Bill Posey writes:  "I arrived in Vietnam In April 1970 at 90th Replacement Center. I was then assigned to 6/27 Artillery “C” Battery in Phu Loi. I was a "Shake-and-Bake" buck sergeant and was assigned to gun 3. About two weeks after I arrived we got orders that we were going to relocate in the fish Hook area. We jumped around building firebases, most of which I cannot remember the names of anymore. It was a solid five weeks of hard work, although it was exciting."

Join Bill in viewing over 300 images from his first Vietnam tour of duty with Charlie Battery 6/27th Artillery.  In six separate photo galleries Bill shares his photos with the site and you.  Thanks for sharing your memories and photos with us, Bill.  Click here to view Bill's photos.

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Remembering Friends & Comrades

 

Fred "Larry" Jameson - "It's never too late to remember a friend"

H. Todd Parker - Alpha Btry Vn Service 1968-69

 

Memorials & Obituaries

 

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New Photos From Tom Vehe - Quan Loi 1967
It is with sincere apologies to Tom Vehe, after many months since he sent his photos, that they are now finally up on the website.  Tom served with Alpha Battery from May 7 to July 17, 1967 when he was wounded at Quan Loi by an incoming rocket and was medivaced south, never to return.  It was on this same night that Mike Berek was killed.  This night of rockets would mark the beginning of the end of above ground personnel bunkers.

Tom's memory, as with many of us, is not as good as it was forty-five years ago so we need the help of the "collective majority" to identify some of the soldiers and places in the photos.  Follow the instructions to notify us if you recognize anyone or any place in Tom's photos.  Click Here to see all 100 of Tom's photos and read his memories of the night he was injured.  Tom, thank you for sharing your photos and memories and your patience in getting them up on the website!

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27th Field Artillery Association News

Captain Henry Parker, USA (Ret), President of thee 27th Field Artillery Regiment Association has announced plans for the 27th FA Reunion for May 2013 at Ft Bragg, North Carolina with the 3 BN 27th Arty HIMARS.  Check back later this year for more information on exact dates.  

In conjunction with the May 2013 Reunion Hank Parker is taking recommendations from the the 6th Bn for Distinguished Member of the Regiment and two names for the Order of Saint Barbara Award to be presented at the May Reunion.  Click Here for more information.

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Vietnam in the News

  Former Vietnam POW Remembers Vietnam Forty Years Later

"Forty years ago on March 13, my fellow prisoners of war in North Vietnam and I, dressed in cheap civilian clothes that had been provided to the 108 of us for the occasion, boarded buses for Gia Lam airport on the outskirts of Hanoi.   A Big green American C-141 airlifter was waiting there to fly us to Clark Air Force Base n the Philippines."  Click here to read the article.

Published in The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2013

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   President Johnson discusses Nixon's Vietnam tactics

After 40 Years, the Complete Pentagon Papers

"It may be a first in the annals of government secrecy: Declassifying documents to mark the anniversary of their leak to the press. But that is what will happen Monday, when the federal government plans to finally release the secret government study of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers 40 years after it was first published by The New York Times.

Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers, said the report should not have been secret even in 1971.

At first blush, it sounds like the release of one of the worst-kept secrets in history..."

 

Read the complete story at The New York Times.com

 

Read the complete Pentagon Papers at The National Archives

 

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New Vietnam Documents & History Now Online

As the years go by more and more previously "secret" or "restricted" documents are being made available.  As we become aware of them we will make them available to you.  Visit the

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WASHINGTON — In an echo of the debates over the discredited intelligence that helped make the case for the war in Iraq, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday released more than 1,100 pages of previously classified Vietnam-era transcripts that show senators of the time sharply questioning whether they had been deceived by the White House and the Pentagon over the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.  Read Article   Click Here to download Copies in PDF File

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EyeWitness To History - "History is indeed the witness of the times, the light of truth." (Cicero)

 

Here are new memories of events that took place at Quan Loi:

 

The Quan Loi Queen - Memories From Fred Masters

August 12/13, 1969 - Quan Loi Ground Attack by Bill Rubenstein

 

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QuanLoi.Org Online Roster Reminder
Over 200 visitors have listed there names and contact information in the online roster.  It is a great way to allow old friends to find you after these many years.  The Roster has a secure entry and requires a username and password which you receive when you submit your own information for inclusion.   We invite you to join - like everything on this site it is completely free.

 

Once your name is listed you will be advised via email when new listings are added.  With that in mind, several of you have changed your email addresses and not advised us of the change.  When time permits, would you please email us if you desire to continue to receive the notices.

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It Took Seven Years to Get These Photos!

Gene Long served with Bravo 6/27th Arty from September 1965 to March 1966.  He shipped over with the 6/27th Artillery on the USNS W. H. Gordon.  Gene sent his first photos to the website in 2003 with promises of more to come.  Every few months I would receive a few in a batch of emails with promises of still more to come and the request that I should wait until they all arrived before putting them on the website.  Well, they are finally all here and ready for you to view.  There's over 85 great shots of the crossing, of the landing and of Phouc Vinh,  and of a 2-day pass in Saigon.  Many thanks for sharing your photos with the site, Gene.  It was worth the wait!

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Thomas Richard Dwyer's name was added to the In Memoriam page.  Thomas served with F Battery 16th Artillery which was attached to the 6/27th Artillery in 1969.  Thomas died as a result of an incoming rocket at Quan Loi.  We are honored to add his name to the 6/27th Artillery In Memoriam page.

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Finally - Photos of F Battery 16th Arty Attached to 6/27th Arty

Many thanks to Bill Wynne for sending some of his photos from his days with F Battery 16th Artillery in Vietnam.  For those of you who do not know, the 6/27th Artillery had a 155mm howitzer battery attached in late 1968 or early 1969.  This battery was F /16th Artillery which some considered the 6/'27th's "D" Battery.   For a time F Btry was located at Quan Loi.  Bill has included photos of F Battery's guns, FDC and personnel while at  Quan Loi and some other locations. His photos are a welcome addition to the website and will help tell the complete story of the 6/27th Artillery in Vietnam.  I think you will find them of great interest so check them out.

Just added a second page to Bill's gallery and also a downloadable PDF file with additional photos. Be sure to check them all out.

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Historic Quan Loi Vietnam Videos Added to Website

In 1966 Michael Chalifoux, assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, was only in Quan Loi for a month when his aunt  in Pennsylvania sent him a Super-8 movie camera.  Over the next 7+ months Mike shot film in and around Quan Loi, including the Frenchmen's Swimming Pool, the airstrip with all types of aircraft, the nearby Montangard Village, and An Loc to list just a few.  His film shows Quan Loi (L Z Andy) in its early days as an airstrip. 

The 40+ minutes of film was copied to DVD.  For ease of viewing on the website the video was edited into six smaller videos.  Mike was interviewed during a Skype call and his comments were added to the videos.  All six videos were uploaded to youtube.com and then embedded on pages on the website.  You can view them all by clicking here.  Thank you Mike for sharing your film with us.

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OTHER VIETNAM NEWS

 

Agent Orange cleanup to start at former US base in Vietnam

"HANOI — Vietnam and the United States aim to start cleaning up contamination from Agent Orange at a former wartime US base in the middle of next year, the US embassy said Thursday."

Visit Google/AFP

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VA Extends 'Agent Orange' Benefits to More Veterans
Parkinson's Disease, Two Other Illnesses Recognized

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Relying on an independent study
by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki decided to establish a service-connection for Vietnam Veterans with
three specific illnesses based on the latest evidence of an association with
the herbicides referred to as Agent Orange.  Read Complete Press Release at Reuters

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AND THEN THERE'S THIS:

Vietnam Vets Take Notice - Here Are Some Interesting Statistics...
In case you haven't been paying attention these past few decades after you returned from Vietnam, the clock has been ticking. The following are some statistics that are at once depressing yet, in a larger sense, should give one a sense of pride.

Many Thanks to Don Albers, former Battery Commander, Alpha Battery, 6/27th Artillery Vietnam - 1969 for sending these statistics to us. Don received them from friends at West Point Academy. We are not sure who to attribute this original compilation of statistics to (It can be found at other sites on the web), but whoever you are - thanks for doing it. Even if they are a little mind-blowing.

 
"Of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in Vietnam; less than 850,000 are estimated to be alive today, with the youngest American Vietnam veteran's age approximated to be 54 years old."
 
So, if you're alive and reading this, how does it feel to be among the last 1/3rd of all the U.S. Vets who served in Vietnam?  We Don't know about you, but kinda gives me the chills, considering this is the kind of information we are used to reading about WWII and Korean War vets. 

Click Here See them All:

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The Saga of the Quan Loi Queen
Chances are, if you were at Quan Loi on November 17-18, 1969, and you had a camera, you took photos of a C-130 that was hit by a rocket on the Quan Loi Airstrip.    I took several photos as did Jan Maclaga, Dennis Camp, Glen Russell and Jim McLain of that damaged aircraft.  I'm sure there are many more squirreled away in closets and attics of Quan Loi Veterans.   That battered C-130 was a "curiosity" of the war. All of us knew that the plane was severely damaged from that rocket and it would remain on the side of the airstrip for several months until a crew was finally sent in with a new wing and other parts to repair her.  I doubt that any of us knew that the twenty-one year old USAF Loadmaster of the Queen, Norm Thomas, was killed that day from rocket shrapnel.  It is time we honor his memory.

All of us at Quan Loi relied on the crews of the C-130s, C-7A Caribous and choppers who flew in mail, supplies and provided us safe transportation.  Quan Loi would have been a whole lot worse without them.  Thanks to the pilot of the Quan Loi Queen that November day, Lou Hari, we can now learn the complete story of that sad incident and what eventually happened to the Quan Loi Queen.  I think you will find it one of the most interesting stories to be added to the site.  Click Here to read it.

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Who We Are  This website was started in October 2002 by John Wavra with much assistance from Jim Hynes and Reed McDonald.  It has since grown to what you see on your screen today.  It would be but a few pages if not for all of the comrades who helped.  I thank each and every one of them for their contributions of photos and/or stories, etc., which have helped to began to tell the story of the 6/27th Artillery in Vietnam.  It is long past time that credit is given to all those who helped.  See them all at Who We Are. There is still much to tell.  Come, join us!  Add your photo or name to those listed on the Who We Are Page by sending your memories and stories to me. Email   Conjuncti Stamus     John Wavra

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Quan Loi - August 12, 1969 Ground Attack - A Grunt's Perspective
Thomas Mathis was with the A Troop 1/4 Cav on the night of August 12, 1969.  His memory of that night brings a new perspective to what took place when the NVA attacked Quan Loi that night.  It is worth your time.  Click Here to read his account from the new August 12 Start Page.

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Were you in Quan Loi on August 12-13, 1969?
If your answer is yes, you don't have to be reminded of the ground attack that was repulsed that night.  Many thanks to former SSGT Robert W. Smith for providing us with a copy of the August 14, 1969 Stars and Stripes.  If you would like to learn about that night or refresh your memory click here to read it. 

If you have a memory, photos or video of the August 12-13, 1969 Quan Loi ground attack you would like to share with the site, please drop me an email. (JWavra)

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Book Published on Quan Loi

I was very pleased to recently receive a promotional copy of David Bedard's memoir of his Vietnam service in the Artillery Ballistic Meteorology Unit of the 1st Air Cavalry Division from February 1969 to February 1970.   I don't receive many promotional book copies so I was tickled to get this one, but I was even more pleased to see the title, "I Remember Quan Loi - Annus Horribilis - The Horrible Year".  David had served his entire Vietnam service tour in one of our "favorite" places - Quan Loi.  His unit was located right next to Alpha Btry 6/27th Arty.....(Continued).

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Iraq: The Path to War
Can you believe it has been six years since the United States invaded Iraq, with over 4474 soldiers killed (as of the date shown above) and  $757 billion later.  If you would like to go back to the beginning and refresh your memory just how we got there visit npr.org for a fine short historical refresher course.  Visit this link from 2006 and listen to a concise report titled "Iraq Three Years Later: The Path to War", by NPR Morning Edition's Mike Shuster which aired March 20, 2006, the third anniversary of the war.  Discover if what you originally thought at the beginning still holds true today.

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