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DP11a.JPGHelo Loading Area - LZ EnglishNext to our bunker was this helicopter loading area. It was oiled to keep the dust down. Here a Chinook is picking up a load of ammo, going to one of the firing batteries. Man atop truck is giving signals to the pilot. Foreground: Bn Commander LTC Bobzien's hot water shower.
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DP9a.JPGBn CO LTC Jerry Bobzien, 2/9thSpring, 1968. LZ English was just outside Bong Son, to the south of Duc Pho where we had been months before. We stayed here only about a month. The base, fortunately, had been occupied, so it was already built for us. Our FDC bunker is behind the sign.
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DP10a.JPGFDC TOCSpring, 1968. Next to our bunker was the FDC tactical operations center where we worked. In the distance, past the Bong Son village, is one of the Tiger Mountains which was festering with VC, unlike the NVA we had seen far to the north.
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DP8a.JPGR-Sopping againSpring, 1968. Moving again, from LZ Baldy to the south of LZ English, by convoy. Time here had been hectic. Not only were we shelled frequently during the TET offensive, but so were the field units. We frequently fired illumination rds all night. Viet Army compound at Hoi An was overrun by the NVA, but was saved by our all-night pinpoint shelling.
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DP7a.JPGNew FDC Section bunkerFeb/Mar 1968. Taken from front of new FDC to Bde CP. Bunker complex (w/ antennas) was Bde TOC bunker and we worked in it with them.
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DP3a.JPGAtop LZ ThunderDuc Pho, LZ Montezuma (aka Bronco), Fall, 1967. "B" Battery, 105mm howitzer. Bunkers around the gun were for ammunition and for the gun crew. The South China Sea can be seen in the rear.
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DP6a.JPGLZ Baldy - Mortar AttackSP5 Jim Fitzpatrick and one of the many mortar & rocket holes taken near our tent (our tent is the pointed one...out of the rear of the tent is our bunker. During the first attack, we found our bunker was open on the back side, which was where the rounds were landing. We sat there listening to the rounds coming overhead enroute to the CP bunker.
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DP1a.JPGCam Ranh Bay - BarracksFall, 1967. After flying from Minneapolis to SF, I spent a few days in process in Oakland. Then flew to Anchorage and Yokota AFB (Japan) enroute to CRB. Spent a few days processing here before being assigned to the 4th ID in Pleiku. Picture taken enroute to R&R in Australia.
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DP13a.JPGLZ Mile HighSpring, 1968. "A" Battery had just moved into this hill, midway between Kontum and the Cambodian border. The hill had been cleared for their landing by a B-52 run. FDC conex at right. Hill was later heavily mortared. They shared this hill with the Inf Bn HQ.
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DP16a.JPGFDC TOC - LZ OasisSummer, 1968. Glen Bruney on duty here. This bunker was a complex of rooms made from CONEX containers. These were our main radios on command freq. Switchboard to DivArty at right. Command map at left showing battery circles (ranges). Plastic overlays used to plot targets & troop locations. Clipboard itemized arty fire missions.
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DP5a.JPGLZ Baldy - south of Hoi AnFebruary, 1968. SSG Ronnie Kackley (Little Rock, Ark) and me in front of the S-1 hootch.
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DP12a.JPGOff dutyOff duty in the tent. Others on my shift were Glen Bruney and Ronnie Crowe (both leaning against sandbags). Jim Castelletti (clerk) in the foreground.
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