The earnest looking black soldier kneeling in front is the much liked and aptly named 3rd platoon squad leader Larry Hunter. The black grunt second row on the left, right fist raised in the Black Power salute, is the much disliked militant Brother Al. Understandably pissed at being drafted to fight a white man’s war 10,000 miles from home, Al griped about everything. As a form of protest he once dragged the machine gun ammo behind him while on patrol. He pissed everyone off. He was not well-liked.
The burly head peeking out next to Brother Al is Jim Brown, from New York city. “I’m from Tirty Tird and Tird,” he told me. In 1998 third platoon grunt Frank “Frenchy” Rodriguez confided to me that during a ‘mad minute’ on LZ Compton, when the cannons roared and the mortars thumped, and the grunts of Delta 1/7 Cav pulling perimeter guard fired their weapons in a show of force, another squad leader, and Worm, the barest-chested grunt in the photo, took revenge on a sergeant by shooting him with a pistol in the back of the head.
The handsome black grunt slightly behind Worm is Glenn Williams. During an ambush Glenn was accidentally shot by Bill Williams after Bill was accidentally shot by an FNG. I believe the man to the left of Pete is Kenneth Perry. I believe he was an FO.
Forward Observer’s risked their lives calling in artillery. In bad years FO life spans were measured in minutes. Compared to Tet ’68 or the Ia Drang Valley or the siege of Khe Sanh, except for Cambodia, 1970 was more or less easy for Delta Company. As Frenchy told me, in ’69 the company was known as Dying Delta.
The grunt to the left of Worm, giving the peace sign, is squad leader Pete Della Bella. Pete, from Connecticut, was one of the most confident and easygoing grunts I ever met. Billings, second to the left, second row, was a good squad leader too, but always on edge.
The face to the left of Pete’s peace sign is RTO Mike Wilson. Mike earned several Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. He was last on the pile of men who threw themselves on me when the second Chicom exploded. In 1998 I spent a week at his place in Monroe, Michigan. Among the sites we visited was the Monroe County Historical Museum. It’s second floor holds one of the nation’s largest public exhibitions about General George Armstrong Custer. Born in Ohio, Custer attended school in Monroe and married Elizabeth “Libbie’ Bacon, the only daughter of a prominent local judge. The arrogant Indian hater led the 1/7 First Cavalry into the famous Battle of the Little Big Horn, which did not end well for George or his men.
Gary Williams, from Kingsport, Tennessee (third platoon had three grunts named Williams) stands to the right of Pete’s peace sign. A good soldier, but a shamer too, always looking for a way to leave the bush. In 1999 I sent Gary a video cassette of The Real Deal. This short film I wrote about my time in combat has many photos of third platoon. After watching the video Gary walked out to his backyard and cried.
The fellow on the right holding two one quart canteens attached to a D ring is respected squad leader Lloyd “Butch” Edge. Butch and I once shared a somewhat useless two layers of sandbags culvert bunker waiting out a mortar attack on LZ Francis in Tay Ninh. The rounds soared over us, wounding Gene Locklear, hunched in a bunker down the line. Gene was from Lumberton, North Carolina. I recently spoke with him. He’s had it rough since coming back. Butch, from Wisconsin, died in 1984. I’ve wondered about his cause of death.
For all these years I believed the rifles Worm and the grunt to his right hold high are captured AKs. But look close. They’re M16s. Bao Ninh told me, and it’s well known, that the NVA and VC dismissed the light weight, plastic stock rifle as inferior to the wood stock trustworthy AK. M16s jammed often. They required constant cleaning. An AK were easy to maintain, and reliable, be it submerged in water, covered in mud or coated with dust. The M16s short stubby bayonet was no match to the AKs fifteen inch three-sided spear.
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The group photo of Delta’s all American boys was taken on New Year’s Day 1970. As second platoon RTO Jeff Motyka recently told me, “That was my first day in the field. Someone took me to see the three dead NVA killed that morning. My head was spinning. What had I gotten into? I remember thinking I was a total dumb ass. I could have still been in college if I hadn’t dropped out.”
Portrait of New Year’s 1970
The burly head peeking out next to Brother Al is Jim Brown, from New York city. “I’m from Tirty
Tird and Tird,” he told me. In 1998 third platoon grunt Frank “Frenchy” Rodriguez confided to me that during a ‘mad minute’ on LZ Compton, when the cannons roared and the mortars thumped, and the grunts of Delta 1/7 Cav pulling perimeter guard fired their weapons in a show of force, another squad leader, and Worm, the barest-chested grunt in the photo, took revenge on a sergeant by shooting him with a pistol in the back of the head.
Forward Observer’s risked their lives calling in artillery. In bad years FO life spans were measured in minutes. Compared to Tet ’68 or the Ia Drang Valley or the siege of Khe Sanh, except for Cambodia, 1970 was more or less easy for Delta Company. As Frenchy told me, in ’69 the company was known as Dying Delta.
The grunt to the left of Worm, giving the peace sign, is squad leader Pete Della Bella. Pete, from Connecticut, was one of the most confident and easygoing grunts I ever met. Billings, second to the left, second row, was a good squad leader too, but always on edge.
Gary Williams, from Kingsport, Tennessee (third platoon had three grunts
named Williams) stands to the right of Pete’s peace sign. A good soldier, but a shamer too, always looking for a way to leave the bush. In 1999 I sent Gary a video cassette of The Real Deal. This short film I wrote about my time in combat has many photos of third platoon. After watching the video Gary walked out to his backyard and cried.
The fellow on the right holding two one quart canteens attached to a D ring is respected squad leader Lloyd “Butch” Edge. Butch and I once shared a somewhat useless two layers of sandbags
culvert bunker waiting out a mortar attack on LZ Francis in Tay Ninh. The rounds soared over us, wounding Gene Locklear, hunched in a bunker down the line. Gene was from Lumberton, North Carolina. I recently spoke with him. He’s had it rough since coming back. Butch, from Wisconsin, died in 1984. I’ve wondered about his cause of death.
For all these years I believed the rifles Worm and the grunt to his right hold high are captured AKs. But look close. They’re M16s. Bao Ninh told me, and it’s well known, that the NVA and VC dismissed the light weight, plastic stock rifle as inferior to the wood stock trustworthy AK. M16s jammed often. They required constant cleaning. An AK were easy to maintain, and reliable, be it submerged in water, covered in mud or coated with dust. The M16s short stubby bayonet was no match to the AKs fifteen inch three-sided spear.
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