Ch 13: Peace Through Firepower
I had picked up the trail very early in the morning on the east side of the Valley and began following it in a southwesterly direction. Looked to be squad size activity that had gone down in the predawn hours. Sun at my back and I began crisscrossing the trail in broad sweeps. Whether over jungle or open country with elephant grass, following trails be risky business. On one part the dudes leaving the sign will be fairly aware that you are following them. On the other, recall that this puts them in a posture of having to protect themselves against Snakes by dropping the LOH in their lap. It's a dicey game and there's no second place. We knew it and they knew it. Snakes can and often did deliver suppressive fire or close support within 10 yards of friendly forces...they are that good with guns and sometimes rockets. "In their lap" did not mean nearby.....
The Valley floor is a mishmash of crossing creeks and elephant grass. The trail I followed was one of many but the fresh activity was easy enough to see. It might surprise you that we were able, with consistent accuracy to look at scuff marks on dirt in the AM and ascertain within hours how fresh it was. Late afternoon in hot weather, not so good, but morning time, absolutely. Given heavy activity even the afternoon couldn't throw us far off track. Anyway, this was fresh stuff and I dodged and weaved my way along the trail, crossing over the dirt road that ran the length of the Valley N-S and then the A Loui airstrip, one of two on the valley floor. The other was the A Shau airstrip just west of Rendezvous, and both were the scenes of epic battles and great heroism during their active periods as Special Forces Camps earlier in the war. Passing the airstrip the signs of haste became abundant. Long strides and finally, muddy water swirling in the footprints. Ahead was the little knob I mentioned earlier and a stark earthen bluff about 75 meters beyond. It was several hundred feet high and had a foot path cutting across the face laterally. Now I gotta tell you that my stubby military hair was on end because it was a certain thing that a hot welcome awaited. I did a few didoes to the east, chatted with the crew and then cut in to the knob from the north, off trail and very low...and fast as my little Allison could peddle.
Here's the logic. You set a pattern, just like the enemy you trail. When you track somebody for 7-8 klicks they expect you to keep following the trail they took and they will so present their defenses. If you KNOW they are waiting it is insane to step through door numba 1. Ergo, here comes Dan from the north at about 100 knots and dragging skids through the elephant grass. What they can't see, they can't shoot. Visibility works both ways in this scenario and if that makes no sense, next time you're out in the woods, look up through the forest canopy and get an eye full of just how much sky you can't see. Add hills and ridges and you'll realize we were not without defensive tactics. So, we came smoking up on the knob and I pulled back sharply on the cyclic to do a "cyclic climb", or zoom climb if that makes more sense. You trade speed for altitude and it is a common maneuver used for many purposes in mountainous terrain. Two things happened as we topped the knob. First, I looked up on the bluff I mentioned earlier and saw a dink standing in the entrance of a small cave, looking down on me. Man oh man, I did NOT like that. Secondly, there were not dinks visible on the ground, but their packs were stacked at the crest and we were right...a squad. I saw this at the apex of the climb as I rolled into a 90* left bank to follow the off side terrain features back down and minimize our exposure. Quick call to the Snake lead and I'd like to claim a calm debonair demeanor by it weren't the case. By odd chance the Snakes SAW the guy standing in the cave entrance as I squealed like a pig....I rolled back level and headed back up trail toward the air strip as guns rolled in.
I told you earlier that "Twinkle Toes" was the best I ever saw at dispensing rockets and this was an example why. He fired 1....one rocket at the cave and as I looked over my shoulder in climb out I saw that solitary rocket vanish into the cave as Nguyen van Dink scrambled for cover. It did him no good. Belch of gray smoke, puff of dust and then a very large secondary explosion. Lead broke out to the left and wing started hitting the knob with rationed rocket fire and a barrage of mini-gun. The smoke cleared and the cave had totally collapsed. I was up to altitude within a few more moments and joined up in orbit with the Snakes just as Bilk came up on frequency. "Bilk" was the tactical call sign for a USAF O-2 unit that ranged over the I Corps area and though they used artillery often, their primary focus was FAC for tac air. I liked those guys, I really did. He was calm and debonair....inquired as what kind of chitt we were stirring up and got a brief from Lead. As was often the case when they called, he had a flight returning from aborted missions up north or in Laos with full ordinance loads and no place to drop. We always had solutions for such vexing problems. I don't think we were 5 minutes post strike when he put a WP rocket on the knob and we sat back with ring side seats for about 5 minutes while two F4s unloaded their 750# bombs and flew off to the O'club at DaNang. Their call sign was Gunfighter. Their O'Club was the DaNang Open Officer's Mess, or DOOM Club. They even had a DOOM Pussy on a mantle piece there. When a mission was underway the Pussy was turned to face the wall. When everybody was home, it faced the frivolity.
I never liked going back to an area where Snakes had fired up the bad guys, especially where there were bunkers, and there were bunkers on the knob. I had absolutely no compunction about doing that after a TAC air strike. Situations like that do not require direct hits or shrapnel to kill folks. Close proximity was enough to kill people with just concussion, or at least make them respectful. This was to be an exception to that rule I so faithfully believed. I came in with the rising sun at my back, did the cyclic climb and roll routine again, this time to the right...it happens so much faster than it takes to describe and your mind takes the snapshot images and digests them quick enough. Clothing and personal effects hanging from the tree limbs that remained, couple of craters just off the military crest of the hill, an open pit in the middle of the bunker complex with .....8 dinks laying curled up on the floor......fresh green uniforms.....all looking up at me.
You all remember that old Chuck Norris movie where he stands up in the middle of a river with an M-60 and starts shooting in slow motion? Well, that was all BS and we know it, but the slow motion part ain't. I experienced that many times over there, and in this case it was my gunner in back that was quick on the trigger...dull spaced flat blasts, links and cases flying out into the slipstream...splashes in the dirt that focused quickly on fresh green uniforms in the bottom of the pit. Tom was a very experienced gunner and let there be no doubt there were many like him over there that could and did shoot an M-60 as a point fire weapon. I know with certainty that he hit at least five of them in that very brief span of time that lasted a long minute or two in my mind. The target fell behind, time went back to normal speed and we rolled out under the collapsed cave northbound. I told the Snakes what we'd seen and we elected to call it good enough. There are very few OLD bold scout pilots. We wandered off to another recon grid and worked it without event until our relief showed up. Just another day at the beach....
Semper Worm Food.
