Landclearing Engineers - Vietnam 1967-71

FOR THE MEN WHO ARE FIGHTING THE WAR IN VIETNAM from the cab of a Rome Plow bulldozer, the work day begins at dawn and often ends sometime after midnight. Temperatures inside the cabs reach 130 degrees: red ants, which nest in the trees, sometimes make working almost impossible because of their painful bite; dust clings to their sweaty, unshaven faces and snipers make sudden death a constant companion. But the plow operators of a land clearing company are experts and take pride in their job.

They have been referred to as, "The grubbiest bunch I've ever seen," by First Lieutenant Norman Parker, platoon leader, 60th Land Clearing Company, 62nd Engineer Battalion based at Long Binh. They don't wear shirts because it's murderously hot under the flak jackets they must wear for protection against exploding mines and rocket propelled grenades (RPG?s). When they can get away with it, they don't wear boots or socks. "We don't have time to worry about how we look," said Specialist Richard Davis, plow operator for the 60th. "Sometimes we work 18 to 20 hours a day."

The Rome Plow is a custom designed blade built by the Rome Plow Company of Cedartown, Georgia, and used on the powerful D7E bulldozer, organic to engineer units. It is referred to as a blade because it actually has a cutting edge which is sharpened daily. The blade is "canted" to the right and there is a heavy guide bar about three feet above the blade. The diagonal cant and the guide bar cause the trees and brush that are cut to fall off to the right of the dozer.

A land clearing company consists of 30 Rome plows and approximately 100 men, including operators, maintenance men, NCO's and officers. The teams receive rations and security from the tactical units they support. They may be deployed in any number from a single plow to the entire company, depending on the size and priority of the operation. Before the decision to send troops into Cambodia was made, the 60th Land Clearing Company was operating in the Michelin Rubber region near Minh Than, clearing vast tracts of jungle in an area of repeated enemy activity. By removing the dense cover, they were denying its use to the Communist. The 984th, also a unit of the 62nd Engineer Battalion, was involved in a similar operation at Binh Son in support of the Thai's.

Elements of these Rome Plow units moved into Cambodia May 3, two days after the first American troops crossed the border. A platoon of the 60th, led by Lt. Parker, was called in to open roads to the cache sites The City and Rock Island East. Lieutenant Parker was proud of his men as he explained their mission during May.

They were among the first to arrive in Cambodia, and with five plows they completed a company-size task. "Our job was to make the cache sites accessible by improving or widening any trails or roads we found," Lt. Parker said, but in several cases when the infantry couldn't go in, the plows would. "On May 16, B Company, 199th Light Infantry Brigade was pinned down south of Fire Support Base (FSB) Myron. They found a bunker complex but couldn't get in because of heavy enemy contact, so the Rome plows were requested. We put the plows out front, went in and cleared the area.

"On May 29, the 199th made contact again while investigating several caches east of Myron. They lost two men before pulling back. Again S-3 requested the plows and we went in and secured the area." After 20 days in the cache laden Fish Hook region, military officials estimated that only 30 percent of the sanctuary areas had been uncovered. There was doubt all the areas could be searched before President Nixon's June 30 deadline for the withdrawal of American troops in Cambodia. Realizing this, it was then decided to send land clearing units into the Fish Hook area.

According to Major Thomas J. Kerver, assistant G-3, Plans, II Field Force, there was only speculation as to what the results of the operation would be, but in his own words, "We didn't know what to expect, but we knew it would be something big." "Our objective in this operation was to gain entry into active areas of the Fish Hook where enemy contact was heavy," Major Kerver added. "We felt that by going in there we would run into heavy enemy activity," he said.

The 60th Land Clearing Company, in tactical support of C Company, 1st Squadron, 11th ACR was then sent south of Snoul in the Fish Hook region. Cutting began June 4. The 984th joined them June 15 after completing their cut out at Binh Son. According to Major Kerver, the initial plan was for the two units to start several miles inside Cambodia and cut, in a Y pattern, toward the border, but due to the weather and the numerous amounts of supplies uncovered. "We started in the areas we knew would be hot and then planned to work south near the border, but we ran into so much stuff, and the weather bogged down our tracks to the point where our progress was very slow," Major Kerver said. "But of course in an operation like this, we measure our success on what we find." During the first several days of cutting resistance was light, but after the enemy had a chance to regroup, everyday meant contact. During the operation, 56 separate contacts was reported. As the withdrawal date loomed closer and the mechanized units continued to plow into Communist territory, a series of constant ambushes plagued the operation.

On one morning minutes after the cut began, the NVA hit five separate elements of the 11th ACR simultaneously, two fire support bases and three units on the road. Another unit was hit seven times in one day running escort for the Rome Plows. So elusive was the enemy that officers speculated that all seven attacks could have been made by the same NVA soldiers.

The operation began June 4 and terminated on June 24 after 1,694 acres had been cut. Commenting on the units accomplishments, Major Kerver said, "Results of the operation will be measured at a later date. We don't how much damage we did, we did limit the enemy's capabilities but the extent of damage and destruction is difficult to measure at this point."

The supplies uncovered included X-ray equipment, plasma, antibiotics, surgical equipment and morphine. Also found were water purification and malaria tablets, vitamins, two printing presses, 44 bicycles and 200 pounds of documents. The cutting also uncovered communication equipment, small arms, automatic weapons, rocket launchers, 10,000 pounds of various caliber small arms ammunition and 500 mortar rounds. Major Kerver felt the high contact rate was a good indication the operation was headed in the right direction, but there wasn't enough time to complete the job. If the results of the accumulated documents show the operation was a success, the Plow operators have a right to be proud.

Even though the mission was plagued with ambushes and mortar attacks, the men were glad for the chance to rip into the sanctuaries that had been off-limits for so long. They feel they have a unique job and they like to talk about it. They know their mission is important and the consequences of a second rate job are costly. "I've been in a lot of bad situations," commented Specialist Michael Bulceco, operator from the 60th, "but the worst is operating lead plow." "You can't see where you're going and you have to rely on the light observation helicopter for direction. You're out front by yourself and you know if there's an ambush you'll be the first one hit," Bulceco added. "It's really weird." Several times when a cache or bunker is found, operators are ordered to dismount and assist in checking them out. "We had been in Fish Hook about 10 days," Bulceco said. "We found a bunker about 30 meters off the trail. Usually operators aren't ordered to go on dismount but this time I was. Along with a radio-man, we went to check out the bunker. When we got there, we ran into a NVA soldier. For a second he just stared at us, he raised his rifle. The radio-man hit the dirt just as the soldier was aiming. In that split second my whole life flashed in front of me. I thought I was a goner, but his weapon misfired and he ran off. I guess I was just lucky."

Another fear the operators must contend with is RPG?s. They are launched from a bazooka-like device held by one man. It can go through the cab of a Rome Plow. "They come from the jungle and you never see Charlie," said Specialist Richard Wentworth, a plow mechanic. "You feel helpless. If there is an ambush, we are supposed to drop back so the security can move in, but a lot of times we are blocked by trees or stumps and we're forced to stay in the line of fire." Not until the men head back to their night defensive position (NDP) do they feel the pressure ease off. "It's always good to get back to the NDP," said Wentworth, "but we still have lots of work left. Sometimes we pull maintenance until 3:00 in the morning. We work all day and then we have to work all night to get the dozers ready for the next day."

The men know the plows must be kept in working condition to complete their mission. This means sharpening the blades, changing the oil and cleaning the machines daily. According to Major William A. Hokanson, S-3, 62nd Engineer Battalion, each plow requires 60 to 70 gallons of gas and 70 gallons of water a daily. After the men return to the NDP, they can look forward to hot chow, mail and cold beer. But after several hours of relaxation, it's back to work. If you aren't on the machines or welding a blade that has been destroyed by a land mine, they can be found filling sand bags, cleaning weapons or double checking their defenses. Some have time for writing letters, while others sit and stare blindly into the jungle wondering what Charlie has in mind. Many times they must fight as infantrymen and not as mechanics or tractor drivers. There's no discipline problem, they look out for each other. Plows have names like "The Living End" or "Hey Jude" and "The Iron Coffin." They don't have to worry about their hair being an inch to long or if they shave everyday. They're "JUNGLE EATERS" and they're proud of that name. THEY EARNED IT.

My first duty post in-country was the sole engineer assigned to 2nd Civil Affairs Co. My duty was primarily handling demolitions and some minor construction in my "free time". We were based in An Loc, near Loc Ninh which was in the Parrots Beak, another jumping off point for the Cambodian incursion. I arrived in July of 1970, and as I recall, we had pulled out of Cambodia shortly before.

To make a long story short, while I never actually saw these guys working, they were nearby, and we heard a lot about them. You cannot imagine what adversity they endured, not only from the enemy, but most especially from the elements. They were truly a dedicated and brave lot. My hat's off to them.

Got my fish and parrots and hooks and beaks mixed up. Your article piqued my interest, so to jog my memory, I went back and looked up the maps the 2 areas, and I found that Loc Ninh was in the Fish Hook not the Parrots Beak, so I was hooked and not pecked.

Getting old is hell.

Great profile page, BTW. I especially liked the graphics accompanying Lee Greenwood. Tears still fall when I hear that song.

While flying CA missions I remember looking down at the rubble and red earth that was left after you guys finished your thing. You had a thankless and tough job, the iron triangle, hobo woods, Cu Chi tunnel area and many other places that needed your expertise to try and flush charly and to reduce casualties, are not forgotten. Well done bro. Thanks for your service. Jim..11th LIB. 69/70/71 RVN

Thanks for the compliment on my profile page.

My home base was Phouc Vinh and our unit went into Cambodia to haul out the caches that were uncovered. We didn't run Rome Plows but we knew about them. Our unit was mostly 290-M's, earth scrapers. The Unit was known as the "Earth Eaters".

You're welcome.

After my stint with the 2nd CA, I transferred to Co A, 93rd Engr Bn, 20th Engr Bde. Went to Dong Tam (III Corps), near the coast and did building construction mostly. Our accomodations were pretty neat, though. We lived in an big, old bombed out French Villa. Hollywood couldn't have built a better set.

Then the whole battalion moved to Bin Thuy, which is near Can Tho in the delta. We were tasked with building a road from Can Tho (Saigon of the South) to Cambodia. It was a very difficult job, as the road had to be built on nothing but rice paddies with a bunch of river crossings. I am probably the world's foremost expert on Bailey Bidge construction. Lord knows, we had enough practice.

Anyway, I had a several 290s in my platoon. We used them to scrape sand to use in the sand cement plant we built. The sand cement mix (10:1) was used to stabilize the soil under the sub-base so the road wouldn't sink.

The 290s were good machines, but ours weren't used in adverse conditions like yours, so they were rarely down. Our biggest problem was the broken windows and flat tires from the bi-weekly nighttime rocket attacks.

I could go on and on and sorry to bore you, but it's been fun for me to reminisce.

"You had a thankless and tough job"

Not really if you think about it.

Imagine for a moment, a 22 year old 2nd Lieutenant, assigned to blow up stuff, with access and authority to obtain and use any of the explosives in the army inventory. Imagine also, that this same Lieutenant's CO was miles and miles away and didn't have the time nor the inclination to keep tabs on one lowly guy way out in the boondocks.

That Lieutenant was me, and I was happier than a big sunflower. It's a lot of fun to blow up stuff when you're 22, and are completely oblivious to the fact that if the slightest thing goes wrong, you can be sent home in a lunch bag.

But I never forgot what they taught me at engineer school:
Calculate the explosives required for the task, then "round off to the nearest ammo dump". I took that quite literally, which resulted in some pretty spectacular explosions.

So thanks for your sentiments, but I really had fun.

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