Lloyd Moler
Don (Daugherty) and I had been friends in Chitose before we came to Davis Station in 1965. We along with several more guys were sitting on the sandbag bunkers between the back of Davis Station and the Landing Pad for the Helicopter Unit right behind us. We were out there watching the Phantoms take off and enjoying a few beers. When the incoming rounds started, we weren't sure exactly what was happening. The rounds were hitting mostly around the flight line down towards Operations. Once it dawned on us what was going on, Don took off towards the Orderly Rooms and the Arms Room. I took off a couple of guys behind him. We ran down the sidewalk from the back gate alongside a barracks building. As soon as Don made the turn at the end of the barracks, a mortar round hit about 6 foot from him. He was only hit by one piece of shrapnel that I saw. That was all that was needed. I have never seen so much blood in such a short time in my life. Somebody herded us out of there and they were trying to take care of Don. I ran to the Arms Room to try and get my weapon. Mass confusion. I finally got a weapon and some ammo and was put out on the trench line behind the Motor Pool. The next morning, we had a formation in the Motor Pool to count heads. One guy asked his Sergeant if he could go to the Medics. The Sergeant kinda went off on the guy until the guy told him that he had been hit in the back with shrapnel. Apparently he was laying in bed just inside the barracks that Don had been killed in front of and he had been splattered with all kinds of shrapnel. They rushed him to the Medics. Sorry I can't remember his name.
By the way, the attack came right after the U.S. started air strikes on Hanoi.
Tino "Chui" Banuelos
Prior to the April 66 mortar attack at TSN, all weapons
and ammo had been locked into conex boxes at Davis Station. When the mortars started falling, people were trying to break into the conex boxes to get weapons. The guy with the key for the locks had gone to Saigon for the evening. The 7th RRU, however, had
weapons and ammo locked into our 3/4 ton "offices".
When the guys in the 3rd RRU got the conex boxes open,
they found grenades. They had to break open the lock
on the second conex box to get to the ammo.
John Giles got me into the bunker by slamming me in the
shoulder and yelling "Get in the bunker!", I was doing a NUG thing and was just standing outside of the hootch watching guys run around in circles. Actually my left leg was running but my right leg was standing still. I saw the flash of the mortar that landed inside Davis Station killing Sgt Daugherty. The next day Westy came by to downplay the damage.
Phil Panuco
I was there too! I was sent TDY from the 104th ASA Det, Torri Station, in Mar 66 for 90 days. On the night of the attack, I didn't want to run in the dirt from the hootch to the 7th RRU compound in my bare feet, so I put my socks and boots on. By that time I was the last person going through to the compound.
The main entrance to the NSA compound was guarded by some RRU personnel manning an M-60 machinegun and some M-14 riles. They didn't know who I was (because I didn't work with them) and they told me to freeze and identify myself. I almost shit in my pants thinking I was going to get killed by my own people. I didn't look white because of my brown Hispanic skin. After convincing them who I was I then reported to the 7th RRU Opns Hut. Because I was TDY there I had no specific guard assignment. So I was directed to a "fox" hole in front of the Admin Hut that already had one person in it.
We couldn't see too much while crouching in the fox hole, so we would take turns standing up to get a better view of the action. It was at that time when we heard a "bee" fly over our heads but we didn't know it was actually a bullet that flew by. Based on the noise it made it must have hit the Admin Hut. Sure enough it did and the XO (??) was trying to locate the slug inside the hut as a war souvenir.
For the next week (?) the CO had volunteered us to rebuild the main 7th RRU compound bunker. He didn't like the Conex container facing the "wrong" direction. So we tore down the bunker's old sand bags, turned it around, and re-sand bagged the Conex container.
John Crafton
I remember that night! I was running to the barracks to grab my gear and in the pitch dark ran into a large stack of lumber. Instead of going around the stack I climbed right over it and jumbled off the other side. The next morning I looked at that stack of lumber and wondered how I managed to do that....
John McGregor
I was there for the April 66 (1st time attack at TSN), dislocated my shoulder diving into a bunker and hitting the support 4X4.
Roger Wightman
I was in Xuan Loc taking rounds of our own that month. John Giles was really upset after that attack because one of the unlucky guys got his carotid artery cut and died in John's arms. The
medic showed him how to use a ball point pen to stop the bleeding for the next one. John Saltar was the first one to the arms room and had to bust off the lock to get in. Some lieutenant was yelling at him about destroying government property until the round landed near the water purification plant. John said the first weapon he passed out was a montnagard crossbow. The guy who got it asked what to do. John reported COL Swears said "Lock and load and shoot the first SOB through the fence." I wonder if it was the colonel. He was billeted off Davis Station, but you never know. I remember some of the confrontations between him and CPT Seaton. Testy! I also remember Fred Pruden in the NCO club threatening to punch someone with his right fist and knocking them off the bar stool with his left. Only worked with folks that thought he was right handed. BTW, I can still feel that barber in the club pulling hair with those things he called clippers. Getting a hair cut there was either real bravery or sheer stupidity. I strongly suspect the latter.
Allan Rubin
I was stationed at Tan Son Nhut from Mar 66 to mar 67. I was an 05H20 and was the midnight E-5 in charge of the ops building just outside the base.
The night we were mortared I was sitting at the back gate opening to the
airfield in my shorts with some buddies drinking beer when all hell
broke loose. We jumped into the ditch, and watched some of Ky's
skyraiders get hit and a couple jets.
I remember crawling to a bunker next to the barracks and we were all
saying prayer's. If you remember, guys were crawling out of the NCO
club cause our MP's were shooting down the road at anything that moved. They even shot at the ambulance trying to get in the compound.
If you remember when the armorer finally made it to the arms room, some time later, he was handing out rifles and belts of ammo, there were no loaded clips. Also we set up a machine gun position at the opening at the rear of the compound that led to the airfield and when it was light in the morning they realized they had put the ammo belt in the machine gun backwards. So much for ditty boppers.
By the way, Ssgt Daugherty was in my bunker when the mortars began to
fall. We were in the last bunker west, which was near the west wall at
the end of the compound and the nearest to the airfield wall, where the
opening was to the airfield, and I remember that when the lull in the
shelling began, Ssgt Daugherty thought it was over and said he was
going to go to the arms room for a weapon. I remember telling him, along with
others with me, to stay put and wait awhile, but he was adamant. He exited the bunker and began running down the sidewalk when the shelling started again and he was killed instantly when a shell struck the sidewalk where he was running.
I further remember that all I could think of was I needed a cigarette
and I stupidly crawled out of the bunker and into my barracks to
retrieve them, then crawled back to the bunker. I probably should have
been a statistic also, but we did do some dumb things when we were
younger. The rest of the guys sure appreciated having the cigarettes
though.
Do you remember after the shelling, as we all left the bunkers, someone
stupidly lit off a string of firecrackers and we all dove for the
bunker again. Talk about stupid!
George E. "Pete" Smith
I arrived Davis Station March 7, 1966. I was awaiting final Top Secret clearance to work in the Commcenter. My first assignment was in the rear of the CRS compound in a tower bunker from 2200-0600 hrs. I was assigned to the front gate at Davis after about 3 weeks. I was on the mail porch posing as a Security Guard. I first heard what I thought was outgoing artillery then I finally realized that it was actually incoming 82mm. Scared the crap outa me and the first thing I did was run across the driveway to the motor pool and woke up the guy in the office. I realized that the front gate was wide open so I ran back to the gate and then hid on the north side of the mail porch. I then ran down to the arms bunker and everyone was statnding around with the door locked. Finally someone broke open the lock and I wound up with a M-14, frag grenade, box of M-60 ammo on belts and 4 empty magazines. I ran back to the front gate and laid down across the driveway. Finally a 3/4 ton trunk came up and like a fool I challenged the driver. (Later) I heard about our KIA SSGT Daughtery.
Duncan L. Daughtry
I was there that night. I had been in-country about 3 days. We landed on Easter Sunday, just in time to be hustled over to Sun Rise Services. I flew over on Tiger Airlines. There was a guy by the name of Bryan Eskell who came over with me. We were joking about what to expect when we got in-country. Bryan, jokingly, told me that we would be in-country three days and we would be hit. The 3rd round would have my name on it. I was asleep when the first rounds began to drop. Someone came around and asked if we had any ammunition. I said, "Ammunition hell, I don't even have a gun!" He told us to go to the armory and get a weapon which we did. But we still didn't have any ammunition. The next morning, I found out that Sgt. Donald Daugherty (his name was erty while mine was try) was killed by an incoming round. His jugular vain had been cut. I was one of those assigned to clean up the blood that was all over the side walk and also all over the barracks floor where he had been pulled in.
I gave Bryan hell the next day, and told him I didn't want to hear any more of his predictions or the VC wouldn't have to kill him, I would. That is one night I will never forget!
Terry Galat
I was assigned to the 377th Security Police Sq and arrived at TSN about 5 hours before the attack started. We were evacuated from the transit barracks, which was close to the fuel tank that was hit and downhill from it. My first night in country I slept on the flightline.
Ed Ottney
I was with the 98th trans detachment motor pool in Ellis compound right next to the flight line. A few of us were just leaving the NCO club known as the Play Boy Lounge. It must have been near midnight. About half way to my hooch we heard a few whoops and in a short time we found out we had "in-coming" mail. We didn't have a bunker close by so we grabbed some mattresses from the closest bunks and got under them. After it was over, which seemed like an eternity, I went to my locker. I had two clips of ammo but no rifle. I ran to the arms room to get my rifle but there was a waiting line as usual in the Army. There was a guy standing in line with a rifle but no ammo. I talked him out of it because I had the two full clips. We lost a soldier that night too. He got hit while laying in a ditch next to the motor pool and the main gate to our compound. I never heard of his name I think he was a new guy I don't know. Now I wish I knew his name. We used to keep our rifles in our lockers with ammo. I think we turned them in about a month or two before that night. Ed Ottney with the 98th from Sept 65 to Sept 66 - eottney@webtv.net
"Bub" Parrish
I was assigned to the 69th Signal Bn in 1966-67. We were located just inside of the main gate. The night of the morter attack we loaded into trucks and were taken to the airfield. Mortars were still falling as we were driven to a ditch to take up a position. We had to break into our own arms room to get weapons. The armorer was off drunk somewhere ( as most of us were).
Believe it or not most of the information pertaining to the attack is still classified by the AF.
Howard A. Daniel III
There was not only a mortar attack on TSN in April 1966, but about ten VC were also on the base. I remember seeing about six or seven of their bodies lined up on the street a couple of hours after the all clear was given. I was located behind one of the flight line fire stations closest to Davis Station. My crew and I were in our two intel vans with some ADP equipment in them and when some of the mortar rounds exploded on the tin roof over the top of the vans, I moved my men from the vans into the CICV building. The mortars came in every once in awhile and they were close (a chunk was taken out of one of the vans), but one or more VC put a charge on one wall of our building and blew it in on us. All of us were lucky to just have scratches and bruises. Later, when I took off my boots in my quarters, I found both of my boots had a thick layer of blood in the bottom and many pieces of small glass from the many overhead light bulbs that burst over us. I was told to go to a clinic and get my feet cleaned up and the glass pulled out of them but I did it myself and did not acquire a Purple Heart. How could I explain getting one to some of my friends with real combat wounds, so I never reported my bloody feet until today.
Clayton A. Chittim
I was stationed with Det. 5 of the 6922nd Security Wing (USAF). If memory serves me the attack came just past midnight. Up till that night, many people felt the VC wouldn't attack Tan Son Nhut for fear we would retaliate against Hanoi. It sounds dumb now but at the time this kind of thinking resulted in bunkers being dismantled and beautification projects started (like painting white rocks to decorate various places). I had a small piece of shrapnel cut across my right calf. When I went to get it treated they were swamped with wounded. A medic just cleaned it off, put some type of creme on it and a bandage and sent me on my way. He didn't even have time to take my name. At dawn we could see where some of the barracks had been hit and other damage. Needless to say, in the days following that attack, we were very busy with filling sand bags.
Noel Smith
I remember that night well. I had been in country only 5 weeks. I remember the hassle of pulling weapons from the armory - giving up on that due to the length of the line. People were flying around the compound. I had returned from downtown about an hour earlier and made my way to the bunker next to my hooch. In the bunker, I was buried under a couple of guys that did me a favor by keeping me there although i wanted to get up and look around. I remember staring at the spot where Sgt. Daugherty bought it the following morning. I also remember seeing an undetonated shell lodged into the top of someone's locker in our hooch.
Ernest Auerbach
I was there, or at least close by, at BOQ 1. We took cover when the mortars were incoming. Later we learned of the fatality of the soldier who was about to DEROS back to CONUS. I was assigned to the SJA, 1st Log Command and had the duty later that evening to go to the quarters where the sergeant was killed and handle his effects/claims etc. That was 41 years ago. I remember the incident clearly.
Norman Walters
C Co, 69th Signal Bn,
Camp Gaylor (Tan Son Nhut AFB) Saigon
Duty station: Westmoreland Compound Commo Section
I was there that night. It was a night and the next day that I will NEVER forget.
It was somewhere around midnight or later that the first mortars started landing inside the compound.
A voice came on over the loudspeaker system saying something to the effect, “We realize that you don’t have any weapons to protect yourselves with so our only suggestion is that you take the mattress off your bunk, lie it on the concrete floor, get in between the mattress and the floor and pray to God that you don’t take a direct hit. Good luck, gentlemen.” Then the speaker went silent. But the night did not.
The incoming began increasing more often and louder which meant that they were closing in on the barracks that we were in at the Replacement Unit. I know that it didn’t last for long, but, it seemed like an eternity. I don’t ever remember praying so hard and so loudly in my life prior to that night. I prayed to God that none of us took that "direct hit." But, unfortunately, that was not to be.
There was a soldier from some unit "up North" that had arrived the afternoon before and was scheduled to leave on the MATS flight back to CONUS some time in the late afternoon of 12 April 1966. But, when he got to the reporting section at the Air Base for his flight, he was turned away because his "uniform did not meet standards for flight." Which meant that his uniform was wrinkled or dirty. But, my God, what do you expect when you are out in the field right up until the time you are scheduled to leave??
The next morning when all the attacks had subsided and my nerves allowed me to venture outside the quonset hut, I looked towards the GP Tent that had been set up for the over-flow out outbound personnel to sleep in temporarily.
To my utter disgust, I saw the body of the young soldier that had been "bumped" the day before, lying on the ground with blood all over him. Apparently he either took a direct hit or damn close to it.
When I actually had it confirmed that it was the guy from the day before, I was at that moment just as angry at the US Air Force as I was at the Viet Cong. For some stupid regulation, a good man lost his life in the most senseless way. I honestly stood there staring at his body and began crying. I seriously doubt that the Army or the Air Force ever told his family the truth about how he died. I pray that he is home with God for he deserves to be there. Along with about 50,000 other souls that were taken away way to soon. Rest, my brothers. You are now in the arms of the Lord. Peace be with you.
