An Khe

[39mto39g]

spent a few weeks around this area with the 1st cav. I never seen so many cav patches. Went on patrol with some cav unit and I really liked the way they could call for extraction and get 450 helicopters to extract 75 guys. Seems they had way to much stuff. They were pretty good infantry and didn't take chances with there guys lifes, I liked that. After An Khe I quite talking trash on the cav. Besides there was always the Marines.
Ron

[Packo]

When I was sent to the Cav I went from Long Binh to An Khe. Wasn't there for more than a day when the whole division moved to Tay Ninh Province....Phouc Vinh became the headquarters. From my experiences in the Cav and listening to my 101st brothers, (James, Dan, and Frisco), I would have loved to have worn the Screaming Eagle, but the Cav took better care of their men. No division was perfect but I think I was damn lucky as an Airborne Infantryman to end up a Jumpin' Mustang. I've had many a Marine when I worked for the VA and with the Marines now that have thanked me, even though I had nothing to do with the aviation side, for pulling them out of tough situations and getting them Medivacs when the Marine choppers would not come in. Some even switched their freq's from Marine to 1st Cav once they got on the ground. Always makes me proud to hear that. The SGTMAJ of the Air Station here told me about the Cav sending them Medivacs one time when it was "too hot" for Marine Air. He said like 3 or 4 medivacs got shot down and the Cav Pilots kept on coming until they got in and got them and the wounded out. A Marine pilot overheard this and said to him, "SGTMAJ, I don't believe what you just said". SGTMAJ replied, "Of course you don't, sir.....you weren't there!"

Pack

I got to Camp Radcliff 6 days prior to leaving country my second tour, it was big camp. Outside was a sin city, but it was off limits to the 4th ID. LZ Action was about 8 -10 miles down the road from Camp Radcliff. So don't know much about it only to process out of the division and onto Cam Ranh Bay to get the freedom bird home.

[39mto39g]

I didn't know any of the names of the areas around An Khe.
Lots of hills. And when we did get into a little scrap the Cav had a heard of Gun ships patrolling the area until the Cav said not to, I was impressed.
Ron

[splummer]

I went through or stayed in Ankhe most every day in January 1968. Our 8th Group convoys went from Quinhon to Ankhe to plieko on QL-19. sometimes we'd make it all the way to Plieko and back in a day [I think it was 200 miles round trip??] Sometimes only to Ankhe and on to Pleiko the next day. There was the Ankhe Pass and the Manyang Pass. One of them was nicknamed ambush alley but I don't remember which. There was one spot in one of them that had a lot of blown up truck parts on each side of the road. I think that must have been ambush alley. [or just a really bad place to be]I can't remember too much about that time in 68. I'll see my buddies at our reunion this June. They remember that period of time better than me.

[splummer]

There was a big difference in Army and Marine Convoys. In II corp on QL-19 we had an armoured gun truck with M-60s and a grenade launcher plus gun jeep for every 10 trucks. A quad 50 mounted on a turret for every 20 trucks. When we moved to I-corp on R-1 the Marines would only have a few 5-ton trucks with a 50 caliver and 20 or so riflemen in them supporting us. We liked to knock the Jar Heads back then, [they called us doggies] Now I'm proud to have been with those brave Marines.

[DMZ-LT]

Same mud , same blood. Thank you. Hope to see you on the mountain.