MOC HOA 1966


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Searching for another video about Moc Hoa, Vietnam where I lived with my Special Forces team for a year, I came across this which isn't much about Moc Hoa and a lot about PACVs (Patrol Air Cushion Vehicles) which were parked right outside my camp in the fall of 1966. The video does not have the tremendous noise of engines and guns firing. At 2:30, in, there are AirCat airboats below seen from a helicopter. I may have been in one of them. In fact, there may be some footage of our improper incursion into Cambodia Nov. 20, 1966 when we wiped out 56 enemy before it was discovered we weren't in Vietnam and withdrew before mounting an additional assault on a fortified village. The King of Cambodia complained a week later and the number two in Vietnam, General Abrams, came by the next day for a debriefing. The unit we wiped out had kicked our ass 6 days before. The SFC next to me had gotten a bullet almost between the eyes. A Sp 4 radioman, John Mayo, on an assault boat was machinegunned across his chest when the outboard stalled out. I gave CPR to a South Vietnamese soldier in a helicopter flying back to the hospital in Moc Hoa. Shot in the head, possibly but unlikely by my own "friendly fire" (my bullets likely arced into the water the range was so long so the VC probably got him), he died and I had his blood all over my face. I accompanied both American bodies to the morgue at the AF base in Saigon for ID purposes. Theirs were the only bodies on a long row of marble embalming slabs. It was a quiet day. The ten thousandth American had yet to be killed. I saw the future. It was the same future I had imagined in March 1965 in jump school at Ft. Benning when a training NCO told us conventional units were going into Vietnam. I wondered if it was going to be like Korea with 40,000 dead. As I left on a bus for SF at Bragg we went by the old WWII wooden barracks of the First Cavalry Air Mobile. I saw soldiers lounging outside. I wondered how many were going to die. The Mel Gibson movie We Were Soldiers told their story--the battle of la Drang Valley, Nov. 1965.

The only surviving Vietnam PACV--there were only a few used ever--is in a museum in Seattle. They could go on land or water for they rode on air generated off the motor's action contained by a continuous skirt around the vehicle. Going over the rice paddies with that engine noise they made a hellish appearance but the airboats did most of the damage. The captain running the airboats--I didn't see this--ran his over a rice paddy dike and machinegunned 18 communist soldiers to death with one continuous burst of .30 cal. Captain George Marecek was a pure killer. I think he lived to kill. He was convicted of murdering his Cambodian wife in North Carolina. He wanted to marry his cousin and run for the presidency of the Czech Republic. Took three trials to nail him even though only one of 36 jurors came down on his side. That was the first trial. The second was a conviction overturned on a technicality. He poured me a triple whiskey and told me, "You fought like a man" after I expressed some regret about what I had done that day.

--Brant

I drank it, but not because I needed it--I could have done what the captain had done, not that I could have chosen not to; you pull that trigger and shoot down the enemy or they will kill you--then or tomorrow--and you go look for more to kill and you aren't there to take prisoners, so I learned--as the captain said afterwards, "No, no prisoners." Why? Prisoners eventually got released and rejoined the fight. Fortunately, I never had to fight with him again and get that choice and then have to get between that captain and my prisoner, who would have been killed by the our American controlled and commanded Mike Force Chinese Nungs eventually anyway. Before that operation I was told--no, I can't repeat the common scuttlebutt about that captain for I never witnessed it myself and the story may be crap anyway, but it would make you puke. Enough said about that.

My uncle Dave who died a year ago was almost killed in his B-17 in the South Pacific in 1943. He couldn't move because of his wounds so he passed ammo up to the nose gunner firing at the Zeros. The gunner died. Thus he spent a year in the hospital and rehab in Battle Creek, MI and didn't see combat again until Korea in B-29s and missed the bombings of Japanese cities and he never smelled the burning human flesh below. But he would have done that if ordered to and abled. (He had so many medals he couldn't wear them all and walk straight.) I would have too, even the atomic bombings. Different type of war--a war fought to win. My attitude would have been if not me then another American would take my place. In basic training in 1964 I realized no way would I be in the army supporting combatants--that I would be one; that's what soldering meant to me at the age of 20. This would be true today. I would rather be a Marine and take fire than in the army taking it easy in a support position. That said, in 1964 I was sluiced into the military by the military draft as were millions of others. Today I'd never enlist. Even though the Vietnam War was low key then--sort of on the back burner--I wouldn't have enlisted then except for the life-distorting draft. I didn't know the army would turn me into an American warrior and I had a propensity for it. I thought it would be three and done. Now it might as well be part of my DNA. When I say that today I wouldn't enlist and fight if I were young again it's an act of will for I want to be with my fellow soldiers, not to kill per se but to kill to keep them from being killed. In 1990 it was still remotely possible that if my ducks could be lined up in a row--they couldn't--I could go fight in the first Gulf War for I wanted to. Some my age did. The stupidity of most war finally got into my brain in the right way because of Iraq in 2003 and I shifted to being more of a libertarian and less of an Objectivist. I finally got the message most war is caused by the ruling elite for their own reasons and is completely unnecessary, including most American wars since the US became a nation. I can't tell you how many war stories I've written for OL I didn't post for they sounded to my like vainglory--and this one does too, frankly--but I will not delete this. People have to know about these things or I'm a coward for modesty. I don't like anything I've written here. I want to tear it off and stomp on it. I am a killer. I will be one until the day I die. Even my uncle couldn't say that with the same absoluteness. But I was a piker compared to McNamara and Lyndon Johnson. They killed about five million. I don't, btw, regret killing any communist soldier. Usually you don't see what your bullets do or even where the mortar rounds land. I once dropped 20HE 81mm on an out of sight target, I think with some success. I still hope so. I don't regret that combat; I regret that war. I also regret any allied soldiers killed or wounded. Gaede is from German stock who farmed in Russia in the 19th C and came to Kansas to escape military service for religious reasons. Those who stayed behind in Ukraine were murdered by starvation by Stalin. You think I couldn't kill him and his ilk? Why not. I'd do the same with even greater pleasure of Hitler and his. All of them if it could save one Jew.

Fortunately I have no nightmares or war-induced PTSD. I know PTSD for another reason so I know a little what the soldier Patton slapped went through.

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I didn't record it. Someone called "Sp4 Malone" did. I don't think this video was meant for public distribution but for internal educational use by the army. It was originally 16mm film. The army sent soldiers with cameras out to various field situations to film. I recall one who accompanied us on a short patrol and I made suggestions on how to conserve his film when we blew up--tried to blow up--a bunker with C-4 explosive. Not a good visual. Not Hollywood by a long shot.

Sean Flynn, son of Errol Flynn, came through out team in the summer of 1967. He was a free-lance photo-journalist. I didn't know it at the time, but he was all over South Vietnam putting his life on the line. The Kilmer Rouge grabbed him and a companion in Cambodia three years later, apparently held them for a year then executed them.

I put this up with the story simply to dress out a small slice of what war is really about. Too often people who have never seen combat treat war too abstractly. The President Bush who never saw war ordered the Iraq invasion of 2003. I, who had, was against it at the time. I knew it would be wrong and bad but even I could not imagine how bad and that bad keeps rolling along today. His father had seen war and was more circumspect. It has just become public knowledge that he had barely evaded capture, execution and cannibalism by the Japanese who had captured eight of his companions. He knew all the time since what had happened to them. There was-were-war crimes trial in Guam in 1946 in which this information came out resulting in executions including a Japanese General who ate some liver of a murdered American airman as a delicacy. Such are some of the insanities of war.

If I could do it all over again knowing what I know now I would have become the photographer I enlisted for or agreed to a four year enlistment, gone to language school for a year in beautiful California and spent my time in the army with NSA and maybe have become a CIA spook as a civilian career choice. I still remember how ardently the recruiter wanted me to do that after he saw my test scores. That's if there were a military draft.

--Brant

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.

No, Brant, by "recording this," I do not mean the video, but your own words. That is the record I mean, the unique inside you let us see. Thanks again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS

I you would, please go to your FB page and accept.

Oh, okay. Brought a slight smile to my face because I'm usually quick to pick up on that sort of thing.

--Brant

back to normal--I hope that includes being silly sometimes

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Fortunately I have no nightmares or war-induced PTSD. I know PTSD for another reason so I know a little what the soldier Patton slapped went through.

The Slap Heard "Round the World

Then, on August 10, Patton toured the 93rd Evacuation Hospital. There he came across Private Paul G. Bennett, C Battery, 17th Field Artillery, II Corps. According to Lieutenant Colonel Long’s official report, Bennett had already served four years in the army and had been in II Corps since March. . .

Indeed, he had a fever, was sick, dehydrated, fatigued, confused, and listless. In that condition, despite protests, he could not be returned to the front.

“[He] never had any difficulties until August 6th, when his buddy was wounded. He could not sleep that night and felt nervous. The shells going over him bothered him. The next day he was worried about his buddy and became more nervous. He was sent down to the rear echelon by a battery aid man and there the medical officer gave him some medicine which made him sleep, but still he was nervous and disturbed. On the next day the medical officer ordered him to be evacuated, although the boy begged not to be evacuated because he did not want to leave his unit.”

Patton, who knew nothing of this, looked at Bennett . . . He asked him what the trouble way. Long related the exchange:

“It’s my nerves,” [said Bennett and] began to sob. The General then screamed at him, “What did you say?” The man replied, “It’s my nerves, I can’t stand the shelling any more.” He was still sobbing. The General then yelled at him, “Your nerves, hell; you are just a Goddamned coward, you yellow son of a bitch.” He then slapped the man and said, “Shut up that Goddamned crying. I won’t have these brave men here who have been shot at seeing a yellow bastard sitting here crying.” He then struck the man again, knocking his helmet off and into the next tent. He then turned to the admitting officer and yelled, “Don’t admit this yellow bastard; there’s nothing the matter with him. I won’t have the hospitals cluttered up with these sons of bitches who haven’t got the guts to fight.” He then turned to the man again, who was managing to sit at attention through shaking all over and said, “You’re going back to the front lines and you may get shot and killed, but you’re going to fight. If you don’t, I’ll stand you up against a wall and have a firing squad kill you on purpose. In fact,” he said, reaching for his pistol, “I ought to shoot you myself, you Goddamned whimpering coward.” As he left the tent, the General was still yelling back to the receiving officer to “send that yellow son of a bitch back to the front line.”

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Wow, The movie was vanilla to that reality. But if you click on your link you get the fuller and better story. Patton losing his command, btw, turned out to be a strategic blessing, for while he didn't get fighting again until Eisenhower gave him 3rd Army, he was used a decoy to help mislead the Nazis about where the invasion of Europe would take place, The Nazis ate it up because they couldn't believe the best allied tactical general officer in Europe if not the whole war--either side, any army--would be taken out for such a slight reason. And there is the irony that Patton himself snapped because of his own battle fatigue.

--Brant

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Brant, you seem to remember... as do I, much of your time spent in the military.

It was indeed a shock for me to go from a kid comfortably living at home with the family, to basic training and subsequently to a foreign country.

-J

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Brant, you seem to remember... as do I, much of your time spent in the military.

It was indeed a shock for me to go from a kid comfortably living at home with the family, to basic training and subsequently to a foreign country.

-J

Now the shock of leaving home was bad but the result was good. It toughened me up. So did the training and jumping out of airplanes. Getting qualified on light weapons was a blast. You wouldn't believe the long range tracer bullet arc as the rounds literally fell down out of the sky to land on--hit on--the targets. That's why machine guns are most effective at short range. Point and shoot. The traverse and elevation mechanism keeps the inexperienced gunner from over-elevating the gun so when the VC hit the wire you aren't shooting over their heads but right into body mass. For some reason, however, I never saw the T & E in fixed field positions in Vietnam. So when the young South Vietnamese downtown thought they were under attack they'd panic fire their machine guns with a 30 - 45 degree elevation (at night). It was ridiculous to watch those tracers--one every five rounds--climb impotently into the sky. On the converse, when Puff the Magic Dragon came into play one night close to the border, I watched one VC machine gun firing up at it the DC-3 with a thin stream of tracers. What looked like a load of ketchup came pouring down out of the gunship at the VC. Incredibly the VC fired back. One more load of ketchup and that was that. Gatling gun vs a machine gun. No contest.

I once walked with a patrol and operations unit across a dry rice paddy that had been hit by a Puff. Literally every five inches was a bullet hole, evenly spaced. You'd need a steel umbrella to survive something like that.

I really enjoyed a lot of my time in the military, even in Vietnam. I didn't enjoy fellow medic Robert Johnson getting his legs blown off at Con Thien and killed by a 175. That was 48 years ago this May. He was so positive and right for life--all wiped out.

--Brant

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On the converse, when Puff the Magic Dragon came into play one night close to the border, I watched one VC machine gun firing up at it the DC-3 with a thin stream of tracers. What looked like a load of ketchup came pouring down out of the gunship at the VC. Incredibly the VC fired back. One more load of ketchup and that was that. Gatling gun vs a machine gun. No contest.

 

I once walked with a patrol and operations unit across a dry rice paddy that had been hit by a Puff. Literally every five inches was a bullet hole, evenly spaced. You'd need a steel umbrella to survive something like that.

 

I really enjoyed a lot of my time in the military, even in Vietnam. I didn't enjoy fellow medic Robert Johnson getting his legs blown off at Con Thien and killed by a 175. That was 48 years ago this May. He was so positive and right for life--all wiped out.

 

 

"Puff the magic Dragon,

a bird of days long gone,

Came to fly the evening sky

In a land called Vietnam."

    Unknown

 

 

340_c-d51.jpg

 

I do not believe we ever were not involved in the Southeast Asia theatre since at least 1940.

 

 

The USAF became involved in Vietnam in early January, 1953 when it sent teams of mechanics to help the French maintain their C-47s, some of which were from US Air Force reserve stocks. When France yielded independence to Vietnam in February 1955, a small air force was formed with two squadrons of C-47s in the southern half of the country. The United States trained and provided assistance to this fledgling air force. By 1961, additional C-47s had been supplied to the South Vietnamese Air Force to help their fight against the increasing threat from the Viet Cong.

 

American know how led to the adaptation of a mail carrying plane to a devastating anti-personnel weapon:

 

 

The idea for the gun ships came from an Air Force officer, Captain Ronald W. Terry, who had seen DC-3s delivering mail and supplies to remote jungle areas in South America. The aircraft would circle in a steep pylon turn, lowering a bucket on a long rope. The bucket would orbit in a tight circle, suspended from the cargo door, and someone on the ground placed mail in it. Captain Terry suggested adapting this procedure to warfare situations by replacing the rope with a line of machine gun fire.

 

Brant's description is enhanced here:

 

 

"Spooky", as it also became known, had such awesome firepower it was almost invulnerable to small arms fire. On a typical black starless night in July, 1973 "Spooky" lifted into the sky over Bien Hoa. Like a vulture "Spooky" slowly circled its target at 2,000 feet and with all its guns blazing at the rate of 6,000 rounds a minute, there was no place to hide. "Whoever built 'Puff' had a sick mind." said one soldier. "At night it looked like a red line of light coming from the heavens, like Hell leaking fire."

 

As one combat veteran explained:

 

 

"Once 'Puff' had done his work on an North Vietnamese Army company and we went out on patrol to count bodies," said another soldier. "We walked for about a mile and didn't see anything. First we could smell it, and then we couldn't believe what we saw. What was once 200 men was now a stream of slush. 'Puff' had shredded them to bits leaving nothing but communist mush. It was just like putting 200 men through a meat grinder. When Puff did his work there wasn't enough left to put in a bag and send home to Mama."

 

340_c-d49.jpg

 

"An AC-47 pilot, Major Robert P. Knoph, penned some lyrics to the tune of the popular Peter, Paul and Mary song, 'Puff the Magic Dragon.' He closed the song, 'Now dragons live forever, and Puff is just the same. The Gooney Bird will still be heard when grandpa is my name.'  We don't know if Major Knoph is a grandpa, but the Gooney Bird is still around."

 

 

http://www.dc3history.org/puffthemagicdragon.html

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Brant, you seem to remember... as do I, much of your time spent in the military.

It was indeed a shock for me to go from a kid comfortably living at home with the family, to basic training and subsequently to a foreign country.

-J

Now the shock of leaving home was bad but the result was good. It toughened me up. So did the training and jumping out of airplanes. Getting qualified on light weapons was a blast. You wouldn't believe the long range tracer bullet arc as the rounds literally fell down out of the sky to land on--hit on--the targets. That's why machine guns are most effective at short range. Point and shoot. The traverse and elevation mechanism keeps the inexperienced gunner from over-elevating the gun so when the VC hit the wire you aren't shooting over their heads but right into body mass. For some reason, however, I never saw the T & E in fixed field positions in Vietnam. So when the young South Vietnamese downtown thought they were under attack they'd panic fire their machine guns with a 30 - 45 degree elevation (at night). It was ridiculous to watch those tracers--one every five rounds--climb impotently into the sky. On the converse, when Puff the Magic Dragon came into play one night close to the border, I watched one VC machine gun firing up at it the DC-3 with a thin stream of tracers. What looked like a load of ketchup came pouring down out of the gunship at the VC. Incredibly the VC fired back. One more load of ketchup and that was that. Gatling gun vs a machine gun. No contest.

I once walked with a patrol and operations unit across a dry rice paddy that had been hit by a Puff. Literally every five inches was a bullet hole, evenly spaced. You'd need a steel umbrella to survive something like that.

I really enjoyed a lot of my time in the military, even in Vietnam. I didn't enjoy fellow medic Robert Johnson getting his legs blown off at Con Thien and killed by a 175. That was 48 years ago this May. He was so positive and right for life--all wiped out.

--Brant

I also believe I came back a better person, the result of my 2 yrs ('68-"69) in the military. As you know, during Basic (Ft. Jackson, S.C.) we learned survival skills, a sense of teamwork & trained with the M-14. Being subjected to tear gas, throwing hand grenades, the infiltration course and long marches with full packs was certainly new to me.

The fun I had was when I was stationed in Japan, after doing AIT at Ft. Belvoir, VA. Being a young, single man there had its benefits. The abundance of young, single Japanese girls were most interested in us...and made us feel "all-right". Tons of night life & inexpensive food & trinkets. At that time 1 U.S. dollar was worth 360 yen.

My work as a offset press operator was both both interesting (assigned to a large plant with 95% Japanese) and physical.

47 years have passed quickly...yet I still have, as you, vivid memories.

All in all I tried to make the best of my situation.

I'm glad you survived yours and came home uninjured.

-Joe

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Young Japanese girls? Boy, did I screw up. I could have loved a few. My uncle left one crying on the dock, literally, when he returned to the States after 60 missions over Korea. A real Tales of the South Pacific thing recast up north.

--Brant

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Young Japanese girls? Boy, did I screw up. I could have loved a few. My uncle left one crying on the dock, literally, when he returned to the States after 60 missions over Korea. A real Tales of the South Pacific thing recast up north.

--Brant

Ah-so.

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