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 Posted - 08/03/2001 : 14:52:48
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Posted - 10/11/2001 : 15:09:44
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I was Team leader of KB Team 4 from 7/19/68 until approximately the first week in October 68 (10/?/68).
We were at Tui Atar (A-231) until the last week of August 1968. Tui Atar was a true "Star" camp and looked just like the camp in the movie "Green Beret." The US SF and the VNSF team houses were single story TO wood construction, about 1/3 in the ground, with sand bags up the walls about another 1/3. You could look out the windows over the sand bags. The striker houses were for the most part similar. We improved the four inter premiter MG position and added RPG stand off. The biggest project was the construction of an under ground concrete Commo/command bunker. This was an amazing task because the bunker was totally concrete to include the roof and was poured using a 16s cement mixer and a log line of yards carring buckets back and forth. The concrete was kept from setting up to soon by having lots of yards with long pooles continually agitating the concrete as it went into the forms. We also were on trying to up grad the small runway which was mainly laterite. We had a D6B bull dozer with a cable wench system that controlled the blade in front, which was a good thing since we did not have cable and had to improvise ( used rope ) . Rations for the camp came in via Carabeu while I was there.
In the last week of August I went to Duc Lap( A-239). At that time Duc Lap was partically overrun and the North side of the camp was destroyed by air strikes. An the NVA were finally repulsed by Mike Forse ( I think from B-20 and B-55) We were airlifted to DucLap on or about 27 August to start rebuilding the north hill. The battle had just ended maybe a day or two before and the first big job was digging up a burring the dead NVA. I think there were about 385 NVA bodies on the hill to despose of. Our equipment was supposed to be hooked in via CH54. The Dozer made it but a conex with tools was shot up on the way. We also received a D4 dozer(a small airborne dozer) to help with the job On 2 September 1968 Major Hardeman and CPT Gardner arrived to give me my promotion orders to Captain. (Tom Raines, James Titsworth, and John Conley (and I thing Stewart) were also promoted to CPT on the same date ( Raines and Titsworth were in the same OCS class as I was. I thing Connley and Stewart were also. Then we set at the task of rebuilding the bunkers and fighting positions. I can't for the life of me remember who was on the team. I think the A-239 commander was tremmel and the A team medic was Sheppard. Becides the A-team and the KB team there was an SOG detachment at Duc Lap. One of the Mike force companies continued to operate in the area.
Tom Raines was a Staff engineer at this time but I am not sure where. Titsworth was staff Engr at Co D. I thought he extended and went to one of the projects(Delta, omega ?).
I thought Jim Hager was at Ben Het at the sdame time I was at Tui Atar.
Things were picking up in the Fish Hook region and was sent to replace Ken Stean as KB-3 Team leader. I was with KB-3 at Ton Le Chon (A-334) from october 68 until April 69. MSG Guinn was my team sergent at Ton Le Chon. He rotated shortly before I did.
Ton Le Chon had an earth berm around it. On of the big tasks was to help build barracks for the strikers. the striker barracks were supposed to be regular one story TO construction with tin roofs. and concrete floors. Two problems existed - no lumer and no sand or gravel. We ended up fifting and washing the dirt out side the camp to get gravel. We replaced Laterite for sand. This actually made a very hard , shiny floor and worked out great. The lumber problem required a little more effot but we managed to get a lot of 2X6 lumber as a substitute for 2X4's and used tin for siding. At first we stayed in Team buildings that were TO construction and sand bagged around the out side but as things heated up we moved to under ground conex containers for sleeping. I did this out of necessity because while I was away from the camp for a short time a mortor round went through the roof of the building and hit my bunk. (unfortunately in destroyed my camera and my picture collection).
A brigade of the 1st Infantry Division set up inside the inter peermiter of Ton Le Chon and forced the VNSF team out. I think the big pay back for the VNSF was a little soda and rice ball sandwitch stand that was set up that also specialized in whores for the 1 ID troops that happen to RON there, because VD rates went up in the Brigade I think. The 1st ID was conducting a recon in force and sweep operations in the area and as a result the camp airstrip became a very busy place. And as a consequence, received plently of attention from the NVA. you could regularly see green tracers and mortor and rocket fire. At least 1 C-130 crashed at the end the strip. and most loading and off loading was done on the move. As a matter of fact I got blown off the back of a C-130 ramp while uploading some equipment as the C130 moved down the runway. Mortor rounds started hiting the strip and one apparently hit pretty close. Knocked be for a loop. Blew my boots off and I guess Knocked me out because I was swooped up by a chopper and taken to the 1st ID clearing hospital. Don't remember the trip there or how I got back. Just lying in the clearing station.I guess I was back the next day.
To Le Chon was not the most sanitary place I have ever seen.
The strikers and their famalies who did not have barracks yet. lived in huches dug particially into the berm. One of the main stables for many striker families appeared to be the huge rats that the women would beat out of the berm. A few other vivid memories I have of To Le Chon include: the shower which was built over a septic tank and as a consequence every so often you would get to seen strange creatures back through the shower drain (like tape worms and hook worms). Sleeping in the conex bunker meant getting up in the morning and brushing off the host of roaches that droped out of the walls at night. Then spraying the area down with bug spray, closing up the area and then returning before you to rack out sweeping out the bugs so you could go to sleep, just to repeat the process the next day.
Hope you don't mind my rambling. like I said your page has been helpful to me in remembering. Unfortunately I don't remember many names.
John Fravel
jffjr@worldnet.att.net
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