View from the Southern End of Hill 65 – Compliments of Navy Corpsman Buzz Baviello – Delta 1/5 – 1970
Tuesday, December 17, 1968
Bravo Company’s Gunny approached me regarding the CAP unit south of Hill 65. He wanted these Marines to receive hot chow at least once a week. This was an old issue left over from India Company 3/7. I told the Gunny we would be glad to feed this unit but would not deliver or serve the food.
This was about logistics. We could easily prepare the food and fill the thermal containers, but there was no vehicle or driver to make the 2-mile round trip. The food would not be delivered by our mess hall staff.
The Marines at CAP 2-2-4 had all volunteered for this duty. Many of them had extended their tour for 6 months in order to be assigned to a CAP unit. These 20 or so Marines were isolated from the Hill 65 compound, and they helped protect the local Vietnamese village. It was a dangerous task, and their perimeter was often probed at night by the NVA. Sending a Jeep with a trailer full of thermal food containers was risky business.
The conversation was at a standoff. The Gunny wanted to negotiate a compromise, but I stood my ground, “We don’t deliver.” Finally he asked how much notice we needed to have the food packed and ready to go. I gave him an arbitrary time of 3 hours and he said, “I’ll get back to you.”
The coordination involved for this endeavor was the equivalent of sending out a patrol. Security was an issue; it just wasn’t safe to send a lone Jeep down Highway 4.
I am a retired restaurant manager. My wife Jenny and I have been married for 50 years, have three grown children and two teen grand kids.
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