Sgt. Grit,
I just started reading this week's newsletter, and the story about ROK Marines brought back a couple of memories. The only contact I had with any of them was on 24 December 1966 at the Chu Lai airstrip on my way to board the C130 that would take me from India Battery 3/11 up to Danang for my six-month stint as art'y FO for Lima 3/7. As I was walking toward the aircraft, I passed a Korean Marine heading in the opposite direction. I nodded in greeting in passing, and as I looked him in the eyes, I saw what I have seen only a few other times: the expression of a cheetah or tiger in a cage–cold. In the Danang area, I heard about how they responded when a vehicle hit a mine in the road: they came off the vehicle shooting everything in sight. As a result, they didn't have too many such incidents in their Tactical Area of Responsibility.
This is in reply to Sgt. Wayne Beverly, who was among the very last Marines to leave Duc Pho: The village you spent some time in was not "Nui Dang." I don't speak Vietnamese, but by looking at the maps I used, "nui" probably means "hill". Nui Dang was the name of the 150 meters-high hill east of Duc Pho, at the base of which, 3/7 (and later, the brigade from 1st Air Cav) set up its position, and where Lima Company and four 105's from India Btry 3/11 landed on "D-Minus-1" before 3/7 kicked off Operation Desoto. To the east of Nui Dang, and right on the South China Sea, is Nui Cua (165 meters high), where I spent some time on an OP with 1st Platoon; and to the southeast, where Kilo Company set up a base, is Nui Dau. I've attached a portion of a map sheet (newer version than the one I brought home with me and which does not show Nui Cua), showing the Army's "Duc Pho airfield," which they built in three days and nights before we left. We maintained "light discipline" at night for almost three months, but they had so many helicopters hovering overhead that nobody bothered them as they worked with lights blazing.
While doing some net surfing a few years ago, I discovered that Nui Dang was called "Montezuma Hill" by the Army unit that replaced us there, in our honor.
A funny side note: Lima's company gunny, Euel P Mayfield (who had served with 7th Marines in three wars (WWII, Korea, & Vietnam), traded one of their officers a knife for a ride in his little helicopter. The gunny came back from his ride fuming mad! All he got to see, in return for his knife, was the area around the hill, which he had seen too much of, between 27January and 7April!
One last comment regarded the latest newsletter: I need to give credit to whom credit is due. The last story in this edition, about medevacs being "Angels for the Sky," is attributed to me, but I was merely forwarding an acount from a friend. I put quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph to show that I was quoting, but the following information was left off from what I sent you, so it appears that I'm claiming a part in the incident:
"…here is an e-mail message I received today from one of my Basic School platoon mates, Ray Hoogendoorn (retired capt/gysgt), who got his commission through the NESEP program, and was also a classmate of mine at Ft Sill's Artillery Officer's Basic Course 5-66 (September-October, 1966). "
And I included at the end of his story, his closing: "RAY (HOOGIE)"
The comments about the "little green men" were mine, but the story about the air wing's medevacs being "Angels from the Sky" was not mine.
Tom Downey
Once a captain, USMCR; always a Marine.