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by Richard Shaffer CHAPTER ONEINTO THE DRAGONS DEN |
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INTO THE DRAGONS DEN
6 February 1967
The plane landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base in Saigon. The air conditioning had been turned off, and we were taxiing toward the airport terminal. The thought of actually being in south Vietnam left me apprehensive. Beads of sweat formed on my face. I felt nausea setting in. Finally the plane came to a stop at the terminal. The door opened and I could feel the hot air rush in. I stood up to locate my briefcase. A couple of minutes went by, then I worked my way down the aisle to the open doorway. When I looked out I realized that the weather here was something that I would have to get used to. My khaki uniform was already soaked and sticking to me as I walked down the ramp. HOT AND HUMID. The stories I've heard about the weather were not exaggerated.
I looked over to the far end of the air base. A fighter plane was landing. The plane taxied to a shelter located off the main runway. The shelter was made of galvanized steel to protect it from rocket and mortar attack. Tan Son Nhut terminal was one of the largest in the world. Planes were coming and going about every three minutes. Only O'Hare in Chicago was busier.
Sgt. Graham was just ahead of me when we entered the terminal. He turned to motion something to me but the sound of his voice was drowned out by the loudspeaker.
"Army and Air Force personnel arriving are to proceed through gate number three."
Number three was located just in front of us. An Air Force sergeant met us at the gate as we entered. He motioned for us to proceed to the baggage collection area.
"How many bags did you bring?"
"Two," I said. "What about you?"
"Three. Maybe we can help each other find them, and get them on the buses."
We were told to assemble at the bleachers in the rear of the terminal. We found our bags and then moved over to the bleachers. The welcome we received was brief. After welcoming us to Vietnam we were told to board the buses to the replacement station.
"Well Shaf, here we go. Ready or not, it's time."
"Well, I ain't ready, but if you insist. I think I can make it the rest of the way."
The bus ride seemed routine enough until we arrived in downtown Saigon. Traffic in the streets was very congested. It took a long time to clear the downtown area. We traveled out along Highway One. It stretches all the way through South Vietnam, to every main city in the country. It took about an hour to complete the trip to the station. I was glad that the trip was finally coming to an end. Our actual stay at the replacement station would only be for one day. The processing that was to be done included pay and records check. Final processing was to make sure that I received the unit assignment that I requested. I requested the 25th Infantry Division located at Cu Chi.
Sgt. Graham and I both were to be assigned to that Division. The word was finally posted on the bulletin board. When we both saw that our names were listed for an infantry assignment, we felt apprehensive.
The 25th Infantry Division had one of the best fighting records in Vietnam. The Division was sent to Vietnam in early 1966, and had at least a year of combat experience.
When we left for Cu Chi on the morning of Feb. 7, 1967, we were placed on five-ton trucks for the 25-mile trip. We were issued rifles and ammunition. Bag and baggage were put on the vehicles for the trip north. About 40 vehicles were involved in the convoy, most of them loaded with supplies needed for that area. Once we left the secure area, we were on our own. The trip was a long one for only traveling 25 miles and when we finally arrived we were relieved.
As the convoy arrived one of the men in the truck said, "Hey, I think that music they're playing is for us." I stood up to get a better look at what the band was playing. Sounded like, "As The Caissons Go Rolling Along". "Can't say the 25th Division don't make you feel right at home," Graham said.
"Yea, I'm already homesick thinking about it."
"Alright you guys, unload your asses off the truck," a sergeant said. We jumped off the truck and filed into the bleachers.
The assistant Division Commander gave us a briefing and a welcome to the 25th Infantry Division. As we sat there in the hot sun, we were hoping that this shit wouldn't take too long. He told us that our stay at headquarters would be brief. It would only be as long as it takes to get assigned to a unit. I was anxious to get all this red tape over with as soon as possible. We were sent to the mess hall to get a bite to eat. We were also able to get cleaned up from the long trip.
25th Infantry Division Shoulder Patch
The 25th Infantry Division arrived in Vietnam on 28 March 1966 from Hawaii. The Division served 1,716 days in Vietnam. Division Headquarters was located in Cu Chi.
"Well Shaf, it won't be long now, what do you think so far?"
"All I want to do right now is find out where in the hell the shower is."
"Aren't you going to eat first?"
"No, you go ahead, I'm gonna clean up first."
After showering and a hot meal, we were told that we could return in a couple of hours. Sgt. Graham and I both wanted to check out the local Post Exchange.
"I'm going to pick up a couple of things at the PX. Soon as I'm done I'll meet you over there where the patio is."
"Yea, Okay, I'll meet you there in about 15 minutes. I'm going over to the post office first."
A little later we both met at the patio. There was a bar at the far end, where we had a couple of beers.
We stood there at the bar talking for about a half an hour. Then we decided to go back to division headquarters. Along the way we talked about how hot and humid the weather was. Not saying much of anything else, we both knew what the other was thinking.
We were all back sitting in the bleachers at the time they requested. At about 1500 hours, they came out and told us what units we'd be assigned to. A couple of the guys sitting next to me were talking about some mechanized unit. They said something about the track vehicles being described as "iron coffins."
They figured they would have a better chance surviving this war as a "ground-pounder." They were my sentiments exactly.
They posted the orders on the bulletin board. When I found my name on the list, then I knew. It said that I was to be assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Infantry Regiment.
My unit was also known as the "Golden Dragons."
All the regimental units had nicknames like this. Sgt. Graham was assigned to the 27th Infantry, also known as "The Wolfhounds." I'd heard that the "Wolfhounds" was the toughest outfit in the 25th Division. It was also the unit with the most casualties.
M113A1 Armored Personnel Carrier
The A.P.C. was a standard troop carrier in the mechanized infantry units in Vietnam.
It could carry an infantry squad of 11 men, including the driver.
The sergeant major gave us another briefing and wished us good luck and said he was glad that we were here. We were told to get ready to move out to our units. I said goodbye to Sgt. Graham and said that we would see each other soon.
The trip to my new unit was a short hop down the main road, about 2 miles. Having traveled nearly 10,000 miles already, 2 miles at this point didn't make much difference. I was getting tired and I wanted to get the hell out of this hot sun. Out of the 50 men who got orders, only seven of us were to report to the 14th Infantry Regiment. There was a lieutenant with me named Shannon who I had spoken to at the air base. He and I were the only two out of the seven replacements to be assigned to "C" Company. When we arrived at the Battalion headquarters, we were introduced to the Battalion commander and the sergeant major. We were given a brief history of the unit and its mission in Vietnam. The mission, we were told, was quite simple, "Search for the enemy, engage in combat, and destroy the son-of-a-bitch." Saying it and doing it turned out to be something less than what the definition suggests.
Runners from "C" Company were sent over to the Battalion to pick us up. When the jeep arrived, I said to Lt. Shannon that this would probably be the last ride we'd get for awhile. Needless to say, I was wrong. Over here we engaged the enemy using helicopters.
"Where are you guys from?" the driver asked.
"I'm from Eugene, Oregon," said Lt. Shannon.
"I'm from Indiana. A small town called Evansville, ever hear of it?"
"Hell yea, I've heard of that town. By the way, my name is Wilson. But everybody just calls me Willy."
"I'm glad to meet you Willy, how are things going around here?"
"Not too bad right now, everything is pretty quiet.
2nd Bn 14th Inf Unit Crest
2nd Bn 27th Inf Unit Crest
2/14 Inf was assigned to the 1st Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division, and the 2/27 Inf was assigned to the 2nd Brigade. Both units were assigned to Cu Chi. The 14th Infantry was known as the Golden Dragons. The 27th Infantry was known as the Wolfhounds.
Charlie has been sending in a few mortar rounds lately. But you kind of get used to it after a while. Charlie only hits us late at night, because of his concealment outside the bunker line. The choppers have a hard time locating him at night," he said.
"This unit suffer many casualties?" Shannon asked.
"Not so much with the mortar attacks, but we've caught hell a few times outside the wire. Most of the men now in the unit are about to rotate back to the States. We've been getting a lot of replacements in the last few weeks. The first sergeant here is brand new. He just got here a couple of weeks ago. Lately, he seems like he will fit right in. The last "TOP" we had here was killed right outside the bunker line. He stepped on a mine about a month ago. Well, here we are, good old Charlie Company."
As we pulled into the company area, I recognized a statue of a Golden Dragon in front of the orderly room. The building was a wooden structure. The remainder of the structures in the area were the same, except for the building of the company itself. The barracks had wooden framing, but were draped with canvas tentage. Some of the buildings had galvanized roofs on them and some of them didn't. On the back side of the company were two sand-bagged bunkers. I told myself that one of them was for storage of ammunition. The other I would find out later was the Fire Direction Center for the weapons platoon.
When we entered the orderly room, we were introduced to the first sergeant.
"Welcome to Charlie Company, I'm Sgt. Coates. I'm the first sergeant here. How was your trip here?"
"A little long, but otherwise I'm glad to be here. I'm Sgt. Shaffer, and this here is Lt. Shannon."
"Come on in and have a seat, and I'll try to get you settled in."
The first sergeant wanted to know where we were from and about our past service.
"Says here, that you were a DI back at Fort Benning, is that right?"
"Yes, I had that kind of duty for a couple of years now. I haven't been in an infantry unit since 1964. But all things considered, I actually wanted this assignment."
"Yea okay, by the way, would you like a cold beer?"
"Sure wouldn't mind one. You guys drink like this all the time?"
"No, not really, but it's getting close to chow and we always have beer in the mess hall."
He mentioned that the commanding officer was at a briefing at Battalion headquarters. "We'll get to meet him later, after chow."
"Lt. Shannon, I think the CO will want to talk to you personally about your platoon assignment. Sgt. Shaffer, the weapons platoon could use you. You'll be the ranking NCO in the weapons platoon, until we get an officer for you."
"How long will it be before we get an officer?"
"I don't know that answer yet, but when I find out, I'll let you know. If it is okay with you, I'll take you both over to the mess hall and introduce you to the rest of the company."
The sun went down, and an unusual quiet fell over the compound. The moon was full and I could see all the way down to the bunker line. I was starting to unpack my gear and trying to get my bed in order when I heard this unusual sound. "Whop, Whop, Whop."
One of the men next to me started yelling, "Incoming!" And then he repeated it again, "Incoming!"
"Quick, out and into the trenches."
Everyone hit the trench about the same time. The first of about 20 mortar rounds started exploding off into the distance.
"Looks like they're trying for the ammo dump again," one of the men said.
"Yea, they keep trying, but they keep missing. One of these nights, he's gonna put one right down on top of our ass."
A lieutenant got up from the trench and started yelling, "All clear, everything is all clear. You can get up from the trenches now. It's all secure."
Then I heard the helicopters. I looked out past the bunker line. They were about 50 feet off the first line of trees when their searchlights came on. Then the machine guns started opening up on the wood line. They had two choppers in the air. They were rotating their passes into the direction they thought "Charlie" might be hiding. They kept this up for about 20 minutes and it was over just like that.
Mantley, one of the men I had met earlier, came over to my bunk and sat down.
"Hi Sarge, how's it going?"
"Well, as soon as my heart stops pounding, I'll be okay."
"Yea, I know what you mean. It gets to me like that, too. You gettin' things settled in okay?"
"I'm trying to get everything straight. I've found out one thing since I arrived here.
"What's that?"
"To keep my helmet right next to my ass, where I can find it."
He laughed saying, "Don't worry, the next time it happens you won't forget. That's how everyone learns around here, by making mistakes. Only, note one thing Sarge, that one mistake could get you killed."
"Yea, I'm aware of that fact, believe me."
"Well, It's good talking to you; is there anything I can do for you?"
"No, I'm okay. Thanks a lot Mantley, I appreciate it."
I did not get a good night's sleep. As tired as I was, I still kept thinking how in the hell could I've gotten myself into this damn war anyway? Why should I worry myself like this and ruin a good night's sleep? I haven't seen anything yet. In time I know I'll get used to all this, and I'll look back at it as just a good case of the jitters. At least I hope so anyway.
When the sun came up, it was already in the middle 80s and the humidity was 100%. After chow I was told that I had an appointment that morning to see the company commander. At 0900 hours, I high-tailed it over to the orderly room for my meeting with the CO. The first sergeant was already there when I walked in.
"Hi, how did you like your first night stay?"
"Fine, just fine," I lied.
Just then the CO walked in and first sergeant introduced us. His name was Cpt. Phelps, and he said he was glad to have me in his unit. He also told me that like everyone else who comes in new, I would have to attend a week of in-processing. I would also have to attend the in-country guerrilla tactics orientation. It's a refresher course used to familiarize us on the way the war is fought in South Vietnam.
He said when I returned the company would not be here. The company was due to leave on a moment's notice to a reserve position up at Dau Tieng, which is about 20 miles from here. I was to join the unit when I finished the course.
"Have you been issued everything at supply yet?" the first sergeant asked.
"I think that everything that I need is in order. I understand that the weapons platoon is without a platoon leader. Do you know if there will be someone coming in soon?"
"I was told at Battalion yesterday that we'd have an officer to fill that vacancy in about a week."
"Fine sir, that's good news."
I told him that I had met Sgt. Cline, the 106mm Recoilless Rifle section chief. He already briefed me as to the platoon situation.
"Fine," he said. "Well I guess that's about it, anything I can do for you, let me know."
"Fine sir." I saluted and left.
My stay at the orientation was the same kind of training I received before I left the States. I became bored with the training because it was repetitious.
M40A1 106mm Recoilless Rifle (Jeep Mounted)
The 106mm Recoilless Rifle was used in Vietnam exclusively on road security and bunker line defenses.
Finally, I completed the course and shipped to my unit at Dau Tieng. The trip to Dau Tieng was a lot faster than I anticipated it would be. They gave me a helicopter ride on the supply chopper leaving from Cu Chi. The trip only took about 25 minutes. Sure beats a convoy anytime.
16 Feb 1967
When the chopper dropped me off, Sgt. Cline was waiting to pick me up. I walked over to the jeep and heard Sgt. Cline say, "Hi, I heard you'd be in on this chopper. So I hurried over to pick your butt up."
"How are you guys doing up here?"
"Fine, no problems so far. It's been pretty good so far."
"What's this with the 4th Division being up here with us?"
"The Battalion is here on reserve. The 4th Division is up here helping with the security of the bridge going into the village. They shouldn't be here that long.
I put my gear into the jeep, and then we headed for the company area. Just as we drove past the end of the runway, I noticed a large three story building out in the middle of nowhere.
"What in the hell is that supposed to be?"
"That, my dear man, is Brigade Headquarters, can you believe it?"
"That's a hell of a place to take up housekeeping, isn't it? Right here in the middle of an air strip? Any problem with Charlie around here?"
"No problem at all. Wait until you see the swimming pool."
"Swimming pool?"
"Yea, the French had a plantation here a few year's back, and when they moved, it sure couldn't go with them.
4th Inf Div Shoulder Patch
2nd Bn 22nd Inf Unit Crest
Sure is a nice one, too."
"Well I'll be damned. What the hell is going to happen next?"
The complex was located next to the Michelin rubber plantation, east northeast of the town of Dau Tieng. Noticably every terrein feature in the area had rubber trees surrounding them. So there wasn't much to look at except those damn trees all the time.
Sgt. Cline and I pulled into the company command post. The company was forming for a noon meal. When the formation broke up, they formed a line for the "C" rations, located behind the mess tent.
"Do you want to eat first, or do you want me to show you where the weapons platoon is located?"
"No, I'll eat later. You can show me where the weapons platoon is."
The barracks for the platoon were in pretty good shape. They were taking up residence in an old building that was constructed some time ago by French laborers. The floor was made of cement and had wooden frames. Around the outside the platoon was filling sand bags to be used to reinforce the wooden structure. Behind the building the mortars were placed in a sand bag parapet. Three holes were dug out to accommodate the mortar section.
"I'm glad you men believe in using sand bags," I said.
"Yea, you can't be too careful around here," answered Collins.
"That's just about all we have been doing, filling sand bags."
"You've been training on the mortars I hope."
"Oh yea, that too," said Fisher. "The 106 section has been pulling bridge security every night. So most of us are here for internal security," he added.
"So you have had some time off, is that right?"
"No problem there Sarge, we've had plenty time to ourselves," said Sgt. Sawyer.
Sp4 Morales walked in and gave me a message to report to the first sergeant over at the orderly room. "Okay thanks, I'll be right over."
I walked out of the building asking for directions. Morales said to follow him and he'd take me over. Sgt. Cline said he would draw some rations for me while I was gone. "Yea, thanks Cline, I'll check with you when I get back."
M29 81mm Mortar
The 81mm mortar was the main-stay of support for the infantry company.
The first sergeant wanted to know if I had gotten settled in yet. "How would you like to go out on a patrol with the 3rd platoon this evening?"
"Fine with me. What time they going out?"
"As soon as it starts getting dark. Fine then, I'll let Lt. Sanders know. I'll find out from him also when he's having his patrol briefing. I'll let you know."
"Fine, I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for letting me know."
"You're just going out to observe and gain some experience.
"Right Top, I understand. By the way, I'd like to exchange my rifle at supply. Can you let me know if that might be possible?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"Faulty buffer spring I think, it kept jamming on me back in Cu Chi."
"Yea, that sounds familiar. A lot of them have had a problem with that happening. See Sgt. Lane, he's the armorer over at supply. He can fix you right up."
"Thanks. I'll check him out."
I went over to supply to see about my rifle. Sgt. Lane was there still eating chow. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Ah, don't worry about it, can't stand to eat this shit anyway."
"You ought to try some tabasco sauce on it; I hear it works wonders."
"Yea, I'll give it a try next time. What can I do you out of?"
"Well it's actually what I can do you out of. I've got a faulty buffer spring on my M16. Wondering if you could replace it?"
"I haven't got any extras lying around. I'll have to send it up to brigade and let them work on it. In the meantime I'll have to issue you another one. What platoon you from?"
"Weapons platoon. I'm Sgt. Shaffer, I just got assigned here."
"Glad to meet you, Sarge. Look, all I got left right now is this CAR 15. That okay with you?"
"Fine with me, just as long as it don't give me any problems."
"Should work for you fine, if it doesn't bring it back."
"Okay then, I'll take it, thanks."
"Sign right here and it's all yours."
"Pleasure doin' business with you sergeant. Thanks again."
M16/5.56mm Rifle
This rifle was the most widely used personal weapon in Vietnam.
AR15 Rifle
The AR15 was originally developed by Armalite and manufactured by Colt.
It was an excellent jungle-fighting weapon and the Army had 230,000 in Vietnam by July 1969.
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