Last additions - Leon "Lee" Dixon
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Dixon49.jpgM42 Twin 40mm DusterHere I am with the Duster at LZ English that stopped all of the shooting after the Chinook crashed. This thing really got the attention of those VC that were shooting at the Chinook. Notice my beard; it got me a trip to Saigon due a skin infectionl condition that inhibited shaving.
Aug 29, 2009
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Dixon52.jpgTraffic JamThe local street toughs that the GI's referred to as "cowboys" used to give me a motorcycle to ride around on. HERE is what is looked like out on the streets in the embassy district near the U.S. Special Services compound in the late afternoons. Traffic jam, South Vietnamese style!
Aug 29, 2009
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Dixon51.jpgThe MetropoleLooking out front the guard post in front of the Ky-Son billet to the intersection of Tran Hung Dau St and another street that angled off from it. The pedicabs were called "Cyclo" (sick-low) by the Vietnamese. The tall, smooth front building to the right was a Vietnamese theater (I actually went in once and saw a show with my girlfriend- even though you weren't supposed to). The building off to the left is- OHHhhhhh yesssss... the French colonial hotel... The Metropole.Aug 29, 2009
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Dixon50.jpg17th Field Hospital, SaigonOne of our NCO's insisted that we shave close enough NOT to scratch the back of his hand or we got assigned EXTRA guard duty! He would actually rub the back of his hand across your face while in morning formation. You had hell to pay if it got scratched! My skin infection got so bad that I ended up in several hospitals, finally arriving at 17th Field Hospital in Saigon. It was a kind of poetic justice from God...
Aug 29, 2009
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Dixon48.jpgLZ English - Bong SonLook in my photo here and you'll see the SAME red-headed officer we used to call "Carrot Top". Don't recall his real name. Any idea who he was?
Ans> Yep! That is Lt Chris Herrick.
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon47.jpgLZ English - Bong Son(cont) Next thing I know, the Chinook crashes on its side and the guys inside are scrambling to get out! Here they are with the chopper in the background crashed and the guys trying to cross the perimeter barbed with to get back IN to LZ English! Some of them were scraped up pretty badly.
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon46.jpgLZ English - Bong Son(cont) Kapow-kapow-kapowww-kapowwww- rat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Gunfire breaks out from off in the distance and bullets are whizzing everywhere!
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon43.jpgLZ English - Bong SonBong-Son was a scary place and we had a lot of weird things happen there, so I kept armed to the teeth 24/7! We were spoiled by the perimeter bunkers we built at Duc Pho. At English, all we had was a flimsy culvert section and some worn-out sandbags with broken-down barbed wire for protection. ONE AK-47 round probably would have gone through this like cheese! I was always told that I was exempt from guard duty due to my critical MOS... but that meant nothing when I got to Viet Nam- especially at Bong Son! Here is an example of my perimeter guard post. Note the M-60 machine gun and ammo, M-79 grenade launcher, flare, box of C-rations, bug spray, etc.. And EVERYTHING looked like it was moving out there at night!
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon44.jpgLZ English - Bong SonMe and some of the guys in commo managed to "acquire" a few unauthorized, non-standard arms. Along the way I had a "grease-gun", a "B.A.R.", a captured AK-47, and others. I also carried an M-16 "over and under" (grenade launcher underneath the barrel) until they took it away! Here I am at English with one of my "slightly modified" early M-16s (note that the prongs on the barrel end are NOT joined) and an M-1 A-1 rifle I loved. I also carried a .45 sidearm given to me by one of the officers. And would you believe that I am NOT a "gun guy"?
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon45.jpgLZ English - Bong SonNow, one day near the perimeter, this Chinook chopper lands, drops off a couple of things, then suddenly...see next photo....
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon42.jpgLZ English - Bong SonThe dreaded LZ English... strange food (a LOT of S.O.S.), stolen mail, weak perimeters but great living quarters made out of 105 ammo boxes!
Aug 27, 2009
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Dixon41.jpgThe Children of WarOne of the saddest things I recall is seeing orphaned children along the roads as we caravaned. This boy and girl were sister and brother and said they had no parents (killed by the VC). They were huddled together as if all they had in the world was each other. It was heartbreaking, but we couldn't take them with us. We weren't even supposed to stop in most places...
Aug 27, 2009
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