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It's been over 35 years since I returned from my tour of
duty in the "Vietnam Conflict". Since then I have read and watched
everything I could find in books and in the media and from my point of view,
very little has been presented about the US Army Artillery Units that fought
side by side with the Marines in Quang Tri Province and along the DMZ in 1967.
In the northern part of I-Corp along the DMZ, three
attached US Army Artillery battalions supported the seven Marine battalions
there. They included the 105-mm howitzers of the 40th Artillery, the
big 175-mm self propelled guns of the 94th Arty., and of course the
Twin 40-mm (Automatic Weapon) (Self Propelled) Dusters of the 1st of
the 44th Artillery Regiment. Attached to the 1/44th were
the Quad .50s of Battery G of the 65th Artillery and the searchlights
of Battery G of the 29th Artillery. All the units mentioned above
were deployed along and above Route 9 From Gio Linh in the east to Khe Sanh in
the west. Firebases and other points of interest include: Dong Ha,
Quang Tri, Cam Lo, Con Thien, Camp J. J. Carroll, The Rockpile, and Khe Sanh, We
were there, guarding and patrolling along the infiltration routes of some 50 or
more battalions of N.V.A. regular army units positioned in the area just north
and south of the DMZ.
By now most of America has some knowledge of the 77 daylong
siege of the Marines at Khe Sanh in 1968. It was an important event in the war
because of there would be severe psychological damage to the war effort if
America lost a major firebase like the French did many years earlier. News
correspondents were able to fly in and out of Khe Sanh to tell their stories and
the siege was on the nightly news back home (again with little mention of the
Army units stationed there). There
have recently been television documentaries on Khe Sanh that did include members
of our organization who were stationed there during the siege and lead the
relief column that reopened the land route to the base.
Well I for one would like it to be known that there was a
longer siege in mid-1967 going on at a place called the Con Thien or "Hill of
Angels" from late May to mid-September 1967. Con Thien was being barraged
around-the-clock with mortars, rockets, and enemy artillery. The same type of
activity was going on at the little known outpost of Gio Linh at the east end of
the so-called "McNamara Line". These were much smaller outposts than Khe
Sanh and did not have air strips, so it was rare for reporters to get to them
and tell our story. Actually I do remember a young Ted Koppel at Gio Linh briefly in early 1967 and I also remember reading an article in the Stars and
Stripes in August of 1967; where the reporter mentioned passing the hull of a
burnt out tank on his way up to Con Thien. The tank was actually a 1st/44th
Duster destroyed when it hit a landmine. (see later chapters for that story)
Very little else has been said or written about these early
battles. Compendiums about the Vietnam War do not even have the words; Duster,
Quad-50 or Air Defense Artillery (ADA) in their glossaries. I am recording these
personal recollections so that I could document
these events and my feelings during my tour of duty. Also to give credit where
credit is due and hopefully inspire other ADA vets to tell their stories. The
following stories are but a few of what happened back in 1966 and 1967. I hope
you enjoy them.
-Paul Gronski, 1/44th ADA Dusters On
a personal note, I would like to thank Paul Kopsick, the DQS Historian,
for all his assistance in helping me organize my thoughts and editing my
articles and photos.
Next: My Trip to Vietnam
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