The start of meade river / 1968
On Nov. 20th, I was told to go see a Capt. about a problem at Liberty Bridge. I went in and he said to go out to Liberty Bridge and fix a forklift, they will need it working. But you won't want to go today because it's real hot out there today. Out of my mouth comes out,SO!!!. He said ,you have balls. The light in my head went off. What the hell did you just say? I went and g ot my gear, and extra ammo. I carried a gas mask full of tools. My job, I was the heavy junk mechanic for the Arizona. I wore red patches. Before Vietnam, I carried an extra 25 pounds on my back, humping hills at Camp Pendleton with 28 Marines. Radio man most of the time. When I got to the road going out to Liberty Bridge,no one around. I sat ,waiting for a truck to come bye. A jeep pulled up, and the driver called out,where are you going? I looked up, the driver was a General. Not today. I'll drive you back to your hooch. Made it to Liberty Bridge the next day. Got my broken alternator. Slept at Liberty that night, Da Nang side. One of the marines there asked me if I wanted to ride shotgun in his jeep . He had to get to Da Nang. Off we went, passed villages that were deserted almost., very few people. Made it to hill 55,then Da Nang.I aways went to the Air Forse for parts. I found a ride to hill 55 and stayed the night. Next , truck dride to Liberty Bridge. Fixed the forklift and stayed the night. All this time I really had no idea what was going on. Thanksgiving morning I watched a marine phantom jet dive straight down in the sky, then drop his bombs. What a ride,he had. I caught a ride on a truck, there were maybe three or four trucks going to An Hoa base. About half way on liberty road, we stopped. All jumped out and got down,and got ready. Me and three newbys. Out of bushes ,about 300-500 ft. away . Two Grunts came running with a black body bag, as fast as they could run. My mind was asking, what do they know that I don't. The bag was thrown into the back of the truck and they ran back into the bushes. One of the newbys asked me ,was he dead? I said , they would not throw him into the truck like that if he was not. We made it to An Hoa. I got to the hooch where I had a bunk when I was here. It overlooked the helle.pad. Thanksgiving dinner was over. I sat on the steps of the hooch,next to the mess hall, and opened a can of chicken noodle soup. I was so thankful that I was sitting there. The guys like Mongoose, Advanced, Capt Kirk, Fistfu, Devildoc25 and many more are my heroes. They were the ones running back into the bushes. Thanksgiving means alot to me. I will always think about the Grunt that died on Thanksgiving near the Liberty road. Bill