Stories of Vietnam

Snipers at Monky Mountain

2008-08-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

There were snipers at Monkey Mountain. The mess hall was down close to the beach. The communications bunker where Don worked was about 150 feet inland from the mess hall. There were wood flats that formed a board walk down to the mess hall.

One day they were all going to lunch and a sniper started firing. They could see the bullets causing sand to fly up. Everyone started running. They would run down to the mess hall for a few days and then they would get complacent and walk. Don was shocked that everyone would walk with snipers out there. A few weeks later it would happen again. It happened once or twice a month but they never could flush out the snipers.

Sometimes the Seabees would come over and build stuff for Special Forces and they’d trade them things like AK47s or steaks. They were often over at the Special Forces club house because there was always cold beer there. The Seabees were there a lot because they were building new barracks and they were moving the commo bunker.

Martha Raye, the comedienne, would come by once in a while and stop in at their club. She could out drink and out cuss any of the soldiers.

Monkey Meat at Monkey Mountain

2008-08-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

Al and Don got sent to Da Nang, the only ones of the group to go there. They were stationed at Headquarters at Monkey Mountain. As their special forces training dictated, they lived as indigenous people and also picked up some Vietnamese language. They tried to befriend the South Vietnamese because a situation could arise where they might save their lives. The Vietnamese soldiers invited the American Special Forces to a cook out or BBQ. They cooked up monkey meat on a spit. It didn’t taste like chicken. They urged the guys to try this delicious sauce called nuoc mam.
“What is that?” asked Don.
“Fish.”
“Fish?”
Don tried it and it just about did him in. He was gagging like crazy and he couldn’t believe he didn’t puke. He was supposed to be a tough Special Forces guy and couldn’t handle the fish sauce. The Vietnamese found this to be hilariously funny.

Back at the barracks one guy told him it was ground up fish guts. High quality fish sauce or nuoc mam is actually fermented fish. It is generally made from smaller fish, such as anchovies, that don’t have much market value. As soon as the catch comes in it is packed into earthenware crocks with salt and covered with a bamboo mat. It is left to sit in the sun for up to two years. Periodically the mats are removed to air out the fish and allow the sun to help with the “digestion” of the fish. When the fermentation process is complete, the resulting liquid is drained from the crocks and sediments are strained out of it. It is allowed to air in the sun for a few more weeks before it is bottled for use.

Fish sauce is widely used as a salt in Southeast Asia and, with the rising popularity of Thai food in the states, it is catching on here.

Ice Cream and a Shave

2008-06-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

After about a week in Cam Ranh Bay the 25 special forces men were sent to Nha Trang. As soon as they walked onto the compound they saw an ice cream store. You ordered and paid and picked up your order at a window on the other end. They had soft serve ice cream, hot fudge and you could get a banana split. No shortage of bananas there! It looked just like a Dairy Queen and that is what they called it.

Across the dirt road on the compound was the barber. Don had been at Nha Trang a couple of days and needed to get a haircut. He walked into the barber shop and saw all the Vietnamese barbers. This made him a little suspicious. After all, they had sharp objects such as scissors and razors.

He saw that there were other Americans in there getting haircuts so he thought it must be OK. The barber gave him a haircut and a shave complete with the hot towel on the face treatment. Then he grabbed Don’s head and jerked it to the left and cracked his neck. “What the heck!?” “Is he trying to kill me?” Don grabbed the arms of the chair and tensed up. The barber grabbed his head again and cracked his neck to the right. It was just part of the services provided.

Welcome to Vietnam

2008-06-20T11:20:00.002-07:00

It was his first day in Nha Trang and the sergeant had asked for volunteers to go on a training mission. There was a company of South Vietnamese going out and they wanted a squad of Americans to go with them. They were going to send all the new guys so they had no choice but to go. Then they decided to only send a platoon of Vietnamese and only needed 3 newbies. The men were assured that they wouldn’t see any action as they would be in completely safe areas with no problems. This would just be added training to help them learn to stay alive. Don figured he could use the training.

That night they walked for a long while, keeping quiet until they came to a ridge. They all laid down on the ridge in an L shape with the South Vietnamese forming the long part of the L and the Americans forming the short part.

It was 3AM and Don was wide awake, hunkered down in a banana grove overlooking a small valley and a rice paddy, when he saw a cone shaped hat silhouetted in the moonlit Vietnamese sky. The cone shaped hat was 10 feet from Don at the corner of the L. He reached over and grabbed the arm of the sergeant next to him. The sergeant looked up and saw what Don saw. Don’s hand went to his rifle and he aimed at the cone hat. He was afraid to shoot in case it was a civilian. It was hard to tell over here. The sergeant mouthed the words “Don’t shoot, let them handle it,” nodding his head toward the South Vietnamese platoon. At that very second, all hell broke loose with all kinds of shooting. The South Vietnamese had fired on the cone hat. Later the sergeant told Don that if he had fired he would have drawn fire in their direction. First survival lesson learned.

During the shooting, which probably lasted all of 10 seconds, Don was trying to get as low to the ground as possible. He squirmed and wiggled, literally trying to dig himself a hole in the ground.

When morning came, they discovered an AK 47, blood, and drag marks, so apparently the cone hat had not been alone. As the sun got higher it started to warm up and Don wasn’t scared any more. He stood up and then he smelled it.

What was that awful smell? He looked down and he was covered in s**t. He had been wallowing in it. He was informed that the Vietnamese used banana groves for outhouses and banana leaves for toilet paper. The sergeant and the other guys had a good laugh at Don’s expense and the fear and tension of the long night was broken.

Just great. Welcome to Vietnam

After this engagement they went back and the first thing Don did was take a shower, of course. They reported in and the newbies were still processing in country. All of these men were entitled to a Combat Infantryman’s Badge because they had been engaged in a firefight. The sergeant should have submitted the paperwork for that. When Don went to check on his badge, the clerk told Don he wasn’t doing the paperwork for it.

“Why not?” asked Don.
“Where are you going?” asked the clerk.
“Command and Control North.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll get your CIB there.”
“What do you mean?” asked Don.
“You’ll get fired on there. 7 out of 10 don’t come back from CCN.” Said the clerk.

Don’s eyes got real big when he heard that. He was wondering what he had gotten himself into. When Don got to Command and Control North in Da Nang he did finally get his CIB and he also learned that the clerk’s remarks were exaggerated.

Hello Vietnam!

2008-06-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

There was something of a social life at Fort Bragg. Don’s pal Ken had a green Ford Mustang and they would ride around in it and listen to Petula Clark on an 8 track tape. Ken had a big crush on Petula Clark. Most of the guys didn’t have a car. Don’s old friend Al ended up there too, along with a guy named Mark. These guys hung out together.

Al and Don would march over to the building where they had their Morse code class. Al already knew it because he had already gone to radio school and learned it there. Don would pick up a newspaper and before class and during breaks he would read Dear Abbey to the class. He would read in a very dramatic fashion and change around some things to make it funny. “Hey, read Dear Abbey today!” the guys would say.

They asked for 25 radio operators to volunteer for Vietnam. Don was thinking he wouldn’t volunteer for that. That was dangerous. Then he saw Al volunteering, so he did too. He figured he had to look after Al. They needed 25 radio operators distributed throughout Vietnam. Al and Don would be in the 5^th Special Forces.

Ken went to the 8^thSpecial Forces which was Panama. Mark went to the 3^rdSpecial Forces and was stationed at Fort Bragg as far as Don knows.

The 25 were sent back to Fort Gordon to get radio teletype training (rtt). This time around they were stationed in real barracks. After rtt training they were given leave. After leave they reported to Fort Lewis and got their paperwork done. They were trucked over to McCord Air Force Base where they hopped on a plane for Vietnam. It was Braniff airlines, a big yellow plane. This was during the Braniff airline campaign called The End of the Plain Plane. They were painted all one color such as metallic purple, turquoise, orange or lemon yellow. The big lemon yellow plane landed in Cam Ranh Bay and they threw the doors open. Don was wary, expecting a lot of shooting but it was nothing like that. It was a beautiful sunny day and people were just walking around. It sure didn’t look like a war zone, but more like a spot that could be a beautiful resort if the army hadn’t been there. They got off the plane and processed in country. All of them had latrine duty while they were waiting to be sent somewhere.

Outside of the hooch (living quarters) there were several of the 106 recoilless rifles. These huge guns made a huge noise. They wondered if it was like this everywhere in the country and if they would have to learn to sleep with all that noise. They just took it one day at a time.

Busted!

2008-06-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

Don was studying for a test the next day. Fred came by and said two guys had just graduated from the engineering class. Everybody was getting together to see those guys off and Fred wanted him to come to the party. Don said no, that he had to study. He didn’t know them that well anyway. Fred kept nagging him until he finally said OK just to get him off his back.

As Don walked up the stairs to the door he heard the guys making a lot of noise, shouting things like “Air Mail!” and “Air Travel!” They were proud to be airborne and were celebrating. Unbeknownst to Don, the Officer of the Day was walking by their window and heard all the noise which sounded like a bunch of drunks, because it was a bunch of drunks. About the time Don was knocking on the door, the Officer of the Day must have been starting up the stairs. They let Don in, shut the door and shoved a can of beer in his hand.

As soon as the door closed behind him there was a knock on the door. Fred opened the door and then slammed it shut.
“It’s the Officer of the Day!” he said in a loud whisper.
“Well unless you’re gonna go airborne and jump out the window, open the door. There’s nowhere to go. He knows we’re in here.” said Don.
Fred opened the door and the Officer of the Day came in and started taking names and sending them back to their rooms. Don was really angry at Fred. He should have stuck to his guns and not gone. Everyone got busted down a rank, even Don who hadn’t taken so much as a sip of his beer.

Night Jump

2008-06-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

To retain proficiency you had to jump once every three months. Whenever they had a jump you could go if you wanted. Don liked it so much that he went as often as he could at Bragg. It was such a thrill!

On the evening of his first night jump it was windy but they finally decided to go ahead. Don was at the end of the stick. They all shuffled to the front and jumped out. There was no moon and it was pitch black. He was still fairly new at jumping. Usually there was a fire below or a truck with its lights on to indicate where the landing spot was. On this night he could see nothing. When his eyes finally adjusted he saw that he was going into the trees. He hit the trees and fell for a bit. When he came to a stop he was hanging in the trees. He remembered the procedure. Pull the reserve chute, get out of your harness, and slide down the chute to the ground. He fed out the reserve chute and tried to shake it down. He couldn’t see how high up he was. Then he remembered! He was supposed to drop his pot (helmet) to judge how far he was off the ground. He took his pot off, dropped it, and as soon as he let it go he heard THUD. He was only about a foot off the ground!

The riggers came over to get them and Don was the only one who had pulled his reserve. “What the hell’d you do that for?” the riggers wanted to know. “Well, I was way up there…” said Don. “Yeah sure.” Boy did he feel stupid. Once again he was on the riggers’ bad side. The riggers grumbled quite a bit. Don wondered if they had to fill out a report every time someone pulled a reserve. They took everything and threw it in the back of the truck and then everyone grouped on the DZ (drop zone). No one called him on pulling his reserve and he was glad of that.

First Jump at Fort Bragg

2008-06-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

It was sundown and Don was on the plane getting ready to jump. There was a gorgeous sunset. He was the second to the last man in the stick (line of guys that are jumping). His buddy Fred was in front of him. This was their first jump at Bragg. Don had taken his camera up so he could get pictures. He got out of the door and for the first time he did not check his canopy. He felt the tug but did not check. He pulled out his camera and started taking pictures. He heard crazy Fred going, “Hey Don!” “Hey Don!” Don thought Fred was trying to get him to take his picture. “I already got your picture Fred!” “No you idiot! Look up!” said Fred. Don had a Mae West! This is when one of your risers goes over the canopy and pulls it down in the middle. He realized he was dropping faster than everyone else. He was next to last out of the door and he should have been the second highest but he was below everyone.

You are supposed to pull on the riser and try to get it to pop over but this did not even occur to him. He pulled his reserve and it just fluttered in front of his face. There wasn’t enough wind to deploy it. Now he began to panic! On instinct he stuck his thumbs down in and pulled out the chute and threw it up and it deployed. It filled and he looked down just in time to land. He did the parachute landing fall and saw that the riggers were already halfway to him. “What the hell happened?” they asked. “Did you try to shake it loose?” The riggers are the ones that pack the chutes. He was not on the riggers’ good side today.

For the record, he never again failed to check his canopy.

Special Forces Training Group

2008-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:00

After Jump Week they headed to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This was Special Forces Training Group. SFTG. They’d been through Basic Training, Advanced Infantry Training and Jump School. Don thought Special Forces training would probably be the hardest yet.

They arrived at 8 pm and here came the sergeant major and Don was thinking, “Here we go.” The sergeant major said, “You guys are late! Hurry up and get your stuff stowed and get into town!” They appreciated the thought but they were all tired and it was late so they didn’t go into town that night. Here at SFTG they finally started to treat them like men.

At Special Forces Training Group they had a nice room for eight people but they never had over 5 people. Bathrooms and showers were right there. All right! This was good living! Don’s old friend Al, from California Cadet Corps was there. There were a lot of interviews to determine what job they would have. Al and Don both got communications. They wore baseball caps until they got their green berets. In Basic Training Don had taken the test for Special Forces and the test for Officer Candidate School and passed both. Two weeks after Don got his beret, orders came down for OCS. He elected to keep his beret and stay in Special Forces so he turned down OCS. In hindsight he thinks that was probably a mistake.

I'm Airborne!

2008-06-06T21:38:00.001-07:00

Finally they g0t word that they were going to jump so they loaded on to a C-130 airplane. The first thing they noticed was that there was no padding and no insulation. It was stripped down. There were four large, extremely loud engines. The noise was deafening and hurt the ears. Everyone was sitting there and no one was talking. Everyone was scared but no one was saying it. “Oh man what have I got myself into?” he wondered.

Finally, the jumpmaster at the front of the plane gave the signal to "GET READY." Don thought to himself, “I’m just going to stay in my seat and let everyone else go because there’s no way I’m going out that door.”

The jumpmaster says, "STAND UP!" And Don stood up. He’s thought, “What am I doing!? I’m going to freeze up in that door. This is stupid. Sit back down!”

“HOOK UP!” You know what he did. He hooked up. He couldn’t believe it. He knew he wasn’t going.

“CHECK EQUIPMENT!” You checked the equipment of the guy in front of you making sure his static line was hooked up to the cable that runs the length of the plane and you made sure everything looked good. Don did that, all the time knowing that he wasn’t going.

“SOUND OFF FOR EQUIPMENT CHECK!” This started at the back and the first guy said, “One OK.” Next guy, “Two OK.” This continued until it reached the front of the plane.

“STAND IN THE DOOR!” An experienced jumper would be the first one in the door to set the example. They didn’t want a novice there who would freeze. All the while Don was telling himself, “Just sit down, you’re not going to do this. You’re going to freeze in the door and the guy behind you will be pissed off. Will they push me out if I freeze?”

He was as wound up as he could possibly be. His heart felt like a trip hammer. The noise of the plane was roaring. His legs, arms and back ached tremendously. You just wouldn’t do this if you didn’t have to, if there was any way out.

The light turned from red to green. “GO!” Now he could hear the wind in addition to all the engine noise. He shuffled to the door. “Oh man this is ridiculous. I ought to just step back now.” He hit the door. It felt like he grabbed his heart right out of his chest and threw it out the door and his body had to follow. He was supposed to put his hands over his reserve chute but he was so scared that he put his hands over his eyes.

There was a static line going from his pack to the cable so he didn’t have to pull a cord to deploy his chute. Before he knew what had happened he felt a tug and there was complete silence. Then he became aware of the sound of the wind blowing through the risers of his parachute. All the pain in the back and shoulders was completely gone. Every pain was gone. He was in a state of euphoria. He saw the other guys floating down and could hear their exclamations. “Yeah!” “Man this is beautiful!” “This is incredible!”

It was like he imagined a high to be. It was so peaceful and the wind in their faces felt so cool and fresh after being so hot and cramped on that plane.

“I can do this! I can do this! I’m airborne!"

Jump School - Fort Benning

2008-06-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

After Fort Gordon Don went to Fort Benning because he had signed up for airborne.

Ground Week ~This first week they jumped off of a 19 foot tower. They’d climb the tower to the room at the top where they were hooked up to a rope pulley system. They would jump out and grab their reserve. They’d go down to a berm, unhook and run back to the tower and do it again. They had to run everywhere they went. If you had to go to the bathroom, you ran. If you had to fall in you had to run to that area. In addition to all that running they ran three miles a day.

Tower Week ~This involved a 200 foot tower. Your open parachute was hooked to the outer ring of a big metal umbrella and it lifted you up. You’d be dangling in the middle of your gear. At the top they’d say GET READY and they’d let it go. You’d float down. Somehow Don got the job of hooking up all the parachutes. This didn’t look like fun and he didn’t want to do it. He thought he’d keep his mouth shut and maybe slide by but someone noticed he hadn’t done it and made him do it. It wasn’t as bad as he thought but he was glad it was over. He decided to take it one step at a time and not worry too far down the road to when he’d have to jump out of a plane. This week they ran five miles a day.

Jump Week ~It rained the first couple of days this week so they didn’t get to jump. They would have to jump five times in order to get their wings. Finally on Wednesday they got out on the field. They were told that they didn’t want to fall out of the harness so they were cinched up really tight. Then they couldn't take off because of weather. They sat there all morning and into the afternoon, tightly cinched, waiting for the weather to clear up. The circulation was impaired and the muscles were restricted. They were miserable. It was agonizing to sit there hour after hour, cinched up so tightly that they could hardly breathe.

AIT

2008-06-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Don with his Grandpa and Grandma after basic training

After basic training Don was sent to Fort Gordon Georgia for advanced infantry training (AIT). This included familiarization with weapons.

The soldiers were living in the same barracks that had housed the German U-boat prisoners of war during WWII

The building was constructed of cinder blocks that had been painted and it had a pot bellied stove in the center. This was in February and March so it was cold and they had a fire in the stove all night. They took one hour watches to keep an eye on the fire and then the watcher would wake up the next person on the list. It was not unusual for the watcher to fall asleep for two or three hours and then wake the second or third person on the list. Someone on the watcher list would usually get to have a night of uninterrupted sleep.

There were no bathrooms in the barracks so they had to go outside and they had to shower out there too and it was COLD. I wonder if these living conditions have been updated by now.

California Cadet Corps

2008-06-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

During his high school years Don was a member of the California Cadet Corps. The corps was founded in 1911 by Brigadier General Edwin Alexander Forbes who was Adjutant General for the State of California Military Forces. There were shortages of personnel in the National Guard so the California Cadet Corps was formed to train youth in military discipline in the hopes that they would eventually enlist in the Guard. It developed into a very effective leadership training program.

In the sixties, CCC at Clairemont High School could be taken as an alternative to physical education class. Every day during third period the cadets would fall in at the parking lot of Clairemont High for attendance call. They had a classroom, office and firing range at their disposal. The next hour would be spent training in drill and ceremonies or taking a class on orienteering, patriotism, leadership or some such subject. Sometimes they would go up to Camp Pendleton and train with the Marines. The commandant, the adult teacher of this program, was hands off and rarely present so the students became adept at running it by themselves. Responsibility for the command, training, operations and logistics fell to the nine cadet officers.

Standing L to R: Mike, Norm, Max, Gerald, John

Seated L to R: Moses, Al, Paul, Don

In Don's sophomore year he was a member of the Best Drilled Squad at Field Day. After the competition when the squad leader reported, the Marine Drill Sergeant said, "I would take your squad against anybody, any time, any place. You guys are that good." That was a defining moment for the team. It inspired them to high achievement in the years to come. Most of the nine boys on that squad would become officers in their senior year.

In his junior year Don taught some of the classes such as Browning automatic rifle, M1, and map reading.

They worked towards Field Day where they would compete against 10 other San Diego high schools in close order drill. It would be the Camp Pendleton Marines who would judge the competition. In his senior year Don was the executive officer and second in command. Due to extenuating circumstances the battalion commander was unavailable for Field Day so the command fell to Don. The team drilled every evening after school and on Saturdays. When Field Day arrived, the Clairemont team’s bus was late to the competition. The Marine judges “penalized” the team by making them go first without any practice or preparation. The team was well trained and they didn’t bat an eye. When the competition was over they saw that they had set the bar. No other team could top their score and they won best in the city. Their score was the highest ever attained and tied the score they had made in their sophomore year.

This was an exceptional group of young men who formed a bond, fit together, were very good friends, worked hard and were committed to excellence. They had been mentored by the very capable classes ahead of them in that tradition. Some of them went to Vietnam together. Some of them stay in touch to this day.

The M1 Rifle

2008-06-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

Don walked into an army recruiter’s office in San Diego in 1968. Two weeks later he boarded a bus in Los Angeles and traveled to Fort Ord in San Francisco. This was basic training and he was here for two months.

There were four platoons receiving training on the M1 rifle. They sat on the ground in front of a big wooden platform where a Drill Sergeant was standing and teaching the nomenclature, effective range of the rifle and other pertinent facts. This was old territory for Don. He had learned this well in the California Cadet Corps in high school and had even taught classes on it himself.

Somehow the Drill sergeant noticed that Don wasn’t taking notes. He said, “Why aren’t you taking notes? Do you know this already?”

Don stood up and said, “Yes sergeant.”

“Do you know the nomenclature for the M1?"

“Yes sergeant! The U.S. rifle caliber .30, M1, is an air-cooled, gas-operated, clip-fed, and semiautomatic shoulder weapon.”

“Fine. Do you know the three main groups?"

“Yes sergeant!"

“Well, what are they?”

“The three main groups are the trigger housing group, the barrel and receiver group, and the stock group.”

“OK, you do know it. Sit down,” he said with a surprised look on his face.

Stories of Vietnam Begins

2008-06-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

My husband, Don, was a Green Beret in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969. I have learned that they are only called "Green Berets" by civilians and in the movies. They call themselves Special Forces. He has some great stories of that time and for a while now I’ve been thinking I should write them down. I finally got him to sit down and tell them to me so I could type them up. I thought that at least I would be able to share them with our children. Then I got to thinking that there might be others out there who also had experiences in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war who would enjoy reading Don’s stories and sharing their own. Thus, Stories of Vietnam begins.