12/31/1969

[MORTARDUDE]

I know most of us remember certain dates from our time in Vietnam....DEROS, ETS, day you left, day you got back, day(s) when there were battles, "incursions", firefights, R & R, you got wounded or your friend(s) died, or was wounded. Every year when today rolls around I think back to my first day in combat. I left for Vietnam, from Memphis, on my 21st birthday....Nov 21, 1969. I guess it was maybe 8+ or so days later when I got to the field with the 3/22 "leg" unit, and FSB Crook, with Nui Ba Den mountain in the distance. ( In between, I went to Oakland Army Base ( Repl Depl ), Hawaii, Wake Island, Phillipines, Japan, Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon, Long Binh ( Repl Depl ) and Cu Chi and Tay Ninh... whew !! ) I believe I was out at the firebase for a week or so, nothing happened, and got orders to go to the 2/22(M) "mech" unit. They transferred several other folks as well, all FNGs like me. It being December, I got "lost in the rear" for awhile, and in the meantime there were several 122mm rocket attacks on Tay Ninh where I was, and I got to see the Bob Hope Christmas Show ( very good ! ). I got to talk to a lot of the guys from the 3/22 who were in the rear....some wounded, some leaving, one who volunteered to be a helicopter door gunner ( not sure why ), some who were on "profile" or "goofing off" or "shamming", some FNGs like me, and learned a lot. Finally on 12/30/69 I boarded a helicopter and was flown to FSB Dixon and my new home with Co. B 2/22(M). I remember that the firebase was a muddy mess. I reported to Sgt. "Jake" Jacobs and he directed me to an APC and my new squad / platoon mates ( bear in mind that up until this time I had zero training with APCS, PRC25 radios, 81MM mortars in tracks ( different than on the ground somewhat ), or a lot of other things that I realized I didn't know. There was no 3 or 4 day school like some of you guys had. That would have been a good idea. There was a jungle combat class a few months later and it was helpful, but should have been first.....Anyway, I met with my new comrades, and no one said anything to me about the firefight they were in that day. It sounded pretty intense. I have a newspaper clipping about it somewhere. I will post it if I can find it. Next day, we were back out to the same place. I remember minding my own business on our APC...the CO, FO, and several folks with PRC25s were in a group walking ( still not sure why ) not far from me, when a mine went off and nearly blew PFC White's foot off ( he later lost it ). Several others ( maybe 3 or 4 ) were wounded. Shortly there after the CO motioned ( he wasn't wounded ) for someone else to carry the radio. My new friends pointed to me and said the FNG can carry it...As I said, I didn't know hardly shit from shinola at this point..not how to operate the radio, call signs, avoiding booby traps, what to do if all-hell-broke-loose, etc. The CO continued to walk on the ground, behind me, I tried to walk where I saw APC tracks...his RTO tried to explain the radio procedures to me, and it went on like that for maybe an hour or more.......Anyway, that was my first day in combat...Welcome to Vietnam, F*NG !!!

Larry

P.S. : Three years ago I met, thru the Internet, one of my platoon mates who now lives in Wyoming. He was wounded when the mine went off ( in the butt ) and it screwed up his hearing. We talked for over 6 hours on the phone, 3 hours at a clip, about our 8 months together. It did me a lot of good. I am going to try to drive up this year and see him. If any of you live near our route up and back, let me know.