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On_the_road_Christmas.JPGRoad beggarsWe took along a bunch of those tropical chocolate bars and threw them out to the begging kids along the road. What intrigues me about this photo is that, as we went over a hill, I looked back and saw the kids pulling down the flag. That says a lot.
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Road_Views_Christmas.JPGRoadside viewConstruction along the road always varied greatly in type and quality.
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BC-_Hillbilly.JPGSent to me by othersBack of photo says "BC & Hillbilly". Pictures were sent to me over the years by Tex Shelton and Jackie Catron; most were taken before I arrived at the battery.
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Bn_Area_at_Enari.JPGSent to me by others"Battalion Area" at Camp Enari. Soldiers Unknown.
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Hillbilly.JPGSent to me by others"Hillbilly" and canine friend behind one of the old split-trail 105mm.
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The_Soul_Section.JPGSoul SectionThe soul gun section chilling out. No names on the slide holder. While I recognize all of them, I don't want to put on wrong names.
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Clint_Curry,_LZ_Marianne,_1969.JPGSp5 Clint Curry (deceased 4/18)Sp5 Charles C. Curry, also known as "Clint Curry", at LZ Marianne, Sept, 1969. As you probably note from the photos, Clint and I were nearly inseparable from the time I got to the Battery. He was a short-timer who took me under his wing (ETS'd from St. George the morning following the fight). Probably the most fearless guy I've ever known. I believe he and Joe Sleevi were FO party together on Chu Pa. According to Clint, he was told to "ruck up" and fill in as FO with Sleevi as his RTO. He says he told Sleevi he - Clint - would hump the PRC 25 and have Sleevi act as the FO since Joe was most experienced. Clint got the Bronze with "V" on his last night in the field at St. George (I believe it was downgraded from a Silver recommend). When we hooked up after 40+ years (we had both moved to new states) he paid me the highest compliment I've ever received (of course we had been drinking beau--effing-coup beer), that if he could only have one person to cover his back it would be me.
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Clint,_Hurdle_and_Burnett.JPGSp5 Curry, Sp4 Hurdle and Sp5 BurnettClint Curry, Jim Hurdle and Sp5 Bob Burnett outside the FDC conex at St. George, June '69. For some reason I have "Gorilla Bob" for Burnett, but we called him "Bullet Bob". He wanted to be a race horse trainer but those of us in contact have no post-Nam info on him. Hurdle was working on his PhD at Michigan and was one dissertation short of a doctorate in economics when the draft caught up with him. He had a stainless steel pot and spices and with a little C4 , found rice and donated c-rats he could make a great meal. I found him again 20+ years ago and he is now Dr. Hurdle. My undergraduate degree was economics and had finished 10 hours of law school when I volunteered for the draft a month before my number was up. Jim was a Samuelson economics guy and I was a Friedman disciple. We would have some great arguments. The XO loved to sit in on our debates, but had no idea what we were talking about.
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SSG_Biggers.JPGSSG Kenneth "Bodie" BiggersBodie Biggers a proud Texan and shake-n-bake E-6 as the honor graduate of the NCO school at Ft. Sill. Definite lifer tendencies, but a great guy who knew his stuff. He was FDC Section Chief and, I believe, later took over as Chief of Smoke when Chief went home. I think he received the Bronze w/V from the St. George fight. He brought back a pump pellet pistol from his R&R in Hawaii. The person sitting out a hand of Spades would use it to shoot at rats running across the CONEX "window".
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Hook_N__Go.JPGThar She Goes!One of our M-102 howitzers hooked up and lifting off for a hip shoot at LZ Cathy, September, 1969.
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Me_in_the_FDC.JPGThat's Me in the FDCWhat am I doing here? This office is too cluttered. Shoulda went to law school instead. Oh, that's right...I did that later. Hurdle took this photo. Note the story headline in the crease of the newspaper "Uneasiness Now". Wonder if they are referring to being in Vietnam? Jim Hurdle sent me this picture of me about 20 years ago. Most pictures one can either remember being taken or has some internal content to help recognize the where and when. Probably St. George, but I have no real clue since the CONEX moved while the interior from this perspective remained the same. I kept this photo in my office until I retired, and kept looking at it when I was bored or pissed off and would try to guess what that skinny young troop was daydreaming about.
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More_on_the_road.JPGUp Yours!Despite our attempt at humanitarian aid and civil affairs, I think we were actually recruiters for the VC since the kids started yelling "GI fucking 10" and hurling them back at us. Maybe it was the stale chocolate. Could have gotten seriously injured since those things were hard-solid and could have been used as the heat shield on the Apollo moon missions.
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