Dick Graham – PLL Clerk – Part Five

Mine Sweeping with Paul Dunne

Early on Paul Dunne and I got close because of our shared love for the ocean. (Paul was from Boston and Dick spent summers at the Jersey shore). The two of us volunteered for convoys into Phan Thiet because we could go swimming in the South China Sea. But to get there we had to mine sweep the gravel access road that ran from the battery out to the paved road that went into Phan Thiet. It took quite a while to mine sweep the access road. It was about two and a half miles long and there was a lot of shrapnel in the road mostly from fire missions that we had shot. When we got to the end of the road, to the bridge where Paul was killed, the bridge was made out of reinforced concrete so the medal detectors were of no use. We would visually inspect it. Then shortly after that bridge was the paved road going south into Phan Thiet, which we called 8-Bravo. You got on that and you just whipped right into Phan Thiet.

Period map showing LZ Sherry, access road running east to paved 8-Bravo, and bridge symbol

Three times I went on a mine sweep of that road. We just had a basic medal detector. My last time I went mine sweeping, I was using the detector and the First Sergeant, I think it was Ferrell, was behind me. He saw something that he said looked suspicious. We started probing with our bayonets and we found a mine. For the detonator they used bamboo sticks wrapped in tinfoil on the ends. They buried it deep enough so that if you walked on it you would not set it off, but if a truck went over it would go off. They used a six volt battery (the old square lantern battery) for the power source off to the side of the road wrapped in plastic. It was really ingenious! The amount of time it must have taken them to dig that hole, put that 8 inch round down there, and put the detonation mechanism together must have been many hours. The only thing that the metal detector could pick up would have been a few small wires buried several inches below the road surface. We blew up the mine with some C4. The hole it left was large enough that when you jumped down, you couldn’t be seen from the surface. That was the last time I volunteered to mine sweep the road.

After that we did not run convoys for a long time. I remember we had the First Cav for awhile working around Sherry. Their way of sweeping for mines was to run three tanks down the road, with the tracks of the outside tanks in the ditch. They guy I really felt sorry for were the ones riding around in those armored personnel carriers, which was like riding in a pop can. Those guys really took a lot of casualties.

When Paul died, that ripped me apart. It was almost like a part of me had died. It was like there was an emptiness in my soul! I just remember seeing the jeep they brought back and all this sadness.

Picture courtesy Andy Kach

And then you get mad and think, Fuck it. It don’t mean nothin’. And you move forward. When Rik got wounded, I was right there with him. And then when Paul got killed, I think I did it unconsciously, I tried not to get close to anybody else, so I would not have to experience that hurt again. As a means of survival. After Paul died I don’t remember being close to anyone else there.

Paul Dunne

I wrote a letter to Paul’s mother after he was killed, because I suspected she did not know what had happened because the Army never told the specifics. I wanted let her know what had happened, and my relationship with him. She sent me a thank you note with a holy card from his funeral with his picture that I still have.

The R&R That Wasn’t

While I was at Sherry we built an EM (Enlisted Men’s) club. They had a contest to name it, and I won the contest. I presented a lot of names. The winning one was The End of Mission Club. For winning the contest I got an in-country R&R to Vong Tau. Hardly anybody got in-country R&Rs.

I took a helicopter from Sherry to LZ Betty at Phan Thiet. From there I flew north to Phan Rang, from there I flew south all the way down to Saigon, and from there out to the coast to Vong Tau. The in-country R&R place right on the South China Sea was supposed to be pretty nice. But nobody told me I needed orders to get in. Once I got there they wouldn’t let me stay, because I did not have orders, so I had to go back to battalion headquarters in Phan Rang. I was pretty pissed off!

In Phan Rang I met another guy who was in some trouble with one or two Article 15s against him, and we decided to go into the city, which was definitely off-limits to GI’s. I don’t remember how we got past the MP’s, but we went to a bar, drank some Tiger Piss beer and met some girls. So much for my in-country R&R.

Americans called the local beer, Ba Muoi Ba 33, Tiger Piss, and suspected it contained formaldehyde. Dick’s End of Mission club, located behind Gun 2, later became the Fire Direction Center.

The R&R That Was

I went to Sydney, Australia for my real R&R and checked into one of the hotels on the list the Army said we were supposed to stay at. The first thing I did was take a bath. It was nice to have hot water and I sat there for an hour or two. I was amazed at now dirty the water was when I got out. I did not think I was that dirty.

Sydney was a beautiful city, about four million people. I couldn’t believe how clean it was, very unlike New York City. They were just starting to build the opera house that is now so famous. I had a wonderful time there, oh my gosh, I was ready to move there.

I rented clubs at the R&R center and went out on the golf course. It was just beautiful. You could see the ocean. On the golf course I met a couple guys who were in the construction business there. They were very gracious. They spent a lot of time showing me around and taking me to clubs. They told me I was in the wrong hotel. They told me to move to this other hotel which I did and which was right on Bondi Beach. It was gorgeous as was the beach. Most of the other guys who went to Australia spent all their time at bars where all the GIs hung out. I got to experience a lot of the culture there. And I finally got to talk to my parents over the telephone. It was great!

Coming back to Sherry, I had 77 days left. I was a short timer.