Comprising a Life
The Bonsai, Travels and Haiku of Vaughn Banting
Vietnam 1970-71
During the period between November 1970 and December 1971 I served in Vietnam as first a grunt (or cannon fader, which ever term you may feel more accuratetly describes the position) then (while recovering from a bullet wound sustained while in the bush) as perimeter guard with a Ranger company and finaly as head draftsman of an Army aviation battalion further up the coast at Tuy Hou.
As a grunt in the bush I joined the third platoon of Charlie Company 2nd Battalion 12th Infantry to perform mostly search and destroy missions (latter renamed search and clear missions) in an area approximately 40 miles northeast of what is now known now as
After being wouned and getting out of the field hospital and then the guard company, I could no longer work as a grunt and so the last part of my tour in Vietnam was spent as a REMF. This fact led to my having a much more diverse experience over there than most.
Made an acting Sargent right out of basic trainng, they gave me this old World War II barracks to house fifty-two men and take them through infrantry training for action in Vietnam. Thats me in second row center with hands on my hips.
Though being ambushed posed a constant threat, riding on APCs was luxury compared to hacking through the jungle ourselves.
Due to the worry over running over land mines, drivers always rigged their tracks so that they could be driven with their feet outside.
The sargent riding on the front of the track on this mission got his leg caught between the track and a tree and narrowly missed losing it.
In a real state of alertness, notice the guy reading a magazine. Of cource I'll not comment on my own readiness while taking this picture. .
Another mission another track. My pack in the foreground showing the vinyl bag that kept my camera dry.
With Benjie, our machine gunner who had stealthaly put his gum on my handset. And yes, the next call I recieved put it in my ear.
This is what we used to refer to as the thick shit! Man in back ground was killed later on in my tour the same day I was wounded
Our missions lasted between six and twenty days as I recall, so a shave was something to look forward to when we came back in
The Army provided us with heat-tabs to cook with put they gave off awful fumes and took forever to cook anything so we just used a piece of C4 explosive.
The Colonel radioed that he wanted us to clear a quick LZ (landing zone)so he could land his chopper and confer with our Captain.
I had written my folks to have them buy and send out, the biggest knife they could find, as there never seemed enough machets to go around. They sent me a big knife! It came in useful though for clearing my sleeping position
With a stick of C4 taped to each side, this tree remained standing after the explosion even with a hole through its trunk.
This bamboo viper was innocently slithering between the tree Sargent Mack was leaning againt and his pack but the moment he noticed it he demanded I kill it immediately without benefit of trial
One dispatched bamboo viper. They called them the "two-stepper" because supposedly after having been bitten you took two steps and you were dead which was hogwash of cource
Later in my tour I learned to call these guys in myself when we needed them, in fact they really saved my ass when we were pinned down the day I got shot
Hunter/killer team tactics: The loach pilot would dart over the tree tops exposing himself to enemy fire, until the enemy shot at him and then the loach would drop a smoke grenade and the cobra, hiding in the clouds would fire on that spot
I look at this picture now and say to myself "what in the hell were you doing standing out so exposed in the open?" Its a wonder I didn't get popped.
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