Truman "OB" O'Brien, II 10/66-10/67

We arrived at Ton Son Nhut Airbase after an 18hr? flight aboard an Air Force C-141. We made fuel stops in Guam and at Clark AFB, Philippines. We rode facing backwards looking at our duffel bags bouncing away under a cargo net at the rear of the airplane (no windows, of course). The highlight of the trip for me was getting to go up to the cockpit to chat with the crew.

It was early evening when we arrived and they bused us to some nearby tents to spend the night. There was a large rip in the tent overhead and all night long choppers roared overhead with their bright lights and rotor wash. Not much sleep was had by anyone! The next day we bused down to Camp LBJ at Long Binh. The very first night there (again in tents with a dirt floor), the VC blew-up an ammo dump just across the road from our compound. Following our instructions, I ended up lying in the mud with my mattress pulled over the top of me - knowing that at any moment a VC would appear at our door with an AK-47. Of course, that didn't happen but it made for another sleepless night. After two days, someone finally came to fetch me and take me to Bien Hoa to our beloved Sawmill. Boy, was I happy to get there.

Life at Det A was pretty interesting. Bien Hoa was wide open in those days so we were free to go downtown. When off duty, we all wore civilian clothes and used to hang out at the Hope Bar. No one knew who or what we were. We had USARLE painted on our vehicles so when asked, we would say that we were from the United States Research Liaison Element. One of our guys had been through the language school at Presidio so he would keep us clued in on what all the bar girls were saying. Interesting (a few disappeared after some time spent around him!).

When the Handheld program started I jumped at the chance. I had some memorable flights - used to fly with this Maj in an O1. He knew that I had about 50 hrs of flight time back in Montana, so he let me do most of the flying. I'd occasionally go out on my days off just to fly with him. Two weeks before I left, I was going to go on a flight with him doing a canister drop (because I needed the hours for my flight pay). The night before I was to go, Gary Thompson, my pal from Montana, said "OB, you're too short to go flying, let's go get drunk" which we thoroughly did! I awoke badly hungover and elected not to go. The Maj took one round through the fuel filter that day and crashed after making the drop. He survived but was badly injured. Guess I owe Gary a big one.

Probably the most interesting thing I did - 5th Special Forces had their headquarters on the same ARVN Compound as our Ops. I got to know an E-6 from their S2. When he learned of our handheld program, he asked if I could help him with a defense study he was doing of all their A Team camps in III Corps. I helicoptered out to each camp, took some aerial photos then went in with the LTC to interview the Capt and Đại Úy (ARVN Capt). I would take notes and make sketches. Upon returning, Repro would soup the prints and the S2 SSG and I would annotate them with the known defenses. I was able to see some things I would not have managed without this experience. Including landing on Nui Ba Den just outside of Tay Ninh. This mountain top had been used by the French and others for years as a artillery spotter base. The terrain all around was flat, so the whole area was visible from this post. We landed first in Tay Ninh, picked up a whole load of Vietnamese civilians with all their chickens, goats and what-have-you. We then ferried them out to the mountain where we did our interviews. The chopper left to pick up another load. During our meeting, the cloud cover came in and we were stuck. Just when we thought we would need to spend the night, the chopper found a hole and swooped in to pick us up. I was VERY happy to see them!

Another interesting job - our "film library" was a 12-ton trailer that was parked in the middle of the ops area. All of the film canisters were just haphazardly thrown in there. If we ever needed to review a mission, someone would need to climb into that unlit and extremely hot trailer to search. And, of course, once-a-month we would pull the oldest missions and burn them. When the new Repro building was built we moved the trailer over in line with our II vans and TIIF. I asked our CO if I could be placed in charge of the library. He agreed, so I got with our super-scrounger supply SGT who found us a desk, an air-conditioner, and planking to make shelves. I organized the library with the desk just below the air-conditioner at the back away from the door. That was a great place to hide and stay cool. Oh, I actually had a field phone installed. That way, I never had to come out.

To say the year in Bien Hoa was interesting would be an understatement. But, I can honestly say I never want to go back!

The best part of the whole experience was making lifelong friends (several of whom I am in close -almost daily- contact with). They are truly my brothers.

OB

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