TBS 2-67 Cruisebook_Updated_7Jan23

Second Platoon
reported to TBS on 03 Sept. I was assigned to 2nd
Platoon, Charlie Company, Class 2-67.
My Memories of TBS: I was newly married at TBS and
lived in an apartment in Woodbridge. I remember
carpooling to base with some of the other guys, notably
Tom Williamson, my Ga. Tech classmate. Our second
platoon commander, Capt. Brickley, and the other
company staff officers were great role models for all of
us. The field exercises were my favorite part of the
training. I qualified "expert" with the M-14 rifle and
the .45 cal. pistol.
TBS Graduation: Capt. Brickley called me in and told
me I would be assigned to Artillery (my second choice)
because it required a decent math and mechanical
aptitude which he assumed I had from my Ga. Tech
education. Infantry was my first choice, but I was
pleased to be assigned to Artillery.
After Completing TBS: I went from TBS to Ft. Sill for
Artillery School. Our TBS group stuck together there,
and I recall that we performed well against our Army
classmates. It was a good school, and this, combined
with the excellent TBS experience, prepared me well
for things to come. We completed artillery school in
early April 1967.
Vietnam Era Service: After Ft. Sill and a 2 week leave I
went straight to Vietnam via a brief stop in Okinawa. I
arrived in Da Nang on 6 May 1967 and was assigned to
Delta Battery 2/11. I joined the battery in Tam Ky.
Shortly thereafter we relocated to the Que Son Valley
where we participated in a series of operations
throughout the summer and into the Fall: Union I,
Union II, Adair, Calhoun, & Swift. I was an F.O. assigned
mostly to A/1/5 and B/1/5. I served as an F.O. until mid
fall when I took on other duties in the battery
(Assist.FDO, FDO, Assist. XO & XO) for the remainder of
my tour. In the fall of '67 we moved out of the Que Son
Valley and went to a position near Hoi An. Then we
relocated to Phu Loc which is north of Da Nang and just
north of the Hai Van Pass. Phu Loc was not a good
choice to locate the 1/5 C.P. and our battery, so we
moved to Lang Co for a short time and then in late
January moved up near Phu Bai. When the Tet
Offensive started, we provided fire support to the 5th
Marine units in Operation Hue City (mostly with 8"
Howitzers attached to our battery). After Tet, we were
a part of Operations Baxter Garden and Houston. In D/
2/11 I was fortunate to serve with my good TBS
classmates and friends, Hugh Ronalds, Bob Redlin and
Stan Holmes. We had great camaraderie together. We
also enjoyed being in contact with Mo Fletcher and
Carl Fulford over in 1/5 until they took their early exits
as WIA's. I departed Vietnam in May 1968.
Bob Redlin and Tom Gay
2‐14