In Their Own Words Atroop 412 Cav Blog

March 1970

We made the switch 1MarWe made the switch [to Sheridan tanks] on or about March 1, 1970. John 26 The following was contributed by 3rd platooner Robert Klinsky, from his war dairy:2Mar1st platoon spotted 10 gooks across the river today.  Made a sweep but never saw them again - natch.5MarAndy Shuller had a blasting cap go off in his face (oops).  Drew blood and blurred his vision but will be OK.  Medivac'd by boat.6MarA gook sampan boat hit a river mine.  4 killed plus 1 with broken back & neck.  We pulled a sweep and stayed out an extra night.7MarScrew up in…

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February 1970

Monsoon ends From G. Gersaba’s War Dairy:01FebCua Viet:We got here 2 days ago. 1-2 caught fire 3 miles before we reached here. The batteries have mysteriously reversed polarity, they tell me. The days have sped by, unlike our track. Otherwise, on the way over here, we went through Quang Tri City for the first time in my tour. Tripped out on the sidewalks, shops, traffic cops, etc., I was surprised to see that a real city exists here. Since I came in country the only city I’ve seen was Saigon.02FebCrossed the Cua Viet today, going north. Nice day to ride…

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January 1970

History of the 12th Cav in Vietnam 27 Jul 1968 – 30 Nov 1971 According to the collective remembrances of it’s surviving troopers. CPT Errol D. Alexander, July-Oct 1968 CPT Kenneth G. Carlson, Oct 68-Mar 69 CPT Larry R. Robinson, Mar-Sep 1969 CPT William C. Kaufman, Sep-Nov 1969 CPT Matthias A. Spruill, Nov 69-Feb 70 CPT John L. B. Smith, Feb-May 1970 CPT Robert R. Richards, May-Oct 70 CPT Woodrow W. Waldrop, Oct 70-Apr 71 CPT Edward E. Helton, Apr-Oct 71 January 1970 2 January After a fun filled New Years on the bunker line at Charlie 2 (C2), the Cav…

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December 1969

The Draft Lottery 01 Dec 1969The Draft Lottery is instituted in an effort to reduce criticism of the draft as unfair.Jim Good arrives in country. President Nixon announces "we will have peace in our time." For I Corps, this means that the 3rd Marines finally go back to the world and we get to takeover their very nice quarters at Quang Tri. No cav hands filled any of the hundreds of sandbags. HQ moves there.The troop returns to the DMZ from its last assignment at Cua Viet in time to celebrate Christmas and New Years. 10Dec We have moved from LZ Nancy…

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November 1969

Fire Base Sandy 03 November We spent most of last month up at C2; except for about a week at the first of the month at Fire Base Sandy. All we did was pull guard duty and AP. After leaving Sandy we went to C2, it started to rain and we didn't do much for about a week. After it cleared up we moved out on sweeps and sitting up at night waiting for someone to hit us. Supposedly we were attempting to draw attention to ourselves so we could have a little pay back for 2nd platoon being hit hard…

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October 1969

I remember the night my tank caught fire 2 Oct"I remember the night my tank caught fire during one hell of a firefight a few klicks west of A-4. Sgt D jumped on my tank A-27 and told me we were on fire, my loader had already been hit and was laying on the turret floor, I had no turret power after being hit at least twice by an RPG, I had to traverse the turret manually to let Sgt D in the drivers hatch so he could get us off the side (?) of the perimeter, I was wounded…

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September 1969

Ho Chi Minh, leader of the North Vietnamese dies 3 Sept 1969Ho Chi Minh, leader of the North Vietnamese, dies in Hanoi at the age of 79. Sept 5 Alpha 4, typhoon hit, heavy rain, wind and mud (Taylor)Sept 6 Back at Nancy, The first and third platoon went to LZ Jayne. Finally on 29, we got a new engine, transmission and transfer case. Pulling night ambushes, Got a new CO. We stole the Col 's Jeep, repainted it and kept it. (Taylor)09SepTroop is back from A4, no one in 1st platoon was injured. 5 NVA KIA, Dodds brought back an…

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