Bob,

The only time I recall elephant grass was when we had to work with the ARVINs. That was normally west and south of Pleiku. Most of the time we would have to throw the little bastards off the ship. By the time we got to An Khe I was with the Crocs and didn't have to worry about landing in those types of places.

The LRRPs were my big time heroes. I always had cigarettes, juice and candy for them when we pulled them out. There were very few times that we pulled them out and there was no contact. The one that I remember most was a guy by the name of McCoy. He was nuts. Anytime we pulled him out he had picked a fight with somebody.

I tried to help the grunts as much as I could. I had that one get hit in the head by the main rotor at FSB 5 and I vowed from there on to get those guys in as safe as possible. I always felt bad when we dropped them off in the middle of no where and then five minutes later learned that they were in contact.

You have to admit that we had the sun to sun war. Most of the time we got to return to base camp or a some what secure area at night. Those guys ate slept and breathed that place 24-7. I think the guys in the 4th had it the worst. From what I have read and learned from guys there were with other units most of them got back to base camp or a secure area about every month. The guys in the 4th would get to a firebase for a few days before being sent back out. Being secure at a firebase should be compared to the famous snow ball in hell. I think the guys in the 4th were the best. I worked with the 173rd, 101st and the 1st Cav. Other then the 1st Aviation patch I would have worn the Ivy with pride.