Al & Lois Website - Vietnam 1967-68

We have been looking for former members of the 1/14th Arty Radar Section of 1968. All have now been found!!! Our first reunion in 33 years was held the last week in July. Click here to see pictures of this fantastic event. It WILL be repeated in the not too distant future.

Shown below are photos of others we are searching for. Please contact me by Email if you or someone that you know is pictured here. If you are one of the missing Radar Section members I have a CD of Vietnam and Reunion photos for you.

NEW!!! Chu Lai for Flight Simulator!!! Works with both FS2002 and FS2004!!! If you have either of these versions of Microsoft's Flight Simulator and want to remember the war years at Chu Lai then you will want to download and install this scenery. I have attempted to recreate the entire Chu Lai base, LZ Bayonet, An Tan in 3D for MSFS and about 50 surrounding LZs. You will even find Bob Hope and Raquel Welch on stage at the ampitheature. Click here for this and other free downloadable scenery. Click the thumbnails for a larger image of the scenery.

Chronology
This site is best viewed with a maximized 800 x 600 size and high color display setting. Placing your cursor over any of the pictures will display a description of the page represented by the picture. Clicking on the pictures on this page will take you to the page described adjacent to the picture. For the most part the music that is playing represents popular music of the Vietnam era. To take the whole tour in chronological order please use the tour forward and backwards buttons at the top and bottom of each page. A button near the bottom of each page will take you to a 'printer friendly' page.
	Ft.Bragg, NC - 24 Nov 1966 to 10 Feb 1967 - On the day before Thanksgiving I reported to the Reception Center at Ft. Bragg, NC to begin my induction into the U.S.Army. Some weeks before that day I had received a draft notice from the Selective Service Board in Lynchburg, Va. I was 24 years old, married and part of the first group of people, originally deferred because of marriage, to be drafted from that area because they had run out of eligible single people.Updated - 10/29/00
	Ft.Sill, OK - 11 Feb 1967 to 30 Nov 1967 - After Basic Training, during which I had opted for a 3 year enlistment with my choice of schooling, I was assigned to the Fort Sill, Ok, Target Acquisition Department's, Weapons Support Radar Maintenance Course #6. It was my hope that this course that I was pursuing would give me a better chance of staying alive if I went to Vietnam and also provide the basis for a new career once my military obligation was complete.Updated - 01/07/01
	To Vietnam - 01 Dec 1967 to 08 Dec 1967 - When I completed the Radar Maintenance course at Ft.Sill I was assigned to the school as an instructor. From the beginning I had hoped to avoid this trip but knew that I probably would not....so here I am on an airplane, leaving Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC for Oakland California. From there my orders said that I was to be assigned to the Fourth Division in some God-forsaken place called Pleiku, Vietnam. Updated - 10/29/00
	Americal Divarty, Chu Lai - 09 Dec 1967 to 21 Jan 1968 - After arriving at the 90th Repl. in Bien Hoa, Vietnam I found, as did many soldiers, that my orders had been changed. When I looked at the large map at the airport just before leaving for my new assignment with the Americal Division at Chu Lai, fear really set in; this place was WAY up North. I had the mistaken impression that the further North one went the worse the fighting became. Once there I quickly became bored with the initial quietness of the place. I felt like "Barney Fife" with my M14 and single bullet in my pocket! Updated - 10/29/00
	Cherry Hill - 22 Jan 1968 to 04 Jun 1968 - Finally! Assigned to a unit where I can do what I was trained to do. During the time that I was assigned to the Americal Division Artillery HQ, I was the resident electrician. As the only person in the battery who knew anything about electricity, I had rewired most of Division HQ as well as a number of other old buildings. Now that I was assigned to a unit with a functioning Q4 Radar, I could get on with the job that I had been trained to do. I even got an M16 and plenty of bullets. Anndddd....the location was great! There is a reason that the hill I was now on was called "Cherry" Hill. Unfortunately, my first night on the hill it lost that distinction. Updated - 01/12/01
	LZ Clifford - 04 Jun 1968 to 13 Jun 1968 - The very long honeymoon is now over! We have left the main base defense for the field. This was supposed to be a 36 hour support operation here on LZ Clifford and so we went with basic combat gear only. Little did we know that we would be stuck there for over a week. We were a rag-tag, smelly and nasty bunch of guys by the time we got back to Cherry Hill. Next time we went to the field we vowed to be prepared for anything! Updated - 11/5/00
	Cherry Hill - 13 June 1968 to 03 July 1968 - The first order of business after returning and setting up the radar was showers. I must have washed several pounds of dirt and whiskers off of just me. Next time would most certainly be different. After getting myself clean I went to work on the radar. It took several days to restore it's former accuracy because of the pounding it had taken not only in transit but also because of it's proximity to one of the howitzers on LZ Clifford. Next time it would be placed a bit farther from artillery.Updated - 11/25/00
	LZ Bowman - 04 July 1968 to 05 July 1968 - This operation was supposed to last a week or more and we were prepared this time. Fooled us again; we were only there for two days. It is a good thing too, because the Chinook carrying our Q4 Radar dropped it about 3 feet above the ground. Miraculously the 3 ton Radar mounted on a two wheel trailer bounced a few times, stayed upright, and rolled down a hill to be stopped by a big rock before it left the hill completely. When I fired up the Radar I found that everything worked but all alignments were completely gone. It took another week back at Chu Lai to restore it's performance. Updated - 11/10/00
	Cherry Hill - 6 July 1968 to 21 July 1968 - We were supposed to go back to the field to another firebase after a couple of days in base camp but because of the damage to the radar when it was dropped on LZ Bowman could not. It took a couple of weeks, an engineer from General Electric and ultimately a new computer to fix the problem. While the other guys relaxed I spent most of my time trying to fix the radar. Updated - 11/25/00
	LZ Young - 22 July 1968 to 7 Aug 1968 - This time we go to the field for good....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. LZ Young was a much bigger firebase than the last two; one or two artillery batteries, an engineer company, an infantry company complete with mortar platoon and also a Vietnamese battalion on an adjacent hill.Updated - 01/12/01
	LZ Professional - 8 Aug 1968 to 18 Aug 1968 - This move from LZ Young to LZ Professional made me nervous. We were to be part of 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 and left the firebase the same day for R&R in Hawaii. When I returned from R&R, they had moved back to LZ Young and were preparing to move to LZ Gator. Updated - 11/24/00
	LZ Gator - 19 Aug 1968 to 04 Sep 1968 - Some people have called this a "rear" firebase. To me this is one of the worst firebases that we were on. It was muddy, stinky, living conditions were terrible and the food was worse. I suppose that it was a "safe" base but we longed to get back to somewhere where we could do our jobs better. After about two weeks we got our wish and moved back to LZ Young. We remained on LZ Young until I went home in December of 1968. Updated - 11/25/00
	LZ Young - 05 Sep 1968 to 26 Sep 1968 - We moved back to LZ young in a driving rain this time. Not fun; slippery, sloppy red mud everywhere including from head to toe on me. It seems that LZ Young and several other bases in the area were being mortared every day. As soon as we arrived the attacks stopped. So much for 'quiet'. On Sept. 23 Charlie started hitting LZ Young as well as other LZs in the area daily. At about 6:30 PM on the 23rd we were hit by mortars, recoilless rifles and small arms fire. I have recently read that LZ Young was not a good place to be when we were there because of it's proximity to an NVA/VC headquarters. There were a few rough times on the hill but for the most part we were in control of the situation. Updated - 01/13/01
	LZ Young - 27 Sep 1968 to 01 Dec 1968 - On Sept. 27 during the daily strafing of the valley one of the 2 jets, a Phantom F4 I think, was shot down. Within 30 minutes there were 5 jets with very angry pilots flying them out there 'working over' the valley. Mr. Cook, Mr.'T's replacement, has arrived now and Mr.'T' has gone home. Our generator has also given out and we are unable to operate at all because they seem to be unable to get us a replacement. SSG Parks went to base camp to liberate another one and was killed on the return trip. On Nov. 20 my replacement arrived and I left about 10 days later.Updated - 11/21/00
	Ft.Sill, OK - Jan.1969 to Dec 1969 - After Vietnam, I was assigned as an Instructor to the Fort Sill, Ok, Target Acquisition Department's, Weapons Support Radar Maintenance Course #6. I spent my entire last year in the US Army there attempting to impart the lessons that I had learned in Vietnam to new radar technicians.Updated - 11/20/00
	Maps of Al's AO - On this page will be found 28 tactical sized maps on which I have plotted what I think are the correct locations for many firebases in the Chu Lai area. The grid coordinates used came from an Americal Division list of locations. All of the maps are 1:50,000, the same as we used for tactical purposes. If you see inconsistencies please let me know by Email.Updated 10/06/01
	Awards and Uniform - On this page will be found graphics for the various medals and patches that I wore along with the citations that accompanied several of them. Also here are pictures of my Zippo, a vintage P-38 in mint condition and some other memorabilia.Updated - 12/28/00
	The Wall - Two members of our small team were killed while I was there and not long after I left. Here will be found information about these two brave men. Updated - 01/18/01
	Chu Lai Today - The pictures and information on this page have come from various sources on the Internet as well as my own pictures. The ones of me today were taken recently in a couple of uniforms from then that I hung on to as keepsakes. Obviously I have "filled out" a bit since then. A large portion of it came from a videotape made by Kurt McFadden on three return visits to the Chu Lai area of Vietnam in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Amazingly, there are few scars from the war still visible in that area. Most of the vegetation cleared from the firebases has regrown and few craters are visible. On Kurt's visits most Vietnamese people that he met seemed to be friendly to Americans. Updated - 01/28/01
	Links - On this page will be found links to some of the many Vietnam Veterans websites that I have visited. Links to the Vietnam era 1/14th Artillery A, B and C Battery websites are included as well as a link to the 14th Artillery Regimental Veteran's website. Updated - 8/24/04
	1/14th Arty Roster - On this page will be found the rank, name, job, date of 1/14th service, and Email address where I have it for members of the 1/14th Artillery that we have been able to find today. In some cases I also have telephone numbers and/or addresses. Please Email us if you know of more. Links to the Vietnam era 1/14th Artillery A and C Battery websites are also included.Updated - 9/29/01
	Chronology - On this page will be found a summary of "events" experianced by the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section. The information is taken mostly from letters written in 1967-68 to my wife and my grandparents. It should be reasonably accurate although it may have small errors in it because I often said in my letters that a couple of days ago so and so happened. Some info came from other sources such as others in the section. A date in the source column indicates that info came from a letter with that date on it.Updated - 10/28/01
	Reunion 2001 - On this page will be found 145 pictures of the first reunion of the 1/14th Artillery Radar Section in 33 years. This fantastic event was held the last week in July of 2001. Four of the seven living members of the 1968 team and their wives attended. The friendship and trust that we shared then is alive and stronger than ever. Our wives were instant friends too. We hope to have more of that team and perhaps a few others also in attendance when we repeat the event in the not too distant future.Updated - 09/07/01
	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 of the page represented by the picture. Clicking the pictures on this page will take you to the page described adjacent to the picture. There are a lot of pictures so please be patient and read the text while they are loading. Use the tour buttons to take my whole tour in chronological order. The music that is playing on this page is 'Yesterday', a popular song of the 60s.