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2nd
Plt. Alpha Co. 1st Tks, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Aug. 1965 |
In July of 1965 we received word to pack and mount out
for the land of Viet Nam. We got the tanks ready and
drove them to the bay and loaded on Mike boats then to
San Diego. It was there we loaded the tanks on an LST,
USS Wexford County ( LST 1168). It would take us 22 days
to arrive in Okinawa. We off loaded the tanks and stayed
at Camp Hansen until 9 September of 1965 before going
south to Viet Nam. This time we loaded on a LSD -7, USS
Oak Hill. We off loaded at Danang South Viet Nam. Our
first week we stood guard around the air base and pulled
details around the area. One day I was on a detail to
haul bodies to the morgue that had come in. At night we
were on the line. After the week of duty around the
airbase we were deployed to different areas with grunt
units. Our first area we went to was the 7th Marines.
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Arriving in
Danang |
Tanks at the 3rd Tk. Bn. area,
Hill 10. |
Arvin
Tanks |
 |
Arriving in Vietnam, we were assigned to guard the Air
Base during the first weeks. |
Watching planes come in from
our bunkers. Sep. 1965. |
Watching planes come in
from our bunkers. Sep. 1965. |
Vietnamese Bus's. |
7th Marines area, Danang. |
Sgt Rosales and unknown Marine along with LCpl Sausoman
on their tank near the 7th Marine perimeter. This was
around September, 1965.
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Our
tank near the 7th Marines area and our new platoon
headquarters northeast of Danang, South Vietnam – Sept
of 1965 |
Our first home in country was
this tent. During the rains it was all mud and the water
ran through the tent so we put pallets down and the rain
ran under the pallets, but we still got wet. |
The
tank I was on, you can see the tarp hanging from the
turret. It was used to cover us during the night of
guard and to break our silhouettes from the skyline |
Lt.
Chandler our platoon leader |
Pfc’s Garrnett and Lillian with
Sgt Rosales in front of our tank |
Our second tent after the
engineers built a frame and put the tent over it. Was
much more comfortable than the first. We only had dirt
floor and mud in the first tent. |
LCpl Sausoman outside the Lt’s
tent. This is in the 7th Marines area. |
Cpl
Carroll Wright by our tank in the platoon area near 7th
Marines |
Sgt. J. P. McClosky was our
Tank Commander. He is doing some PM on the tank. Taken
near the platoon headquarters in the 7th Marines area |
Taken is September, 1965 near
Namo bridge. We were assigned with a platoon of grunts
to guard the bridge and conduct patrols across the
river. |
One of our first camps our near
Namo bridge. It was late 1965 |
One of the marines from the
platoon guarding the bridge. |
The “Disney Land Express” going
over the bridge at Namo - 1965 |
Pfc
Powell coming out of the tent with some “C’s for lunch –
Namo bridge |
Pfc
Smith with his “C’s” |
Pfc
Lillian with his lunch |
Garrnett and Lillian with the stove to heat the “C’s” |
Sgt
Rosales was my tank commander on A23 |
SSgt
Jones acting crazy just as he was normally |
Our
tanks parked by the river north of Danang and near the
Namo bridge -1965 |
I’m
at the battalion tank part for preventive maintaince on
the tank and someone had a monkey I played with for a
short time. (Chico?) |
A
blade tank at the battalion area clearing an area and
smoothing it out. |
A
tank on line after the blade tank dug a emplacement for
it at the battalion area |
One of the bunkers that was on
the line around the Battalion area. |
One of the 7th Marines on guard
on the tower overlooking Namo bridge early 1966 or late
1965 |
A
former VC that a fisherman brought in after being in the
river a day or two. Might have been one caught at the
bridge a few nights earlier |
Just
getting sunrise at the Namo bridge and caught the tank
in the dawn. |
Joe
Landaker at our platoon area after he and the flame tank
burnt the area in front of the lines |
Joe's
Flame Tank. |
LCpl Sausoman at Namo bridge,
around October, 1965 |
Tank
A23 conducting a firing mission across the river on
suspected areas of infiltration. |
Pfc.
Dale Carr and LCpl Sausoman at Namo bridge. Carr brought
a box of goodies out to Sausoman. |
Marine Corps Ontos. A tank killer but used in Vietnam as
fire power when needed. Had six 105 recoilless rifles
mounted on it. |
Our
tank lost the track on the hill and we had to break it
to fix it. |
Our
tank lost the track on the hill and we had to break it
to fix it. |
Looking up the hill and you can
see the track laying out in front of the tank. Also up
on the hill you can see the bunkers we used. |