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JCook19.JPG"Base Camp" - Jan 1966133 views"Base Camp" - We arrived on Jan 1966 (by Starlifter - C-141 on dirt runway) and as you see we are the only one in the area ('B' Battery 2/9 Field Artillery). We only called it "Base Camp" and by February we we in the 'boonies' and never saw Base Camp again. In Jan and Feb of 1966 we ONLY had tents. When I came back in (to rotate out) Dec 1966 there were walkways and wooden barracks and Mess hall.
This hole is where we later put in two CONEXs and made our FDC bunker. Left to Right: Sp4 James McBrayer, Jr, PFC Richard A. Williams.
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JCook28.JPGBase Piece - May 1966133 views#3 Gun Section - Base Piece
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Joe_and_the_Medic_4.JPGHanging Out133 viewsSgt Joe Cook, UNK, and our Battery Medic Sp4 Riddle.
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Joe_Cook.JPGHere's where it all began133 views(2nd from right 1st row) While attending the NCO Academy at Ft Sill, I remember taking my turn to march the class. I marched them into the flower bed of the Officer's Training Barracks. I commanded 'Platoon,halt' and then 'about, face' and 'forward, march'. As I looked back I saw about 40 spots of (turning marks) marks in the flower bed gravel. So I then commanded 'double time,march'. A day or two later I was sent to California and then to Hawaii (on a PAN AM flight) and hooked up with the 2/9th.
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JCook43.JPGLt Herrick, 2/9th FA staff; Lt James A. Mager, Corps of Engineers132 viewsJoe poses with two Lieutenants. The sign overhead reads: "Bravo Ever Ready" and "Mighty Ninth Sir" with the unit designation and the 25th Inf Div Tropic Lightning patch in the center.
L to R: Lt Chris Q. Herrick and Lt James A. Meger (Corps of Engineers) on either side of Sgt Joe Cook.
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Joe_and_the_Medic_2.JPG132 viewsI wasn't doing a good job, so the Medic took over. Note the surgical precision he uses to cut the bread. Medic Riddle was the same guy who attended to SSG David Spears who was KIA during a firing incident.
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Joe_and_Medic_1.JPG132 viewsMore cooking lessons. Here, the Battery Medic (name is Riddle) watches how I cut a loaf of bread.
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JCook38.JPGFrom the "Pink Kitty" to Tent City for the FDC132 viewsWe bailed out of the "Pink Kitty" FDC. Obviously, it was not sustainable in our new jungle environment. This GP-small tent also served as the FDC sleeping quarters.
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JCook21.jpg"Base Camp" - Jan 1966131 viewsThis is our FDC location at Base Camp, Pleiku, 11Jan66. Sp4 Larry L. Black is half-turned to the camera, Sp4 James McBrayer, Jr is using the pick to make foxholes, Huckaby is by the "Pink Kitty". The "Pink Kitty" is the FDC training trailer that we brought over from Hawaii. We decided later that a plywood FDC trailer above ground was not a smart move. The picture is looking north, northwest.
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JCook40.JPGFeb 1966 High Angle Fire131 viewsHowitzer ready for high angle fire. Note the tents in the foreground.
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JCook22d.JPGUnderground Bunker - the orginal CONEX FDC concept131 viewsThe next change for our FDC operations was CONEX containers. We buried two (2) CONEX containers in Base Camp. They were dug in with the help of a bulldozer. They were facing each other, dropped into the hole and covered with sandbags. We made a "sandbag staircase" to get back to the surface. I don't know how this would work out in monsoon season. Inside the containers, we used red lights at night and white lights during the day. We moved in our standard field tables for the charts and placed the radios on ammo boxes.
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JCook89.JPGHere...write this down131 viewsSp4 James McBrayer, Jr is giving me the coordinates for Battery Center
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