"Here They Come!"

[439th Signal Battalion]

By November of 1969, I had been in-country with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 199^th Infantry Brigade (Sep)(Lt) for almost six months. Drafted right after graduating from college with a B.A. in Business Administration (there were many of us in the unit with college credits or degrees) and getting married, I was assigned during my tour as a jeep driver/personnel specialist for the Brigade S1.

 

 

Since our Brigade had limited aviation assets, my job was to take out the new officers and enlisted-men to join their units operating way out in the bush of our Brigade’s AO, which was spread throughout the III Corps Tactical Zone.

 

When not taking out or brining in GI's, I was usually involved in doing some type of errand or “official” business for the HQ brass. As such, I saw quite a bit of the country and have many mental images of that war, from the endless jungles around Dinh Quan in the northern part of our AO, to the rice paddies and Pineapple Plantation south of Saigon.

 

Some of our Brigade firebases were in some really hot areas (and also within spitting distance of Cambodia), so it was not unusual to take sniper fire or sometimes sustained automatic weapons fire from some of the villages and remote areas we drove through.

 

At one small firebase that I was at (I don’t even remember the name) we took “friendly fire” from an ARVN 105 battery that dropped over 50+ rounds in and around our perimeter in mere minutes before it was stopped. That’s another story for another time…

 

Our Brigade Main Base, or BMB for short, was located at the very end of the Long Binh complex on Highway 1 so we also took frequent incoming rounds and harassing fire, oftentimes a couple in the morning and a few more in the evening from the VC/NVA that were in that area.

 

The rounds were either mortars or the big 122mm rockets that made quite a racket, both slicing through the air and then upon detonation. Other times, the incoming would go right over us into some other area. There was also frequent small arms fire on the basecamp perimeter at night as Ho Nai Village was located right outside our wire. (Come to think of it, it never was quiet for any length the whole time I was there, as there was always some sort of outgoing, incoming, explosion, jet or helicopter flying over).

 

During the Tet Offensive of 1968, our Brigade Main Base had been hit hard in the opening hours of the offensive by salvo after salvo of incoming and human waves from both the 274^th and 275^th Viet Cong Main Force Regiments that plowed right through Ho Nai Village. Their goal was to overrun us so that they would have a clear path towards Long Binh, Bien Hoa, and Saigon.

 

The guys that were there at that time stopped them cold, killing 500 or more enemy in our immediate area.

 

Anyway, back to November of ’69.

 

Sometime around Thanksgiving (maybe a day or two before), our Brigade picked up some intelligence that BMB was going to be hit again by human waves, just like during Tet according to what we heard.

 

Within a short while of Brigade receiving this and deciding that it was credible, our base went on Red Alert, with each perimeter bunker fully-manned and on 100% alert that night. M60’s and M16’s were locked and loaded, and the clackers for the claymore mines were all within easy grasp, ready to detonate at the slightest sound in the wire. Hundreds of eyes peered into the darkness and all of us were on edge, anticipating hordes of sappers and NVA soon to be materializing out of the area in front of us and into our perimeter wire.

 

 

As the night wore on, the anticipation of a huge fight began to wane, eyelids got heavy and nothing happened, at least on my side of the perimeter. All that was heard was the buzzing of mosquitoes and the popping of illumination flares, along with the distant explosions of H&I fire and outgoing from a firebase that the 101^st Airborne had close to us.

 

Then, at around 0300 or so, my bunker mates and I heard something in the wire. First, it was one of those noises that we were sure we had heard, but began to doubt because it was barely audible and didn’t last long. Minutes went by and we didn’t hear anything, which was fine, except that we were really jacked up and our mind began to play tricks on us.

 

Was it a sapper? Is there an RPG being pointed straight at us? Should we open fire and give away our position or heave a grenade and see what happens? Should we blow the claymore? (Only people who have been in this type of situation know what it feels like and how your life and well-being depends on what you do next and how doubt and fear begin to creep in).

 

As these thoughts were racing through our minds and our hearts pounding out of our chests, we heard another sound in the wire. This time it was unmistakable. Something was there and coming closer. My buddy beside me, his eyes as big as softballs, muttered, “Holy S..t!” “Here they come!”

 

As I grabbed the clacker to blow the claymore I could see movement directly in front of us. However, by the time I had flipped the safety off and looked back up, I could plainly see what was coming in and making the noise.

 

It was a dog. A no-good dog mangy ugly dog from Ho Nai Village, and probably one of the same that we always saw rummaging through the trash dump outside the perimeter when the civilians were there.

 

Oddly, the dog never tripped any of the flares or mines that were in the wire and trotted right by our bunker as happy as could be without ever stopping to acknowledge the four very scared but relieved GI’s that were shaking their heads and wiping the sweat from their brows.

 

 

We never did get hit that night and never were again subject to human wave attacks like Tet ’68, but there was plenty more small-scale action and incoming until I DEROSED home in early 1970. As I look back, I was scared plenty of times in Vietnam, but never so much as the night when the dog infiltrated our perimeter.

 

Bobby Jack Gouge

HHC-199^th Infantry Brigade

Vietnam-Cambodia

1969 - 1970

 

 

[Proud Kraut]

Great story (and pictures!). Thanks for sharing it!

 

Lars

[bellasilva]

That's a great recollection, thanks for sharing and more importantly, thank you for your service, Sir.

[David D]

Great story. Thanks so much for your service.

[CHASEUSA11B]

Very cool story, thank you for taking the time to share it.

It sounds like you had some very intense experiences and got to see a bit more of the country than the average vet.

It's amazing which memories stick with you and the fear and anxiety that can still be recalled so many years later- even when caused by a dog!

I think it shows how powerful emotions can be especially when your a young kid and you're dealing with a situation that very well may cause your death.

You did a great job explaining the anticipation and fatigue of a young troop holding the line far from home, thanks again for sharing!

[pmanton]

I was at Bien Hoa Army Base with the 101st Abn Div in 1968. One night everything opened up. There were flares, tracers everywhere. Oh no Tet again. Then we realized it was July 4. :-)

Paul

Salome, AZ

CW-2 USA Ret

[PFC Red]

Great first-hand account! Thanks for sharing.

[RustyCanteen]

Excellent account; Thank you for sharing it!

 

RC