Chris Ross - Infantry
Alpha Company 3rd Battalion 12th Infantry 4th Infantry Division
At Dak To from August 1968 to December 1968
Fire support base #29, Hill 1338, Hill 1089, Fire support base #3
Alpha Company 3rd Battalion 12th Infantry 4th Infantry Division
At Dak To from August 1968 to December 1968
Fire support base #29, Hill 1338, Hill 1089, Fire support base #3
Chris Ross
Chris Ross' Area of Operations
Dak To airfield, as seen from Hill 1338
Checking our Platoon's position on our way to 1089 from 1338. I'm on the ground, looking at the topo map. Leaning over my shoulder is our Lieutenant, I think. Not sure who is next to him. I think the guy looking at us is Jim Case.
Our Platoon arrives at our assignment, Hill 1089
Taking 5 and checking my team's location during a "SRRP" off of hill 1089
Air stike on, what appeared to be, a small NVA troop column moving on an adjacent ridgeline to Hill 1089.
Burning shit at FSB #3
FSB#3 - trench line M60 position
FSB#3 - bridge over the Dak Poko river on the way to Ben Het
Dak To - 3rd Battalion waiting to load, headed for Camp Enari
|
I guess like most Nam vets, some events seem and feel like yesterday while others get lost with the passage of time. For instance, I do not remember many names. Yeah, our company medic's name was "Doc" and our platoon Sergeant was "Sarge." All officers were "Sir" and you never saluted them in the field; nod and say "Sir", but never salute. Actually, I don't remember anyone wearing any ranking, from company commander on down. Every other week or so we'd get a different, cleaned set of fatigues; nobody in a line company had their own set of fatigues. Oh yeah, now I remember, there were some times black rank pins were worn.
I arrived in-country the beginning of August 1968, a very long day traveling. We left Oakland California, refueled in Hawaii and then on to Midway Island for more fuel. During our takeoff from Midway Island, the plane blew a tire!!! There was a loud "Boom!", the plane started shaking a little and the pilot gunned it!! If you've ever been to Midway Island, well it's not very big. If I remember correctly, it was not much bigger than the runway. Phew, we dodged that bullet; of course we then had to land this sucker!! On to Clark Air Force base in the Philippines and an emergency landing. We then switched planes and flew on to Bien Hoa air base. Ok, so at this point I'm Toast, total exhaustion and in shock. How and when I got assigned to the 4th Infantry Division is a mystery to me. All I remember is I was assigned to Alpha Company 3rd Battalion 12th Infantry. After a few days in Camp Enari we were herded onto deuce and halfs, which were part of a resupply convoy headed to some place called Dak To. The convoy was a long line of gun trucks, M100 armored vehicles, and supply trucks. By now I'm thinking "It can't get much worse than this!". Ha! At some point during our drive up to Dak To, a couple of guys start goofing around and one of them slips and falls off the back of the truck. Our truck, which was pulling a potable water tank, ran right over him. It was at this moment when reality really sank in. The truck just kept going, no one stopped. We were later told, in this part of the country, convoys do not stop for anything; MPs in the convoy would handle it. Later that day we would arrive at our destination, Dak To. I never did find out what happened to the guy who fell off the truck. FSB#29 Those of us assigned as replacements for Alpha Company stayed at Dak To base camp for a couple days before joining Alpha Company. Alpha was currently on FSB#29 and had been getting shelled by the NVA and the only choppers going in were Dustoffs. So, for the time being, we were given all the "shit jobs" nobody else in Dak To wanted: burning shit, KP, filling sand bags, etc. Welcome to Vietnam! The life of an "FNG" was not easy! At the time, FSB#29 was home base for the 3rd Battalion and consisted of a 105 battery, a couple 4.2 mortar pits, three rifle company's (I think), a ground radar unit, some engineers and LRRP units. It was tucked up tight to the Cambodian and Laotian border and the Ho Chi Min trail, with triple canopy jungles, 4000 ft mountains, lots of snakes, rats, leeches and big bugs. I believe the area was classified as a "Free Fire Zone" with very few "Rules of Engagement". It was clearly a place that had seen brutal fighting. I'm thinking we were on FSB#29 for about a month. During that time I spent all of my time learning the ropes of being in a front line Infantry company; yes, scared but trying to focus. The last thing on my mind then was taking a picture so all I have of that firebase are memories. It was surreal, to say the least. I did a day patrol outside "the wire", my first Combat Assault, which was, thank God, a cold one. Our platoon manned a strong point on a "finger" that ran along the ridge of the hill. We would walk past the very shallow graves of a lot of broken bodies and gear: Pith helmets with holes, web gear, and boots with bones in them. About a month before I arrived, the NVA had tried to overrun the fire base. I was told they did manage to penetrate the wire but were beaten back and that their final mass assault along this ridgeline was met with 105mm beehive rounds from the firebase. I guess by then I was thinking "Well, I'm in the thick of it now" [note: since Chris didn't take photos at FSB 29, I've found photos on another website.] To view those photos, Click Here FSB#31 [FSB#5] / Hill 1338 So, we've been on FSB#29 and we're beginning to feel like sitting ducks, maybe too close to the border. Yeah, there were Arc-Light strikes on a regular basis but we'd still get incoming mortar and recoilless rifle rounds. No, it was not every day and we did not have any ground attacks, we weren't even probed. But it did get on our nerves. So when we got word the Battalion was moving to hill 1338, aka FSB#31 [on the map as FSB#5], we were more than happy. FSB#31 was not as close to the border so I guess we thought it less likely we'd get any incoming. That in fact proved to be true. Our company did participate in a couple of air assaults. Luckily they were all cold, I guess the NVA were not ready for a fight for now; I'm not complaining. I think it was on this firebase that the concept and practice of running "SRRPs" (Short Range Reconnaissance Patrol) was introduced. They were four man teams that would spend two or three days outside the wire, not inserted by helicopters, humping to designated locations to watch, listen and report... maybe three to four clicks from the firebase. I was pretty comfortable using a compass and reading topo maps so my platoon sergeant had me start leading some of the SRRP missions our platoon was assigned. It was my team's experience that most SRRP missions were uneventful. Maybe we'd encounter some jungle wildlife. I once saw an Orangutan that appeared very interested in us for a minute, then decided it had better things to do. However, there were other times that were, shall we say, "intense". So intense, I remember them like they occurred yesterday. I/we, thru a combination of very good luck and doing the right things at the right time, survived some crazy shit! As I said, FSB#31 was, for the most part, uneventful. For me, on FSB#31, the craziest thing was an event that to this day makes me shake my head and smile. My team and I had just reentered the wire after a long, hard daytime recon patrol. There's some pretty steep terrain on the Dak To side of 1338 and I was beat. To get to Alpha company's part of the perimeter we had to walk thru the head quarters area and as we're walking I notice an officer in clean pressed fatigues with a 5th Special forces patch, beret and shiny combat boots. I half looked up, nodded and said "sir" and kept walking. Remember we were not in the habit of saluting in front line areas and seeing special forces personnel was not unusual as Ben Het was only 15 minutes away by chopper. A minute later my RTO pokes me and says "Don't You Know Who That Was?!!" Nope! was my answer as I kept walking. "That was Martha Raye!!". I stopped in my tracks. Man did I feel stupid. I guess she had flown up from Dak To or division base camp to mingle with us and see how we were doing. To this day I still feel bad I did not recognize her and just say thank you. Now FSB#31 was not what you would call the safest place for a movie star to come and visit frontline troops, but here she was, God Bless her! Hill 1089 I have to say, I'm not really clear or sure of the timelines and how long we occupied various firebases. However, I do know that sometime, maybe it was October, things were about to change from uneventful to, maybe the word is, tense. Our platoon was given the task of humping over to hill 1089. This hill was not a firebase. It was, I guess what you'd call a "Strong Point": bunkers and a trench line connecting them. I'm guessing it was maybe four or five clicks through triple canopy jungle and a lot of "wait a minute bushes" from FSB#31. We would have only our M16's, two M60's and two M79's and all the frags and Claymores we could carry. Hill 1089. I think the position was created during the battle for Dak To in late 1967, maybe a "jumping off point" to take Rocket Ridge, aka hill 1338. I'm not sure and I've not been able to find any documentation as to why the position on hill 1089 came to be. I do know some of the men in Alpha Company were part of that battle and it was, at times, hell on earth. Close quarter firefights in triple-canopy mountainous terrain is not anything a sane person wants to experience. So for some reason, Brigade or Battalion higher-ups wanted a strong point on hill 1089 manned by an infantry platoon. It was an assignment that was rotated within Alpha Company while we occupied hill 1338. I think our turn came sometime around Thanksgiving. I say that because I remember my team coming back from a three day mission and there was nothing left but old turkey bones and ugly looking mashed potatoes left in the food containers, the kind used to fly in hot food to grunts in the field. So much for Thanksgiving! Anyway, I'm thinking our platoon occupied that position for a few weeks, running day patrols and "SRRP" missions. "SRRP" was an acronym for Short Range Recon Patrol, short range being maybe three or four clicks from the perimeter. Our job was never to engage the NVA, just look, listen and report. Hill 1089 was the spookiest place I had, to that date, occupied. During day patrols, my team had found multiple freshly dug "spider holes" with a very clear vision of our perimeter. Yes, someone had been keeping an eye on us. By the way, a spider hole is basically a single foxhole that is not part of a perimeter and just big enough for one person. To make matters worse, anytime you left "The Wire" we had to contend with our own unexploded ordinance. cluster bombs from previous battles were not uncommon. Most patrols were uneventful though we saw many signs we were not alone. On one SRRP, during the middle of the night, my team had a group walk past our position. I'm not really sure how many, maybe ten. We just hung tight and they never knew we were there. I swore they'd hear my heart beat! After I was pretty sure they had all moved on, we called in the event but there was never any action taken. None of us slept that night! During our stay on hill 1089 our perimeter was "probed" a couple of times. Trip flares went off and we'd hear scurrying which we'd answer with frags. Once, during broad daylight, we noticed a column of men moving thru tall elephant grass on a slope opposite hill 1089, maybe two clicks away. An air strike was called in on them but nothing was ever found. No dead, no blood; they somehow slipped out on us. Such was the environment during that period. The NVA were definitely around and they were definitely "sizing us up" but they were not ready for any large engagement. That was fine with me! FSB#3 We finally received orders to rejoin our company and were airlifted to our new location, FSB#3. We were ready to leave Hill 1089. Yes, we were all more than ready to leave Hill 1089. Our platoon would be airlifted to and meet up with the rest of Alpha company, on FSB#3. This new location guarded the bridge over the Dak Poko River. It also served as the site for a battery of self-propelled 155mm howitzers. As fate would have it, this battery had provided us with fire support while on Hill 1089, so now part of our mission was to guard them. Another important aspect of this location was that it protected the only road from Dak To to the Special Forces base camp at Ben Het. The fire base encompassed both sides of the river. The western side of the perimeter (the Ben Het side) contained the 155mm battery and most of Alpha Company. The eastern side (the Dak To side) of the perimeter was our platoon's responsibility. Opposite this FSB, on the western side of the Dak Poko and closer to Ben Het, were a couple of Montagnard villages. Our mission here was: (1) protect the bridge to Ben Het and the 155 battery; (2) Continue, as before, running day patrols and our two and three day SRRP missions; (3) Provide security for various psyops to the Montagnard villages in the area. We were kept pretty busy. I remember someone saying, trying to describe a Grunt's tour of duty in Vietnam, as "Hours and hours and hours and hours of boredom followed by a couple of minutes of pure, indescribable, terror. A very accurate description and here, once again, "lady luck" was on our/my side. My SRRP team, four men ( Point, Me, my RTO and Rear) were about midway thru our first day's mission. During that day, when we'd stopped to get a bearing or take "5", at times we thought we heard "something" on our left but it was hardily noticeable so we'd move on. This happened a couple of times. This all took place on a very long, well worn Montagnard trail a couple of clicks from the fire base. We then stopped next to some large rocks. I had my point, if I remember correctly his name was Case, to go in, off the trail about 10-20 meters and check it out. It wasn't triple canopy jungle like up around hill 1089 but was pretty dense. All of a sudden a burst of automatic fire from two different directions, both toward our front, then two different frag explosions. The three of us on the side of the trail could not open fire as we did not know Case's actual position. I'm screaming out his name and calling in our location and situation, all at the same time! Case comes flying out onto the trail, bug eyed, screaming out "Fuckin Gooks!!!" (see footnote 1). We laid down some cover fire but nothing came back in return, nothing!! Our CO told us to break contact and return to base ASAP. Not a problem! On the way back, just after crossing a blue line, we had to pull up in a bamboo grove as my RTO, his name was Rusty, went into some kind of seizure. His buddy, the guy walking as our rear man, was his friend and knew what to do help him but never had told anyone about Rusty's condition. In what seemed like an eternity, Rusty came out of the seizure and we were able to make it back to FSB#3 in one piece. During this encounter none of us were hit. Other than Case, we never really saw any "targets" and he only saw one person, exchanged fire and threw both frags. After all was said and done, it had been a strange encounter. I can only guess that we ran one way and they ran another. Why they were following us is still a mystery to me. It made no sense, still doesn't, but neither did the whole Vietnam War. Leaving Dak To for further adventures I'm guessing we stayed at FSB#3 till some time mid December. For the most part things got pretty quiet though we still continued day patrols and SRRP missions. Other than my team's encounter, the worst thing that occurred was some guy from one of the other platoons drowned while playing around in the river with some of his buddies; a sad way to go in a war zone. I think it was mid month that we learned the Battalion was leaving the Dak To area. A Battalion Stand Down at Camp Enari was on order before heading off to our next "AO." This would be the first "Stand Down" for the Battalion since before I joined in August. Oh man, what a story that stand down was, I still laugh and shake my head thinking about it. Footnotes: Footnote 1 "Gook" is not a term I would use today. Remember, back then we were trained/told that our adversary was less than human and I guess calling them "names" was a way of doing that; made it easier to pull the trigger. I must also say, it did not take me long to realize that, in reality, they were a brave, resourceful and very tough adversary, but for some reason we still called them a lot of names.?? |
Appendix 1
Some of the conversation between Chris and Ernie:
Hey Ernie,
Just "bumped" into your website the other day. Being retired, on rainy days, I sometimes poke around on the internet. It was one of those days.
Your website caught my attention because it was focused on an area that I was very familiar with.
I arrived in-country the beginning of August 1968 and spent my first six or seven months with Alpha Company 3rd battalion 12 infantry 4th ID.
Most of that time was spent in the Dak To area, not the main base, but various fire bases in the tri border area... FB29, FB3, 1338, 990 and 1089.
Funny, for so, so many years I've tried to put all that behind me, and I did a pretty good job of it. However, it seems like the older I get, the more events keep coming back. I'm sure that is a common experience for many us. I also wonder if any of us have gone back? What, if anything, is left of the firebases? I'm guessing probably not much... it's been over 50 years!
If you are interested, I've got some old pictures from my time in that area if you'd like to add them to your site. Who knows, someone might recognize them.
Be well brother!
Chris Ross
----------------------------------
Hello, Chris, thanks for making contact.
You asked about what the area looks like now and if anyone has visited those sites. If you do a web search on Dak To, you will find several websites that talk about returning to RVN. The Dak To airfield is still visible, though not used for aviation. Most of the hills have been turned into farmland of some sort. Also, if you load Google Earth on your desktop computer you can view recent imagery showing how the countryside has changed.
I would love to see your photos. Please box them up and send them to me. I'll digitize them for you and I'll add any relevant photos to the website.
-------------------------------
Hey Ernie,
Good to hear from you,
Yes, I've searched around on the web and found a post that talked about returning to Dak To/Ben Het and it mentioned how the air strip was still visable and that was interesting. However, I spent most of my time on the fire bases, running "SRRPs" and an occasional company combat assault. At that point in time the NVA were not really interested in any major engagements. I'm thinking they were still trying to re-equip and re-group from the previous year's engagement with the 173 Airborne Brigade and our 1st Brigade of the 4th - Hellacious sustained engagements to say the very least. Not to say they were not in the area while I was there; they were, but they were mostly smaller units and I think the many "SRRP" and "LRRP" patrols kept them off balance. Of course those patrols were never good at stopping "incoming" from making our lives miserable inside the wire of the firebase. We had a saying that "If you could hear it, you were probably ok, as it's already gone over you. It's the ones you don't hear that get ya". Of course that theory does not take into consideration the shrapnel whizzing back at ya!
I gotta say it's hard to imagine triple canopy jungle, peppered with a lot of unexploded ordnance, being turned into farmland, but I guess in 50+ years anything is possible. However, more than once, my team and I found ourselves in the middle of an old bombing run, full of unexploded cluster bombs. So for me, if I were thinking of logging or clearing land for farming, I'd probably be looking somewhere else.
In hindsight, it was a crazy, stupid war. Something none of us should have been doing. Unfortunately, being thrust into the middle of all this crazy shit, we did not have the luxury of even thinking in those terms. Such a waste on many levels. Having said that, for some reason which I don't fully understand, I take pride in our brotherhood. I also respect and honor our old adversary; they were brave and very resourceful.
The pictures I have are not many and they are now all ".jpeg" files. There are a few of the air strip at Dak To, I bet they will bring back memories for you, and a few of the various fire support bases. If you are interested, I can attach them with a brief description of each photo. I've got many memories and a few photos. I guess you could say, at the time, I was usually focused on other things than taking a picture.
Hey, I'm glad I'm able to help add a page or two to the project and Thank You for taking the time to document this small part of history. I seriously doubt many of us wanted to be there, but we were asked to serve and we did. Few know, or can comprehend, what that "year" was like, nor can they understand the sorrow, grief and, oddly, the strength we share from that year.
Be Well,
Chris
-----------------------------------
Thanks, Chris.
I would like to have a website page where you tell your story and show your photos, much like I did for Tony Bolivar. So, please send me any photos you have, and tell me a story about your time at Dak To. Stories about individual photos are also good.
--------------------------------------------
Hey Ernie,
Good, I'm glad it well help in documenting the place called Dak To. To be honest, I'm not sure how many people are really interested in what we were asked to do back then. Heck, today a vast majority of Americans do not have a clue, nor do they care. They just let the volunteer regular and reserve forces take care of the heavy lifting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a rightwing ultra-conservative. In fact I'm not even a Republican... oops! let me quickly get off the soapbox :). I just think "some kind of public service" is both good for the individual and our country. However, images of these Walter Mitty/Rambo type "militia" we now see, well, I just shake my head and quite honestly believe they are a present danger to our society.
OK, back to the project at hand... it's history. I also believe history is proving we should have never gotten evolved in that "conflict."
---------------------------------------------
Some of the conversation between Chris and Ernie:
Hey Ernie,
Just "bumped" into your website the other day. Being retired, on rainy days, I sometimes poke around on the internet. It was one of those days.
Your website caught my attention because it was focused on an area that I was very familiar with.
I arrived in-country the beginning of August 1968 and spent my first six or seven months with Alpha Company 3rd battalion 12 infantry 4th ID.
Most of that time was spent in the Dak To area, not the main base, but various fire bases in the tri border area... FB29, FB3, 1338, 990 and 1089.
Funny, for so, so many years I've tried to put all that behind me, and I did a pretty good job of it. However, it seems like the older I get, the more events keep coming back. I'm sure that is a common experience for many us. I also wonder if any of us have gone back? What, if anything, is left of the firebases? I'm guessing probably not much... it's been over 50 years!
If you are interested, I've got some old pictures from my time in that area if you'd like to add them to your site. Who knows, someone might recognize them.
Be well brother!
Chris Ross
----------------------------------
Hello, Chris, thanks for making contact.
You asked about what the area looks like now and if anyone has visited those sites. If you do a web search on Dak To, you will find several websites that talk about returning to RVN. The Dak To airfield is still visible, though not used for aviation. Most of the hills have been turned into farmland of some sort. Also, if you load Google Earth on your desktop computer you can view recent imagery showing how the countryside has changed.
I would love to see your photos. Please box them up and send them to me. I'll digitize them for you and I'll add any relevant photos to the website.
-------------------------------
Hey Ernie,
Good to hear from you,
Yes, I've searched around on the web and found a post that talked about returning to Dak To/Ben Het and it mentioned how the air strip was still visable and that was interesting. However, I spent most of my time on the fire bases, running "SRRPs" and an occasional company combat assault. At that point in time the NVA were not really interested in any major engagements. I'm thinking they were still trying to re-equip and re-group from the previous year's engagement with the 173 Airborne Brigade and our 1st Brigade of the 4th - Hellacious sustained engagements to say the very least. Not to say they were not in the area while I was there; they were, but they were mostly smaller units and I think the many "SRRP" and "LRRP" patrols kept them off balance. Of course those patrols were never good at stopping "incoming" from making our lives miserable inside the wire of the firebase. We had a saying that "If you could hear it, you were probably ok, as it's already gone over you. It's the ones you don't hear that get ya". Of course that theory does not take into consideration the shrapnel whizzing back at ya!
I gotta say it's hard to imagine triple canopy jungle, peppered with a lot of unexploded ordnance, being turned into farmland, but I guess in 50+ years anything is possible. However, more than once, my team and I found ourselves in the middle of an old bombing run, full of unexploded cluster bombs. So for me, if I were thinking of logging or clearing land for farming, I'd probably be looking somewhere else.
In hindsight, it was a crazy, stupid war. Something none of us should have been doing. Unfortunately, being thrust into the middle of all this crazy shit, we did not have the luxury of even thinking in those terms. Such a waste on many levels. Having said that, for some reason which I don't fully understand, I take pride in our brotherhood. I also respect and honor our old adversary; they were brave and very resourceful.
The pictures I have are not many and they are now all ".jpeg" files. There are a few of the air strip at Dak To, I bet they will bring back memories for you, and a few of the various fire support bases. If you are interested, I can attach them with a brief description of each photo. I've got many memories and a few photos. I guess you could say, at the time, I was usually focused on other things than taking a picture.
Hey, I'm glad I'm able to help add a page or two to the project and Thank You for taking the time to document this small part of history. I seriously doubt many of us wanted to be there, but we were asked to serve and we did. Few know, or can comprehend, what that "year" was like, nor can they understand the sorrow, grief and, oddly, the strength we share from that year.
Be Well,
Chris
-----------------------------------
Thanks, Chris.
I would like to have a website page where you tell your story and show your photos, much like I did for Tony Bolivar. So, please send me any photos you have, and tell me a story about your time at Dak To. Stories about individual photos are also good.
--------------------------------------------
Hey Ernie,
Good, I'm glad it well help in documenting the place called Dak To. To be honest, I'm not sure how many people are really interested in what we were asked to do back then. Heck, today a vast majority of Americans do not have a clue, nor do they care. They just let the volunteer regular and reserve forces take care of the heavy lifting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a rightwing ultra-conservative. In fact I'm not even a Republican... oops! let me quickly get off the soapbox :). I just think "some kind of public service" is both good for the individual and our country. However, images of these Walter Mitty/Rambo type "militia" we now see, well, I just shake my head and quite honestly believe they are a present danger to our society.
OK, back to the project at hand... it's history. I also believe history is proving we should have never gotten evolved in that "conflict."
---------------------------------------------
Appendix 2
Some Google Earth images of what Chris' Area of Operations looks like now. Images captured in 2021.
Some Google Earth images of what Chris' Area of Operations looks like now. Images captured in 2021.
FSB#29 - 10 miles due west of Dak To. Image facing NW.
Overview of the Dak To area, showing Dak To (top-left), Hill 1089, and Hill 1338
Hill 1089. Note the trek from Hill 1338, in very top-right corner, to Hill 1089, and back. Also note that most of the area is under cultivation.
Hill 1338: This is part of what was called Rocket Ridge. Note: you can see Dak To airfield at the very top, near the left edge.
Fire Support Base #3. Four miles west of Dak To airfield.
Appendex 3
The rest of the story.
Here is the rest of Chris' tour, after leaving Dak To:
Hey Ernie,
I'm starting the update... first, I wanted to correct an error I made describing my flight to Nam. Our plane was taking off from Midway Island when the tire Blew, not Wake Island... sorry for the confusion, I guess I got my Pacific Islands mixed up. Further, I don't have any pictures that have survived the test of time for the period I'm describing... I've sent you all the pictures I have.
So, it was sometime in late 68 or early 69 our battalion packed up and headed for Camp Enari and our first "stand down" since I arrived in August.
The only thing I remember about the move was, in leaving Dak To, there was a lot of "hurry up and wait." I think I sent you the few pictures I have of that. When we arrived at base camp and our battalion area, the first order of business was for all of us to turn in all firearms, ammo, frags, claymores, knives and any C4 we might be carrying... standard "sop." After that it was hot showers, get something to eat, maybe go to the "PX" and wait for the "clubs" to open.
I don't remember if, upon arrival to Camp Enari, we were told how long the stand down would last. Well, as it turned out, it was a very short stand down. I think it was the second or third morning we were all rousted out of bed, told to pack our rucksacks, issued our weapons and loaded on to duce and a halfs headed for a place called VC Valley.
I would later learn the reason for our brief stand down. From what I've been told the story goes something like this. As you might imagine, most of the guys headed for the enlisted men's, nco or officier's club. Many, no doubt, drank way too much. Now, here's the problem... the one thing they forgot to collect when our battalion entered Camp Enari was our signal flares. Now I don't know who, or why, but someone decided it would be fun to set off some signal flares that night. Well, one of them somehow struck a LOH and set it on fire!
We had obviously just burned down somebody's chopper. I guess we were not welcome in Camp Enari anymore, so it was off to VC Valley... so much for stand down!
In VC valley we were Maneuvering, aka humping the boonies... stop for the night, dig defensive positions then move on the next day. At the most, we'd stay in a position for a couple of days while being resupplied by coppers, nothing like being stationed on a fire base. No real contact was ever made but it was a very spooky place. We came upon and walked thru a large NVA base camp that appeared to have been in use not that long ago.
In fact, as we approached the main part of the base camp a lone NVA soldier bolted out of the camp... our Captain was really pissed that our point element let him get away. After that "get away" I think he reminded everyone that we were in a "free fire zone" and did not want to see that happen again! Anyway, on we went, passing thru areas with many, many bunkers on both sides of a main trail, all with clear fields of fire. It was clear to me that had the area been occupied it would have been one very nasty fight. Once again, lady luck was on our side.
I think we kept this kind of mission up for a couple few weeks. Sometimes we'd stop, dig positions, send out some recon patrols and wait. On one late afternoon that's what we were doing... digging our foxholes and being resupplied. Out of nowhere the First Sargent comes up to me and yells "Ross! Get on that chopper, you've got orders!" I was dumbfounded, he did not tell me why or where I was going... just get on it! I just dropped the shovel ran over and grabbed my pack, M16, and jumped on. As we lifted off, I just looked out as all my team looked up at me flying away with a confused look on their faces. The Chopper I had jumped onto wasn't a Huey but a LOH and I was sitting next to the pilot. I still had no idea where or why I was going. We rose up over the canopy and off we went. The ride turned out to be, easily, the ride of my life.
I'm guessing the first couple of miles was at tree top and very fast, it put any roller coaster ride to shame. The pilot said we were taking fire and was taking evasive maneuvers. I didn't hear or see anything but tree tops flying by. Maybe he just wanted to scare the shit out of me? If so, mission accomplished, I will never forget that ride!
Anyway, we made it back to Camp Enari in one piece and I found my way back to Battalion headquarters where I found out what "orders" got me plucked out of the boonies. I had been transferred to an Infantry Company attached to an MP battalion in Quin Nhon. In some ways, I thought I had just won the lottery. However, in other ways I felt guilty leaving my team. I would later learn that there was a policy in place that, if replacements were available, personnel in a front-line infantry company with six months or more of combat duty would be rotated off the line company. Again, lady luck was with me.
I had been assigned to D company 58th infantry. At the time, its main responsibility was guarding the II Corp ammo dump in the Phu Tai valley which was just outside Quin Nhon. Compared with life in an infantry line company this was living big! When not on guard duty or on short day patrols, we lived in barracks. We had showers with hot water, three hot meals a day in a mess hall. If, by chance, we had a day off, we could go to Red Beach on the South China Sea!
However, though not anything like being in a line company, it was still Vietnam, there was still a war going on and we were still in an infantry company. Among other things, we still had to deal with the 1969 Tet offensive, much stricter rules of engagement and dealing with the Viet Cong.
Our main responsibility was the ammo dump and it was huge. It took up most of the valley and you needed a jeep or truck to get from one end to the other... many, many bermed ammo pads. In the middle there was a bunker complex where our company's onsite headquarters was located. It was from this site that we rotated our tower guards along the perimeter of this huge ammo dump. I think it was in February/March that sappers penetrated the perimeter and set off some of the ordnance, which set off a chain reaction. It did not take long and the whole dump was "cooking off." What a night!
We eventually all evacuated the facility amid the chaos of various types of artillery high explosive, white phosphorus and God knows what else cooking off. The men in the guard towers along the perimeter rode this out in bunkers at the base of each guard tower and were evacuated after the fireworks were over. I honestly do not remember how many were killed or injured except I do remember that during this mess some Lieutenant coming into the headquarters bunker and asking for volunteers to ride out and search for satchel chargers in the ammo pad berms... "What the fuck!? "Is this guy nuts!?" was the first thought that came to mind... by then it was very clear the chain reaction was well underway and nothing could be done to stop it. Neither that lieutenant, his driver or Jeep were ever found.
The next morning, we returned to the ammo dump to find it pretty much wasted and engineers were onsite planning the restoration and dealing with a lot of unexploded ordnance. To this day, I will avoid fourth of July fireworks.
After that incident, I later became the company commander's driver and was kept busy driving him here, there and everywhere until my DEROS, and return to "The World."
"What a long strange trip it's been"
Thanks, and be well brother
Chris
The rest of the story.
Here is the rest of Chris' tour, after leaving Dak To:
Hey Ernie,
I'm starting the update... first, I wanted to correct an error I made describing my flight to Nam. Our plane was taking off from Midway Island when the tire Blew, not Wake Island... sorry for the confusion, I guess I got my Pacific Islands mixed up. Further, I don't have any pictures that have survived the test of time for the period I'm describing... I've sent you all the pictures I have.
So, it was sometime in late 68 or early 69 our battalion packed up and headed for Camp Enari and our first "stand down" since I arrived in August.
The only thing I remember about the move was, in leaving Dak To, there was a lot of "hurry up and wait." I think I sent you the few pictures I have of that. When we arrived at base camp and our battalion area, the first order of business was for all of us to turn in all firearms, ammo, frags, claymores, knives and any C4 we might be carrying... standard "sop." After that it was hot showers, get something to eat, maybe go to the "PX" and wait for the "clubs" to open.
I don't remember if, upon arrival to Camp Enari, we were told how long the stand down would last. Well, as it turned out, it was a very short stand down. I think it was the second or third morning we were all rousted out of bed, told to pack our rucksacks, issued our weapons and loaded on to duce and a halfs headed for a place called VC Valley.
I would later learn the reason for our brief stand down. From what I've been told the story goes something like this. As you might imagine, most of the guys headed for the enlisted men's, nco or officier's club. Many, no doubt, drank way too much. Now, here's the problem... the one thing they forgot to collect when our battalion entered Camp Enari was our signal flares. Now I don't know who, or why, but someone decided it would be fun to set off some signal flares that night. Well, one of them somehow struck a LOH and set it on fire!
We had obviously just burned down somebody's chopper. I guess we were not welcome in Camp Enari anymore, so it was off to VC Valley... so much for stand down!
In VC valley we were Maneuvering, aka humping the boonies... stop for the night, dig defensive positions then move on the next day. At the most, we'd stay in a position for a couple of days while being resupplied by coppers, nothing like being stationed on a fire base. No real contact was ever made but it was a very spooky place. We came upon and walked thru a large NVA base camp that appeared to have been in use not that long ago.
In fact, as we approached the main part of the base camp a lone NVA soldier bolted out of the camp... our Captain was really pissed that our point element let him get away. After that "get away" I think he reminded everyone that we were in a "free fire zone" and did not want to see that happen again! Anyway, on we went, passing thru areas with many, many bunkers on both sides of a main trail, all with clear fields of fire. It was clear to me that had the area been occupied it would have been one very nasty fight. Once again, lady luck was on our side.
I think we kept this kind of mission up for a couple few weeks. Sometimes we'd stop, dig positions, send out some recon patrols and wait. On one late afternoon that's what we were doing... digging our foxholes and being resupplied. Out of nowhere the First Sargent comes up to me and yells "Ross! Get on that chopper, you've got orders!" I was dumbfounded, he did not tell me why or where I was going... just get on it! I just dropped the shovel ran over and grabbed my pack, M16, and jumped on. As we lifted off, I just looked out as all my team looked up at me flying away with a confused look on their faces. The Chopper I had jumped onto wasn't a Huey but a LOH and I was sitting next to the pilot. I still had no idea where or why I was going. We rose up over the canopy and off we went. The ride turned out to be, easily, the ride of my life.
I'm guessing the first couple of miles was at tree top and very fast, it put any roller coaster ride to shame. The pilot said we were taking fire and was taking evasive maneuvers. I didn't hear or see anything but tree tops flying by. Maybe he just wanted to scare the shit out of me? If so, mission accomplished, I will never forget that ride!
Anyway, we made it back to Camp Enari in one piece and I found my way back to Battalion headquarters where I found out what "orders" got me plucked out of the boonies. I had been transferred to an Infantry Company attached to an MP battalion in Quin Nhon. In some ways, I thought I had just won the lottery. However, in other ways I felt guilty leaving my team. I would later learn that there was a policy in place that, if replacements were available, personnel in a front-line infantry company with six months or more of combat duty would be rotated off the line company. Again, lady luck was with me.
I had been assigned to D company 58th infantry. At the time, its main responsibility was guarding the II Corp ammo dump in the Phu Tai valley which was just outside Quin Nhon. Compared with life in an infantry line company this was living big! When not on guard duty or on short day patrols, we lived in barracks. We had showers with hot water, three hot meals a day in a mess hall. If, by chance, we had a day off, we could go to Red Beach on the South China Sea!
However, though not anything like being in a line company, it was still Vietnam, there was still a war going on and we were still in an infantry company. Among other things, we still had to deal with the 1969 Tet offensive, much stricter rules of engagement and dealing with the Viet Cong.
Our main responsibility was the ammo dump and it was huge. It took up most of the valley and you needed a jeep or truck to get from one end to the other... many, many bermed ammo pads. In the middle there was a bunker complex where our company's onsite headquarters was located. It was from this site that we rotated our tower guards along the perimeter of this huge ammo dump. I think it was in February/March that sappers penetrated the perimeter and set off some of the ordnance, which set off a chain reaction. It did not take long and the whole dump was "cooking off." What a night!
We eventually all evacuated the facility amid the chaos of various types of artillery high explosive, white phosphorus and God knows what else cooking off. The men in the guard towers along the perimeter rode this out in bunkers at the base of each guard tower and were evacuated after the fireworks were over. I honestly do not remember how many were killed or injured except I do remember that during this mess some Lieutenant coming into the headquarters bunker and asking for volunteers to ride out and search for satchel chargers in the ammo pad berms... "What the fuck!? "Is this guy nuts!?" was the first thought that came to mind... by then it was very clear the chain reaction was well underway and nothing could be done to stop it. Neither that lieutenant, his driver or Jeep were ever found.
The next morning, we returned to the ammo dump to find it pretty much wasted and engineers were onsite planning the restoration and dealing with a lot of unexploded ordnance. To this day, I will avoid fourth of July fireworks.
After that incident, I later became the company commander's driver and was kept busy driving him here, there and everywhere until my DEROS, and return to "The World."
"What a long strange trip it's been"
Thanks, and be well brother
Chris