I got in-country a week before Christmas in 1969. After a few days in the rear I flew by slick to LZ Compton in An Loc. When the bird left I found a shady place at the end of the landing strip and hung out, waiting for whatever was next. After a while a guy came near and told me to stay put. Another guy said, “I think they’re in the bush.” He was talking about Bravo Company 1/7 Cav. A third guy on a mule listened as I told him I’d left Quan Loi empty-handed, thinking I’d get supplied here. He drove back to the base and returned with C’s and water. An hour or two later I hopped on a slick to Bravo. I was now an FNG in the bush.
One afternoon, as we reconned an Arc Light [B-52] strike about 10 clicks north of Compton we walked into a recently abandoned VC base camp. After searching the place we marched down a hill into what the pilots call “the box,” a mile long, half mile wide area of complete destruction. The jungle was pulverized. There were piles of splintered wood as far as you could see. A few dead gooks lay rotting on the ground. Some had their arms and legs blown off. One guy had no face.
After a time we began walking up a hill. A few feet off the trail I spotted something shiny. I thought it was the star buckle of an NVA pistol belt. Nope. Just a White Cross milk can. I went to pick it up and all of a sudden I felt a thousand needles in my neck and jaw. I got dizzy and fell down; that’s the last I remember. I have no recollection of being medevaced. I don’t remember a thing.
I woke up in the 24th Evac in Long Binh with an IV in my arm, an oxygen mask, a swollen lip, swollen eyes, and I felt like shit. They kept me there three days. After that I went to the Cav training area, spent the night, then hitched a ride to Bien Hoa and met up with my platoon.
At the last minute a promised three day stand down was cancelled. Damn! Instead of sun and fun at Vung Tau we flew to Song Be, where I was told to catch a slick to Quan Loi so as to get my gear; I could meet up with Bravo a day or two later. But in Quan Loi First Sergeant Francisco Royos told me I’d been medically profiled and couldn’t go back to the bush.
WTF? I read the profile. It stated I’d been stung by bees. ALLERGIC REACTION, it said, with a bunch of medical words that meant another bee sting could kill me. I was stung plenty of times as a kid — never a problem. Years later I learned that 2,000 Vietnamese die every year from Asian wasp stings. That’s probably what stung me. If that’s what happened I never heard them coming. Was it a booby trap of some kind? A can of wasps? I’ll never know.
I spent the rest of my tour at firebases. That sounds like a free ride but believe me it wasn’t. We got mortared a lot, and ever since LZ Ranch got overrun I’ve been battling PTSD. Six of us were in a bunker hit directly by sappers. We never had a chance. Jim Cummings the battalion CO’s orderly, and Emilio Supnet Jr, an Alpha Company grunt short timer, were killed instantly, and Sgt. Friday from S2/3 got a sucking chest wound. Me, Donnie Toland, and Jim Ford, by the grace of God, made it through that night physically unscathed. To this day I’ll never know how we weren’t killed or wounded.
It took me years fighting the VA but I finally got 100% for PTSD. I’ve been in VA therapy forever, in groups and all kinds of one-on-one counseling. For me the bottom line is PTSD never goes away. I’m not crazy as some guys are. I lay low and keep mostly to myself, which is how I like it.
____________
See Mike Hudzinski’s and other survivor recollections of LZ Ranch being overrun here.
Top photo / Bombs from a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52D Stratofortress on an Arc Light mission hitting suspected enemy troop positions in Southeast Asia. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 110324-F-DW547-005.
Operation Arc Light / Wikipedia
S2 report on LZ Ranch overrun
The Mysterious VC Milk Can Attack, by Mike Hudzinski
One afternoon, as we reconned an Arc Light [B-52] strike about 10 clicks north of Compton we walked into a recently abandoned VC base camp. After searching the place we marched down a hill into what the pilots call “the box,” a mile long, half mile wide area of complete destruction. The jungle was pulverized. There were piles of splintered wood as far as you could see. A few dead gooks lay rotting on the ground. Some had their arms and legs blown off. One guy had no face.
After a time we began walking up a hill. A few feet off the trail I spotted
something shiny. I thought it was the star buckle of an NVA pistol belt. Nope. Just a White Cross milk can. I went to pick it up and all of a sudden I felt a thousand needles in my neck and jaw. I got dizzy and fell down; that’s the last I remember. I have no recollection of being medevaced. I don’t remember a thing.
I woke up in the 24th Evac in Long Binh with an IV in my arm, an oxygen mask, a swollen lip, swollen eyes, and I felt like shit. They kept me there three days. After that I went to the Cav training area, spent the night, then hitched a ride to Bien Hoa and met up with my platoon.
At the last minute a promised three day stand down was cancelled. Damn! Instead of sun and fun at Vung Tau we flew to Song Be, where I was told to catch a slick to Quan Loi so as to get my gear; I could meet up with Bravo a day or two later. But in Quan Loi First Sergeant Francisco Royos told me I’d been medically profiled and couldn’t go back to the bush.
WTF? I read the profile. It stated I’d been stung by bees. ALLERGIC REACTION, it said, with a bunch of medical words that meant another bee sting could kill me. I was stung plenty of times as a kid — never a problem. Years later I learned that 2,000 Vietnamese die every year from Asian wasp stings. That’s probably what stung me. If that’s what happened I never heard them coming. Was it a booby trap of some kind? A can of wasps? I’ll never know.
It took me years fighting the VA but I finally got 100% for PTSD. I’ve been in VA therapy forever, in groups and all kinds of one-on-one counseling. For me the bottom line is PTSD never goes away. I’m not crazy as some guys are. I lay low and keep mostly to myself, which is how I like it.
____________
See Mike Hudzinski’s and other survivor recollections of LZ Ranch being overrun here.
Top photo / Bombs from a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52D Stratofortress on an Arc Light mission hitting suspected enemy troop positions in Southeast Asia. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 110324-F-DW547-005.
Operation Arc Light / Wikipedia
S2 report on LZ Ranch overrun