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Vietnam 1967-68 - LZ Young - first time
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On July 21 we received word
that we were to pack up again for a move to LZ Young the next day. Again we were told that it
was to be a short operation of only about 5 days or so. Once burned; twice shy. You will not
believe what can be put in a generator trailer along with a 12kw generator. We even took a
refrigerator and a cleaned out napalm wing tank to use for a shower!! We may fight hard and be
one of the best countermortar radar outfits in the country but we also like our American comforts.
This time the move to the field turned out to be permanent. LZ Young was a much bigger firebase than the last two. Although it was accessible by road most of the travel to it was by air because "Charlie" had a nasty habit of mining the rural road and setting up ambushes. The 1/14the Artillery 105mm howitzer Delta Battery was already there when we arrived as well as an engineer company, an infantry company and a mortar platoon. A South Vietnamese Army battalion was located on an adjoining hill. Delta Battery was considered one of the best batteries in the area. The battery commander certainly did believe in taking care of his troops. We got our chow and other support from them and found that even though we were in the field we had hot food three times a day unlike most units who only had it once a day. They also kept their mess tent open 24 hours a day to anyone who wanted to make a sandwich, drink milk, soda or whatever at any time. Their cooks took pride in food that was always well prepared, even under adverse conditions. This and other good treatment was well appreciated by the troops who always seemed to work as a team to accomplish their missions. The first bunker that we built on LZ Young was built of 105mm howitzer ammo boxes filled with dirt and stacked like bricks. One end and part of one side was dug into the hill and we vertically stacked 8 foot long sections of telephone poles on the other end and part of the side. There was a constantly refreshed supply of ammo boxes but where those poles came from I will never know. Today Mr."T" is the President of the International Society for Logistics. I guess he got his training early on. He certainly was good at acquiring the things that we needed. You will note in the pictures of our bunker that there was a TV antenna on our roof next to the Radio antenna. I don't remember having time to watch it very much but we did have it. The silver tank you see on the roof at one end of the bunker had a shower head attached to it. We took short "Navy" showers even though water was plentiful though; you had to haul your own water, one 5 gallon can at a time. In return for these various American comforts that we had and many did not have we, like Delta Battery, worked as a team. I may be somewhat prejudiced but I think that we may have been one of the best Q-4 radar sections in Vietnam. And I know "Charlie" feared us! |
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Although there was much
action around us that we provided radar coverage for, things were relatively quiet on LZ Young
itself until August 1. At about 5:30PM we took both mortar and small arms fire. As Jerry
Abruzzino was sitting on the roof of the bunker eating supper he saw a puff of smoke from the
middle of the nearby road; and then a second a liitle closer. Realizing what was happening Jerry
made for the door of the bunker. As he entered another round impacted even closer and Jerry felt
a burning sensation on his arm. The peice of shrapnel that was imbedded in his arm was very hot
from the explosion. not wanting another trip to the hospital and wanting to be immediately rid of
the burning sensation he pulled the peice of shrapnel out and bandaged his own arm. Gary Boyd,
who was operating the radar at the time also got hit by a peice of shrapnel from the same round.
Gary quickly located the mortar and people on the perimeter determined the location from which
the small arms fire was coming. The enemy was only about 1000 meters from our perimeter.
We fired on him with 105 howitzers, our own mortars, machine guns and rifles. Very shortly
after that the infantry went after, caught and killed them in the ensuing firefight. We suspect that "Charlie", who was probably NVA rather than VC, may have been shooting at our radar. He got it too; although he did not put it out of commission. One round exploded about 6 feet from the antenna and another about 20 feet on the opposite side. We wound up with two holes through the antenna and numerous pock marks on other parts of the tracker mount. The next day I also found several pieces of shrapnel embedded in the rubber insulation on the control cable between our bunker and the tracker mount. Fortunately they entered at an angle and did not hit any of the wires inside. I removed them and sealed the holes and the cable was as good as new. I was scheduled to leave the field for a Hawaii R&R on August 8; We were also scheduled to move to LZ Professional on the same day. We were to be part of an operation to trap two regiments of NVA that were "holed up" in a nearby valley. It was decided that I would make the move to the new LZ, set-up the Radar and then leave for R&R. I prayed that the chopper's loadmaster would handle the Radar correctly this time and that I would be able to get my work done quickly. |
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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 'Wooly Bully', a song from the 60s that was used in Full Metal Jacket, a movie about Vietnam. |
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