1/83 Artillery Update
June 2, 2014

1/83rd Unit News

2. John Turner - In a story to strange to believe, I had John who was in "A" Battery (68-69) on the roster. At some later time a friend of Roger Koopman's became an honorary member and is also on the Roster. In a fog (apparently), I got their Roster entries messed up and only had the "Honorary" John on the Roster and email list and had dropped the "A" Battery John from both. There is more to how this got resolved this week which I won't bore you with, but the bottom line is that I now have both correctly entered in both the Roster and Email list's and you will see this in the next website update for those files.

3. Request - after reading about John Turner, please remember to notify me if you suddenly stop receiving my emails.

4. Missing - Bob Hess - We were asked a few years ago to see if anyone knew the current whereabouts of Battalion Sgt Major Bob Hess (66-67). I recently received the following the following from Charlie Boggs (66-67).

"Bob Hess died in Ft Worth TX, maybe ten years ago. Retired at Ft Sill about 71, moved to Ft Worth, became a mailman, retired from post office, moved to the lake. Bob was a Pearl Harbor survivor."

May he Rest in Peace. If anyone can provide any more details (or an Obituary), please let me know.

5. Sad News - Paul Dickson of the Aussie 131 Locators Association Inc. recently passed along the news of the death of one of his members. Peter "Pappy" Gault who was in Vietnam mainly stationed in LPs in1967. Whether we knew him or not, we have lost another of our Aussie brothers and, on behalf of the 1/83rd,  I have passed along our condolences. Anyone wishing to do so personally can email Paul at this address.

6. Request for Information - Roger Koopman (68-69) asked for our help with any information on the SSG Jones (first name may be Howard, not sure) in this photo (Click here). SSG Jones is in the background and "Koop" is in the foreground.

7. Request for Photos - Roger Koopman (68-69) asked me to remind all of you to send me Before & After photos. I have asked many times in the past so if you have any, they would be welcome addition to that photoshow which you can view from this page. Look for the Before and After link in the first column.

8. Request for Information - Dan O'Brien (68-69) sent this...

"Vietnam Vet a 'true hero'
The Herald News
February 22, 2007

When Army Sgt. Don Boyer landed in Vietnam in 1968, he was sent to I Corp up north to Landing Zone Nancy. The main highway going north to LZ Nancy was the home of the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion. "I was first assigned to Charlie Company, but was switched to Delta Company, which was stationed at Camp Evans, where we served with the 1st Air Calvary 2/7th. We did mine sweeps together. They provided security for us while we would sweep for mines, and my job was demolition specialist," the Morris resident said. "When they would find a mine, I would go in and set a charge and blow it. We became pinned down by small arms fire a few times while on a mine sweep. I was a sergeant and one of my men hit a mine that was in command and set it off. I called for medevac. The truck was a total loss. We would get rockets and mortars sent in on us."

Boyer and one of his men headed north to LZ Nancy, but even that route wasn't safe.

"We hit a mine and the truck went down the hill flipping over," he said. "That is what we were told. I couldn't remember much about it.

"Later we worked with the 101st Airborne Division, 1st of the 501st."

A heroic act

They were given a support mission that would take the unit deep into the A Shau Valley, moving from camp to camp and fire base to fire base. Boyer and three other soldiers he was in charge of headed to Fire Support Base Blaze. There, they picked up ammunition that was flown in for them.

"As we were departing a couple miles or so, a Cobra gunship went down, and I moved in on the chopper to get my fellow soldiers out of it," Boyer said. "I tried to open the canopy by the latch but it would not open. The blade kept on turning. I don't know what all I did, but witnesses said I lifted the bird to get to the latch and sat it down and kept kicking my foot against the canopy until I broke it and pulled the pilots out to safety and gave them first aid."

For that action, Boyer received a medal with the following explanation: "For heroism not involving actual conflict with an armed enemy in the Republic of Vietnam: Sergeant Boyer distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on June 28, 1969, at Fire Support Base Blaze, when a fully armed Cobra helicopter crashed and overturned following a power failure on takeoff. The craft crashed within the refueling area in the middle of hundreds of five-hundred gallon fuel pods. An explosion was imminent, but Sergeant Boyer and another soldier ran immediately to the helicopter to rescue the pilot and co-pilot. Although the bent rotor blades continued to revolve dangerously and the possibility of a holocaust was ever-present, Sergeant Boyer and the other soldier concerned themselves with breaking open the cockpit canopy to free the pinned-in pilots. Both pilots were brought to safety within minutes after the crash. Sergeant Boyer's heroic actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."
 

Dan's comments to me follow...

I have responded to SNOPES on Sgt Boyer's rendition of the Cobra crash at Blaze. I wrote about this incident in my SBS stories on your site. I have been searching for the pilot or the cobra aviation unit and came across this article written on a Marine site. I contacted Sgt. Boyer on facebook and he has not responded back. You can send this out to the group if you wish.

Dan wrote...

"I dispute Sgt Boyer testimony on the rescue of a Cobra pilot that crashed at Firebase Blaze in Vietnam. I was with A Btry 1stBN 83rd artillery, 3rd section howitzer crew. I was fueling 55 gallon drums when the a Cobra coming in from the southwest was yawing uncontrolled towards where I was fueling from a fuel bladder up on a stanchion. There were two fuel bladders on stanchions, one diesel and one mogas and a few bladders on the ground for replacements once these emptied. There were not HUNDREDS. The Cobra came straight at me and he started losing altitude about 50 feet out and connected with the above bladder which forced the chopper to do a 180 degree turn, facing the fuel bladder. I had moved about 50 feet so I would not get hit and in seconds, myself and another fueler who was also doing the same as me went directly to the aircraft. The engine was racing at full throttle but the damaged rotor blade had stopped turning and was not a threat to us. We unclipped the latches on the undamaged door and lifted it up. The pilot was semi-unconscious and we had trouble with the seatbelt which finally came apart. We lifted this groggy pilot from his seat and carried him away from the aircraft. A captain showed up and took him to a medic station. There was nobody riding front seat as a gunner in the aircraft. I have been searching for the Cobra unit and pilot for 45 years. A Battery was at Blaze in March and we came back from FB Cannon after being evicted do to heavy enemy threat. We occupied Blaze all of July, August and September. I testify these facts to be true with witnesses from the 83rd artillery. Dan O'Brien RET US ARMY"

Dan would like anyone who witnessed the aircraft coming in to Blaze and crashing to contact him by email. (See his new email address at the top of this-Item #1)

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Be sure to let me know what is going on in your life so we can share it with everyone in this section. See the latest 1/83rd News by clicking here.

Photo of the Week

"Casper" at Xuan Loc - "C" Battery 1968
(Courtesy of Ed Kloiber (68-69) - 1/83rd)

General News

2. Coins on the graves of Soldiers - Has anyone heard of the "tradition" of leaving coins on the graves of soldiers? I recently was asked about this and there appears to be some conflicts on how true this is and whether it is a new or long standing custom. If anyone has any solid facts on this, please let me know. Here is what Snopes has to say.

3. VA Troubles - Here is a story from CNN on the troubles in the VA.

Interesting Links and More

2. Roger Hatcher (66-67) sent these photos of World War I. Very interesting as you don't see many from the "War to end all Wars". Click here.

Website Updates

2. Check out all the latest updates by looking at the website Table of Contents.

Vietnam Veterans of America Update

2. VVA website

2014 Reunion News

Show promo.

Hughes Bros website

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2. Please check the list on the website of those who have said they will attend the 2014 Reunion and make sure you are listed and that you are listed correctly.

3. Unless you are extending your stay longer, please make sure your hotel reservation covers at least 3 nights (October 12, 13 and 14). You will need to stay through Tuesday night Oct 14 (Check out on Oct 15) if you plan on going to the Farewell Dinner on Tuesday evening. Please double check the confirmation you receive from the hotel to make sure the dates are correct.

4. If you have any questions on the reunion, please let me know.

1/83rd Unit Crest Patches and Pins

If you want an 83rd Artillery Unit Crest Pin, I have a link on the website where you can order them from one of the 3 vendors listed. I have bought from all 3 of them and they are identical in quality, all are very good. Please note that Uniform Accessories will ship 2 for one price where the other 2 only ship 1 for almost the same price.

1/83rd Roster

I am sure that each of us has someone they would really like to reconnect with. If we all pitch in, we may find many more of our old buddies. Here are some ways to do that:

1. If you are in contact or have contact info for any 1/83rd guys please contact them and tell them about our group or at least tell me and I will contact them.

2. Look through the roster on the website and if you know of others who are not listed, let me know who they are. Also, if you see any incorrect or missing info (including your own entry) let me know.

3. If you have copies of old orders tucked away someplace, send me a copy so I can make sure those names are on the roster.

4. Sometimes all it takes is a name and location and we can find someone but the more details we know the better our chances.

Please make sure that your email system allows emails to be received from both of my email addresses, bill_t_08012@yahoo.com  and artillery_83rd@yahoo.com

Please note that there are no blank spaces in email addresses. What you see in mine between words/characters is the underscore (_) character.

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