremendous volume of counter-fire that the dug-in NVA were temporarily stunned. The embattled Platoon and sister Reconnaissance element from Echo Company then stubbornly held their ground until the enemy barrage was quickly matched by the drone of mini-guns and the crash of gunship rockets…
Attempting to pick off the Infantrymen one by one, NVA snipers moved into large trees above their bunkers. However, Staff Sergeant Michael LaShells of North Highlands Ca, then brought up his 90 mm recoilless rifle crew and "leveled both the trees and the snipers."

Methodic Work

Pushing methodically forward, the Infantrymen finally overtook the complex, bunker by bunker, destroying fortifications with LAW's and grenades and completely demolishing the area with automatic weapons fire. "We had to fight for every foot," explained Sergeant Smith. "It was unusual, they just didn't want to give any ground." By dusk, after 10 hours of fighting, the complex was overrun. In addition to the 14 dead NVA, the Paratroopers found 11 weapons and a large quantity of NVA equipment. Only two 4th Battalion troopers were killed.
"I didn't know how many were there when they first saw us" said Bravo's Commander, Captain Bruce Sisco of St Petersburg Fl. "It was obviously a delaying action that they fought. We found no heavy weapons, but the base camp could have easily accomodated a regiment. I think it was a headquarters. It was a prize catch."

VC Tarzan Drops Pants, Flees 1/503

BONG SON- A Viet Cong guerilla was recently caught playing tarzan, and lost his pants in the ensuing excitement. The bizarre incident took place in the Suoi Ca Mountains along South Vietnam's north central coast as paratroopers of the 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry were moving along a jungle trail.
"It all happened so fast," said Sgt John H. Moorman of Ivanhoe Ca, a Paratrooper with Alpha Company, "the guy caught us completely by surprise." As Moorman described the scene, the enemy soldier, dressed in black pajamas suddenly came swinging out of the trees hanging onto a jungle vine, then dropped to the ground about 10 meters to their front and took off running. Firing in the escaping VC's direction, the Paratroopers saw him tumble down a ravine. After searching the area, the Infantrymen turned up an AK47 rifle and a pair of black pajama bottoms.

Pilot Braves Typhoon To Save LRP Team

By Sp4 Adrian Acevedo

    BONG SON- A Helicopter Pilot from the 61st Assault Helicopter Company recently braved typhoon winds and rain to make a dramatic rescue of a 173d Airborne Brigade Long Range Patrol which was being tracked with dogs by a North Vietnamese Platoon.
    Team F of the 74th Infantry Detachment (LRP) had been searching for three reported NVA base camps in the northern An Lo Valley, an enemy stronghold 20 miles north of Bong Son when they detected enemy movement to their rear.
    "We set up in a hasty ambush," said Sergeant Peter G. Mossman of Stamford Conn, leader of the six-man combined American Vietnamese team. "My rear security man Specialist 4 Chase Riley of Wayne NJ, zapped their point man and two others fled. We searched the body, captured a Chinese bolt-action rifle and moved out about 150 meters." "We stopped and again and heard movement behind us, talking, and dogs barking," continued Mossman. "They must have been trying to track us with dogs and we couldn't get anyone on the radio, so we tried to break contact by moving as fast as possible."

Getting Closer

    During the next three hours, the NVA force kept closing with the team. The Paratroopers however finally made radio contact with elements of the Americal Division and told them their situation. The Americal passed the word on to the 173d. But, the team was told, that no helicopters could fly in the typhoon, which had been building up for a week, and to continue on their escape and evasion course.
    Meanwhile, the decision was made to send four helicopters anyway in case the weather let up. A team ship piloted by Warrant Officer Sam M. Kyle of Castalion Springs Tn, a Command and Control ship piloted by Warrant Officer Dany Pennington of Crossett Ark and two Gunships were sent to the rescue. The LPR's were notified and headed for the closest suitable pick-up zone about 500 meters away while the weather and visibility got progressively worse.
    "When we got to the pick-up zone, the NVA were practically breathing down our necks," said Mossman. "They couldn't see us though because the visibility was down to about 25 meters. We couldn't see the Choppers either, but we could hear them, so we just kept signaling with a strobe light and just hoped."

No Sign of Team

Pennington reconned the area but couldn't locate the team, so he moved out to make room for Kyle. By this time, the team had made contact with the Choppers, and were told that the Gunships were leaving because the ceiling was so low they couldn't bring suppressive ground fire.
"I made the decision to stay and try to get them out," said Kyle, "because I'd sure hate to be in their position and have the Choppers leave me. I figured this was their only chance because the weather probably wouldn't clear up for a couple of days, so I just kept circling lower and lower until I finally spotted their light."

Shocked Me

"I thought all the Choppers had left," recalled Mossman, "so I was really shocked when I saw that beautiful ship loom up suddenly out of the rain. It took about two seconds for us to pile onto the Helicopter in spite the trees, clumps of bushes, eight-foot elephant grass and the bouncing of the ship as it tried to keep steady in the storm."
"They sure looked happy when they got on," remembered Kyle. "Afterwards, one of the Vietnamese who couldn't speak too much English, came up to me with a big smile on his face and motioned for me to come and have a beer with him. That sort of made it all worthwhile."

Underwater Swim Avoids VC Ambush

    BONG SON- "We dove in the river and swam like the dickens," said Army Paratrooper Ronald D. Foiles of Carrolton Ill, describing a dramatic underwater escape which led to the annihilation of a North Vietnamese mortar squad. Sp4 Foiles and Pfc Charles Venella of Lanton NJ, were together in a sampan with a mine detector when the episode occurred. They were probing for a mortar tube which had been reportedly seen tossed into the water following a brief attack on the 173d's Forward Command Post, LZ English.
    "We were out looking for the Mortar Squad," said Foiles, a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 503d Infantry, "Two elements were searching the river banks while we moved down the middle in the sampan." As Vanella tells it, an enemy machine gun suddenly opened up on them, and the bullets started ripping into their boat. "We just dove in and headed for shore," said Venella. "It was underwater most of the way."
    As soon as the firing started, the other elements of the Reconnaissance team linked up and pinpointed the enemy position, 1Sgt William White of Chandler Az, then called in air strikes and artillery. A search of the area the following morning turned up nine NVA killed, a large supply of ammunition and enemy documents. No one on the Recon Team was hurt. "I think we got almost all of them," said 1Sgt White. Later examination showed that more than 50 rounds had passed through the sampan.

Chopper Pilot Hit, Gunner Takes Over

    AN KHE- Reaching over the slumped body of an injured Pilot, a Helicopter Gunner with no flight training grabbed the controls of a light observation helicopter and averted a crash during a recent mission with the 173d Airborne Brigade.
    Sp4 Gary R. Poland of Sayreville NJ, was the Gunner on a Reconnaissance Mission 20 miles north of Qui Nhon when his Chopper began receiving fire. Poland quickly began returning fire, but his M-60 machine gun jammed. Turning around, he saw that the Pilot had just been hit.
    "We started into a dive," said Poland, "and the Pilot blacked out." Moving into the seat beside the Pilot, Poland then began manipulating the controls with both hands and one foot. When the Pilot regained consciousness, he took over control of the Chopper, which was heading into a valley, and guided it into a forced landing. The Pilot was evacuated while Sp4 Poland remained with the Helicopter until a relief Pilot from D Troop, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment was brought in to fly it back.
    Asked how he did it, Poland grinned, "It really wasn't that hard, I'm just glad I watched him fly before."

Rogers' Rangers Orders Prove Worth with C/1/503d

By Sp4 Jed Rumble

    LZ UPLIFT- Words of wisdom phrased by a famed Indian fighter more than two centuries ago are still paying off today in Vietnam. The words, labeled Roger's Rangers' Standing Orders and composed in 1759 by Major Robert Rogers of French & Indian War fame, currently serve as the code of survival for Paratroopers of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion.
    "Our men know all 19 of the orders by heart," said 1Lt Kenneth P. Berquist, a Platoon Leader with Charlie Company. "We live by those orders here in Charlie Company," asserted Berquist. "They've gotten us out of a lot of tight jams." Berquist cited his Company Commander, Captain Robert J. Powell of Columbus Ga, as the man who made us believe in the wisdom of the 19 declarations.
    "Everyone who comes into Vietnam gets a copy of the orders," noted one Paratrooper. "I don't know what the other troops do with their's, but here Captain Powell drilled them into our heads."
    The orders which range from such stark phrases as: "DON'T NEVER TAKE A CHANCE YOU DON'T HAVE TO (Order # 5) to "IF WE TAKE PRISONERS WE KEEP 'EM SEPARATE 'TILL WE HAVE HAD TIME TO EXAMINE THEM SO THEY CAN'T COOK UP A STORY BETWEEN 'EM," cover the entire gamut of combat techniques against a guerilla force.
    Sgt Robert G. Obidzinski of Warren Mi, heartily agreed with his Platoon Leader and pointed out a recent incident where his unit used the 3rd Standing Orders to catch a small group of NVA by surprise.

Like Clockwork

    The 3rd Standing Order reads: "WHEN ON THE MARCH ACT THE WAY YOU WOULD IF YOU WERE SNEAKING UP ON A DEER. SEE THE ENEMY FIRST."
    "There was some evidence of NVA in the area," said Sgt Obidzinski, "so we were moving real quiet through the jungle, when suddenly we came upon a Montagnard village that was supposed to be abandoned. It wasn't." Because they had been undetected, the Paratroopers took the small supply outpost completely by surprise. They swept through the area, killed four NVA soldiers, detained a Medical Officer and confiscated a sizeable amount of equipment and rice.
    Indeed, most new arrivals to Vietnam get a chuckle when they are issued the Rogers' Rangers cards and usually throw them away. But, ask the Paratroopers of Charlie Company where they carry their's, and they'll undoubtedly show you that they "DON'T FORGET NOTHING", Rogers' Rangers rule number ONE.

Sky Soldiers Earn
Top Honors

     LZ ENGLISH- Four of the Nation's highest awards for Valor were presented to Paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade by General Creighton W. Abrams, Commander of United States Forces in Vietnam, in ceremonies recently.
   Sp5 James Anagnostopoulos, Senior Medic with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry, was presented our country's second highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross.
     While under automatic weapons fire and grenade bombardments from an NVA company, he saved the lives of six men, destroyed an enemy machine gun position and organized the helicopter evacuation of the wounded. Anagnostopoulos, of Okachee Wis, also aided in the rescue of five more Paratroopers again exposing himself to enemy fire.

The Silver Star was presented to Sp5 Frederick W. Fassett of Newark NJ, for his actions while serving with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 503d Infantry.

Exposed to Fire

Repeatedly exposing himself to enemy fire, Fassett, a Senior Medic, ran to aid wounded troopers of the 1st Battalion, 50th (Mech) Infantry. During the NVA counterattack, he remained with the forward element long enough to remove three of the men who had been wounded in the initial contact. Refusing to find cover, he helped evacuate the wounded to a safe landing zone where they could be recovered by evacuation helicopters.

The Distinguished Flying Cross for valor was awarded to Captain Stanley H. Streicher of Cincinnati Ohio, for his actions as a Helicopter Pilot in support of combat operations.

Answers SOS

Streicher heard a distress call over his radio to evacuate wounded troopers of a 4th Infantry Division unit in heavy enemy contact near Kontum. Hearing that a Medivac was not available for several hours, he requested to fly the mission although he was completely detached from the operation. Hindered by the tiny hillside landing zone and the ever darkening skies, he managed to hover low enough for the wounded soldiers to be placed aboard, a feat which four other pilots had tried but failed that same day.
Under constant fire, Cpt Streicher returned with a load of ammunition to carry the beleagured Company of the 4th Division through the night. Captain Streicher is currently in Command of the Casper Platoon Platoon of Helicopters, which aid in support of Brigade operations.

Sp4 Robin R. Titus, 19, then with Bravo Company, 173d Support Battalion, earned the Soldiers Medal for heroism for his actions when an Air Force C-123 cargo plane crashed on the runway at LZ English, 40 miles north of Qui Nhon.

Braves Danger

Although the aircraft was aflame and in danger of exploding from leaking fuel, Titus reentered the plane time and again until all casualties had been evacuated and received emergency medical treatment. As a result of this heroic action, the crash victims escaped with only moderate injuries. Specialist Titus is now serving as a Medical Aid with E troop, 17th Cavalry, operating along the north central coast of Vietnam.

NVA Trick Ends in Disaster

By PFC Paul Sheehan

    BAN ME THUOT- A squad of alert Paratroopers astonished a conniving NVA officer who tried to lure them into a death trap by waving a white flag. "We had been warned to watch out for faked surrenders," said Sergeant Greg Tockl of St. Paul Mn. "We heard the NVA were using this tactic all over Vietnam."
    Tockl is a member of the six man 'Rangers' point element for Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade, and his unit was on patrol near the Cambodian border when they saw an enemy soldier waving a white hankerchief at them. "The NVA Officer was about 75 meters from us," said Tockl. "He was wearing a pistol and we held our fire in case he was a legitimate Chieu Hoi."
    "Our flank element," Pfc Maurice Schneider, Tockl said, "then noticed movement that revealed a possible ambush." Sensing a trap, Schneider fired towards the movement. The shots alerted a Platoon of NVA who were in the bushes waiting to unleash an ambush and they charged the Ranger squad. The Paratroopers then cut down the Officer who was scrambling for the brush and returned fire at the advancing enemy.
    "We laid down a quick field of fire and the NVA hit the ground," said Tockl. "They outnumbered us by about five to one so we broke contact." "One thing for sure," Tockl concluded, "that NVA Officer has pulled his last trick."

Trooper Hangs On

     BONG SON- "We had been receiving light sniper fire and knew we were in Cong territory" said Rose. "I noticed the ground in front of me looked peculiar. I put my foot down softly and it went right through over the ankle. I then uncovered the whole pit so the guys following me wouldn't slip in."
     A short while later the 20 year old Rose stepped into another pit. "This time," recalled Rose, "I went in up to my thigh but luckily, I slipped onto my other knee and managed to balance myself."
     Indeed, it was a luck-filled day for Sp4 Gregory Rose of Vienna Va who stepped into two Viet Cong punji pits within the space of an hour and never got hurt.
     Rose was operating as point man for C Company, 2nd Battalion, when the accidents occurred while patrolling along the base of the Tiger Mountains near Bong Son.

DR տլGrafiX.

More of The Brigade`s Duty`s

Stories from The Nam2.

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firewrkpurple.gif (16957 bytes) The Ridgeman.

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Somewhere, working on a routine search and destroy mission outside of the Central Highlands… in the Republic of Vietnam … were The Boys from Charlie Company. The "HeadHunters" from the

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1st of the 503rd, 173^rd Airborne Infantry Brigade.

A group of soldiers, miles from nowhere, humping just the clothes on their backs and geer in our packs… trudging down the trail, " blazed " by a seasoned point man. After reaching the bottom of the ravine we had been traversing, we came to a halt outside these large, wide- open rice fields.

junglehunt.jpg (52731 bytes) Typically, we all sat along the trail we’d just followed, one of us facing left the next man facing right, while we took that much desired smoke break and relieved the weight off of our backs from the heavy rucks we were humping. It was about 110 degrees, humid and dry and we had been moving along at quick, quite pace all morning. This was my second or third mission with the Herd since arriving only a week or two before, so I just watched the seasoned troopers and did what they did, like the other older guys told me to do. I was officially still a cherrys.jpg (4512 bytes) cherry.

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I was humping two M60 ammo canisters along with all my gear, my M 16, and three ammo bandoleers that held my M 16 ammunition. One of the ammo canisters was tied to the top of my Rucksack and I was carrying the other one in my free hand. No choice was given to me on that job classification, I was a new guy and I got appointed the real Grunt job of being a Gunner.jpg (16329 bytes) “Gunners Assistant”. I didn’t know where we were going, why we were going there or what exactly we would do when we finally got there, but I was happy to stop and rest for a few minutes when everyone else did.

We figured that the Brass were locating themselves on the map…seeing if they were going where they thought we were going or if there was a short cut we could take around this open area, rather than straight through what we could all clearly see as wide open rice fields. If it were anything other than that we would have known in an instant… Least that’s what the older, more seasoned guys told the newer cherries when we got there… “ When the shit hits the fan just get down and protect your flanks” they had instructed us. Nothing was happening at that moment and this was about the third time we had stopped this morning so we thought it was just routine and enjoyed our few moments of peace so we could catch our breath, have some water and smoke a butt!

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Dedicated to My Brother Joe Geer.

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Personally, I was wishing that I hadn’t volunteered for this duty. Carrying what seemed like another person and doing all this humping was kicking my little ass and I really didn’t have to be here cause I’d had two brothers that served here already. One brother was still in Cam Raun Bay Attached with The 223d Combat Battilion. Robert F. Geer, We called him bob! the other had been an advisor a few years prior…Joe Geer, but certainly neither being in a

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as dangerous as I found myself in! What the hell had I gotten into, and what does any boy at age eighteen know about anything…let alone trying to fight communism for MY country! I don’t think I even knew what communism was…but I here i was, happy to be on my own an in the army. away from my other ten brothers and sisters for a while.

After all, I was now An Airborne soldier, too many miles away from home in a foreign country and I was proud of myself for getting this far at age eighteen. I had actually made it through the rugged airborne training school and by this time jumped out of two types of aircraft at least thirteen times.

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My Brother Bob.

My oldest brother Joe had attempted the same airborne course three years prior to me when he was drafted into the army. Right after Barry saddler came out with his “Fighting Soldiers” song. I can remember my father being so proud that one of his six sons was going to be a Fighting Soldier Hero…”A Paratrooper”. But that hadn’t worked out for Joe. Supposed ably, as we heard it from his letters home, he had to drop out of his second week of training because it was discovered that he had a slight heart murmur. He never got his

wings… wings.gif (6059 bytes) So Yes Joe, Here are mine.

but he did get to go to Vietnam ! as an advisor in early 65/66.

His Name Was Joesph Le0 Geer, but Later after the Untimely Death of Our Farther, Le0 Joesph Geer, in 1970,

He Changed it to Le0 J. Geer. My oldest Brother.

I, on the other hand had to do better than my brother, trying to out-do him by getting my Airborne wings and becoming an elite Infantry Grunt. What did it get me? A place in Charlie Company, along side all these other Infantry paratroopers, with a ruck sack, weapon, and fear we all kept from each other that we would meet our maker each and every day for the next year. We had been told all of the stories about the Tet offensive, Hill 875, Dak Toe and the Ashaw Valley, and we were sure they were all true because of the look in the eyes of the storie tellers when they told us. That and the fact that when we arrived In Country there were very few guys left in it! I was a group of about sixteen replacements that were recruited from the replacement center once arriving.

But now I was a paratrooper…and no matter what happened, or didn’t happen, nobody could ever take THAT away from me! I’d proved not only to myself…but also to my very large family back home, and my older brother... that I had guts enough to volunteer for war duty in the Republic of Vietnam. Yea, My airborne Uncle was pretty proud of me too…and that made me want to go even further to be a “Ranger”!

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And, Dedicated to My Brother Bob Geer.

This would be the third time our Battalion ventured into the Highlands since I had arrived in this horrific place, so already we learned to carry only what was necessary. Two canteens of water were what I felt I needed and I was already on my second one. Our first big company mission away from our area of regular operation, which would have been small squad patrols around L Z Uplift if our squad were up for that particular detail, and the pase was fast. I really enjoyed flying over the beautiful country in that huey…feet hanging over the edge…M-16 in hand, feeling powerful as all hell… yet wondering where we were going, would we come back, and what would happen? All these thoughts zipping through my head…mostly about what has been happening to the Herd... as the squads of choppers flew onward, dropping us out where we found ourselves that morning.

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Our three sister companies were in different areas some distance away, but hopefully close enough in case we got into some real shit, and they could come and help us out! And here I was thinking that I would have been better off not being here and going back home. But you just don’t do that when you’re an Airborne Ranger…and just now wasn’t the time to let anyone else know what I was feeling…how really scared I was! That was out of the question, Rangers are supposed to set an example, so I had to make do with where I was and live another 330 days, so I could go back to the world alive!

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Pattie rvnsvcA.gif (6451 bytes) Walking...

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From where we sat there was a pretty wide open area to the front of us…only small six-inch high dikes about a path sized width in which to walk divided the rice patties that held two to three inches of water and muck…

They looked to me like flooded football fields, and the distance toward the front and rear and to the left and right covered an area of about six hundred "clicks" as I remember. There were small mountains to our east that we had just circumnavigated the base of, during our onslaught, cutting away at the jungles thickness and wait-a-minute veins as we struggled down these hills. Just alongside the treelines that lead into the openness before us everyone passed along the words “Saddle Up”... were getting ready to, move out. It reminded me of an assembly line back in the factory, as we all gathered our gear and began preparing to continue our mission. We were certainly happy to have taken this break before venturing back into the unknown and everyone seemed ready to resume our mission.

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I was able to get up myself during this time and having been so new In-country, took more than the allotted time to readjust my ruck sack, sling The M 16 back over my shoulder and pick up my canister of M 60 machine gun ammunition in the other hand as our patrol began moving forward again and some of them passing me while I did this. In my right hand was the pistol grip of that M 16 …finger on the trigger…safety off, ready to rock and roll, as I rejoined the ranks and we all moved along again!

lookatmenow.jpg (8662 bytes) Look at me now!!! A Hundred-twenty pound kid knowing nothing, doing nothing, cept playing war in a far off land he knew nothing bout…If they could only see me back home now! What a scene! But it really was some trying times and I still didn't know if I had all this strength to do what these Infantry Grunts do each and every day! It wasn't like we could just give up and stop humping either...because everyone would just leave us there with no protection and the Gooks could take advantage of that in a second! How many times many of us thought of doing just that, or having our M 16 accidently go off into our own feet so we could get dusted off and not be a part of this continued harrasment was something everyone only though about, and never discussed. Oh we had heard of others actually doing it, but they were no longer welcomed in these patrols because each and every Grunt was counted on to support each other Every day. There would be no cowardly shit in Charlie Company...We were HeadHunters! So we each did our jobs silently and seriously!

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We continued following the guy in front of us, who was likewise, following the one in front of him and so on. We had plenty more men behind us too…ready for anything that came at us…the rough tough Airborne Infantry Grunts…and mostly grateful for the moments we could stop and rest without the thoughts of what could actually really happen. All this humping up this mountain and down that one made for a bunch of weary tired troopers at the end of each mission. I was remembering how my brothers and I had raised so much hell that last Halloween we had together…thought we would all be locked up for the rest of the year…but no it didn’t happen!

You tend to wander off in you mind as you hump along, trying to push out the reality of what this Infantry game did to you physically.

junglehunt2.jpg (38370 bytes) It would really kick our Asses in this heat every day. I supposed I really wasn’t where I should have been… I was…but my mind was off in that dream, probably like every other new guy in that company. I wasn’t alert enough to really know the danger I was in, for just bout five minutes and here it was time to head out through the clearing toward our destination… Reality slapped me back as we all took our proper distances from each other in our long line through the jungle preparing to hump another couple miles. Never did find out where we were going or why… and that was the hardest part I think! And here we were doing it again…walking straight through this clearing on top of this patty dike…a perfect place for Charlie to leave a grenade! He wasn’t stupid…who would walk in the water given the choice…and we were all sure that our point man knew what he was doing…that was “his” job. We just followed each other being careful to walk where the first guy walked and lookin out for TriPwires! What does a cherry know...Except what he watches and learns!

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About twelve or thirteen of the guys to the front of us were right out in the open now, three or four yards between each of them, humping their way to the other side rather quickly. Nobody felt comfortable in the open. Some of us were to cherry to know any better, but we did notice the pace picking up.

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Imagine yourself up on that ridge that we just passed, and your watching these guys walk through the open field hey…your not stupid, you can tell where the man in charge is because he’s close to the man with that little antenna sticking out from his gear! Those are the two main people…and you want to get one from your hideaway on the ridge…all hell will break out cause everyone else won’t know what to do afterwards…if you just took out the radio! You could easily do that and probably get a hit at a few others before they had a chance to jump behind that six-inch piece of ground between you and them too!

Well you see that’s not what happened!

While the men were walking through the open field Charlie certainly was up on that ridge watching…with his AK 47 and binoculars …checking us right out he was! War was just about to begin for the cherries out there in the bush, and nobody knows how anyone else is going to react to a situation that they had never been faced with before; until they actually do! Charlie was the one who had it easy…sitting up there in the trees taking pot shots at us…while nobody down in that rice patty would be able to pick him off!

But that’s not what happened either...

Cause Charlie was probably just as scared as any one of us were in that open rice patty! And I’m quite certain that he saw how really outnumbered his situation found him. Let’s face it, 40 to 1, couldn’t be very good odds. I certainly would have thought twice!

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But he was way up on his ridge and we were way down in this rice-patty…how the heck were we going to threaten him? We could all hit the ground, scrambling for the only cover available and get a few shots off out into the great vastness of jungle, approximately toward where we heard the sound coming from. If we were brave enough to look out over that six-inch piece of earth…the only protection between Charlie the sniper and our very own lives…if we were brave…or if we had too…we could have done that.

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And that’s just what they had to do when the shots rang out in that intensely stagnant moment! After about five more people joined the others out in the clearing, he took his first shot, immediately killing one trooper. But nobody knew it yet…they were all busy doing what they had been trained to do back at Bragg…in our jungle-school training classes… "fuckin duck and cover!" It’s certainly distinctive to remember the sound of that A K-47 bullet… the crack/pow…that sent everyone running, and not being able to recall hearing the next six or seven because maybe we were busy wetting ourselves…or trying to dig a hole underneath ourselves in three inches of mucky water so we could hide. We certainly wanted to get some kind of protection between that on-coming bullet and our lives!

I was still on the outskirts of the tree line when it all happened, remembering only to dive carefully into some safe looking bushes when I heard the first shot and covered my flank! Those around me were busy accessing the situation also, trying to find out what was going down…only knowing that someone was in real trouble and certainly making sure that it wasn’t them. We could all hear the shots as they rang out from the ridge, crack/powing into the valley to the front of us. There were also those from the M-16s that followed, as some of them took aim up to where they though they saw something. But the bullets kept coming out from the ridge, no faster than if one man was shooting them. The gunner team that had been caught out in the open had tried hooking up an M 60 machine gun and pointing it up the ridge, firing off several burst here and there. Again they tried…and the varying cover fire from the dozen or so other troops behind the dikes didn’t seem to phase Charlie because ...

" he kept firing”. The only difference now was that we could see where his bullets were hitting as they splashed up water from the patties here and there. The Grunts behind the small, hardly concealing dike, randomly fired back. Nobody could actually pinpoint his location…and it was certainly high enough on that ridge that he felt comfortable enough to keep them pinned where they were. It was senseless to send a squad up to flush him out because of the distance and time factor…probably would have taken thirty to forty minutes…so that option was out of the question. Many other cherries and I were too new in country to know what the next Option would be! Here I was just waiting for the situation to disappear but just then I heard the shouting coming our way from the lieutenant in that patty, behind the dike.

mili60.gif (20779 bytes) "We need more M-60 ammo out here…the canisters are all full of water!" He was yelling to us in the tree line. The Sergeant looked around at everyone near him…not saying a word…we all heard what the lieutenant had said. The bullets from the ridge were no longer coming at them…but still no one wanted to give up their position or give him a reason to resume. I looked down at the ammo boxes I’d been humping…they were dry, one on my pack and one in my hand…looked up at the Sergeant and said, "Here we go…I got some dry ammo right here!" Did I say that?

330daystogo.jpg (17619 bytes) My mission… should I accept it, [and I obviously did when I spoke without thinking], was to run out into the open patty with the extra can of M 60 ammo so that they could re-load the gun and sweep the tree-line again, while the others behind the dike could possibly run to cover. It was a plan, and I never thought about getting out of my full rucksack and gear before leaving the safety of the tree line around us.

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Oh I left alright…why the hell I did I couldn’t quite comprehend…but here I was running out into the opening and toward the machine gun crew, eighty yards out there. I was running my tired little ass off, hearing the crack/powstarting up again, but my brain was telling me that he wasn’t shooting at “ME”. I could actually see the splashes of the incoming bullets falling about two feet in front of me…then one foot in front of me…I was about seventy yards to my destination…brain still asking me why I was doing this…my feet seemingly sticking into the muck with every step and then I was down! I was laying face down in the muck of the rice patty, my ruck-sack slid forward over my shoulders to trap my head in a fixed position…straight under water…and my Helmet was no longer on my head.

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Well I thought that’s what my brain was telling me, and it seemed like an eternity that I was lying there, not breathing, trying my damnedest to get my head out of water…And when I finaly did, only ten or fifteen seconds later, all I could see to the front of me was the fact that I had missed my destination by ten yards and I was actually lying out there in the open. Course then my brain caught up to my eyes and noticed these splashes appearing not six inches in front of my face, telling me…hey fool, your still alive and that sucker up on the ridge is still taking some serious aim at your ass, you better move out troop!

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Yea, that’s what happened…I moved out…leaving the can of ammo I had in one hand and my M-16 that I had in the other, right where I had been lying. Too stunned to realize I was still alive, I took two large steps and a huge jump… as I was flying through the air for that final landing behind that small piece of dry dirt… I saw the last two bullets hit the water just before I did, right “where” I did! My heart was beating faster and louder than it ever had before. And I thought jumping out that door with a Parachute took guts… Only then did I get the full realization of what I had just accomplished. It probably only took three minutes but it seemed like three hours, and I was alive to piss my pants and start digging in the next minute. I heard the lieutenant to my right, "Where’s your rifle soldier?" I turned to him and politely said that it was out in the field of water where I fell. It was then that I realized that the M 60 ammo lay out there too, and my helmet! The only protection I had between me and that sniper was the little dike in front of me, I had no weapon to defend myself and Charlie knew right where I was lying. Then I heard the lieutenant off to my right again, And I’m about to tell you that that sorry trooper had laid there watching me go through all that shit... to come out there and help his sorry ass... and all he wanted to know was "Where’s my Gun?" As if that wasn’t enough, he was now telling me to…"Get out there and get it!"

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My reply was short but sweet… "Fuck you Sir!" I had three- hundred and thirty days left, and Charlie wasn’t going to get to that gun before I did. And I knew that I wasn’t going to be brave again and going out to get it either! I crouched there waiting for someone else to solve the situation and silently thanking God that Charlie was a poor shot today!

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The mission wasn’t that great of a success…oh I stayed alive…but the ammunition for the 60 sat out in the water, and we were right where we started. But the next hour amazed me! The lieutenant had been on the horn calling in some ships. War had actually started and I had a front row seat! I was about to see what happens to Charlie… when he chooses to fuck with the HERD!

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The very distinct sound of the hueys could be heard in the far off distance. We hadn’t heard any other rounds coming from the ridgeline since he had missed shooting at me. Guess he’d given up and fled the area…but let me tell you buddy, I don’t think he got out soon enough! The sounds of several choppers now were music to our ears, as they flew directly over us toward the suspected ridge.

cobraguns.jpg (12697 bytes) Two Cobra gun ships loaded with rockets, miniguns, and a small loch that had taken up a stand just behind our position began their assault. As soon as the gun ships passed us they let out some rocketry that nearly blew my mind. Charlie couldn’t have firewrkpurple.gif (16957 bytes) doorgunview.jpg (17275 bytes) survived that, I thought…but they took another run,hitting the surrounding area again and again, until all their rockets were extinguished. What a firework show. They began shooting the mini-guns all around the ridgeline, while the little loch took up a position closer to where Charlie p14.jpg (3772 bytes) was suspected to have been…and he fired some rounds also. That I learned was the comand and control chopper. I was also listening intently at how the RTO was communicating with them as they did their aerial runs. The bug must have bite me then because I thought to myself...I would like to have that job!

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But at the moment it sounded like a real war. It looked like a war! It certainly was a war, and I was just a little amazed at the firepower these birds had, not to mention the skill of the pilots to do such heroic flights. We were all still lying in our rice-muck holes watching while the birds were "Bringing pee" on the guy that had disrupted our patrol!

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And as fast as it had started it was over! We were ordered to get up and move out across the rest of the open field and into the next area of jungle thickness. One guy didn’t get up, and no one knew he was dead until we finally did get up, because he had fallen behind the little dike. I guess everyone thought he was just dug down and keeping his ass clear…but the bullet went through his neck and killed him instantly they had said. It was a scary sight to withhold I’ll tell you, and the true realization that it could very well have been me lying there, warranted a few more prayers and thanks to God! anihook7d.gif (25385 bytes) I couldn’t help thinking how really vulnerable I had been, running out in the openness and letting him use me for target practice, as I immediately went over to retrieve my weapon and gear. They just called me a "lucky son of a B" for a while…except for the lieutenant, who still wanted to chew me out. Hell, I should have been commended for running out there to begin with and respected for living through it. But not in this Army! I didn’t get any medals or anything, just caught hell cause I left my weapon out there, which of course was now in my hand, finger on the trigger, ready to rock and roll! I was no longer a cherry and I had actually earned my

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After the Dust off ship came and removed Frank Hicks,

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Who unfortunately died that day, and we resumed our patrol without further harassment, until it was time to dig in for the night. What a scary day it had been… a day of war that probably cost the taxpayers a couple of million dollars in hardware…for one Charlie sniper. At least we Knew that our lives were worth something that day, because we still had them later that evening! I don't think I slept for three days after that experience!

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I don't remember anyone thanking me for trying to help out the gunner team, And no body harrased me because I tried, but for the rest of my life I'll remember how God thought that I should remain alive because I had the guts enough to try. This cherry had learned something new that day... That a very young man at age 18 is too young to die and right then I learned something else...

arcom.gif (3308 bytes) How NOT to volunteer for shit that might get him dead!

By; ric68.jpg (3864 bytes) Richard T. Geer {October 27, 1997 Re: December, 1968.}