The rules of engagement?
 

Only once in my life did I have to fire a weapon in anger. I fired a M-60 and a couple of belts through it at a school building on Feb. 2, '68 in QuiNhon. The Sargent of the guard told me not to shoot when I called him on the field phone and told him that I was taking fire. I had been in the tower for several hours and when I got there the sandbags were high enough to give me some protection. During those hours I was shot at many times and the sandbags that were protecting me had leaked there sand out to the ground below the tower through the bullet holes that were in the bags. I had seen rifle flashes coming from the school building and when I called the SOG he asked me a couple questions.
1.question. Could I see my target? answer. No. He's in the school building. All I can see is the flashes from his weapon coming from the ventilation louvers of the building.
2.question. Is he enemy? answer. Duh! Maybe I should have answered that he was a good friend of mine who was upset with me because I didn't pick up the tab at the club the night before while he was celebrating Tet. I didn't answer the SOG (did I misspell that where it should have been SOB?) but locked and loaded instead.
What do you do when your enemy is hiding in a school or a masque or any public building? Where there any kids in that School? No, Tet was a legal holiday and we were under cease-fire orders don'cha'no.
After my anger fit and my 7.62 belts were expended, the incoming rounds from the school building ceased. Had to fill out a report on what happened to my two cans of M-60 ammo and why I had to have the barrel of that 60 replaced.

John , got in a firefight one night while on the 60 and never fired a round. Field stripped it twice. Safety was on. Never told anyone then. Peace

The point is why do we have to hold our fire when we clearly know that the enemy is in a public place because of fear of killing civilians? The enemy damn sure doesn't care how many civilians die. Flashback, it seems to me that the NVA and VC taught the Iraq enemy that if they hold up in a masque, school, or market, it will raise the ire of the world when the Americans come after them. How many troops must die because they were told that they couldn't return fire? I have no doubt that if I didn't pull that trigger, I wouldn't be here today.

John
 

Glad your here today and glad my entire tour was in a free fire zone. No paperwork , ever.

I'm not a combat vet, and maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that the US has to stop worrying about collaterol damage and start worrying about its own troops. I've read a lot of the postings from you guys about how you were told not to fire at certain positions due to possible civie casualties and have seen the results from Lebenon, the USS Cole, Somalia, etc. and I just don't understand the attitude of the High Command. Whatever happened to "Shoot first, and ask questions later!"?

I felt that we did the right thing during Desert Storm I when we caught the Iraqi military flat-footed and in the open on that highway and bombed the hell out of them, that is, until George I had them back off when we had them by the balls. If he had let Schwartkopf (sp) continue the war to its inevitable conslusion we wouldn't be in the sh*t-storm we're in today over there.

If you're going to fight a war, then DO IT!!! ALL OUT, NO HOLDS BARRED!!!

Stick
 

Our base camp at Tay Ninh got the nickname ?Rocket City? and for good reason. During the beginning of Tet, the less known May Offensive and less known September Offensive we had an instant replay. At night Charles set up 107mm, or 122mm rocket launchers on the flat roof of the Tay Ninh City School and opened fire. That was just one of several locations were the rockets, and mortars came from, however on all three occasions there was no counter fire on the school. Our Division notified the ARVN?s who had their own camp on the other side of the city and were asked to deal with the problem.

After ?hard fighting? the ARVN?s always got to the school 3 or 4 hours later after all the rockets were fired and the launchers were removed. We?d also take long range fire from the Black Virgin Mountain, which was very special juju to the Cow Die religion. Jets dropping ordinance on the hill was a no-no, and arty could not be used until after Tet. But even then we had to get Division permission which took a while.

Lt was always in a free fire zone, you had it hard John. We had free fire zones too. Except that it was very difficult to fine a bar in such a place, I always preferred those areas. If it moves shoot it, if it don?t move burn it, if it won?t burn blow it up. That?s my idea of a war.

Stay healthy,
Andy

Once with the 25th
 

1st wolfhounds my Bn Co introduced me to a village chief. "This is Cpt Herndon, He is my artillery officer and is the person who will blow up your village if anyone shoots at us from it." Never received a round from that village.