Dave Krueger Class 1-67 Americal Division

My tour of VN didn't start well, even stateside. The airplane that me and four others were to take to New Jersey had engine problems, so the flight was canceled. Strike one.  We couldn't find another to New Jersey so we, I say we as four others had the same problem, found a flight to Pittsburgh. We all had to be at Ft. Dix's by 6pm.  We all figured that we could drive it and still be on time. So off we go. On landing in Pittsburgh, United lost my baggage between Detroit and Pittsburgh. Strike two.  So all five of us rent a car and off we go. All is well until, you guessed it, at the main gate I did not have my orders. My orders were in with my baggage. Strike three. It took United five days to find it and three more to get it to me. Strike four. Guess I was starting the VN life style a little early.  To add a little to the story, this is the way I came to VN. From McGuire AFB on a United flight to Oakland CA.  Wait two hours then change to a Saturn Airlines flight to Hawaii. At Hawaii another wait for refueling. All the gates had MP stationed so no one could leave. Am not sure if this is the correct order from Hawaii, but here goes, Wake Inland, Guam than on to Clark AFB in the Philippians. At Clark we had a four hour wait for refueling and Tan Son Nhut was under attack or repair. Strike five. Boy, was that a long flight 23 hours.

Just like most of us replacements, I went on to the replacement center and waited for my assignment. While waiting  at the center we had three mortar attacks and me with no weapon at all. Not the best feeling to have, that's for sure.  Strike six.  About a week later I was assigned to the Americal Division, up in Chu Lai. in I Crops. OK no problem just fly up to Chu Lai  on a C-130 with a stopover at Pleiku, ya right. It seems Pleiku airstrip is under attack. Strike seven.  The Americal Division then assigned me to B Company 4th / 3rd 11th LIB.  B Company worked in and around fire base Dottie, 23 km south of Chu Lai on Highway 1 and  firebase Uptight on the Batangan Peninsula inland from the South China Sea. 6 km north from My Lai 4, the village that Lt. Calley made his major screw-up in with a different unit.  The Batangan Peninsula was what some call  the most mined area of VN. So you guessed it, it only took me two months to find one. That's the last strike for me folks. I'm on the way home, by Chi Lai to Japan on to Ft. Bliss, Texas. Then back to Detroit and the VA hospital. So this is how I made the complete round trip.

Dave's squad at OJT Ft. Gordan , last day of class. Sgt. Krueger is in the middle with no hat With another classmate Sgt. Gill Meastas (KIA Sept. 18,1968). If you look in the background of the photo you'll see the metal Quonset huts we lived in, way out by the rifle range. About a 20 minute ride from main post. God were the conditions bad. We had to sweep out the huts twice a day or mop the floors if it rained. If you needed any running water you had to go to another hut and carry it back. Talk about being trained in conditions like VN. It was close to the conditions I had in Chu Lai.