thanks allot JINKS / THANKS....THE DUSTERMAN...
YES,SGT. HAS PASSED ON//WE ALL MISS HIM..

We had a couple of Dusters with us at LZ Action on Highway 19 in the Central Highlands. They were normally part of our perimeter defense, but the played a significant role in June of '69 when Bravo 2/8th and a couple of platoons from 1/69 Armor pulled off one slick night ambush of a reinforced NVA Battalion attempting to cross Highway 19 within range of the firebase.

well up north we did mostly sweep and destroy,mine sweeps,convoy protection,firer interdiction with marine sweeps--some prim.base support. contien,rockpile,calu,khe sahn, camp carroll.
c-1/44th-duster unit attached to 3d/marine div.
KHESAHN,CONTIEN WASN'T MUCH FUN........67-68
1966/SEPT.-WAS WITH 4/503 HERD--11B10-P-----2/2--

For all that I know, the Dusters with the 4th Div may have done some of that other work in other parts of the AO, too. The only ones that I ever saw were at LZ Action, so I couldn't say.

Action was in VC Valley, on a major infiltration path. In that AO, 2/8th Infantry, Mech. and 1/69 Armor did the the mine sweeps and convoy protection.

The 69th armor was with the 25th and my unit 2/34 was with the 4th. Then one day they just switched us, we went to the 25th and they to the 4th. Originaly the 2/34th Armor went over with the 4th they shipped over there onboard the USS Barrett.

Somewhere out in Cyberspace theres a story in Armor Mag about our own Captain Eddie Hocker taking it to the enemy with I think 2/35 in a joint effort.

Also the 69th Armor was the only tank unit to ever engage enemy Armor in the Vietnam War, they smoked them too. I was stationed in Germany in the 1/33rd Armor with many of the Tankers in the 69th. They sent almost all of the tank Commanders to Vietnam in 68 and 69.

jinks

Orginal "Dusterman" that posted on the first board 6 years ago.

I remember Dusterman use to post and email me every once and a while and then one day just dissapeared.

just wondering but I remember a "Dusterman".

jinks

I remember that. I was still with the 1/22 in March of '69 and we were southwest of Ben Het when that battle occurred. We were on a platoon sized patrol and my CO alerted us for a possible pick up and insertion, but it never happened.

It was somekind of screwup by the NVA. I think that they thought they were going to face light stuff. They had the Light Russian PT-76 tanks its main gun was only a 76mm. It also had very light Armor.They also had light armored personell carriers.

One of the 69th M48 Tanks recieved a Direct hit by one of the Pt-76s Although its exposed crewmembers were wounded that Tank drove away the next day.

Our 48s had 90mm main guns, our HEAT Rounds could easly penatrate a side of Battle ship Armor so they basically ate up the NVA Armor that night. If the tanks were boresighted correctly they could also engage at ranges of 2500 Meters or more. The NVA hauled out that night but not before the 69th put it on them.

Also the NVA didn't go against Rookies Most of the guys were trained in Germany and had many hours of live night Fireing Training. Those of us that went threw more than 2 years training didn't miss very often and earned Distingused Tankcrew Badges.

jinks

Hey Jinks
I remember hearing about that battle back then and I'm sure it happened in some valley area located in the Kontum region. From what we heard back then that the 1/69th really kicked their ass big time. Guess the dinks got the message because they didnt come across the border with any armor for a long time after that. As I recall that March was a real bad month for all of us that were up in the Kontum area during that time period.

HELL JINKS I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT I DID YESTERDAY-HEHE!!!!!!!!!!!
I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN dwDUSTER........AND CALUKID.
I WAS WOUNDED TWICE AT CALU,THATS WHY AT TIMES I GO BY THAT NAME--BUT I IS THE dwDUSTER..C-1/44TH
GOD BLESS JINKS

also JINKS---REALLY DON'T LIKE TO DO THIS-WITH ALL THE HACKERS-BUT-......
I AM JOE DW KOREY [DW] STANDS FOR MY GRAND FATHERS FIRST NAME [DON]-THE STANDS FOR WOLFE-CUNNING,LOYAL,LONER-MY GRANDMOTHERS JOKE OF A MIDDLE NAME FOR ME......THATS ME IN A NUT SHALE ,OK? !!!!!!!
173D/DUSTERS