Bill Patterson - Augusta's 319Th Transportation Company's Last Day in the Vietnam War

Bill Patterson - Augusta's 319th Transportation Company's Last Day In The Vietnam War.

The attached photo looks so non-important. Just a bunch of soldiers waiting for something as they do so often. But as a part of the group pictured, the 319th Transportation Company (activated army reservists from the Augusta Georgia area), I can report emotions were almost stunning that day. After serving our tour, driving millions of miles through the war zone and leading lives none of us could have visualized, we were coming home. A wider view photo shows many more of us lined up on the boardwalk at our company area (notice our 319th TC sign near the orderly room). We were waiting for the same busses with barred windows to come and drive us to the Bien Hoa Air Base from which they had picked us up nearly one year earlier and took us to these buildings on Long Binh, our home for the tour. The departure day was so different from our accustomed day of duty. Usually we would be awakened early, told where we were going, get our weapon from the arms room, don our flak jacket and steel helmet, receive our ammunition issue of about 80 bullets, fill our canteens with water and attach them to our web belts along with first aid kit and extra ammo for the more dangerous runs. We would walk to the motor pool and man our trucks for the day's (or several days for extended convoys) work. Today we woke early and the similarity stopped. We dressed in clean uniforms with soft baseball caps. We did not receive the combat gear or worry about where we were going or the risks involved. We packed our duffle bags, said our goodbyes to our civilian employees and walked outside to wait for the busses. One of us took the picture shown. I am probably in the wider view photo not shown. I remember thinking "is this really happening"? Had I and nearly all of us who came with our company actually survived the war and were now going home? We had been ambushed, involved in firefights, driven over road mines, worked to constant exhaustion, allowed too little sleep, delivering high explosives, knocked around by the broken roads and breathing red dust daily. How could we have survived such duty for so long and not suffered high casualties? I still don't know all the answers to the questions I had. I do know that each company member was determined to do the job by whatever means needed. The guys got the job done. The busses arrived. We loaded our bags and sat in the seats. We watched as the metal buildings disappeared behind us. We drove out the gate of Long Binh, up the main north-south highway of Vietnam for a few miles, turned left into Bien Hoa town, entered Bien Hoa Air Base and unloaded the busses. We walked up the loading ramp of the beautiful C-141 Starlifter jet the Air Force had provided us, the same type jet we had arrived in nearly a year ago. We fastened our belts, the four big engines roared and the jet shot down the runway. Even then I half expected a rocket or missle to bring us down on this our last day in the war. After about fifteen minutes I felt the jet was out of range of enemy fire and for the first time I felt the war was over for me and the 319th. All of us had emotions that day but one thing we all knew: the "Freedom Bird" was taking us away from the nightmare and home to loved ones.....