Most viewed - Leon "Lee" Dixon
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Dixon37.jpgC-130163 viewsHere is a shot of one of the many, many, many times I was flying out on a C-130. Some of the guys on this very plane I never saw again. I heard they were later killed in an ambush. Note the DC-3-based "Puff The Magic Dragon plane in the background!
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Dixon41.jpgThe Children of War163 viewsOne of the saddest things I recall is seeing orphaned children along the roads as we caravaned. This boy and girl were sister and brother and said they had no parents (killed by the VC). They were huddled together as if all they had in the world was each other. It was heartbreaking, but we couldn't take them with us. We weren't even supposed to stop in most places...
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Dixon45.jpgLZ English - Bong Son162 viewsNow, one day near the perimeter, this Chinook chopper lands, drops off a couple of things, then suddenly...see next photo....
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Dixon6a.jpg160 viewsMemories are made of this! The 3" reel-to-reel GE brand tape recorder operated on D-cell batteries. Just so happens that everything else in the field operated on D-cell batteries, too! Great way to communicate back home. Still works today!
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Dixon66.jpgArmed & Ready158 viewsThis fellow whose name I surely can no longer recall was shot on perimeter guard at Duc Pho. I think he was either from Michigan or Illinois. A very likable guy as I recall. He was sent home after he was shot, and survived.
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Dixon10.jpgShining through157 viewsThe sun appears to be shining through the Chinook as it makes its landing.
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LD-4.jpgPatrol Training - 2157 viewsOne of my buds was walking one of these dikes in a rice paddy when he stepped on a VC landmine. It was NOT a pretty experience...
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Dixon39.jpgGoing to Bong Son - LZ English156 viewsHere we were gathering to move to the dreaded Bong Son/LZ English. None of us had heard anything good about it and some guys who had lived there before told horror stories, so we knew we were in for it. Look closely and you can even see the company clerk's group filing cabinets on the back of one truck to the lower right.
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Dixon70.jpgUnknown155 viewsSomeone wrote in about a fellow in one of the field batteries whom I believe had a Spanish surname. I am not sure if this was him or not, but I recall knowing this guy who I think was either B or C battery. As I recall he was shot, possibly KIA. Great fellow with a good sense of humor... but again, darned if I can remember his name...
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Dixon60.jpgWhatta Takeoff!153 viewsDuc Pho Runway, LZ Montezuma, August, 1967. Although I thought that the runway had metal planking by this time, I could be wrong. Note the dirt runway with tire tracks. Certainly not a pilot's dream. Recall taking this shot from the back door of a C-123...a noisy, scary plane, but exciting to fly in especially when they later added JATO-assist pods on the wings.
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LD-2.JPGMe & My Guitar - Duc Pho, Montezuma151 viewsSeeing Sgt Butler's photo with his guitar struck memories. Strange thing the photo triggered was that the orange plastic finger twists on the end of the guitar tuners always twisted loose after just a few tunings. Whoever/whatever made those tuner heads must have been in Viet Nam because they were the worst I had EVER seen... and I had seen a LOT of guitars by the time I got there! Anyway, I bought a guitar in Saigon with orange plastic finger twists and cutaway, exactly like the one in the photo. I gave it to one of the guys in the battery and on my next Saigon trip I bought (for just about $2 or $3 more–in "P" of course) another guitar with Japanese tuners on it (they had white plastic tips that never broke). I also left this guitar at the unit when I returned back to "the world." I just wonder if the guitar in the photos was the one I had!
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Dixon68.jpgAdoption150 viewsRemember the photo where I mentioned that I adopted a boy and a girl from the local orphanage? {See Photo Dixon #16} You saw the boy in that shot. Here is me and the little girl when she came to visit at Duc Pho. Photos are even fading now. I think this was Christmas of 1967...
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