The two Iconic Statues at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial As a tribute to the nurses, girls have thrown their "scrunchies" on the base of the statue. Recon members search for names and pay their respects at the The Wall. Volunteers are there to help. The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is the most visited memorial in the National Mall. There are the names of more than 58,000 servicemen and women who lost their lives, listed here. The beautiful ladies of Echo Company … [Read more...]
On My Way to Quan Loi by Mother
It was December 17th, 1969. In 8 days, I would celebrate my 20th Christmas. I had been in-country Vietnam for one week. At breakfast this morning I received instructions to check in at headquarters. On my way there I was in a mental tug-of-war about my purpose for the trip. On the door of the office was a large notice for everyone to check the bulletin board nearby for updated Unit assignments. I wasn’t worried, I still had another week of training due in Bien Hoa, and the scuttlebutt was … [Read more...]
O Raing Revisited
I can only imagine that quite a few of the vets from 1970 and the Cambodian campaign would have read John M. Shaw's book, The Cambodian Campaign. I will occasionally will pick this up and just look at a random page. Did you know the North Viets had logistic units in Cambodia disguised as commercial companies? This was to bring supplies from ships in the port of Sihanoukville. By 1969, it was estimated that the communist forces in the III and IV Corps areas were receiving up to 100 … [Read more...]
Defending LZ Kuhn – copy
If I ever stayed at a miserable shithole of a place, this is it. The monsoon rains had begun in earnest and everything was wet; the ground, your gear, the ponchos were muddy and wet. This is the only time I know of when Recon "dug in". We all spent some miserable nights in our muddy foxholes. There was no chance of setting up a shower in this place. We had set up in our position in the middle of an enemy cache site on a ridge in Cambodia cuz that's what the air cavalry does. We hadn't … [Read more...]
LZ Kuhn – Part ll – copy
First and most importantly, all of Recon's wounded survived. Sadly, Jerry 'the Degree' Trumm passed away this last year. I'm glad he lived so long. His greatest battle was fought from a hospital bed, which is described well by Hutch in his poem, Hero. You can read that under the SCRAPBOOK tab on this website. Please help me out here...I'm relying on my memory, ha,ha. Please post a comment or email me if you were there that day. I was confused whether it was Alpha or Delta that was there and … [Read more...]
2023 Reunion
Another great location for a reunion, Melbourne, FL. Many thanks to Mother and Toni for all their time and effort in putting this together. Front: Leon "Roxy" Anderson, Jeff Yerger Back: Jim "Ski" Twardowski, Charlie Beagle, Jim Lesch, Wayne Roe, Paul "Siouxie" Connolly, Mark "Doc" Schramm, Tom Harris, David Meeks, George Heim, Terry "Mother" Fauquher The beautiful ladies of Echo Company Three Amigos Doc Shramm - Siouxie Connolly- Bob … [Read more...]
FSB David – Cambodia (2023)
Wow! Look at that! TO: Echo Co. 1/5 Cavalry, Delta Co. 1/5, HHC 1/5, and anyone else who served on FSB David. RE: Current events Several of us have been contacted by Richard Magner, a Warrant Officer who flew aircraft with the 229th Aviation Battalion as part of the 1st Air Cavalry. He has for- warded several images of the fire base. This is obviously in 1970. He also has some more current images and those are interesting as well. He is in contact with some of the … [Read more...]
Blue Max ARA
I don't really know much about the units and their operations during the Vietnam War. They saved my ass a few times, so I know that for sure! I started looking up some of the literature written by the those pilots flying overhead in support of the grunts. I found the following comment interesting. It was written by a reviewer of H. G. Brown's memoir. Blue Max Missions and Memories "Although during my 1967 tour I thought all the heavy action was up in I Corps, Mr. Brown reports … [Read more...]
Hammonds with Cambodian Flag
Bruce Hammonds of Bessemer, Alabama Posted this one before of course, but that was several years ago and this being one of my favorite photos of all time, I'm posting it again. Early in May, 1970, Recon was visiting O Rang, Cambodia, looking to see what was up. A quiet little town, it was completely deserted and our time there now seems idyllic. I had been in country since Dec, 1969 and had yet to fire a shot in anger. It wouldn't be long before I would see the NVA soldiers 4 or 5 at a time … [Read more...]
Vietnam Issue/Anti-malarial Drugs – copy
I decided to repost this blog after a comment yesterday, due to health concern of all vets, no matter where they served or when. I remember taking two different pills during my time in the field and then on FSB Nancy where I finished my tour of duty. I think everyone remembers these, the big orange pill once a week and the little white ones once a day. What the hell were those drugs? I just did as I was told. I sure didn't want to get malaria. I did hear guys complaining about side effects. … [Read more...]