173d Image of the Month - Corregidor

The unit trained for over 6 months in the middle of
summer wearing long underwear to prepare us for the
tropical heat in the South Vietnam jungle. The 3rd
Herd, as we were so proudly called, finally deployed.
We flew from Pope Air Force Base to the West Coast
and took a US Navy troop carrier, the USNS General
William Weigel AP-119 from San Francisco, California
to South Vietnam. It was a great adventure for me as
we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge and on out
passed "The Rock", Alcatraz Island. I actually didn't
know what I was in store for. I had only heard a little
about Vietnam before coming in the Army. We arrived
about 28 days later on the 23rd of October 1967 just in
time for the Lunar New Year "Tet Offensive".
I remember arriving in country, most of all is when the
ship was docking I looked down from the deck of the
ship and saw Command Sergeant Major Bobby Teague
and Colonel Cleland. They were standing there like
two proud old warriors waiting for their troops to
arrive safely. There was a band playing the Army song
and lots of soldiers on the dock. It was a proud
moment! We unloaded the ship and had a formation
to formally welcome us to the country. Then we got
issued live ammo right there on the dock and loaded
onto the backs of deuce and half trucks. The convoy
through the dusty Ho Chi Minh trail north to the
Central Highlands was something you just don't forget.
There were little children on the side of the road
begging for anything we would throw to them. The
truck beds were lined with full sandbags in case we ran
over a land mine. It was so dusty you could hear the
dust bellowing under the tires of the truck. We finally
arrived in Camp Radcliffe, An Khe, South Vietnam.
There we went through the Brigades’ Jungle School
and finally on to join the rest of the Brigade as Sky
Soldiers.
One day while still in An Khe one of my Basic Training
buddies showed up, his name is Michael B. Ludas. He
had done his tour in Nam and was on his way home. It
was a great reunion because we got separated right
after Jump School. We yelled at each other in the
standard military way "Ludas, Michael B." "Cook,
William E." and stood in the middle of the road
hugging. A short time later, maybe two or three
months, I ran into two of my hometown friends,
Reginald Terry and Henry Rattery. They told me at my
going away party to Vietnam that they would find me.
"MAN WAS I SURPRISED" when I ran into them
together at the holding area across the road from the
Jungle School in An Khe. They came in the army on the
buddy system. We had time to have a few beers and
for me to ask about home and my Mom.
I was one of the lucky ones, I survived Vietnam and
was stationed at Fort Benning with the 197th Infantry
Brigade as an aggressor for soldiers going to Vietnam.
I got my discharge from the Army in 1972. I went
through a religious period, changed my name, and
after a 10-year break from the active Army I came back
in! It was November 1982 I went right back to the
82nd Airborne Division as a 63 Bravo, Light Wheel
Vehicle Mechanic and have been serving proudly ever
since. I have two adult sons, Billy Cook, Jr., a
computer programmer, and Michael Fredrick Cook, a
pro-fessional Drummer -- "I love you fellows". I retired
from the 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort
Bragg where I was the (S-4) Senior Maintenance
Supervisor for the Group.
Some of my assignments while I was on active duty
were the 313th Military Intelligence Battalion, 82nd
Airborne Division, the 5th of the 9th Manchu, 6th
Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Delta 1-61,
4th Basic Combat Training Brigade Fort Jackson, South
Carolina, Bravo Company 702nd Main Support
Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division Camp Nimble, Korea
and finally HHC 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne). It
has been a very rewarding 24 years of service. “I'm no
hero, but I've served with some!" You can can contact
me at 910-273-5686 or fax me at my International
E-fax 781-846-4685, e-mail address is
ankhe173@aol.com
GOD BLESS OUR SKY SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. GOD
BLESS OUR ARMY AND GOD BLESS AMERICA. (ROLL TIDE)
- - - - - - -
Sent in by VN Vet, Bob Clark, 1 st /5 th /7 th SF.
2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter / May 2013 – Issue 53
Page 16 of 74