Chu Lai – Americal Division Headquarters

A part of the Chu Lai runway and aircraft hangers

A small portion of the Chu Lai installation

A typical “street” in one of the barracks areas. This was where I stayed while processing into the Americal Division

The men stationed at Chu Lai had pretty decent conditions

Some of the Chinooks at Chu Lai

A couple of planes that didn’t quite make it back to the runway

The Huey Cobra – they could lay down some serious firepower!

I would have loved to have flown in one of these!

LZ Bronco at Duc Pho, Quang Ngai Province

A portion of LZ Bronco and the airstrip.

Some of LZ Bronco during the Fall rainy season.

This large hill, called Montezuma, was a part of LZ Bronco, and used for communications and radar towers at the top.

6th Battalion, 11th Artillery Headquarters at LZ Bronco

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Gleave (right), 6/11 Artillery Battalion Commander, with the Battalion Executive Officer

Saint Barbara’s Day celebration at HQ. Col Gleave giving opening remarks.

St Barbara’s Day. Some of the officers waiting for the celebration to begin.

Me (right) at St Barbara’s Day enjoying some chips and libation!

Saint Barbara and her throne of artillery shell crates!!

The 6/11 motto.

LZ San Juan Hill – forward headquarters of the 4th Battalion 3rd Infantry and Bravo Battery, 6/11 Artillery

View of Infantry Hill from Artillery Hill with the landing pad and supply area in between. Firebases like this were built by Army Engineer companies using bulldozers, backhoes, and other heavy equipment to build roads and landing pads, dig bunkers, level areas for artillery pieces, and clear fields of fire for defending the base. Equipment was flown to remote places like this utilizing “Flying Crane” and Chinook helicopters.

105 mm Howitzer at San Juan Hill – these were what I used as a Forward Observer with Alpha Company.

Me with one of the 105 howitzers. I had just arrived at San Juan Hill.

Alpha company prepared to leave San Juan Hill and head into the field.

A visit by some of the Alpha company rear HQ officers.

A morning air-strike by F-104 Phantom jets.

And some morning Napalm. After these strikes, a search of the area found charred equipment and a human foot in the crotch of a tree limb!! I was new to the field and was still becoming accustomed to the consequences of combat!

Huey on the pad at San Juan Hill

This was typical of the type of terrain we worked in; open grassland, wooded areas, and jungle covered mountains.

Beautiful vistas….but, also deadly!

Moving in a scattered formation; to not create an easy target!

Destroying enemy shelters under construction. Fence in the foreground was for pigs.

Searching a jungle camp.

Capt Schweibach emerging from an enemy tunnel after setting charges to blow it away.

A Huey dropping off men on one of our combat assaults

This was a hill across from San Juan Hill where the NVA had set up one of the 51 caliber anti-aircraft guns that were shooting at our re-supply choppers. Air-strikes had blown away large areas of jungle, in attempts to silence the gun. It would also be sprayed from the air with a defoliant known as “Agent Orange”, and later marketed as Round-Up! The planes flew right over our position on their spray runs.

This shot was taken from the ridge where we were set down on the morning of September 21. We would search the jungle below and end up for the night in the large clearing at the end of this valley, where we would suffer the terrible mortar attack.

One of the birds that dropped us off on the ridge.

Standdown for Alpha company at Chu Lai

Probably the most popular spot on the beach….the food hut!! Cold drinks and hot steaks, burgers, chicken, and hot dogs were available all day long.

The company Mess Sergeant with a grill-load of steaks! This was his domain…he was there all day, taking pride in serving the men!

Some serious volleyball to help clear the mind of where we were.

Just chilling on the beach….the USA was only 7,000 miles across that water!!!

One of the USO shows. Bob Hope wasn’t there this time, but there were some really talented entertainers from the USA, Australia, and areas of Southeast Asia.

LZ Debbie, field HQ for the 4th Battalion, 21st Infantry, and my home as Artillery Liaison Officer.

LZ Debbie. Infantry HQ at lower left and Artillery at top right.

Infantry HQ. Tactical Operations Center (TOC) is next to the road at upper right. The bunker across the road was my home after moving out of the TOC.

The TOC.

TOC on the right, my bunker on the left.

Me with the 4/21 sign.

Artillery Hill at LZ Debbie

A new model 105 Howitzer at Debbie.

Me with one of the 155mm Howitzers at LZ Debbie.

A view of the coast from artillery hill.

The lower landing pad at LZ Debbie.

Some infantrymen with a Vietnamese interpreter outside the mess hall.

A view to the West with Highway 1 amid rice paddies.

An armored unit that stopped by while patrolling the low lands.

My roommate in our bunker. Nice house!!

A couple of my guys with one of the mess sergeants.

Me with my main man at the TOC….don’t remember his name, but he was from Jersey…

A watch tower near the HQ at LZ Debbie.

LZ Charley Brown, just off the coast, was a fuel station. Fuel was pumped from ships to these barges to be loaded into tankers. The 4/21 was responsible for security here as well.

A fishing hamlet on the coast.

Infantry unit was waiting to move to the field, so I borrowed this M60 machinegun and a couple of bandoliers of ammo for this “tough guy” shot! The soldier drawing water from the “water buffalo” in the background looks severely impressed!!!

We had an opportunity to fly out to sea to visit a Navy ship to discuss naval gunfire during an upcoming operation. Really cool!!

Me (left) with an Ensign from the ship and a Naval Fire Control Officer (right) stationed at LZ Bronco.

Air Force Tactical Air Support command tagging along with the command chopper.

Consultation with a hamlet chief. The mounds in the foreground are graves.

Typical scene in a hamlet.

Scavenger pile along Highway 1.

Children along the road.

Combat assault.

Christmas Day at the Officers Mess.

High level conversations over Christmas dinner.

The temporary forward fire base for the last operation before I left. Monsoon rains made for a mess!!

Quite the pantry! Cases of C-Rations and water,

Building walkways to contain some of the mud!

The briefing tent.

Smoke break …

A French village ravaged by the years of fighting.

Suspicious purple smoke. The enemy would sometimes “pop smoke” to try to lure a chopper in close!

LtCol Gleave and me at the Officers Club for my going home party. My last night at LZ Bronco!

My “Freedom Bird” carrying me back home.

Loading up…on the day everyone looked forward to! No way to express how happy these guys were!!