Tales from Horsemen
Remember when.......?
Have a good story to tell?
It was quite a shock to find a site dedicated to REDHORSE
and it evoked many memories from forty years ago.
I read the list of names and can still see the faces of the people as if
it was yesterday that I was there in the compound.
It all came back. It was a most interesting time in my life,
but I was only a very small cog in a very large piece of machinery back then.
I owe a debt of gratitude to so many Triple Nickel
members of the class of 1967 who were instrumental in
making my tour successful and rewarding, starting with
Col Israelsen, SMSgt Mundie, Capt Laughter, 1/Lt Jackson, SSgt Cecil Moore,
and all my buddies at CRB,especially Bob Kadavi and McDonald, my roomies at
Holloman, who came from Basic to Shepard to Holloman to CRB with me.
I got to CRB as an A2C on 03Jan1967 and left as an
A1C/Sgt on 31Dec1967. But I can appreciate the fact
that my tour with Triple Nickel set the tone and
timbre for the rest of my working life, both in, and
out of CE and the Air Force.
Thank you for putting up the site.
Jerry Teeuwen
18 Dec. 2007
On the Experience of War:
by Michael Norman from "These Good Men"
"I now know why men who have been to war yearn to reunite.
Not to tell stories or look at old pictures. Not to laugh or weep.
Comrades gather because they long to be with the men who once acted their best,
men who suffered and sacrificed together, who were of their humanity.
I did not pick these men. They were delivered by fate and the military.
But I know them in a way I know no other men.
I have never given anyone such trust.
They were willing to guard something more precious than my life.
They would have carried my reputation, the memory of me.
It was part of the bargain we all made, the reason we were so willing to die for one another.
I cannot say where we are headed.
Ours are not perfect friendships; those are the province of legend and myth.
A few of my comrades drift far from me now, sending back only occasional word.
I know that one day even these could fall to silence.
Some of the men will stay close, a couple, perhaps, always at hand.
As long as I have memory, I will think of them all, every day.
I am sure that when I leave this world,
my last thought will be of my family and my comrades...such good men."
The thing I recall vividly and that made it such a great assignment
was that we were considered a second rate organization by peers in other services
and worked hard to dispel that notion. We took on jobs that others said took more skill than they possessed, and did it well.
The teamwork was incredible.
At the time I didn't think much about the skills of all the young guys there
in carpentry, mechanics, heavy equipment handling, power plant generation,
water plant operations, so on.
As I think back on it I realize it was incredible that such young males did so much, so well.
And we were self contained. We had it all. Our own clinic, chow hall, club, power generation,
water plant, laundry, outdoor entertainment stage, you name it.
Oh yeah, we had the dump next to our area, where I sat next to it a few nights during probes by Charlie.
But then we also had it rigged with spikes, so at least we'd hear em' if they came thru our way.
We had great food there, had a chow hall sergeant who took great pride in his menu.
And we traded frequently, with the army for steaks, a jeep, fresh milk, so on.
One of the best lessons I've ever learned I learned there.
The commander made clear that once you take care of yourselves you have no problem doing so for others.
So, we will make this area the way we want it as, not after, we do for others.
We had the first flushing toilets, stuff such as that. Never forgot that lesson.
Took it with me into civilian government work.
Robert W. Peters - 819th
28 May 1966 showed the old RED HORSE spirit, again!
Yarnell’s Swap and Shop Mart (Apr. 1966)
The date was 26 January 1966. The place was a hanger at Cannon AFB, New Mexico.
A Note From Al Maberry, 21 Aug. 2004
From: Scott Jones, 555 - 20 Jan. 2004.
I arrived at the Triple Nickel on 2 December 1968. Early on I was assigned as the "ranking Lieutenant" to the Cantonments division and my boss on paper was a Capt. named Ralph Hodges. Only Hodges was not around until later. He was the 555 Det. Commander at Binh Thuy, AB in the Mekong Delta.
When he did show up, he amazed us with his quickness and agility. During one routine mess hall dinner someone dropped a large load of trays or kitchen equipment with an unusually loud BANG! Ralph disappeared before the first echo returned. He was already under the table as the rest of us looked around to see what happened.
Binh Thuy at that time was "Mortar Alley" just as Danang later became "Rocket Alley" and Charlie's gunners were good, damn good. As Ralph explained, and our own 555 troopers later learned, it was a built in reflex reaction. If you didn't move immediately you might not move at all.
Ralph was my favorite spit and polish officer. He had then been moved up to Cam Ranh for the last month of his tour from the detachment in the delta. He was inspiring. I couldn't believe his spit shined boots glistening like mirrors every day in the sands of Cam Ranh Bay. He talked about the meaning of discipline from his days as a US Army combat infantryman in Korea. It explained a little bit about why he kept his uniform so perfect.
Capt. Hodges talked about the times in Korea when they had just gotten done killing Chinese soldiers by the hundreds. The sergeant told them to police up the area, throw the bodies back over the hill, and line up to get ready for an inspection. Who could believe it? An inspection right after a battle where they slaughtered the Red Chinese soldiers? Ralph told me how he literally hated that sergeant. He was so mad at that sergeant that he almost forgot what he was doing. He fumed with every breath at that Blank - Blank, Son of a Blank, Damned Blanking Sergeant!
Later he realized what the sergeant was doing. He was putting discipline back into a situation that had no discipline, a situation that really had no sanity at all -- War. He was also redirecting the attention of those very young men at the time, who had only recently left their homes, their mothers, and their families. He was redirecting their attention off of the fact that what they had been doing was killing other human beings. They were instead hating that sergeant for getting in their face. Sometimes sanity comes in the form of routine in an insane situation. Sometimes the routine of discipline is rest from the horrors of war.
I learned a lot from Ralph Hodges. More than I knew at the time.
From: Tom Gallagher, 555 - 9 June 2003.
Cam Ranh Bay, 1968.
From: Bob Snider - 27 April 2003
Phu Cat Air Base
The time was August 1966, the place, Phu Cat Air Base, Republic of South Viet Nam. The contingent of personnel was as follows: 30 men from the Triple Nickel (555th, CES), 30 men from the Penny Short (554th, CES), 30 men from the 819th CES, and 53 air policemen led by Captain Robert M. Sullivan.
Respectfully submitted 36 years 7 months after the fact, 10 May 2003
(TSgt) Robert A. Snider AF19798115, AFSC 54251
From: Jerry Brannon - 26 April 2003
Glynn was my room mate at Eglin Fld. 2 during Red Horse Training. There were 3 guys that got bit by a mosquito
and they got sick the first week at Phan Rang. Caused brain damage; we do not know where they were bit, at Eglin fld 2 or in Phan Rang. But we were all scared just getting in country.
From: Jerry Brannon - 23 April 2003
Myself and "Step and Half", we had a good relationship.
Story from Sal - 8 Feb. 2003
If you look at the picture with Herman Mazerolle, there is an old French Gun emplacement in the background.
From Sal, 18 Jan. 2003
Another short tale from Cam Ranh Bay.
From Sal, 16 Jan, 2003
Little story about Frank Hammond. In 1984 at the Red Horse Roundup at Hurlburt Colonel Plunkett remembered the incident and asked who that was that threw his stripes on his desk. I told him that it was Frank Hammond and we all had a good laugh.
From Sal, 14 Jan. 2003
The Doctor that we had was from Texas and his name was Captain James Sandin, TSGT Walter D. Bressman was the NCOIC and SSGT Daniel J Sanchez were the two medics. TSGT Bressman and SSGT Sanchez conducted sick call in the morning for us and then they went to the hospital with the Doctor and took care of the wounded troops as they came in. Their's was not an easy job but they never complained. I am glad that it was them and not me.
I can't add very much to them but they were important to the organization. Oh, Colonel Plunkett was upset because the Doc would not attend the daily stand up meeting and threatened him with a bad OER. The Doc looked at him and let him know that he was not career and did not care about an OER (Officer Efficiency Report) as he was getting out when he returned to the States. He had patients to take care of.
Send it in !
The 555 streamline chariot was so fast, there wasn’t anything on the beach that could catch it.
While the driver, “Fabius Maximus” Crayton took full command of his horses.
“Now on Coutu and Guin, and up old Bolder, while down Blue and on Kovaleski and Devine;
while dash away, dash away all”, to a winning finish by 3 lengths for the best RED HORSE SQUAD!
The Triple Nickels accumulated more flags than any other squadron.
It looked like Flag
Week in the RED HORSE beach section.
For you that have items for sale, I’ll list anything from battleships to billygoats for you.
I can’t run ads for “one owner jeeps” or “outdated NCOIC’s”, but I’ll try to find a buyer.
This week, Tent C-2 has Kool-Aid for sale.
You can’t get ahold of the dadburned stuff over here, so you had better get it while it lasts.
$5.00 for a pack of 72 packages.
Seated on tier benches were 800 fatigue clad officers, NCOs and airmen.
Facing them was a low platform, with a small combo playing a marching tune.
But all eyes were on a beautiful red gowned girl, who, mike in hand, sang each line
as 800 lusty voices followed her direction.
The occasion was “graduation”, for the two 400 man squadrons of RED HORSE,
who had completed their training and would, in less than 2 weeks, be in Vietnam.
I would like to thank all of my brothers and
sisters at the Triple Nickle's web site for
the anniversary wishes!
I meet Ruth between Vietnam tours at Barksdale AFB, 2nd Bomb Wing (SAC), where she was a WAF working for Bomber
Reports & Analysis for Gen. D. C. Jones. We were married two days prior to me leaving for my second trip through Eglin Fld 2 and a tour with the 823d. That was 34 years ago today!
Thanks again ... best wishes to all and looking forward to meeting everyone at Hurlburt Fld in '05 !!!
Al Maberry, 823rd
At Cam Ranh Bay we had an open air theater, sort of like a drive-in only with bleachers. There was no schedule that we were aware of and the titles were passed by word of mouth.
Our hooch being located near the main entrance to the hooch area had lots of traffic passing by.
When we would sit out on our porch area, guys would pass by and ask what was playing at the movies? Being constantly asked this question, night after night and not knowing what was playing, we would say "Night of the Iguana".
We did this for months and they would keep asking.
Republic of South Viet Nam
To be more precise it was the beginning of the vase as we had only been in the area of Phu Cat for about a week. It was a week day evening around 1945 hours. The perimeter was secure, air police posted, and all was quiet on a semi-moonless night.
Earlier that day, airman second class Dale Stanfill and myself had installed a "KILL" switch on a pole in the air police command tent. This was done so they could shut down the generator that provided light to the compound and eliminate the generator noise as a target.
I was in the mess tent having a cup of coffee and writing a letter home. My weapon (070928) was hanging on the side of my rack in a bracket I had made out of coat hangers. Stan walked in and I said to him "let’s go kill the gen-set, every one will think we’re getting hit!" No sooner were the wordsss out of my mouth then the lights faded to nothing and the gen-set sounded like an 18 wheeler gearing down.
The night came alive with semi and automatic weapons fire! It was not directed at us but at the RMK-BRJ construction site located ¾ of a mile across a small valley. We could hear the reports and see the muzzle flashes along several areas of their perimeter. Every one scrambled to get their weapon and find the defensive position they had been assigned.
Earlier in the week, one of the master sergeants unhappy that trucks and jeeps were being parked around the tents, had a rope strung up on posts about knee high all around the area. Several personnel running with locked and loaded M-16 rifles on full tripped and discharged 18 rounds into the night. Fortunately none of our people were hit or killed.
Our air police had set up a field of fire for the 81mm mortar, which utilized illumination, high explosives, all colors of smoke, and anti-personnel rounds.
Their captain was running around the area in his "white" skivvies shouting orders to get some illumination up in the sky. Within moments the sky over the RMK-BRJ camp was lit up like day with white parachute flares.
The entire fire fight lasted only 20 minutes or so as the camp had ROK marines as their security and the Viet Cong did not like to fight against the Koreans, as they showed no mercy. There were few injured and little damage done except to the buildings and vehicles that were destroyed by "our" white phosphorus flares that landed on them which burned holes all the way to the ground.
That week was a terrible week on Red horse: mortors, perimeter attacks.
Dec. 3, we had a mortor that hit the Delta 6 area.
Dec. 14th another motor attack at the N.E. of the engineer stand area.
Jan 5/70, a mortor hit the chapel parking lot and the rock crusher area. I was at the rock crusher area inside busting 50 pound bags of concrete, when I looked around and saw the mortor hit.
Well!
that wasn't the end to it, we had to go out on the perimeter, which was two miles out on the other side of the runway.
I still remember the dark holes
we jumped into, pitch black, the siren going off, then the sky lit up with flares all around that area.
As my Vietnam buddies know! "What in the H... was we getting into"!
554Rh VN 69/70
Ozark, Alabama
He would bite but he never bit me. I remember, and some of the other RedHorseman, remember when we got to Cam Ranh Bay in Jan. 1970.
We had a problem at the club; well, we had a 1st. Sgt. that had arms on him like a body builder; we took "Step and a Half" and walked that Red Horse; yes, he was one of us!, right through that club; surprised that club,
the military personnel there; they didn't have anything to say.
From then on we got into that club. "Step and a Half", well he really enjoyed beer; he was my friend.
Sgt. Robert "Jerry" Brannon
The Base used to close the gates at six P.M. daily and reopen at six A.M. daily. Several of us would get into one of our six packs and go out to this location every night before they closed the gates. We would stay out there all night and just party.
This went on for maybe two weeks. One night we really got fired up and all of us ended up passing out. I was completely out but I could feel something breathing on me and licking my face, but I couldn't wake up.
After it continued for a while, I did wake up. I got the shock of my life because there was a big dog looking me right in the face. I let out a big fearful yell and slowly everyone came out of their stupor.
There were two Security Policemen standing over us with their dogs wanting to know what in the heck we were doing out there. We informed them that we came out there every night.
Well it just happened that this was the first night that they used dogs patrolling because they had just arrived that day. We were quickly escorted back onto the Base and warned that we better not try that stunt again.
We did not have to be told twice, because we became instant believers.
We had been there a few months when Major Crouch came to my work site to inform us that there would be soft drinks for sale after work at the Base Exchange Conex.
When
we finished work we immediately went to the Conex and there was a long line of GIs waiting to get their first Coca Cola or Seven Up, since we had left the States.
We were all allowed to get two. Well we all got our hot soft
drinks and went to the tents. We had these small two gallon igloos so we filled one with cokes and the other with seven up and proceeded to have a real celebration.
We were in Hog Heaven being able to have something to mix our drinks with. We really put one on that night.
One of the
fellows went to pour some coke into his glass that contained some liquor in
it from the igloo. He was engrossed in conversation and wasn't paying
attention and spilled some coke. That was a disaster because he nearly
started a Brawl over that.
He was immediately told that he could spill all
of the liquor he wanted but don't dare spill the coke or seven up!
He was a Carpenter and he was told that the first Vietnamese
workers were going to be on his crew. He did not say a word, but at the end of the day after the standup briefing he entered the Commanders office (Colonel Plunkett) and threw his stripes on the Commanders desk (TSGT) and told him that he was not working any Vietnamese.
The end result was that Plunkett told him to have his stripes on in the morning, or he would no
longer have them. Frank did not work any Vietnamese.
This was not a routine job as some of these men were badly wounded. In addition they went to the nearby villages and cared for the ill.
I remember when Doc Sandin first arrived at Cannon he was not happy at all about being drafted for this purpose. One evening he was at the pay phone obviously talking to his Senator or Congressman requesting that they help him get out of this assignment. He never did get out of it, but I will bet you one thing. When he returned home after that experience in the Nam he probably turned out to be one hell of an experienced Doctor.
None of his patients were the routine patients that he had at home. These men had injuries that he probably never envisioned or thought he would ever have to perform on.
