Historical Occurrences of the Lrrp/Rangers of the 1St Cavalry Division During the Vietnam War: An Anthology of First-Person Stories About the Vietnam War Written By, and For, the Men Who Lived It

By John LeBrun and Bill Carpenter

Many books have been written about the Vietnam War. Most of them are just overviews of events and often focus on the political aspect of the conflict. Rarely is an individual under the rank of general mentioned, except for a paragraph or two about individuals who earned the Medal of Honor.

Some books have been written by individuals who actually saw combat. They often name people who engaged the enemy. These are people whose boots were not spit shined and uniform did not have starched creases.

This book contains stories by, and about, the men who served in one company, the 1st Cavalry Division’s LRRP/Rangers Company in the Vietnam War.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781728338293

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© 2020 John LeBrun and Bill Carpenter. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  10/23/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3830-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3828-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-3829-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019920112

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Bob Carr at a reunion: "We do not tell ‘War Stories’, that phrase

implies a certain amount of questionable embellishment.

We recall ‘Historical Occurrences’.

We do not lie; we tell the truth.

No one is going to believe us anyway."

"If you volunteer for the LRRP unit and are accepted, I cannot

promise you faster promotions, more money, or more R and R.

But I do promise that at the end of your tour, you will look into

the mirror with great pride and knows that you did a man’s job."

Capt. Jim James

Commander, LRRP Detachment 1967

When SSG John Barnes was recruiting for the unit, his line was;

"We prefer men with no wife, no girlfriend, no kids,

and who have suicidal tendencies."

Wayne Okken, after hearing another Ranger tell a story at a

reunion: "I know that story is true, because I was there when it

happened. But today I have trouble believing we did that."

"American soldiers in battle don’t fight for what some

president says on T.V., they don’t fight for Mom, apple pie,

or the American flag…they fight for one another."

LTC Hal Moore, CMDR 1/7 Cav, Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam

No combat ready person or unit will ever pass inspection

If you earned a Purple Heart,

this means you were smart enough to think of a plan,

stupid enough to try it,

and lucky enough to survive.

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Preface

For the reader who has not experienced combat, this book is not a movie script. It is not about the blue haze of gun smoke in the air, the smell of cordite, the vegetation being shredded bare by ordinance, or the blood and gore of an exit wound. This book was not written by someone whose only experience with combat is reading what someone else has written or told them.

These are some of the stories from the men who served in the 1st Cavalry Division’s LRRP/Ranger unit during the Vietnam War. These men are not professional writers. What they wrote was not reviewed by a professional writer. These stories are the 30-40-50-year-old memories of what they did when they were 19-20-year-old Lurps and chopper pilots. These stories are true events as they remember them.

Each man in the unit volunteered for the job. They knew they could un-volunteer at any time without repercussions. No one wanted someone on his team who did not want to be there. You put your life in another man’s hands, just as he put his life in yours. Everyone accepted that obligation when he volunteered for the LRRP/Rangers.

There are still a lot of stories that have not been written. A lot of the men have the memories, but the memories are too vivid to write on paper.

Ask ten ex Recondo men why they volunteered for the unit and you will get seven or eight different answers. Many other army personnel considered us mentally imbalanced in some way. The Lurps were often referred to as the crazies. But every Lurp will tell you that they felt safer in the jungle with a five-or six-man team than with a 125-man infantry company. The casualty data documents this as fact.

The LRRP/Rangers primary mission was to see but not be seen. There were five or six men on a team. Mission were usually planned for five to seven days, or until there was contact with the enemy. The teams were often several miles from the nearest friendly military. Their life lines were the radio and the chopper.

A Ranger Rule: see what you see, hear what you hear, smell what you smell, but think before you act. The 100-115-man recon company was the eye, ears,–-and nose–-for the other 14,000-15,000 people in the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam. It has been written that the LRRP/Rangers and the 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment (a helicopter battalion) combined, accounted for about two-thirds of the casualties the 1st Cavalry Division inflicted on the enemy in this war.

This manuscript would not be complete without a big THANK YOU to the chopper crews. They put us in and got us out, often putting themselves at great danger. Those flying boxes of thin aluminum and plastic were easy targets for the enemy weapons. Simply stated, if the Lurps called, they came, and the Lurps stayed alive for another day.

List of Fallen brothers

OUR FALLEN BROTHERS

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

FOR OUR FALLEN BROTHERS

The LRRP/Rangers roster has over 1,000 names of men who served in this unit. There are very few of these men who did not have direct contact with the enemy sometime in their tour. Not everyone was on a team, but almost everyone in the HQ component did participate at times in getting the teams in, and out.

It was the longest serving LRP/LRRP/Ranger unit in the Viet Nam War. Tradition is that it is also the most decorated company in the Vietnam War, and in the history of the U.S. Rangers. But with all of that, not one soldier in the 1st Cavalry Division’s LRRP/Rangers received the Medal of Honor, or the Distinguished Service Medal, the second highest medal for valor in combat.

Some officers did not award many medals; they considered a five-, or six-man team taking on a platoon or company of the enemy as Just part of your job. But to counterbalance that, Commanding Officer Captain Jim James said in his audio on our webpage, Each and every soldier that went on a mission did more than many individual soldiers in conventional units who were awarded the Silver Star.

Another statement by Col. James is, You can’t judge a soldier by the medals he wears, you judge him by, what did he do.

The unit was at full strength by June 1967 and came home In June 1972. That is five years, 60 months. Teams of LRRP/Rangers ran 35 to 40 missions a month. That is 2,000 to 2,500 missions for the war. About half of these missions resulted in contact with the enemy, with at least one team member being wounded (Reference source: company monthly operational reports).

So to be conservative, and using the lower number, this means that at least 500 of us were wounded in 1,000 enemy contacts.

Only four of the fallen were over 22 years old, two of these were officers and one was a first sergeant. The fourth was serving in another Cav unit when he was killed. Two members of the unit were 18 years old at the time of their death.

On June 9, 1972, H Company Rangers Elvis Osborne and Jeffrey Maurer became the last two infantrymen to die in the Vietnam War.

Granted, any death is one too many, but having only 21 men killed in 1,000 fire fights is an amazing number.

We must have been doing some things right.

SUMMARY OF FALLEN BROTHERS

The Vietnam Wall webpage is the primary source for

cause of death.

THE FIRST CAVALRY DIVISION IN VIETNAM

Many books have been written about the Vietnam War. Most of them are just overviews of events and often focus on the political aspect of the conflict. Rarely is an individual under the rank of general mentioned, except for a paragraph or two about individuals who earned the Medal of Honor.

Some books have been written by individuals who actually saw combat. They often name people who engaged the enemy. These are people whose boots were not spit shined and uniform did not have starched creases.

This book contains stories by, and about, the men who served in one company, the 1st Cavalry Division’s LRRP/Rangers Company in the Vietnam War.

The Pentagon divided South Vietnam into four military areas, designated by Roman numerals. I Corps was the north end of the country. II Corps was south of I Corps, more or less the Central Highlands area. III Corps was the Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) area. IV Corps was the southern end of the country, the Mekong Delta.

When the 1st Cavalry Division first moved to Vietnam in 1965, it was in II Corps, the Central Highlands. Division headquarters was Camp Radcliff, at An Khe, about half way between the coast and the western border. In January 1968, the First Team was moved north to I Corps, Camp Evens, to get the Marines out of Khe Sanh. Then in November 1968 it moved again, this time to Camp Gorvad, Phuoc Vinh, in III Corps northwest of Saigon. There it served to block the infiltration of the North Vietnam Army from Cambodia toward Saigon.

The terrain and the mission of the enemy were different in each Area of Operation (AO). The political aspect of the war also changed with time. The 1st Cavalry Division adapted to these changes. In a sense, it fought three different wars.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LRRP/RANGER

COMPONENT OF THE 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION (AM)

The LRRP Detachment became operational in January 1967 and placed OPCON to G2 with logistics provided by the 191st. Military Intelligence Detachment. In April 1967, the LRRP Detachment became part of Headquarters-Headquarters Company (HHC) of the 1st Cavalry Division’s central command. In January 1968, the LRRP Detachment was designated as Company E (LRP), 52nd Infantry (Abn). On February 1, 1969, the unit was designated as Company H (Ranger), 75th Infantry (Abn). After most of the 1st Cavalry Division returned to the United States in April 1971, Company H was known as HHC Det. 10 (Ranger). Detachment 10 (Ranger) returned to the United States in June 1972. The linage of Company H is now being carried by the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

THE LRRP/RANGERS CHAPTER OF THE 1ST

CAVALRY DIVISION DURING THE VIETNAM WAR

The 1st Cavalry Division Association members are individuals who have served in the 1st Cavalry Division, in war or peacetime. The LRRP/Rangers Chapter of this association is for individuals who served in that Division’s reconnaissance unit during the Vietnam War.

The LRRP/Rangers Chapter had its first reunion in 1987 in Killeen, TX with the 1st Cavalry Division Association’s reunion. The chapter continues to hold annual reunions in conjunction with the association reunion.

The LRRP/Rangers Chapter publishes a newsletter on a regular basis. These newsletters are mailed to all men who served in the unit for which there is an address. This book is a compilation of articles previously published in those newsletters.

The LRRP/Rangers Chapter is a subsidiary of the 1st Cavalry Division association. Therefore, the newsletters, and this book, are the property of the 1st Cavalry Division Association. Each author retains ownership and control of their stories.

All proceeds from the sale of this publication will go to the LRRP/Ranger Chapter, and then to 1st Cavalry Division Association when the chapter ceases to exist.

Table of Contents

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SECTION I

MEMORIES

OF SOME OF THE 1ST

CAVALRY DIVISION’S

LRRP/RANGERS

ALL TIME PERIODS OF THE WAR

ROGERS STAINDING ORDERS

In honor of Major Robert Rogers-1757

(Commander of Roger’s Rangers in the French-Indian War)

1. Don’t forget nothing.

2. Have your musket clean as a whistle, hatchet scoured, 60 rounds powder and ball and be ready to march at a minute’s warning.

3. When you’re on the march, act the way you would if you was sneaking up on a deer. See the enemy first.

4. Tell the truth about what you see and what you do. There is an army depending on us for correct information. You can lie all you please when you tell other folks about the Rangers, but don’t never lie to a Ranger or officer.

5. Don’t never take a chance you don’t have to.

6. When we’re on the march, we march single file, far enough apart so one shot can’t go through two men.

7. If we strike swamps or soft ground, we spread out abreast, so it’s hard to track us.

8. When we march, we keep moving till dark, so as to give the enemy the least possible chance at us.

9. When we camp, half the party stays awake while the other half sleeps.

10. If we take prisoners, we keep ’em separate till we have had time to examine them, so they can’t cook up a story between ’em.

11. Don’t ever march home the same way. Take a different route so you won’t be ambushed.

12. No matter whether we travel in big parties or little ones, each party has to keep a scout 20 yards ahead, 20 yards on each flank and 20 yards in the rear, so the main body can’t be surprised and wiped out.

13. Every night you’ll be told where to meet if surrounded by a superior force.

14. Don’t sit down to eat without posting sentries.

15. Don’t sleep beyond dawn. Dawn’s when the French and Indians attack.

16. Don’t cross a river by a regular ford.

17. If somebody’s trailing you, make a circle, come back onto your own tracks, and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you.

18. Don’t stand up when the enemy’s coming against you. Kneel down, lie down, hide behind a tree.

19. Let the enemy come till he’s almost close enough to touch. Then let him have it and jump out and finish him with your hatchet.

MEMORIES

In honor of Donald "Skeeter" PETTIBONE

Hello to All of you Rangers,

I have recently been in contact with Doug PARKINSON with whom I have spoken to several times lately. I have also spoken with Jim ROSS, my old friend and TL, and my friends of so long ago, Doc SUGGS & Bobby PEREZ. I have had a conversation with MODOLO and exchanged e-mails with Bill CARPENTER. It has really been a trip down memory lane.

An Khe, 1967, LRRP Hill, 1st Air Cav.

I haven’t recalled some of the names such as Dave DICKINSON, Denny MOORE, Jay GRIFFIN, Leo COREY, Bob SUTHERLAND, Jim DODY, Doc GILCHREST, Joe HAVERLAND, Smitty, NEGNONE, CAMPBELL, LOPEZ, ELIAS, Willy WILLIAMS, GREENFIELD, Lt. HALL, Capt. JAMES, Top KELLY, Capt. GOODING, Lt. Bobby, in many a year.

I know there is a host of others that photos and conversation will hopefully clear the cobwebs from a time long ago. I have often wondered about those of you whom I knew and lived with for a year and relied upon in some of the darkest of times. I also recall the many laughs and the outrageous optimism spoken daily regarding our return to the world.

The courageousness of those of you who I was so fortunate to have served with has left an indelible perception of what true heroism really is. My time in Viet Nam, with you, to this day remains one of the proudest times in my life. It has always been with such great pride that I could answer the occasional question of military duty with a simple, I was a LRRP in Nam.

Through the years that have followed I have spoken rarely of our times, of my experiences, of the grievous losses, the torrent of personal thoughts of good and bad.

But I say these things here and now because in you, I know, I will always feel an incredible kinship that triumphs over suppressed feelings, of all kinds, no matter how much time has passed, because, I know, you know. And when one of your names is spoken, there is a keen sense of camaraderie, loyalty beyond words, a catharsis that transcends time and allows for grainy mental pictures of a bunch of skinny kids with high hopes and big balls.

I am happy to know that there are those of you who cared enough to have given of your time and thoughtfulness to endeavor to ensure that the LRRP legacy is not forgotten and always revered for the sacrifices that were made and the memories that we all share and will carry with us for the rest of our lives.

I hope to one day be able to share with my grandson, the personal heroes of my past, that would be you guys. To speak to him of the promise of the future, and ensure that he understands the price of freedom that has been paid by his forefathers. I want him to understand that it was the courage and vigor of men like you, who believed in an ideal and one another, so strongly, that fears were pushed aside and choked down so deeply until the mission was completed, that in many cases, cherished friendships and memories were turned away, in an effort to vanquish the fears, the hurt, the guilt, and of course, the sorrows.

Many lessons and values I hold dear today were fired in the jungle with you. What successes and achievements I have realized have been attained through hard work and dedication and accomplished due to the beliefs that were nurtured from my father, a Marine’s Marine, and also through the experiences we shared and endured while in the service of our country.

It is in the greatest of regard that I hold each of you and I wish all of you the very best, in all things and in all that you do. I truly hope, one day, God willing, that I will see all of you once again.

MEMORIES

from Leo Corey

The CAR-15 was carried slung and the M-79 was at the ready with a shotgun round. I found that if you ran into someone unexpectedly, a shotgun round usually came in handy. I carried six shotgun rounds, and10 high explosive (HE) rounds for the M-79 in a claymore bandoleer, along with five claymore mines and 25 mags with 16 rounds each for the CAR-15. I also carried two ¼ lb. bars of C-4 and 25 yards of det cord, along with a Starlite scope.

Sometimes we would carry an FM radio-I don’t remember the nomenclature – if we were to be in extremely dense jungle. We were also the only unit where anyone on the team, regardless of rank, could use the SOI Extract to call in off-shore guns or an air strike. I requested each member of my team to carry five HE rounds for my M-79 and the same amount of everything else. We all carried two bladders of drinking water each and five LRRP rations, or indigenous rations as the action would call for. A bladder of water was about 2 ½ canteens, five pints.

Leo Corey

MEMORIES

from Earl McCann

My memories as a LRRP. I joined the LRRPs the second week of August, 1967. I spent three weeks at Camp Radcliff with old Ranger SFC Fred Kelly, training us some and running five miles a day with a sand bag on our backs, waiting for an opening in Recondo School. Myself and two others never went. We went to LZ Uplift, where I was assigned to Sp 4 Leonard Lyles’ team. Sgt Santigan was ATL

There were no platoons, just teams, half at LZ Uplift and half at LZ English. My first mission was about the first week of September 1967. We spotted 97 NVA regulars about five miles north of Phu Kat Air Force Base out in the open. Lyles called in artillery, pinning them down. We got the bird out there. We watched through a spotting scope and saw one round hit next to one of the NVA. He went about 20 feet straight up in the air. About five minutes later, four Mohawk with two napalm bombs each came in and lit everything up. We call to get a unit to get a body count. But after going just a short way, they had to stop. They said the smell was so bad they had to stop.

On the next two missions we were out, Lyles knew I would soon be getting a team so every time we moved he would give me the map and compass and tell me to find out where we were. He taught me everything I know about map reading.

The next mission we had three new members; I won’t call any names. We were going to blow the claymores the last morning we were there. So, he had me check the claymores before we blew them. Everyone the new guys had set out was facing us and I had to turn them around then blow them.

I pulled one mission with Sgt. Santigan as TL. I was ATL. The mission was quiet, no action.

Late in October I got my first mission as a TL. My team consisted of Spec. Gentry, Spec Mulligan, PFC Hancock, PFC Easter and PFC Coble. Gentry and Mulligan had more experience than the rest of us. We were watching a trail in the Tiger Mountains on Halloween night when we spotted lights coming up the mountain side. We decided to call in artillery. We were using two batteries at the same time. An 8" with HE and a 105 with WP. I was helping Gentry adjust the WP.

We got on the gun target line and did not know what that was then, they had never told us. The round landed about eight to ten feet from us, so close it umbrellaed over us.

I knew by the sound it was making that we were going to be hit.

I threw my poncho liner over me until most of it had stopped falling.

I then grabbed my canteen and ran to make up some mud to put on our burns. Bennie Gentry sure was doing some cussing on the radio, telling them we were hit, to stop firing. The fog set in and medivac would not fly, so the XO came out to pick us up. The only way he could find us was by us burning C-4. It was bright enough to pierce through the fog.

We were treated at LZ English that night and then back to LZ Uplift the next morning. We went out to retrieve our equipment.

The WP had burnt through several of my magazines, setting off the rounds.

After that everyone there went to Signal Mountain for a class in calling in artillery, and it sure did help me.

We spent two or three missions watching the same trail. All was quiet. One mission was watching a village in the Tiger Mountains. Watched that for a couple of days. Nothing happening, so just before dark they told us to move. We packed up and moved, got set up, and they told us to move again. So, there we went, got set up once more and another call to move again. We turned the radio off and said the heck with it, we’re not moving any more tonight. We turned the radio back on about 8:00 am the next morning and they wanted to know where we were at and why they could not contact us. We told them when they decided where they wanted us to go we would move. The rest of the mission was quiet.

For some strange reason several of the teams at LZ Uplift managed to get their spare radio shot up. It happened four or five times, but never was anyone hurt, except the spare radio.

The week before Christmas 1967, we were back in the Tiger Mountains watching the same trail we had watched so many times before and not seen anything but women and children. Christmas Eve, 7:00 pm, one hour after cease fire, 18 NVA came down the trail. We called the company for a fire mission, they said no, it is Christmas cease fire. We called the artillery unit and asked if they wanted a fire mission. They said send the coordinates, glad to get it. But they could not send a bird out to see if we had any KIA.

We had a good Christmas dinner in the field. My wife had sent me a ham, and Hancock had a bottle of wine that was sent to him and we had saved for the occasion.

The rest of the missions were quiet until the last one before going to Camp Evens. Bob Carr and Bill Hand went with me so a couple of my men could rest. All three of us carried a case of grenades each. We were watching a saddle, and spotted six NVA. We called in to engage, permission denied. They preached to never engage the enemy unless spotted.

We could not get a chopper, so I went big time with artillery, zone fire, six quadrants, 1/2 Charlie batteries, eight inchers with air burst, and 105 ground bursts. We told the artillery to keep the coordinates. This was the beginning of Tet ’68. A little while later we heard bugles and hollering from a different location. So I called artillery in, requesting the first round be WP. They told me I was on gun target line, so I ask for high angle. The team was scattering every which way, but that put a stop to the bugles.

About two hours after I called the first artillery in, we saw three or four flashlights moving around. The artillery still has the coordinates from the first mission so it was zone fire again. The next morning when the chopper came to check things out, all they could find was a well-ventilated village, we could not see it from our location.

The last day of the mission, Carr, Hand and I were seeing who could hold a grenade the longest before we threw it. We went through several, then I got an airburst out of one of mine. That put an end to playing chicken.

When we left for Camp Evens, they took some teams up to set up the tents and get everything ready. The rest of us had to catch our own rides up anyway we could. We caught a ride with a convoy, and all the vehicles got to ride along with a gas tanker. I was more scared there in that truck than I was in the field.

When we got to Camp Evans, we were in for a surprise; they had stoves up in the tents, got plumb chilly. Some built bunkers inside the tents. I dug a hole four feet deep and covered it with sand bags. There was two feet opening to get in and out of. The rockets were a daily thing, laying there listening to them whistle overhead, wondering if one had your name on it.

This is part of my memories with some being over 40 years old. Our history needs be written down in history to keep the past from being forgotten. A film crew came to LZ Uplift wanting to do a story and photos of the LRRPs. But they said no, due to the bounty on any LRRP that was captured. So, we never got the credit there, for our work.

There were a lot of LRRPs there the same time I was, that I never got to know them due to the teams being spread out all the time. I would not take anything for the friends I made there and their loyalty to each other. I pulled 33 missions in 9 months.

MEMORIES

from David Shows

The First Cav. LRRPS, early October 1967 to early October 1968.

This is not intended to be a definitive history of the unit, it is how I remember it, 40 years later.

After browsing the web site, eavesdropping on the posts, and corresponding with some of the other old guys, I have certainly discovered that there was a lot about LRRP that I never knew, and a lot that I may have known at one time that is now clouded by the passage of years.

As much as possible I am trying not to include specific incidents, except as they relate to my overall impressions of what the unit was. I may try to write down more of those later, unless someone has the good sense to tell me to shut up.

I was a 19-year-old E-4 MOS 11B when I arrived in Viet Nam 8 October ’67 after a tour of duty in Korea with the Mechanized Infantry. I was promptly assigned to the 1st Cav. Division.

Upon arriving at Ahn Khe I was assigned to an Infantry company (I don’t remember the unit) and was told to store my gear in a hooch, and I would be transported to a training area for in country orientation. The company area was fairly deserted since the unit was in the field. Two young troopers came in to the hooch having just returned from the field for some reason. We introduced ourselves and I recall they were very welcoming and friendly to the new kid, and very up on what a good unit I was getting into. They made a special point of warning me that I might be approached by Long Range Recon Patrol which I had never heard of, and asked to volunteer. They warned me to not even consider it, assuring me that no sane person wanted any part of that.

As I recall the 1st. Cav.’s in country orientation lasted about three days, I still remember a couple of the classes and instructors, especially one very large spec 6 who did classes on medical issues, the guy should have had his own comedy show. I still remember several of his jokes. There was considerable introduction to weapons and equipment, a lot of which was in use nowhere else but Viet Nam at the time. A lot of us had never fired or trained with M-16’s. I got my first taste of rappelling from the tower in the training area.

Graduation was a patrol of about a company-sized group of us newbies. We were inserted by slicks to a fairly nearby hill outside of the camp, and basically camped out there overnight. There I met up with Bob Whitten, and we pretty much stuck together after that. Bob was also an E-4 and had done a previous tour in Germany.

When we returned to the training area, a LRRP Sgt. (I think it may have been the 1st Sgt. but I’m not sure of that) came around and told us a little about the LRRP missions, and asked for volunteers. He stressed the idea that LRRPS only took volunteers, operated in four to six-man units usually with Montagnard scouts, on six to ten-day missions, operated considerable distances from friendly units, and primarily worked to locate and gain information on enemy units and movements getting in and out without being detected or making contact. He advised LRRPS also acted as forward observers for artillery and air strikes, and occasionally might be sent on ambush missions. He did not minimize potential dangers, but told us that generally the goal was to avoid direct contact.

The idea kind of appealed to both Whitten and I and we volunteered. The Sgt. then spent about 15 minutes individually interviewing each of the handful of guys who had volunteered, and both Bob and I were accepted. I always thought that what got me into the unit was being a squirrel and deer hunter.

He arranged for us to be taken back to our assigned units and pick up our stuff then take us to the LRRP company area. I remember running into one of the two guys I had met before, and he was quite upset that I had gone to LRRPS and told me that he was sure I was going to regret it if you live long enough.

I arrived in the company area and went to what passed for an orderly room to report in. The 1st Sgt and another Sgt. were there and I remember them making fun of me for standing at attention when speaking to Sgts.

At any rate there was a dozen or so of us arriving at the unit at the same time, I can visualize several but have lost a lot of the names. We were divided into two teams for LRRP training in the company area. My team was Jim Mack McDonald, Mike Tibbetts, Bob Whitten, Larry Pappert, Chuck Awe, and myself. I wish I could recall some of the other names, the people I remember fairly well but the names are gone.

I don’t remember a lot of the specifics about the training but as I recall it wasn’t very long, perhaps two weeks at most. A lot of work on compass and map, directing artillery, and air support, we actually got to go out and call in practice fire missions with live rounds, some medical training. I remember we had to practice establishing IV’s by drawing blood from each other. There was more weapons training, and a good deal of close order drills moving in team formation, tactical reaction drills, rally points etc., more equipment familiarization, radio procedures, coding and decoding. There was some rope training, rigging McGuire rigs and Swiss seats etc. I remember we even trained on making rope bridges (which we never actually used after training). There was some physical training, long runs, and the final exam was a long run around the perimeter of An Khe with sand bags in our Alice packs, and weapons.

What I remember most about the training was how informal it was. There was absolutely none of the military harassment typical of most peacetime army training. I recall that one of the guys who came in with us announced that he couldn’t do it. LRRP missions appeared too dangerous to him. There was no harassment or belittling of him, he was treated with respect and transferred out promptly. I remember clearly one of the instructors telling him and the rest of us that there was no shame in it, this work