** , I try to remember these Cav guys: they had it so much worse than we did (in 70); and every time I read one of these accounts, my admiration and respect for these men always rises another notch. **

I've got a few ex-Cav pals and like you, Pickett, I respect and admire every one of them. But no more and no less than I do you or anyone like us who showed up.

When I was in Pleiku, we thought the Cav was a bunch of publicity hounds. And they were, except today it is considered admirable to "use the media to your best advantage." And it turns out they were damned good soldiers. But no better or worse than us, or the 4th Div, or anyone else I ever ran into. They sure were good at the awards & decorations game, tho.

I told Hal Moore that not once during my tour, from 6/68 to 6/69, did I see a 4th Div battalion commander, any Colonel, in the field, on the ground, leading his men. A few Majors hunkered down at battalion firebases, but not many. They were all extremely busy at base camp and flying around in C&C ships, "managing the battlefield." Moore was horrified to hear this; it is a totally foreign concept to any leader, but especially to a man like him.

I think senior 4th Div leadership was criminal, period. But you can take that up the line through Saigon and Washington DC also. I don't know anything about our 52nd Bn leadership, but I don't think it matters because we operated mostly on a company or platoon or, as you well know, many times single ship basis. And I think our company leadership, flight leadership, and our aircraft commanders' leadership was without equal.

(I think I went with the crew chief thing because I had heard about the Cav's Ia Drang fights and I wanted nothing to do with another possible hand-to-hand last stand against a hoard of hopped-up dinks. Plus, I sorta liked the idea of clean sheets on a bunk vs. shaking scorpions out of my boots.)

No Flies On
Bob