SwiftVets.com

[War Dog]

After I had been at Korat about seven months, one night I had the K9 post at the end of the runway, by the gate to the back road on the base. Across the road was the 24overrun post, which had the strobe lights for that end of the runway. That post was about four hundred yards long by about 75 yards wide, with only one road that ran next to the strobes, and elephant grass on both sides of the road and the strobes. At the end of the post, there was a small turn around area for vehicles. Oh, how K9's hated that post and we hated it even more in bad weather. Have you ever had to stand on a post where the strobes went off for 12 hours straight, and there was no-where to go to get out of that light. I still hate strobe lights to this day. They still freak me out.

Anyway, I got off on a tangent, but I was at the gun bunker talking to the straight leggers, and I leaned on the bunker, on what I thought was the steel support beam. It wasn't, I leaned on the tin facing on the front of the bunker, and my hand went through it, and damn near sliced off my little finger on my left hand. Needless to say, I hit an artery, and had blood spurting. I closed my hand in a fist, and tightly pressed it to my chest, and called in. I had one hell of a time putting that muzzle on my dog. The K9 SAT truck came, took me back to the kennels, I put up my dog, and off to the base hospital we went. When I got there, there was circle of blood on my jungle fatigue shirt about ten inches in diameter, on my t-shirt, and on my chest. I didn't realize I had bled that much.

I took 13 stitches in my finger, and I couldn't take out my dog for two weeks. So, I drove the K9 SAT relief truck, a Deuce and a half. Now, that was one hell of a vehicle. This was during the monsoons, and I figured that since I wasn't on post, I didn't have to blouse my boots (silly me). I was posting 16 K9 handlers and their dogs on the front side of the base that night. We were driving from the kennels, and it was raining like hell, and a rice bug flew in the window, and crawled up my left pants leg.

I kept hitting at my pants leg, while all the time trying to drive the damn truck on the left side of the road (I hated that), and all of a sudden the damn bug pinched the hell out of my thigh. I let out a scream, released the wheel, and grabbed for the damn bug. Well, the truck went to the right, off the road, and headed for a telephone pole. I realized it in time to slam on the brakes, and we ended up with 16 handlers and their dogs in one pile in the back. We had dogs fighting dogs, handlers fighting handlers, dogs fighting handlers, and handlers fighting dogs. The one thing that they all had in common was they all wanted to fight me! But when they straightened everything out back there, and found out that it was a rice bug, everything was ok, as we all had to face the damn things. I never went anywhere after that without my boots bloused.

Just a amusing story, as I'm sure we all have more than our share of them.

Woof!
_________________
"When people are in trouble, they call the cops.

When cops need help, they call the K-9 unit."

[redhawk34]

ASPB River Rat;
" That same night, ASPB 92-8 which had been assigned to 'Giant Slingshot' several weeks earlier, came under mortar attack while alongside an Army LCM-8 in night mooring, at a Vietnamese outpost. As mortar shells burst about the craft all five crewmen were wounded; the boat captain, BM2 George T. MORTENSEN, in actions for which he was later awarded the Silver Star Medal, parted the fouled forward mooring line by backing his engines, and brought his craft midstream just as three rounds impacted in the spot where it had been moored."

This is eerie, Man. I was grounded at a little MRF FSB, called "Nancy", just off the Vam Co Dong on the Kinh Xang canal (XS 857572) on the night of 11 Jan, 69, together with SGT Phil Layton's 17 boat. In the middle of the night, Mr. Charles walked about 20 mortar rounds back and forth across us. I got a dime-sized piece of frag in the Butt, had one guy with a chest wound that we dusted-off (turned out to be minor), and Phil's boat took a round in the welldeck that just made a pretty good dent. I cannot for the life of me remember if there was a Navy ASPB there that night, as I was focused on my two boats.
I just talked to the Bn Cdr of the 5/12 Inf. (Col. A.W. Malone) , who we were working for, and he doesn't remember, as we had been "lent" to the MRF for a couple days. We were, I'm pretty sure, the only Army LCM-8s working in that area at that time, unless the 1097th was up there, but I never saw them. I'm sure of the date, from the PH citation.
Either this was the same action, clouded by 35 years and by an "After Action" report that may have the details a bit wrong, or it is a hellofa coincidence.
I'll ask Phil, next chance I get, what he remembers.
Redhawk34

[ASPB]

[garb1015]

The roads around Camp Eagle were all dirt roads until you got to Hwy 1.
The roads had a ditch along each side and during the monsoons the ditches would fill up with mud. You couldn't tell where the edge of the road stopped and the ditch started. For that reason I always drove down the middle when I could. One day I had to move over for a duece and a half coming from the opposite direction and I went a little too far. All the wheels on the right side of the truck went into the ditch and I was stuck. It was raining like hell and I was alone. Snipers had targeted that road before and that was all that was on my mind.
Fortunately, after dropping down into low transfer and pulling the steering wheel as hard as I could to the left, the wheels grabbed and I got out.

I'm trying to imagine the scene of a bunch of handlers and dogs wrestling around in a pile. Forgive me if I chuckle but I'm sure you guys laughed about it later.

[redhawk34]

ASPB River Rat;
"I don't remember many of the details leading up to the action myself. Especially the name of the canal or the coordinates."

Only reason I can remember is I still have my old maps, all marked up.
The FSB I was at was about 12-15 klicks up the Vam Co Dong from the bridge at Ben Luc. There is a mid-size canal running NE from there, and FSB Nancy was right at the intersection, south side. Thew had 4-105s there and an anti-personnel radar on a small tower. The FSB only existed for a month or so, as it was pretty much under water at high tide.
I'm beginning to think these were two actions, as we did not return fire, Friendlies to the north, and I would remember a boat as bad shot up as yours. Maybe that Army LCM-8 was from the 1097 Medium Boat Co based at Dong Tam (I was 1099th-Cat Lai). They were attached to the Ninth/MRF, mostly towing artillery barges, but also running cargo and tactical use. Their CO was 1LT Gus Pagonis, later Lt.Gen Log Commander for Desert Storm. His book "Moving Mountains" is a good read.
Sounds like you had an interesting evening.
Redhawk34

[War Dog]

[redhawk34]

ASPB River Rat,
Just talked to SGT Phil Layton this AM, who commanded the other Mikeboat 1/19/69, and he remembers no Navy boat with us that night, and that we did not return fire. Must be two different actions.
Mr. Charles must have been running a Mortar Happy Hour that night.
Redhawk

[DougReese]

[ASPB]

[redhawk34]

I am a graduate of the US Army typing school.
It's a typo. 11th is correct.
Redhawk

[redhawk34]

Doug;
". . . it's that 35 year thing. "

I been wonderin' a lot lately about th' Hereafter.
Every damn time I walk into a room, I fergit what I'm Hereafter.
Redhawk

[JN173]

Back to the original thread.

[carpro]

[ASPB]

[War Dog]

Larry Watson posted: