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I was in Vietnam with the Australian Army from November 1969 until November 1970 as an Infantry Medic with 8th Battalion of the Royal Australian Infantry Regiment, whence I like Adolf Hitler achieved the rank of Lance Corporal, my tactical call sign was Starlight-Grey-Four-Two.
We arrived in Vietnam Nov. 28, 1969 where after a couple days of lectures we were told to prepare for a cross country jaunt with the Cavalry, we would be heading up country in M113 Armored Personnel Carriers to rendezvous with another armored detachment that had tanks.
Lance Corporal Normie Rowe an Australian pop music man who sold plenty of records until he was drafted was Commander of the vehicle I was in, he had about ten days hair on his face and had gone to the trouble of lacing his boots from the outside in, he told us he was on "happy pills" which were issued when a soldier had only fourteen days to go in country.
We left the main Australian base at Nui Dat at about three in the afternoon proceeding out of the main gate then turning right on to a macadam road believed to be National Route 2, the view was across about three kilometers of rice fields then densely forested foothills and a jungle covered hill with a couple of summits and saddles, called Nui Dinh from the east, Nui Thi from the west and the Nui Thi Vai’s in operational terms.
Known colloquially in Australian Army slang as "The Warbies" or "Warburton Mountain," a large rocky outcrop visible from the road was said to be used for target practice by artillery units. Going up the road it was great sitting on top of the carriers in the breeze, civilian traffic was a logging truck with a big log hauler and a couple of motor bikes, we left the road after about two K’s then went right thru some undulating bush country then into some farmland.
The driver took out one complete row of trees in someone's coffee grove, Normie looked a bit pained and the driver a tad sheepish .. until we wiped out this guy’s coffee trees we had been more or less well behaved not that we had been there that long. We crashed thru some more bush land and caught up with the tanks and another couple of tracked vehicles called AMC’s, which are M113 carriers minus turret with an 81mm mortar tube inside.
We left the main Australian base at Nui Dat at about three in the afternoon proceeding out of the main gate then turning right on to a macadam road believed to be National Route 2, the view was across about three kilometers of rice fields then densely forested foothills and a jungle covered hill with a couple of summits and saddles, called Nui Dinh from the east, Nui Thi from the west and the Nui Thi Vai’s in operational terms.
Known colloquially in Australian Army slang as "The Warbies" or "Warburton Mountain," a large rocky outcrop visible from the road was said to be used for target practice by artillery units. Going up the road it was great sitting on top of the carriers in the breeze, civilian traffic was a logging truck with a big log hauler and a couple of motor bikes, we left the road after about two K’s then went right thru some undulating bush country then into some farmland.
The driver took out one complete row of trees in someone's coffee grove, Normie looked a bit pained and the driver a tad sheepish .. until we wiped out this guy’s coffee trees we had been more or less well behaved not that we had been there that long. We crashed thru some more bush land and caught up with the tanks and another couple of tracked vehicles called AMC’s, which are M113 carriers minus turret with an 81mm mortar tube inside.
The cavalry guys were laid back on camp chairs, the coffee pot was on and music was being played, three Centurion tanks were in triangular formation each could fire across a one hundred and twenty degree arc, the AMC’s were positioned between them. We were told to place Claymore mines in front of our positions, then to place our machine gun and rifle groups as per our Infantry training.
By this time it was nearly dark and by the time we had put our minefield out and sighted the guns it was dark .. the Cav said now that we were there they were knocking off, they told us that we did not have to provide a picket on our weaponry and that the 50 Caliber Machine Guns on the Tracks as we called the Cav M113’s, were the only weapons to be manned around the clock.
We asked about the tankies what they were gonna do and were told to keep out of other peoples business, barbecue’s out the bush is what .. they had a barbecue going, I got a crash course in operating a .50 Cal MG from a cavalryman who seemed in on something, we were not allowed to cook up or light up our bush stoves to brew tea or coffee.
Muted laughter, the sfwit sound of ring pull cans and the giveaway smell of the Barbie coming from the Armored Corps camp mingled with the night in the forest, grey and white long tailed monkeys were in the branches of the trees, there were barking lizards and fireflies, at eleven o’clock I manned a .50 Cal atop one of the AMCs for a two hour picket going off at one am, just settling down to get a bit of sleep maybe when all hell broke loose.
One of the tanks fired his 84mm turret gun then for about a full minute tank and machine gun fire poured into the jungle, we did not know what was going on, the cavalry shouted at us to fire our Claymores, we told them we were reluctant to do so since we had not seen any enemy, and after all the fuss we wanted them in case there was a counter attack.
They had a man with a bit of rank with them and he said to fire them so we fired them, then they said get a bit of sleep ..we went off their roster after that, in the morning they said not to do a clearing patrol, because of the danger of unexploded ammo from the night before, we just packed up and left arriving back at the Aussie base in time for breakfast.
By this time it was nearly dark and by the time we had put our minefield out and sighted the guns it was dark .. the Cav said now that we were there they were knocking off, they told us that we did not have to provide a picket on our weaponry and that the 50 Caliber Machine Guns on the Tracks as we called the Cav M113’s, were the only weapons to be manned around the clock.
We asked about the tankies what they were gonna do and were told to keep out of other peoples business, barbecue’s out the bush is what .. they had a barbecue going, I got a crash course in operating a .50 Cal MG from a cavalryman who seemed in on something, we were not allowed to cook up or light up our bush stoves to brew tea or coffee.
Muted laughter, the sfwit sound of ring pull cans and the giveaway smell of the Barbie coming from the Armored Corps camp mingled with the night in the forest, grey and white long tailed monkeys were in the branches of the trees, there were barking lizards and fireflies, at eleven o’clock I manned a .50 Cal atop one of the AMCs for a two hour picket going off at one am, just settling down to get a bit of sleep maybe when all hell broke loose.
One of the tanks fired his 84mm turret gun then for about a full minute tank and machine gun fire poured into the jungle, we did not know what was going on, the cavalry shouted at us to fire our Claymores, we told them we were reluctant to do so since we had not seen any enemy, and after all the fuss we wanted them in case there was a counter attack.
They had a man with a bit of rank with them and he said to fire them so we fired them, then they said get a bit of sleep ..we went off their roster after that, in the morning they said not to do a clearing patrol, because of the danger of unexploded ammo from the night before, we just packed up and left arriving back at the Aussie base in time for breakfast.
We went out on operations after about nine days in country to a place called the Courtney Rubber Plantation, twenty two K’s north of Nui Dat astride the border of Phoc Tuy and Long Khan Provinces, it had been the scene of numerous Australian battles and fire fights and our time there was to be no different, I was in Eleven Platoon D Company we went into action about six days into the operation.
Bursts of weapons fire, laughter and the sound of digging had betrayed the place where an enemy unit was digging in, building bunkers in the forested area adjacent to the rubber plantation. Taking regular compass sightings on the weapons fire and the digging noise from different directions, one female comrade’s laughter carrying a long way, then we were ordered to meet up with Company HQ and another platoon and proceed to contact.
Approaching the grid reference from where there had been firing, trees had been cut off maybe 300mm up from the ground with a handful of dirt placed on the raw stumps as camouflage .. then you are real close, a burst of automatic fire broke the tension and someone called out for a medic, an engineer with Company HQ had a serious groin wound, he had trodden into the entrance of an enemy bunker and took a full burst of AK 47 fire upward.
The platoon in front of us went thru a contact drill and took two more hits, a machine gun group consisting of the gunner and his offsider both seriously wounded, their medic was using his skills with the two company medics trying to keep the engineer alive. Someone says "have you guys got a medic down there," and the 11 Platoon Sergeant tells me to attend to their wounded people.
I follow the line up to 10 Platoon their ppl tell me they have men down, enemy fire is coming from numerous points in the jungle .. the Lieutenant from 10 platoon orders no firing unless you have a direct target, this provoked quite a bit of enemy fire and he yells “I told you not to fire” to an MG group from 11 platoon, the gunner yells back “tell him about it he’s firing at me and Mac,” Privates Colgrave and McGarry.
I find the Corporal from 10 pl beside him is the body of Pte Wooley from Tasmania his head is a mass of blood and mud and stuff like that, just then firing erupts from our front I push Wooley’s body from his position behind a low anthill and he protests, I tell him “sorry mate I thought you were dead.”
Bursts of weapons fire, laughter and the sound of digging had betrayed the place where an enemy unit was digging in, building bunkers in the forested area adjacent to the rubber plantation. Taking regular compass sightings on the weapons fire and the digging noise from different directions, one female comrade’s laughter carrying a long way, then we were ordered to meet up with Company HQ and another platoon and proceed to contact.
Approaching the grid reference from where there had been firing, trees had been cut off maybe 300mm up from the ground with a handful of dirt placed on the raw stumps as camouflage .. then you are real close, a burst of automatic fire broke the tension and someone called out for a medic, an engineer with Company HQ had a serious groin wound, he had trodden into the entrance of an enemy bunker and took a full burst of AK 47 fire upward.
The platoon in front of us went thru a contact drill and took two more hits, a machine gun group consisting of the gunner and his offsider both seriously wounded, their medic was using his skills with the two company medics trying to keep the engineer alive. Someone says "have you guys got a medic down there," and the 11 Platoon Sergeant tells me to attend to their wounded people.
I follow the line up to 10 Platoon their ppl tell me they have men down, enemy fire is coming from numerous points in the jungle .. the Lieutenant from 10 platoon orders no firing unless you have a direct target, this provoked quite a bit of enemy fire and he yells “I told you not to fire” to an MG group from 11 platoon, the gunner yells back “tell him about it he’s firing at me and Mac,” Privates Colgrave and McGarry.
I find the Corporal from 10 pl beside him is the body of Pte Wooley from Tasmania his head is a mass of blood and mud and stuff like that, just then firing erupts from our front I push Wooley’s body from his position behind a low anthill and he protests, I tell him “sorry mate I thought you were dead.”
The machine gunner Private Gould was dead his body hung up in the jungle vines hit by now with repeated bursts of enemy fire, I got to work on Pte Wooley, he had a scalp wound that had caused a lot of bleeding an enemy round had creased the top of his head, firing was intermittently coming from the enemy position .. the Corp went forward without his weapon to recover Pte Gould’s body, he is a big guy and him crashing thru the bush alerted the defenders,
Firing was from directly in front, I could see the exhaust coming from the enemy soldier’s weapon and fired two short bursts from an AR15 at where I reckoned the firer’s head was, no more firing came from that position. So on and on .. we pulled out of that position after recovering the body then stayed up late and put it on a chopper, another helicopter had arrived earlier on for the wounded the pilot would not take a K, as we pulled out so did they the enemy fire was coming from further away, they were firing back at us as they departed.
Back into the enemy position in the morning which was deserted except for the body of the man I had fired upon, his weapon was splintered and pierced where the automatic rifle fire had struck, Command said Eleven Platoon should stay in situ and be ready and waiting for any enemy who might come along .. the next day a group of enemy did come along, the Australian sentry fired first who departed firing back as they did so like they had the day before, a clearing patrol went out and found nothing.
Throughout the remainder of the day the sound of a man in pain alerted the defenders that a wounded man lay beyond our perimeter, on and into the night his moans excited the pity of one of our ppl who called for a medic to go to his aid, the Lieutenant refused .. early in the following morning the same man came to the Lieutenant and said he would guide the medic to the wounded man’s location that he had pinpointed thru the night.
I was the medic I grabbed my medical supplies and hurried to the same soldier and proceeded in the direction where the injured man lay, it was then a decision was made he was to be shot, I told them I was gonna fix this man and see to it that he was properly repatriated to hospital care, telling them I joined the Army to be a soldier not a f*****' murderer and like it or f*****' not I was going to bring aid to this man.
The Sergeant had been grinning from ear to ear, chewing gum elated at this opportunity to kill an injured man, he made a motion toward his weapon as my attitude became insubordinate expecting that he would fire upon me if my aggressive attitude persisted, thus I stood mute while a group under one of the Corporals went forth and murdered him.
Firing was from directly in front, I could see the exhaust coming from the enemy soldier’s weapon and fired two short bursts from an AR15 at where I reckoned the firer’s head was, no more firing came from that position. So on and on .. we pulled out of that position after recovering the body then stayed up late and put it on a chopper, another helicopter had arrived earlier on for the wounded the pilot would not take a K, as we pulled out so did they the enemy fire was coming from further away, they were firing back at us as they departed.
Back into the enemy position in the morning which was deserted except for the body of the man I had fired upon, his weapon was splintered and pierced where the automatic rifle fire had struck, Command said Eleven Platoon should stay in situ and be ready and waiting for any enemy who might come along .. the next day a group of enemy did come along, the Australian sentry fired first who departed firing back as they did so like they had the day before, a clearing patrol went out and found nothing.
Throughout the remainder of the day the sound of a man in pain alerted the defenders that a wounded man lay beyond our perimeter, on and into the night his moans excited the pity of one of our ppl who called for a medic to go to his aid, the Lieutenant refused .. early in the following morning the same man came to the Lieutenant and said he would guide the medic to the wounded man’s location that he had pinpointed thru the night.
I was the medic I grabbed my medical supplies and hurried to the same soldier and proceeded in the direction where the injured man lay, it was then a decision was made he was to be shot, I told them I was gonna fix this man and see to it that he was properly repatriated to hospital care, telling them I joined the Army to be a soldier not a f*****' murderer and like it or f*****' not I was going to bring aid to this man.
The Sergeant had been grinning from ear to ear, chewing gum elated at this opportunity to kill an injured man, he made a motion toward his weapon as my attitude became insubordinate expecting that he would fire upon me if my aggressive attitude persisted, thus I stood mute while a group under one of the Corporals went forth and murdered him.
The soldier who fired the fatal shots was killed with another of our ppl in the early morning of May 1, 1970, when the machine gunner in situ fired upon both men without warning during operations, I attended both injured men and the same Lieutenant after he was wounded in battle on Feb. 18, 1970.
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