DON'T HURT MY "FREDDY FADAC!"
A two-star general used Freddy for a stepladder;
he learned that was a "no-no"
We
were being airlifted near the Cambodian border (1968-69 timeframe) to a new LZ.
They had blown down some really big trees in the process. Meanwhile,
several visiting officers came to the LZ to watch the operation of a 105
howitzer firebase being set up. Well, as they were Chinooking in the guns, we
hand-carried "Freddy" (FADAC) into the location and set it behind a
big tree out of the way.
The next sortie coming in was the FDC CONEX. I was trying to direct it in
to a hole in the side of the hill when Top shouted at me that some guy was
jumping on Freddy. Well, me being who I was, that wasn't about to happen on my
watch!
I ran to the spot and grabbed the guy by the collar. Him being a little
guy, I jerked him clean off the computer and began eating his ass out.
When I got him turned around, damned if he didn't have two stars on his jacket.
I apologized to him, but when he was told what he was standing on, he told me I
was within my rights to get him off. Being so short, he was using our
FADAC to get a better view of what was going on. We had set the FADAC out
of the way behind a downed tree, or so we thought. Meanwhile, he was well out of the way, or so he thought. At the
time, our FADAC was running pretty good; didn't need anyone stomping on top of
it.
Top knew what I would do, I am sure, so when he told me someone was
standing on the FADAC, he knew I would go grab the guy and ask
questions later. I was known for not taking any s*** when it came to my
Section, no matter what rank. Of course, the Top and Capt
Donovan knew who he was and they thought it was funny.
As
it turned out, he saw me in Pleiku one day when I brought Freddy in for repairs.
He took me to the Officers Club and fed me a steak dinner. Sure glad he
was a good guy!
Submitted by
SP4 Danny Fort
Submitted by
SP4 Danny Fort