Memorial Day: What It Means To Me...

Is Memorial Day just another holiday; another day off from work?  If you still have a job, that is.  Maybe enjoying a barbecue with family and friends -- even in this bizarre time of phony "social distancing."

For some, I'm sure that's the case, for me, however, it's another story altogether...

I know we are still in springtime; but this coming December, it will be 53 years since I served my tour of duty in Vietnam, yet it hardly seems possible that over a half-century has passed by...

My military specialty: Air Force Security Police NCO (non-commissioned officer) in-charge of various observation posts and machine-gun bunkers, tasked with the defense of the base perimeter to stifle and defeat any attempt of the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army from penetrating the base.

Other duties included providing security for the supply guys on convoys from the base to the main depots for shipment to other bases.  I was also the machine-gunner on the escort Jeep as we took the South Vietnamese nationals back home after completing work on the base for the day.

Our base had the most F-100 fighter jet squadrons in all of South Vietnam, providing support for ground troops, as well as playing a major part in breaking the 77-day siege by the many North Vietnamese divisions that had surrounded the Marine base at Khe Sanh.

I have vivid memories of some of the more dicey skirmishes and attacks on or near the perimeter...

In one instance, my buddy and I were assigned to a machine-gun bunker on the south side of the base... It was quiet; dead quiet, until about 1:30 a.m...  Suddenly, we heard mortar rounds leaving the tube just on the other side of the perimeter wire behind the village huts... I immediately radioed defense control that we were under mortar attack!  Even though the enemy mortar crew was close, very close, we couldn't see them as they were hiding behind those very same huts... I instructed my bunker-mate to watch the perimeter wire to the left, and I would watch the right, as we fully expected a ground attack to follow the mortar rounds.  The mortar attack was over in a couple of minutes, and the ground attack never happened... The only other enemies we had to fight that night were the numerous "dive-bomber" mosquitoes and some very large rats enjoying the buffet of trash that was prevalent around some of the bunkers...

One attack occurred right after dark-thirty, just outside the perimeter wire, near the main observation post facing the valley to our south... A major force of VC was caught out in the open and paid the price... The Army base, two short miles to our south, sent two gunship-choppers to rocket and strafe the bad guys... Tracer rounds from heavy machine guns and M-60s from our bunkers and the gunships raked the VC non-stop...  The enemy fought back with tracer rounds flying over the base perimeter in a desperate attempt to stop the death reigning down on their position... The rockets' red glare being fired from the gunships was like a July 4th fireworks display, but this was no holiday celebration, but a deadly display of a fallen mankind...

When the choppers fired all their rockets, they headed back to base to re-arm, and in no time, they were right back in the fray, strafing the bad guys with more death from above...

The air base commander requested "Spooky" -- also known as Puff The Magic Dragon -- gunship to make a flyover and finish the annihilation of the VC ground force once and for all...

The next thing I knew, a huge 500,000 candle-power flare was dropped from Spooky, lighting up the field of fire where the enemy had been trapped...

Then began a sound that I will never forget: two of Spooky's 3,000-6,000 round-per-minute Gatling guns opened up!  Streaks of solid red filled the night sky, destroying whomever was left on the ground, fighting for their very lives, but to no avail... In less than two minutes, Spooky had expended nearly 24,000 rounds of 7.62 NATO rounds, covering every square-foot of ground, leaving no chance of anyone surviving the onslaught...

The gruesome cleanup began as the sun rose and the stifling heat began to build. The scene was one of pure death and mayhem... All the VC were KIA (killed in action); there were no GIs KIA or WIA (wounded in action)...

If anyone is interested in reading about additional "incidents," you can order my small book from Amazon: The Battle For Oscar Six...

I dedicated that book and many of my other stories to the one-hundred-eleven U.S. Air Force Security Police who were KIA during the protracted Vietnam War...

Memorial Day: remembering those who sacrificed for others...

Pray for our country...

Viva Cristo Rey!  Fr. Miguel Pro, pray for us...

Gene DeLalla