Most viewed - Dennis L Dauphin
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CONUS_Orders.JPGGoing Home - CONUS Orders152 viewsSpecial Orders #245 were special indeed! Switch the numbers around and you have my Northwest Airlines flight #254. The arrival at Oakland Army Air Terminal was bullshit, though. Due to our wonderful "hippie" anti-war friends, they were shooting .22 cal rifles through the chain-link fence at the Oakland Terminal and we were diverted to McChord AFB. There we were treated to "midnight physicals". Ya think anyone refused to sign a medical release then? The next photo shows our "going home" barracks...even got a Floor & Bunk assignment. The jungle never looked like this!!
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LZ_OD_Mess_Kitchen.JPGChow Time139 viewsPFC Alvin Hite, Cook and SFC Frank Venegas, Chief of Smoke, enjoy a "hot meal" from the mermite cans at LZ OD, firebase for 1/35th and "A" Battery.
SFC Venegas eventually became the Command Sergeant Major of III Corps Artillery located at Ft. Sill, Ok where he resided until his death.
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FO_on_Duty_-_Hwy_19.JPGHighway 19 - Guarding the road with A-2-35100 viewsPhoto taken in January, 1967. Remember it well. Wasn't long after this photo was taken, the VC started lobbing mortars at our perimeter. The rounds were landing between A-2-35 and a nearby village. They knew it would be difficult for us to return the fire. But we did. An Infantry mortar hit a rotted tree trunk, setting it on fire. That gave us the target zone and we returned fire. No casualties, but we found plenty of blood near the impact zone.
But, let's go back to the beginning.
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I_m_Home.jpgReturned home from Nam96 viewsWell, I made it back home. I went over in a khaki uniform and still wearing it at Camp Chaffee, AR for the National Guard's ATT. I was the Safety Officer, assigned to protect the good people of Ft Smith from losing any cattle or their City Hall. They had reason for concern, too.
So....here's my story in pictures.
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Huey___155mm.jpgEarly Days of Duc Pho - Spring, 196783 viewsA Huey drops off supplies that go with the 155mm howitzer. Don't think that the Huey can pick up the 155; it can't.
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Pleiku_Sign.jpgWelcome to Pleiku82 viewsWell, not really. After my one-week excursion thru Camp Alpha and Saigon, it was time to get down to business. I caught a 0400hrs flight out of Tan Son Nhut into Pleiku in mid-Nov 1967. That's where the "real stuff" began. It was the HQ of the 2/9th FA Bn at the time. After checking in and getting my assignment, some of the "regulars" wanted to show me the town of Pleiku. You can tell from the sign alone this was my first mistake. It was a shithole of the worst degree. I never went back there, EVER!
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LZ_English.jpgLZ English at Bong Son78 viewsThe 1st Cav moved on to another mission and we take their firebase. The red tubes made a nice parapet wall, but I don't know where the red came from.
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Holbrook_-_Casp.jpgThe "Boss" goes to the field78 viewsLtCol Bruce Holbrook. 2/9th BnCo, chats with "A" Battery Commander Captain Mike Casp (KIA in Nov, 1967) after landing at LZ OD. His C&C chopper can bee seen behind them.
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Spencer___Casp.JPGLt Malcolm Spencer and Capt Mike Casp76 viewsSince I was heading home on my DEROS, Lt Malcolm Spencer was called out of the field, where he had been pulling FO duty, to replace me as the XO of "A" Battery. Behind him is the Battery Commander, Captain Mike Casp, who was killed two weeks after this photo was taken. He was on a reconnaissance mission when the chopper was shot down.
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155mm_at_Duc_Pho.jpgEarly Days of Duc Pho - Spring, 196771 viewsA quickly laid spray of asphalt was laid down to control all the dust on the landing pad. A 155mm howitzer awaits transport to its destination.
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Tam_Ky_1.JPGTam Ky - Final LZ70 viewsThe mountainous, and very uneven terrain of Tam Ky, was my last stop before DEROS. It was the WORST LZ I have ever been on! There was not enough flat, level ground to place six howitzers in the standard star formation. Judging from the slushy ground and unkempt look of this position, this photo was taken after a very severe monsoon hit us.
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Wendell_Corey.jpeg38 views
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