doublejj's BIG 2014 greenhouse adventure Reloaded......
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doublejj
Well-Known Member
One day while patrolling in a sector that we had not been thru before, we came across an old mostly fallen down, barbed wire fence. There were no fences shown on our maps. We wondered if we had strayed off course, but everything else said we were where we were supposed to be. While waiting for further instructions before we crossed the wire, one of our squad found an old sign, facing out, on the fence wire. You could barely read it, but it was in French........French?.......We radioed what we could make out of the French words, and got a real suprise to find out we had just walked thru an old French mine field!
The things you don't find in the jungle!
The things you don't find in the jungle!
doublejj
Well-Known Member
One type of mission our unit regularly went on in Vietnam was ambush. This particular misson we were to stop night use of the main hwy between Saigon & Long Binh. This was like setting up an ambush on I-80. We were told not to blow-up the road, it would slow down daytime traffic.
Around midnight we see a lone headlight coming, heading for Saigon, we let him get into range & then opened up on that little motorcycle with our M16's & (2)M60's. Tracers went thru his spokes & ricocheted all around his head. He kept at full throttle until his tailight faded out of sight. This was kinda embarrassing, & not the kind of thing to enhance an infantry platoons warrior reputation. Vowing to do better next time, we waited.
About an hour later, 2 spaced out single headlights approached from the same direction. When the first one got into range, the same thing happened. We must have fired 1/2 of all our ammo at that guy. The sky turned red with muzzle flashes & tracers, to no avail. Our whole effort was only rewarded with a slight wobble to the tailight as it faded out of sight. The third guy could see what just happened & stopped. He turned around & went back the other way for a couple hundred yards & stopped. His headlight slowly turned back around & he sat there for a couple minutes. His desire to get to Saigon was more than his respect for our platoons marksmanship & he decided to go for it!
I don't know if it was out of respect for the guy's bravery, or fear that we would all miss again, but our platoon Sgt called 'stand down' & let him pass. Everyone swore to secrecy & I never heard that night mentioned again.
Around midnight we see a lone headlight coming, heading for Saigon, we let him get into range & then opened up on that little motorcycle with our M16's & (2)M60's. Tracers went thru his spokes & ricocheted all around his head. He kept at full throttle until his tailight faded out of sight. This was kinda embarrassing, & not the kind of thing to enhance an infantry platoons warrior reputation. Vowing to do better next time, we waited.
About an hour later, 2 spaced out single headlights approached from the same direction. When the first one got into range, the same thing happened. We must have fired 1/2 of all our ammo at that guy. The sky turned red with muzzle flashes & tracers, to no avail. Our whole effort was only rewarded with a slight wobble to the tailight as it faded out of sight. The third guy could see what just happened & stopped. He turned around & went back the other way for a couple hundred yards & stopped. His headlight slowly turned back around & he sat there for a couple minutes. His desire to get to Saigon was more than his respect for our platoons marksmanship & he decided to go for it!
I don't know if it was out of respect for the guy's bravery, or fear that we would all miss again, but our platoon Sgt called 'stand down' & let him pass. Everyone swore to secrecy & I never heard that night mentioned again.
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Garden Boss
Well-Known Member
Lucky bastard, that must have been the ride of his lifeOne type of mission our unit regularly went on in Vietnam was ambush. This particular misson we were to stop night use of the main hwy between Saigon & Long Binh. This was like setting up an ambush on I-80. We were told not to blow-up the road, it would slow down daytime traffic.
Around midnight we see a lone headlight coming, heading for Saigon, we let him get into range & then opened up on that little motorcycle with our M16's & (2)M60's. Tracers went thru his spokes & ricocheted all around his head. He kept at full throttle until his tailight faded out of sight. This was kinda embarrassing, & not the kind of thing to enhance an infantry platoons warrior reputation. Vowing to do better next time, we waited.
About an hour later, 2 spaced out single headlights approached from the same direction. When the first one got into range, the same thing happened. We must have fired 1/2 of all our ammo at that guy. The sky turned red with muzzle flashes & tracers, to no avail. Our whole effort was only rewarded with a slight wobble to the tailight as it faded out of sight. The third guy could see what just happened & stopped. He turned around & went back the other way for a couple hundred yards & stopped. His headlight slowly turned back around & he sat there for a couple minutes. His desire to get to Saigon was more than his respect for our platoons marksmanship & he decided to go for it!
I don't know if it was out of respect for the guy's bravery, or fear that we would all miss again, but our platoon Sgt called 'stand down' & let him pass. Everyone swore to secrecy & I never heard that night mentioned again.
doublejj
Well-Known Member
The 3rd guy was the one that got me!....
AlecTheGardener
Well-Known Member
I have a sneaking suspicion your muscle memory has a lot of it still.
Hemorrhage
Airway
Breathing
Circulation
They switched up the algorithm from
Airway
Breathing
Circulation
from about the time you were around. They realized that you can't replace blood as easily as you can respirations.
Many things were learned from your generation medic. The things you and your brethren saw and brought back enabled massive leaps in field medicine.
I was mostly a hospital medic, most of my patients surely would have died before arriving to me without what we learned from you. Thanks.
This next season's BBQ I really need to get over my anxieties. I would love to hear some stories first hand.
AlecTheGardener
Well-Known Member
Yep, graduated 2007, 232 medical battalion
A freak year in San Antonio, in January it froze so hard training stopped. Post was shut down, can't drive with almost 3/4" ice on the pavement.
A freak year in San Antonio, in January it froze so hard training stopped. Post was shut down, can't drive with almost 3/4" ice on the pavement.
doublejj
Well-Known Member
'Rocky', she's a 'Barred Plymouth Rock' &the only one we have left from our original flock of 3. But we just got a couple of young pullets to keep her company...........next weekend I think.....
The new chickens are Buffy & Lacy.
Buffy is a Buffed Brahma from Tibet and she's a buff color, very pretty, good forgers & layers.
Lacy is a Golden Laced Wyandotte and will be a beautiful big bird & good brown egg layer.
Edit: here's what they will look like when the get all their feathers......
The new chickens are Buffy & Lacy.
Buffy is a Buffed Brahma from Tibet and she's a buff color, very pretty, good forgers & layers.
Lacy is a Golden Laced Wyandotte and will be a beautiful big bird & good brown egg layer.
Edit: here's what they will look like when the get all their feathers......
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Mohican
Well-Known Member
doublejj
Well-Known Member
Chickens are fun to raise. We bought young pullets off craigslist.....@doublejj - I have seen plans for gardens where they plant in half and roam chickens on the other and then switch every year. When our screen room is done we are planning on adding chickens
I hope they are as beautiful as yours. Where do you get them? Do you hatch them from eggs?
Thnaks,
Mo
doublejj
Well-Known Member
They were Pullets, young hens, they will start laying eggs in July-Aug.....