Night Patrol

[39mto39g]

Two times while in VN my unit did a 12 man night patrol. Im not sure if this was just us doing this or if this was some kind of thing instigated by BN to make contact?
Anyway, the thing was , while at a fire base we made a big deal out of us leaving the hill, shoot off a couple mortars , fire the 50, etc.
There thinking, told to me at a later time by the LT., was for us to be "bait"
I don't know if you have ever been bait before but, bait is not a good place to be on the food chain.
Both times we did this I really didn't think much of it until much later, cause nothin happened , Buuuuuut, thinking back on those times just gets the blood moving a bit.
Bait---- Do I look like a LRRP. sorry James.
Has your unit or You ever been bait in a game of death before?

Ron

[frisco-kid]

Been bait more times than I care to remember. This was almost SOP with the 101st; send a small unit out to make contact and back them up with a larger one. Did patrols with a couple of squads, a platoon, or a company. Alot of times it worked, but sometimes we got beat up. Like you, did a couple of these at night but this wasn't the norm.

BTW, James and the boys weren't bait. They weren't as expendable as us . They were more like glorified mobile LPs or OPs .

[splummer]

The road from Camp Eagle to FSB Bastone had gotten pretty secure [I think] the later part of 1968. It was nothing like the path I had gone up in April. One night the 101th decieded to send 10 or 12 of our trucks there in the dark. Our company leaders sent all the new replacements out that night. A few of us short guys thought this was strange so we road shot gun for some of the new guys. We had no gun trucks, jeeps or apc's for support and we hauled empty trailers to Bastone. I could hear lots of gunships in the air above us. When we got to the fire base we just turned around and drove the 15 or 20 miles back, empty again. Nothing happened.
Ron, Lt, Frisco and all. Do you think we were the bait for the gunships or was it just a stupid Army thing??

[39mto39g]

Frisco.
Being out on patrol in the day backed up by the world is not quite the same as bait at night with no back up. But we didn't know any different. Good thing the 4th had the 101 for its back.

Slum.
you were bait. sad but true. maybe chum would be a better term.

Ron

[exlrrp]

If they ever used us for bait in the lrrps, they were smart enough not to tell us about it. They never sent us on any "suicide" missions either, or at least they wre smart enough not to call them that--I never, EVER, and I mean EVER felt like committing suicide so that Thieu could rule Vietnam. Nope, not ever--sorry if this lost the war. This was classified TOPPEST SECRET for a long time, only now can the real story be told.
I agree with Ron, bait aint the place to be on the food chain
But they used us as bait ALL THE TIME in the 101st. That was the tactic--walk around untill someone shot at us, then bring overwhelming force to bear on them--if it was available, which it often was not. OUr joke was that they changed our MOS's to 11T--target.
This was not real good for morale, for one thing the ball is always in the enemy's court--you first know he's there when someone gets shot.
You'd think clever boys like generals could come up with a better tactic than that, but not in this case

James

PS Ron: you'd have made a wonderful lrrp--not too conflicted with moral issues

[exlrrp]

[i]Ron, Lt, Frisco and all. Do you think we were the bait for the gunships or was it just a stupid Army thing??

S
Could have been both, they're not mutually exclusive
James

[82Rigger]

stupid Army thing

Is that like, taking the same hill two or three times?

[splummer]

Yes, I guess most things the US did there didn't make much sence.

[DMZ-LT]

We called it "pile on ". Find them with a small element and then pile on.We were all bait.

[grunt66]

Yes . LT is right , common usage of patrols day and night .