Date Posted:10:47:20 09/21/11 Wed Author: Scout Dog Chipper (Sad to remember things long repressed) Subject: Re: A co. 9 engneer blt hill 10 vietnam ,1969 In reply to:
anthony connolly
's message, "A co. 9 engneer blt hill 10 vietnam ,1969" on 06:31:24 05/05/11 Thu
LZ ROSS, RIDER, BALDY, Hill 55, Hill 65, The Arizona and Dodge City areas all the way to the river were some of the most defoliated areas in Vietnam. The river was infested with AO, so was the ground and water pulled from that river.
You can get Command Chronologies from the 9th for every month you were there. It lists action, personnel troop strengths, significant events, KIA, MIA and does it for that 1 month reporting period. You need to research that on a search engine and have those documents either mailed to you by HQMC or some are already posted on line. Then, your Chronological Page lists every RUC (Reporting Unit Code) for every unit you served in as a Marine. It lists your date of arrival or reporting and departure date and any Additional TAD you did in-country. Guess what, been on every Hill in the 7th, 5th and 1st Marine Regimental AOs. I walked point for over 16 units and have most of that in my TAD pages. Combined with the Command Chronological papers, you have your Vietnam experience.
You built roads, I cleared them with a dog. Most of the K-9s in Vietnam developed testicular cancer. If they got it, humans got it and I ended up with Agent Orange cancer. So, do your research, get the Command Chronologies for your units, look up and become well acquainted with "OPERATION RANCH HAND" and the places they dropped heavy AO or one of the other 16 herbicides. I have pictures of the 5th Marines in the Ross, Baldy areas all the way to the river. It looked like the surface of the moon. Totally devoid of vegetation and stagnant water filled bomb craters. That particular day we pulled up and drew water in our canteens from that river, several bodies, bloated bodies, floated by. I can’t write much more on this site because I’m dredging up old shit. I can still see the bodies, smell them and later that day, had defoliants sprayed on us. Welcome to Marine Corps reality. Start reading your unit’s histories. Semper Fi.
One other thing, no matter what happened, I still love being a Marine even while the VA is sticking it to you.
