Buck Buchanan,Email:buck@vcn.com
About the 407th RRD. I spent several weeks with them up at A-4
(Con Thien) in the
spring of 1970. It was a direct support unit of
the 5th Mechanized division that had
come over from Ft. Carson.
It wasn't the end of the world,but you could see it from there.
Actually,one could see a huge NVA flag waving in the morning sun over the NVA
artillery base of Duc Duc. They flew it just to get our water hot. Some
dumbass American Legion post had offered whoever got the flag $50,000
for their efforts. Suicide money.
We lived in the old abandoned Marine bunkers that they'd built in
1965-66 when they arrived. It was located about 2 klicks from Song Ben
Hai which is the crick that divided the DMZ. Nasty, cold, miserable
outpost. Rats the size of cats, terrorized us every nite. One guy
who was bitten was shipped to the USS Comfort ( Navy hospital
ship lying off the coast a few miles).
It was three hill tops, Rangers
on one, artillery on one and ASA on the middle one. I figured if they
were to give RVN an enema they'd have to insert the tube at Dong Ha
mountain and thread it 40 miles up it to get to Con Thien.
I'd had 2 Article 15's at Phu Bai within a few weeks of one another.
The dignitaries really liked it when I was out of sight...what better
place than 407th? I doubt it. Was never assigned to the 407th, just
sent up there to enjoy the north country. I was there because of a bad
attitude at Phu Bai and a strong desire not to spend the rest of my
life in a military prison for killing some REMF asshole.
When I got there a few of the guys thought I was a narc because
I didn't smoke anything.... period. Did myself in w/ beer and Scotch
instead. We kept ourselves entertained during the day watching zippo
tracks west of A-4 in firefights w/ the bad guys. At night, listened
to the rats fight and squeal in the spaces behind the bunker walls.
One of the guys ordered some live traps (I think from Herters) and we'd
trap the rats and then stick the atropine injectors through the wires.
They'd fight them until the injectors shot and ran them through the brain.
When we were on the bunker line guard during the nights,the SOB's
rattled down through the old rusty "C"-rat cans and empty flare tubes that
had been thrown down in the concertina wire for 3 or 4 years. Drive you
nuts thinking some dink was crawling up thru to slit your throat,or throw
a satchel charge into your bunker. Many at Con Thien the same.
"Attitudeville" if there ever was one.
