Sgt. Grit
When Jim Barr – SNCO of Marines (Vietnam Vet 62-73) mentioned
the Mighty Mite, in your Newsletter of Sept. 01, it brought back
some memories of my time in RVN ('67 and '68). I've enclosed
the only picture I have of one of those little beasties.
This particular vehicle was assigned to Capt. Edwards (RVN '67)
who was the C.O. of C/1/4 during that time. [Note: He was one h-
ll of an officer and I'll never forget him.] Anyway, his company
driver – "Sid" (in the passenger's seat) and Company Radio
Operator – "Porky" (in the back, with the mail sack), used to
hunt me up and we'd make runs into Hue (months B4 Tet). I've
often wondered how we managed to survive those afternoon jaunts
– and have tried to re-collect exactly WHY we went on those
little trips anyway. [At my age, my memory is rather foggy.] Likely "to get beer" was the logical reason.
With respect to USMC "non armored" vehicles, MY personal
favorite was "the Mule". I've also enclosed a picture of one of
those little beasties. Those little suckers could sure haul the
Ammo & C-Rats, etc.
The picture of "the Mule" was taken at Con Thien (not in '68,
but during May of '67). At that time I was working for Col.
Willis (C.O. of 1/4) as a 2533/0846 (and along with A/1/4 and
D/1/4), when we were almost overrun at Con Thien on May 7/8,
'67. As a side note, we did serve up some serious wupass on the
NVA-324B during those days. Sadly, we lost a lot of fine Marines
and a few Corpsmen during that operation (just B4 "Hickory") –
which was at the conclusion of building the "Fire Break", aka
"McNamara's Folly", located about 1 or 2 clicks south of the
DMZ.
Sorry for the run-on sentences…
God Bless ALL Marines, especially the Grunts, the USMC Amtrak
crews and Engineers (they got to blow -hit UP – how cool was
that?). Also thanks to the SeaBees, Navy Corpsmen and those
Army dudes, driving those Tanks. BTW – The 1st CAV were whusses,
IMO.
Thanks for the Newsletters and memories.
Semper Fi…
Sgt. Shadow
USMC, 66-72
RVN, 67 and 68
BTDT – CRS