COMBAT MISSION TO CAMBODIA
Cu-Chi, Sunday, June 22,
9:30 pm:
It's been
an exciting day my sweetheart. I
flew into Cambodia today, got shot at several
times, killed three gooks and almost blew up some sampans, and worst
of all got sick !
It all started when Lt. Col
Straugham called me this morning and
asked if I wanted to go flying with him in his FAC plane (Bronco OV-l0)
and of course I reluctantly agreed
to go.
So he told me to eat lunch (Ha
Ha!) and be up to his office at
12:15 pm. (There's
a baby lizard just sitting on my
floor staring at me. He's cute.)
So anyway, I
got my camera and took off. I stopped off to tell Capt. Bills that I
couldn't go to church today again, which upset him, however,
just then Col. Straugham came out and I had to go. We got in the jeep and
drove to the flight line.
In
the flight shack we got dressed; by that I mean
over my fatigues they gave
me a net mesh vest to put on that weighed 60 lbs due
to the radios, first aid kits,
compasses, etc. that were sewn on the
front in pockets. Then I
put on my parachute pack with armor back protector. (The parachute was
fastened to the chair which shoots
up through the canopy)
That weighed another 30 lbs or so and then the l0 lb flight helmet
and nomex gloves and I
was set. I felt heavy if not sort of important. You know the kind, big shot VIP out for a
joy ride. Well
anyway, it took him about
45 minutes to check out the plane and that stuff on my back kept getting heavier all the time.
It sure was a relief when we finally loaded up at 1:15
pm and took off. All this time I was
thinking about getting sick and to my surprise it was a very smooth
take off and lovely flight. (at first)
We cruised around at about
3000 ft. over to Cambodia and on
up the border to the straightedge woods. (So named because one edge of
the woods looks like someone cut it off
that way, a straight line.)
While there, a
Psy-ops (psychological-operations) plane was throwing out "Chieu
Hoi" (surrender pass)
leaflets for the
NVA (North Vietnamese Army) to
surrender with. Then another FAC plane
started putting some rockets
into the edge of the woods below
us so we stayed and watched in case any gooks
started running.
Then we
cruised on down to a spot where
the 3/4 Armd Cav got hit real hard yesterday or so and lost
a lot of men. The place had
been leveled by air strikes and only
the civilians lost everything. Then
over the inter-com he asked if I had ever
flown before and when
I said no, he
gave me a
little demonstration of flying
Then heading back toward Cambodia
I told him that my
camera wasn't working the first time (same old problem you had) so we flew back into
Cambodia so I could get some pictures.
And then as we were cruising down the border
checking the 500lb mines laid along it, we spotted a sampan where it didn't
belong, and then another and finally a third. And while
we were asking for permission to blow them up,
we were shot at
so we circled several
times until we pin-pointed the
location it was coming from.
We went in and fired
some rockets at it and killed
one gook, then we called in mortars which were really crummy but succeeded in killing
two more. While the mortars
continued to pound the area we went after the sampans. We
made several runs
at them but just couldn't hit them it seemed. We'd get just about on top of them and then
roll over and
go almost straight down at
them. At the bottom of our dive it was like someone
pulling the shades over my eyes
as the "G" forces
forced the blood out of my head.
It was bad enough to almost black out but after an hour of
continuous dodging of bullets
and gun runs, my stomach said
quits. I hadn't eaten anything so I got
the dry heaves for a minute or two and
then felt terrible because we didn't quit doing what we were doing and I
wasn't about to yell for help.
But 15 minutes later Col. Straugham called for another FAC
plane to take
over because we were low on fuel and I was never so thankful in my
life. I felt better after that and we headed back to a nice soft
landing. As we taxied up to the gas
pump, I opened my canopy, took off my helmet
and threw up -
after we had stopped dead. I just couldn't believe it because it made
me mad to think that my stomach was
doing it on
it's own without me even
thinking about it. I think what it was,
was the smell of the diesel fumes
at the gas pump that did it. Anyway, when I finished I had to laugh at
myself. And I had my picture
taken, which I hope turns out OK.
I was glad to
get back to my hootch and eat some supper because I
was really hungry. Even though I
got sick I'd go again tomorrow if
I had the chance. Flying is
really fun. We'll have to go when I get
back.
Well, sweetheart, now I have
a real war story to tell when I
get home. I feel
just like a
combat veteran already. Do you know that I've done more in three
months than some of
these lifers in the
army have done in 18 years.
Hardly anyone has flown in a FAC plane
like me. I guess it's
just my good nature and outstanding personality that attracts people to
me.
I love you even more than FAC flights, so be good and keep studying up. I think
you're as good as Jane Fonda, if not better!
p.s. Sorry it's so long. I'll try and make them shorter from now on.
Cu-Chi, Monday, June 23,
9:45 pm:
The movie
got over early for a change so I might make it to bed before midnight
once.
Nothing much happened
today except that I set
some sort of record
for haircuts. I had ten people
in my shop at once and I cut hair from 7:30am to 6:00 pm with one break
and lunch. My
legs are really
cramping up on me tonight. Boy,
do I wish you were here to massage
them for me.
I guess it's hard to think of anything exciting around here after
yesterday’s big day. Having gotten
sick twice seems somehow
unimportant now compared to what I did.
The pictures I took ought to be back next weekend so you'll get them in another week or so. I hope they turn out.
I wrapped up two pair
of sandals (gook) tonight to send you.
They're too small for me so I thought you might be able to use them. If not you can give them away.
But remember they're authentic
gook shoes that
these people wear every day.
This is a
bull-snore letter because I don't have a thing to report to
you.
Cu-Chi, Tuesday, June 24,
ll:00 pm:
I started this letter to Sgt.
Hepworth at 5:00 pm but I got a
visitor and didn't have time to
finish it. I'm listening to Laugh-in on
the FM radio as I write
this so it's very distracting.
I just finished
printing 3 t-shirts for one of the guys next door in 9th Chemical. Thank you for the thinner and cheese
and film. I
found one broken jar and tried
eating some but got some broken glass so I had to throw it away.
But they are
absolutely great dear. I eat it
with Ritz crackers and it's fantastic.
I love you.
Those pictures of Jonette
and Nikki are the best yet, you marvelous
thing. I could get jealous if I
didn't know it was just your natural talent coming out.
What seems to be the trouble
with your back? You're probably lifting
the little tykes too much. Take it
easy!
Would you like
me to write Mrs. Eisenbeiss from here explaining the whole thing? I'd be glad to if you don't want to call
them.
We got our new shower fixed
and you have to pull the chain to get the water to flow and it's extremely difficult to shower with one hand in the
air.
I was going to call you
tonight but my phone has been on the blink.
Goodnight my love, I can't keep my eyes
open any longer.