NDQSAAir Defense Artillery service during the Vietnam War
NDQSAThese NDQSA member stories were originally published on the old website. They were not part of those selected for the Heritage Page due to size and content. They are being shared again on the updated NDQSA.COM website to preserve them in perpetuity for family, historians, and all those interested in Air Defense in Vietnam and the men who served with those units. The Table of Contents identifies, whenever possible, the author, unit, time period, and location in Vietnam.
Morris Johnson’s trip from Dong Ha to Da Nang turns into a convoy of one. Well, no big deal – sounds like, but no convoy had gone from Dong Ha on the DMZ to Da Nang since the Tet offensive.
The VC gain a victory without firing a shot. Jim Sproles’ story about an event while getting ready to open a new fire base called Grant and were awaiting their turn to get airlifted.
On the job training takes on new meaning for Richard Shand at the Duster Compound during his baptism under fire. His total live fire training was four rounds on the Duster in a gravel pit.
Viewing Viet Cong bodies for the first time at FB Gray was a disquieting experience for Richard Shand.
Search and Rescue along the DMZ – Jim Perkins’ unique and human perspective.
Although no Club Med, a peaceful village offered some respite from the war.
Richard Shand, D/5/2. Our section of two Dusters helped to establish Bold, a remote fire support base in the midst of jungle near the Nui Chua Cham mountain south-east of Gia Ray (80 km NW of Saigon). We were the first Dusters to operate in this sector. We were expecting to be there only one week but our stay was extended at least twice. Morale was less than spectacular.
Richard Shand ponders whether death is the final reality. At Firebase Bold it seemed that we had disappeared into some forgotten part of the war.
Our section of Dusters supported three self-propelled 155’s who fired in support of allied operations against an NVA (North Vietnamese Army) division in the area. I was informed that the NVA had already attacked all the other allied bases in our vicinity. What follows is a somewhat rambling discourse about events at Bold.
Richard Shand’s journey into the heart of darkness at the edge of civilization in Feb 1970 as the prepared the way for the April incursion into Cambodia.
Louis Block’s impassioned account of how he rediscovered his brothers-in-arms.
Serving with D/6/71 in Vietnam: Glenn Strohl, D/6/71, Cam Ranh Bay, 1965
Glen Strohl’s account of serving as XO of Battery D, 6/71 from deployment in 1965, arrival aboard the Gaffey at Qui Nhon and establishing the company as the northern most Hawk battery on the Cam Ranh peninsula.
The photograph of that little girl is one of the most recognizable and gripping images of the war. The photograph, and the feeling it evokes, is at the very heart of the new memories of the event. The photo is an accurate depiction of about 1/500th of a second of the immediate aftermath of an all-Vietnamese accident in an all-Vietnamese fight in June of 1972, and it was originally reported that way, until twisted by manufactured details have changed the perception and altered the reported history of that tragedy.
Richard Shand had the somewhat unique experience of being a Canadian in Vietnam. As a resident alien he was drafted and sent to Vietnam. While there he was told there were less than 100 like him. Years later that led to research into these anonymous warriors.