Remember the TV show "MASH"? The setting was in Korea and starred Alan Alda and others. They had buildings that looked like a permanent setup. Well, in Vietnam it wasn't that way.

I was assigned to a rubber plantation for over a month at Quan Loi in Vietnam in the 1st Infantry Division. My responsibility was to refuel attack and troop-carrying helicopters. I would get the fuel out of Saigon. It came in 55-gallon drums and 500-gallon rubber bladders.

The way the operation worked was that intelligence would locate a bunch of Viet Cong soldiers. Then the division would send out infantry troops in APCs. I always thought they were the bait in anticipation of a battle. We would have maybe 10 to 15 helicopters lined up and the infantry troops sitting beside them ready to go. As soon as the firs

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