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Vietnam 1967-68 - LZ Bowman
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LZ Bowman - July 4,
1968 - We are on our way to LZ Bowman which is about 4km from LZ Clifford and is a bit
more "developed" than Clifford was; They are even supposed to have a bunker that we can use
already built. Again we are only supposed to be there a couple of days as part of another
operation but this time we are going to be prepared to stay awhile. We flew out in the same
Chinook that was carrying the Radar. The trip was uneventful but when we arrived the
loadmaster cut the radar loose before it was fully on the ground. I groaned as I watched it bounce
and the electronics box slam against an automobile sized rock. The generator was later landed
without incident. The ceiling of the bunker that they had for us was only 4 feet high - not even tall enough to set up the console in so we took the roof off , built up the walls and reinstalled the roof. The bunker was also not light tight which would make things difficult for a day or two. It was better than the last LZ though - No digging!! Once the console and radar were set up I went to work doing the usual calibrations. Not surprisingly, since the electronics had been slammed against a rock, nothing worked right. It was going to be a long night. In the wee hours of the morning Mr."T" and I finally got the beast operational. A couple of our operators took over and I crawled into a corner of the bunker and attempted to get some sleep. It had also been a noisy evening. You think you have fireworks here in this country? What we did in Vietnam for the 4th was something else! Hand flares of every color and type - Red, Green, White; parachute and star clusters. Illumination rounds fired from both mortars and artillery. M16 rifles with clips full of tracers as well as machine guns and such. Two M60 machine gunners were firing hand flares and then trying to shoot them down with their machine guns. As we looked out over the flat land from the top of our hill we could see veritable fountains of color blossoming from othe firebases. I certainly would not have wanted to see the bill for the ammunition wasted that night. We had no action at all while on LZ Bowman; I have no idea what happened to the planned operation. I did get to eat LRRPS rations several times on LZ Bowman. Some were pretty good but the shrimp creole - YUK and NASTY!! After 2 days we packed up to go back to Chu Lai. They lifted the artillery battery out early in the morning and were supposed to take us 20 minutes later. By afternoon we were getting VERY nervous. The 8 of us and our Radar were alone on the hill. If Charlie had wanted us he would have been able to have us easily. Finally at sunset the Helicopters returned and took us off of the hill without incident. Unfortunately when they landed the Radar at LZ Bayonet they dropped it about 3 feet. Somehow it managed to stay upright but I really dreaded working on it this time. There were certain to be serious problems from that sort of landing. |
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No. I am not still in the army; I was
discharged in November of 1969 after completing my 3 year enlistment. I don't have a set of
Jungle Fatigues so these Stateside Fatigues from 1969 will have to do here. The shirt fits; the
pants....Oh well.... Click here to contact me by
Email. This site is best viewed with a maximized 800 x 600 size and a high color display setting. Placing your cursor over any of the pictures will display a description for that picture. The music that is playing on this page is 'A Hard Day's Night' recorded by the Beatles in the 60s. |
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