Tank birthday, 55+ years

[Subsea]

They actually didn't give us a lot of choices and there was no where to run. :rolleyes:

Paul,
I read the original investigative report. Not only did you’ll call for napalm in the perimeter, a US marine 155 mm artillery company saturated the area until dawn broke and the smoke cleared.

I don’t understand how anyone lived thru that. It wasn’t your time.

 

[mmw64]

Yop just had a TAVR heart valve operation, and a pace maker. Awake through both operations. Quite a trip. Bought a treadmill I bet its the only one in North America thats used every day. CT scan found three other unrelated issues. The heart problem was found during a scan after a stroke just retired 3 years ago stroke after a year giddy up

My husband had the TAVR heart valve four years ago. So amazing what can be done without opening the chest. Best of luck to you and good health.

 

[Paul B]

Paul,
I read the original investigative report. Not only did you’ll call for napalm in the perimeter, a US marine 155 mm artillery company saturated the area until dawn broke and the smoke cleared.

Patrick, where did you find that. I never saw a Marine in my time in Nam. They were mostly north of us. I did meet some Aussies from Australia.

I don't remember napalm being used at Illingworth but we certainly could have used it.

 

[Subsea]

Patrick, where did you find that. I never saw a Marine in my time in Nam. They were mostly north of us. I did meet some Aussies from Australia.

I don't remember napalm being used at Illingworth but we certainly could have used it.

That may have been the movie. In each case, your brigade was the bait:

 

[Paul B]

Yes, that is the book. I was asked to speak with the author Philip Keith about 4 years ago about it because I was actually in the battle and Philip was not. He was in Nam and I think he was a fighter pilot and got shot through the chest so he is a Patriot.

He just interviewed a few people who were there including one guy who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He didn't interview me.

I didn't know there was a movie about it. What is the name of it and when did it come out?

When our 40 tons of artillery rounds blew up, the blast was so severe, besides knocking out everyone on the firebase for 10 minutes including our attackers, it blew the tires off this jeep.

 

[Paul B]

To post something about fish, I just did some tests on my tank. I had to buy test kits for this.

My pH and the pH of the NSW behind my house is 8.15 which is fine. But the Alk of my tank reads 4.5 which is very low and the reading gave me the horrors until I tested the NSW that I just collected and it is 2.8 which is really low.

I figured I tested it wrong so I bought a new kit and watched a YouTube video and I tested it correctly.

My corals look fine so I'm not sure if I am going to raise it being it is higher than NSW unless the alk in New York water is much lower than the tropics.

 

[Paul B]

Patrick, I can't find a movie about Illingworth but I see we had a reunion which I didn't go to. It tells the accounts of that battle. I was the COMMO Chief for the 1st of the 77th FA Battery
https://www.army.mil/article/255325/vietnam_veterans_remember_battle_of_illingworth
One of our ammo carriers. It is wrecked and got turned over.

 

[Subsea]

Patrick, I can't find a movie about Illingworth but I see we had a reunion which I didn't go to. It tells the accounts of that battle. I was the COMMO Chief for the 1st of the 77th FA Battery
https://www.army.mil/article/255325/vietnam_veterans_remember_battle_of_illingworth
One of our ammo carriers. It is wrecked and got turned over.

I got confused with Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers” which details Battle of La Drang 1965.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Were_Soldiers

 

[Freenow54]

They actually didn't give us a lot of choices and there was no where to run. :rolleyes:

Sound's like they got treated the same as you

 

[Freenow54]

Actually the book left me wanting for more

 

[Freenow54]

My husband had the TAVR heart valve four years ago. So amazing what can be done without opening the chest. Best of luck to you and good health.

Thank You very Much. It was a wild thing to be totally aware of what was going on. I was in the best hospital around me. It is a teaching hospital and teaches all of North America. listened to the surgeons and did not hear oops. Paul would like that humor. Was yapping to the anesthesiologist the whole time. Same for the pacemaker. Yup NO ZIPPER

 

[Baildia]

Barteyusa sabir tarehim.

 

[Paul B]

I got confused with Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers” which details Battle of La Drang 1965.

That makes sense. I don't think there is a movie about Illingworth. I don't think they want to many people to know that we were bait.

Actually the book left me wanting for more

Well the battle was only 4 or 5 hours (I think) and it was the dry season so we could only see a few yards in either direction due to the red dust so I couldn't see exactly what was happening except right near me.

Of course many things were going on as is stated in the Illingworth book but as I stated in my book, I only told of my personal experience and didn't want to quote from that other book.

As a matter of fact, most of what I know about the battle I found out from that book because it takes into account many other people that were experiencing different things and doing different things from what I was doing.

I was the COMMO Chief and in the first few minutes of the battle all our communications were down including all my antennas and the FDC bunker was hit with a rocket and collapsed killing the 7 guys inside so I didn't have any communicating to do. (FDC= Fire direction control and was a big underground bunker with 6 layers of sandbags on top)

A lieutenant saved our lives by contacting some Cobra gunships that helped us and transmitted communications for us and other firebases fired around us.

 

[Paul B]

Sorry about sidelining my own thread with all this army stuff. :cool:

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Sorry about sidelining my own thread with all this army stuff. :cool:

I for one am interested in all your stories fish related or not!

 

[Reefering1]

Same here.
You are a hero! it's a privilege to hear these stories straight from the horses mouth.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

paul, didnt you say your book is on amazon? i cant find it...

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Patrick, I can't find a movie about Illingworth but I see we had a reunion which I didn't go to. It tells the accounts of that battle. I was the COMMO Chief for the 1st of the 77th FA Battery
https://www.army.mil/article/255325/vietnam_veterans_remember_battle_of_illingworth
One of our ammo carriers. It is wrecked and got turned over.

Did you get trained at Ft. Sill? I was there in 85'

 

[redfishbluefish]

paul, didnt you say your book is on amazon? i cant find it...

Click on the link in his signature...it will take you right to his Amazon page.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

when i do that it just takes me to his aquarium book. i can find that one. its his one about Vietnam that i cant find :thinking-face: