A Ride in the Sun: Combat with a South Vietnamese Cavalry Troop in the Mekong Delta by LTC (ret: USNG) Larry K Cole

Author:LTC (ret: USNG) Larry K Cole [Cole, LTC (ret: USNG) Larry K]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: World Ahead Press
Published: 2017-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

PRE TET: JANUARY 1968

The first thing I did when the Troop returned to My Tho was to meet and get acquainted with Sergeant First Class Neal. An enthusiastic and well-qualified non-commissioned officer, Sergeant Neal was on his second tour with the 6th Cavalry. He was well received by the Vietnamese, who remembered his service with the Squadron during 1965–66, when he was awarded the Silver Star for valor.

Sergeant Neal and I spent a short time getting acquainted and then head for the Troop compound to see how the Troop was getting settled in. When we arrived at the compound, only the First Sergeant and two soldiers were in the Orderly Room. Captain Vinh and the other troopers had parked the vehicles and headed for town or parts unknown. I was curious about whether the men had performed their after-operation maintenance before taking off. A quick check of the vehicles set my mind at ease. The Vietnamese were like American soldiers, and probably soldiers of many other nationalities, when time off to hit town was the reward, they did their work in record time and performed to a high standard. The vehicles were topped off, cleared and neatly arranged; even the weapons had been cleaned.

After checking the vehicles, I told Neal that I wanted to look around the compound. I wanted to see how the troopers lived in garrison. I was in for an eye-opener. I was shocked and disheartened to find the barren, Spartan conditions under which the ARVN soldier lived.

The Troop compound was small and austere by American standards. The compound was divided into two areas: The cantonment area and the family living area. An office building, which housed the various troops’ orderly rooms, and the enlisted billets, made up the cantonment area. The buildings were painted in light blue and trimmed in dark blue. This color scheme conformed to the Cav’s colors, blue and white. Behind the cantonment was the family housing area. The compound didn’t have paving or grass to hold down the dust during the dry season or to keep the vehicles out of the mud during the rainy season. Its landscaping consisted of a circular planter along the building’s front and around the garrison’s flag pole located in front of the orderly rooms. A small tree sat in each planter.

The orderly room building was a one-story cinder block building covered with stucco. The large two-piece windows swung to the inside of the rooms. There were no screens covering them. The building was large enough to furnish each Troop two offices, one for the commander and one for the orderly room or first sergeant’s office. Each office was furnished with a single desk and two or three straight back wooden chairs. A telephone sat on each desk. There were no wall decorations.

The Troop billets were another single-story cinder block, stucco veneer building. It was a rectangular building that sat to the east and rear of the orderly rooms. The building was large enough to provide twelve or so two-room cubicles.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.