My first TTT -- Vietnam 1971

[Rich S]

This is my first Pop Up we lived in some of these in 1969. Near Boun Me Tuit. Not to far from were you were at.

[myoung]

This is my first Pop Up we lived in some of these in 1969. Near Boun Me Tuit. Not to far from were you were at.

I've never seen one of these. How many lived in the PopUp, which appears to be built on a Deuce-and-a-Half? What, were there no rooms at the resort hotels? We were building QL14 southward to Boun Me Tuit and expected to enjoy the hospitality of the French who by then would have be running their rubber plantations like some kind of agritourism business. We never got past the Ia Drang after we abandoned LZ Lonely in late April 1971 after 12 days of trading fire with the NVA 95B Regiment.

[Rich S]

The truck was a M54 cargo truck converted to a Guntruck. We would have 2 M-60 7.62 machine guns 1 M-2 50 cal. M-79s and a assortment of all kinds wepons.
We ran convoys out of Cam Rahn bay all over two corp. The truck had a crew of four. We had to sleep in this about four to five days a week.
Our job was convoy security and at night we did perimeter guard.

[myoung]

The truck was a M54 cargo truck converted to a Guntruck. We would have 2 M-60 7.62 machine guns 1 M-2 50 cal. M-79s and a assortment of all kinds wepons.
We ran convoys out of Cam Rahn bay all over two corp. The truck had a crew of four. We had to sleep in this about four to five days a week.
Our job was convoy security and at night we did perimeter guard.

Being an the road and in the open most of the time, we loved to have Gun Trucks around. Not surprisingly, we were never ambushed when Gun Trucks were in sight. Even the most stupid VC knew better than to trade shoots with those terrific expressions of American ingenuity. Isn't it terrific that US soldiers are ever creative and willing and able to evade rules that could jeopardize our survival.

One thing we did to expedite support and communication, for example, was to ignore MACV's requirement to change radio call signs and frequencies on the first day of each month. Not surprisingly, we were most likely to be ambushed on the first day of the month. Our most devastating mortar attack came in the wee hours of Feb 1, 1971. To keep the lines of communication open and to get support as quickly as possible, we had an unwritten rule around Pleiku, and perhaps it was in place elsewhere, to put off the changes until 3 or 4 days later. To Americans, as Newt Gingrich has said, rules like the 65 mph speed limit are merely suggestions.