TheList 5795

The List 5795     TGB

 

Good Sunday Morning August 1

 

I hope that your weekend is going well.

 

Regards

Skip

 

This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:

 

August 1

 

1801 The schooner, USS Enterprise, commanded by Lt. Andrew Sterett, encounters the Barbary corsair, Tripoli, west of Malta. After a three-hour battle, USS Enterprise broadsides the vessel, forcing Tripolis surrender.

 

1849 - Pope Pius IX and King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies, briefly visit USS Constitution and marks the first time that a Roman Catholic pope steps foot on American territory.

 

1921 A high-altitude bombsight, mounted on a gyroscopically stabilized base was successfully tested at Torpedo Station, Yorktown, Va. This test was the first phase of Carl L. Nordens development of an effective high-altitude bombsight, which became known as the Norden Bombsight.

1944 PBY aircraft attacked Japanese convoy, sink ammunition ship, Seia Maru, in Taliaboe Bay, Soela Island. Also on this date, USS Puffer (SS 268) damages Japanese oiler, Sunosaki, northeast of Borneo.

1946 President Harry S. Truman approves legislation establishing the Office of Naval Research (ONR), charging ONR to "...plan, foster and encourage scientific research in recognition of its paramount importance as related to the maintenance of future naval power, and the preservation of national security..."

1952 During the Korean War, USS Carmick (DMS 33) is fired on by enemy shore guns in the vicinity of Songjin lighthouse. Returning fire, Carmicks battery fire silences the guns.

1961 Adm. George W. Anderson, Jr., takes office as the 16th Chief of Naval Operations, serving until Aug. 1, 1963. During Adm. Anderson's tenure as CNO, he oversaw the U.S. Navy's quarantine of Cuba, thus enabling the Kennedy administration to compel the Soviet Union to remove its nuclear weapons from the island.

 

 

 

This day in History

1464				Piero de Medici succeeds his father, Cosimo, as ruler of Florence.
1664				The Turkish army is defeated by French and German troops at St. Gotthard, Hungary.
1689				James II's siege of Londonderry, Ireland, ends in failure. James' force had suffered some 8,000 casualties to the defenders' 3,600.
1740				Thomas Arne's song "Rule Britannia" is performed for the first time.
1759				British and Hanoverian armies defeat the French at the Battle of Minden, Germany.
1791				Robert Carter III, a Virginia plantation owner, frees all 500 of his slaves in the largest private emancipation in U.S. history. An 1839 mutiny aboard a Spanish ship in Cuban waters raised basic questions about freedom and slavery in the United States.
1798				Admiral Horatio Nelson routs the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile at Aboukir Bay, Egypt.
1801				The American schooner Enterprise captures the Barbary cruiser Tripoli. Often venturing into harm's way, America's most famous sailing ship, the Constitution, twice came close to oblivion.
1834				Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire.
1864				Union General Ulysses S. Grant gives general Philip H. Sheridan the mission of clearing the Shenandoah Valley of Confederate forces. After nearly 10 months of trench warfare, Confederate resistance at Petersburg, Virginia, suddenly collapsed.
1872				The first long-distance gas pipeline in the U.S. is completed. Designed for natural gas, the two-inch pipe ran five miles from Newton Wells to Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1873				San Francisco's first cable cars begin running, operated by Hallidie's Clay Street Hill Railroad Company.
1880				Sir Frederick Roberts frees the British Afghanistan garrison of Kandahar from Afghan rebels.
1893				A machine for making shredded wheat breakfast cereal is patented.
1914				Germany declares war on Russia.
1937				The Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany becomes operational.The Nuremberg Trial would later bring high-ranking Nazis to justice.
1939				Synthetic vitamin K is produced for the first time.
1941				The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo plane makes its first flight.
1942				Ensign Henry C. White, while flying a J4F Widgeon plane, sinks U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard.
1943				Over 177 B-24 Liberator bombers attack the oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, for a second time.
1944				The Polish underground begins an uprising against the occupying German army, as the Red Army approaches Warsaw.
1946				President Harry S Truman establishes the Atomic Energy Commission.
1950				Lead elements of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division arrive in Korea from the United States.
1954				The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam into two countries at the 17th parallel.
1957				US and Canada create North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
1960				Singer Chubby Checker releases "The Twist," creating a new dance craze. The song had been released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters the previous year but got little attention.
1964				Arthur Ashe becomes the first African-American to play on the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.
1966				Charles Whitman, shooting from the Texas Tower at the University of Texas, kills 16 people and wounds 31 before being killed himself.
1988				Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh begins his national radio show.
2004				In Asuncion, Paraguay, a fire in the Ycua Bolanos V supermarket complex kills nearly 400 people and injures 500.
2007				The I-35W bridge at Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

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Now that was one tuff Dodge....

 

So you went out and spent $40k - 60k on a new 4-wheel drive truck and put big off-road tires on it so you could get to work out in the oilfields. You could have just bought a 1920's era Dodge!

 

As this video demonstrates, our roads have come a long way in 94 years.  One must wonder if many of our 4 wheel drive and ATV's could do as well as this old Dodge sedan did.

This is amazing old footage!    and it just keeps going......

 

CLICK ON:

  

Oilfield Dodge1920

 

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Thanks to Mike. This is from way back.

 

Subject: Fwd: The Man Who Rode Thunder

 The Man Who Rode Thunder

 

Worth 3 minutes of your time.

An old true happening but maybe you have not heard it before.  dj

https://biggeekdad.com/2012/07/the-man-who-rode-thunder/

 

 

 

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thanks to Mark – and Dutch

 

 

 

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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear

LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— … For The List for Sunday, 1 August 2021… Bear 🇺🇸⚓️🐻

 

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…

From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 1 August 1966… The PDB… President's Daily Brief…

 

https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-1-august-1966-hot-copy-limdis/

 

 

 

This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip

 

Vietnam Air Losses

Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at:  https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.

 

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This Day in U S Military History…….August 1

 

1941 – Parade magazine called it "…the Army's most intriguing new gadget…a tiny truck which can do practically everything." During World War I, the U.S. Army began looking for a fast, lightweight all-terrain vehicle, but the search did not grow urgent until early 1940. At this time, the Axis powers had begun to score victories in Europe and Northern Africa, intensifying the Allies' need for an all-terrain vehicle. The U.S. Army issued a challenge to automotive companies, requesting a working prototype, fit to army specifications, in just 49 days. Willy's Truck Company was the first to successfully answer the Army's call, and the new little truck was christened "the Jeep." General Dwight D. Eisenhower said that America could not have won World War II without it. Parade was so enthusiastic about the Jeep, that, on this day, it devoted three full pages to a feature on the vehicle.

 

1942 – Ensign Henry C. White, while flying a J4F Widgeon plane, sank U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard. In the summer of 1942, German submarines put saboteurs ashore on American beaches.

 

1943 – Operation Tidal Wave: The American Eighth Air Force began staging a series of heavy bomber air raids against the oil fields and refineries around Ploesti. These fields furnished about 80% of the Nazis' petroleum requirements and were a key military target. Of the 177 B-24 Liberator bombers, 50 are lost.

 

1943 – A Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt. John F. Kennedy. Japanese aircraft had been on a PT boat hunt in the Solomon Islands, bombing the PT base at Rendova Island. It was essential to the Japanese that several of their destroyers make it to the southern tip of Kolombangara Island to get war supplies to forces there. But the torpedo capacity of the American PTs was a potential threat. Despite the base bombing at Rendova, PTs set out to intercept those Japanese destroyers. In the midst of battle, Japan's Amaqiri hit PT-109, leaving 11 crewmen floundering in the Pacific. After five hours of clinging to debris from the decimated PT boat, the crew made it to a coral island. Kennedy decided to swim out to sea again, hoping to flag down a passing American boat. None came. Kennedy began to swim back to shore, but strong currents, and his chronic back condition, made his return difficult. Upon reaching the island again, he fell ill. After he recovered, the PT-109 crew swam to a larger island, what they believed was Nauru Island, but was in fact Cross Island. They met up with two natives from the island, who agreed to take a message south. Kennedy carved the distress message into a coconut shell: "Nauru Is. Native knows posit. He can pilot. 11 alive need small boat." The message reached Lieutenant Arthur Evans, who was watching the coast of Gomu Island, located next to an island occupied by the Japanese. Kennedy and his crew were paddled to Gomu. A PT boat then took them back to Rendova. Kennedy was ultimately awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, for gallantry in action. The coconut shell used to deliver his message found a place in history-and in the Oval Office. PT-109, a film dramatizing this story, starring Clift Robertson as Kennedy, opened in 1963.

 

1944 – After nine days of fighting in a battle termed "the perfect amphibious operation of World War II," MajGen Harry Schmidt, commander of V Amphibious Corps, declared the island of Tinian secured. The combination of surprise, heavy preassault bombardment, and effective logistical support was responsible for Tinian's recapture with a much lower casualty rate (344 killed and 1550 wounded) than had been experienced in previous landings.

 

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

 

*BAKER, ADDISON E. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 93d Heavy Bombardment Group. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Akron, Ohio. Born: 1 January 1907, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 20, 11 March 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 1 August 1943. On this date he led his command, the 93d Heavy Bombardment Group, on a daring low-level attack against enemy oil refineries and installations at Ploesti, Rumania. Approaching the target, his aircraft was hit by a large caliber antiaircraft shell, seriously damaged and set on fire. Ignoring the fact he was flying over terrain suitable for safe landing, he refused to jeopardize the mission by breaking up the lead formation and continued unswervingly to lead his group to the target upon which he dropped his bombs with devastating effect. Only then did he leave formation, but his valiant attempts to gain sufficient altitude for the crew to escape by parachute were unavailing and his aircraft crashed in flames after his successful efforts to avoid other planes in formation. By extraordinary flying skill, gallant leadership and intrepidity, Lt. Col. Baker rendered outstanding, distinguished, and valorous service to our Nation.

 

 

*HUGHES, LLOYD H. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 564th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: San Antonio, Tex. Born: 12 July 1921, Alexandria, La. G.O. No.: 17, 26 February 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On August 1943, 2d Lt. Hughes served in the capacity of pilot of a heavy bombardment aircraft participating in a long and hazardous minimum-altitude attack against the Axis oil refineries of Ploesti, Rumania, launched from the northern shores of Africa. Flying in the last formation to attack the target, he arrived in the target area after previous flights had thoroughly alerted the enemy defenses. Approaching the target through intense and accurate antiaircraft fire and dense balloon barrages at dangerously low altitude, his plane received several direct hits from both large and small caliber antiaircraft guns which seriously damaged his aircraft, causing sheets of escaping gasoline to stream from the bomb bay and from the left wing. This damage was inflicted at a time prior to reaching the target when 2d Lt. Hughes could have made a forced landing in any of the grain fields readily available at that time. The target area was blazing with burning oil tanks and damaged refinery installations from which flames leaped high above the bombing level of the formation. With full knowledge of the consequences of entering this blazing inferno when his airplane was profusely leaking gasoline in two separate locations, 2d Lt. Hughes, motivated only by his high conception of duty which called for the destruction of his assigned target at any cost, did not elect to make a forced landing or turn back from the attack. Instead, rather than jeopardize the formation and the success of the attack, he unhesitatingly entered the blazing area and dropped his bomb load with great precision. After successfully bombing the objective, his aircraft emerged from the conflagration with the left wing aflame. Only then did he attempt a forced landing, but because of the advanced stage of the fire enveloping his aircraft the plane crashed and was consumed. By 2d Lt. Hughes' heroic decision to complete his mission regardless of the consequences in utter disregard of his own life, and by his gallant and valorous execution of this decision, he has rendered a service to our country in the defeat of our enemies which will everlastingly be outstanding in the annals of our Nation's history.

 

 

*JERSTAD, JOHN L. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Racine, Wis. Born: 12 February 1918, Racine, Wis. G.O. No.: 72, 28 October 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. On 1 August 1943, he served as pilot of the lead aircraft in his group in a daring low-level attack against enemy oil refineries and installations at Ploesti, Rumania. Although he had completed more than his share of missions and was no longer connected with this group, so high was his conception of duty that he volunteered to lead the formation in the correct belief that his participation would contribute materially to success in this attack. Maj. Jerstad led the formation into attack with full realization of the extreme hazards involved and despite withering fire from heavy and light antiaircraft guns. Three miles from the target his airplane was hit, badly damaged, and set on fire. Ignoring the fact that he was flying over a field suitable for a forced landing, he kept on the course. After the bombs of his aircraft were released on the target, the fire in his ship became so intense as to make further progress impossible and he crashed into the target area. By his voluntary acceptance of a mission he knew was extremely hazardous, and his assumption of an intrepid course of action at the risk of life over and above the call of duty, Maj. Jerstad set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.

 

 

JOHNSON, LEON W. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 44th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Moline, Kans. Born: 13 September 1904, Columbia, Mo. G.O. No.: 54, 7 September 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. Col. Johnson, as commanding officer of a heavy bombardment group, let the formation of the aircraft of his organization constituting the fourth element of the mass low-level bombing attack of the 9th U.S. Air Force against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. While proceeding to the target on this 2,400-mile flight, his element became separated from the leading elements of the mass formation in maintaining the formation of the unit while avoiding dangerous cumulous cloud conditions encountered over mountainous territory. Though temporarily lost, he reestablished contact with the third element and continued on the mission with this reduced force to the prearranged point of attack, where it was discovered that the target assigned to Col. Johnson's group had been attacked and damaged by a preceding element. Though having lost the element of surprise upon which the safety and success of such a daring form of mission in heavy bombardment aircraft so strongly depended, Col. Johnson elected to carry out his planned low-level attack despite the thoroughly alerted defenses, the destructive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, the imminent danger of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions, and of intense smoke obscuring the target. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, Col. Johnson so led his formation as to destroy totally the important refining plants and installations which were the object of his mission. Col. Johnson's personal contribution to the success of this historic raid, and the conspicuous gallantry in action, and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty demonstrated by him on this occasion constitute such deeds of valor and distinguished service as have during our Nation's history formed the finest traditions of our Armed Forces.

 

 

KANE, JOHN R. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploetsi Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Shreveport, La. Birth: McGregor, Tex. G.O. No.: 54, 9 August 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. On this date he led the third element of heavy bombardment aircraft in a mass low-level bombing attack against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. En route to the target, which necessitated a round-trip flight of over 2,400 miles, Col. Kane's element became separated from the leading portion of the massed formation in avoiding dense and dangerous cumulous cloud conditions over mountainous terrain. Rather than turn back from such a vital mission he elected to proceed to his target. Upon arrival at the target area it was discovered that another group had apparently missed its target and had previously attacked ??and damaged the target assigned to Col. Kane's element. Despite the thoroughly warned defenses, the intensive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, extreme hazards on a low-level attack of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions and dense smoke over the target area, Col. Kane elected to lead his formation into the attack. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, he and the formation under his command successfully attacked this vast refinery so essential to our enemies' war effort. Through his conspicuous gallantry in this most hazardous action against the enemy, and by his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Col. Kane personally contributed vitally to the success of this daring mission and thereby rendered most distinguished service in the furtherance of the defeat of our enemies.

 

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for  AUGUST 1, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY

Elimination Balloon Race in a 206.4-mile flight from Birmingham to Commerce, Ga. (7)

 

1939: Capts C. S. Irvine and P. H. Robey used a Boeing YB-17A to set a 34,016.88-foot altitude record with a payload of 11,023 pounds.

 

1942: The Coast Guard's Squadron 212 sank the first enemy submarine off the passes of the Mississippi. (24)

 

1943: Operation TIDAL WAVE. In this operation, 177 B-24 Liberators used low-level routes to drop 311 tons of bombs on the Ploesti Oil Refinery in Rumania. This was the first large-scale, minimum-altitude attack against a strongly defended target, and the longest major bombing mission from base to target undertaken to date. MEDALS OF HONOR. During the Ploesti raid, the lead aircraft flown by Lt Col Addison Baker, the 93 BG Commander, received serious damage and caught fire. Baker, who was a mobilized guardsman from Ohio, continued to lead the formation and dropped his bombs before trying to gain enough altitude for the crew to parachute. The attempt failed and the B-24 crashed. For that gallant leadership and intrepidity, Colonel Baker earned the Medal of Honor. In this raid, Col Leon W. Johnson, Col John R. Kane, 2Lt Lloyd H. Hughes, and Maj John L. Jerstad also earned Medals of Honor. The Eighth lost 54 bombers, but successfully reduced Ploesti's refining capacity by 40 percent. (4)(21)

 

1945: In the largest one-day B-29 combat effort, 851 Superfortresses attacked four Japanese urban areas, a petroleum plant, and mine fields. (24) At Edwards AFB, prototype YP-80As displayed their ability to attack bombers, even when outnumbered by six to one.

 

1946: Capts B. L. Grubaugh and J. L. England flew a B-29 from New York to Burbank in 7 hours 28 minutes 3 seconds to set a FAI speed record for multi-engined aircraft. (9)

 

1950: The Collins-Vandenberg Agreement established cooperation between ADC and the Army Antiaircraft Command for the air defense of the US. (16) (24) KOREAN WAR. The USAF established the 6147th Tactical Control Squadron (Airborne) at Taegu for forward air control operations with T-6 aircraft. The 22 BG and 92 BG dispatched 46 B-29s to bomb the Chosen Nitrogen Fertilizer Factory at Hungnam, the largest chemical plant in the Far East. (28)

 

1951: Canada and the US exchanged diplomatic notes to erect and operate a radar defense network in Canada. (16)

 

1954: First flight of Convair's XFY-1 vertical takeoff fighter.

 

1955: The USAF began the first zero gravity research flight in T-33 jet trainers to study the effects of weightlessness. (16) (24)

 

1956: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill to include flight instruction in Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs. (16)

 

1958: The US detonated a missile-borne nuclear weapon at high altitude over Johnston Island in the Pacific as part of an anti-ICBM defense program. (16) (24) Capt Marion Boling, a commercial pilot, flew a Beechcraft Bonanza 6,979 miles from Manila, Philippines, to Pendleton, Oreg., to set a distance record for nonstop flight in a single-engine aircraft. (24)

 

1960: General Thomas S. Power, CINCSAC, accepted the first of 12 operational supersonic B-58 Hustlers to be delivered to the 43 BMW at Carswell AFB. (1)

 

1961: The AFRES mobilized five C-124 groups and more than 15,000 reservists in response to the construction of the Berlin Wall. (21)

 

1962: From an underground silo at Vandenberg AFB, the USAF launched its first operationally configured Atlas F. It landed near the Marshall Islands. (6) (12)

 

1963: NASA's Mariner II, launched on 27 August 1962, completed its first orbit around the sun after a trip of 540 million miles. (26)

 

1968: The USAF Southern Command flew 13,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies to San Jose, Costa Rica, to aid more victims of the Mount Arenal volcano. (16) (26)

 

1969: The Air Force added Quicktape, using broadcast tapes recorded in the air from a ground radioman and rebroadcast directly through the plane's loudspeaker, to its psychological warfare program in SEA. (16)

 

1972: The first B-52 SRAM wing activated on schedule at Loring AFB. 1974: William P. Clements, Jr., the Deputy SECDEF, approved plans for the A-10 close air support aircraft. (12)

 

1976: Through 2 August, two USAF UH-1 Iroquois helicopter crews saved 81 people stranded by a flash flood in Big Thompson Canyon, Colo. (16) (26)

 

1987: Rockwell International received a $1.3 billion contract to build a replacement space shuttle for the lost Challenger.

 

1988: The 177 FG retired the last three F-106 Delta Darts from the USAF's active inventory. Two of the F-106s were A-models and one was a B-model. (26)

 

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Thanks to Shadow    A repeat but I always wondered what it was like when Puff the magic dragon was doing it's thing. I can remember sitting outside on the second story of the BOQ in Danang and watching one at work one night and seeing a solid string of red like a laser from the aircraft to the ground.

 

CUNEO'S LONGEST NIGHT

 

Billy...

You were a round engine guy... here's a little story from my Grunt days. Fast movers aren't always the best choice.

A little background to this... About 12 years ago... one of my Grunt Buds reached out to me. He was my first Company Commander. In an email he asked about one of our Lieutenants who was killed after he'd left to return to the States. He asked me because I was on the same patrol when we got ambushed and Hartley was killed... happened right in front of me. Well he distributed it to others and one night our phone rang and my wife answered and this voice says... "Mrs. Stafford, you don't know me... but on the longest night of my life... the voice I kept hearing was your husbands... is he there"? Dan (my former C.O.) had given him my phone number. His name was Don Cuneo. What he was referring to was what happened a couple of days after Hartley was killed. We'd moved back to Dong Ha from Cam Lo and left behind a small force to guard what remained of a 105 battery until the last guns could be removed. They also were in the process of breaking down the camp and only had one row of concertina wire left around the perimeter. They were due to join us in a couple of days. Well, the night in question, all hell broke loose. When my wife told me what Don's opening words were… I. Used it to describe that night. By the way, I recently shared a book with "The Bear" on Heime Aderholt who had a hand in creating "Spooky"… a book we should all read. I found his thoughts and philosophy mirrored my own…. Maybe "The Bear" will give us some comments on his thoughts about it.

 

Shadow

CUNEO'S LONGEST NIGHT

Before I start… I was wrong about Hartley's first name… It was Bill (I knew that)… I

just screwed up, but at least I suspected I was screwing up… That's why the disclaimer.

Two days after the ill-fated patrol… The 105 Battery at Cam Lo was being re-located. As

was normal, when we moved out of a place, everything was being broken down, waste

and debris buried… wire was being rolled up, etc. The 105 cannons were being helo

lifted out as I recall… some may, have been towed.

On the day in question… I believe there were only three 105's still there, after the last

lift. Alpha had removed much of the wire surrounding the perimeter and I believe in most

places there was only one strand of concertina in place. We had a section of 81MM

mortars out there with them. I think the mess tent was still up, but a lot of others were

pulled down in anticipation of moving the next day or so. Thank God the Command

bunker was still up and functioning.

As the sun went down, it had been a day like so many others… Much busy work, no

contact with the enemy. I'm sure the Company was still thinking about Hartley's and the

others deaths. It takes a while to get such a loss out of your system… You don't show it

overtly… or even talk about it much…. But the thoughts are still there.

As routine as the day had been…. This was to be a night… unlike any other.

I'm gonna use times, based on a thirty some year memory… I don't have any official logs

or any other data to go by… So don't harangue me if I'm off an hour or two.

I believe it was around 0130 or so, that I received the call that Cam Lo was being hit.

Looking to the southwest, we could see the flares from the mortars. In the distance we

could also hear the rattle of heavy automatic weapons fire and explosions…

Occasionally, we could see tracers ricocheting in the air… It was immediately obvious,

that this was not an ordinary probe and mortar attack… like we'd become used to.

I came up on the radio as Permission 6… this was to let everyone know that the Battalion

Commander was up on the net. I had rigged my PRC-25 with a speaker when in the rear,

so Westerman could hear what was going on as soon as I did.

In the bunker at Cam Lo was Don Cuneo and one other radio operator… There may have

been another… I'm not sure. For the life of me I've wracked my brain and can't

remember the other RO's name. I apologize to him for leaving him out.

Their initial reports were startling… The perimeter had been breached and the bad guys

were running all over the place.

What we able to glean… in bits and pieces (These guys were running the company net

too and were incredibly busy)… was that the attack had started as a mortar barrage. Then

sappers, under the cover of their own mortars, came into the wire to blow it up and

provide lanes of access. They concentrated on the automatic weapons and machine gun

positions. I can't remember what officer was in the bunker… if there was one… But

Cuneo and the other RO were up to their asses in alligators.

Things were getting worse by the minute and they asked for all the help we could give.

Westerman… to his credit… asked Regiment for permission to mount a relief column on

6X's right away. Regiment nixed the idea… fearing an ambush of such a relief in the

dark. As horrible as it sounds… Alpha would be on its' own.

I kept talking to them and trying to assure them that we were doing everything we

could… That we'd be coming as soon as possible. We then got word that our mortar guys

had burnt up 2 tubes already. They were practically vertical… as I remember… and they

would fire two rounds of HE, then one of illum… as fast as they could.

About 45 minutes after the attack started, we got the first good news. The Regimental

FAC discovered that an AC-47 Gunship, call sign "Spooky"… was operating not far from

Cam Lo and had requested he be moved over to support Alpha. He got approval and help

was on the way. I called Don and told him "Spooky" was on the way.

"Spooky" was an old military version of the DC-3… Some genius (I mean that in a good

way) had come up with the idea to mount several 7.62 mini-guns (A modern version of

the Gatling Gun) on one side of the plane and it would go into a low orbit around a point

on the ground and lay down a withering amount of fire. They also carried a prodigious

amount of flares. It was the one weapon… that was probably conceived for just such an

occasion.

No one… who has ever witnessed one of these aircraft in action at night… will ever

forget it… It was not just a visual feast… but the noise assaulted your senses as well…

As long red tendrils of flame (tracers) unbroken… reached out from the plane to the

ground below… seconds later you'd hear this deep… guttural… brrrrruup, brrrrruup…

brrrrrrrruuup… as thousands of rounds of 7.62 went through the Gatlings. The sight and

sound were of another world… it was like a hose of fire. And that sound…. It is like no

other I've ever heard. No wonder it would later become affectionately known by the

grunts as… "Puff… the Magic Dragon".

It was surely an ancient, fire-breathing dragon of mythical proportions… breathing hell

fire …on the enemy down below

This next part, once again, I'm relating something I got from a conversation over 35

years ago. So bear with me if I'm a little off.

If I recall correctly, Don Cuneo was the primary FAC radioman… He was used to talking

to aircraft. He and the other RO were juggling two different radio nets and trying to keep

up with what was going on around them. "Spooky" presented an additional problem…

They couldn't communicate with him from inside the bunker. Now I don't know whether

this was because their outside antenna was destroyed… or not hooked up… or that the

sand bags just interrupted their signal… Regardless one of them had to go out into the

maelstrom.

I keep thinking… in my mind… that they flipped to see who was going out (That may be

legend… but I also think I remember them using something like a C-Ration lid for a

coin). What ever… Don got the nod… Probably because he was the FAC RO. What

happened next would make a great action movie scene.

The bunker had the typical "L" shaped entry. Cuneo crawls out and sits with his back

against the bunker, radio and pistol between his legs, next to the entrance. He gets

"Spooky" on the radio and starts directing flares and suppression fire around the

perimeter… based on information being yelled back and forth from those inside the

bunker. Shit is flying everywhere… By this time, Alpha had been completely over-run.

In the middle of all this, Don is sitting there… when this NVA with an AK-47 comes

running around the bunker and stops… about two feet from Don, he's right next to him.

(I'm sure at this point… Don's heart probably went up into his throat) At the same instant

GySgt Weinbar comes running around the other side of the bunker with his M-14 about

15 feet from Don. (Weinbar was a real character, red headed with a handle bar mustache

at the time, very well liked by all) Evidently, neither Weinbar or the NVA had noticed

Cuneo sitting there… But they had seen each other…

Don was about to be witness to a modern version, of the shoot out at the OK Corral…

Weinbar reacts immediately and raises his M-14 and fires an entire magazine (20 rounds)

at the NVA, who was standing next to Don. The NVA almost simultaneously, fires his 30

round magazine… at Weinbar… Both of them completely missed at point blank range…

In the twilight of the flares they're staring at each other in disbelief… When Cuneo

reaches out and shoots the NVA from about a foot away.

Weinbar nods, reloads and goes off looking for more infiltrators. I'm sure I've left out a

nuance or two… but again, I'm trying to re-construct a conversation from long ago. The

next morning I remember seeing one of the dead NVA near the bunker and he was

wrapped in TNT charges… I wondered if this was the guy Don shot, but I never asked

him. But if he was… I've often wondered if the whole belt would have gone off if Don

had hit the TNT.

The fight raged on until just before dawn, when the NVA finally withdrew… Because of

the valiant efforts of Don Cuneo, his fellow RO's and a whole host of Alpha's grunts…

who kept their heads and wits about them… when it appeared their world was coming to

an end… They prevailed in the end.

I hate body counts… But in this case it should be noted… When we arrived there just

after dawn… Over 87, enemy dead lay within Alpha's perimeter… Only God knows…

how many lay in the area around them… cut down by "Spooky". Three Marines died that

night, one of them possibly by our own folks because of the way he was dressed…

(Shorts and T-shirt with no helmet.) Two of the Marines were from the 105 battery… A

sapper had dropped a satchel charge into their foxhole.

In front of one of the machine guns laid 12 bodies, between the gun and the wire… less

than 10 feet away. Another group lay on the wire itself. There were other scenes similar

to this, all around the perimeter. This was in close, savage fighting.

Alpha requited themselves for Hartley's death two days before… against an

overwhelming force. One lone company of Marines… against a Regiment of NVA

Regulars. As far as I'm concerned… They were hero's all.

A short note about the NVA… Through documents we were able to prove this was part of

the same outfit, which had ambushed us two days before. One of the NVA dead was

carrying a wooden rifle… just a silhouette of the real thing. We were told this was in

punishment for having lost his real rifle… and that to make up for it… he had to

participate in the assault and capture a real weapon to replace the one he lost. There were

a lot of weapons captured here… far more than normal. Virtually all the weapons were

brand-new… some still had preservative on them.

Many of the sappers had blocks of TNT… each was wrapped in oil paper and tied with

bamboo in an intricate pattern… They could run along and pull one from their belt and it

armed the fuse as they pulled it away. They dropped them in foxholes and tents all over

the compound… One can conjure up visions of Jim Brown in the Dirty Dozen… running

along and dropping grenades in pipes. Except this time, it was the bad guys doing it.

I'd also like to comment about the mindset of those of us who were watching and

listening… from miles away… and helpless to do anything… other than to stay calm, reassure

and try to think of any and everything we could to help. It is an agonizing,

frustrating experience.

In reality, we did what little we could… But these men prevailed because they were

warriors… They had the mettle, the courage and the will to see it through. I have often

joked about the fact that on the longest night of Cuneo's life…. The voice he kept

hearing… was mine… I thank God it was not the last...

I'm still proud of you… Marine.

More later… Shadow

 

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