Just got back from Vietnam - The Firearms Forum

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 07:49 AM

Well not really, but by using Google Earth, you would be surprised what you can find.

In 1969 I was assigned with the 2nd Bn 19th Arty 1st Cav. I was sent to a place they called Rocket City, Tay Ninh West. It was just a few clicks from the Cambodian Border.

Well, I decided to see if I could see anything of Tay Ninh West on Google earth, and was surprised by the results. You can see the outline of the base, and the runway is still intact in the center. I zoomed in and you can see the end of the base where I was housed for a few months, and then I tilted the view and you can see Nui Ba Din, AKA the Black Virgin Mountain. Anyone who was in that area has seen this mountain.

Google Earth, very nice program, and free. http://earth.google.com/

Snakedriver · 06-17-2009, 08:07 AM

I like the tilted view showing how the 4,000 ft. high Nui Ba Den just jumps up out of the flat terrain. I'm sure a geologist could explain it, but it was just one weird place. The bad guys crawled all over that thing like ants on an ant hill. Our guys on top at the radio relay station really took a lot of heat at nighttime when the little people needed something to do with themselves. One time I shot over 650 rockets in one day at that mountain trying to keep the guys on top from being overrun. We spent so much time around Tay Ninh they started calling us the "Tay Ninh for lunch bunch".

AL MOUNT · 06-17-2009, 08:19 AM

Cool pics dude...

There was a similar odd mountain near Cu Chi,

seems it was called "Monkey Mountain", but then I can't remember what I

had for supper last night...

Snakedriver · 06-17-2009, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AL MOUNT

"but then I can't remember what I had for supper last night"...

CRS!!! (Can't Remember SH**)

Getting old sucks!!!

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakedriver

I like the tilted view showing how the 4,000 ft. high Nui Ba Den just jumps up out of the flat terrain. I'm sure a geologist could explain it, but it was just one weird place. The bad guys crawled all over that thing like ants on an ant hill. Our guys on top at the radio relay station really took a lot of heat at nighttime when the little people needed something to do with themselves. One time I shot over 650 rockets in one day at that mountain trying to keep the guys on top from being overrun. We spent so much time around Tay Ninh they started calling us the "Tay Ninh for lunch bunch".

I like your Avatar, I remember the Blue Max Cobras at Tay Ninh, (I have a picture somewhere of a Blue Max cobra at Tay Ninh) and they also stopped by while we were in Cambodia. Who knows I might have watched you work once.

Snakedriver · 06-17-2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saito100

I like your Avatar, I remember the Blue Max Cobras at Tay Ninh, (I have a picture somewhere of a Blue Max Cobra at Tay Ninh) and they also stopped by while we were in Cambodia. Who knows I might have watched you work once.

It was an awesome bunch of guys! We loved supporting the ground units. I'm proud to say that the Blue Max tradition continues even today. They have been with the 82nd, 3rd I.D. and now 10th Mountain Div. out of Fort Drum NY. The "Pour Le Merite" logo graces the sides of their Longbow Apaches. I also think there is another Apache unit at the 101st at Ft. Campbell going by the name of Blue Max.

The first pic was taken at Tay Ninh, the second is one of today's Apaches. (Not me in the picture by the way).

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 10:56 AM

Those guys in the picture in Tay Ninh look so familiar, I remember seeing those guys at the PX and at the flight line.

Kind of makes you proud to see that Cross on todays birds. Kind of like when I see someone with a Cav patch, I say to myself, "Hey, been there done that"!

I will have to see if I can find the pictures of the blue max cobra in my pictures, but then I have to get it scanned. My scanner died a while back.

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 11:15 AM

Well Snakedriver, here is a view you may recall, kind of a shot from the air,,,

Also if I remember right, your snakes were at the southern end of the runway. Here is a google earth shot of that area.

and would you believe that they now have a cable car system to take them up to the temple that is about 1/2 way up? How time changes things.

Pistolenschutze · 06-17-2009, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saito100

Kind of like when I see someone with a Cav patch, I say to myself, "Hey, been there done that"!

Gary Owen, Saito!

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

Gary Owen, Saito!

Roger that, and as we said in the Arty business "On the Way"

!

Pistolenschutze · 06-17-2009, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saito100

Rodger that, and as we said in the Arty business "On the Way"

!

WP on target! Eight rounds TOT. Fire for effect.

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 12:00 PM

And here is Danang, the airport is still in commercial operation, and the old ammo dump is still in place.
Hardened aircraft bunkers still there too. Someone got up close and got a shot of some old fighters, looks like old MIG's.

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pistolenschutze

WP on target! Eight rounds TOT. Fire for effect.

SPLASH!

Snakedriver · 06-17-2009, 01:01 PM

I was going through some old pictures and found an actual picture of Nui Ba Den taken from a Huey. A slick driver friend sent it to me a couple of years ago. It's funny to see that they've turned it into an amusement park today, but that one picture shows well how high that sucker was.

Because we were technically an artillery unit we had to study and take a forward observers exam and become proficient in adjusting artillery if we were required to do so. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to see you guys exchanging jargon, so for my part: "your gun target line, right 50, drop 100, give me HE and fire for effect"

Saito100 · 06-17-2009, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakedriver

I was going through some old pictures and found an actual picture of Nui Ba Den taken from a Huey. A slick driver friend sent it to me a couple of years ago. It's funny to see that they've turned it into an amusement park today, but that one picture shows well how high that sucker was.

Because we were technically an artillery unit we had to study and take a forward observers exam and become proficient in adjusting artillery if we were required to do so. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to see you guys exchanging jargon, so for my part: "your gun target line, right 50, drop 100, give me HE and fire for effect"

It's funny we remember stuff from almost 40 years ago, but I don't remember what the wife told me to do a hour ago!

Here is FSB David in Cambodia, May 1970. Coming in with mail, new radios, and the all important Beer! and a front seat shot from a LOCH, Also a shot I caught of a WP marking round for a Firefight going on, you can see the smoke below from the firing!

triker361 · 01-15-2010, 11:27 AM

great to see these pic.'s

I was there in 67-68 in 67 was in 588th eng. bat. we did a lot of road work around that old black virgin mt. Helped build many sleeping qt.'s on the base some even had a bunker inside the building. metal roofs screens on the sides and half way up we put 1x4's on 45 deg. angles . Man was it hot that year

Saito100 · 01-15-2010, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by triker361

great to see these pic.'s

I was there in 67-68 in 67 was in 588th eng. bat. we did a lot of road work around that old black virgin mt. Helped build many sleeping qt.'s on the base some even had a bunker inside the building. metal roofs screens on the sides and half way up we put 1x4's on 45 deg. angles . Man was it hot that year

There has to be lots more tucked away, I wish everyone would dig them out and post, this would be a awsome thread.

BlueMax12 · 02-10-2010, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakedriver

It was an awesome bunch of guys! We loved supporting the ground units. I'm proud to say that the Blue Max tradition continues even today. They have been with the 82nd, 3rd I.D. and now 10th Mountain Div. out of Fort Drum NY. The "Pour Le Merite" logo graces the sides of their Longbow Apaches. I also think there is another Apache unit at the 101st at Ft. Campbell going by the name of Blue Max.

The first pic was taken at Tay Ninh, the second is one of today's Apaches. (Not me in the picture by the way).

Snakedriver - Are you in the Tay Ninh picture? I was referred to this forum by an An Loc alumni and saw the picture. I am front row, third from the left side.

beebz · 10-11-2010, 12:07 AM

Does anyone on here remember this incident?http://remembervietnam.homestead.com...uckspart2.html scroll down to the story "ambush on highway 22".My cousin,Arden Sonnenberg was killed in this action.

06-17-2009, 07:49 AM	#1
Saito100 V.I.P. Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 50	Just got back from Vietnam Well not really, but by using Google Earth, you would be surprised what you can find. In 1969 I was assigned with the 2nd Bn 19th Arty 1st Cav. I was sent to a place they called Rocket City, Tay Ninh West. It was just a few clicks from the Cambodian Border. Well, I decided to see if I could see anything of Tay Ninh West on Google earth, and was surprised by the results. You can see the outline of the base, and the runway is still intact in the center. I zoomed in and you can see the end of the base where I was housed for a few months, and then I tilted the view and you can see Nui Ba Din, AKA the Black Virgin Mountain. Anyone who was in that area has seen this mountain. Google Earth, very nice program, and free. http://earth.google.com/ Attached Images __________________ 2nd Bn 19th Arty 1st Cav 1969~1970 Cambodia April~May 1970 -->

06-17-2009, 08:07 AM	#2
Snakedriver Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SW. Florida Posts: 1,219	Re: Just got back from Vietnam I like the tilted view showing how the 4,000 ft. high Nui Ba Den just jumps up out of the flat terrain. I'm sure a geologist could explain it, but it was just one weird place. The bad guys crawled all over that thing like ants on an ant hill. Our guys on top at the radio relay station really took a lot of heat at nighttime when the little people needed something to do with themselves. One time I shot over 650 rockets in one day at that mountain trying to keep the guys on top from being overrun. We spent so much time around Tay Ninh they started calling us the "Tay Ninh for lunch bunch". __________________ Fear is a reaction..........Courage is a decision

06-17-2009, 08:19 AM	#3
AL MOUNT Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Cleaning my Thompson in The Foothills of the Ozark Mountains Posts: 3,130	Re: Just got back from Vietnam Cool pics dude... There was a similar odd mountain near Cu Chi, seems it was called "Monkey Mountain", but then I can't remember what I had for supper last night... __________________ 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division Vietnam 67-68

06-17-2009, 10:56 AM	#7
Saito100 V.I.P. Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 50	Re: Just got back from Vietnam Those guys in the picture in Tay Ninh look so familiar, I remember seeing those guys at the PX and at the flight line. Kind of makes you proud to see that Cross on todays birds. Kind of like when I see someone with a Cav patch, I say to myself, "Hey, been there done that"! I will have to see if I can find the pictures of the blue max cobra in my pictures, but then I have to get it scanned. My scanner died a while back. __________________ 2nd Bn 19th Arty 1st Cav 1969~1970 Cambodia April~May 1970 Last edited by Saito100; 06-17-2009 at 10:57 AM..

06-17-2009, 11:15 AM	#8
Saito100 V.I.P. Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 50	Re: Just got back from Vietnam Well Snakedriver, here is a view you may recall, kind of a shot from the air,,, Also if I remember right, your snakes were at the southern end of the runway. Here is a google earth shot of that area. and would you believe that they now have a cable car system to take them up to the temple that is about 1/2 way up? How time changes things. Attached Images __________________ 2nd Bn 19th Arty 1st Cav 1969~1970 Cambodia April~May 1970

06-17-2009, 12:00 PM	#12
Saito100 V.I.P. Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 50	Re: Just got back from Vietnam And here is Danang, the airport is still in commercial operation, and the old ammo dump is still in place. Hardened aircraft bunkers still there too. Someone got up close and got a shot of some old fighters, looks like old MIG's. Attached Images __________________ 2nd Bn 19th Arty 1st Cav 1969~1970 Cambodia April~May 1970

06-17-2009, 01:01 PM	#14
Snakedriver Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: SW. Florida Posts: 1,219	Re: Just got back from Vietnam I was going through some old pictures and found an actual picture of Nui Ba Den taken from a Huey. A slick driver friend sent it to me a couple of years ago. It's funny to see that they've turned it into an amusement park today, but that one picture shows well how high that sucker was. Because we were technically an artillery unit we had to study and take a forward observers exam and become proficient in adjusting artillery if we were required to do so. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to see you guys exchanging jargon, so for my part: "your gun target line, right 50, drop 100, give me HE and fire for effect" Attached Images __________________ Fear is a reaction..........Courage is a decision

01-15-2010, 11:27 AM	#16
triker361 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bradley,Illinois Posts: 23	Re: Just got back from Vietnam great to see these pic.'s I was there in 67-68 in 67 was in 588th eng. bat. we did a lot of road work around that old black virgin mt. Helped build many sleeping qt.'s on the base some even had a bunker inside the building. metal roofs screens on the sides and half way up we put 1x4's on 45 deg. angles . Man was it hot that year __________________ Lets have a parade today

10-11-2010, 12:07 AM	#19
beebz Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 45	Re: Just got back from Vietnam Does anyone on here remember this incident?http://remembervietnam.homestead.com...uckspart2.html scroll down to the story "ambush on highway 22".My cousin,Arden Sonnenberg was killed in this action.