The Mighty Ninth

Strive To Reach The Summit


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Dixon6a.jpgMemories are made of this! The 3" reel-to-reel GE brand tape recorder operated on D-cell batteries. Just so happens that everything else in the field operated on D-cell batteries, too! Great way to communicate back home. Still works today!
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Dixon55.jpgA beautiful building on the square in downtown Saigon. Originally a French opera house and also the seat of the South Vietnamese legislature (best info). Also, note in the right foreground the huge bronze sculpture that was a memorial to South Vietnamese soldiers. To the right of this shot was the beautiful French Caravelle Hotel.
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Dixon54.jpgHere is what kind of damage a communist 122mm rocket could do in the hands of a VC. This building in Saigon was hit during the Tet Offensive and so was I... but that's another story.
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Dixon40.jpg"Moonraker"We owed a lot to these boys! "Moonraker" (long before the James Bond film of the same name) was a deuce and a half truck, fully armored and equipped with both 50 caliber and M-60 machine guns. They brought SMOKE if anyone dared cause trouble for us out there on the road! They ran protection for us all along the way to Bong-Son and elswhere. Brave guys.
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Dixon29.jpg"Mumble X"(Top Center) We called him "Mumble-X." He got that name because he was always talking about Malcom-X and that was about all we could understand him say. He spoke very, very fast and very, very low. It was tough to decipher what he was saying unless you got him to calm down. A cocky, brave guy, though. His name was Mosely (best recall). He was originally part of HQ Btry, but then got farmed out to other units or areas. Last time I saw him he was running convoy. He was operating a quad 50... and seemed to love the action. The words painted on the gun say "V.C. Birth Control." No idea who the other fellows were because they were from another group.
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Dixon38.jpg"Short-Timer"What does a "short-timer" look like? Well, here is your big clue. The steel pot was damaged by a mortar round. The white picket fence led to the Marines tent area. One of the Marines saved my neck when we were overrun by the VC with satchel charges in our commo area.
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Dixon34.jpg155mm Self-PropelledTaken when assisting another unit's commo group. They were on the far end of Montezuma from where 2/9th was. This was a self-propelled) 155mm howitzer as it sat at Montezuma/Duc Pho. Taken with a Polaroid and an officer got bugged at me for taking it. I reminded him that I had top secret clearance and he got de-bugged. The marking above the white star is a cartoon of a duck sitting on a squashed egg. Don't recall anymore what it said, but was quite humorous.
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Dixon50.jpg17th Field Hospital, SaigonOne of our NCO's insisted that we shave close enough NOT to scratch the back of his hand or we got assigned EXTRA guard duty! He would actually rub the back of his hand across your face while in morning formation. You had hell to pay if it got scratched! My skin infection got so bad that I ended up in several hospitals, finally arriving at 17th Field Hospital in Saigon. It was a kind of poetic justice from God...
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Dixon3.jpg2/9th Arty BeretsHere...have a closer look!
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salesinvoice.jpgA Father's PromiseOne of our Commo guys said his dad promised him something. If he would just stay alive and make it home, his dad would buy him a new GTO. Sure enough, when he got home, there was a brand new red GTO waiting for him! THAT got my fires going. I learned through the PX guys that I could order new cars at a military discount! I ordered a new Pontiac GTO convertible. Here is the first of several (modified) orders I made. And check that price! NOTE that the form states it is ordered from Viet Nam, and gives an "APO" address.

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Dixon53.jpgA Military Bus in SaigonMost GIs never saw such a clear view of the city because unlike in the movies and stories I've read, we had to ride in military busses with thick screens/grates over the windows. The screens weren't for keeping out bugs... they were for keeping out bombs and grenades thrown by VC nuts! THIS was our usual view from the military busses.
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Dixon68.jpgAdoptionRemember the photo where I mentioned that I adopted a boy and a girl from the local orphanage? {See Photo Dixon #16} You saw the boy in that shot. Here is me and the little girl when she came to visit at Duc Pho. Photos are even fading now. I think this was Christmas of 1967...
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