From Ron a reader:
I came across your site as I was looking on the net and thought you might want some additional pictures of the base as it was in 1969. I was a US Marine radio operator and was in charge of LZ (landing zone) for one of many operations in the area. I used to stand out on the very edge of the cat walk going off the main landing platform and talk to the helicopters and guide them in.
Ron
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Thank you Ron! I really appreciate the photos as there are very few out there. My dad Major Frank Maki was at FB Fuller May 1971 until June 22, 1971 when sadly he was killed in action. He was the only American lost in that action.
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The full Stories are below:
Vietnam: Firebase Fuller
Major Frank Maki Awarded the Silver Star
Vietnam: 1968-1971
These posts are very poignant, unexpected in web journals based upon pop culture,and the fate of your father really brings the emotional aspect home to readers.
ReplyDeleteWhile walking dogs, I used to enjoy geopolitical chats with a neighbor who had survived Pearl Harbor. I mad him understand one of the many terrible fallouts from the Vietnam War was that it made an entire generation mistrustful of military defense.
I was on Fuller 1968 and 1969 We called it somthing else. I have some pic.s
ReplyDeleteI can be reached at tom_carr03@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI was at LZ Fuller in 69. USMC We called it Dong Ha Mountail. Bill xy23z5@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteWe were at Fuller ( Dong Ha Mountain ) for 4 days Kilo 3/9 ran patrol down to L Z one time and back . robert.withrow64@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI was with First Radio Bn (USMC) at Dong Ha Mt. mid '68 to Mar '70. The army was there at the time. The four of us jarheads painted "USMC" on Snoopy's doghouse one night just prior to a senior army commander's visit. I caught hell from the arty captain the next morning and called down to Dong Ha for instructions. My CO (Major Wiggins) at Dong Ha told me over the secure radio not to worry about it because Lew Walt would never have us paint it out. The army captain had some guys paint over it with white but the black paint stilled showed through when the visitor's arrived.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of slides (pictures) I took while at Dong Ha Mountain. If anyone is interested in any of them let me know how to get them to you. Hard to believe it was forty-seven years ago. I must be getting old.
ReplyDeleteMy father was there for the first half of 1971. He was army. He was a Major I think and was in charge of the artillery for a time. I remember when he came home...he told us that his base had been overrun only a week after he left it in June of 71. He was Maj. Bob Lamons. I had heard some stories but never seen any picks. (He never talked about it.) rlamons56@gmail.com
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