Landclearing Engineers - Vietnam 1967-71

Military Com ^ | September 1970 | Dave Massey.

[SAMWolf]

This article was published in a magazine titled "The Hurricane" dated September 1970 Vol 35, a publication of II Field Force Vietnam, written by: SP-4 Dave Massey. This is one of the best descriptions of us that I have found yet.

[SAMWolf]

(((Ping)))

[RGSpincich]

Thank you for posting this.

[verity]

I remember that all you folks had "a big set of ba**s" :~)

Well done!!

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Interesting article. I was unaware of this grouop. Thanks.

[PeterPrinciple]

Interesting, Thanks

[VMI70]

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.

[Soaring Feather]

Thank you SAM for posting this, thanks to all who served our country. God Bless America

[larryjohnson]

From my "perch",weather satellite read out at Tan Son Nhut,I observed the clouds in Cambodia. Could also hear the action. Did not know of your dozers tho'. Thanks,Sam.

[SAMWolf]

Let me wish you "Welcome Home"

[Britton J Wingfield]

You guys kicked ass. You should be honorary Seabees ;)

[VMI70]

Thanks, and you, also.

[VMI70]

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.

[bert]

...You should be honorary Seabees...

Quid, quid nominator fabricatur Bump

[4wurdobsrver]

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

[CPT Clay]

Essayons!!!!!

[SAMWolf]

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".

[VMI70]

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.

[VMI70]

"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.

[VMI70]

I just want to thank you for starting this thread. It's been a nice break from the negativity of the politics of the day.