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BRUCE GOFF on March 1, 2012 at 1:04 AM said:

HAVING HARD TIME WITH PTSD CAN'T REMEMBER VIETNAM SOMEONE THAT WAS THERE WITH ME DURING 1971 &1972 MAY CAN HELP ME

russ mason on February 28, 2012 at 4:52 AM said:

Seems like I do remember that one of the guys was in personnel somewhere. The guy who lost his legs was sitting on the back of a chair with his feet on the seat, and the thinking was that had he been in the chair seat, he would have been killed instantly. I never heard whether or not he lived. The odd name of that fire base was Dian, pronounced "Zeeon". We got a lot of support artillary from those guys.

Richard Dees on February 24, 2012 at 3:55 PM said:

Russ, I am in agreement with you. I remember that incident well. I have a picture of that container also.If memory serves me correctly the person killed worked in personnel. I also have have a picture of a burned out fuel truck that I believe happened at the same time.

russ mason on February 23, 2012 at 1:54 PM said:

Dennis, the incident which Tom recounted had to have been the earlier 605th hit because he said he was there 6 Mar., '67 to 27 Feb., '68. I arrived Phu Loi Mar. 11, '68, and I remember the incident you described very well. I have a photo of the very first guy I met when I arrived and was at the H & HQ hooches. He is playing a guitar in my photo, and he was one of the band members killed in that hit. His Name was Bill...... In the 68 or 69 Phu Loi photos, there is one or two pictures of a container full of shrapnel holes....that was the same hit. The container was next to the tent those guys were in. I did not include Bill's photo in the group I sent to Jack for posting on the website simply because he was killed and I don't believe any of the other Avel guys knew him.
Tom, you had nothing to do with this event because it was after your time. Rest easy, brother. And thanks for all those rounds you sent our way in our defense, even if it was before I got there.

dale link on February 22, 2012 at 11:08 AM said:

on november 11 1967 we received friendly fire at 10 pm. i have a couple of pictures with the date and time on the back. cant remember if anyone was hurt. dick dees might know.

dennis cole on February 22, 2012 at 9:58 AM said:

I can remember the incident. If you walked out the back of our houch and waked down to the road and turned to you right and crossed that road is where they got hit. There were four or five guys living in the tent. We were told that these four or five guys had formed a band and were living out there as not to bother the rest of the company. Anyhow the rounds had killed two, blew one guy’s legs off and knocked the other guy out of his cot. So we were told the next day. We were also told there was another friendly fire incident in the 605th company area in 67 before my time.

Jack McCabe on February 22, 2012 at 5:48 AM said:

Russ Mason once told me of a friendly fire incident at Phu Loi in 1968. The following was posted by Tom Ling on Jim Benner's Phu Loi site (see Links button).

"I was with the 2/13th arty from 6 mar 67 till 27 Feb 68. I was the a-gunner then gunner on gun #1 of A battery. We were in 8' elephant grass during the Tet offensive, the 5 ton ammo truck pulled up with our rounds for the evening. We asked "how many do we get", the answer was "the whole load". During the next several days we received several more loads, we fire volleys all night and most of the next day. Of the six guns we started with only four were capable of firing the next afternoon. I started out as a-gunner then had to switch to gunner after i caught the recoil of a "charge 7", (my fault I reached for the breech block handle before I pulled the lanyard). I was the gunner and I am not exactly sure the date when we were stationed at a little base between Phu Loi and Saigon,(can't remember the name), after "H I" rounds ( harassment and interdiction)we were told to shift to counter mortar settings. We were told Phu Loi was being rocketed. After we shifted, we were told to shift back and continue "H I" mission. This happened on three successive firings. After the last set of rounds went out, we heard a command from our training days at Ft. Sill. "Rear of the piece - Fall in". After checking out settings and bubbles for level the FDC Exec told us to stand down. The rocketing on Phu Loi was us. We had been on the right co-ordinates, the problem was in the powder charge. Oue rto received and recorded a charge "7", the FDC claimed they requested a charge "4". We were the only battery during my time in country to be involved in a "friendly fire" incident that I have ever been aware of. We as a gun crew were completely exonerated of any wrong doing, we had a two star come share "cool-aid" with us the next day. He assured us that the incident was not our fault. He complimented us on our tight shot groups. Apparently all 5 of our rounds on each volly were some of the tightest shot groups anyone had ever seen from a 105. The problem was that each volly landed just outside, or just inside the fence at out own battalion maintenance unit. I am not sure of the exact count but I do know there were several injured and some fatal. I do not remember the unit or the exact dates, maybe that is best. The FDC exec got promoted, no one in our gun section was held accountable. I have not been able to find anything on this incident, maybe that is a good thing. If anyone reading this was in the area at the time and has more info I would like to know more exacting details. If you had a loved on killed or injured because of it please accept my apologies. I was just doing my job, I don't remember much of it, but then maybe that is a good thing."

Raymon LHeureux on February 22, 2012 at 5:14 AM said:

Hi, This site is great, I saw myself in some of the photos,it sucks to get old...last week on Valentine's day, I had to have a five coronary artery bypass procedure. That angina pain is not fun just lucky no damage done to the heart. Recovery slow but think I'll have time to get in shape to ride down to DC for Rolling Thunder. I'm 400mls away..Ride a Road Star that's really comfortable...Hope I can make the 2013 reunion. Take Care

russ mason on February 17, 2012 at 8:22 AM said:

Leon, we are working on Oct. 11 thru 14. Jerry Mahanay is deeply involved in negotiations with several locations and we hope to finalize everything and make the official announcement of plans, dates etc. so guys can start making reservations and plans. Don't buy any plane tickets or make commitments until it's official, but I think these will be the dates.

Leon Chlebowski on February 16, 2012 at 5:15 AM said:

Russ, when do you think we will know the dates for Vegas reunion?

mike hensley on February 9, 2012 at 9:33 AM said:

I have my orange AVEL cap courtesy of Roger in 2010 (original fell in mud about 40 years ago-dammit) all ready and packed so it can go to Vegas regardless of where I happen to be. Sure sorry I missed the 2011, but don't it always get sweeter with time?

russ mason on February 8, 2012 at 5:20 AM said:

I got yours, Aaron. Glad to see you plan on coming. So the other one has to be yours, Leon. Also glad to see you are planning to attend.
For everyone: Thanks for sending in your cards. We got a little flurry in last week. We have at the moment about 50 vets planning to attend, which is more than we had in Charleston. We expect some of the "don't know" group to find out they will be able to come, and a few who did not respond or the cards got lost to register also. I fully expect that we will have at least 60 vets plus about half bringing guests, so we will have a good sized group of 75 to 100 people....PARTY!!!
Let me address the questions and comments I received. Next year (2013) we will be in Wash., D.C. The following year, probably more toward the center of the country. This will be decided at the 2012 reunion meeting where we will ask again for suggestions. We can always come back to Charleston any time the group wants to. Chief Raincloud Jerry Mahanay said we can come to Jacksonville and have it at his house any year we want to also. He said something about providing free oysters and John Veers Martinis.
Seriously, though, we are looking forward to a great reunion in Las Vegas this year. I hope some of the guys who said they can't make it find a way to make it anyway. Hopefully, whatever circumstance it is that's preventing you from planning to attend at the moment will do a flip-flop 180 and get the hell outta here.

Aaron Bass on February 4, 2012 at 5:33 PM said:

Jerry / Russ
My card would also have an Orlando postmark, so it was either mine or Leon's.
Aaron

Jerry Mahanay on February 1, 2012 at 6:37 AM said:

Russ, There's your mystery postcard with an Orlando postmark. It's Leon. I have one from Honolulu but have it narrowed down to one of two Avel Central Hawaiians. Come on guys send those postcards in I've got to get working on the 2nd Annual John Veers Martini Golf Outing.

Leon Chlebowski on February 1, 2012 at 6:09 AM said:

I don't think i put my name on my card, but i did send it back.

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