TBS 2-67 Cruisebook_Updated_7Jan23

John Burwell Wilkes
marijuana bush was there.
One reason the threat of a transfer to another unit was so effective
was my policy regarding beer. On most days we were able to issue
two cans of beer to each Marine per day. One was issued at noon and
one in the evening and often iced down cold. There were strict rules
that the troops had to honor to keep the beer flowing. If a Marine
accepted a can he had to drink it with that meal or return it, no
hoarding or giving it to their buddy, and he had to return the empty
can to get the next issue.
The beer draw was unique to 1st Prov. Because we were the only 155
battery out on the firebases, and it was certain that every resupply net
loaded with 155 ammunition had to be coming straight to us. So it was
safe for our rep at VCB (Vandegrift Combat Base), where all the aerial
resupply originated, to add cases of beer to our ammo nets just before
the 155 nets were lifted off. No one else had that luxury. There were
always several 105 batteries out on the firebases. 105mm ammo and
anything else, other than 155 ammo, could be going to any number of
other units. Beer was just too precious a commodity to be given away
to other units.
Another commodity that went well with the beer for me was smoked
oysters. I developed a craving for them as a distraction from threemeals­a­day
C­rations but, of course, I was dependent upon my wife
and mother for my oyster resupply. At the height of my craving I was
not receiving any oysters. I kept asking more forcefully in my letters
home for more oysters, but they didn’t come. My irritation grew into
anger for what seemed to be my ignored requests. In fact, every time
my wife and mother received my escalated demands, they would
double the amount of oysters they put in the mail. Unknown to me, all
package mail was being held back and only letter mail was allowed to
reach us. Finally, the packages were delivered all at once, and I was
inundated with tons of oysters. For a couple of days the whole battery
dined on oysters.
Even during our draught of enemy to shoot at, several interesting
incidents occurred that are worthy of reciting. One evening on a
firebase on top of a mountain along the Laotian border we experienced
a cold front blow through, the likes of which I never felt before or
after in Viet Nam. In order to build the firebase, the triple­canopy
jungle had been stripped away giving us full access to the cool breeze.
I had had a particularly hard day and had fallen asleep on my cot as
the sun was going down but, soon after that, Lt Ferrari shook me
awake. I had let my left hand dangle down to the floor, and we were
being invaded by a huge herd of rats that Ferrari thought might try to
eat my hand. The first thing I saw was that the floor was covered with
rats. We chased them out of the hooch as best we could and, to our
great relief, they did not stay very long. Very quickly they were all
gone like they were on some kind of mass migration. I still have never
heard anything that would explain this phenomenon.
On another firebase closer to the coast on much lower ground, we
were almost assaulted by a herd of wild elephants. Something must
have spooked them and they were moving through the jungle rather
quickly right toward our position. They were making a lot of noise
breaking tree branches and trumpeting like they were mad about
something. Having a bunch of elephants trample through our gun pits
would have been disastrous, so I ordered one of the howitzers to fire
over their heads. Thankfully, the howitzer turned them almost ninety
degrees, and we were relieved as we listened to them trumpet off into
A‐72