base camp at Dong Ha after 1968??

[splummer]

In 1968 we hated going there in Marine convoys. It must have only been 60 miles from Hue but took one day each way to get there. I think the Cididell was still controled by the NVA in the early part of the year because I remember firing going on and trying to duck down a lot as we went through some of the streets in Hue. Dong Ha really seemed to get hit a lot while we were there. Later in the year with the 1st Cav I remember a lot of big bunkers close together on the perimeter and APC's between them. I remember a lot of trenches in side the wire to protect us from NVA artillery as much as possible. So after 1968 did it ever get to be a nice place to visit??

[DMZ-LT]

No. I was there in 70-71 with 3/5 Cav. I would have rather stayed in the bush. Everytime we came in to Dong Ha we got rocketed at night. Ain't nothing like sitting nude in a bunker with your rifle and some extra clips.,with 24 of your closest friends , listening those last few seconds of silence and then the big boom if they got close. We were the last US unit to leave Dong Ha sometime in early fall , I think. We went to Quang Tri. Good thing you were in Way and not Hue during Tet 68 , Splummer !! Welcome home bro. !

[splummer]

I was on the phone with two of my long lost buddies from 'way.' last week. They brought up Dong Ha and mentioned how dangerous it was there. It's a place I probably will never forget.

[DMZ-LT]

West and north of Dong Ha was bad. You could almost hear everyones asshole slammin shut when we went outside the wire heading that way. Peace

[Beau]

Thats interesting LT --- perhaps all that Rocketeering is reflected in that artwork that I sent you, of the bridge in silouette against the orange-yellow burst of a Rocket hitting something ? I would not have guessed a Grunt would have such a reaction to those Rockets --- I dismissed my reaction to them because of the assumption that Grunts did not react to them, only to direct Small Arms fire.

Yah no --- we parked near that bridge and near that bridge only, and the trip to it could have hazards. I never saw Dong Ha proper --- what was it like, if it existed ?

Beau

[DMZ-LT]

Hey Beau. When we came in to Dong Ha it was for a three day stand down. No guard duty etc , just put the tracks in the motor pool , do a little maintenance and party. My platoon had two wooden buildings , one for the heads and one for the juicers. Us Platoon leaders had our own small wooden hooch. The key word here was wooden . No protection from rockets and those guys could march them up and down the squadron AO. Engineers had dug in bunkers every 50 yards or so in the troop area and when that first rocket came in everyone deassed the wooden buildings and headed for a bunker. Look at your art work every day - got it hanging in my bunker at home , seems I still need one. Thanks. All the best to you and your family.

[splummer]

Ever go to Hue Ramp or Tam My near there close to the Perfume river. What type of boat were you on?

[Beau]

Splummer --- a few times to the ramp at Hue but it was after the Tet '68 thing and we went down it with only one .50 at the ready an no special precautions with regards to mines. And, many, many times to Tam My. By the way, I did not even know it was close to the Perfume until decades after Bitnam (like, 3 decades). For that matter, I always felt it was fairly safe until a long lost crewmate sent me a piccie of this Vietnamese boat that the water Sappers destroyed --- so, the illusion of safety was destroyed after the fact.

It was a flat bottomed boat that the departing Navy "lent" to the Army upon the Navy/U.S.M.C departure from Bitnam --- crew of about 11 Soldiers. From what I was told, about 2 years ago (again after the fact) there was a time when the boat company morphed from pure Navy to pure Army that the boats were staffed by both branches. It could easily hold two APCs, or a whole buncha ammo, or a strapped down ruined tank.

It was, in retrospect, probably THE only time that an Army boat company has, or ever will again --- run deep down rivers in a time of War: That is my guess anyway.

Thanks for axeding, Beau