The Boys of Bravo Company

By Dan Marquardt

This is the story of one mans adventures with Bravo Company 2/12 Infantry 25th Infantry Division in the Vietnam War from October 1968 to December 1969. I am writing this in 2002 from my memories, letters I sent home and memories of some of the men I served with some 33 years ago. Time has dimmed some of the events, while others remain as sharp and as vivid as they were at the time they were burned into my memory, never to be forgotten.

Over the past 33 years I have been in touch with many of the men that have shared these experiences with me. By the nature of combat, each man has his own perspective on the events, depending on where he was and how he felt at the time they took place.

We were a very diverse bunch of guys thrown together from every part of the country and had it not been for the war, we most likely would never have met. Through the combat we experienced together, some of us have become closer then brothers. This is a bond that shall never be broken.

I grew up in a middle class family near Bowler Wisconsin. My father was a factory worker and my mother was a housewife. I was the second of 6 children with an older sister and 3 younger sisters and a younger brother. My dad enjoyed hunting and fishing and as soon as I was old enough to tag along I went with him as often as I could. By age 8 I was learning to shoot a .22 rifle, a shotgun and a deer rifle. At age 12 I shot my first white tailed deer. We were Lutheran and went to Sunday school and church every Sunday. We attended Bowler school and I graduated from Bowler High with the class of 1966. I played baseball and basketball in school and studied Agriculture, planning to be a dairy farmer.  In 1965 my dad bought his father’s farm and we started to raise Holstein heifer calves and I also had a few hogs. I was president of the Bowler chapter of the Future Farmers of America my senior year of high school.

I began to work in the same factory as my dad when I turned 18 on July 22,1966. We worked the second shift, from 4 to midnight, and continued to build up the farm.

In July 1967 I started dating Phyllis Pehlke and we were engaged on Easter Sunday 1968. I knew I would be drafted soon and we planned to get married after I had completed my two years of military service.

 I took my induction physical on April 18, 1968 and was inducted into the US Army on May 17^th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was sent to Fort Campbell, KY for basic training. After 8 weeks I graduated from basic and was assigned to Fort Louis, WA for 8 more weeks of Advanced Infantry Training. I graduated from AIT as a PFC in September and got a 15day leave with orders for Vietnam.

I flew home and spent my time with my family and Phyllis, enjoying my time as much as possible with the future uncertain. Up until now war was only a game, now I was about to face the real thing and had no idea of what to expect. The time went by all to fast and it soon was time to say good-by. I flew to San Francisco CA and spent the weekend with my dad’s cousin and her family. They showed me around and on Sunday afternoon I reported in at Oakland Army Terminal to begin my processing for deployment to Vietnam.

It took several days to get everything in order before I was ready to ship out. There were many of the guys that I had taken basic and AIT with, all heading for the war and all of us as replacements. After all was in order we boarded a Flying Tiger Airlines plane and headed for the war zone. The first leg of our flight was from Travis Air Force Base, CA to Anchorage, Alaska. Things were pretty lively as everyone had so much energy to release. We batted balloons around the cabin and joked with the stewardesses. After an hour layover in Anchorage we re-boarded for our next leg to Japan. Now things were pretty quiet as everyone was trying to sleep or just be alone with their thoughts. We made our stop in Japan and then it was on to Binh Hoa, Vietnam.

As we landed in Vietnam I remember the flight crew thanking us for flying with them and saying “we hope to see most of you, back with us in a year”. Everyone was looking around and wondering which of us wouldn’t make it through our tour of duty. It was now October 17 and when they opened the door the heat and the smell hit us like a blast furnace. We went from a comfortable air-conditioned plane to a very hot and muggy state that instantly opened all our pores and we were soaked in sweat. This was in the middle of the night and the sounds and smells of jets and choppers taking off and landing filled the air and overwhelmed us. We were promptly marched to a holding area. There we saw the troops that were headed home on the plane we had just vacated. They all looked so old and had a haunted look in their eyes. We soon boarded busses, with screened windows, that took us to the 90^th Replacement Center in Long Binh.

Here we started in-processing which lasted until about 0400, at which time we were assigned bunks and spent the next two hours trying to get some rest and listening to the sounds of war going on outside the perimeter. We were up at 0600 and had breakfast and then had 2 formations to make every day until our names were called to ship out to the unit we would be assigned to. I was assigned guard duty for a couple days until my name was called on October 24^th and I boarded a cargo plane for the short ride to Cu Chi and was assigned to 25^th Infantry Division.

From the 24^th to the 31^st we were in-processed and went through an in-country training course. This was to prepare us for the war that we would soon enter. Everyone was really paying attention now, as the next step would be on the job training. On the 31^st we were paid, I drew $137 plus $65 hostile fire pay and $9 overseas pay. I was then assigned to Bravo Company 2/12 infantry and finally had an address to send home so I could start to receive mail. Up to this point I had been writing home but could not receive any mail because I didn’t have a permanent address. One of the perks of being in a war zone was we didn’t have to buy stamps. We just had to write free in place of a stamp. This was one of the hardest times, as mail call would come to be the best time of the days ahead.

On November 1^st Joe Trainor and I were sent out to Fire Support Base Stewert at the Trang Bang Bridge by truck convoy. We were assigned to the 3^rd platoon, led by LT George Curtis from NY; it had 39 men assigned with the average age of 20 years. Our squad leader was SGT Norris Dwyer from ME. The other members of the squad were Ben Wilson, George Gonzales, and Joe Trainor, all from CA, Jimmy Kemp from TX, Terry Harrison from IL, Mike Givens from OH, Bill Vanwey from CO, Larry Christiansen from IA, Tim Cook from MS, Charles Jennings from NC, and me from WI. This was one of the few times during my tour when the squad was at full strength of 12 men.

Bravo Company’s CO was a CPT Wissenger. Other members of the 3^rd platoon were SGT Bracey and platoon medic Larry (Doc) Feikema from MI, Bob McReynolds and Jim Crumley from TX, Ernest Shannon from OH, Glenn Boettcher and Bill Richard from WI, JR Whitehead from TN, Bob Renkin from FL, Ron Carey from NY, Jerry Jenkins from SC, SGT Jerry Luffman, SGT Dias  and Ruben Ramero. They were others but their names escape me after all these years.

From the 2^nd to the 10^th of November we had road and mine sweep security from Trang Bang up route 6/A toward Fire Support Base Pershing. This entailed providing security for the 2 engineers, who would use mine sweepers to search the road for mine and booby traps that the VC may have put out the night before. We would drop off men at different checkpoints along the way to keep the road open until the daily convoy would make it’s trip to Pershing to deliver supplies of food, ammo, fuel and mail to the FSB. Another unit would sweep the road from Pershing and we would meet halfway and secure the road until the convoy made its return trip. If all went well we would then return to the FSB and maybe have an ambush patrol that night. We would also have sweeps in the area east and south of the FSB. This area was along the river and the patrols were intended to disrupt enemy infiltration routes and to keep the VC off guard. Our ambush sites were also in this area and would often be very wet locations. After laying in the water all night a few times we started to sandbag some of our ambushes by going to an ARVN compound or to the four bunkers by the bridge and calling our sit-raps in every hour as if we had actually gone to our ambush site. One night I remember roaming around Trang Bang with the ARVNs for a couple hours. One time on a sweep our squad was to make a clover leaf to check out an area. After we were away from the platoon we spread out and had a little recon by fire, as we started firing at the bushes, we started getting some return fire, and here we were just standing there. It didn’t take long for us to hit the dirt. We called in some mortar fire and then checked out the area and didn’t find anything. That was the first time I had been shot at but no one was hit so we went back and joined up with the rest of the platoon. We didn’t make any other contact that day. At this time I was carrying ammo for the M-60 machine gunner, George Gonzales. Jimmy Kemp was the other ammo bearer and we each carried 400 rounds for the machinegun plus our basic load of 21 magazines for our M-16s and four fragmentation grenades and a couple smoke grenades. This made walking 4 or 5 clicks in the heat and in wet areas a very long hard days work. We each carried at least 2 canteens of water and a first aid bandage.

Finally on November 4^th I started getting mail. Phyllis wrote me almost every day for my whole tour. Those letters and packages from home really helped to keep my spirits up. My mother sent me the Portals of Prayer so I would always find time to read the lesson for the day and the verses in my little New Testament Bible that I carried in a plastic bag in my left breast pocket. These were the things that really helped me get through my tour.

On the evening of November 8th a squad from the 2^nd platoon ran into a VC ambush as they were moving toward their ambush site. They had a claymore mine blown on them and they had 6 men dusted off with a verity of injuries.

On November 11^th I went on my first Eagle Flight/ Combat Assault. The choppers picked us up at Trang Bang and our LZ was about 8 clicks away in the Ho Bo Woods. It was a real thrill circling around in the choppers as the artillery and gun ships prepped the LZ. As we came roaring in the door gunners opened up with their M-60s. As soon as we touched down everyone unloaded and ran toward the wood line and spread out and got down. It was a cold LZ, but being my first time the adrenaline was really pumping through my system. We spent most of the day checking out the area and blowing up some tunnels that we found, but made no contact. Then we spread out on the PZ and popped smoke so the choppers could find us and in they came to pick us up and take us back to the FSB. I always enjoyed the ride home because we knew we wouldn’t be getting shot at on the LZ at the fire base although a few times we got mortared as we were coming back in the wire. It was always nice and cool riding in those birds after humping around in the jungle all day, trying to find Charlie.

 On November 12^th we were on a combat patrol east of FSB Stewert when I had my first encounter with a new enemy. I was going through a bamboo hedgerow when all of a sudden I was being bitten all over by the biggest meanest red ants that I had ever seen. They had fallen off the bamboo and were all over me. I was shedding my gear and my shirt and finally got them off of me. The other guys, that had been in the field a while, were roaring with laughter and though it was very funny. After I finally got rid of the ants I could also see humor in the situation. I learned to look out for all sorts of insects after that. We didn’t make any contact with the enemy and returned to the FSB. We continued to rotate from road security to patrols and ambushes until 22^nd when we started our move to FSB Pershing. We packed all of the gear that we couldn’t carry and sent it on the convoy. The plan was to go about half way to Pershing and then spend the night in the field and continue on the next day. As it turned out we made contact the first day. After returning fire we called in an air strike and then checked out the area. We found 4 dead and 2 wounded enemy and captured 7 AK-47 rifles, 2 RPG grenade launchers and an M-79 grenade launcher. We sent the 2 wounded VC and the captured equipment in by chopper and then set up a NDP for the night. All was quiet over night but as we were getting ready to move out we once again made contact. After being in contact for most of the day, we got a ride back to FSB Stewert with the 1/5 on their APCs. We spent the night there and the next morning started out on a more direct route to FSB Pershing. This time we encountered no resistance and got into Pershing in the afternoon of the 25^th. On the 26^th we had an Eagle Flight to the Ho Bo woods with 2 LZs but made no contact. We got back to Pershing a little after noon and started work on our new homes. These were 12’X 12’ bunkers that were 4’ into the ground and 2’ of sandbags above ground with PSP for the roof covered with another 2 rows of sandbags. Each bunker housed 4-6 men. We lined the dirt walls with boards from 105mm ammo crates.

On Thanksgiving Day we had a patrol south of Pershing and didn’t make any contact, but as we were heading in the wire we started to get mortared. The rounds hit behind us so we came in on the dead run as they tried to walk the rounds into the base. As we got in the 105s were firing and the mortars stopped. We didn’t have anyone hit. Just as we were getting ready for our evening Thanksgiving Day meal, we got word to saddle up and get ready to reinforce another company that was in heavy contact. So with all our gear and weapons we ate our turkey diner and waited for the choppers to arrive. After a couple hours the mission was called of so we stood down. George Gonzales and I had to go on LP, so we spent the night lying outside the wire watching and listing for any sign of Charlie. When we came in that morning we found out that we would be going into Cu Chi and riding point jeep in the convoy to and from Pershing with the M-60 machinegun in a few days. We got some rest and then spent the day working on our bunkers.

On Dec 1^st George and I road the convoy into Cu Chi to begin our convoy security duty. Dec 2 we road in the rear of the convoy as rear security. We left Cu Chi at 1030 and got back at1400. Everything went smooth, except that we really got dirty riding in the cloud of dust that all the other trucks and jeeps threw up. B and C companies had an Eagle Flight to the Ho Bo woods and ran into a bunch of booby traps and had some contact. C company lost 5 men killed and 12 wounded. B Company had 3 wounded. SGT Dwyer stepped on a booby trapped 81 mortar round and was thrown in the air and had both legs and an arm broken and was all cut up by shrapnel. Shrapnel hit Lt. Curtis and Sgt. Luffman from the same blast, but they were back in the field shortly. Dwyer would be going back to the World. George and I went to the hospital to see Dwyer when we got back to Cu Chi he was improving, but still was in pretty rough shape. We were now riding point jeep in the convoy and so far we hadn’t had any trouble with the convoy getting hit. So far we had been at this for 8 days and I supposed it would just be a matter of time till Charlie would try to hit it again. We continued to ride point jeep in the convoy and everything went, as it should.

On Friday Dec 13^th B Company was in contact. When we got back to Cu Chi, Top asked us if we had known Bill Vanwey. We said, “ yes we know him, why?” He said Bill had been killed and we had to go to Graves Registration to identify the body. That really hit us hard. We got in the jeep and drove over there and when they opened the body bag there was Bill with bullet holes across his chest. I said to George on the way back to the company area, “I have to get back to the field.” I felt that I should be with the platoon instead of just riding convoy security. When we got back to the company area, Bob McReynolds was there. He had been slightly wounded and dusted of and patched up at the hospital. The company was still in contact and we listened to the radio, while Mac told us what had happened. He said that Bill and Terry Harrison had been moving the M-60 machinegun up to a new location when a VC popped up out of a spider hole in a nearby hedgerow and got off a burst that killed Bill. Terry had been right next to Bill caring the ammo. Some of the bullets hit Terry in the ammo he was carrying and bounced off, throwing him to the ground. When he rolled over to see if Bill had been hit he found him already dead. Mac said that the medivac chopper that he was on took ground fire as they lifted off and the copilot was hit. The next day, B Company came in for a 48hr stand down. George and I were still riding convoy security. The 16^th there was a tank going out to Pershing so it led the convoy. Just as it was about to cross the little bridge on 6/A it hit a mine and blew off a track. Then the truck behind it hid another mine and 2 men were wounded. They called in a dust off for the wounded and we had to wait for a tank retriever to get the tank and truck out of the way, so the rest of the convoy could get through. We had to put out security to make sure Charlie didn’t sneak up and try to take out the trucks with an RPG.  We made it out and back ok, but it made us wonder what would have happened if we had been on point and hit those mines with our jeep. We didn’t get back to Cu Chi until 1700, but at least we made it safely. On Dec 18 we road the convoy to Pershing and stayed so we were back in the field again. The 19^th we had an ambush and didn’t make any contact so we had the 20^th to finish our bunkers. Phyllis sent me a Christmas wreath that I hung in our bunker to make it seem a little more like Christmas.

On Dec 22 we had road security on 6/A and the engineers found and disarmed a couple anti-tank mines. Joe Jerkawiez tripped a booby-trapped hand grenade and was dusted off with shrapnel in his neck and legs. I didn’t think it was too bad, he should be back to the field after couple weeks in the hospital. There were so many booby-traps all over that area, It seemed we lost more men to booby-traps then we did when we made contact and there was no way to fight back it really got frustrating. We had Church services the last 2 nights so that always helped to keep our spirits up. I got the Hoards Dairyman magazine at mail call along with my usual letter from Phyllis and a letter from my mother. The 23^rd we were suppose to go on ambush, but we hide inside the wire and got caught. Terry had to go see the CO and then we went out northeast of Pershing. We were set up for a while when an ox cart came by. Terry decided that the way things were going for us that night, we would just let it pass. The rest of the night was quiet. When we got back in some of the guys got to go into Cu Chi to see the Bob Hope Christmas Show. Terry was suppose to be one of those, but because of the events of the night before he had to stay back at Pershing with the rest of us that weren’t in-country long enough to get to go.

There was a Christmas truce in effect from 1800 on the 24^th to 1800on the 25^th. We ran some small patrols around Pershing but it was pretty quiet. I had LP on the 24^th and at 2100 everyone was shooting up red and green flares to celebrate Christmas Eve. They started a few fires around us so we were crawling around to put them out. On Christmas the BN Commander walked the bunker line to wish us all a Merry Christmas. In the afternoon Billy Graham and a choir of medical people from Cu Chi came out and sang Christmas carols for us. They also had a long sheet of paper that folks from back in the states had signed wishing us a Merry Christmas and thanking us for serving our country. That was very moving to know that not everybody is protesting the war.

I got orders promoting me to SP/4 on the 26^th and I started caring the M-79 grenade launcher on the 27^th. We had road security both days and the engineers found and disarmed a couple mines each day so we knew Charlie had been busy at night. The Rome plows were working to remove the brush from the sides of the road. That should make it safer for the convoy and eliminate a lot of the booby traps for the guys that have to walk flank while we are on road security. It will also give us a better view of the road when we set up our ambushes along the road to try to catch Charlie setting his mines in the road.

On Dec 30^th we got up at 0330 and left on an Eagle flight a 0500 in the dark. The whole company was on this operation along with a few other units. We surrounded a village and at first light we rounded up everybody and they had a special team from MI to interview everyone and they took a bunch of VC suspects in for further questioning. Then we went through the village and looked for weapons and tunnels. We found a few and the engineers came in and blew them up. It was really different flying in the dark but everything went good and we didn’t lose anyone. We got back to Pershing about 1400. On the 31^st our squad stayed back at Pershing while the rest of the company went on another Eagle flight. At midnight the place was all lit up with flares as we celebrated the New Year. We had road security on New Years Day and everything went fine. It has really helped that they cleared the jungle back a 100 feet or so on each side of the road. They haven’t found any mines in the road lately and the convoy hasn’t been ambushed either. It has been pretty quiet around here and that’s the way we like it. On Jan 2^nd we were back at Pershing and a chopper flew over. It was about 500 meters south of the FSB when we heard a pop and it started to rotate faster and faster ant went down and burned. We don’t know if it was hit by ground fire or if it the tail rotor broke, but all six people on board were killed. The first platoon went out to secure the site while they sent another chopper to recover the bodies. That gives us something else to think about when were riding in those choppers. There sure are a lot of ways to get killed over here. We worked most of the rest of the day on another bunker.  

 It started to rain every night and some of our bunkers caved in and all of them were leaking, so we put plastic sheets over them and covered them with another layer of sandbags. We only had 2 companies in Pershing so we had to start pulling bunker guard at some of the other bunkers. That meant we got less sleep and had to pull longer shifts every night when we were not out on ambush. On Jan 4^th George Gonzales went into Cu Chi to take over the job of supply Sgt., he was glad to get out of the field. We gave him a hard time about becoming a “ Base Camp Warrior”, but it’s always good to see someone get out of the field, so we were happy for him. We should be able to get the supplies that we need out here now because he knows what it’s like out here.

On Jan 6^th B company had an Eagle flight south of Pershing. We made a sweep of the area and found a tunnel complex and some bunkers with a lot of rice and salt. We called in a couple choppers and loaded it on to be taken in and then blew the bunkers and tunnels. Then we moved to an open area where we dug in to spend the night. Our squad went out on ambush at about 1800 and checked out our ambush site. At dark we moved in and set out our claymore mines and got ready for a long night. About midnight we had some movement, but a group of about 12 VC walked between our position and our claymores, so we let them go. Then all hell broke loose at the NDP. They were really getting hit hard. We decided to move to a better location so we pulled in our claymores and found a better site. By now the battle at the NDP was winding down as Doc Feikema was out setting up the first claymore, a group of VC, coming back from the attack on the NDP, walked by and sat down on the dike. Doc just sat still between the rest of us and the VC. We had also lost radio contact with the NDP so we just sat tight and waited. If they had spotted us and opened up Doc would have been caught in the crossfire. We all breathed a sigh of relief when they got up and walked away. We couldn’t call in artillery on them because the radio wasn’t working. We set out the rest of our claymores and waited to see what else could happen. It wasn’t long before we had some more movement to our rear but our radio still wasn’t working so we just sat tight for the rest of the night. At daylight we pulled in our claymores and headed back to the NDP. The guys had held them off and only a couple of them had been wounded. One of the other platoons had blown their ambush and killed 4 VC. The choppers came in and picked us up and took us several clicks away and we swept back to the NDP and found parts of 12 bodies and lots of blood trails leading off in all directions. When we got back to the NDP we were flown back to Pershing. Ron Carey was awarded the Silver Star for his efforts at the NDP that night. Mike Givens was one of the wounded; he had a head wound and was evacuated. The Good Lord sure had been with us that night, it could have been far worse for us than it was.

On Jan 8^th we moved to A Company’s logger site, south of Pershing and started to provide security for the Rome plows with a unit of the1/5 (M) Inf. We rode around on their APCs while the Rome plows knock down the jungle and set off a lot of the booby-traps and sometimes found tunnel openings. Our job was to keep the VC from sneaking up on the Rome plows so the could do their work. At night we sent ambushes out from the logger site while the Rome plows and the APCs stayed inside the berm. The 9^th we tore down the bunkers and moved to a new location and the Rome plows carved out a new logger site and we began to build our bunkers. We got a re-supply chopper in and they also brought our mail, so we took a break to read our letters. I just finished reading a letter from Phyllis when we started taking some small arms fire. Our machine gunner had gone into Cu Chi so I had the M-60 and I put out about 200 rounds and everyone else opened up so that took care of that. After it was over I found my letter and it was all shot up, apparently it had gotten in front of the machinegun. Well we got busy and started building our bunkers while the Rome plows started clearing the jungle around the new logger site. One of the other platoons sent out an ambush and about midnight they blew their claymors and got 4 VC. So we knew that they were around there and probably didn’t like it that the Rome plows were clearing out all the jungle that the use to hide in. This riding around instead of walking was pretty neat, but we really got dirty from all the dust and the APCs made good targets for RPGs. But they really had the firepower with that .50 cal. Machinegun and 2 M-60s.

We continued to work with the Rome plows and on the 13^th we moved again. This time we set up on the West Side of Highway 1, a couple clicks south of Trang Bang. I got back to carrying my M-79 again and everything was going pretty smooth. Jan 14^th I got orders for my CIB so now I was officially a veteran infantryman.

We continued to provide security for the Rome plows and take turns going out on ambush. The ambush that comes to mind was one where Terry Harrison was the squad leader. We were suppose to go north of the logger site and set up at the intersection of two roads, but the whole area had been worked over by the Rome plows and it was hard to find where a road had once been. I was keeping pace count and when we got close to 800 meters I told Terry this should be it. He said we have to find the road intersection so we kept on going and I kept on counting and when I had 900 meters I told him but he said he hadn’t seen the intersection yet. I asked him if he was looking for a road sign or a centerline. If we kept on going we would be in downtown Trang Bang. He didn’t see the humor in my remarks, but I still kid him about that to this day. We finally set up and then we started to get some sniper fire that was hitting pretty close. I think they were trying to get us to return fire so they could pinpoint our location. To make matters worse, the .50 cal machineguns at the logger site started firing at the snipers, over our heads. Eventually things quieted down and we spent the rest of the night without any contact. It sure was good to see the sun come up that morning, as it always was when we were out by ourselves with only 12 men. We continued to provide security for the Rome Plows and finally got back to Pershing on the 20^th. It was good to be back, but our squad had ambush that night. Another easy night no contact, so we had the morning off to rest up. Then we had to help unload the convoy and do some other details around the FSB. We were short handed at Pershing with only 2 companies in there, so we had to pull bunker guard at bunkers on the other side of the firebase. On the 23rd we had a platoon size patrol along the river. I’d been walking point for the last few days, found a few booby-traps, no contact but it was wet and when we got back everyone had a few leaches that had hitched a ride back and were feasting on our blood. So we had to check ourselves over and either burn them off or squirt some insect repellent on them and they drop right off. All things considered it had been a pretty easy day. Ben Wilson got back from LCLC and Joe Jerkawiez got back from the hospital recovered from his wounds.

Jan 24^th we had road security from Pershing down 6/A toward Trang Bang. All went well, it sure has helped that they had the Rome Plows cut the jungle back. I know Charlie is still out there but he doesn’t seem to be as active lately and that’s just fine with us. We were getting mortared every night but only a few rounds at a time. We had another squad-sized ambush on the 25^th, but no contact. The 27^th we flew out to the Ho Bo woods and dug in for the night. I was on LP and everything was quiet. We got back to Pershing at 1500. The 29^th we had another Eagle flight with 2 LZs didn’t make any contact just found a few tunnels and dud rounds and had the engineers blow them. I had bunker guard on the other side of the fire base again, another quiet night.

Jan 30^th we started what was suppose to be a 4 or 5 day operation. We waited on the PZ at Pershing for about 4 hours for the choppers. When they finally got there, A and B companies were lifted to a LZ near the Saigon River. We were in the air about 30 minutes while the artillery prepped the LZ. As we came in the LZ was still smoking from the HE and the door gunners opened up with their M-60s. We didn’t get any incoming fire so we moved to the wood line and set up security. Our squad moved into the woods and checked it out. Terry and I found some rice in a pot that was still warm and some clothes, so we knew that there were VC in the area. We moved back into the open area near the river and started digging our foxholes. This would be our base of operation for the next week. There was waist high grass and lots of insects of all kinds. The CH-47 helicopters started bring in sling loads of wire, sandbags, shovels, PSP and timbers to use to build bunkers. They also brought in C rations, water and ammo. We got our bunkers done about 2100 and started guard at 2200. We were expecting to get hit that first night, but it passed without incident. We rotated between going on patrols, around the logger site, securing the logger while other platoons went on patrols, and sending ambushes, out from the logger site. We also sent out LPs every night. On one patrol we came across a couple burned out APCs and we took the .50 cal machinegun and humped it back and sent it in to have it repaired. We eventually had it mounted on a line bunker at Pershing. On that same patrol we found the bodies of 2 GIs that the enemy had buried in shallow graves. The third night we were in the logger we got mortared twice. About 30 rounds of 82MM mortars cane in at 1800 and then at midnight we got another 15 rounds. A Company had 3 wounded and B Company had 1 Wounded. We expected a ground attack after the mortars, but none came. On Feb 3^rd A Company had an eagle flight to the HO Bo woods to help out a LRRP team that was in heavy contact. They fought all night and had 2 men killed and 7 wounded.

On Feb 6 we tore down out logger sight and filled in the bunkers and foxholes. We loaded everything in slings and the CH-47s flew all that back to Cu Chi and Pershing. Then we were picked up and flew back to Pershing. A and C Companies went to the Ho Bo woods area to build another logger to operate out of for the next week. We were the only company in Pershing so we had to man all the line bunkers. This made for more bunker guard every night. Charlie welcomed us back to Pershing by throwing in a few mortars at 2200. On the 7^th we had mine sweep security and then a short patrol around the fire base to make sure Charlie wasn’t getting in to close. I went into Cu Chi on the 8^th and got to see Glenn Boettcher who left for the World on the 10^th. I came back on the convoy on the 9^th. Got to go to the PX and got film and other things that I needed and some stuff for the other guys. The 2^nd platoon lost 1man killed and 11wounded on the 8^th when they were ambushed while on road security. They also had 3 men wounded on the 10^th when someone put some hand grenades in the burning barrel by mistake when they were cleaning out a bunker. That left us even more shorthanded because we were still the only company in Pershing. On the 11^th we had an ambush southeast of Pershing and spotted some VC moving along the river about 400 hundred meters away. Terry tried to get mortars called in on them, but LT Tidd wouldn’t believe Terry that we really saw some VC, and wouldn’t fire the mortars. When we got back in Terry and LT Tidd had some words and Terry was sent up to the top of Nui Ba Den. That makes Ben Wilson as squad leader and me as team leader. Now were even more shorthanded then before.                          

On Feb 14^th we had an eagle flight to the Ho Bo woods. Everyone had to carry some type of explosives, Shape charges or C-4 plastic explosive to blow the tunnels and bunker complex that had been discovered a couple days ago. The engineers put all those explosives in there and set it off. It really made a big cloud of dust and shook the ground pretty good .On Feb 15^th we had a patrol east of Pershing and the 2^nd platoon lost 1man killed and 1 wounded from a booby-trap. We also found and blew in place a couple 81mm mortar rounds and some booby-trapped hand grenades.

The 17^th we had road security and then had to provide security for the engineers who were repairing the little bridge on 6/A. We got back to Pershing at 1430 and after chow had to get the shots we need to get our shot record up to date. On the 18^th we had a patrol and I found a typewriter in a hedgerow. We were looking that over when we got some sniper rounds. We returned fire and when we checked the area out we found a blood trail. We followed it but lost it. We got a couple VC suspects that we brought back with us to Pershing. On the night of the 20^th we had an ambush along 6/A just north of an ARVN compound. SGT Whitehead was the squad leader and every thing went good until 0400. They called on the radio and said the ARVNs were going to be going past our position and they didn’t know we were there. We passed the word to the other two positions and waited till the ARVNs went by. About 200 meters past our position the ARVNs made contact with some VC. After a short firefight they started to withdraw back toward their compound and ran up on one of our positions. One of the ARVNs shot a short burst from his M-16 across the legs of the three guys in that position. Then we got them to stop firing and Doc patched up the guys while the dust-off was on its way. Those wounded were Tim Cook, Rosenstine, and Derken also one of the ARVNs had been wounded in their firefight with the VC. They were all evacuated. By this time it was getting light and we pulled in our claymores and headed back to Pershing’ We had to carry all the gear of the guys that had been wounded so we all had a heavy load. I carried the M-60.

Pershing got mortared on the night of the 23^rd and a few men in the 4^th platoon were slightly wounded. We had road security on the 24^th and everything went good. The 25^th we had an eagle flight to the Ho Bo woods and checked out a b-52 strike. We found a few body parts and lots of footprints but we didn’t make any contact. With all that destruction it’s hard to see how anyone could have lived through it. Cu Chi got hit the night of the 25^th with rockets, mortars and a ground attack. Sappers also got inside the base and blew up 9 CH-47 helicopters and a couple other aircraft. They had 15 GIs killed and 47 wounded. The 26^th we had a short patrol around Pershing and didn’t make contact or lose anyone from booby-traps. 2 men from the 1^st platoon were wounded by booby-traps on road security. The ARVNs fought a big battle on Highway 1 between Cu Chi and Trang Bang with support from the ARVN airforce. We could hear that battle from Pershing.

The 28^th we had a platoon sized patrol and I was acting squad leader, because Sgt. Richard was sick. We covered about 10 clicks and didn’t make any contact. C company and the 1/5, made contact in the same general area that we had gone through. They lost 3men killed and 10 wounded and also lost an APC destroyed by an RPG.

March 1^st we had mine sweep security and when the convoy went through a truck hit a mine near the bridge on 6/A. We set up security while the engineers were loading the damaged truck on a flat bed trailer. Then we started to take RPG and AK-47 fire. We returned fire and called in artillery on the enemy position. As we were checking out the area I tripped a booby-trapped hand grenade, but I saw it in time to hit the dirt and didn’t get hurt, just got hit with a lot of dirt and my ears were ringing for a while. That was too close for comfort. On the 2^nd we had a patrol east of Pershing. I was walking point flank and as we got within sight of the fire base on the way back I looked back to see, David Wead from Chicago, who was walking rear flank, just coming through the last hedgerow. All of a sudden there was an explosion. He had tripped a booby-trapped 105mm round and was wounded pretty bad in the legs and lower body. I had walked right past it and didn’t see it.  We had an ambush that night and as we went out our point man saw movement on the road and sprayed the area. We all got down and had a little friendly firefight with a patrol that had stayed on the road till after dark. No one was hurt and we came back in and then went out again and set up near 6/A. On the 3^rd we cut across country to 6/A at 1500 and patrolled the road till dark. The APs didn’t go out until we got back in so there wouldn’t be another mix up. On the 4^th C and D companies and the 1/5 were in heavy contact southeast of Pershing. B Company left Pershing on the 5^th and walked to FSB Stewert at the Trang Bang Bridge. We didn’t make any contact. 3^rd platoon was manning the 4 bunkers on each side of the bridge.

Phyllis and I set out wedding date for October 3, 1970.

We had road security on the 8^th and didn’t get back to the bridge until dark. We had road security on the 11^th and got back early for a change. On the 12^th we got 2 new guys in the squad, Harold Borne and Peter Banoit, both were from Michigan. We were alternating from road and mine sweep security and guarding the bridge. We had road security on the 14^th and everything went smooth and we got back at 1530 and had some time to work on the bunkers. On the 15^th we were guarding the bridge and working on the bunkers. Terry Harrison rode the convoy out from Cu Chi. He was going on R&R. He said he has it made up on Nui Ba Den. On the 16^th they changed the squads around and I was in Bob McReynolds squad, he is from Texas. Bill Richard and I were the team leaders. Bill was also from Wisconsin.

I got a letter from Phyllis telling me that my good friend and classmate; Ronald Thiex had been killed in Action. He was with the 11 Light Infantry Brigade Americal (23^rd) Division. We had been good friends since the 4^th grade and our senior year in high school I was FFA president and he was vice president, so we had been very close. He had been in Vietnam since August 27, 68 and was killed on the 3^rd of March 69. I had lost a very good friend.

It had started to rain now almost every night between 1500 and 1900 so this was the start of the rainy season. On the 18^th we worked on a bunker up at the fire base, and then started putting out more Wire and claymore mines around the new bridge, that is almost completed.

We kept rotating from road and mine sweep security and ambushes and guarding the bridge until the 27^th when we moved back to FSB Pershing. On the 28^th we were moving into a company sized ambush northwest of Pershing across 6/A, when we spotted movement. We set up a defensive perimeter and at about 0430 we got mortared and a ground attack. We fought back with everything we had, M-60’s, M-16’s and M-79’s. We also called in artillery support. The battle lasted until dawn and when it was over we had 2 KIA’s and 12 wounded. The 2 men killed were from our squad, Terry Barnholdt and Tom Wiese. Joe Trainor and Bill Richard were among the wounded. Tom and I had been really close friends since he had been our squad. He had only been in country since January and Terry since November. This let us know that we were back in the war again. March 31^st was payday and I sent $180 home.

On Easter Sunday we had a change of command ceremony LT Tidd our old CO left and was replaced by CPT. Bulgarian. We were out on ambush the night before and it was raining and really dark and I sat on a nail, so I had to go to the aid station and get a tetanus shot. I would be very careful where I sat down after that.

On April 9th I became acting squad leader so now I had more responsibilities and less time for writing letters and other personal things. Now I had to take out squad size ambushes and supply men for point and flank on platoon and company size operations. I took out my first squad size ambush on the 8^th. Everything went smooth and I got everybody back safely. We had another platoon size ambush on the 10^th and everything went good and we didn’t make any contact. On the 11^th we were issued new smaller gas masks and I got a new weapon. The XM-203 was a combination M-16 rifle and M-79 grenade launcher. It was being tested in a tactical situation before it went into mass production. Now I carried my basic load of 55 rounds of HE for the grenade launcher and 9 magazines of M-16 ammo. We started an operation where we went out and set up ambushes at night. During the day we made small sweeps and would rest and get re-supplied by chopper every other day. We made a few small contacts, but nothing major. During this time while we were resting around a deserted hutch, we started to get mortared. We had our packs off and were just sitting and using them for a backrest. When we heard the tubes pop, we all got up and ran toward the paddy dike in front of us. Charlie really had us zeroed in that time, because when the mortars stopped falling and we moved back to get our packs, they were riddled with shrapnel. Our quick thinking really saved our butts that time, but that was too close for comfort. Another time we were waiting for it to get dark so we could move into our ambush position when Charlie popped a few mortar rounds at us. I saw the red streak from the tubes and started putting M-79 rounds out there, as I opened the launcher to insert another round, a mortar round hit right in front of the dike I was leaning against. I really got my ears rung and was thrown full of dirt, but survived with just a small scratch on my left thumb. I thought to myself “Charlie was really trying to kill me.”

On the 14^th we walked out to highway 1 and loaded on trucks and went into Cu Chi for a 24-hour stand-down at the Cu Chi Hilton. We got in at 1030 and after we cleaned and checked our weapons, we got cleaned up good and got clean clothes and badly needed haircuts. Then we ate chow and had time to go to the PX and get sum of the things we hadn’t had a chance to get in quite a while. For supper we had fried steak and chicken fresh off the grill and all the beer and soda we could drink. They had a band to entertain us and after the beer took affect it got pretty wild. Milton Tarver, from Lake Charles LA. who had a masters degree in drama, and was in the movie ‘Hurry Sundown”, Paul Mills and I went looking for a movie.  The one we saw was “Sweet November”. Sure seemed strange to be walking around without a weapon and all our gear. Those base camp warriors real had it made, that is why they put us grunts off by ourselves when we came in for a stand-down. When we got back about 2200 lot of the guys were pretty well wasted. I took advantage of the night off to get some rest. Actually got to sleep in a real bed between real white sheets for the first time in quite a while.

I got up at 0600 on the 15^th and went to the mess hall and had a good breakfast. Then I went to the day room and got caught up on some letter writing. The guys that partied late into the morning, sure showed it when they started to get up around 0900. At 1000 we had a company formation and some of the guys got their Purple Hearts and other awards that they had earned over the past few months. Then we got our weapons and gear and loaded back up on trucks and headed up highway 1 and continued our operations. We were out until the 18^th, when we came into FSB Stewart. We got to rest until 2200 and then we loaded up on APCs of the 1^st of the 5^th Mech and went barreling down highway 1 to Cu Chi with a couple gun ships flying cover over us. We stayed in Cu Chi until 0300 and then did the same thing back to Stewart. That was quite a night, but we didn’t make any contact, just kept the road open I guess. Then we rested until around noon when we loaded up on the convoy and went back to Pershing.

On the 20^th I had to take out a combined ambush, 10 GIs and 10 ARVNs. We got set up ok and everything was going ok until about 0200 when we spotted some VC moving toward our kill zone. Before we were ready to blow our claymores, one of the ARVNs opened up with his M-16 and the VC got away. We had a bit of a communication trouble, but I think he deliberated opened up to soon so they would get away. I don’t really trust those ARVNs and now I had to go see Major Sterns and LT. COL. Mann and explain what happened. They got the picture and I don’t think we’ll be going on anymore ambushes with the ARVNs. Well at least none of my men got heart, just all pissed off that we didn’t get any VC.

The 22^nd we had a short patrol around Pershing and got back in around 0200. No contact and no one tripped any of those dreaded booby-traps. The 23^rd I was suppose to take my squad and provide security for a Cat on 6/A, but after I checked around for about an hour I found out that the Cat had left the day before and nobody told our CO. We started to have training in fire and movement in our spare time now and we even have police calls, getting to be just like stateside BS.  Bill Richard got out of the field, because he was wounded 3 times and he is now company mail clerk. We had an ambush the night of the 23^rd and everything went ok, until the 4.2” mortar crew dropped some CS gas upwind from our location. We found out that our new gas masks worked, but it made us pretty miserable for awhile. When we got back to Pershing we found out that it was even worse back there, so maybe they will check the wind direction before the fire CS again. Everyone was really pissed off at the 4duce crew, but they are nice to have around when we need them to fire for us when we’re in contact, so all was forgiven.

On the 24^th we had a company sized ambush about south of Pershing. The ambush went ok, but on our way back in, on the morning of the 25^th, we ran into a booby-trapped area and the 2^nd platoon had a man killed and two wounded. James M. Abbott was the man who was killed. He had been in our platoon for a while, so most of us had known him. The whole area was so heavily booby-trapped it was a wonder that we didn’t loose even more guys to them, especially when we would move around in the dark?

After we finally got everybody dusted off, we were picked up by the choppers and flown, to a small village we called square lake. We surrounded it and checked it out but didn’t find anything. Then we were picked up again and landed in the Boi Loi woods. We took a few mortar rounds as we left the LZ, but no one was hit, but they let us know that they were out there some place. It was awful hot and the going was rough. After a couple hours I started to feel a little dizzy and the next thing I knew the medic was standing over me soaking me with water. I had passed out from the heat. That had never happened to me before and I felt I had let the guys down. After a while I was feeling ok again and we started to move out again, when Preston Michem passed out. This caused another delay and after he came around the Battalion Commander landed with his LOH and the LT. sent Preston and me back to Pershing.  As we landed at the aid station and were walking away from that little chopper, without thinking I flipped the towel that I used to pad my shoulders from my ammo bags, over my head and it hit the rotor blades. The chopper pilot cussed me out pretty good for that mistake. After we nearly drank them out of ice water at the aid station and had taken some more salt tablets, the rest of the company was back. They all gave us a hard time about not being able to hack it, but all in fun. Everyone was beat and we were told to make sure to take plenty of salt tablets in the future.

At mail call I got my usual daily letter from Phyllis, along with a letter from a Virginia Hernandez, a 12year old from Texas and in the class taught by James Crumley’s wife. She had all the kids in her class write letters so all the guys got some mail that day. I even found time to write back to her a couple times. I was very fortunate to get mail almost every day. Besides Phyllis I got letters from my Mother and Dad, my three sisters, my little brother, cousins, aunts and uncles and a few friends. I tried hard to answer them all, but with our heavy workload, I received far more mail then I sent.

The 26^th of April started out pretty well; since we had been working pretty hard lately we were getting the day off to rest and were to have another ambush that night. That all changed when a chopper had taken some ground fire near the Boi Loi woods. Charlie and Bravo Companies were put on alert for an eagle flight to check it out. It took a long time for the choppers to get there, so we waited for a couple hours on the pickup zone at Pershing. Charlie Company went in first and then Bravo and by this time it was late afternoon. We moved toward the wood line as the jets were dropping napalm on it and we could see the green tracers in the fading light. We pulled back into the dry rice paddy away from the wood line and started digging in for the night. I knew we were in for a fight when they brought us a sling load of wire, sandbags, engineer stakes, claymores, water and extra ammo. I was in the first Bravo Company position, on the south side of the perimeter. We had the south and west sides and Charlie Company had the east and north sides. The Battalion Commander and the 81mm mortars were in the middle of the perimeter. It took us until midnight to get dug in and ready to start pulling guard at our position. Ernie Shannon and Bob Renkin were in the position with me. Besides the 55 rounds of 40mm HE that I had brought in I had 2 more cases of ammo. I knew that this was going to be a long night. Everything was quiet until about 0330 just as the moon went down and it was pitch dark we started to get mortared with two tubes. One was right south of our position and the other was to the southwest. We all got into the bunker and I started pumping out rounds at the mortar positions. The first rounds hit in front of us and the others hit behind us. Now we were getting RPG and small arms fire and a full scale ground attack. We fought back with everything we had and our mortars and artillery were coming in pretty close around the perimeter. A guy from Charlie Company’s corner position came over and said they had about 25 enemy on line to our left front, so I started pumping rounds over there. Then Shannon and Renkin spotted some to our right front and I put some rounds over there. There was stuff exploding all around us and we were putting out as much firepower as we could. Soon we had air strikes and gun ships working out the wood line to the south and west where the main attack was coming from. Then “Spooky” a gun ship was dropping flares and working over the area with its mini-guns. At some point during all of this I crawled over to the next position where Lt. Curtis told me that the CO’s bunker and the corner machine gun position had been over run. I used up all the ammo I had with me and came back to our position for more. Then Ron Carey came from the West Side of the perimeter to get some more 79 ammo and told us that the enemy had taken our machinegun and turned it down the dike at us. After a couple of hours things started to quiet down and it started to get light we could see bodies laying all over the place, 35 inside our wire. Our CO, his two RTOs, The artillery FO and his RTO, the senior medic and our corner machine gunner and his two ammo bearers were all dead. When the mortars started, the LPs called that they were coming in and before they got in enemy sappers got in and threw grenades and explosive charges into the 2 bunkers killing everyone inside. I don’t know why we even had LPs out, because we were out there for bait to draw an attack. I don’t know why they had LPs out, but

 I was only a SP/4 and the decisions were made by the officers, who were supposed to be a lot smarter than I am.

Those killed that morning of April 27, 1969 were CAPT Benjamin Bugarin, SGT Charles Jennings, SP/4Wendell Leslie, 1LT Jimmy Johnson, PFC Richard Cunningham, SGT William Kindle, PFC Gerald Huffman, PFC Daniel Keene and PFC Dean Johnson.

Chuck Jennings was in our squad when I first was in Vietnam, now he was one of the COs RTOs. We were good friends and he was always so full of life and now he was dead. The machinegun crew was from our platoon.  Huffman’s wife had just had a baby a month earlier. Keene had only been in the platoon a couple weeks and Dean Johnson had only been with us for a month. Now they all were lying there dead, their lives snuffed out in an instant. This was the worst day of the war for me, so much carnage in just a few hours. There was death everywhere you looked and everyone was just drained from it all, but we had to load the dead on a chopper and send the one POW in too. I had to guard him for a while until the chopper got there. Our Kit Carson Scout said he had told him that his battalion had come down the Ho Chi Men trail from North Vietnam and that the trip took them 2 months. He was 19 years old and the battalion had been in the area less than a week.

 We had to drag the dead enemy bodies outside the perimeter and gather up all the weapons and equipment to be sent in. Then a couple choppers with the Brigade and the Division Commanders and a bunch of reporters came to tour the battlefield and talk to us about the battle. They were all clean and polished and were telling us what a great victory it had been. We had gotten over 100 body count, and kill ratio was better than 10:1. That didn’t mean much to those of us that had just finish sending in our friends who had been killed, we thought our lives were worth more than just numbers for the higher-ups to keep score.

Delta Company replaced us at noon and flew back to Pershing to rest up and we had an ambush that night. Everything was quiet and when we got back in on the morning of the 28^th we got some much- needed rest. Afternoon I had some time to write a long letter to Phyllis and let her know that I was ok and very glad to be alive. I also wrote home to let my folks know that I was still ok. At 1500 we had a Memorial Service for the 9 men who were killed on the 27^th. Chaplain Campbell said that when he first got to Vietnam that he was given the advice the we all were given, not to get to close to anyone. He like most of us didn’t heed that advice and now when our friends are suddenly taken from this world it hurts us deeply. He said it is better this way because as the pain eases we will remember things about these men and in that way they will continue to speak to us and we will be better men for it. No one lives to himself and no one dies to himself. After 33 years I still remember that pain, but I also remember things about these men and they live on in us as long as we remember them. This is especially true when some of us that made it home alive get together. We always think of these men and the impact they have had on our lives. Although there are times when I think that they may have been the lucky ones, not having to live with the night mares and flash backs that has become a way of life for many of us. But we have to live our lives to the fullest to honor those that gave their lives so we could live on.

We continued to work out of Pershing for the rest of the month and things were quieting down. When we drew our pay on the 30^th of April 1969, we really felt that we had earned every cent of our $65 hostile fire pay.

May 1^st we had another ambush and everything went ok, no contact and no one tripped any booby-traps. We got another new guy in our squad, Tom Graves from MA. We had the morning of the 2^nd to get some rest and I borrowed Lonnie Griffin’s tape recorder so I could listen to the tape that my family and Phyllis had sent me a while ago. It sure was a moral boost to hear all of their voices. It also made me a little homesick and wondering if I’d ever fit in back in the world again after all I had experienced in this war.

We had road security on 6/A on the 3^rd and the Vietnamese merchants were out in force, which they always were right after payday. I bought a Vietnamese doll and some other things to send home. Every thing went well, Charlie didn’t want to stop us from spending our money, as it probably went toward financing his war. SGT Eddie Sanderfer, a “shake and bake” from Texas took over as our squad leader. This was the army’s way of replacing the NCOs that were being depleted at an alarming rate. Instead of calling up the reserves, they would take guys right out of AIT and give them a couple months of leadership training and promote them to SGT and send them over to be squad leaders.

On May 5^th the convoy got ambushed on 6/A not far from Pershing. Bravo Company's jeep, was the point, was hit and SFC Curtis C Dees, from the 4/duce was killed. George Gonzales, who was driving and SGT Diez, who was also riding in the jeep were shook up badly, but otherwise not injured. They also hit a truck in the middle of the convoy and the last jeep. There was one other man killed and 6 wounded. Our mailbag burned up with the jeep and that really pissed us off. We flew out there and set up as a blocking force as a mech unit swept the area and after a short firefight they found 9 enemy bodies. During the firefight a grenade exploded about 4 feet in front of me, luckily I saw it coming and got my head down and just got blown full of dirt and my ears still ring from the concussion, other than that I was unhurt, but that was another close call. The Good Lord was surely watching out for me.

On May 6^th we eagle-flighted to the south of Pershing and started to build a new patrol base. We built bunkers and put out wire and claymores. They’re calling this Hard Spot or Patrol Base Dees, in honor of the 4/duce SFC who was just killed in that convoy ambush. It was just big enough for 1 company to occupy and run patrols and ambushes out of. This was in an area that was heavily booby-trapped. After working hard all day to make it defendable, SGT Lauffman refused to take out an ambush. Then some of the men refused to go when SGT McReynolds was going to take it out. Finally about 2100 we went out. Everything went ok on the bush, but when we got back in, they sent 5 of the guys, who had refused to go out, into Cu Chi. We continued to improve our positions on the 7^th, putting more sandbags on the bunkers and setting out more claymores on engineer stakes.

On May 8^th Major Sterns came out to talk to everyone to find out what had happened the other night. We got a new Platoon Leader, LT Errickson from Philadelphia, PA. We also got a bunch of new guys in the squad. SGT Gaylord Defries, from Hawaii, was in the National Guard and asked to be sent to Vietnam so his younger brother wouldn’t have to go. He took over the squad that I had been leading. We continued to improve our bunkers and went on a short patrol around Dees. On the 10^th A Company replaced us. We walked out to highway one and loaded onto trucks and went into Cu Chi for a 48- hour stand down. We got in at 1000 and cleaned and checked our weapons. Then we cleaned up and got new fatigues and boots. B Company had been chosen as Honor Company, so we got to attend the dedication of the new Division swimming pool. General Abrams was there and gave a speech and then cut the ribbon to open the pool. We all got to go in the pool for a couple hours. The water really felt good, but I found out that I still couldn’t swim. I made it across to the deep end but on the way back I sunk like a rock, realizing I was in deep trouble, my first thought was this isn’t going to look good in the paper. “GI drowns in swimming pool in Vietnam”, so I got out of there and stayed in the shallow end and sat around the rest of the while we were there. I still can’t swim. We also had an awards ceremony, where the guys got their Purple Hearts and Bronze Stars, for the heavy combat that we have been through lately. We had grilled steaks and beer and soda and a band that night and we didn’t go to bed till after midnight. At 0300 we woke to the sounds of war, so we had to get our gear on and stand by, but the “ base camp warriors” handled and we went back to bed for a couple more hours of rest. We took the convoy back to Pershing on the 12^th.

On the 13^th we had an eagle flight to the Boi Loi woods near the Saigon River, to check out an NVA bunker complex. We made contact, so we pulled back and the worked the area over with artillery, gunships and airstrikes. I was on point when we went back in and a hand grenade came flying out of the first bunker. Everybody hit the dirt and it blew me full of dirt and my ears were ringing. I cut my left leg on some shrapnel from the air strikes. We threw a grenade into the bunker and killed the one enemy that was in there. He must have been wounded to bad to evacuate with the rest of the NVA and all he had to fight with was that one hand grenade. He just threw it too soon. Then we pulled back again and called in another airstrike in. As they were dropping a 500# bomb, a piece of shrapnel about 8” long and 2” wide hit SGT Defries in the ribs. It just knocked the wind out of him and burned him a little, cause it hit him with the flat side. It missed my head by about a foot. When we moved back in the engineers put C-4 in the bunkers and blew them up.

We met up with a mech unit and night loggered with them and swept back through that bunker complex on the 14^th and blew the rest of the bunkers. We eagle-flighted back to Pershing late in the afternoon. On the 15thwe walked out to Patrol Base Dees.                        

We had a short patrol around Dees on the 15^th and we are trying to teach these new guys how to do things. When we come across old punji pits the last man it the line usually will drop a hand grenade in it and holler “fire in the hole” and then just walk away before it blows. Well Tony Dirado was suppose to do this today, but this being his first time, he stood about 10 feet away and threw the grenade at the punji pit and missed. I just happened to be close to him and knocked him down as the grenade exploded. Luckily no one got hurt and after I chewed him out a little I showed him the right way to do it. When I got in contact with Tony in 1991, we talked for a couple hours and we both remembered a lot of the same guys, but couldn’t remember each other. Until he told me that on his first patrol he was suppose to drop a grenade in a punji pit and it was only the second grenade he had ever thrown. Then I described for him what happened next and then we knew that we indeed had served together.

On the 16^th we had another patrol out of Dees. This time we had a three-man point element and two columns following behind. I was walking point in one of the columns and trying to teach the new guys what to watch out for. All of a sudden there was a terrific explosion from the point. Everyone hit the dirt and when I looked up there was purple smoke coming from where the explosion had occurred and I could hear someone screaming in pain. I was the first man to get to Benny Smith, who had stepped on a booby-trapped artillery shell. He was lying is the crater, which was about 6 feet deep and 8 feet across. As soon as he saw me he calmed down, and he asked, “do I still have my balls”. This sort of stunned me but I said “yes you do” and then I saw that the explosion had taken off both his legs above the knees and had set off his smoke grenade. He had also lost all the fingers on one hand. His frag grenades were so hot that I thought they might explode, so I got his web gear off and threw it out of the crater. By this time the medic was there and I helped him bandage the stumps and kept talking to Smitty to keep him from going into shock. It took about 10-15 minutes for the Dust Off to get there and as they loaded him onto the chopper, I picked up his legs with the boots still on them and put them on the floor of the chopper. I was amazed at how heavy a man’s leg were. Then I felt sick to my stomach and I heaved for a while. But we had to continue the patrol and I took Smitty’s place on point. We were all very glad to get back to Dees. That whole area was very heavily booby-trapped; I still wonder how I made it through my tour without tripping one. The Good Lord surly must have been guiding my footsteps. Benny Smith was from NY. We heard that he made it, but I have often wondered how he was doing. He only had 98 left in country when he got hit and he had also been wounded before and had been sent to Japan to recover and then sent back to the field. I often wondered if he had not been black, if he would have gotten a job in the rear and not been sent back to the field.

The 17^th we spent the day resting and putting more sandbags on our bunkers at Dees and generally improving our fighting positions. I had now been in the Army a year. We had an ambush that night and it rained so hard that we couldn’t see anything if they would have been out there. It sure was miserable lying in the rice paddies and the water almost up to your knees and rising. I was always glad to see the sun come up in the morning. It seemed that whenever we would get hit it would always be between 0300-0400, so I would always make sure I was on guard at that time. Other than being wet and cold everything went well and we made it back inside the wire without anybody getting hurt.

The 18^th my left leg that I had cut when I hit the ground out in the Boi Loi woods the week before was getting sore and swelling up. The medic sent me to Pershing on the re-supply chopper. I went to the aid station and they gave me a shot of penicillin and sent me into Cu Chi on the convoy. They sent me to the Battalion Aid Station and they took me to the 25^th Med Hospital. I had to prop my leg up on a couple pillows and got a shot of penicillin twice a day. This was a great way to get rested up, air-conditioned, a real bed, TV and plenty of time to get caught up on my letter writing.

I was in the hospital getting 2 shots of penicillin a day until May 28^th. I got a dentist appointment for June 16^th to get some teeth pulled and some filled. One night I went, with a couple other guys, to see the movie The Graduate. George Gonzales brought my mail over a couple times and I got caught up on my letter writing and got a needed rest. I was ready to go back to the field now.

I took the convoy back to Pershing on the 29^th and we had ambush that night and the night of the 30^th. The 31^st we got paid and we worked on building our bunkers above ground for the rainy season.

On June 1^st we provided security for Charlie Company while the built another company sized patrol base “Stanton”, then we had a company sized ambush. On the 2^nd we walked back to Dees and I came back to Pershing on the re-supply chopper. They had called out to the field that I should come into Cu Chi for Lightning Combat Leaders Course (LCLC). I went in on the convoy on the 3^rd and found out someone had goofed and I wasn’t suppose to come in until the 10^th. I came back to Pershing on the 4^th and couldn’t get a chopper out to Dees. The mobile dental clinic was at Pershing so I got a tooth pulled that had been bothering me for a couple months. I caught a ride on the re-supply chopper out to Dees on the 5^th. We had an ambush on the 6^th and on the 7^th I brought some papers into Cu Chi on the re-supply Chopper. The rest of the company came in on the 8^th for a stand down and we got to go to the swimming pool. The company went back to the field on the 9^th and I stayed in Cu Chi to get my things ready for LCLC. I got a haircut and had my name and rank and CIB sown on a few sets of fatigue shirts. I was now ready to start LCLC.

When I checked into LCLC, I got quite a surprise. The guy behind the desk was Dave Kickhaver, who had graduated a year ahead of me from Bowler High School. I didn’t even know that he was in Vietnam. He had been with the 1/27 Wolfhounds for 9 months and then got this job in Cu Chi. He had less than a week left in country. It sure was good to talk to someone from so close to home.

Our first day at LCLC was mostly formations and orientation. Friday the 13^th was our official first day of school. We had 7 hours of classes and then a test. That sure beat humping the bush and getting shot at or tiptoeing through the booby-traps. I had a few beers with Dave and sent a plaque home with him to give to my folks. He said he would be glad to visit my folks and let them know that I was doing ok. School was interesting with classes on calling in mortar and artillery fire and directing gun ships and air strikes. Lot of spit and polish and inspections and a test every day. We got rocketed one night and went on 2 ambushes while in LCLC. One ambush was in a rubber plantation and the other was by a canal with water knee deep. We were all full of leaches when we got back from that one. Everything was really very interesting and a lot better than being in the field.

On the 21^st we had our last three tests and I came in 1^st in the class. When I went to get my mail, the guys already knew about it and they were all thirsty. I went and got a case of beer and we drank a few to my good fortune. I was promoted to SGT for coming out on top of the class. After we finished the beer, George Gonzales and I went to the hospital to visit the guys from our platoon who had been wounded the day before when they tripped a booby-trap.

 Crowe and Michum just had a little shrapnel in the back but Cram had lost his left leg at the waist. He was being evacuated to Japan the next day. Those darn booby-traps really could spoil your whole life and you just had to put it out of your mind and hope you didn’t trip one. George dropped me off at LCLC on his way back to the company area. The 22^nd was my big day. General Black was the speaker at our graduation from LCLC. After his remarks he called me up and pinned on my SGT stripes and a Professional Combat Leaders patch. A clerk from the school took a couple pictures and then it was back to the company area.

The 23^rd I took the convoy out to Pershing and was made squad leader. The 24^th we worked on our new above ground bunkers. On the 25^th we walked out to Dees. I found out that I would be going on R&R to Bangkok the 30^th of July to the 4^th of August. I wrote to Alvin Strassberg, a high school classmate who was in the Air Force stationed in Thailand, to see if we could get together while I was on R&R.                    

On the 26^th our platoon leader, LT Errikson stepped on a booby-trapped 105 round and was really messed up and was sent back to the world. There were so many booby-traps in that area. I had 2 very close calls where I almost tripped a couple. One was in a punji pit and the other was a tripwire that I almost missed. The Good Lord surely was watching over me. The longer I was over there and the more men I saw wounded and killed by those booby-traps, the more I felt that it would just be a matter of time before I would trip one or get hit by one someone else tripped.

The 27^th we had a short patrol around Dees and found and blew a few more booby-traps, but everyone made it back safely. I also got another new guy in my squad but by now there were so many new guys that had come and gone that I didn’t even write there names in the letters I sent home. I had all I could do to just teach them everything I could about walking point and flank so that they wouldn’t trip any booby-traps. We had a platoon sized ambush the night of the 27^th and everything went ok. The 28^th we stayed back at Dees and worked on our positions and rested My letters have been getting farther and farther apart by now as I had to spend more of my time taking care of my squad.

We continued to operate out of Dees, with an eagle flight to the Mushroom, near the Saigon River on the 30^th with no contact.

On the night of the 3^rd of July we went on an ambush west of Dees. Everyone took extra flares along so we could celebrate the 4^th of July in the morning. Everything went well and as we were about to return, we all shot of our flares and observed that everyone else in all directions had the same idea. As we headed back toward Dees, our point element, hit a booby-trap. It tossed them in the air like rag dolls, killing Johnny McIe and William MacNelly and wounding Paul Mills. After we got them dusted-off, we returned to Dees without further incident. That really put a damper on our 4^th of July celebration. That evening we got 7 new guys in our platoon. I got 4 of them in my squad; Steve Johnston, from Texas, Lynwood Heath, from North Carolina, Robert Marshall and Ron Morill, both from Utah. That gave me 8 men that I was responsible for. Now I had to try to teach them how to walk point and flank, without losing them to those damn booby-traps. On July 5^th we were just leaving the wire for a short patrol around Dees, when we were called back. They picked us up in a CH-47 Chinook and we flew out to the Ho BO woods to work with the 2/14^th. It was some real thick jungle and the going was tough. We were point platoon and I had to send one of my guys to keep pace count in the advanced point. We didn’t make any contact or trip any booby-traps, so the new guys had a chance to learn a lot about the terrain and our tactics. We got everybody back safely, Thank God. The night of the 5^th, the 2^nd platoon blew an ambush and killed 4 VC and got a couple pistols and some booby-traps that they were going to set out. The engineers had 2 bulldozers pulling a big anchor chain between them around, setting off a lot of booby-traps. That reduced the number of casualties we were taking because of those damn booby-traps.

On July 7^th SGT DeFries and SGT Sanderfer went into Cu Chi to go before the E-6 Board. That left me as platoon leader and Shannon platoon SGT. Now I was responsible for about 20 men, but we stayed back at Dees while the other 2 platoons went on an eagle flight. The 8^th we had a company sized eagle flight to the Ho Bo woods and our CO stepped on a booby-trap and lost both legs. The 4^th platoon also had a man wounded from another booby-trap, but not s bad. Other than that we didn’t make any contact. On the 9^th we walked to Patton and took the convoy to Stewart. Both days I was acting platoon leader and got my 24 men back safely. Defries and Sanderfer were at Stewart when we got there, so I was back to squad leader again. In the morning of the 11^th I took my squad on a short patrol west of Stewart. The rainy season was starting and the rice paddies were really filling up with water and leaches were our biggest problem. I got everyone back safely and really soaked.

On the 13^th I went into Cu Chi on the convoy for a dentist appointment. The 15^th the ARVN’s took over the 4 bunkers at the Trang Bang Bridge. I took a squad on road security up 6/A. We got a new platoon leader, 2 LT Bill Cook from Kansas City MO. He was just out of OCS. I found out that I was getting a 3day pass to Vung Tau for being the first one from B Company to be first in a class at LCLC. I went back into Cu Chi on the 16^th  to get the shots I needed for R&R and I had my eyes checked. SGT McKiney left for the world, and Bob Rankin and Bill Richard left on the 17^th. It was always good to see guys make it through and go home.

On July 18^th I was suppose to take out an ambush and was getting things ready when I was called up to the CP and told to pack my things, I was getting out of the field. SP/4 Alan Clayman and LT Mark Brienholt were there to pick me up and we went to an ARVN compound in Trang Bang. We made up the 2/12^th-liaison team. We lived in these Old French buildings with MACV team#43. We had real beds and ate our meals off real plates with silverware. No more C-rations. It was our job to pass information back and forth,  from the ARVN’s to the 2/12^th. We also helped the MACV team with radio watch.

On the 19^th Gaylord Defries and Jerry Shirley brought me my mail and I showed them around. They were happy for me, but they still had to hump those bobby-trapped rice paddies and jungle. Gaylord had taken over my squad and I had mixed feelings about getting out of the field, because of the close bonds I had formed in combat with these men, a bond that will last forever.

I got use to the new job and the new routine easily. We also had a Vietnamese interpreter on our team. His name wasSGT. Nee and he also would help out the MACV team. About 3 times a week we had to drive the LT into Cu Chi to deliver reports to Battalion and Division Headquarters. This was about a 25 mile roundtrip on Highway 1 and we would take some sniper fire once in a while, but never very accurate. We would just hear the rounds crack over our heads and step on the gas. Alan and I would usually take turns driving so we each would get to the PX and get things to make our lives more comfortable like fans and radios.

I gave the 3day pass to Vung Tau to Gaylord Defries and he was on that when I left for R&R on July 30^th. Bangkok was quite a change from Vietnam. I got a hotel room and the first thing I did was to take a nice long hot bath. That was the first bathtub I had seen since I had left home in September. Then I bought some civilian clothes and went to the hotel restaurant and had a big steak and French fries and a big dish of ice cream for desert. Alvin Strassberg came down on a 3day pass and we went bowling, drank a few beers and talked a lot about home. We also went on a couple tours of the city and all the temples. It really was good to see some one from home when we were so far from home. Then it was time for him to go back to his base and I was on my way back to Vietnam. I got back to Saigon in the afternoon on August 4^th. I stayed overnight at Camp Alpha and got to see Terry Harrison and we had a few beers together. He only had 20 days left in Vietnam and would spend his stateside time at Fort Riley KS. I flew back to Cu Chi the next morning and when I checked in at the Company CP I got some bad news. Gaylord Defries had been killed on August 1^st, the day after he got back from Vung Tau. This was a great loss to everyone that knew him. He was such a good friend and a very good soldier. He had been planning to go home to Hawaii the end of August when his wife was expecting their baby.

On the 6^th the company ran into a bunch of booby-traps and LT Cook got hit. On the 9^th, while I was in Cu Chi, I went to the hospital to see how he was getting along. He was feeling pretty good and thought he would be getting out pretty soon. He said he could really use me back in the field. I told him I was fine just where I was and didn’t plan to ask to return to the field. He’d have to get orders to get me back. He said he understood and thought that my 9 months in the field had been enough, since officers only spent 6 months in the field before they rotated to a staff position.   

We spent the next few weeks just doing our regular business, radio watch, checking on the ARVNs at the bridge, and running our reports into Cu Chi every other day. We got mortared a couple times at night, but nothing serious. Now that I was out of the field, I started thinking about extending my tour in Vietnam so I would get an early out. I would have to extend for 64days and then I would get out of the army 5 months early, on the 17^th of December. Otherwise I would leave Vietnam in October and get a 30day leave and then go to Fort Campbell, KY. To train troops till May 17,1970. After discussing this with my folks and Phyllis, I decided to extend as long as I’d get home for Christmas. On August 22 I signed the papers to extend my tour.

On August 24^th the 3^rd platoon of B Company got hit while they were moving to their ambush site. Lt. Skogerboe and the medic Danny Faran were killed and 7 others were wounded. The Lt. had been in country less than a month and I didn’t know him but Doc Faran had been with the platoon since April and I had known him quite well. There weren’t many men in the platoon that I had known very well by this time. I still tried to keep in touch with what was happening in the field, cause I knew what they were facing and hoped and prayed that they would make it through their tours safely. It always hurt when I would hear that one of them was killed or wounded and I always felt guilty for having gotten out of the field and having a safe job.

On September 10^th I had a dentist appointment in Cu Chi and had a tooth filled. I made another appointment for the 23^rd. My teeth sure got bad those 9 months I was in the field. Phyllis wrote and told me that Susie Kasten, my first girl friend and a friend of ours, had gone blind and wasn’t expected to live very long. Life is such a fragile and special thing that we need to cherish every moment that we have.

My time seemed to be going by pretty fast. Our time was spent on radio watch and running the reports into Cu Chi every other day. When I was on radio watch at night and there wasn’t anyone in contact I had lot of time to write letters to Phyllis, my folks and my brother and sisters. I also wrote to a couple of my cousins and some friends. I was very lucky that I had so many people writing to me. My 7^th grade teacher, Mrs Timm, sent me a couple letters and I even got a package of cheese and sausage from the Bowler American Legion Post and Auxiliary.

Lt. Brienholdt went back to D Company as their XO and we didn’t get a replacement for about a week, so I had to take over writing the reports and turning them into Battalion and Division. Not to bad, but I also had to take the chewing out when something wasn’t just right, but it was better than being shot at or walking through those booby-traps.

The 1^st of October we got a  Lt. Morgan. Now I had try to get him up to speed and then things will be back to normal. He seemed to catch on pretty quick and seemed to be a pretty decent guy, for an officer. On October 8^th we got mortared and a couple of the MACV team were slightly wounded as was our cook and some civilians that live across the street. One little boy died before the dust-off got here and several other little children were wounded.

On October 21^st I took Clayman into Cu Chi to start his out- processing for going home. He was really glad to be going home and I was glad for him. It’s always good to see guys make it through their tour and head back to the “World”. In a few days we would get a new driver to break in. On the 24^th we got our new driver. His name was Jim something. I had to get him to sign for the Jeep and fill out his paperwork for separate rations. Then I started showing him how to monitor the radios and all the other things that went with the job. He seemed to catch on pretty fast so now we all were getting a little more sleep and things were going lot smoother. On the 31^st Jim and I went into Cu Chi to take the reports in and then we went over to B Company. I had a good visit with George Gonzales, he extended and will be going home around the 20^th of November. When I first got in country he was the machine gunner and I was the assistant gunner. We also road point jeep in the convoy for a couple weeks in December 68 together. He had been the supply Sgt. since January. On November 6^th Jim and I went to Cu Chi again. I sent my suit and some other civilian clothes home. Then we went to the motor pool and changed the oil and greased our jeep. Then it was back to Trang Bang. By keeping as busy as I could the time seemed to be going pretty fast. On the 7^th I had my last dentist appointment in Cu Chi. We also found out that the ¾ Cav  was going to take over the liaison job in Trang Bang on November 15^th. We would be going back to FSB Pershing to work in the TOC.

I spent the last few days in Trang Bang getting all my things in order to move out. I gave my tape recorder to Nee and gave him my address so we could stay in touch with each other after I go home. We went downtown and I bought some material for my sister Jeanne. I also had a couple of vases made out of some 40mm brass shell casings. I packed that up and sent it home.

On the 15^th we packed all our stuff in our jeep and headed up 6/A to Pershing. I found out that I’d be doing little odd jobs such as filling sandbags and putting up wire around the new TOC for the rest of my time. Gave me a chance to get back in shape and get a little better suntan before I leave for home. I was the NCOIC of details around the TOC, so I had to keep the men that they gave me busy filling sandbags and putting wire around the TOC. We also dug fighting positions as a final defense in case Pershing would be over run. I never had many men, so I would work as hard as they would. I was getting a good suntan and getting back in shape. It also made the time go faster. We would work from 0800 to noon and 1300 to 1600. That left me plenty of time at night to write letters and get some rest. Some times I would pull a couple of hours of radio watch in the TOC if they needed me, but that wasn’t very often.

On November 21^st we took a chopper to a forward CP. I was an RTO for the Battalion Commander. They were working with the ¾ Cav in what they called Bush Wacker operations. They saturated the area with ambushes and got a body count of 14 and captured 8 weapons. There were no friendly casualties and we didn’t get any incoming at the forward CP. On the 22^nd we worked on bunkers at that CP, because they were turning it into a new Patrol base. We worked out there on the 23^rd and came back to Pershing on a CH-47 Chinook on the 24^th.

On the 26^th I drove MSG Livegin to Cu Chi, he was going home on a 30day re-enlistment leave. I got to see Don Stewart and we went to the EM club and had a few beers together. He was still out in the field and was telling me how things were going. He was the only one left out there from my old squad. It was sure good to see him again and catch up on what had been happening in the field.

On the 27^th Joe Trainor and I were in Cu Chi and we spent most of the day at the 116^th AHC talking to Jim Crumley and Jerry Jenkins. We were all are going home within 5 days of each other. We had a good time talking about the time we spent in the field together and how good it would be to get home for Christmas. We ate the big Thanksgiving dinner that they had prepared at the mess hall in Cu Chi and were remembering Thanksgiving 68 when we ate all saddled up ready to go out from Pershing.

I stayed in Cu Chi the 28^th and Joe and I went and got some pizzas from the snack shop and brought them back to B Company area and we had a little party with the guys that were in there. On the 29th Joe and I went back to Pershing with the convoy. The 30^th was payday and I got $380.00, my last payday in Vietnam.

I continued to work on the defensive perimeter around Pershing. We were replacing the old claymore mines and installing fu-gas barrels around the perimeter. I continued to do odd jobs around Pershing until December 11^th when I packed up my stuff and rode the convoy into Cu Chi for the last time. I spent the next few days getting everything in order for my return to the states. On my last night in Cu Chi Joe and I went to the NCO club and celebrated the fact that we had both made it through our time in Vietnam and that we would be home for Christmas.

After I had all my out-processing done in Cu Chi, I flew to Long Binh to get out-processed there and get my seat on the “Freedom Bird”. Everything went smooth and I met a couple of the guys that I had come over with who were headed home also.

ON December17 we flew from Binh Hoa, Vietnam to Okinawa, Japan aboard a United Airlines 727. From there we flew to Wake Island and then on to Hawaii. I saw my first in-flight movie “MacGregers Gold” staring John Wayne. It was a long flight but everybody was glad to be headed home. From Hawaii we flew to Travis Air Base, CA and were bussed to Oakland Army Terminal where we had a steak breakfast. After out-processing and getting fitted for my Dress Greens with all my ribbons and my SGT stripes and 25^th Division Patch, and my separation pay, my Dad’s cousin picked me up and I spent the night with them. They couldn’t believe how much I had aged in the 14 months I had been in Vietnam. On the morning of December 19^th they drove me to San Francisco Airport for my flight home. I got into Central Wisconsin Airport about 8 PM and my sister Jeanne and her boyfriend, Tom Elmhorst were there waiting for me. My folks and Phyllis were suppose to be there too, so we waited for a while, but when they didn’t show up we threw my bag in Tom’s VW and headed for Phyllis’ folks. When we got there she wasn’t there. She had gone with my folks to pick me up but they had run in the ditch and them gone to Fleet Farm and to my sister Janice’ place so that is why the were late getting to the airport. We visited with Phyllis’ folks until she got there. It was really great to see her and we just held each other and kissed for a long time. Then we all got in Tom’s VW and went to my folks. Mom had made a big meal and everyone was so glad that I had finally made it home, although they thought I should have waited at the airport until they got there. We had so much to talk about and it was pretty late when I finally took Phyllis home. It was about –10 degrees and the ride home from her place was very cold since it had been over 100 degrees when I had left Vietnam. But it sure was good to be home safe and sound.

On the 20^th Phyllis and I went Christmas shopping to Wausau and I bought he a watch for Christmas.  When the clerk rang up the bill, she said, “so much plus tax, you can’t get away from taxes”. I said I was away from them for 14 Months. She asked where I had been. When I said I had just come back from Vietnam, she started ranting and raving about why we shouldn’t be there and that I had just wasted 14 months of my life. I told he I didn’t see it that way and that I was proud to have served my country. That really hurt to have people who were safe at home feel that I had done something wrong for doing what my country had asked me to do in their name. I never forgot that and when I think about it even today, it still upsets me. She really pissed me off and from then on I never told a stranger about my time in Vietnam.

We had a very nice Christmas and New Years, with my family and Phyllis’ family. We went to Polka dances and really enjoyed being with each other and catching up on the 14 months that we were apart. I finally got to see the slides that I had taken in Vietnam and we went through them and I tried to remember the names of the guys I had pictures of.

I went back to work at the FWD after the first of the year and we continued to buy and raise heifer calves, for our future-milking herd. Life was finally getting back to normal, but when I would watch the nightly news from Vietnam, I would always wonder how the guys that were still there were doing and hope they would all make it home safely too.