Download PDF of this full issue: v54n2.pdf (38.8 MB) |
Bong Son Library
By John Picciolo
[Printer-Friendly Version]
I graduated from Joliet Junior College in 1963 and postponed college for a year to save money for tuition. In April 1964, I received my draft notice before I decided to apply to a college. After basic training at Ft. Knox, KY, and OJT in the 3/6th Field Artillery at Ft. Chafee, AR, I settled in for my two years of service as a 13E20 in the Fire Direction Center of an artillery battalion. I was trained to mimic a computer with a slide rule in the artillery before a real computer system was developed. Fort Chaffee was shut down, and my artillery unit moved to Ft. Sill, OK. I settled in with the buffalo, red dirt, Lone Star beer, and Native Americans to complete my tour. Vietnam was a country unknown to me.
In 1965, Vietnam became a new buzzword around Fort Sill. I had nine months remaining and thought I would stay in Oklahoma. One day, I noticed activity around the 2/17th Field Artillery, which was located near my unit. A fence was being installed surrounding the perimeter. The unit was short of critical personnel. I was transferred to the FDC section of C Battery 2/17th and informed that anyone with 30 days of service left was traveling to California by train to board the Troopship USS Gordon en route to Vietnam. I spent 17 days with 5,000 fellow troopers on this cruise. My time was spent washing pots and pans in the galley on the second shift. We fed 24 hours each day. I arrived at Quin Nhon on September 7, 1965; we used landing nets to board a Landing Craft for the beach landing. Kids were trying to sell bottles of Coke and bananas as we arrived. We were transported by truck inland to An Khe, which had a basic airfield in place for our first day In Country. We were now part of the 1st Cavalry Airmobile. The base camp Radcliffe was in a preliminary construction phase.
The arriving units were clearing the base camp primarily by hand. Thousands of Vietnamese laborers were employed. Our unit had older 105mm howitzers from Korea, stripped of all armor to barely fit into the Chinook helicopters for transport to fire bases. Slinging them under the Chinook was being developed. We traveled by air, truck, and LST, supporting the 1st Cavalry in the field. I then noticed the beauty of the countryside. We were in the mountainous central highlands. Rt. 1 and Rt. 19 were major highways from where we often fired missions for the Cavalry but spent plenty of missions dropped off in the jungle by helicopter.
The scenery changed day by day. The spraying of Agent Orange and other defoliants transformed areas into dead zones. People and crops, as well as our soldiers, were being affected by the chemical. My job was to stick a pin in a map and calculate firing data for the howitzers. The infantry around our perimeter always protected me. I could not see the impact of the artillery rounds fired at the enemy or see the deadly results as I was usually 3 to 7 kilometers from the impact zone. I would wonder how the enemy soldiers could survive the tremendous firepower (artillery, rockets, bombs) we threw at them. Collateral damage also bothered me.
We would provide replacement funds for water buffalo killed by friendly fire, but civilian casualties were a different story. Civilians in the wrong place in a battle became collateral damage, and you had to try to put this out of your mind. You were protecting your buddies and trying to save their lives. The battle of the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965 provided many days of concern for everyone's safety, as well as my own. When the 2/7th Cav walked into an ambush and suffered 155 KIAs at LZ Albany, I really became worried. They had walked between the NVA and our firebase. The next day, we were airlifted out of LZ Columbus to support the Vietnamese Rangers. LZ Columbus was attacked, and our replacement artillery battery suffered casualties. This campaign showed the random fate of war. My unit survived two close calls of major casualties.
This brings me to the main reason for my opinions of the Vietnam War. How could I justify my participation in the war? I returned to civilian life in April 1966 and quickly returned to my job and life before my draft in 1964. I began working at Argonne National Laboratory in 1996 and spent 44 years there before retiring in 2013. I married my wife, Carol, in 1973.
I tried forgetting Vietnam. I tried to join the VFW but left quickly, feeling unwelcome. Most of my friends never asked about my service. I didn't revive Vietnam until 1999. I contacted another artillery vet online, and we eventually formed our unit's reunion at Fort Sill. I dug out hundreds of slides and pictures of my tour and started reliving my nine months In Country. The pictures of the drastic changes to the landscape and some people showed me what the war had done to Vietnam.
I had little contact with the Vietnamese people except for three days during my R&R in Nha Trang. My unit spent most of its time in the field. I began volunteering at the Chicago Homeless Veterans Standdown in 2011. I helped provide breakfast and lunch to hundreds of vets twice a year. I met VVAW members Bill Branson and Barry Romo at these Standdowns. They worked in the kitchen, and a job I was familiar with was pots and pans. I always looked forward to my twice-a-year meeting with these comrades. This led to my joining VVAW.
I have only attended one event in Chicago, but I have always waited for their newsletter, The Veteran. In 2022, I first donated to VVAW's library project and became interested in the Library of Vietnam Project. The concept of repaying the people of Vietnam could not be accomplished more meaningfully. I learned from Chuck Theusch that a library project in the Bong Son area was possible. The 2/17th had supported the Cav at Bong Son before the end of my tour. The village was below our firebase. I knew I had found my solution to help the Vietnamese people. Their future is educating young people, and I had the funds to build a library. Chuck and Khoi helped with the paperwork, and I am now awaiting its construction. I can only hope this project will replace my negative thoughts about my participation in the Vietnam War.
John (Jack) Picciolo, C Battery, 2nd 17th Field Artillery, Drafted 1964-66. Supported 1st Cavalry Division, An Khe, Central Highlands September 1965-April 1966.
|