Remembering the 444th

from James Rose

Highland Raiders, Red Baron, Maverick Guntrucks

I came in country originally scheduled to go to the 359 Trans Co as a Sqd Leader instead I was shipped to Ankhe and Assigned to the 541st Trans Co as a Sqd leader on 19 Sept 70. After a weeks orientation and getting my feet on the ground I was assigned a squad. Memories hazy about which one But I had "Mafia" and "lil Mafia" assigned to me. We were a 2 1/2 outfit.

Ankhe was the home of the 4th Inf Div. Although the 4th is an old Div with an impeccable record, at the time I was there they were in disarray. Charlie had somehow gotten their number. There were probes on the perimeter every night and to top that off there was a mountain in the middle of the compound that was not completely pacified and there were occasional rounds coming from there. The leadership of that Div had slipped a bit.

The 541st mission was to assist the 4th Inf in restocking and remanning of the Bridges and listening posts along QL19. The Tour of duty on those bridges was usually a week and then the personnel were relieved. My first and only convoy while with the 541st Consisted of 4 Duces and Guntruck and gunjeep. About a mile outside of Ankhe the Inf plt leader who was riding with me, a 2Lt, saw movement on a hill and told me he wanted to stop an investigate. He wanted to have his Plt recon the hill while we waited. I radioed my Guntruck of the situation and the NCOIC of the "Mafia" said "Sarge we usually do not leave or convoys sitting on the side of the road unless it is in the rest areas". My first learning experience. I informed the Lt that we would drop them off and come back for them. And just to let him know that I thought that it was a stupid idea to recon up a hill in broad daylight I added "If there is anything left to pick up". He took offense. I informed him that the mission of our convoy was relief of the Bridges and he had a few choice words for me. Testosterone was flowing but as I was in charge of the convoy I finally won out. We radioed his headquarters about the movement and finished our convoy.

About a week later the first Sgt informed me that the SGM at Battalion would like to talk to me. I suspected that it had something to do with my heavy handed tactics with the Lt. I took "Mafia" and headed for Phu-Tai. When I got there The SGM informed me that I was the ranking SSG without a Platoon and one had come open at the 444 and he was going to put me in that slot. If I wanted it he would have orders cut. I didn’t mince words. My answer was "Hell yes".

After transferring to the 444 in Oct of 70 I was given the 2nd Plt. We had the "Red Baron" assigned to us. The rest of the Companies Guntrucks were "Snoopy", "Lil Respect" and "Blood,Sweat, and Tires". I learned something each convoy I took out. I learned for the Guntruck crews, the other CC’s , and by listening to the drivers . I learned the do’s and don’ts about convoys. I was in two ambushes and an incident while a convoy commander for the 444. Far luckier than most. My first one came on the way to Tuy-Hoa. Right outside of the large village on the way down the second third of the convoy took about 40 rounds of AK that caused no damage. They saw "Snoopy" coming and hightailed it. "Snoopy" hosed down the area and that was it. The second was on the way to Tuy-Hoa. I had let an Air Force 10 ton pulling a low boy catch a ride with the convoy and but him at the back of the convoy with me so I could push him along. We were in the midst of the marijuana fields that were on both sides of the road when a claymore went off just at the 10 ton tractor was passing. I sprayed the fields with my 16 and the "Red Baron" came back to help out. But the mine had been command detonated and Charlie was gone. The driver and Asst of the 10 ton were allright and the truck was driveable so we went on. When I checked the Truck at Tuy-Hoa for my Report I found that there was hardly a spot on it that didn’t have a hole in it. You could hardly lay a quarter on it without touching a hole. God was with that driver and Asst . I still look on it as a miracle. It just wasn’t their time.

The incident I was involved came on the way back from Tuy-Hoa on the same day as the 10 ton ambush. We were headed back and "Red Baron" informed me that they heard gunfire ahead. I sent them to investigate not wanting to take the convoy into a Kill Zone. When they got to the Next bridge they found a group of Brown and Root construction company people being fired on and pulled in between them and where the fire was coming from. "Red Baron" had a mini gun and the fight didn’t last long. When I arrived on the scene the B&R engineer who was in charge of the people who were working on the construction of the bridge was very appreciative. A couple of days later he made it to Phu-Tai and bought rounds for everyone.at the club.

A slot came open at BN HQ for a night operations NCO and I was called in and offered it. I said where ever they needed me. Always the brown noser I guess.

The 27th Trans Bn had the overall responsibility for the security of Phu-Tai and Cha-Rang valleys. Our radios were the best available and scrambled. We had a radio dedicated to the Qui-nhon TOC and relayed messages from everyone. I had two clerks assigned at night and me. Our job was to take all the data collected during the day and organize it into convoys. This consisted of loads , destinations, vehicle availability (company vehicles available or deadlined), Security Vechicles Available, convoy commanders and assistants assigned, call signs, and S-2 intelligence reports. We compiled this info and planned the convoys for the next day. We sent the hard copies to the different company HQ for dispatch. There was a guntruck that ran from Cha-Rang to Phu-Tai nicknamed the night riders (call sign). I think that the guntrucks at Cha-Rang switched off on this duty. They picked up the hard copies and took them to our units there. One night the night riders called for help. They were in an ambush between the Valleys. I called the S-3 officer in and he allowed me to send a guntruck from each location. By this time everyone was alerted and everyone volunteered. We picked one from each location, can’t remember which ones went but when they got there they hosed down the ditches on each side of the guntruck. Next morning when the ARVN went in to investigate they found 7 naked males in a hootch not far away where the VC had left them. This almost caused an international incident. Our Bn was accused of killing unarmed civilians. I guess that our Bn Commander showed them how absurd that was because it died down after only a day or two.

Sometimes when the numbers didn’ t add up such as not enough convoy commanders for the amount of convoys I would pincil myself in for the Bon-Son run because it was short and I had enough time to get back and rest up for the night work. My clerks were always willing to go along. That helped break up the monotony.

I didn’t learn everything about convoy operations but I have written down what I remember about convoys and briefings. This is just how I did it from what I knew. Many of the Convoy commanders had their own way of doing things such as some liked riding in the front leading the way. I preferred the back so I could help kick people out of the Kill Zone if need be. I developed a fungus that nearly ate my feet up. I received permission to wear white socks and ho chi mien sandals while on duty and took a few convoys that way but I suspect that this had a lot to do with my being transferred to BN. That fungus did not go away until I got stateside. Talk about being allergic to something. I guess it was Nam for me.

I hope that this has brought back a memory or two for someone. There are a few more experiences that I had that I would rather not elaborate on and I guess we all have those.

I am gradually starting to remember things that happened during my tour now that I am getting back into it. I remember all the gadgets I had to play with when I became Night Operations NCO for the Bn. One of them was a box with rows of lights on it. Each light marked the place of a sensor that had been placed on the mountains between us and the POL compound. I had the co-ordinates of each sensor. When the lights started going off I would have to check with Quinhon to see if there were any friendlys in the area and If not I would time the lights and call in a strike from the 4.2s next door. That happened about once a week. Always a fun time. I had to have a crypto clearance because it was my job to change the Pad for the scrambler on the Radios. I remember that my Mom got all upset because agents came around asking questions about me from some of my friends. She thought I was in some kind of trouble. I remember the Quinhon Ammo dump blowing up. I had heard something and went outside the bunker to check for incoming. I saw what looked like ocean waves coming accross the Valley and hit the deck and covered my ears. Those were sound waves that had not reached us. When they did it was something. One night I got what I thought was incoming and put the compound on red alert and it turned out to be arty firing directly over our camp. I was glad that I put us on alert because they were firing star bursts and the Ash and Trash took out a couple of trucks in the Motor pool. I remember that the H&I at our camp was really something to see and be a part of. Most of our guntrucks took part in it . The minis and the 60s firing and the 16s. When I first got there "Snoopy" had an auto 79. When they fired H&I with that thing it was spectacular. There are a lot more things that are coming back to me.
541st gun truck I think. 2 1/2	444 trans
"Frustration" in Background, MP V-100, Snoopy in forground. One of my convoys to LZ english. Me walking in front of V-100 after a bite to eat at NCO club in background. We DID get a V-100 escort most times when we had POL and Ammo in the same convoy. They also made a morning run with V-100s checking the roads for evidence of mining.	"Maverick" Convoys were made up from Trucks from different companies most of the time. Also the Guntrucks went where they were needed. I have had guntrucks from 3 or 4 different companies in some of my convoys. We were given a manafest telling us what we had in our convoys, destination, Time, Pushes and call signs and we had to Marshal them up and head'em out. I remember the area that is being called the ponderosa as just a mud hole most of the time. It was used to marshal convoys to Bon-son and Tuy-hoa. The Marshalling area for convoys to Ankhe and Pleku and further was at Cha-rang Valley. There was a firing range for the guntrucks to test their weapons there also. Snack Bar across the road. At the intersection coming out of phu-tai there was an ice house on the corner. You took a right there to go to the old Ammo dump before they moved it to Quen-ohn. There was a large village with some kind of American unit compound there
444 Trans Co Area Phu-tai	Bong-son on the way to LZ Uplift and LZ English. Not a nice place to stop for a visit
Can't remember these fellows names. Minds a blank. Maybe someone out there will remember	Can't remember his name either. Oh to be that young again.
Me and My housegirl clowning around	Can't remember his name either. Think that he was driving the guntruck I was in that day
another one of the housegirls. Maybe someone will recognize her	crossing a bridge on the way to Tuy-Hoa
My Plt. I guess I took this one so I wouldn't forget like I have everything else.	Maybe we could do a little midnight requisition here. I don't know of any guntrucks with a rocket launcher. Hmmmmm.