Posted: 2/23/2008 3:22:35 PM EDT
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My dad rarely ever speaks of his time in Vietnam. It was only within the last couple years I learned he was at Ripcord, and even then I wasn't aware of the significance of that event until just the other day. I have never really heard of it, and never attached any importance to it. I started reading the wikipedia entry about it, and today while I was over I asked him about his time there. He spent a good hour or more telling me about that time. He was running 105mm howitzers. The ammunition was originally dropped off and stored at the bottom of the mountain. They had to carry 2 or 3 rounds at a time up the mountain, then prep them and store them by the artillery for use. One day a commander (I forget the name) came around asking how to improve things at the base. My dad was just a private, but mentioned that carrying all that heavy ammo up the mountain was difficult. My dad left ripcord and went to a radio operator school in the rear. He came back. Within 45 minutes of returning to Ripcord, he was hit by incoming fire. A mortar I think. He had a head injury and was flown to somewhere for treatment. He recieved a purple heart for this. He returned to duty at Ripcord 3 days later. My dad witnessed the chinook getting shot and falling in to the ammo dump. He attaches guilt to this event for having complained about the original location. It was moved to the top of the mountain and caused a lot of damage when it blew. I believe his howitzer was destroyed during this event. He mentioned rounds cooking off, and going up there the next day and seeing the destruction. He had no time to gather anything, and left without a shirt, his M16 or anything. There was CS rounds in the ammo dump and they were releasing gas during the event. He said the army sent in a load of M16 rifles and gas masks. They didn't send any ammo or mags for the guns. He talked to an infantry guy to try to score some ammo, as they expected to be attacked that evening due to the extensive damage the base suffered. The guy on guard duty gave him some mags in exchange for pulling duty with him. My dad was one of the first to leave the base when it was abandoned. His unit was not going to get new howitzers after all theirs were destroyed, and they were among the first pulled off the mountain. He had been on Ripcord for several months under enemy fire at that point. He remembers having a steak and pepsi and beer when they got to the next base. After spending a week there, he was transferred to some other unit to be the radio man for the infantry guys. He spent two months in the field and never saw charlie. Afterward he became an MP, and went home for a month then returned to vietnam for another 7 months. Ripcord was carpet bombed after it was abandoned. There were a whole lot of enemy troops in the area and those that took the base after it was abandoned were likely killed. This is just what I recall him saying today. It may not be complete, or 100% accurate because I am not good with military nomenclature. |
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My dad gave me a paperback book about it to read. I've been reading about it online. He said he was wounded on July 2 1970. He also mentioned a commander having to go back and drop thermite grenades down the tubes of the remaining howitzers to render them useless when they were being evacuated. |