Howard A. Daniel III
Master Sergeant, U.S. Army (ret.)
Dunn Loring, Va.

Tet Déjà Vu
I am the Marine sitting against the wall in the picture on the back page of last year’s Tet issue (February 2008, page 74). It was strange to see myself there, and it stirred up a lot of memories. I remember that day and how tired I was from fighting. I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it—but I survived, and so many of my friends did not. I served with 1st Platoon, Hotel Company, 2/5th Marines. My company commander was Captain Ron Christmas, and my platoon commander was Lieutenant Meyers, both of whom were wounded and medevaced during Operation Hue City. I was wounded twice during the same operation and medevaced out on April 1, 1968, to Fitzsimmons Medical Center, Denver, Colo. After being honorably discharged in September 1968, I went to college and received a commission into the U.S. Air Force in July 1973, and retired Lt. Col. John L Washington Jr., in October 1993, after my last assignment as a Squadron Commander at Okinawa AFB, Japan. The Marine Corps band on Okinawa played at my retirement. I also met my former company commander, who was then Brig. Gen. Christmas.

John L. Washington Jr.
Cpl, U.S. Marine Corps
Waikoloa, Hawaii

How We Kept Charlie’s Head Down
In the June 2008 “Fighting Forces” column, Christopher Miskimon writes about the difficulty the 3-34th Artillery had in providing accurate artillery support for the 9th Infantry Division. He mentions that “Mike 8” LCMs (landing crafts, medium) were used to tow, push and pull barges equipped with two 105mm howitzers all over the Mekong Delta. Those landing craft were not Navy, they were Army: the 1097th Medium Boat Company, headquartered in Dong Tam and very much a part of the 9th Infantry Division and the Mobile Riverine Force.

Each Mike 8 had a crew of five—a coxswain, assistant coxswain, deck hand and two engine room “snipes”—who lived on board in a wooden “hooch” on the back of the boat. Each boat had a well deck that was converted into one of many uses. As Miskimon mentioned, one was a battalion command post. But some of the well decks were turned into something quite unique—such as a complete maintenance shop, a jail or a mess hall—and others were left empty to haul supplies. The crews of these boats were trained on the James River at Fort Eustis, Va., but most of their training was on the Mike 8 landing craft itself, learning how to maneuver alongside a freight ship, hold the boat steady, get loaded with supplies and then take them ashore to be offloaded.

I had pictured myself spending a very boring year in Vietnam going back and forth all day unloading freighters. But when I got to Vietnam, I was assigned to the 1097th Medium Boat Company and was told we would be using the Mike 8 LCM as a tugboat all over the Mekong Delta.

It was very exciting being with the 3-34 Artillery and the Navy’s River Assault Flotilla 1. Every time we were underway we had at least six Navy gunboats with us. Ambushes were frequent because we made such a great target. Top speed was only 8-10 knots, and some canals, such as the Mo Cai and Ben Tre, were very tight. The Navy was great at keeping Charlie’s head down from the gunboats with 50-caliber, 20mm, flamethrowers…you name it.

I was very proud to serve as a boat coxswain with the 1097th.

Douglas Brown
Marshfield, Mass.

From Amtracs to AmGrunts
Your article about amtracs in Vietnam (“Arsenal,” October 2008) was a fair depiction of the role they played, but a few things were omitted. For starters, after the initial insertion of amtracs, because of the volatility of the fuel cells being under the deck plates, the decks inside were sandbagged and no one was allowed to ride inside. The only exception was in the case of a medevac, transporting Marine KIAs or hauling dead VC or NVA. The amtracs’ suspensions took a severe beating: of nine roadwheel assemblies on each side, we were lucky to have seven, maybe eight, while operating in the bush. There was also a severe shortage of track pins, forcing many crews to “short track” after breaking track in the bush.

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