Barnum: Well, needless to say, there was a line at his table after the presentation. I joined the Platoon Leaders Course (PLC) in college and took my training at Quantico, Virginia, in 1959 and 1961. I was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation from college in 1962 and commenced my officer training at Quantico.

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Vietnam: What was your military occupational specialty (MOS)?

Barnum: Artillery. After basic school, there was a month’s artillery orientation course at Quantico. The school consisted mainly of gunnery basics. Some went to artillery school in Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but I went direct to Okinawa and joined Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. Later I was assigned to the guard detachment at the Marine Barracks at Pearl Harbor.

Vietnam: How did you get to Vietnam?

Barnum: General Victor H. Krulak, commanding general of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, had devised a program for company grade officers and staff NCOs to go to Vietnam for 60 days to serve in their MOS. It was a morale booster, too. In the guard detachment on Hawaii it got real old after a while, saluting generals and admirals all day. When I first arrived in Vietnam in December 1965, I was sent to Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines (2/12), located in a stabilized position south of Da Nang, firing in support of 2/9. That’s when I was assigned to Hotel Company, 2/9, as their forward observer (FO).

Vietnam: Explain your duties as an FO.

Barnum: The job of an FO attached to a rifle company is to locate targets and call for and adjust artillery fire. At that time an FO team consisted of an officer, a radio operator and a wireman. An artillery battery is usually in direct support of an infantry battalion, and the FOs are attached to and travel with each rifle company. The FO’s job is to look at the patrol route, recon it and usually plan calls of fire, whether they be active targets or prep (preparatory) fires. The FO had to be aware of restricted areas of fire because of friendly villages, helicopter traffic, and a number of limiting factors. When the infantry set up a perimeter at night, the FO would register in defensive fires so that in the event we were probed or assaulted, defensive fires could be called for and delivered rapidly. It’s a very active role in the company.

Vietnam: You mentioned restricted areas of fire. Did you have problems with getting clearance for a fire mission?

Barnum: During my first tour, in 1965-66, I was exposed to some of that. On my second tour, in 1968-69, I was up along the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), and we didn’t encounter many problems with getting clearance due to the very nature of the combat in that area. It was very isolated along the DMZ, and pretty much everything was a free-fire zone. Not many villages to worry about.

Vietnam: How did you become involved in Operation Harvest Moon?

Barnum: I was attached to Hotel Company, 2/9, and we were on the Anderson Trail, south of Da Nang, on patrol. I really didn’t know too many people in the unit; I had been in Vietnam only 14 days. We were attached to 2/7, and relieved Fox Company, 2/7, which had received several casualties and had Marines suffering from immersion foot. So Hotel Company, 2/9, became part of 2/7. We participated in Harvest Moon for a couple of days; the operation was winding down. A radio message came in telling the company commander to report back to base camp immediately. We were traveling on the main north/south road when we got hit. The entire battalion march column was ambushed. We were maybe four miles from Highway 1.

Vietnam: From what I understand, when the VC ambushed the battalion, they were attempting to split the group in two. Is that the way it was?

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