04 - On Patrol

The way an army squad is set up it has two NCO’s a Staff Sergeant, a Buck Sergeant, one officer usually a Second Lieutenant, one 1^st Scout, 1 Second Scout, two B.A.R. (Browning Automatic Rifles) six riflemen who help carry ammo for the B.A.R. men. Now all of this changed in Viet Nam as they all had automatic rifles and all carried ammo, as much as they could because in a fire fight you never had too much ammo or too many grenades. Water was always at a premium. We all carried two canteens, one 1^st aid kit, with a bayonet, a shovel, a machete, plus food, cigarettes, a poncho, a shelter half, and an extra pair of socks, plus what else you thought you would need for instance toilet tissue, matches and stuff like that. I’m not sure you wanted to hear all these ramblings if not just ignore the stuff.

We always started the day with everyone awake at daybreak. Then eat chow and if you were moving out off you would go. The day ended about three in the afternoon so you could eat clean rifles, cut a fire lane chop all weeds down make a clear path around the perimeter so no one could sneak up on the foxholes. One man on guard one man asleep as long as things were quite and peaceful. Depending on how many men you had determined how big a perimeter you had. At dark everyone needed to know who was on your left and right and if another company was next to you who they were. Any one moving around that you did not know had to be up to no good. Now if we sent out a night patrol you had to have a sign and a counter sign to tell who was friendly and who wasn’t.

In the Philippine Islands my first patrol was a company affair. I started as the 1^st and 2^nd scout, then an NCO. Then next was an officer if we had any, then usually a medic. They (medics) were not supposed to carry arms but after the canal (Guadalcanal Island) they all did, as the Jap’s loved to catch the American’s without arms. Bringing up the rear was headquarters element 1^st clerk, Captain etc. If we were at full strength about 200 men but malaria, wounds, etc would take a toll and 75 was about average.

We took off one day and made a big sweep. We found three japs and dispatched same. On the way back I was about in the center of the column. A Jap jumped out of the brush hands up and jabbering a mile a minute. Now I had heard that they weren’t to be trusted. Just as you would relax they would slip you a grenade. Well as a result I just about swallowed my teeth. The whole encounter scared the crap out of me. I captured him and it was the first one my outfit had captured in over a year. It looked like he was ready to quit. If he had a weapon he would not have been captured. I took a second prisoner on the island of Cebu in the Philippines (April 1945). One of the men was trying to seal a cave that we knew had Jap’s in it. He threw in a satchel charge about a foot and a half long. It went off but did not seal the cave. Four Japs ran out of the cave with their hands over their ears and no weapons in sight. I captured one of them and others took care of the rest. I had to take him to G-2. It may have been some kind of record on captures by one person.