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Vietnam 1967-68 - LZ Professional
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LZ Professional - 8 Aug
1968 to 18 Aug 1968 - This move from LZ Young to LZ Proffesional made me nervous. We
were to be part of what I think was the initial garrison on this firebase and I was due to leave on
my long awaited R&R on the same day! It was a small firebase in what we were told was a very
dangerous area. It seemed to take forever to get there and our chopper hugged the treetops the
whole way at high speed. I had the impression that it was much further west than locations that I
have recently plotted show it to be. We landed, I got the Radar running quickly and without
problems. Since I left for R&R a short while later, I really do not know what went on during
their
stay there. If I am able to contact one or more members of the section I may be able to add
information about that. I left the firebase that same day in 1968 for R&R in Hawaii. When I returned from R&R the section had moved to LZ Gator. The first 6 pictures on this page were taken by me during the few hours that I was there. The remainder of the pictures on this page were captured from several websites, including Captain Cox's WebPage. The later group shows a much higher state of development of LZ Professsional. On March 5, 1969, after I left Vietnam, the radar section returned to LZ Professional. The Radar Section had just relocated to LZ Professional and was still in the process of building their bunker and operations center. That night the firebase was mortared and a single mortar round hit the top of the wall at the outside of the uncovered entrance tunnel. As he operated the radar CW2 Cook got a single piece of shrapnel in the back of his neck, above the collar of his flack jacket and below the rim of his helmet. He was killed instantly. Captain Cox, mentioned above and who was himself wounded on March 6, was there on that day. His logs show 1 KIA and 5 wounded artillery people during a mortar attack on March 5, 1969. Other members of the radar team that were wounded by that same round include Sgt. Crawford and Spec.4 Emmel. Other names listed as causualties at the same time are unknown to me but may also have been members of the radar team. I am still trying to contact any member of the group that was there then to find out more about the events of that day. Jimmie Cook was a nice man, soft-spoken and caring and also my friend. He is missed. At the left you will see an image of a portion of the 1/52 Infantry log from LZ Professional on March 5, 1969 that shows CW2 Cook's death and SGT Crawford and Sp4 Emmel injury.Click here or on the image for a full size, printable image of the entire page from the logbook. |
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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. This 31 year old Khaki
uniform shirt still fits. It is decorated as it was when I went on R&R from Vietnam to Hawaii in
1968. 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 'California Dreamer' recorded by the Mama's and Papa's in the 60s. |
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