My Little Deferment The prospect of getting drafted and being sent to Vietnam hung over the mid sixties like a smog that wouldn’t dissipate. The National Guard and Reserve enlistments were at an all time high. There were waiting lists to gain entry. College enrollment by 1966 was a must for any 18 year old male who wanted nothing to do with the military. As long as full time status was achieved on campus, a 1-S deferment was assigned to the student. This allowed all young men of draft age … [Read more...]
Cambodian Dress Code – copy
Shirts not required. Martin with his M-60 MG. A true ridge runner from West Virginia. On the right, Dob of McCook, Nebraska. Point man for Susie's squad. Behind them, Edmundo Gutierrez from Texas, aka "Chico", one of the platoon medics. On the left, studying the terrain, Ed Hutchins the forward observer & the Stallion, Robert Springer of Miami, Oklahoma. Several others in photo include Cossell looking directly at the camera, LT just behind Chico & it must be "Rock" looking off in the … [Read more...]
FNG’s Cont’d
I should also mention Perry Williams and some others who I really didn't know well. Perry would have come in post Cambodia. One trooper I did meet was Sgt. Petersen who arrived on FSB Nancy while I was there. A nice guy whom I used to hang out with occasionally. Jose Muro, another "doc", was out with Recon and said both Petersen & a Sgt. Frazier were killed when scouting some NVA bunkers. It was Frazier's second day in the field. Others were wounded while engaging the enemy and recovering … [Read more...]
Maps and things
Cambodian Incursion: These were easy to paste up here, I'm sure there's many others. I will continue to look. Bird-out … [Read more...]
I would be remiss…
If I didn't mention Jim Lesch & Lt. Cosper in regards to the FNG's. Lt. Cosper was not a new guy, but he was new to Recon. Jim Lesch was an FNG while we were in Cambodia. Well, I think that's right and I would be a slacker if I didn't mention them. They would have been with Recon when we walked off LZ Kuhn. I remember them as capable, able-bodied fellows and welcome to Recon at that time. We were pretty thin, well below any kind of platoon strength numbers. We were attached to Bravo Co. … [Read more...]
So long, Don!
So long, old pal! There will never be another like you. Rest in peace, O my brother. Bird-out … [Read more...]
Echo Company Mortars
I raise my glass to the brave lads of the mortar platoon! And make that a double if you were there the night of June 14th, 1970 when Fire Support Base David was attacked. Here are the mortar men that were there as best I can make out: Billy Allen, Michael Baker, Phillip Bowsher, Robert Buynak, Phillip Crumley (Sgt E7), Harold Davis, Roland Eastman, Gil Figuerca, John Bates, Guy Gorden, Stan Morgan, James Musick, Nick Mychajluk, Doyle Orr, John Pearson, Greg Romero, Roosevelt Ruggs, Kenneth … [Read more...]
The attack on FSB David
Early in June, 1970, there were small probing attacks on the firebase of the 1st Bn/5th Cavalry. By Saturday, June 13th, there was a reinforced company of North Vietnamese "sappers" gathering in the wooded ravines around the base. The sapper units were the elite of the NVA, and received camouflage uniforms, chinese rifles with folding stocks & other specialized gear for they were expected to assault the heavily fortified firebases & airbases of the American forces. This was the monsoon … [Read more...]
What I heard…
The attack of Sunday, June 14th, 1970 This is the most storied occasion I have ever known of in or out of the military. Everybody had a story, a retelling of this attack & they were all exciting! Wow! What a terrible night! These are some of the things I heard: When the shooting started, several NVA were either already over the berm or on it. They had been working their way through the "wire" & were tying up the trip flares with bamboo strips. Someone told me the shooting really … [Read more...]
Dead Journalists
Robert Capa, killed May 25, 1954. Of all the journalists, it was the photographers like Capa who were most frequently lost. From the 50's until the fall of Saigon in 1975, 135 photographers (of all nations) were killed or went missing in Indochina. Many of the Cambodian photographers were executed by the Khmer Rouge. 1970 & the invasion of Cambodia was the worst time for the western press corps. Seven were known to have been killed in eastern Cambodia. Seventeen have never been seen again … [Read more...]