This is a picture I took in Vietnam and the following is a dicussion with a Marine I crossed paths with.
Sgt. Grit:
If you recognize this photo I would love to hear from you.
As we used to say, "Tis a thing or raw and savage beauty". At our peak (mid-1970) we had five operational and deployed IOD units. I remember LZ Ross, LZ Baldy, Hill 65 and Recon Outpost Hill 250 (my location). For the life of me I can't remember the 5th placement. From January through October 1970 my team was credited with 108 confirmed (Recon patrols w/pictures and recovered documents) KIAs. Nothing moved in the Arizona between Hill 65 and Hill 250 that we couldn't observe and hit.
Interestingly, I've never heard any chatter from the 25 or 30 of us who were fortunate enough to be a part of the first ever, ground combat deployment of laser technology. To say it was a "game changer" is a gross understatement.
Former Sgt. L. M. Hinton
S-2, IOD
Hq. Btry., 11th Marines, RVN
NCOIC, IOD Team, Hill 250, RVN