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Chapter 5
ARRIVAL AT THE REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Amphibious landing at Qui Nhon on July, 7th., 1965
July 7, 1965 —Preparation for an ‘opposed’ landing had been planned for days/ weeks before. 4@ Beginning at approximately 0300 our troops were assembled —breakfast eaten in the ship’s mess hall—inspections were done—ammo distributed along with a two day ration of c-rations for each Marine—platoon sgts. , squad leaders, and officers inspected each Marine to insure that he had all the gear that had been prescribed in our orders. The troops had made up their packs, checked their equipment and were ‘ready’ before turning in the night before—we knew we had an ‘early morning’ so we didn’t wait for the wake up call to get prepared. We had been conducting classes throughout the ship to orient our troops to the landing zone, the region of Qui Nhon, enemy characteristics and intelligence. We were to expect an ‘opposed’ landing—the exact nature of the enemy opposition was unknown. So now—the time was here—the smell of diesel fuel coming from the ship and the amphibious vehicles in the belly of the ship signaled that soon , we would board those vehicles and they would be launched for the landing. We wound our way down ladderwells until we came to the huge open bay with the amtraks idiling—the sounds of the diesel engines and the smell of diesel exhaust was unforgettable. Our Company was the ‘first wave’
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