The Mighty Ninth

Strive To Reach The Summit


HotTGT.jpg
HotTGT.jpgA combination of artillery support and air support often made a hill mass "explode" in Vietnam with these results.
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MapReading.jpgSleep through map reading classes at your own peril. Without maps, you and your unit were in deep doo-doo. And even with map reading skills, you had to know WHERE you were at all times.
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Keith-Shaffer.jpgLt Don Keith and Lt Randy Shaffer. Lt Shaffer was KIA.

{see TAPS link}
Major_Punji_Trap.JPG
Major_Punji_Trap.JPGPunji StakesOne of the nastiest booby traps in all of Vietnam was the punji stake trap. A hole in the ground was covered up to hide the sharply-pointed stakes pointing upward, usually with poison on the tips. The idea wasn't to kill US troops, but to take them out of the battle and to demoralize their comrades.
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DK-WomenCombat-a.jpgWomen in Combat - VietnamWhile women in combat did not occur in the US military until 40 years after Vietnam, Don offers this photo to point out the shock that our "point men" saw when encountering women with automatic weapons. And they knew how to use them. Vietnam was both a major culture shock and a guerilla war.
Propaganda.jpg
Propaganda.jpgThis tri-fold pamphlet was the enemy's attempt at propaganda aimed at our troops. {click to enlarge and see the message}
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Propaganda2.jpgPage 2 of the tri-fold pamphlet.
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DK-Passes.jpgCoupon-shaped propaganda materials found along the trails. This is the front side.
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DK-Passes2.jpgBack side of propaganda leaflets.
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DonFlagPass.jpg
Tall_Grass.jpg
Tall_Grass.jpgAmong all the other obstacles and perils in the combat zone, amazingly high grass was "way up there". Lts Don Keith and Randy Shaffer {KIA} demonstrate.
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two_bits.jpgDon returned for a 2nd tour in Nam...this time with the 173rd Airborne. {See his war story "I'm AWOL"} From left: Don, 1SG G. Cenecerus, Field First MacKenzie, and 1st Lt Kemit.
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