The reason the “airborne” was trucked to their first battle – was because their aircraft were still on ships in the harbor and were not yet operational.įor the next month or so – – the truck units from Qui Nhon moved the entire 1st Air Calvary into their prime base camp in the Central Highlands. While it is NOT a highlight of the 101st Airborne history – we moved part of their brigade by truck to blast the way clear, heading west on Highway 19 and up the An Khe Pass to the hamlet of An Khe – which later become the large base camp of the 1st Air Calvary which began arriving in September. In mid August – we began our first convoys into hostile territory and experienced our first combat action. More truck companies followed into this theater of operations. The 597th Truck Company was soon joined by the 2nd, 58th and 61st truck companies in the compound west of Qui Nhon These units remained in this base camp location for the reminder of 19. In mid August – – we moved our base camp to Phu Tai, just south of the “y” junction of highways 19 and 1 west of Qui Nhon. Our mission during July and August was to build-up supplies and transport ammunition to various supply depots in the immediate area. The first “home” of the 597th was adjacent to a small landing strip in Qui Nhon – whose sandy conditions made it difficult to erect tents. What we did not know was that Utter’s Battalion of Marines from Okinawa arrived a couple of weeks before and secured the greater Qui Nhon area. The entire unit was then off loaded, by nets, into the landing craft that took us to shore. With the assistance of the landing craft of a sister unit the 1098th Medium Boat from Fort Eustis that had arrived a few days earlier – the personnel and equipment of the 597th came ashore. The trip to Vietnam took 23 days or so and the ship arrived in the waters of Vietnam on July 13th at Vung Tau – – but the 597th would not land until two days later – July 15th at the Qui Nhon. Once loaded, we sailed beneath the Oakland Bay and Golden Gate Bridges where hundreds of well-wishers and anti-war activists waved their good byes. Breckinridge, a WW II troop ship – which was carrying several other units to Vietnam – as well as personnel and dependents that would be dropped of at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The men of the 597th boarded the USS James G. Since he lived on the west coast – he was assigned the critical mission of being at the port as liaison with the Navy in Oakland – to ensure the company’s TOE was loaded onboard a military vessel bound for Vietnam. All of the company left from Patrick Henry Airport in nearby Newport News VA and flew overnight on June 22nd to Oakland CA on charter aircraft – except for 2LT Stubbs. The officers and enlisted men of the 597th then went on short leave to move their dependents back home and then prepared for departure to Vietnam. One of the first tasks was to load the unit’s equipment on rail cars for shipment to Oakland Army Terminal during the first week of June. On June 1st, the 597th had its full complement of officers: The 597th Truck Company (medium S&T), Fort Eustis VA – was alerted for deployment in the spring of 1965. The attached photos were supplied by my friend, Barry DeSousa, who was a member of this unit, he also sent me this article covering the 597’s deployment and first year in the war when he served.īy David Helmer, Major US Army TC (retired) These were the guys that got us the beans, beer, fuel and bullets when needed. Very little is said about transportation companies during the Vietnam War.
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