The Early Wake Up - 1970
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When I made the rank of an E-5, I got out of some duties of being on KP and Ash and Trash, but one duty I had to keep doing was being on Bunker Guard Duty out on the perimeter of the base camp. I had experienced bunker guard duty several times in my lower rank as a Specialist 4 before making the rank of Specialist 5. At about the same time that I had also moved into the position of a platoon leader in our D Troop helicopter maintenance, and the company also made my rank as an E-5 sergeant. With the higher rank also came the situation where when I had Bunker Guard Duty, I would have to report for what was called, “guard mount.” This meant I would report to the MP quarters and go through an inspection and the MP’s commander would determine who would go on a Sweep Patrol outside the wire, be bunker commanders, etc.
Before I would go in bunker line duty, I was always told by my superior to “brush your boots,” wear some cleaned fatigues, and look your best. There was a chance that someone who went on “guard mount” inspection would be able to just take it easy back at MP headquarters instead of having to be out on the bunker line all night. But from experience, I knew that regardless if I looked like cleaned up “spic and span,” the chance of spending night at the MP station was not going to happen. (In my opinion), the situation of those who spent the night at the MP station were those who came from serving in non-combative jobs. It seemed that those who served on the bunker line and doing sweep patrols where those who had spent time outside the wire doing their job tasks.
As expected, the task of being on the #1-3 bunkers was my assignment. I was also selected to be a part of the sweep patrol outside the wire. In the past, nothing had ever happened to me while on sweep patrol, but I always had a dread for it because of what might happen. Would there be someone who to take a shot at us, or a booby trap to trip, etc.?
The sweep patrol when without incident. I was then introduced to the men I would be in command of, and we were briefed on our duties for the night, and what we were to be aware of. Some of the men assigned on bunker line guard duty that night would be a first time experience for them. Each one were given instructions about their weapons for the ready, and we went about making sure that the claymores were hooked up, the ammo was “at the ready” and hoped for a nice boring night of no activity from “Charlie.” The new men asked me questions about my former experiences in combat and my advice on how to survive for their next year. One thing that was stressed to us was that the Main Gate to the base camp was where we were at, and that would be a weak point for our perimeter defenses. I was to make sure that the gate was closed and the MP’s were responsible for making sure it was chained and locked.
See more Main Gate photos at Stan Allen Slideshow
Military traffic was fairly constant in passing to and from Cu Chi Base Camp until the point of sundown. MP’s were at the gate during the time the gate was open directing the flow of military traffic, checking paperwork, etc. Civilian traffic on the road that ran past our base camp was heavy until the curfew on the civilian population took place in the evening hours.
The first incident that took place was getting the gate cleared for closing. At one point that was a young Vietnamese boy who came pestering us for c-rations, cigarettes, gum, candy and at one point even offered “boom-boom” from his virgin mother. Several times he would sneak past the MP’s and get all the way to the #1 bunker, and I would have to escort him back outside the wire. Finally as darkness was getting close, the MP’s closed the gate and I could hear the clanking of the chain being wrapped around the framework of the gate, and the MP’s left.
The second incident occurred about an hour after darkness fell. I observed headlights coming down the road which ran pass in front of the basecamp and those headlights turned out to be an army quarter ton jeep which pulled into the drive of the gate entrance. I called out and told the driver to turn off his lights because I did not want those headlights to luminate me as I approached the gate. I asked the driver what was going on, and he explained that he wanted to get off the road for the night for the safety of him and his passenger. It turned out to be that his passenger was an Australian entertainer, a good looking female, who had gotten sick while doing a USO tour, and they were trying to get back to where she could be flown out of country. I have no idea or can’t remember where they were coming from. I then instructed one of the men at the bunker to call up the MP station to have the MP’s come down and unlock the gate. It was then I noticed that the MP’s had not padlocked the gate as they should have, but had just wrapped the chain loosely around the gate posts, giving it the appearance that they were chained and locked. I unwrapped the chain and called the driver inside and closed the gate. A Lt. and an enlisted driver responded to the gate area and the officer queried me about the jeep being being inside. I told him what I had found, that I had opened the gate and let the jeep through, and did a little bit of chewing out regarding the unlocked gate chain. I imagine that “chewing out” echoed on down to those who had not locked it.
Another incident, which seemed abnormal to me was the rumbling of a tracked vehicle from inside the base camp. It pulled up inside the gate area, and positioned itself at an angle across the interior gate entrance. I could hear the whirring sounds as the tank crew turned the turret to a desired position. I began to wonder if they were enforcement positioning themselves for an attack? All at once, this tank began firing, which was a lot of noise and I have no idea what, or for whom they were firing at. There was a couple of series of this action, and then, after some time had lapsed, they drove away.
The last incident happened about 0430 – 0500 hours. The night was black, no moonlight or starlight at the early morning for one to see clearly. I was standing outside the bunker, leaning on the back slope of the bunker roof. Another soldier was laying on that slope an arm length away. All was deadly quiet. All at once I heard a “crunch” sound behind me. I whirred around, flipped the safety lever off on my M-16, and asked, “Who goes there?” A broken English voice responded and said something which I could not really clearly understand. I told him to stop, kneel down and raise his hands, and told the soldier on the bunker roof to “Get on the horn, and tell the MP station that I had a “gook” behind the #1 bunker. The soldier did so and all at once alert horns were going off in the base camp, flares started going up, and helicopters were scrambled. (I found out later the soldier had told the MP.s that we had a “gook inside the wire approaching the bunker.” ) The Vietnamese man I held at gunpoint kept mumbling in broken English and finally I heard him say something about wanting a cigarette, and provided him with one. About that time the MP’s showed up, moved the man away from my position and started questioning the man. Then the officer, who I had chewed out earlier, came back and chewed me out, saying I had just put under gun-point, a “Kit Carson scout” who was only coming down to the gate area to go out and see his wife when the gates were opened. I told that officer that the “scout” had no business showing up an hour or hour and a half early, and doing it in such a stealthy manner. And the second thing is that in the past this bunker had suffered casualties where someone had killed soldiers on guard duty. I had a clear conscience on what I had done. It began to break dawn, they took the “scout” with them, and after the changing of the guard, I went back to “D” Troop. That was my last session on being on bunker guard duty before rotating home. “Kc” Allen B. Allcock
You can see what the Cu Chi Main Gate looks like now in Bain Cowell's Return to Vietnam story.