6 Apr: Got 3 priority projects and still don't have the info from An Nhut Tan on the drowning. May have to go there myself. Have 2 mandatory classes we have to give by Monday and turn in a report to Battalion. The CO say's the BN CO told him he'd shelved the movement plan for awhile. The staff keeps talking about it. The radio has run coverage of Martin Luther Kings murder all day. No regular programs- just quiet music like in the states after President Kennedy's death. I don't know how my colored troops will react to it.
7 Apr: Got a man in the unit about to become a father who's not married. He's all shook up and wants to go home and get married. I'm checking the regulations and pulling strings to try to get him home. He seems sincere. Say's he just found out about it yesterday. Trouble with paperwork getting lost at PSD. Have to do the same paperwork 3 or 4 times. Got to change platoons at An Nhut Tan today. Have to check and see if they're ready. Last time they lost a lot of baggage and equipment.
8 Apr: Promotion orders came in last night. Busy with the Morning Report and Roster. From the newscasts riots have started in the states. There's bad times coming.
9 Apr: We got the word to start moving last night. It'll take about 2 weeks to tear down our buildings. They're starting the infusion program. Starting to move troops to other divisions to balance the DEROS dates so we wont lose too many men in one month. This is going to be a month to remember. Be moving to Rach Kien. Dont know exactly where. They say we'll be living over water. Going to put down gas drums and build hootches on top of them. Dread that. We'll be working all kinds of hours to try to get a place fit to live in. Finally got my platoon changed at An Nhut Tan. Took 5 days to get the choppers. We'll have to move about 20 tons of lumber and equipment by air. The choppers can only carry 6,000 Lb.. It will be a mess- we'll lose equipment enroute. Area is noisy. Tearing down buildings and taking up metal walkways.
10 Apr: Have to send the rifle troops on a mission. Me, and the sick, lame and lazy had to finish tearing down the old club building. Had one dud transferred out and spent all day getting him cleared. He was in to see the CO 5 times. I had to come to Rach Kien to plan the move. Got here late and nobody knew anything. Brigade called about 2000 and said the move has been postponed indefinitely. Looks like we'll stay at the Fort for awhile. We have 21 buildings around the Fort. Not using 15 on them. Going to tear them down and send them to Rach Kien so we wont have so much junk when we finally move. Having trouble getting choppers lately. Some other Brigade may have priority. We have troops in An Nhut Tan and Ben Luc. After awhile they may get it organized better. Still having problems with promotions. They sent the chiefs out from AG last week to find out what is wrong. Maybe they can straighten in out. Got the first rain yesterday. Lasted half an hour but it's started. Cooler already.
14 Apr: Real busy. Yesterday we got a call from the Red Cross that SSG Glocke's brother had died. He was pretty tore up and we had to get him out on the supply chopper. We all ran to get him cleared. He made it to Bearcat last night. Cleared him in 2 hours. Lucky the medics had his health records at the fort giving shots so he didn't have to go to Rach Kien. Had to take a plague shot yesterday. Felt rotten all night. Hit me as bad as the flu. Exciting night. One of the medics got a letter that his 80 year old father was in the hospital. He got drunk and tried to call the Red Cross. He couldn't even talk so another medic told the switchboard not to take any more calls from him. The medic heard him, went berserk and tried to shoot him. They had a pretty good fight. The medic sat outside drinking and crying most of the night. He feels bad about it today and say's he doesn't know why he did it. Troops are in the field again today. Looks like they'll stay overnight. First time they've stayed out in awhile. I have to get a resupply ready. We have a young soldier we're trying to kick out of the Army. He doesn't do anything but ride sick call. We moved him to C Co and he really got in trouble. He refused to do anything.
16 Apr: Got 5 Article 15's and the 208 discharge for the dud. Looks like I'll burn the midnight oil for a few days. Can't figure out why such a small unit has so many problems.Troops are getting a break today and wont go to the field. The SGM of the Army is due at Division today.
17 Apr: The CO reduced one of the duds today. He's due to rotate today so we have to handcarry a request for Special Orders so he can still make shipment. Got the Supply Sergeant standing by to carry the paperwork. The dud we transferred to C Co is telling the IG I'm picking on him. The IG asked me what I was doing to him. After I showed him the duds record, he calmed down. The dud is a real case. Been in Vietnam 8 Months and hasn't been in the field 6 times.
18 Apr: The Battalion Sergeant Major is all fired up at me. One of my troops tried to go on R&R without reporting in to him. He caught him and is real hostile. No one can leave the Battalion without being inspected by the SGM. Expect SGM of the Army Woolridge at the fort today. Still in the process of tearing it down, had to stop and police. Troops are back in the field today after a days break.
21 Apr: The AG messed up and promoted the April allocations before the March ones. Got 21 PFC's shook up because they didn't make SP4. They keep track of who's due for promotion. Called the AG to try to get it straight. Had 6 Vietnamese civilians come to the island by boat today. Two little kids were dead. They said hey were hit by our mortars. We back checked the data. Should not have been one of ours. Everyone feels bad about the kids getting hit though. May have been VC. We treat all the wounded the same way. Promotions opening for senior NCO's. Got to check my files to see who I can promote..
23 Apr: Got a 10 Man Vietnamese Squad attached. They'll pull local security and patrols. They jabber like a bunch of monkeys. Got no equipment except weapons and ammo, and sleep on the floor. I gave them cigarettes, soap and stuff to clean their weapons. They stay pretty busy. Took them to the range last night and let them fire their weapons. Like kids with new toys. Shot up all their ammo in about 15 minutes. When we got back I gave each of them 2 cans of coke. They started singing, dancing and having a party. We're so used to having everything we want, it's hard to imagine that these people don't have anything.Seem happy. Spend hours digging crabs out of the mud to cook over an open fire. Hope they don't invite me to join. A team from Bearcat checked my Morning Report. Did OK. It took 20 minutes so they spent the day swimming and sun bathing. I've got to get to An Nhut Tan and Rach Kien and check on my troops.
26 Apr: Up most of the night. Someone sneaked a prostitute into the perimeter. There were 3 of them set up right outside the fence. We found one in the ammo dump with a young soldier. About midnight, while we were taking care of her, a fight broke out at the S4. One of the attached engineers bashed a guy in the head with a stool. Took 6 stitches to close the cut. When we brought everyone in this morning, the guy who hit the other one with a stool stood up and got smart with the CO. Said if we want him off the island we'd have to send troops with guns. I rounded up a squad of 6 footers and was going to zap him. The CO felt sorry for him. Must have found out what I had planned for him. He left before got there. Second time in a month we've had trouble with attached personnel. Second time with the prostitutes too. They look like they are loaded with VD.
29 Apr: No choppers for 3 days so no mail. . Payroll is due today and I have 4 suspense items. They're still talking about us moving.