"COMBAT SHIFTS THE MIND INTO THE ETERNALLY PRESENT AND ELIMINATES THE CONCEPT OF MEMORY" .......Jeffrey A. Wolin

The 25th Infantry Division had the second-highest casualty rate during the war, surpassed only by the 1st Cavalry Division. Of the 58,193 deaths, the majority were from the Army with 38,209 recorded deaths.

This Flickr page is a collection of the photos taken by five 3rd Platoon Bobcats, Frank Davis, John Michael Massey (Mike), Richard D. Purkis, Charles Kennedy, and myself, Frank Thomas Goins (Tom). We were Brothers then and Brothers now. This is our 'tour of Vietnam' in photographs. A lot of research and memory-jogging went into making the captions for the pictures as accurate as possible, with names, dates, locations, and events.

In 1967 - 1968, We were in Alpha Co, 3rd platoon, 3rd and 4th squads, 1st battalion (Mech), 5th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, based in Cu Chi, Vietnam. We were the Bobcats. Our company covered most of War Zone C and III Corps Tactical Zone, which included Cu Chi, Trang Bang, Angel's Wing, Ho Bo Woods, Boi Loi Woods, Trung Lap, Phouc My, Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh, Prek Klok, Katum, The Ho Chi Minh Trails at the Cambodian border, The Fish Hook, Michelin Rubber Plantation, Bao Trang, Fil Hol Plantation, Renegade Woods, the Parrot's Beak, Nui Ba Den, French Fort, the Iron Triangle, the Oriental River, Hoc Mon, Binh Duong, the Cholon district of Saigon, Tan San Nuit Air Base, Rainy Tower Village, Vinh Loc, Hua Nhgia, forgotten names of fire support bases and many other forgotten and nameless places. We were in these places 24/7 for months at a time. We worked with the 1/27 and 2/27 Wolfhounds, 4/9 Manchus, 2/34 Armor, 3/4 Cav, 1/8 Artillery, 65th Engineers, and many other infantry, armor, artillery, and engineer units of the 25th Infantry Division.

We were a mechanized Infantry unit, we rode tracks, (Armored Personnel Carriers), loaded with ammo and explosive ordinance, to get from one location to another, dodging, but not always missing RPGs, snipers, road and land mines. Then it was dismount and hump it. The tracks made it possible for us to carry ammo, C-rations, and supplies with us, so we were able to stay in the field for months at a time. Most of the time we were boots on the ground. The drivers and .50 cal. machine gunners followed as backup firepower. Most of us took turns driving and manning the .50 cal. In the heavy monsoon season, we went on Eagle Flights. Hueys would take us where the tracks couldn't go. We lost a lot of good guys in firefights and to mines and RPGs. Many were Killed in Action and many more were Wounded in Action. And we carried our dead and wounded on our tracks until they were dusted off.

The M-16 rifles they issued us jammed during firefights because of faulty ammunition provided to us, although we were usually blamed for not keeping our rifles clean (see link below). Eating C-rations left over from the Korean War, we all lost weight. During the day, we went on search and destroy missions, sweeps, and patrols. It wasn't unusual to walk 6 - 10 Ks a day in nearly 100-degree heat and humidity. At night, it was night ambush patrols, LP's (listening posts), we called bait, or perimeter guard, sleeping in two or four-hour shifts, sleeping in bunkers with rats, sleeping in the rain and mud, on the jungle floor and in the rice paddies, or not sleeping at all. Never getting enough sleep. Listening to distant firefights, the “fuck-you” lizards, the sounds of the jungle at night, and dodging incoming mortars and rockets. Rare time off was spent digging bunkers, filling sandbags, cleaning weapons, etc. We were eaten alive by mosquitoes and ants. We got jungle rot and ringworm and were exposed to Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals. Wearing the same faded, rotting and torn jungle fatigues and T-shirts for weeks at a time, we were always dirty, only getting an occasional bath if we ran into a creek or bomb crater filled with muddy water. In the dry season we were wet with sweat and covered with dust, and in the monsoon season we were wet and covered with mud. Always moving around, different locations, different base camps, different landscapes and “they” always knew where we were.

Once every three or four months we would get back to Cu Chi base camp for a two or three day standdown. We were able to take real showers, eat in a mess hall with a table and chairs, drink cold beer, eat steaks, go to the PX or maybe go to the Club or catch a movie, and sleep on a cot in a hootch rather than in the dirt and mud, that is if you didn't have night ambush patrol or perimeter guard that night. Listening to the sound of outgoing artillery and incoming rockets and mortars then head for a bunker if they were close. Then it was refuel, resupply and pick up some new guys, average age 19, who would be mind-numbed, hollow-eyed old men within a couple of months, if they made it that long. Then back to the field. The "field" was anywhere that wasn't Cu Chi base camp.

After the 1968 Tet offensive, the action was more intense and deadly. We were moved around, reassigned to different squads, platoons, companies or units to even up the numbers. Our squads were always short of men. We were supposed to have eleven men in each squad, but usually had five to eight. We were expendable and we knew it. Body count was the only thing that mattered. There was never a day or night off. Night one ambush patrol, night two listening post (LP), and night three perimeter guard, then it started all over again. Every day it was search and destroy missions, sweeps and patrols. Life became very simple. It didn't take long to realize that staying alive was the main purpose of life. Fire fights, ambushes, mortar and rocket attacks, snipers, road and land mines, booby traps, RPG's, the wounded and the dead were our daily reality. Our goal every day and night was to stay alive and keep our buddies alive. For us there was no yesterday and no tomorrow, only the moment we were living. We learned to count on and look out for each other. Even though none of us ever saw a USO show or Donut Dollie, it wasn't all bad. There were some true friendships and good times with the guys, some beautiful landscapes and spectacular sunsets, but we left our youth and innocence behind forever. “War drew us from our homeland in the sunlit springtime of our youth. Those who did not come back alive remain in perpetual springtime, forever young, and a part of them is with us always.” That's the way it was for us mechanized grunts.

This is a pictorial history and narrative of that time and those places and our Bobcat Brothers we served with in that insane hell, and a tribute to our Brothers who didn't make it home, and those who did. The pics are in random order, like our memories of Vietnam. They show a part of what life was like for us in Vietnam. Most of the pics were taken during down time, while on the move, on patrols, sweeps and in base camps. Obviously, we couldn't take pictures during fire fights, or on ambush patrols,and didn't want to take them of the aftermath. The pictures show some of the better and easier times, and not much of the bad times, which was the rest it. As you can see in the photo captions, most of the guys in these pictures were WIA at one time or another, and some were KIA.

A special thanks to my platoon Brothers, Frank Davis, Rich Purkis, Mike Massey, Stephen Bailey and Charles Kennedy for their invaluable help with names and events in the pictures, Joe Rex (our platoon leader) and nurse Sharon Rex for the pictures of the nurses, John Michael Massey, Rich Purkis, Frank Davis, Charles Kennedy and Bruce F. Cotta for contributing their pictures, and former platoon brother Donald Mousseau who gave me some of the pictures he took while he was battalion photographer/reporter.

POSTSCRIPT:

I returned to Vietnam with Frank Davis in Jan. 2013 to find a thriving, modern, cosmopolitan country, unrecognizable from the Vietnam we knew all those years ago. It was a great trip, wonderful people, a great adventure. Trip photos located at: www.flickr.com/92695374@N02/

Thanks to Randy Kethcart for letting me link to the 5th Infantry Regiment Association Website at: www.bobcat.ws which was very helpful with history places and dates. Check it out to learn more about the 1/5 Infantry Bobcats.

Useful link: www.bobcat.ws/rifle.shtml "The Rifle and the Myth" This explains why the M-16 jammed.

www.bobcatsociety.org Learn more about the Bobcats and find old friends here. Also interesting and useful links. Thanks to Ray Landon, Bobcat Society webmaster, for this link. Ray Landon passed away on November 15, 2014. Rest in Peace brother Bobcat.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN PHOTOS

11B MOS - Infantryman (Military Operation Specialties).

11E MOS - Armor crewman, tank/APC driver.

AGENT ORANGE - Herbicide used to defoliate jungles and forests.

AMBUSH PATROL, AP, "BUSH" - Group of usually 12 soldiers sent out at night to surprise and kill the enemy.

AO - Area of Operations.

ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER - M113, APC, TRACK, with a .50 caliber machine gun, or "fifty", mounted on a swivel turret.

AIR STRIKE - Fighter jets called in to clear a known or suspected enemy force before or during a fire fight.

ARVN - Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Quân đội Việt Nam

BASE CAMP - Permanent or temporary encampments, from 1-2 days to 1-2 months. Some evolved into large permanent base camps while most were used temporarily and then abandoned.

BOONIES - jungle or any place that wasn't a base camp.

BUSH - night ambush patrol.

BUTTER BARS - newly commissioned 2nd lieutenant

C-RATIONS - Canned food left over from the Korean War. Our main food supply.

DUCE AND A HALF - Two-and-a-half-ton truck.

DUST-OFF - Removal of dead or wounded soldiers, by medevac Huey helicopters.

FIREFIGHT - Heavy contact with the enemy.

FSB - Fire Support Base.

GRUNT - Infantryman, grunt, boots on the ground, straight leg, 11B MOS.

KIA - Killed in action.

K's, - KLICKS - Kilometers.

LAND/ROAD MINES - Now called IEDs, used by the NVA/VC, sometimes made from unexploded US artillery or other unexploded ordinance.

LP, LISTENING POST - Two or three soldiers sent out at night, in front of the base camp perimeter, as an early warning in case of an enemy attack. Also known as "bait".

M-16 - rifle, used 5.56mm ammo. Used by most combat soldiers in Vietnam.

M-50 - 50 caliber machine gun, used 12.7mm ammo.

M-60 - 60 caliber machine gun, nicknamed "the pig" used 7.62mm ammo.

M-79 - Grenade launcher, nicknamed "thumper" used 40x46 grenades which could be explosive, anit-personnel, smoke, buckshot, illumination, or flechette.

MECH - Mechanized Infantry, using armored personnel carriers.

NDP - Night Defensive Position.

NVA - North Vietnamese People's Army. Quân đội Nhân dân Bắc Việt Nam.

PATROL - Usually patrolling or guarding a road, bridge, or supply route.

PERIMETER GUARD - Guarding the base camp perimeter at night, sitting at the .50 cal. machine gun or behind a bunker with an M-60 machine gun.

P-38 - Small metal device used for opening C-Ration cans.

ROME PLOWS - basically bulldozers used by the Engineers to clear the jungle. They took their name from the city of Rome, Georgia, where they were made.

RPG - Rocket Propelled Grenade weapon used by the NVA and VC.

S&D - Search and destroy. Go into a hostile enemy area, search out and kill the enemy and withdraw.

SHAKE 'N' BAKE - Instant non-commissioned officer (NCO).

STAND DOWN - Stop all operations for reorganizing, rest, and refitting, usually one or two days.

STRAIGHT LEG - Infantryman, 11B MOS.

SWEEP - Like search and destroy, sometimes a broader area, questionable hostility, clearing an area of enemy forces, locating and destroying enemy weapons, food caches, bunkers, and tunnel complexes.

VC - Việt Cong. The Việt Cộng also known as the National Liberation Front, was a political organization with its own army – People's Liberation Armed Forces of South Vietnam.

WIA - Wounded in action.