Early one morning in October of 1970, elements of the 46th Engineer Battalion, with a convoy of 10 Ton Tractors, departed Long Binh. The tractors were pulling lowboy trailers loaded with PSP (Perforated Steel Plating). We were headed toward Saigon then northwest to a location close to the Cambodian border.
I had the honor of riding in the trail jeep. This is my story and recollection of those exciting days. 37 years is a long time to search through the file cabinets of my mind and find the right drawers with the memories, but I’ll give it a try. The pictures are old. Some have withstood the passing of time better than my memory.
I was riding with the Battalion’s Chief Maintenance Warrant, a mechanic, who was our driver, and SP4 Capalino, though I no longer remember if that’s how he spelled his name. The exuberance of traveling the roads of Vietnam, lasted only as long as it took for the heat and dust to put thoughts of a cool shower and colder beer in our minds. The jungle fatigue shirts were quickly removed leaving arms and chests bare under the Flak jackets. As the heat and discomfort increased, Flak jackets were removed. I used mine as a cushion for the spare tire I sat on.
We traveled through numerous small towns and villages. The children were always smiling and waving. They wanted us to give them cokes or candy. We would toss them cans of C-Rations. Mostly lima beans and ham. They’d throw them back at us with a few words of profanity included. Something’s are universally disliked.
After we passed through Tay Ninh, we saw the last of the roads with any resemblance of being paved. We also got our first glimpse of the Black Virgin Mountain. Where the name came from is unknown to me or has been forgotten.
The road soon became a quagmire of mud from recent rains. When a vehicle would breakdown, we’d stop and wait for the mechanics in the contact van to get it running. If they couldn’t fix it, we’d radio for one of the wreckers. The road worsened as the lowboys deepened the ruts in the mud. This caused the jeep to fishtail like a drunk was at the wheel. On one bad stretch, the inevitable happened…The jeep got stuck. The Chief decided that the best course of action was for him to drive while his three minions got out and pushed.We made some progress, the jeep picked up speed, and off it went. We chased after him, yelling, “Wait for us Chief, wait for us,” but he couldn’t stop and take the chance of getting stuck again. After 500 yards of sloshing through the mud, we finally caught up with him. He found a dry spot and we were out of breath. If Charlie had been watching, he would have died from laughter. (Note: My use of Charlie is a short form of the military alphabet for Viet Cong. Victor Charlie)
Even with the dirt, the mud and the heat, we were having the time of our lives. Being out in the country on a deserted muddy road didn’t faze us. Were we worried about and ambush or dying? Like most young fools, it didn’t cross our minds. We eventually caught up with the convoy when it stopped for refueling and a meal break. We broke bread together. Or I should say, opened up some of those great C-Rations. The ones we had must have been old. Each meal contained a small green packet with four Lucky Strike cigarettes in it. I would swear they were leftovers from the Korean War, but that’s highly unlikely.
After a short break, we continued north-west. We were told a compound had been established near a small Special Forces outpost. The area was being expanded and a temporary airfield was being repaired. That’s why we were hauling PSP. We had to get there before sundown. The surrounding area became a free-fire zone after dark. Everyone was feeling the physical strain of the trip and we were anxious to see it end. As we got closer to the compound we could see that Charlie had been in the area. The tracked vehicle, possibly a tank, had taken a hit or ran over a large mine.
The sun was sinking fast when we came within a couple hundred yards of the compound gate. The last 10 ton was stuck in the mud and a wrecker was attempting to pull it out. A Captain came out and told us if we couldn’t get the vehicle unstuck and into the compound in the next ten minutes, we had to leave it there. He was serious about getting us inside which made us very nervous. We made it before the sun set.We parked the jeep in the dark and strung up our nylon hammocks wherever we could find something to hang them on. It didn’t take long to fall asleep.
Sometime during the middle of the night, I experienced my first and last Mad Minute in Vietnam. Every gun on the perimeter went off at the same moment. M60’s, 50cal’s, Grenade Launchers, and the 40mm we had parked next to. We scrambled for our weapons, but after a few minutes, we were told to go back to sleep, they were only clearing the berm. Sure, go back to sleep. I don’t think any of us slept the rest of the night.
When we had pulled in the previous evening, we didn’t realize how big the base was. It wasn’t a permanent facility, but there was a lot of activity. We watched 175mm Howitzers sending greetings to Charlie somewhere down range. The Cobras were going and coming. Vehicles were everywhere off loading equipment and of course the Engineers were repairing the temporary airfield. We spotted a Chinook coming in with a sling load beer and made our way to the drop site. A friendly grunt gave us a couple cases of good ole black label. We begged some beer cooling ice from a mess tent that was being set up and things were beginning to look promising.
That cool shower we were looking forward to. We found something just as good. A culvert with a slow moving stream flowing through it. It felt great. We learned a valuable lesson. If you’re going to bath in a dirty stream, make sure you have a bar of Ivory. We lost three bars of soap before someone pulled out a bar of Ivory. It does float.
The trip back was uneventful. I did fire the M60 after leaving the compound but there was nothing but vegetation in my sight. Most of the photos below were shot by someone whose name is in one of those missing file drawers. I’m thankful that he gave me a copy of them. A few, I took.
Click the photos for a larger view.
