LT Terry

[39mto39g]

while going through the 1/35s records I found the reunion sight for Cacti Green 1BN 35th Inf. So I went to there sight and low and behold at one of there reunions was one of my LTs. Lt Terry. He was there around sept /oct or so of 67. I was sent to Base camp by BN to pick up our new Lt.
I arrived and waited on the LZ for some 2nd Lui to show. This guy came by and we started to talk . where you from, how long you been in country , ETC.Etc. about an hour passed and he asked what I was doing at the LZ and I told him I was waiting for some fucken Lt to take back to our unit. He said "Im that LT" I said , yea right, and he said really Im LT Terry, Ive been assigned to Recon. Shit----- sorry sir. He said no problem, I called for a chopper and we went to where Recon was. Big Giant whoops.
He was most likely the nicest, most un Lt type that Ive ever met.
I was glade to see his name on the reunion roster. He allways carried a CAR 15. I have a picture of it next to my M-16.
Ron

[Bill Farnie]

Most of the platoon leaders I served under were good officers. When I first got to my company Lt. Collins was the 3rd platoon leader. He was from Kentucky and spoke real slow and said things like ? I want ya?ll to take a squad and go over yonder? Yonder? Where the f**k is yonder? He was a good officer and he carried a grease gun instead of an M-16. He left in December 1968 and then we got Lt. Gowan. Gowen was a ring knocker and on his very first day as platoon leader, came into our barracks at Camp Evans and told those of us who were there that he planned on leaving Vietnam with nothing less then a Silver Star. Gowan was pretty much hated because while he was with us he volunteered our platoon for everything. Every night ambush, either run out of Evans or in the field. Every combat assault he made sure we were the platoon on the first lift. In the field, if we stopped for awhile, our platoon always provided the patrols and OP?s around where the company was setup. Our CO, Captain J.W. Hendrix, soon caught on to what this a-hole was doing and had him transferred to an ARVN unit as an advisor. He was a real jerk and did win his SS but he lost both his legs to get it. Next came Lt. Cook and he was a great guy and good infantry officer. After Hamburger Hill, the higher-highers determined that one of the problems that occurred when the 2/501st and ARVN units were sent into the battle to add to the force for the final assault, was that those units had to far of a hump to get to the Dong Ap Bia mountains because there weren?t enough good LZ?s. The company?s of the 101st in the A Shau took turns going out for two weeks and cutting LZ?s in and on the mountains that surrounded the valley. Our company went on one of these missions and we were cutting LZ?s on the ridges of the mountains that made up the eastern side of the A Shau. On this Op, Lt. Cook was like a kid in a candy shop. He had a chainsaw, that no one could get out of his hands BTW, and when we used C-4 and det-cord to blow the bigger trees he had to be the one to do the blowing. I can still see the shit-eating grin on his face as he turned the handle on the detonator. He left us and went to HHC right before the fight for Hill 996. After Cook, we got Lt. Crocker and his coming was a case of bad timing getting to our company. The very next day we were in deep shit and I think he was just overwhelmed with it all and wasn?t much of a leader during the battle. Good thing the 3rd platoon had a lot of experienced men and NCO?s. He was still the 3rd platoon leader when I DEROS?ed a little over a month after he arrived and from what I?m told by the guys from my company that were still there when I left, he turned out to be pretty good. Those were my platoon leaders while I was in Nam, most of them good and one real bad. Actually maybe I?m not being that fair to Gowen, for as much as an a-hole he was, he was a good infantry officer in a fight and could lead by making solid tactical decisions. Don?t mean nothin?.

[39mto39g]

Sounds like the 2/502 pretty much had there shit togeather. They needed to have it in the I Drang.
I didn't like working with the Arvin, They were always late when you needed them and when the shit hit the fan they were nowhere to be found. They did do real well in HUE Jan-Feb 68 but I can't remember any other time.

Ron

The Platoon Leader I remember is LT Vincent De Mayo, from LA, he was a college grad, so the Army offered him OCS. He was a good Platoon Leader, and listened to his NCO's but he did always make his decisions based on that.

[DMZ-LT]

Always wondered what my men thought of me. Met 3 guys in my platoon last June at the reunion. They all said I did good and got them home. Tiny said he would follow me to hell and back .. again . It's the dead that bother me still

[VIETNAM 1968]

DMZ-LT:

Always remember--You are not to blame for guys under your command that never made it back home. It was the NVA or Viet Cong that killed them--NOT YOU. We know that you did your best and because of your good leadership--MANY MORE GUYS MADE IT BACK HOME ALIVE. That is something to be proud of. You did good:

All great American military leaders have lost men in battle. I am sure that they had the same unanswered questions that you sometimes have. WELCOME HOME BROTHER:

To all of the rest of my Vietnam Veteran Brothers and Sisters I also state: WELCOME HOME:


VIETNAM 1968

[Advisor]

Uncka Samuel wanted me go to OCS, not once but twice (sheesh but Sammy's a slow learner). Wanted to send me to Benning School for Boys. I was holding out for Finance . Me a platoon leader? Would have been a disaster. Did not want to have the responsibility either.