Sgt. Grit,
While in the Nam at LZ Baldy, I got to know some Korean Marines fairly well. Marine choppers flew them from our LZ on their missions for a time. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong in remembering that ROK’s in Vietnam were with the Blue Dragons. I traded menthol cigarettes with a captain who gave me in return, packages of Korean cigs that featured a blue dragon on them. I seem to recall that these were special cigarettes that were sent to only the Korean Marines in Nam. They were not bad smokes either. The captain would relate to me the results of their patrols and told me they were especially fond of “chasing down the bad guys”. They took no prisoners.
One particular enlisted ROK was very burly and we found that he wrestled back in Korea. One day he and Cpl. John Lytle wrestled to a draw on the LZ matting. John was from Florida and I think he must have “rassled” alligators there. The Korean was much impressed by John’s performance and we all got along better as a result.
After leaving Baldy in the spring of 1971, we relocated to FLC near Danang. To the north of our compound was a small body of water that separated us from a ROK compound. I do not know if it was the same outfit that was at Baldy with us. One day a small boat with civilians on board made the mistake of encroaching on the ROK’s shoreline. One burst of M60 rounds and the boat was making a large wake with only a couple of paddles for power!
Thanks for letting me share my memories with you.
L/Cpl Dan Buchanan
1969-71
The University of Rice 1970-71
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I was with HQ 2/11 at LZ Baldy at the same time and the ROC’s sometime eat with us, one day we had a few Army gut also eating with us an one idiot call a ROC a gook. Guess what happen next, it was pretty funny
I was at An Hoa in 1970 on my extension and our radio man was sent out with the ROC’s and we thought we would never see him again. A few months later he came through An Hoa and stopped to visit. He told us it was FANTASTIC duty the gooks never bothered them. When they went through a ville the gooks had already dedeed.
WOW, I was a young platoon commander with C Co, 1st Engineer Bn at LZ Baldy in early ’70. This story and picture brings back many memories. Our compound overlooked the Medical Helo landing zone but cannot tell from the picture accompanying the story what relationship, i.e., N, S, E, or W it was taken from. We had two platoons at Baldy and the third was down the road at FSB Ross. Walked that 12 miles between the two sites many times and thankfully my men and I always came back unscathed. Great picture. If you have more, please feel free to contact me and share. Thanks again for the trip down memory lane. Semper Fi, brother.
My Radio relay shot was attached to the 3rd BN, 2nd ROK brigade (Blue Dragon Brigade) at Hoi An. in 68/69. I was with 7th Comm. I believe that the blue dragon brigade was the only ROK outfit in Nam but there was several parts in different areas. I heard them talking between units on my radio but didn’t understand most. They were a well disciplined & fierce fighting force. the only time it was a little tense is when the ROK’s were making their Napalm soup (dog stew) and they had our favorite dog Wilber under their arms. a tanker guy with us for a time jumped on his tank and was threatening to shoot the place up. needless to say they let Wilber go and never tried to take him again. but I think they were more afraid of their Col. then the tank.
I’am not a smoker, so I didn’t see what the ROK’S were smoking, but while we, 3/7 where at Chu Lai we partied with the ROK’s at their compound. These were some crazy people. They loved Marines. Saw some of their op’s out in the field. I’am glad they were on our side. Sid Crews H&S Co 3/7 In country Nov. 66 thru July 68.Semper Fi my friend.
I got out of the Corps before Vietnam but my brother was there from May 65 to June 66 with 2//7.. He told me they worked with the South Koreans on some operations. When they went through a suspected VC village the South Koreans killed everything and burned it to the ground. They nicknamed them Zippo Company.
I was with 1/7 Marines 69-70 when we got hit pretty hard at FSB Ross on Jan 6, 1970. We lost thirteen good Marines that night. After Ross we moved on to LZ Baldy and ran several operations from that compound. I was with “81”s most of my tour and also spent a couple of months with “Zulu” platoon. Semper Fi !!
I remember those days at baldy and many a ROK that were the most frightening thing this young 19 year old had seen. Although most of my time there was a blur because of the work I did. Signal commuications and interrogations kept us busy. Some times it was hard to get anything out of the enemy after the ROK’s got thru with them. I was only there a short time in 70-71 as we moved to hill 327, and then down to the main communications center at 24 corps hq in Da Nang. Friggin Army was a pain in the ass poor security and always fighting amongst themselves. Although their E club had some mighty fine booze.
LZ Baldy was an interesting place to serve I worked in the 5th Marines FSCC after relieving the 7th Marines. I recall several interesting incidents involving ROK Marines. One day two ROK Troops were walking by with their jackets unbuttoned and a ROK major was in the shower unit and called the two s#$%birds to attention and with a towel around his waist he walked out and gave the two numb nuts a good chewing out . Now as a US Marine if I was a young trooper I would likely take off running to escape the major. I’m sure their discipline kept them there instead of escaping.
I spent about 5 months at 7th Engineers’ water point located in a ROK compound near Hoi An. There were always two American Marines stationed there. When I arrived a corporal named Roy Spiker was in charge, and when he rotated back home it was me and L/Cpl Lynn Hager. The ROKS at that time were Blue Dragons, having been preceded by White Horse Marines. There were also a couple of American Marines at a Bulk Fuel station in the compound, as well as a small group of Anglico dudes, like maybe 6 or 7. Our job at the water point was to supply the base with fresh water, as well as a company of LVTs nearby. It wasn’t an overwhelming job, or wouldn’t have been but for two aggravating things. First, the 55 GPM pumps we had to pull the water out of the well and then move it around from tank to tank during the purification process were relics from the Korean War (or some time/place before that) and keeping them running was a nightmare. I was 19 and had “grown up” in California surfing and flipping burgers, and knew absolutely zero about small engine repair. Spiker and Hager both shared similar levels of expertise. But we had a Korean Marine sergeant named Kim Kwang Kil, whom we just called Kim, assigned to “assist” us, and who always seemed to know enough about whatever we were doing to get us by. The second big problem we had was with 90% of the rest of the ROKs stationed there. It seemed like most of them were interested in at least one of three things: 1) Swimming in the 3,000 gallon tanks of drinking water we had just purified; 2) Creeping around our hootch and work area looking for ANYTHING not nailed down that they could steal (they weren’t called “slickie boys” for nothing); 3) We had two dogs, Queenie and her pup Jack, and the Koreans were constantly trying to get Jack. They finally got him, too. I can only hope that he tasted great but had gut-eating worms. The Vietnamese in the nearby ville hated the Koreans. We Americans got along with the locals pretty well, we could buy beer and Ramen noodles and they’d treat us like kings, but not the ROKs. There was real hatred shown there. Also, there was a sort of unofficial rule of playing a sports game almost every Sunday afternoon, either football or volleyball, and the prize was a case of Korean beer. We got whatever Americans who happened to be around that day, and the ROKs made a huge production of lining up the whole battalion and selecting the best guys they could find. We could always beat them playing football — they just could not figure out the passing game. But boy, could they ever play volleyball! The end result was the beer changing hands back and forth every week. Anyway, it was an interesting time of life. I’d spent my first 7 months with 3/27, so Hoi An and the Blue Dragon ROKs were a welcome respite. And I do often miss Kim. He was a nice guy and a good friend.
I was at Baldy in 1970 with Delta Co, 9th Engineers. I was looking at the photo trying to figure out just what it shows. I think the compound area with the hooches at the right center of the photo was Delta’s area. Delta pulled out of Baldy in 1970. I think the main chopper pad was just off to the right of the photo. I got to know some ROK’s on Hill 55.
Your right ken we pull out delta co in 1970. be fore that I was in service co. in chu-lai in 1969 and then went to lz baldy in late march of 1970.left nam in aug, 70 back to the usa.I still hv pictures of service co.
The Korean group near DaNang in 1969-1970 was the White Horse Division. My Tae Kwon Do Master Tae Hong Choi was a Captain with the Blue Dragons.
I spent nine months attached to the 2nd ROK Marine Brigade (Blue Dragons) from Aug. 67 to May 68. I was with a 10-12 man detachment from 7th Comm. At the beginning we only had a Gunny in charge. He rotated home shortly there after and we got a brand new 2nd Lt.. We were a little worried but he turned out to be OK. Those Rok’s did an awful lot with very little. During the 68 TET offensive we were in mid move from about 20 miles south of Chu LI to 20 miles south of Da Nang with our backs on the South China Sea. When we finely got there and set up shop myself and another Sgt. went to check out the perimeter to see how safe we were since the Koreans were in charge of security. They were ready for whatever came with their M-1’s and water cooled 30’s. I don’t remember when they got M-16’s but we traded up from the M-14 to the 16 around October 67..
i was also their in baldy and also at ross i was in the first foxhole with M-60 outside the main gate! behind me two hooches got hit by rockets, CP got rocked. i also was at OP Crows Nest OP Laugh. VC climed the tower late night i felt tower swaying then saw his sillolet at door my buddy was asleep so as he was creeping in. my heart beating like a Drum i got to my 45 Colt and bye bye shoefly. Semper-Fi. 1/9 2/7 1stMarDiv 3rd Mar. 155″mm 105″mm Iron ButterFly Gun 6 Baldy Security Platoon. CampLejune NC 1st 8″ SP Tanks ( Tet 68-71) YEMX – Upsalon Sigma Mu Chi*** U.S.M.C ForEver OOOH-Rahhhhh !!!!!
I was in the CUPP units out of LZ Baldy 70-71. I remember seeing them wrestling in front of there hutches. We heard a lot of stories about those guys.
During the summer 0f 66, on hill 55 Chu Lai, we had a sqd of Korean Marines from the Blue Dragon Brigade assigned with us in 3rd Plt, Echo 2/5. Sgt Kim was the SqdLdr and we all went on quite a few Ops and patrols. One time, we had a captured VC, and Sgt Dix with an SVN Interpreter couldn’t get nada out of him – Sgt Kim asked Sgt Dix for his oversized Silver Bowie Knife and asked both Sgt Dix & Interpreter to step aside, he took the knife to the VCs throat and yelled in Korean (In which really got through to the VC), he babbled out so much info the interpreter had to keep telling the VC to slow down. Orientals understand each other we all surmised. Also, one of the Korean Marines back on hill 55 sort of lifted a U.S. Marine Ring from the small PX, was found out and we watched from a hill top as a high ranking officer came up from there main camp with a gigantic Korean Marine and lined them all up and beat them with a harden rod. Asked Sgt Kim what was going to happen to the poor fellow that took the ring – he just said “will never see him again” for bringing shame on the Brigade, They were great brothers in arms and I was sorry to see Sgt Kim leave after a few months with us.
The Hqs Tank Platoon of H&S Co. 1st Tank Bn. supported Blue Dragon units on several occasions. The Korean Marines had a love/hate relationship with us tankers. They regarded us as “big targets”, but they loved our firepower. As infantry units in the “bush” they were superb.
ROK Marines were merciless. They seemed to train endlessly and were fierce fighters. I trusted them and they lived their “Take No Prisoners” philosophy. They were tough. RVN 1968-69.
I was attached to Golf 3/11 as a gunner on a 105 battery. The year was 1969. . Our unit would switch positions from Baldy to Ross, to Ryder to Bushwach. with others units of our battallion Hotel, and India batteries. One day just as the sun was going down, my old buddy, one and only buddy, Frosty, just arrived at LZ Ross and were sitting on our ammo bunker shooting the breeze., We noticed a chopper going up from the LZ and suddenly a few bodies were flying out of the chopper. We later found out that the ROC’S were throwing out captured VC and NVA out of the chopper after they interrogated them.. NOW THAT’S WHAT YOU CALL GETTING RID OF WASTE……Semper Fi…
ohhhrahhh !!!!! i was with India battery gun 6 yes its true of the ROCKs i was at rayder ross baldy hill 55 traveld on ho chi min hwy.. quan-tri chu-li an-qua 1968 tet Big K !! Ashaw-Valley Marbel-Mountain RockPile gun 6 105mm ( Iron ButterFly ) sight-Adj. left to right and H-E Loader we were fast!! semper-Fi ( Mac ) YEMX
Recently read “Living With Dragons: With The Korean Marines in Vietnam” by Scott Leis. Scott served as ANGLICO with the ROK Marines of Blue Dragons, and his exploits with them is a great read. Recommend to anyone who would like to read more on USMC interaction with ROKMC.
Dan,
I was able to relate to your story of Blue Dragon Marines as I was in Chu Lai in 1967 and knew some of them. Sgt. Park was a nice guy who spoke some English. Mike P & I were high school wrestlers so we thought we would challenge Sgt. Park to go to the mat. Sgt. Park was a Judo Player and had no trouble dispatching us one at a time even though he was much smaller. Another Blue Dragon Marine who spoke no English demonstrated his Karate skill by crushing a beer can (remember the old tin ones?) with a karate chop – ouch!. We young jarheads were duly impressed. I once traded for this and that until I had a bottle of J.W.R. that I traded for two sets of Korean tiger style camo’s. Those got traded for something else, and on, and on.
I searched for the Blue Dragon cigarettes, but only came up with cigarette cases with a blue dragon symbol. I did come up with some info on the 2nd ROK Marine Brigade – Blue Dragons here: http://www.talkingproud.us/Military/ROKVIetnam/ROKVIetnamBlueDragons/ROKVIetnamBlueDragons.html
The web has much more on the interesting story of this band of Korean brothers called Blue Dragon.
Semper Fi,
I spent time with the 2nd ROK Marines in Chu Lai in 1967. I still have a camo hat (much faded) and a Second ROK Battalion pin they gave me. I remember arm wrestling with their Sgt. Major and as I was winning realized he could lose face, so I convincingly let him win, but he later simply smiled at me. They have a lot of respect for their superiors and learning that lesson was important to understanding how to best work with them.Charlie sure did do his best to avoid them and with good reason. They were top notch and rarely took prisoners, and when they did, once they had what they wanted, well!!!! I do however, remember them saying there was an Army ROK unit in Nam and oddly enough my dry cleaner in California served with the ROK Army in 1970 in Nam.
I was with 2/5 at An Hoa in ’70, and we had a ROK Marine unit “right down the road.” They had a pretty consistent convoy schedule going from the base to Danang, and we always tried to tag on to the end of their convoys. Why, you ask? Because their lead 6X6 truck had a homemade ‘cowcatcher’ welded to the front, so that once they started they stopped (or slowed down) for NOTHING! Anything in their way on Highway 1 was literally pushed aside or rolled over…even big old waterbulls were no match for that!
While serving as a Line Corpsman at LZ Ross in Febuary of 1970, we had experience with a ROK marine at the BAS. He came in with a “Drippy Discharge” from an appendage. In order to diagnose his “disease”, the doctor had to do a “finger wave” several times to get the required specimen. He bent over 6 times and endured the process without a sound. These guys are tough!
LZ BADLY was call hill 63 past the gate make a left and off to danang. make a right on rte 1 off to tamky and down the road futher 9th engineer bn chu- lai. across the road from the base was army air force and engineers
LT Freeze in charge of ICT at 2dTraRegt, MB, Camp Pen. June- July 1953. Would like to locate Lt Freeze. He MOTIVATED Several Marines after his training we went to Korea for 18 months survived and came back to train other Marines than back to Korea, Camp Fugie , than Nom And several other stations. Would LIKE to Personaly thank Mr Freeze for his leadership, and Training.