I caught an early morning chopper to LZ Debbie, located on a hill on the coast, about five miles South of Duc Pho. The LZ had originally been built by and for the Army Engineers, so many of the structures were more like buildings than crude bunkers. It was a larger complex with a road that led down to Highway 1. The TOC (Tactical Operations Center) was a large structure made of 8×8 timbers laid horizontally, with windows and screen doors, much better than the sheet metal bunker on San Juan Hill. It was situated half way up the hill, with the artillery battery at the top of the hill. I had my own room in the TOC, with a wooden bunk-bed and a screen door to the rear of the building.

I met Captain Lewis, whom I was replacing, and he briefed me on the battalion and the current situation in their area of operation. The 4/21 Infantry worked primarily in the lowlands below Duc Pho and out to the mountains to the West, and had responsibility for the security of Highway 1 down to the southern boundary of I-Corps. He showed me around the LZ and introduced me to a number of the personnel and the commander, Col Johnson. I was amazed to find that Col Johnson was from Texas, and had graduated from Prairie View A&M, a division of the Texas A&M system for African Americans. He seemed to be a nice guy and we hit it off well from the start, sharing our commonality.

I stashed my gear in my room and set up a plywood desktop from which I expected to do a lot of my work. It was wonderful to have a “home” at last. One of the real perks of this position, for me, was the amount of time I would be spending in the command chopper. I had fallen in love with helicopters and got a charge out of every ride. I would have been a chopper pilot if not for a lack of mobility in my left arm, due to a bad break and a botched surgery as a child. At that point, riding was good enough. So, I settled in and made myself at home, looking forward to the next four months. During the following few days I was able to fly out to a couple of the companies in the field and meet my Forward Observers, and spend some time getting to know the guys up at the artillery battery.

October 7^th arrived and it was Happy Birthday to me!…which was all the celebration that I got!!

Along with the activities of my first week, I was also getting to know Col. Johnson. I needed to get a feel for his expectations of me and his attitude, in general, toward the artillery. I had heard that this battalion had had some not so good experiences involving the “cannon-cockers”. I had learned that if the infantry believes you know what you’re doing, they treat you like a king; if not, they wouldn’t follow you to the latrine!

It had started to rain on a regular basis, as the start of the monsoon season was approaching. There were times when it would pour down for several hours without letting up! I was SOOOO glad that I was out of the field. I would lay in my BED and listen to the torrents on the roof, and think of trying to sleep on the ground under a poncho!!! The temperatures would fall into the seventies, yet with the rain and wind, it would feel quite chilly, especially when flying around with the chopper doors open! I had to dig into my duffelbag and pull out my field jacket for warmth. I was loving my new job more every day!!

By the second week of October, the weather had switched to typical monsoon activity on the coast; rain at night and relatively sunny during the day, with highs in the eighties and nineties. It was great weather for flying, and I was enjoying the hours in the choppers. The 4/21st was primarily responsible for securing about twenty miles of Hwy 1, particularly where the mountains came out to the coast. The area was famous for ambushes of convoys and routine military traffic, so we reconed (reconnoitered) it regularly. I realized that there was no detailed plan laid out for artillery support along that stretch, so I began devising numerous target locations in likely ambush spots to facilitate rapid response. Col. Johnson was pleased, and impressed, as was Col. Gleave. Chalk up one for the Arty!!

My comfy room in the TOC had made a character swing with all the rain. There was a twenty foot wall of dirt about fifteen feet behind the TOC, which had been dug out of the side of the hill, to level the area for buildings. The volumes of water runoff had begun eroding the bank and flushing it down against our back wall. My screen door allowed the mud to flow into my room. Every couple days I had to shovel and sweep the excess through the slats in the floor, and the wet soil underneath wasn’t smelling too good. I opted to give up the privacy of a room to myself, and move into a bunker across the road. It was comfortable enough, and I shared it with one of the Captains on staff.

Confrontations with the enemy had been light over the past weeks, largely due to the weather, but also because they were surely having to re-supply men and material after the August/September offensive. Lately we had seen more ambushes along Hwy 1, so the battalion was going to send some companies a couple miles into the mountains to search out possible base camp and reserve locations. That meant there were going to be a number of combat assaults. CA’s were one of the things I enjoyed most as Liaison Officer. For a CA, I was responsible for prepping the landing zone, which meant utilizing an artillery barrage to cover the area where the choppers would set down, and any surrounding treeline or heavy brush where the enemy might set up an ambush of the incoming troops. On the day before the assault, I would contact various batteries and set up their coordinates, plan the number and type of rounds, and set the time of barrage. For most of our area I was able to use 4.2 inch mortars, 105mm and 155mm howitzers, and 8 inch and 175mm cannons, firing as much as 100 rounds. The guns would be as close as one mile and up to ten miles from the target, and when I used the 175mm cannon, they were firing from as much as nineteen miles to our South. The 175mm projectile would be in the air for one minute or more before hitting the target. In fact, those big guns were actually located in northern II-Corps.

On October 20^th we ran our first CA. I was able to utilize all sizes of guns, and I was as anxious as a child the night before Christmas. The command chopper would lead the formation of birds carrying troops into a holding pattern that I had supplied the battalion commander to insure that we were clear of the flight of the artillery rounds. Then I would start a two minute countdown to “Time On Target”, when the first round from each battery involved should strike the target area. It was so cool to speak into the headphone “…3, 2, 1, time on target is NOW!”, and then watch the instantaneous explosions in clouds of smoke and dust erupting all over and around the LZ. The barrage might last up to three or four minutes, depending on the size of the area to be saturated. It was such a thrilling sight…I often thought that not even a snake was left alive after such an onslaught. Then when the last battery would call in “tubes clear”, I would signal the pilot that it was safe to go in. The command chopper would lead the way, in a steep descent at about 100 mph, then level out and streak over the LZ, dropping colored smoke grenades, then climb back to a thousand feet or so to observe the troop choppers going in to off-load. It was an exhilarating experience, and I loved showing off the awesome power of artillery at my command.

In late October I experienced what seemed like another miracle, and perhaps it was. We were out on a recon flight when we received word that one of the companies had a soldier who had been badly injured by a booby trap. We flew to the location to pick him up and take him to the hospital at LZ Bronco. The company was located in the edge of a heavily forested area next to a large field of elephant grass. There was a small area of short grass next to the treeline, just big enough for a chopper to set down. As we were approaching the area, I noticed an empty sandbag laying in the center of the location. I thought it was odd for a sandbag to be out in the middle of nowhere, but didn’t think anything more about it; there were millions of sandbags in the country. We came in slowly and dropped straight down into the grassy area. Several men carried the wounded soldier to the chopper and loaded him in; after which, we lifted slightly, tilted, and flew forward. Within a couple of seconds after gaining flight, we heard a loud explosion behind us. The pilot made a quick climb and hard right turn, spinning us back the way we had come in, and there in the center of the small clearing was a large hole, with smoke rising into the air. Once again, I had come within a fraction of death, or at best, critical injury!! It was then that I realized why the sandbag seemed oddly out of place.

The VC were very wily at setting up many and varied traps to cause death and mayhem. In this case, they first set up a trap to kill or injure a person, and knowing a helicopter would be called in, they cleared the tall grass in an area just large enough for landing. Then they buried an explosive, which was likely an un-spent artillery round, in the middle of the space and attached a detonator, by wire, to the sandbag. The obvious intent was for the prop-wash from the helicopter rotors to blow the bag away, setting off the explosion, as the chopper was about to set down; quite ingenuous!! Apparently, the way we came in kept the bag pressed in place with the prop-wash circling around it, and only when we tilted forward did the airflow catch it so as to blow it away! So close, so very close!

Before I knew it, another month was off the calendar, and the days seemed to blend together, as my work became even more routine. There was very little activity in our area, largely due to the daily rain that could crop up at any time, and the occasional downpour that shut down everything. Much of my work still involved recon by helicopter; in one month I had logged better than fifty hours in the air. And I was loving it!

In mid November, I had a very difficult day! For a couple weeks I had been dealing with a 2nd Lieutenant FO, attached to one of the companies, who just wasn’t cutting it. Lazy, inattentive, and arrogant, he had the Company Commander ready to shoot him (figuratively speaking). After consulting with Col Gleave, we determined that I had to relieve him of his position and send him back to battalion HQ where they could deal with him. There was no way his attitude could affect the lives of the many men that might count on him. It was very difficult for me, because I didn’t like conflict. After relieving him, I had to write an Officer Efficiency Report for him, and although I hated to put it on his record, I had to be honest about his attitude. Then, after turning in the paperwork, one of the captains on staff told me I couldn’t be so negative in my report because I could ruin his career!!! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; I told him to write it up and I would sign it. One more reason that I knew I couldn’t be career military! Later that day I confided in one of the captains with whom I had a close relationship. He told me that I was too independent, and that I needed to keep my mouth shut and just go with the flow. I knew that, but I couldn’t accept it…seventy more days, and I’d be a civilian again!

Friday, the 21st…What a day! We ran a CA at 1:00PM, after which I took the chopper back to Duc Pho, grabbed my suitcase out of storage, and caught a plane to Chu Lai. I arrived just in time to meet with Col Hardy, the Artillery Division Commander, who knew that I was coming and had invited me to dinner. It was a nice private meal, and I felt honored by his invitation, but I spent much of the time listening to him speak of the benefits of a career in the army. He was very complimentary; telling me that I exhibited the knowledge and leadership traits needed in the military, and that I would rise through the officer ranks rapidly. He mentioned how highly I was respected by Col Gleave, and that I could likely name my future position in the battalion, or even promote up to division level. I have to admit that thoughts of grandeur flashed through my mind as I listened. In the end, I kept my mouth shut, went with the flow, was gracious, and couldn’t wait to get to bed! The next day I would be on a flight to Danang, where I would proceed to a week of R&R in Hong Kong!!!!

Fortunately, my tour in country was long enough to qualify for a week off, and I was able to plan to spend Thanksgiving week in Hong Kong. The largest cities I had ever been to were Dallas and Houston and they paled in comparison!! The numbers of buildings and people were amazing. It was most impressive. I planned to spend my time resting, sightseeing, and shopping. Captain Monday had planned his R&R for the same time. He was a day ahead of me and met me at the airport. He had reserved rooms for both of us at the same hotel. We spent my first evening sitting in the 12^th floor bar overlooking part of the city, drinking “screwdrivers”, and sharing experiences. It was such a change over twenty-four hours and a few hundred miles. The next day would begin a whirlwind of shopping and tours of the city, and the “new frontier” on the out-skirts of the city with a view of the border with China, with the fence and armed guard towers.

The British had established a huge shopping mall right on the harbor, called the Royal Fleet Cub, with only reputable and well scrutinized vendors for the military to buy without fear of being scammed. It was amazing purchasing custom, tailor-made suits for $40…cheap even in 1969 dollars, and they did it all, from measurement to completion, in four and a half days. I bought a full wardrobe of dress clothing, a stereo component system, and silverware, and a wristwatch, cashmere sweater, and pearls for Linda. I had a blast! It was a great respite from war, and I found that I really liked real Cantonese food (or some of it)!! And, I was able to eat at the famous Tai-Pak floating restaurant in the harbor. The Hotel where I stayed even had a huge Thanksgiving buffet…complete with all the items I would expect back in the USA. It was a fun and interesting time!