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After about three days of processing back in the rear at
Quang Tri, and wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into,
I was assigned to Kilo 3/9 -- that's K Company of the Third
Battalion of the Ninth Marine Regiment of the 3rd Marine
Division. Aside from being a mouth full, it had a little history
too, because Kilo 3/9 was the first American unit to set foot on
Vietnam soil in March 1965. Now, in March 1969, I had set foot
on Vietnam soil -- and it was red, wet, thick and sticky.
Then they trucked me up to a place called Vandegrift
Combat Base, affectionately called Stud. I was told it was the
"forward-rear" but it turned out to be just a big
campground that just so happened to be hit by rockets on a too
occasional basis.
Stud was located about 10 miles south of the DMZ and 12
miles northeast of a similar combat base with a more familiar
name -- Khe Sanh. Stud took on more importance after the Marines
abandoned Khe Sanh in the summer of 1968. Stud was the home to
Ninth Marines, and others, and was primarily a staging area
between operations in the real bush.
Anyway, some stranger walked me out to the
"lines" at Stud and dropped me off with more strangers
-- veterans with surly attitudes. It was dusk and when I was
asked where do I sleep, I was unceremoniously told, "I
don't give a shit, sleep on the ground, asshole. Just don't get
in my hooch." I looked around and didn't see anything
looking like a hooch but I did see a culvert pipe half covered
by sandbags. So I slept under the stars (for about 15 minutes),
until it started to rain all night. I had to find me a hooch ...
(Please see photo No. 3.)
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