To the best of my recollection, this will be an in-country tour. It's as close to month by month as possible...if not...XinLoi
We left San Diego onboard the USNS Geo. Weigel in Feb. of '66, arrived in DaNang and boarded an LST for the trip south to ChuLai. Hugging the coast the whole way, all we heard after dark were Arty, mortars and firefights...along with plenty of flares goin' off. Arrived in ChuLai in the middle of the night, no deuce gear, no M-14 and wondering what the hell was next. We stood in formation and I can remember one Marine asking "Where's our Rifles?", we were told not to worry about that at the time...tomorrow we'd get issued M-14s. Turned out, that Bro was Tom Cantielo, we hooked up after all these years for lunch and found out we'd taken the same journey to Nam.
Spent a couple weeks at ChuLai...never left Bn area, Tractors were pretty used up after StarLite and Double Eagle I and II besides, we'd be moving north to DaNang and Tractors would be 'surveyed' out there. I'd been assigned as crewman on 1A19, with Cpl. Waller as my crewchief....Wally rotated just after we got to DaNang and I was made CC of one-nine, with Domingo Salinas as my crewman.
Arrival in DaNang
Sal and me taking a break after working on the start of 'Tent City'...Alpha Company's area at DaNang.
Prepping the Tractors for field ops....had to lay sandbags inside on the decks, help put out fires and offered a little protection from mine blasts....each Tractor carried 12 rubber fuel cells for a total of 480 gallons of gasoline....not diesel.
Was right after Easter '66, we mounted out for Namo, not much else had been going on...I remember being on stand-by to go into DaNang if necessary because the Monks were protesting the government and there had been some rioting...the assignment to Namo was our first taste of being 'out there'.....
Heading north on hi-way one...great shot of an Ontos, little buggers but could lay out some firepower. That's 6 106s you're looking at.
Archie Moore with then, S/Sgt G.R. Harwood, my Plt Sgt....Staff Mustanged up to Captain...time spent with him taught me a great deal and Archie impressed me bigtime because he rode a SIXby to our position not a chopper.....like most celebrities did.
Had a CAP Unit at Namo and we supported 3rd Marines, doing river patrols and County Fair Operations along with bridge security.
All the comforts of Holiday Inn...went on numerous river patrols and a few County Fair Operations from here...note the tower in the background, it was on the south side of the bridge...hi-way one and the railroad used the bridge, two main arteries between DaNang and the northern province of QuangTri....bridge was blown by the gooks on 9April67....
Bridge was blown on 09Apr67
last two photos: courtesy of Richard Oass
River Patrol returning to Namo Bridge CP.... photo courtesy of Jim Hummel
Photo Credit: Dick Oass
An old Frech Fort north of Namo Bridge...Hi-Van Pass area
Photo credit: Dick Oass
I never could figure why the French insisted on building these Forts...much rather have the ability when defending a position, to do so by 'fire and maneuver'. Found these Forts all over So. VietNam.
Namo Bridge today.....
Tower, actually an old French defense bunker, is still there. The bridge has been changed to have the RR on the original repaired structure and hi-way one on a separate span.
photo: courtesy of Billy Joe Churchwell
Greetings and Farewell from Namo Bridge...Sgt. Lee and Dixon(rank not known, probably a PFC.
Front: Bob 'Jonesy' Jones,'Nick', Jim Falotico, Dixon, Jim Branson.
Back: 'Mingo' Salinas, Me, Jaworski.
After Namo, we did a short stint still with 3rd Marines, somehere west of Red Beach off a dirt path roadway by Hi-Way One. Still researching that part of my Tour. After a short stay at 1st Tracs Bn Hq in DaNang, 1st Plt was sent south to HoiAn, being attached to 1st Bn/1st Marines. I was sent out with C/1/1.
Used to go across the dirt road and play cards, grab some chow, 'etc.' Here's Jim in the company of some ARVN, note the .45 revolver in Jim's waistband.
Gunny Herb Reagan took the whole platoon to 1/1 TAOR, Gunny was a Marine I'd follow into Hell. All of us respected the 'Gunnz' as we would our Fathers and he made us feel as tho we were his 'Sons'. When something hadda be done, Gunny told us in a way, not ordering, but this needs done....and it was, no question, no hesitation.
34Dog...this was at CuaViet but the Dog operated all over I Corps...rode one out off the beach by HoiAn on 05Mar67, rivets rattlin' and door gunner at the ready.
'Matt Dillon'...Vietnamese Cadre. Flick taken outside a hootch used as a temple for two different sects of Buddhists. Location was N.W. of the HorseShoe and South of the Leper Colony...not far inland off the coast '66.
On an operation with 1/1 up by the Leper Colony, got ambushed one night on this road.
Inside a Buddist Temple....one is Bo Di and one is Cao Di, can't remember which is which....XinLoi
Female VCS..VietCong Suspect..captured by Co. C 1st Bn/1st Marines outside of HoiAn...'66.
VCS being interrogated in the HorseShoe by Matt Dillon and his boys. Must have made 4 or 5 trips to 1/1 BnHq to refill that damn water Boo!
Got real used to warm beer, ice was a comodity! Here, Sal, Nick, Jonesy and Carroll are takin 5 in C 1/1 CP area in the Horseshoe.
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Had Otters out at 1/1, real wide tracs, benefit was, they'd have less PSI, thus mines wouldn't be set off...yeah, right!
Huskies took their place....
Ray Farmer, Jim Falotico and an unknown Marine...this was prior to my arrival at ChuLai, probably on Dbl Eagle I and II. We all moved North to DaNang together and operated supporting 3rd Marine Regiment and 1st Marine Regiment...more than likely, more than just those two..we went where we were told not always knowing who we were attached to.
Ray again with another unknown Marine.
VCS being escorted by Grunt from 1/1 in '65.
Just another day in 'The Nam'...credit A.J. Kent with the photo, it's another example of Tracked Vehicle Bros working together...YAT-YAS!
