Letters to the Webmaster

Subject: A quick glance back

Dear Bill,

I went through my mom's letters and here is a quick look back. The dates and places are from letters mailed home to my mother while I was in Vietnam from September 30, 1969 to September 30, 1970.

 

10/6/69

Dirty, smelly and hotter than hell. 1st landed at Long Binh then went to Bien Hoa then to Di An. Will be stationed at Bien Hoa. In-country training starts tomorrow.

 

11/1/69

Working 3 different jobs. One week at Long Binh to back up the LURPS. One week at Nhon Trach pulling night ambush patrols. One week at Bien Hoa.

 

12/28/69

Here at Long Binh we were inserted 4 times in 3 days. Fighting pretty heavy this week.

 

1/7/70

Smith and Hayes killed on 1/2/70, after our patrol was hit by 4 or 5 NVA in a bunker.

 

1/28/70

At Di An (12 miles north of Saigon, 10 miles south of Long Binh and 11 miles west of Bien Hoa).

 

2/18/70

Back from Long Binh. Rumors are not more support for the LURPS and in April they are going to disband the 3/17th and farm us out to other outfits.

 

4/?/70

Got my ass chewed out for not writing home to my mother while I was in the hospital. Given direct order by CO to write home.

 

5/?/70

Working by Song Be and Phouc Vinh.

 

5/24/70

We are at Fire Base Rob.

 

6/14/70

We had worked with the 11th Armor Cav, 2 months before in Cambodia. Mother wanted to know.

 

6/19/70

Still at Fire Base Rob.

 

6/26/70

Stationed at Di An but still working out of Fire Base Rob.

 

6/28/70

Still at Fire Base Rob.

 

7/6/70

Left Fire Base Rob the 1st of July. Now back at Nhon Trach (25 miles south of Long Binh)

 

7/17/70

At Nhon Trach (30 miles south of Saigon) pulling 7 days and nights of night ambush and 2 days of stand down at Di An.

 

7/27/70

8 nights of ambush patrol, 2 nights in Di An, located 2 miles south of Long Binh.

 

I mailed other letters home, but there were no dates and I did not mention where we were.

One of these times, I will have to tell you how the good old 3/17th got 3rd platoon into Cambodia.......

Here is a pix of me in the water...

Bill DeMusey Looking for the Plug to This Bathtub
From the Bill DeMusey Collection

Sincerely,

Bill DeMusey

Subject: Blue Tiger three zero delta

Dear Bill,

I thought I would get a letter off to you about the day that we went to Cambodia.

I am not sure of the date, but I believe it was either later March or April 1970. The reason I say that is because I still have one of the letters that I sent my Mom in April 1970. I chewed her out because I got into a little trouble for not writing her when I was in the hospital. I remember that our CO flew into our base camp at FB Rob. He talked to our Lt. and then walked over to me. He gave me a direct order to write to my Mom and to have the letter ready by the time he left. When he flew back to our home base, he mailed the letter for me. [See editor's note at the bottom of this letter]

Before we went into Cambodia, the third platoon was at Long Binh. We were support for the LRRPs. They may have been the 199th Light Infantry. They went on missions of either 3 men (light team) or 5 men (heavy team). They were taken way in the hell out there and dropped off, where they watched the movement of the NVA along the trail. Any time they blew their position or came under any contact, we were inserted to do their fighting.

Life at Long Binh was the usual. We all slept in a big tent, except for the Lt. and Sergeants. During the day, we sat around playing cards, writing letters, and bullshitting about back home. If the fire siren on the base sounded, we had to drop everything, put on our equipment, and run up to the helopad to get on the three waiting helicopters, because the siren meant that the LURPS were in contact. The Sergeants and Lt. would always be the last ones on the helicopters because they had to go to the TOC to get maps and instructions.

On the day we went to Cambodia, the base siren sounded. We all got our equipment and ran to the helicopters. The helicopters were our own, the same ones that we always used when we were inserted to back up the LURPS. As usual, the Lt. was the last one on the chopper. All three choppers lifted off, and we were on our way. Two Cobra gun ships always accompanied us to our locations.

Normally, since I was the Lt's radio man, I asked the Lt. where we were going once we were airborne and leveled out, so I could write down the coordinates of our destination. I always called the other two RTO men during flight and gave them the location so that, in case both the Lt. and I were killed, they would know where in the hell they were.

Once we were leveled out, I asked the Lt. for the coordinates. In a pissy way, he told me that he would tell me later. You know how pissy Lt.'s can be, so I figured, what the hell, he would tell me later. After a while, one of my RTO men called me and asked where we were going. I told him that the Lt. was being an ass and that he was going to tell me later. The RTO man told me to ask him again, so I did. The Lt. again told me that he would tell me later. I said to hell with it and kinda dropped it.

We flew and flew. All of our legs went to sleep as well as our asses. I remember it being one of the longest flights that we took. Finally, we got ready to land at a Marine fire base. I couldn't even begin to tell you the name of the fire base or where we were. At the Marine base, our Lt. and Sergeants didn't even eat with us. They ate with the brass.

After we all finished eating, we met back at the choppers. Everyone wanted to know where we were going. The Lt. didn't give us much information, just that we were almost there. We all got back on the choppers, and lifted off again. After another long flight, the door gunner leaned over to get our attention. He was pointing down and asked, "Guess where we are?". He went on to say, "We just crossed over the Cambodian border.". I asked my buddy sitting next to me, "Are Americans even in Cambodia yet?".

We're Going WHERE????
From the William DeMusey Collection

After about 10 more minutes of flying, the choppers got into line and descended for a landing. As soon as we touched down, we jumped off and took cover.

After the choppers took off, we circled up around the Lt. He told us that we were on the secret mission. He said that the reason that he could not tell us earlier that we were going into Cambodia was because he was afraid that someone would go AWOL. He told us that we were 10 miles inside the Cambodian border, and that we had 7 days to walk back 5 miles. After the walk, we were going to secure a hilltop and make a base camp. The 2nd and 1st platoons would join us there. As far as he knew, if we ran into any problems walking back the 5 miles, we were on our own and that we would not get any help.

The two Cobra gun ships above us circled our LZ for about 10 minutes and then left. It then dawned on us - we were alone, we were by ourselves. We realized why the Lt. would not tell us where we were going earlier - who in their right mind wanted to be in Cambodia alone with no backup.

View from the Berm
Fire Base Rob
From the William DeMusey Collection

We were joined later by the 1st and 2nd platoons. Shortly after that, the 11th Armor Cav tanks showed up. These tanks has twin 40mm guns on them.

Road Patrol
From the William DeMusey Collection

I don't know where FB Rob was, but, at the base of the hill that we made into Fire Base Rob, there was a Montagnard village. The village was small, but the Montagnards had a pond that we used to take baths in. The water buffalo drank out of the same pond. I remember that the pond had a lot of leaches in it.

Local Indigenous Personnel
From the William DeMusey Collection

As is turned out, we stayed for most of the next 3 months at the fire base we made called Fire Base Rob. The 1st Cav made a push into Cambodia sometime in May. Our mission was to keep 10 miles of road open and secure for the 1st Cav.

Delta Troop on the Road
With a C-5/2nd Arty Duster ("Have Gun, Will Travel")
From the William DeMusey Collection

Sincerely,

Bill DeMusey