Sgt. Robert L. Miller Remembers




01-15-03
Was sent to Dong Ha when I arrived in Vietnam on August 26, 1967.  Was a bit miffed about this since I had been trained on 8 inch self-propelled artillery which were then at Cam Lo.  Was assigned to C/1/12 as the NCOIC of a 105mm Howitzer section.  Had to learn this job in short order.  As I only had 10 months left on my enlistment in the Marine Corps, developed a bit of anger for being placed in a position I was not trained for and this did not serve me well in C/1/12.  Therefore, I thought being transferred to C/1/13 on Hill 881S was a much better assignment until all hell broke lose, then I wished to be back in the relative "safety" of C/1/12.

Now I am very proud to have served with the Marines on Hill 881S.  I must say the best officers and men the Marine Corps had to offer came together on that small hill in Vietnam.  It's strange how things seem to work out.  I have no regrets, just a whole lot of pride.

09-08-02
I Remember the First Supergaggle.
As I recall it was a nice day on the hill.  The fog had burned off early that morning, and the jets had come in.  Man they were working out hot and heavy around 881S and 861 dropping 500 pounders, 250 pounders, napalm, and smoke.  Like most Marines on the hill I just sat back and watched the "air show" -- not the smartest thing to do but, it made me feel better knowing that the NVA were getting some pay back.

Up to that point I had plenty to worry about i.e., incoming, low on food and water, firing missions day and night, low on ammo, digging in, wounded Marines and the flat tires on our 105s.  The gun crews tired, sick and hungry.

After the smoke was laid down I looked over toward Khe Sanh, saw a bunch of CH-46s coming with cargo nets hanging under them.  Man when they came in, they dropped supplies all over that hill, wow what a show. It only took a few seconds for a bird to come then another one, then another, another.  Then they got the hell out of there as fast as they could. After that we humped supplies all day on into the night.  But, we didn't mind, cause we had food, water, ammo, and mail.  I think the NVA went into shock, they changed there ways after that.  Thanks Marines (helicopter crews), you saved our butts that day!

02-24-02
I remember well the aspects of being a Section Leader for one of the 105mm howitzers on the hill.  After a few days in January and many of our 105 crewmen being wounded, I was the only Sergeant left on the guns.  With my 105 being located on the north side of the hill it was a favorite target for the NVA gunners located on Hill 881N.  My gun crew seemed to be fearless because they stood there and fired missions, both direct and indirect, even when we were receiving incoming.  We always had flat tires which made it very difficult, and time consuming, to move that heavy thing around.  Recall that Lt. Biondo, who was constantly on my butt for being slow getting ready to fire, sent Lt. Crenshaw over to help us shift on one occasion to no avail.  After that Lt. Biondo was a bit more understanding.  Got new tires ever so often but they didn't last long.

I remember being hurt to see young Marines going through the dump looking for old rusty C-rations such as ham&mf's, jelly, crackers, etc.  What else could they do?  They were hungry, and had to survive when the weather kept our resupply birds on the ground.

I remember a chopper coming in about dusk one evening and for some reason there were oranges scattered all over the LZ near our gun.  Of course the chopper didn't stay long, and when it left my Marines scoffed up most of the oranges before telling the grunts about them.  To this day I am sorry we didn't share more of them with others.

There were times that I didn't think even God was on our side.  Now that I reflect back on how we made it with those determined enemy gunner's rounds coming in on us, I realize God was watching over us.

The proudest day of my life on Hill 881S, and I am sure I speak for my gunners, was when Capt. Dabney walked up to us and said, "You guys on that gun have got big balls, you fire regardless of what's going on."

Epilogue to Oranges in the LZ
03-21-02

Colonel Dabney, after reading the above, submits a bit more information about the oranges in the LZ.

"What Robert doesn't know, and didn't know then, was that there were several crates of oranges dumped from several hovering helicopters into the zone.  Remember how orange crates are constructed, not very durable, and when they hit the ground they all broke open.  Damn oranges were all over India's hill.  Robert and his 105 crews got their share, but so did grunts.  Don't think many made it over to Mike.  But for some unknown reason those of us in the COC didn't received even one orange.  Whole drill lifted our spirits for a while.  As soon as it got dark so it was safe,  troops were crawling all over the hill looking for them - for three nights!  Like toddlers on an Easter egg hunt.

As with ice cream event, we appreciated Purple Foxes' efforts, and at least troops could still eat the oranges if they could find 'em!  Not so the
ice cream.  India Six Actual, Out."

All these years I thought that arty had gotten away with something, but as usual the skipper (Bill) was on to us all along.  He just added more funny to my oranges on the hill story.  Thanks skipper.

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