night convoys

[splummer]

Some time after the Tet Offensive in 1968 Route One between Phu Bia and Dong Ha must have been considered real secure. We stoped convoying to places like Camp Evans, Camp Carrol, etc and just drove by our selves after being loaded in Hue. I heard we were going to get some 50 cal's and start night convoys. I didn't beleive it because I didn't think the army would be that stupid. A few weeks later we mounted a couple 50's on our jeeps and the night convoys began. some ran into snipers, especially in the villiages where we had never had problems before. I could never understand how putting a 50 cal gun on a jeep could justifie driving at night. Andy and you guys, would't a 50 cal almost tip over a jeep if it was fired for a long period of time?

[39mto39g]

We tried mounting a 50 in a jeep, We fired it a few times and found the floor pan was being tourn from the back a forth movment. Looked relly cool but wasn't prctical. Besides that, have you ever been in front and lower when a 50 went off, You cant consintrate on driving.
You harly noticed when the M-60 was fired, except when the guy feel out, Harr,

I belive I would have had to pass on the night convoy thing,
Just say No. or maybe- I'll be right behind you, DA.

Ron

[Andy]

We did do night convoys on occasion. We were always told that with our starlights and our speed (30MPH, sometimes) we had the advantage. Anyone with a couple months in country did not agree.
We had a lead APC hit a Large mine on one such trip and it took at least a half hour to get moving again. Charles and his RPG's and AK's made great sport of plinking at us. I didn't care for that. Although I must admit is was rather exciting.
Mounting a Ma Duce on a jeep? We saw some MP's riding shotgun on a small convoy with 50's on a couple of jeeps. We just laughed. Like Ron said the concussion and vibration from that big butt 50 needs to be mounted to lots and lots of iron. The higher up it's mounted on a mono-pod, the more vibration. One good firefight and there's no doubt the 50 would rip itself out of the mount.
That said, in recent years I've seen 50s and 51s mounted on pick-up trucks in the middle east and eastern Africa. I'd guess the trucks are re-enfored with all sorts of steel welded to the frame but it still doesn't seem like a sound idea for a military vehicle.
Maybe the guys who came up with the 50 on a jeep should have thought of a twin M-60. Shooting a 50 inside a village is like saying, "lets have a whole bunch of collateral damage".

Stay healthy,
Andy

[PHO127]

In all of my time in VN, When we left Khe Sahn from Lam Son 719 we convoyed to Vandergrift, we stayed there for a week or so and then march ordered for Chu Lai. We left Vandergrift in the morning and I expected to have to fight all the way to Quang Tri. Not a shot fired. We were going to spend the night in Quang Tri and then go on to Chu Lai. NOT. Someone made the decision that we would continue on to Chu Lai. We reached the Hy Van pass late in the afternoon, about 30 minutes before dark. I remember looking down at Da Nang Harbor just at sunset from what I remember as must have been 2 or 3 thousand feet above. We convoyed down the Hy Van Pass in blackout at night and never had a shot fired at us, didn't loose a single vehicle over the edge. Did loose two men KIA. One fell from a 5 ton and was run over by the following truck and one guy jumped out of a 3/4 as it rounded a curve to get on the truck following with his buddies and lost his footing and went over the edge and fell about 200 feet.

I remember steeling myself for all of the casualties we were going to have going down the pass in the dark. Much less the fire fights we would encounter. Not a round and not a wreck.

Sometimes I wonder about why things happened the way they did. We evacuated Khe Sahn to Vandergrift and fought all the way and took 23 casualties. We left Vandergrift to Chu Lai, convoyed the Hy Van at night and never had a round fired.

I don't think Jimmy the Greek would have given odds on that one.

[MORTARDUDE]

when our 2 months in Cambodia were done about June 30, for some stupid reason we did a haul ass about 1 AM in the morning
in the middle of God knows where with the jungle killed on both sides of the road for a 100 yards by Agent Orange and we were firing illumination rounds the whole way from 2 of our mortar tracks while the whole-kit-and-kaboodle was moving along at 30 mph+.....Thank God we didn't have anything fired at us.....

Ain't War a bitch !!

Larry

[phuloi]

I found myself in a convoy of ONE (1) on a rubber wheeled front-end loader as the sun set up by that freaking bridge (help,Andy) about 20 miles from Phu Loi.My plt.leader,Lt. Hyte hung my ass out to dry.The bad guys had a couple of pot shots at me-one round hit my SHIRT,but I came out unscathed.After having to throw down on the guard at the gate to let me in-said he had orders not to open the gate after dark-I went post haste to the officer`s hootch to shoot that son-of-a-bitch Lt.,but the Captain talked me out of it.They figured I was crazy..guess I was.Now I have documents to proove it.

[blues clues]

Was on a night convoy one time it was nov.30 1967 they couldn't get a chopper in because of weather, we were about 20 25 klicks north of bon son when we got to Lz English on QL 1 though we were going to stay over night but NO, they were going to drivbe south that was a wild ride here I was getting ready to go home and they were trying to get me killed we did have a few shots fired at us but those drivers keep those trucks on the floor ruff roads and river crossing and all, when we got to Qun non it was drinks all around for those guy's.
razz

[DMZ-LT]

Same as Sid , fought all around Khe San, pulled out towards Dong Ha at night - not a shot fired The entire Squadron - minus my now in rear guard status platoon had a hell of a party. I couldn't get ANYONE on the radio. There was a ville close by and I had been out for 4 straight months so I had 200 bucks in mpc on me. Spent 50 to get the entire platoon laid that night

[Andy]

Just a little off subject but it happened at night. In mid April of 68 we got into a hell of a fire fight a few miles south of Trang Bang. (Remember the photo of the little girl running down the road nude who had caught on fire? That was Trang Bang, a VC stronghold.)
Our B & C Companies had made contact with Charles around 2 in the afternoon and the fighting lasted until a little after 8 PM. Our Bat. Commander (who graduated from VMI or the Citadel) was a great believer in doing the unexpected. At midnight we attacked Charlie?s position, with the help of a heavy gun ship team and a platoon of tanks. A rather frightening experience but it worked.
Did any of you ever engage in a large night attack? I?ve mentioned this incident to other combat troops who usually ask, ?Were you guys completely crazy?? As you know, anything that works is a good idea but at the time most everyone involved in the assault wished the OIC was present, so we could shoot the SOB.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[frisco-kid]

Was never on a night convoy. Did get caught out on the road once, after dark. We were going from Cam Ranh to Dalat. As you may recall, I was on convoy security for a tanker truck outfit. Anyway, I was on the tail gun-jeep and could only go as fast as the slowest vehicle. Somewhere between Phan Rang and Dalat we had a breakdown with a truck with engine trouble. The mechanic worked on it, but couldn't get it going. It needed a tow, but the tow truck was already hooked up to an earlier breakdown and was way ahead with the main convoy. It's next to dark, and we lose our eyes in the sky of a spotter plane and a loach. We decide to leave the truck and get the Hell to Dalat, so we piled the rifleman riding shotgun into the back of the gun-jeep with me, and the driver into the 3/4 ton with the mechanic. About 10mi. outside of Dalat it's blacker than the inside of a black cow, and I'm feeling like one of those little moving targets in a shooting gallery. Sure enough, we draw some AK fire from a treeline. Both drivers punch it, and I open up with the M-60 and the rifleman does the same with his 16. We make it to a bend in the road, and are out of range. We make it to Dalat without anymore incidents. After we get there, someone notices that the spare tire on the gun-jeep has two bullet holes in it. Dodged another one.