Enjoying retired life in Oregon. I work in my garden. I have twenty fruit trees,blueberrys,raspberry,marionberrys and a large vegetable garden, all fenced in to keep deer out. Our home is on the beautiful Mckenzie River. I enjoy fishing;Trout,Steelhead Trout, and Salmon all on this river. Also, a few miles up river there are lots of rapids for whitewater rafting, (class three) All the water comes from the three Sister mountains in the Cascades. Seventy miles east from here If you like to ski only hour away. Bend OR, is only 110 mile east . I also like Oregon ( DUCK s) football and track, Eugene is Track town USA. Lots of stars came from University of Oregon.The Olympic trials have been held here many times.
We like to travel. You would think I would be tired of traveling after 26 years of AF life. and 17 years of being overseas. We own a RV so in the summer months we go camping with Good Sam friends. Lots of nice places out here in the western US to camp.
.The VA takes care of all my medical needs. I'm 100% service connected disabled. Uncle Surgar is great. What a wonderful country we live in. We have so much to be thankful for. No other country in the world takes care of its Vets like ours. God Bless USA
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Other Comments:
I spent my entire career in Air Transportation. Lots of fond memories and events over the years. Have many stories and pictures of some of these places.(check it out)
I really loved serving in the Air Force. I sure do miss it at times. What a great life of 26 yrs active.The majority of those years were overseas ( 17 ).Many of the people I served with I can hardly remember. We seem to enjoy serving all together. Send me a message if you would like to reminisce the old times we shared together, I would love to hear from you...Aim Hi..Bob
Remembrance Profiles -
1 Airman Remembered
Smallidge, Michael, TSgt, (1962-1982)
Vietnam War/Tet Counteroffensive Campaign (1968)
From Month/Year
January / 1968
To Month/Year
April / 1968
Description This period was from January 22-July 7, 1968.
The air campaign in defense of Khe Sanh, an outpost held by the U.S. 26th Marine Regiment. began on January 22. 1968. For 2 and 1/2 months Allied tactical air forces continuously attacked targets surrounding the base and B-52s dropped bombs near Khe Sanh on an average of every 90 minutes. At night AC-47 gunships provided illumination and close air support. Air Force and Marine airlifters. mostly C-130s. frequently landed under fire at the Khe Sanh airstrip. bringing in supplies and reinforcements and flying out the wounded and refugees. When the transports could no longer land because of intense mortar and artillery fire. their crews used parachutes and arrester cables to extract cargo from the aircraft as they flew a few feet above the ground over the airstrip. Beginning on March 6 the Seventh Air Force provided fighter escorts to suppress enemy fire and lay down smoke screens until the C-130s dropped their cargoes. Gen. William C. Westmoreland, MACV Commander, encountered difficulties coordinating the air resources of the USAF and U.S. Marines to meet both the military demands at Khe Sanh and the requirements introduced by the Tet Offensive that the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong launched on January 30, 1968. On March 8 he appointed the Seventh Air Force Commander. Gen. William W. Momyer, as Deputy Commander for Air Operations. MACV. to manage all tactical air resources in South Vietnam.
Late in March 1968 the North Vietnamese surrounding Khe Sanhmwithdrew. leaving only a single NVA division to oppose the Allied advance. On April 1, the 1st Marine regiment and the Army's 1st Cavalry Division moved along Route 9. relieving Khe Sanh 5 days later. On April 10. for the first time in 48 days. no shells fell on the base.
A week later, on April 19. the Allies mounted a helicopter-bome attack against A Shau Valley on the Laotian border. 30 miles south- west of Hue. The Viet Cong and NVA had built a vast stores and logistical base in this area since 1966. Preliminary USAF and Allied air strikes. including B-52 bombings between April 8 and 13, 1968. failed to clear the enemy from landing zones. In spite of the heavy resistance. on April 24, the U.S. Army seized the A Luoi airstrip at the northwest end of the valley. USAF transports airdropped supplies. often during bad weather and without tactical air support, because intense ground fire prevented the landing of C-130s until May 4. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese withdrew into Laos in mid-May, leaving behind large caches of weapons and supplies.
Earlier in the year. on January 30, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched the Tet (Buddhist New Year) Offensive throughout South Vietnam in an effort to regain the political and military initiative that they had held 2 years previously. At Bien Hoa and Tan Son Nhut Air Bases. alert base defenders successfully repulsed initial attacks, but in the next 2 weeks the air bases came under frequent mortar and rocket attacks; in all, the USAF lost 14 aircraft on the ground and another 114 damaged. During the Tet Offensive. Seventh Air Force pilots provided close air support for Allied troops. and C-7s and C-130s hauled ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements to isolated areas. Within 2 or 3 days Allied forces cleared the Viet Cong troops from all cities except Saigon and Hue. By February 5, the Allies had driven the Viet Cong from Saigon, although a large force remained in the vicinity. North Vietnamese forces that had taken the old imperial city of Hue were more difficult to dislodge. The Seventh Air Force used close air support carefully to avoid indiscriminate and unwanted damage in Hue; AC-130 gunships that could deliver precise fire day or night provided the most effective support. On February 25, Allied forces succeeded in driving the enemy from the city. Although
the Allies successfully and rapidly countered the Tet Offensive. the Communists gained a significant propaganda victory. Many Ameri- cans believed that a failure of U.S. military policy had permitted the Communists to mount so extensive a battle throughout South Vietnam.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1968
To Month/Year
July / 1968
Last Updated: Feb 2, 2023
Personal Memories
People You Remember SSgt Robert Smith - NCOIC Inbound Freight SSgt JB McNeal- NCOIC Cargo Processing SSgt Harold Wert Ramp SMSgt James Chapmon-- NCOIC Air Freight A2C Darell Harp Passenger Services A2C Ammos,A1C Bickford (Ramp,forklift driver)
Memories The Battle of Bien Hoa. Anyone who was there on that night, 31 Jan 68, will never forget it. It all stated that around 3 AM over 2,000 NVA and VC were trying to over run the base from the eastend.My Hootch was located on the west side of the base near the ramp. Lots of chaos for most of the night until early morning. Nobody got any sleep that night. Smoke filled the air from burning barracks,aircraft, and other structures. The East ramp was potted with debris from exploded aircraft and other destroyed structures. I was asleep, never hearing the siren. Someone yelled and shook my bed "were under attack", I jumped up out of bed grabbing my flak vest and helmet, not taking the time to put on my pants and shoes. Hurring toward the front door to the bunker across the street, a large explosion went off in front of me. I quickly turned around and ran through the hootch to the back door. Another rocket exploded near there, so I ran to my bunk, threw myself to the floor pulling the mattress on top of me. A few seconds later, another rocket (122)landed and exploded between my hootch and the one next door on the opposite side from where I was lying ( twenty feet away), ripping the whole side of the building off. I thought I was a goner at that point. I could see the white flash of the explosion even with my eyes closed shut. Debris was falling on top of me and there was lots of smoke from the exploding rocket. I shall never forget it. After the all clear had sounded, there were two casualties in the bunker I was heading for too. An Army soldier with the Army ACTCO, was in the next door hootch. He was sitting on his bed tying his boots. He wasn't so lucky. As of this day, I am still a little jumpy when I hear a bang or a siren. Days after the Tet, a detail was formed to pick up the remains of the dead VC. I saw a ton and a half truck almost filled with corpses. Many of the Vietnamese civilians who worked on the base at Air Freight never returned after Tet. They were all VC. We later figured out when we were going to be attacked every evening thereafter. Most of the civilians who work with us would all leave work early. I slept in our squadron bunker for several weeks after that. Every night the base would come under attack. These nightly attacks lasted until the rainy season started.(three months) I remember seeing B-52's dropping their bombs around the perimeter of the north side of the base.( a few miles away). The bombs would make the ground shake . It was a sight to see. I wish I had a camera to witness seeing the bombs dropping from their bomb bays. Bien Hoa was not protected by Army troops. Even though the 101st Airborne was incamped on the northeast side of the base, they were also under attack. A force of about 300 Air Force Security Police of the 3rd SPS and other augmentees defended our base. Remember Bunker hill 10, Cpt Reginald V Maisey (read his profile). The concrete blockhouse was the key blocking fortification and was subjected to the attention of two infantry battalions and a reinforced infantry company, largely made up of North Vietnamese Army regulars. At about 4:30 AM, Cpt Maisey was killed by an RPG explosion, resupplying ammunition to the Bunker.( His name is located on panel 36E on The Wall, along with four other men KIA that morning)
When I visited The Wall (on Honor Flight in 2019), I made up and left five bags of things to honor those men that were killed that morning.
I spent my entire career in Air Transportation. Lots of fond memories and events over the years. Have many stories and pictures of some of these places.(check it out)
