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Firing the guns was always exciting. The noise, the targets and the urgency of the missions were a thrill. During the dry season, the concussion of the blast would raise the fine dust into the air masking everything in a red mist that got in your ears, mouth, bedding and clothing. Firing at night was a full, 4th of July display.

At some point, maybe January of 1967, Alpha Battery relocated to Quan Loi east of An Loc. From this location, we spent most of our time in the field supporting numerous infantry operations. We were always located near what I was told were French, Michelin rubber plantations. The rubber trees were off limits for U.S. fighting because of the adverse financial impact. We were told that the Army had to pay for any damage caused to the trees. All of our maps had “no fire zones” that required special permission from battalion and higher before we could provide supporting artillery fire to either US or Vietnamese forces.

The Battery was located near the end of the runway for the landing strip. We were living in sandbagged tents adjacent to the mess hall and the gun positions were constructed with powder canisters and fifty-five gallon drums filled with gravel and welded together. We used local carpenters to construct an underground command and fire direction center.

Our FDC and Battalion FDC each calculated our firing solutions to ensure accuracy of the data. Our FDC was quicker and more accurate than the team at Battalion.