RSOPs ARE ALWAYS FUN!
When we moved to LZ Tommy, we were changing places with another Battery that had been beaten up pretty badly there. Most of the battery moved by air, but it got dark and myself and one or two guns and crew were left behind. That night I almost got in a fist fight with the CO of the new battery over bunkers, he thought his battery should have them all. Major (Jerry) Orr intervened*, and we had cover for the night. The next day we moved out by truck. During the convoy, our truck got sprayed by AK47 from a" dink" in a spider hole. I heard one round whiz through the cab of 2 1/2 ton. We had a kid with about a week to go in-country, who wouldn't shut up about how short he was. He was sitting in the back of the truck, with his M-16 across his chest, and a round took a chunk out of the barrel. He never said another word, he could only point at the M16 and move his mouth, but nothing came out. We were trucked to a Special Forces camp with airstrip and spent most of the day waiting to be lifted to join the rest of the Battery. As we waited on the metal airstrip, we decided that we need some PSP for bunkers, we had left a lot at the last LZ. So we tore up a couple of feet of the runway. There was also an Air Force plane sitting on the runway with no crew and a nice aluminum pallet in the back of it. For our last load, we had about 10 of us, the 10' sq. pallet on a 30' long strap and a net full of PSP hung below that for weight. We got on the Chinook, and they hook up the load, the ground crew decided that the load was too heavy, so he unhooked the net of PSP, leaving a10' sq alum pallet that weighed about 50# on the end of a 30' strap. As we became airborne, the pallet swung around and started to chop a hole in the roof of the copper. We landed safely.
Right then, I had a LtCol yelling
at me for screwing up his schedule, an Air Force Captain that wanted me
court-martialed, and a SF Captain that wanted to shoot me, and a WO
who wanted me to buy his copper.
Major Jerry Orr comments:
* I do remember this. Had a "nose to nose" session with the Company Commander to remind him we were there to provide Artillery support, not only for him but other maneuver elements in the Brigade.