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 My son is asking about my military time (currently 1 views) |
| carlfryman |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2014, 4:59pm |
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Posts: 29
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Frenchie,
Go ahead and post both essays. I'm interested even if some others aren't.
Sam,
Do you know your know which unit and company your uncle was with? Need to post your uncles name that may ring a bell with someone here. Name and unit!
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Reply: 15 - 46 |
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| Jim Armstrong |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2014, 5:04pm |
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Posts: 203
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Frenchie:
I would be interested in reading your essays.
Not sure how their length would fit here, but if Admin doesn't object, it would be the best place. |
Jim Armstrong
C, HQ, A 2/1
1965-1967 |
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Reply: 16 - 46 |
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| Frenchie |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2014, 5:49pm |
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Maximum Member2 LIke to hear from anyone that was Co C 4/31
Posts: 407
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Thanks for the vote of confidence....
I enjoy posting here ...The Guestbook has rigid limitations
I was an M-16 guy most of the time i was there and here is my list of
what i carried in the boonies
3 days worth of C-rats
Personal Hygiene items (comb, razor,toothbrush,toothpaste, TP etc),
Infantryman's towel
Writing supplies
Camera gear and film
2 smoke grenades 2 hand grenades
Claymore mine and/or tripflare (i forget )
Poncho./ poncho liner
Entrenching tool and / or machete
100 belted rounds of M60 ammo
Web gear: pistol belt/ammo pouches and rucksack, canteen cups(4)
14-16 (i forget) Magazines of M-16 ammo.(many carried a lot less)
4 quarts of water
I didnt carry the air mattress...
Heat Tabs and water purification pills (I never used them - i never
got sick)
I did have a radio (until the batteries died and that was it)
Dont recall having extra socks etc..did have a pull-over in the winter
months
Lets not forget the steel pot/liner and baseball cap (i think i had
one in the field)
Any m-16 guys with a different list?
When i humped with the M-79 most of the time i carried 65+ rounds at
1/2 pounds a piece...no M-60 ammo ..
And how can I forget the bug juice…
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Frenchie - Gilbert E Manasselian
C 4/31 Feb 68 to Feb 69
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Reply: 17 - 46 |
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| Frenchie |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2014, 6:31pm |
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Maximum Member2 LIke to hear from anyone that was Co C 4/31
Posts: 407
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Frenchie:
I would be interested in reading your essays.
Not sure how their length would fit here, but if Admin doesn't object, it would be the best place. |
Plenty of space here for sure.......but here is what i wrote about our daily routine as grunts at the time i wrote this i called it TYPICAL DAY IN THE BUSH .... I just recalled i posted this a while back (months) .......this was OUR experience.....yours may vary.
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Assuming nothing too exciting happened during the previous day or night.....here is a typical day out there...
Wake up at daylight or earlier.
Breakfast ....usually instant coffee heated with Heating Tablets or C-4 (we were ahead of the microwave back then)...and something out of the C rats...i forget what it was...maybe canned fruits. After that "breakfast" someone comes around (maybe the medic or squad leader) and passes the malaria pill around if its the right time...we had a DAILY pill and a WEEKLY pill...in our case someone had to watch us take it...isnt that nice???
Gather up the gear and hang out until the higher echelon get the word of our next objective...that means pick up the trip flares laid out the previous night, roll up the claymore mine wires and the claymore mine and store them ...make sure no gear is are left behind...everyone is moving to get ready..
I never heard when the officers got the "word" of our next objective. Maybe someone higher up can explain the process. I m sure the squad leaders have a meeting with the 16 26 36 (radio codes) platoon leaders and find out where we are going...and it’s probably the night before ....while waiting for the famous two words, we put on our jungle juice...maybe even rolled down our sleeves to avoid dive bombing mosquitoes..I’ve wrapped my face with the infantryman's towel to where only my eyes would show..no other part of my face or neck would be exposed for the mosquitoes to munch on. As far as to how far we went before reaching our destination? I’ve heard various numbers...from 3 clicks all the way up to 20-25 clicks....i'm not certain but i would say that the terrain dictated the distance to our destination and possibly (doubtful, the danger level)..and i would estimate that in mosssssssst cases it varied from 5 to 15 clicks...possibly a little further but this would not be a daily situation...I hope someone better qualified will clarify the distance issue..
"SADDLE UP" ahhhh those words from our Sgt Roy Payne...I will find that man yet...if the "word" is given after our "circus day" aka resupply day....there is a LOT of moaning and groaning and guys pulling their buddies up...the pointman gets instructions on which way to go...usually its something like "GO THAT WAY" or we follow the trail nearby...there is no GPS device ...if we come near a creek, we refill our canteens...i carried 4 quarts of water (always)...I never pill-ed my water....that iodine table in the water tasted NASTY...I got lucky and didn't got sick...our water usually came from mountain creeks...some men carried a lot less water - like 2 canteens....some carried those new canteens (bladder?) by now most of us are familiar with them...i didn't like them because of the danger of puncturing it by accident and thereby making it useless. On occasion, due to shortage of drinking water, we have drunk nasty rice paddy water which we pill-ed and on very few occasion, our battalion shipped water by chopper...I saw that happen maybe 3 times over there....so we have already gone through the bush about an hour or so. We have replenished our water supply...fought off the leaches and dive bombing mosquitoes.....just another average day...nothing too dramatic or exciting and typically it was that way most of the time I was in the field.
Around noon, the powers to be decide it's lunch time...so we stop and set up a wagon train type of defensive position and depending on the weather we break out the poncho liners for shade (we tie the corner to the brush or branches. If it is raining, the ponchos come out ...then a squad is selected (by rotation) to go out further and patrol the area...so offfff they go...not sure how far, perhaps about 100M(?) from the main group of the Company. Their purpose is to be an early warning system of sorts for the company....of course there is NO competition to volunteer to go out there...the troops only go when required to do so.....so the famous words of "SADDLE UP" is given and everyone gathers their gear and awaits for the word to move out...usually this is a single file and depending on the terrain and vegetation men would be as far apart from each other as they could but not more than about 15ft... this was done to avoid injuries in case someone walks on an explosive device/booby trap...sometimes, at night, it was more like 2-3feet due to the visibility. I had a situation (daytime) where we were towards the end of the single file and the guy in front of me was a new guy and we got to a fork on the trail...so i asked the new guy...."HEY NOW WHAT????"" so he looooooked and looooooked at both forks and picked one.....BAD choice...so i told him..."You go THAT way and you'll be in Laos by dinner"..off we went and shortly after we caught up with the platoon...
I knew where we were since this was a trail we had used in the past and yes i was being a smart ass that day.....better me being a smart ass than the gooks on the trail. Being last in the single file was not the best place to be...the challenge was keeping up with the rest and it was not always easy...there was what I call the accordion effect....on flat clear ground, the front picks up the pace and then the rear has to catch up when they reach that spot on the trail. On occasion we found base camps...I would guess during my time there we probably found 3-4 base camps. Most of the time no one was there but on occasion there would be a welcoming committee awaiting us. I could be wrong but was that not the situation at Nui Chom (I was not there).
Enemy Base Camps located.
The first enemy base camp found when i was with Company C....actually - this is the 2nd base camp I saw was located across LZ West in the Nui Chom mountain range near Hill 944...we had been there a day or two and I can't recall who was up front (2nd Platoon was not point that day) but I do recall quickly how the word came down that an enemy base camp had been discovered. It was surreal...our pace was reasonable..we were huffing and puffing..the trail was well worn... the sky could hardly be seen due to the triple canopy above us..it was nice and cool which we enjoyed very much. As we got up to the top we noticed all the hootches along the way with no one in sight...there were hand carved chi-com grenades..they roughly looked like WWII German grenades (think potato masher) but smaller...their reputation was not great...we had learned they did not always worked. The whole area seemed to be a training site with classrooms style hootches...the word went to start burning them and the Zippo lighter guys went around lighting them up..it got smoky...i recall seeing a 122MM rocket...looked kinda of old tho...just the one ...no weapons were located, no supplies either..i do recall also seeing unattended fires still smoking with aluminum cooking utensils laying about.
After reaching our night laager
We finally reach our night laager !!! Hooray....sometimes this night laager was at a location where we had been already in past weeks. When that was the case we usually occupied the same fighting positions. We all knew where to go. The fighting positions are always laid out in a wagon train style....round/oval shape depending on the contour of the hill...When this
was a new night laager it was MORE work....the first thing we did was dig a foxhole. I am sure there will be different opinions as to the size of it.
They seem to be like the size of fish in fishing stories....the older we get the larger the foxhole gets .. As I get older myself, i tend to tell others how HUGE the hole was....usually the fighting position was dug for 3 men...i would guesstimate the hole to be about 2-3ft wide, maybe 5-6ft long and about 3-4 ft deep...it usually was not very hard digging since most of the ground was made of decomposed leaves, shrubs, bushes, limbs etc....this size is my best recollection...it could easily have been smaller or bigger that hole was THE priority once we got on top of the hill..it didn't take much
motivation to have the guys dig the foxhole...for obvious reasons. The last thing any of us wanted to see happen was to dig under fire...
Once the foxhole is dug, the claymore mines were laid out in front of the foxholes that would be about 30Ft (i cant recall how long the wire was). The trip flares were also put out somewhere out there.....now when I put my trip flares out, I know this was dangerous but i wanted MAXIMUM benefit from it, I put the pin through one hole only...rather than the two holes so
that ANY pressure on the wire would activate the trip flare...so now the foxholes are dug, the perimeter is secure, we laid out the claymore mines and trip flares... and hope they don’t knock on our door tonight....Now its dinner time and more of that fine army cuisine...we break out the CRats and/or LRRP rations...most prefer the LRRP rations since they are freeze dried and lighter to carry...towards the mid 68 ..it was not uncommon for the army to chopper out meals...yes...they choppered out the warm meals on occasion...I would say probably more than 4 times a month (any ideas?)...and it was decent...
Guard Duty and/or night patrol/ambush
Night time activities
After things have settled down some...there are new activities after dinner is done. After dark, there is very little if any movement. No flashlights, no loud noises...Nightly a squad goes out for either ambush patrol or listening post (LP) duty outside the perimeter or good old fashion guard duty within the company perimeter. This guard
duty assignment is within their platoon and is part of the daily routine no matter what else happens...unless one is part of the officer cadre or the non-commissioned cadre. Its not a matter of "IF" there is guard duty, its a matter of how LONG and how many TIMES there will be guard duty per person that night....the listening post/ambush
patrol is typically a reasonable distance from the rest of the company. I would say about a couple hundred yards or less depending on various factors...and it lasts all night long...as i recall, not everyone is up all night...this is especially so for the listening post guys...they do report to the platoon leader every hour as to
their status (after reaching their destination). I believe the ambush guys did the same thing...
The guard duty (within the company) was as follows in most cases... Most of the time, each squad member had guard duty. The duty was as follows: two 1 hour shift per person for guard duty...if the squad was lucky it meant only 1 hour per night per person...this was based on how many were available in the squad that day.
While on guard duty, I personally never saw anything and barely heard a peep at night (I liked that!!!) Whenever new men joined the company, they would hear EVERYTHING and then some...which was fine with me.....While on guard duty I listened, watch the ground, the sky etc etc...rain or shine...
We had a man in our squad who was a sleepwalker...so when it was time to wake him up we had to make CERTAIN he was awake and alert. We got to actually learn if he was truly awake or not...the guy talked and acted as if he was awake but actually there was something different about him and he really was asleep .. so this guard duty for everyone went on day after day and night after night for a year rain or shine, day or
night...
Everyone took guard duty seriously. When they did not, bad things
happened. I wrote this mostly for non vets who may read my posts...for you vets
it will be dull for sure. I do want to add that these are my
recollections...
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Frenchie - Gilbert E Manasselian
C 4/31 Feb 68 to Feb 69
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Reply: 18 - 46 |
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| Sam Weatherspoon |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2014, 8:07pm |
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Minimum Member 
Posts: 13
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Frenchy- Thanks for posting these here. I was a signal soldier myself (peacetime) so our routine and bring along stuff was different. My equipment was mounted on a deuce and a half. Your posts were both very interesting to me.
Carlfryman- My uncles name was Bobby Vickers. He may have been known as Vick. The things I know are that he was a lrrp in the 196th. I don't know if he was in a line company or recon platoon or even which regiment he was in. I understand lrrps may have answered to brigade but I don't know for sure. He went to Ft Benning and was possibly a shake and bake E-5. Arrived in country Nov 67 and came home Nov 68. I have been trying to get his pictures from VN from a relative that has them, but they arent as interested as I am so they aren't in a hurry to dig them out. I want to post them because I know a name may not ring a bell, but the faces might. I did post in the looking for section about a year ago, but no replies. Since you guys are looking at this thread, do any of you remember which fob or lz may have had a large Snoopy painted on a large boulder/side of a mountain? I think it had a unit designation around it but don't recall which one. Its one of his pictures I remember seeing when I was a child. Also remember seeing one with him and another soldier with a prisoner and another showing a airstrike. I've rambled too much for the little info I have, I do appreciate your posts Frenchy, and thanks for asking about my uncle Carl. |
My train of thought derailed- There were no survivors.
HHC 711 Signal Bn 142nd Signal Brigade 1985-1992 & 1996-1998
Alabama Army National Guard
U.S. Army Reserves 2000-2002 |
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Reply: 19 - 46 |
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| Frenchie |
| Posted on: March 7th, 2014, 11:04pm |
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Maximum Member2 LIke to hear from anyone that was Co C 4/31
Posts: 407
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| Thanks Sam.....i am confident someone here knows your uncle.....since you re having a hard time getting the pictures...it may not be possible for you to get a copy of the DD214 which may have a lot more information. |
Frenchie - Gilbert E Manasselian
C 4/31 Feb 68 to Feb 69
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Reply: 20 - 46 |
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| Jim Armstrong |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2014, 5:44pm |
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Posts: 203
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Thanks for sharing those.
I, for one, would welcome such essays, letters or whatever from anyone who has them to post.
Or yet to write and then post. |
Jim Armstrong
C, HQ, A 2/1
1965-1967 |
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Reply: 21 - 46 |
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| carlfryman |
| Posted on: March 8th, 2014, 6:13pm |
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Posts: 29
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Sam,
Several of the 2/1 firebases had the Snoopy painted on the rocks in memory of LT Ransbottom who was KIA at Kham Duc on 12 May 1968. His call sign was Snoopy 6. He was with E 2/1. We lost much of E 2/1 at Kham Duc. They manned the OP's and were overrun in the early morning hours of 12 May. The LZ you may be referring to is LZ Ross or maybe Baldy. Your uncle and I had to have crossed paths at sometime because I arrived in country on 6 November 1967 and left 3 November 1968. If he was in 2/1 then I'm sure we may have crossed path at sometime. I would love to see the photos when you get them. |
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Reply: 22 - 46 |
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| Jim Gray |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2014, 10:11am |
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Big Member Sept 67-Sept 68 D 3/21 and HHC
Posts: 87
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Frenchie. Seems you were "light" on ammo. Most of us carried 2 in the rifle, 4 ammo pouches - each with 4 mags, 4-5 bandoleers which i think each had 5 or 6 mags, no heat tabs but we carried C-4 for heat ( no blasting caps )
We carried everything else that you listed also. I did carry an extra pair of socks.
At one time i carried all of that and also carried the PRC 25 with an extra battery.
I also think that when we were re-supplied we got 4 days of C-Rations. ( 1 case )
I think that it totaled from 90 to 120 pounds depending on food carried.
No matter it was quite a load. Oh we also had to wear a flack jacket. |
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Reply: 23 - 46 |
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| Frenchie |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2014, 3:07pm |
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Maximum Member2 LIke to hear from anyone that was Co C 4/31
Posts: 407
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two in the rifle (taped w/electrical tape?) i saw that with a few men but coudlnt get an y tape...i cant imagine us carrying 4 ammo pouches...we had two. Jim some guys such as our Platoon sgt carried i dare say MAYBE 10 magazines at most....and a minimal amount of C Rats (i liked to eat)...no extra socks...the radio guys didnt carry M690 ammo and i have no idea how much regular ammo they carried..im sure they had spare battery (guessing)
We had one old timer who wore a flak jacket..i stole one on Baldy but once it started warming up in March i get rid of it......i have no idea how much our pack weighed but i do know we all helped each other up after getting re supplied....and we ate as much as possible to lighten our load......looks like we had it "easy" :) |
Frenchie - Gilbert E Manasselian
C 4/31 Feb 68 to Feb 69
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Reply: 24 - 46 |
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| Jim Gray |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2014, 8:31pm |
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Big Member Sept 67-Sept 68 D 3/21 and HHC
Posts: 87
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Frenchie. NO one had it easy.
It was rough humping all of that weight. Never want to do it again. Hell, i doubt if i could carry all that now.
I still do a lot of walking. Probably 3 miles a day. |
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Reply: 25 - 46 |
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| Jim Gray |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2014, 10:11pm |
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Big Member Sept 67-Sept 68 D 3/21 and HHC
Posts: 87
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| Frenchie. A quick story about flack jackets. We were on a search and destroy. As we came up a small hill we took fire from a 50 Cal. After a few air strikes the 50 Cal was not silenced. So we went across a shallow stream into an area with brush and some hooches. A re-supply chopper was coming in with a few new men and C rats. As the chopper got real close the 50 Cal opened fire. A round ricocheted off of a hooch and hit a 2nd LT in the flack jacket. The Lt was bruised and also found the round . Talk about lucky! |
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Reply: 26 - 46 |
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| Sam Weatherspoon |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2014, 11:09pm |
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Minimum Member
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Carlfryman Thanks for that info on the snoopy. I'm going to explore the 2/1 angle and maybe find his old unit. Werent most E companies Reconn?
Frenchie: Didn't mean to hijack this thread. Thanks for the essays you posted . I would never think to have some of those items and really liked you telling about the average day. I was thinking if I was the new guy on night guard, my eyes would be so big you wouldn't be able to see my face! Yeah I'd be nervous. As far as people asking you questions, for you it's your son asking. I think it should be easier to talk to him than a stranger. Your son probably cares for you a lot and I doubt anything you tell him will change the way he feels about you. Ease into it. Tell about the burn barrel detail and the first time you had to take a dump with everyone around. Tell him how steep the hills were that you climbed. Eventually you could get lots off of your chest comfortably. We are a different generation from the idiots that "welcomed" some of you home. More of us appreciate you guys than you think and we want to hear your experiences. I think the people asking questions want to know. The people that aren't asking, aren't interested. Sign me Curious, but afraid to ask. Sam |
My train of thought derailed- There were no survivors.
HHC 711 Signal Bn 142nd Signal Brigade 1985-1992 & 1996-1998
Alabama Army National Guard
U.S. Army Reserves 2000-2002 |
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Reply: 27 - 46 |
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| Frenchie |
| Posted on: March 9th, 2014, 11:50pm |
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Maximum Member2 LIke to hear from anyone that was Co C 4/31
Posts: 407
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Nah, dont worry about the hijack thing....im happy to see posts here ...im doing the hijacking....lol...sometimes its lonely on this forum...thank youuuu for posting.
Sam, trust me when i tell you i had NO trouble falling asleep when it was my turn...the hard part was pulling guard duty 2-3 times during the night...usually twice...what i tell my son (he is mid 30s) is that war is NOT a video game (Call of Duty etc) you dont get an extra life if you die...no bonus points....to others i define what we did in the following manner: WEEKS of nothing, Minutes of Terror!!! and what did i do? I was a walking target for a year and we are ALL survivors and sometimes we ran into them by accident and all hell would break lose.
Funny you mention the burn barrel , i never did it...some volunteered so that they would not have to go down the hill patrolling (Hill 445)...we talk about the short steep hills, i have an online album he has seen i think...and most of what i try to convey is about the brotherhood that bounds us together....
I tell him how isolated i felt...how some places i felt like i was the only one there in hundreds if not thousands of years....nothing out there.....many of the guys had lots of MPC money and NO where to spend it... |
Frenchie - Gilbert E Manasselian
C 4/31 Feb 68 to Feb 69
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Reply: 28 - 46 |
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| carlfryman |
| Posted on: March 10th, 2014, 3:12am |
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Posts: 29
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Yes Sam, Echo Company was recon, so there's a good chance that he was with E 2/1. I wish that your uncle was still alive to talk about his experience at Kham Duc and how he made it through that. Sam, if you have questions, ask. Some may want nothing to do with it, and others like me and Frenchie will try to answer them for you.
Carl Fryman
C /21 1967-1968 |
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Reply: 29 - 46 |
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