Article transcription
CHU LAI (DIVARTY IO) — A convoy is like a roller coaster. It has only one direction, forward—and one speed, fast. You buy a ticket to ride the roller coaster but on a convoy the price you pay may be your life.
Tying the bandoliers of ammunition around their waists and adjusting the straps on their protective maskes, the men congregated around their trucks. At this point their mission was classified as secret.
Convoys are big business. A lot of mens lives, valuable vehicles and essential supplies are at stake. Exposed on narrow treacherous roads for long periods of time these metal chains cannot stop to fight, they must shake off any attack and push on. Security elements are assigned specific sectors where they can repel any enemy that attempts to attack the main body. No detail must be overlooked.
For the past four days 27 armor-plated tracked vehicles from H Troop, 17th Cavalry, had swarmed over a desolate 17 mile stretch of road. Part of the 198th Infantry Brigade these mighty Sheridan tanks and their assistants the scrappy ‘A’ Cavs had swept the road, a road that had not been cleared for over a year and favorite location for enemy mines.
In their trucks the men waited for the final word from the convoy commander who was in radio contact with H Troop. At last it came and 116 starters wound up their engines, 116 emergency brakes were released, almost 300 men struggled into their flak jackets and steel helmets. As the convoy moved out the main gate the metallic snap of weapons being loaded broke the constant rumble of the straining engines.
The real business at hand only became serious again when they traded the smooth highway for the rutted dusty trail, leading due west to Tra Bong.
The first track and several trucks were met everywhere by excited children and curious adults. The parade seemed endless. The last vehicle of the chain went almost unnoticed, the people had had entirely enough of the dust and diesel fumes.
Watching the helicopters reconning their flanks and seeing the infantrymen scrambling out of their holes to take pictures the men of the convoy began to feel uneasy. Why the heavy air support? Why the unusual interest by the infantrymen? The reason was soon revealed. A Sheridan tank completely destroyed lay smoldering on its side, the turret 20 yards away on the other side of the road. Drivers and guards became very aware of the meager protection provided by the sandbags under their feet.
After more than four hours on the road the convoy entered Tra Bong the half-way point and old tensions were exchanged for new pressures.
The trucks with artillery ammo peeled off and headed to the storage area of Alpha Battery. Other vehicles sped to the Caribou runway where they disgorged their tons of asphalt to the waiting engineers. More than ten tons of rice for the local Vietnamese were handed over to the authorities.
The MPs waved the lead vehicles back to the road. The run home. Mission completed successfully; another convoy safely home. The artillery will continue to fire, the Caribou will continue to fly, and the hungry villagers will be fed.
But how do you measure a convoy? The logistics people must record the number of miles, and vehicles, tons of payload and casualties, but the real yardstick is comprised of sweatbands, dusty nostrils, heartbeats and hot sodas. The heroes, as always, unseen, are the men of H Troop, who made it possible and paid the price.
Photograph captions
A gunship provides security for vehicles of the 23rd Supply and Transportation Battalion on the recent convoy. The 1st Battalion, 52 Infantry and H Troop 17th Cavalry, both of the 198th Infantry Brigade, assisted in securing the road.
A jeep and a V-11 armored vehicle provide ground security for the 23rd Supply and Transportation Battalion on the convoy to Tra Bong Special Forces advised CIDG camp. The 1st Battalion, 52nd Infantry and H Troop, 17th Cavalry assisted in securing the road which had not been used in over a year.