Once back on compound, i unloaded brand new alcohol, put it for the a cut-away from 55-gallon drum and you will iced it down
Around was not any way we could stream that pallet right back to your the brand new lighthearted vehicle, therefore being the an excellent Samaritans we had been, we loaded as numerous circumstances once we you can expect to towards the the V-100-so much that individuals could not turn the turret. Without a doubt, there have been certain disappointed MPs that evening and you will an abundance of dreadful severe headaches the next day.
To the men who served on a V-100 for a year, the vehicle became more than just a machine. It became your life, your friend and your protector. All but two of our V-100s were named after comic book heroes. These included “Captain America,” “Thor,” “Big Ben,” “Flash,” “Spider – man,” “Barbarian,” “Atom,” “Daredevil” and “Iron Man.” The other two were named “Road Hog” and “The Lemon.” Each of the V-100s had a painting of the character or the name across the front, life-sized and in coloric book superheroes painted on the front of the V-100s made for an interesting article in This new Roundup, our local GI newspaper. The April 1970 article was headlined, “66th MP Co. Super Heroes to Combat VC Wrong Doers.”
From time to time we’d all of our minutes, such as the time as soon as we have been escorting a convoy in the An enthusiastic Khe Citation and one of autos missing an entire Jura escorts filming pallet of beer
David An excellent. Swisher resides in Marshall, Ill. The guy obtained brand new Military Commendation Medal which have V Tool getting his measures inside the ambush within A keen Khe Pass for the April 1970. For further discovering, see: Cadillac Gage V-100 Commando 1960-71, by the Richard Lathrop and Jim Laurier; and you may Combat Police: U.S. Army Military Police in Vietnam, by Rick Young.
Most of all of our trouble came towards the QL-19, but I considered warmer on that highway than just into the QL-step 1, simply because they there had been significantly more convoys into the QL-19 and this better odds of duplicate. My baptism off flames arrived for the bush within hairpin bend regarding the An Khe Citation. All . . . . . . of our V-100 had already come through new hairpin and you will try headed off new solution, if the westbound convoy was strike. What “Get in touch with! Get in touch with! Contact!” came along the radio net when i try operating, and so i turned into this new V-100 to and you can on course backup the new violation. As soon as we got to the new hairpin, We saw certain Korean troops pinned off. One of them got his arm stuck-up floating around leading to the south section of the hairpin turn. We drawn the fresh V-100 between your Koreans together with updates he was directing to help you, therefore we you are going to give them a little more safety and have engage with all of our firepower.
My V-100 was escorting a great convoy out of Tuy Hoa someday when there was a good amount of framework work at the street, resulting in a little an accordion impact
Something from the running the fresh new tracks each day is actually that you never know exactly what unusual matter would occurs 2nd. If top of convoy stopped, the back tightened up. Then the side manage start once more, and convoy spread out up until the bottom you may initiate. Due to this, I advised our very own V-100 driver Reno Catalano to go into the middle of the highway so we will keep most other car regarding our very own convoy until we got out of the construction urban area. Whereas i always help less vehicles go ahead and violation the latest convoy vehicles, because there is really construction I needed to save new convoy free from additional travelers.
On one convoy to help you Weil Nang, one of our automobiles strike good Lambretta laden up with Vietnamese. It absolutely was quite a mess. The fresh new Lambretta went off the street and you may down an enthusiastic embankment. By the point i got a good dustoff indeed there and you may got things cleared upwards some time, there were all types of black colored pajama-clad people who have firearms updates to talking and shouting. By the difficult, a misconception can potentially has arisen, but before one taken place we had away from indeed there and you may back to your convoy.
