Signal Core a Document Prepared By, and Under the Name of 'US Army

29 January, 1968 thru 31 January, 1968 Sgt E5 - Signal Core A document prepared by, and under the name of ‘U. S. Army Center of Military History’ gives detailed accounts of the happenings of this two day period (and beyond). This document and a couple others, since removed from the internet, helped me to place my memories into the correct day and to give me a better understanding of how my activities fit with the documented events. My memories from the 29th of January, 1968 are clear. For the 30th and beyond, I have newly recovered memories that, along with insight gained, strongly support the rest of the story. Di An, Vietnam, 29 January, 1968 On the morning of the 29th, a soldier asked me to take him back to Bien Hoa air base. I was civic actions NCO for a signal company support located in Di An and, as such, I had my own jeep. As we were preparing to depart, a wide-eyed second lieutenant ran up and informed me that I wasn’t going anywhere. Reports indicated that a convoy had been attacked and that there was blood on “that there road”. (At the time, attacks on convoys had become common, but single vehicles were almost always allowed to pass. I had been going where I wanted when I wanted in pursuit of civic action opportunities). By mid-day I was required to report to company headquarters (595th signal company, support). I was told that a secure radio teletypewriter capability was needed (somewhere???) and that I would be the team leader. Three men, all qualified to operate the equipment, were assigned to the team reporting to me. Our equipment consisted of a secure teletypewriter and a powerful radio transceiver in a hut (or office) mounted on a 2 ½ ton army truck (commonly referred to as a duce and a half). We were to join a convoy bound for Bien Hoa air base later that afternoon, and would travel the same route that I had intended to travel with my jeep. So much for blood on “that there road”! The men assigned to me turned out to be very resourceful. We agreed early on that we were going to a place less desirable than where we were coming from. With that in mind, we “raided” the company munitions store and loaded many grenades, (two of which I hung from my flack vest), bullets for our newly acquired M16 rifles and my M14 rifle (I had preferred the M14, which was an upgraded version of the world war II M1, even though I was assured that the current M16’s would not jam), several rocket launchers, M79 grenade launchers, and anything else we could get our hands on. Our rig was now a potential firestorm should it be treated inappropriately. My two hand grenades remained with me for quite some time as the 1 Tet offensive of 1968 (which was unknown to us and was about to start) unfolded and eventually burned itself out at the cost of many lives. That afternoon, we were inserted into a convoy consisting of other teams and trucks also being relocated. The Generals had decided that a massive rearrangement of troops and support equipment needed to take place for the expected upcoming VC offensive. They believed that it was at least two weeks off and that Tet, with the agreed cease-fire for the holiday, was the best time to accomplish this. Hence, away we went, bound for Bien Hoa air base. I rode with my rig in the ‘shot gun’ seat and one of my team drove. The other two caught a ride where they could find room. The trip was uneventful and we arrived late afternoon. We had left most of our belongings behind due to the sudden and mysterious nature of our departure. Bien Hoa Air Base, 29-30 January An interesting fact or two before I continue: All of Viet Nam celebrates Tet which is their New Year. The day of Tet was the same for the Southern provinces and the Northern provinces of South VietNam, however, some areas of the South region’s calendar were consistently one day earlier than the North region’s calendar. The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong had determined that the offensive would begin at midnight of Tet. In some regions of the South, this was the 30th of January and in the North this was the 31st of January per USA calendars. Bien Hoa was in the South region and Hue and Phu Bai were in the north region. More will be told about this later. The second fact is more personal. Four years earlier, I began to practice Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism while stationed on Okinawa. Before going to Viet Nam in 1967 I spent several weeks on Okinawa to visit my wife (who was not permitted to return to the states with me earlier that year) to let her know that I would return after Viet Nam. While there, I received a special Gohonzon (a Buddhist scroll symbolizing my life). It was rolled up and inserted into a bag prepared for me to carry inside my shirt. It remained with me the whole time I was in Viet Nam. OK, we had just arrived in Bien Hoa and we pulled up next to a fence that separated us from the tarmac. At some point in time a technician arrived who was assigned to insure that our rig was in working order. I left that activity to my team while I continued to try to find out what our fate would be. I learned rather recently by examining my military records that my team and I had been assigned to Signal Brigade, and there was no one in my upward chain of command to report to in Phu Bai or Hue. I was in charge of three soldiers with a dotted line to the generals. I am glad that I didn’t know all of this at that time! It was almost dark when I learned, via the rumor mill, that I would have a choice of destinations. It was to be Phu Bai or Khe Sahn and I should choose Phu Bai if I could. Shortly after, I was brought together with another sergeant who was team leader of another radio tele- 2 type rig. The officer who called us together flipped a coin. I called heads and it was, so we were assigned to Phu Bai. I rounded up my team and gave them the news. By then, our rig was operational and the munitions were reloaded. Equipment began to be loaded into C130’s and one by one they departed. When it was time for the flight to Phu Bai to load, I learned that there was no room for my rig and that the pilot would come back for it later. I made the decision to send my team ahead and notified the pilot that I would stay with the rig until he returned. My team was loaded onto the cargo plane and the last of the planes departed. I was alone on the tarmac. There were no planes. All that was left on the tarmac were a number of conex boxes (about 20 feet high) arranged so that there was space between each one and, of course, my rig, already mounted on skids and positioned for a quick load should/when the plane return. So there I was. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I was in charge of myself. There was no one to turn to and no one to blame! The night skies were clear. The air was warm, but with a slight chill to it as the night advanced. The blue runway lights had been left on to guide the pilot on his return. I walked around the area and thought about what I would do should my position come under attack. Most of the munitions were still in the rig, which was locked up and was not accessible. I still had the two grenades hanging from my flack vest and my M-14 with a full magazine. I had already decided that I would not allow myself to be captured, so my mantra regarding the grenades remained ‘one for you and one for me’. To the best of my memory, I had not had occasion to fire my weapon since arriving in Viet Nam months earlier, so I had the ages old soldiers debate with myself about “would I or wouldn’t I”.??? I knew that I would have to find my inner sergeant to get me through this, and what is an inner sergeant, anyway? The hour of midnight arrived after what seemed like an eternity and I was still reporting to my recently located inner sergeant. I looked out to the east beyond the runways and saw tracers in the night moving in opposing directions. It was Tet in Bien Hua and the battle for the airbase had begun. I isolated myself between the conex containers and looked out occasionally. The VC did not approach the tarmac. It was obvious that there was no one there (I saw to that by staying out of sight). The battle continued as the new day progressed. By 2 am I was beginning to consider what I would have to do should the plane not return. No one on the base knew that I was there and I didn’t want to be mistaken as the enemy! Days later (it seemed), there it was! The C130 dropped out of the sky and headed straight to my rig.

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