The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War by Frederick Downs Jr

Author:Frederick Downs Jr. [Downs Jr., Frederick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Norton
Published: 2007-02-17T04:30:00+00:00

13 November 1967

This morning we were late getting into position because Delta Six was moving his company back into the valley. We were the only platoon staying up. After they had gone, I told Delk to take his squad across to their usual ambush spot while we sat up in our position along the stream.

He got his men into marching order and moved them down off the ridge. After a few minutes we started down behind them. I came out into the clearing in time to see his squad crossing the stream. One of his men brought his weapon, a M-79 grenade launcher, up to his shoulder and fired. I heard the round explode ahead of them, followed by the scream of someone who had been hit.

Christ, I thought, already we have action! I told the platoon to hang loose while I took a couple of men over to Delk to see what had happened. He was calling me on the radio as I reached his squad crouching in the bushes.

Material of some sort was scattered on the trail fifty meters from his position. He explained that they had been crossing the stream when one of the men had spotted three dinks moving down the trail toward them. The front dink had had one of those long poles across his shoulder with baskets hanging from either end. The M-79 man had fired a round which had landed between the legs of the man with the baskets. They had seen him knocked down, his rifle and baskets flying in all directions. The other two dinks had disappeared while the wounded dink had run screaming into the jungle. Delk’s men had fired but had evidently not hit the dink again.

Delk’s squad went ahead on the trail to form a guard while we looked through the items spread around. The dink had been carrying an M-16 which was laying in the grass. The front basket had held about fifty homemade wooden Chi-com (Chinese Communist) grenade handled with holes carved down the middle. Flat sheets of tin were bundled together, precut, and hammered out to resemble what a tin can would look like if the ends had been removed and rolled. There were bits of the plastic explosive, C-4, and slabs of explosives wrapped in wax paper in the bottom of the basket.

The other basket contained pieces of metal, nails, glass, and other junk, also black powder and fuses.

What we had here was the material to make about forty or fifty Chi-com grenades. Delk’s squad had ambushed a walking grenade factory!

The sheets of tin would be rolled into the shape of a tin can and stuffed with explosives and junk for shrapnel; the ends would be sealed, with a wooden handle sticking out of one end. A black-powder fuse would be run up the middle of the hollow handle which would then be capped with a wooden plug and sealed with wax. They resembled a potato masher.

When a dink wanted one to work, he twisted the plug.

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