I took this picture of a LOH helicopter on a fire base landing zone as it waited for a officer to board. These helicopters were used to ferry officers, as well as for observation and inspection patrols. We would see them on occasion, buzzing around like hummingbirds. As a matter of fact I think I called them by that name.
This post has another picture of Jack and I (Woody) on a hill overlooking the lowlands somewhere west of Hue. We were on patrol and may have been waiting for helicopters to pick us up or for orders to hump to a different hill. We humped a lot of hills together during our tour of duty. I believe that this picture was taken during the last half of our tours. Jack was my closest friend during the time we were in Vietnam. We were both drafted into the Army in May of 1968 and went in country in October of 1968.
This post has a picture of Hunter, a member of 3rd Squad, returning from a patrol. Hunter was, shall I say, a brick short of a full load. I remember one time we were on patrol walking a well established trail through the jungle. To me it would be hard to stray off the trail we were on, but at some point we heard someone trashing trough the thick jungle growth beside the trail. We wondered who the heck was bush whacking. Stopping to investigate, we found a frantic Hunter trying to make his way through the brush, trying to catch up to the rest of the squad. We guided him back to the trail and told him to keep his eye on the person in front of him as we moved out.
This a picture of one of the sergeants in our company. I can’t remember if he was a platoon or squad leader. I can’t for the life of me remember his name. And, of course there is no name tag on his uniform. I do remember that he was a good natured guy and was not afraid to have some fun. I have a funny story to tell about him, myself and another guy, which I will share in a later post.
Seargent Dunn at fire base near A Shau Valley.
We were working on a fire base, fortifying the bunkers when this picture was taken of Sgt Dunn. He was a great squad leader. All of the men in his squad thought a lot of him. I don’t remember what his first name was or where he was from. I wished I would have kept a journal during my time in Vietnam and recorded the names of the men I knew and the places we went or saw. Hopefully the letters I wrote home will contain helpful information.
