1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Randy Cox Page 1

The following booklet is broken down into three segments:
1) Excerpts from Letters written to my wife, Glenda: memories associated with dates and supporting details.
2) Events, animals, etc
3) Miscellaneous entries: Rules of Engagement, Admiral Nimitz WWII, Pictures

Excerpts from Letters written to my wife, Glenda: memories associated with dates and supporting details

Randy Cox D/1/8 Pleiku, AnKhe

FATE, BUDA, ALIENS, GOD- how did I survive? When you count the number of near deaths, and/or actions mentioned in the following, you can
only come to one conclusion God was watching over me. I know my family prayed for me and I had a believe in God which did not fully
development until later in my life. Having said that I know he has a purpose for me and/or my family. If I had not returned; my wife’s life would
have been altered and my son would not have been born. As you go through the following, you can decide as to where my religious beliefs are
derived from.

The following is an outline of my year in Vietnam. First part is excerpts from the letters I wrote home with a few notes concerning events which
I referred to in the letter. The second part is based on my memories of events of that year. Part three is supporting information.
I was attending college and working full time from 1966 to 1968 and starting to feel the pressure of trying to maintain this life. I dropped out of
college making myself available for the draft. Glenda and I had been engaged for 1 ½ years and we set the wedding date for October 26, 1968
and on October 25, 1968 I received my draft notice.

Shortly after my wedding I reported to Montgomery for processing prior to training. As we lined up for our physical examination, I remember the
doctor walking down the line looking at each of the candidates then stopping in front of me. He looked at my feet and asked if I had any feet
problems. I did not and answer accordingly- NO SIR. Since, I have flat feet I have surmise he was concern if I was fit for service because of my
feet. Just think if I had said YES, I probably would have been reclassified as 4F; not classified for service. If that had been the case my life would
have been completely different. NO GI bill for college, working at Avondale Mills until I was in my mid-fifties when they went bankrupt, and my job
opportunities would have been limited because of age and living in a town in which most of the citizens worked for Avondale.

After the examination, we reported for 8 weeks of basic training at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga, then AIT for 8 weeks (Advance Infantry Training)
at Ft Polk, Louisiana. At the conclusion of AIT, I was given the opportunity to go to OCS (officers candidate school) but I asked the magic
question “Would I have to extend my time”. YES, four years. NO, thank you. Then I was offered the opportunity to go to NCO school
(Non-commissioned Officer) for 8 weeks at Fort Benning, Columbus, Ga and I would not have to extend my time and upon completion I would
become a buck Sargent an E5. They say never volunteer in the Army, but I did in order to stay state side for 12 weeks for NCO training and the
additional 12 weeks working as a Drill Instructor (DI) at Fort McClellan, Anniston, Al. all prior to being shipped to Vietnam on Oct 28, 1968 one
year after being drafted.

The NCO Problem . . . __ (Excerpts from a article by Jerry S. Horton, Ph.D See the full article here:

As early as 1956 the Army officially knew it would not have enough NCO's for a sustained war. A staff study asserted that in the future the need
for enlisted leaders would far exceed the number available and that at the commencement of, and during hostilities, the need for leaders might
be so pressing as to make it necessary to appoint leaders before their ability could actually be proved on the battlefield.

It was also recognized in Vietnam that it was not a senior commander's war, it was a junior leader's war. There were over 200 combat sergeants
turning over each week and many men were one tour enlistees or inductees. The Army faced the problem of sending career men back into
harm's way or filling NCO positions with unqualified men. The demand for experienced NCO's in Vietnam far exceeded the supply. In Vietnam
the Army was trying to meet these shortages by making a two-grade substitution of personnel. This means the platoon leader in combat is
forced to pick the brightest PFC he can find, declare him the sergeant, and entrust the lives of a dozen men to his care. _________________

The Solution . . . The Non Commission Candidate Course (NCOC) at Ft. Benning GA _ (Infantry MOS's: 11B, 11C, 11F)

My training took place at the NCO Academy at Fort Benning, Georgia. When I graduated this time, I would have earned the rank of E-5, known
to everyone in the military as an instant NCO! An instant Sergeant! A Shake & Bake Sergeant! _

Most career noncommissioned officers rise through the ranks in the Army only after years of service. The older NCO's resented us because we
would receive our stripes in school, and not in long-term service or combat. Many of the enlisted men, whom we would command, resented us
because we were inexperienced, and we might have taken their opportunity for field promotion from them or get them killed while we matured
on the job in combat. We were often treated with the same disdain by commissioned officers, although their training had been very similar to
ours.

When I, and many others like me, went from an E-1 to an E-5 in only three months, we became a brand-new Shake & Bake Sergeant. This
nickname was taken from the Betty Crocker quick-mix product for baking chicken and had become very popular during the sixties. In three short
months, the Army produced instant sergeants . . . Shake & Bake NCO's.

The NCOC training program was a very demanding 12 week course with a high percentage of candidates washed-out during the course period.
The last two months of our training was identical to that given to OCS officer candidates. Our technical and theory classes took place in the same
classrooms of the Infantry School, and we were trained on the same field ranges by the same instructors. During this period the harassment and
discipline continued, but the Army's goal was not to attempt to break us, but as to weed out those who were deemed unable to become capable
leaders. The Army wanted only the best to finish the program. They needed us in Vietnam....

Experience in Vietnam History shows that the Shake & Bake Sergeants performed well in combat. They served with distinction as leaders in our
infantry units. They suffered high casualty rates in combat because they were assigned to units that experienced heavy fighting. There were
1,003 Shake & Bakes killed in combat out of 20,068 men trained. This casualty rate, at five percent, was considered to be extremely high. I had
no idea that I was pursuing one of the Army's most dangerous careers, but we were invented for only one purpose - to lead men in combat.

It turned out that the last Shake & Bake Sergeant graduated from Fort Benning on March 18, 1972. The Army concluded that the program was a success. Because of it the Army implemented two new, similar programs. These programs gave new opportunities for advancement to career soldiers returning from Vietnam. The new schools established at Fort Benning were BNCOC (Basic NCOC) and ANCOC (Advanced NCOC). The Shake & Bake program was the basis for all training of NCO's in today's Army.

This extra schooling kept me in the states until Oct, 28 1969, This meant I missed the part of the TET Offensive which is explained in the following:

Tet Offensive, attacks staged by North Vietnamese forces beginning in the early hours of January 31, 1968, during the Vietnam War. The Tet
Offensive consisted of simultaneous attacks by some 85,000 troops under the direction of the North Vietnamese government. The attacks were
carried out against five major South Vietnamese cities, dozens of military installations, and scores of towns and villages throughout South Vietnam.
The offensive derives its name from the Vietnamese New Year holiday, during which the attacks occurred.

By mid-February, or two weeks into the offensive, Washington was estimating that enemy casualties had risen to almost 39,000, including 33,249
killed. Allied casualties were placed at 3,470 dead, one-third of them Americans, and 12,062 wounded, almost half of them Americans.

Phase 1: January 30 – March 28, 1968
Phase 2: May 5 – June 15, 1968
Phase 3: August 9 – September 23, 1968

South Vietnamese-American tactical victory;[1] North Vietnamese propaganda, political and strategic victory[2]
• Heavy casualties on both sides[3][4]
• North Vietnamese invasion repulsed[1]
• Depletion of Viet Cong leading to the use of greater North Vietnamese manpower

The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a complex web of different jungle paths that enabled communist troops to travel from North Vietnam to areas close to
Saigon. It has been estimated that the National Liberation Front received sixty tons of aid per day from this route. Most of this was carried by
porters. Occasionally bicycles and ponies would also be used.

At regular intervals along the route, the NLF built base camps. As well as providing a place for them to rest, the base camps provided medical
treatment for those who had been injured or had fallen ill on the journey. In the early days of the war, it took six months to travel from North
Vietnam to Saigon on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. But the more people who traveled along the route, the easier it became. By 1970, fit and experienced
soldiers could make the journey in six weeks. From the air, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was impossible to identify and although the United States Air
Force tried to destroy this vital supply line by heavy bombing, they were unable to stop the constant flow of men and supplies. The main danger to
the people who traveled on the Ho Chi Minh Trail was not American bombs but diseases like malaria. In the early days, as many as 10 per cent of
the porters traveling down the trail died of disease.

The North Vietnamese also used the Ho Chi Minh Trail to send soldiers to the south. At times, as many as 20,000 soldiers a month came from
Hanoi in this way. To stop this traffic, it was suggested that a barrier of barbed wire and minefields called the McNamara Line should be built. This
plan was abandoned in 1967 after repeated attacks by the NLF on those involved in constructing this barrier.

Oct 19, 1969 LZ Pat---Expect 2nd & 3rd platoons back tomorrow with 1st on 15-minute standby. Required daily rations of Dapsone visually
verified by squad leaders and once a week rations for Chloraquine-Primaquine visual verified by platoon leaders . Also by Sunday a report on
protective masks and steel pots needed. Daily by 07:00 weapons cleanliness status report. Briefed RTO on my radio policies. Put out word about
grenades double pinned, taped & in pouches. Got in Beer & Soda today 56 cases. Finally got my rucksack. In about 3 or 4 days I will be moving
Delta to take up road security along QL19 (14) from AnKhe to the Mang Yang Pass. Around the 1st of the month we are going to move the entire
Bn. to Bong Song, 30 Kilo's North of AnKhe, near the coast. It's still raining off and on, so things get bad every now and then, but no enemy action
yet.
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This is the beginning of my trip to Vietnam. The flight was uneventful, but it did give us an opportunity to view the county side from 30,000 feet
-Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, etc. Before traveling overseas, we were stationed in the Northwestern US for processing, I think it was
Washington. We were restricted to a large building upon arrival, but that afternoon three NCO’s walked us to the NCO club for a couple of drinks.

They woke us up at 4:30 am. Rumor has it 70 of the 83 of us will be flying out on stand-by. Several people asked about getting stand-by status
wanting to go to avoid the wait. Since I did not catch that flight, I was able to go the to the PX to send my wife, Glenda, a set of earrings as a
present. I believe it was an anniversary present since the 26th was our FIRST Anniversary.

1:00 pm and I am still waiting on my flight. All we had do for entertainment is play pin ball, watch tv or lay in our bed. As an afterthought I wished I
had bought a book at the PX to help keep me occupied. Several times a day we would police around the building, it was to insure we stayed busy
and not get in trouble. Policing consists of walking in a picket line picking up any trash laying on the ground- cigarette butts, gum wrappers, etc.
Naturally, there would be little because of prior policing duties.

During our flight, we stopped at Anchorage, Alaska for a meal and to refuel the plane for the 7-hour flight to Japan. At Anchorage, the temperature
was 38 degrees, wind blowing and snow falling, and we were in warm weather clothing(khakis). We off loaded the plane and ran to the PX to stock
up on a few items for the flight. As we walked around the PX, we were we shocked at the expense of items on the shelves.

We left Tokyo for the 5 ½ hour flight to Bien Hoa, Vietnam. I was amazed at the size of Tokyo based upon the length of the flight over the city
lights. The discussion on the plane was around President Nixon’s speech on Nov 3, 1969. After crossing the international day line, we realized we
had lost a day. We arrived at 8:00 am and were transported by convoy to Long Binh. The weather is like Alabama-hot, humid, currently with a little
wind but the smell is different. As we off loaded, we passed soldiers heading to our plane as it was being refueled. It was a solemn sight to see the
expression between the two groups. Ours being an apprehension of what lay before us and the Vets had a mixture of facial expression from joy to
gloom depending upon their function in country. Some with plush jobs, luxuries, and benefits which they did not want to leave.

I mentioned the smell because it seemed everyone had BO. It was awful. Being fresh from the states and having normal hygiene for most of my life,
playing football, hunting, going through basic and AIT in the military I developed an odor, but I had the ability to clean up after a couple of days. I
had never smelled body odor that strong. That is one factor, which came in to play as I patrolled Viet Nam. The Vietnamese’s body odor was
different from ours’s because of the foods they ate which meant their human waste deposited around the area had a distinct odor. We and they
walked around Viet Nam looking and smelling for each other and I am certain we were both were thankful our encounters were limited.

In addition to the BO and other strange smells, add the smell of human waste and diesel fuel being burnt to the atmosphere. The outhouse is just like
you would think but without a hole in the ground. There was a bottom third of a 55-gallon drum positioned to catch the waste. They had latrines
built with the lower quarter of a 55-gallon drum below the seat to catch the urine and waste. This waste would have to be disposed of and the
common method was for two mamasan (older Vietnamese ladies) to put the container on a long pole between the two of them carry it to a safe
location; mix the waste with fuel then set it on fire if the duty was not assigned to a soldier. By the sheer number of military personnel on base camp,
you can image the number of the containers which are being burnt each day, so it was a constant smell you got accustomed to after a couple of
days. This duty could be performed by soldiers by dragging the drum out a safe distance from the wooden outhouse to perform the routine
mentioned above if the duties were not assigned to the locals.

I did not get this duty but at times my men had to perform this duty. The outhouse was a luxury while on a firebase. In the field, you can guess
what was required except we had TP. One pack per meal (c-rations). My brother-in-law was in Korea and his method was to fold the TP into a
square tearing off the corner (save that portion). After you finish your job, you poke your finger through the hold and clean yourself. The small
portion you saved was to clean your fingernail (joke).

C Rations

Tissue

I went to the snack bar for a bite to eat and played the nickel slot machine winning $2.00. Because of the flight and time changes I fell asleep
around 5:00 pm and slept until 4:00 am ready to start work details. Small world I found someone from my hometown, Sylacauga, this was
his third tour in Vietnam.

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