Use Maplandia for 3/4 Cav Locations in Vietnam

Fellow Troopers,

Doug Clapp sent these directions to use Maplandia to view the locations we fought at while in Vietnam. Follow his directions below.

Cu Chi Base Camp: Google 'Go Dau Ha Vietnam and select 'google satellite maps'. Go SE to Trang Bang. Go a little further on and look for where hwy 8 crosses Huong L02. At the V that is formed is the Cu Chi base camp. Perimeter road is still there but new gate. Ann Margaret gate is still there and look how built up it is there now. Squadron HQ and motor pools are pretty well empty. Airstrip is there. You can see where Div HQ was and the landing pad in front of the buildings are gone but new ones are there.

The Donut: Go back NW to Trang Bang and follow hwy 782 center on where 782 meets 784. Just above the jct is a small road/trail running ESE in a straight line through some orchards. It meets a canal that runs SW. Coming from the NE cross over straight ahead into the new satellite map. The road continues ESE passes under 2 little white clouds then road curves to NE. Then
stop. Go directly East 090 1 Km. A field mostly rectangle in shape with greenery bordering it with white whispy cloud above. That is where the Donut was. Now a large canal from Dau Tieng resevoir runs close by going SSE. It is lined by roads on either side with houses and driveways. No jungle, no bomb craters, lots of irregated fields and never in my wildest imagination 40 years ago would I have seen how the Boi Loi looks today!

Boi Loi Woods Jan 17, 1969 battle: Zoom out a little. You see where Hwy 6 seems to stop as it comes West. It stops being a yellow/white line. Keep going west on the road and where the road curves toward the SW was the site of the fight. Just beyond is almost the last of the Boi Loi as we knew it. You can see some bomb craters in there. The rest of the woods is
totally cleared and farmed. Amazing!

Fire Support Base Hampton: Center on Go Dau Ha and the bridge, then follow the Vam Co Dong river SSE. Just before the river curves to the SW, Go directly East to hwy 22 a road from the ENE runs into hwy 22.

Enjoy. You should be able to use Google Earth and do the same thing.

Thanks to Doug for providing these directions.

John,

Merry Christmas to all 3/4 Cavalry Troopers

Fellow Troopers,

I would like to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all Cavalry Troopers, past and present to you and to your families. Have a great New Year and See You in Tucson!

If you have not registered for the reunion you need to do so by the end of January.

Thanks,

John,

Veterans Day 2009

Fellow Troopers,

Thank you each for your service to our Nation, to the 25th Infantry Division, to A Troop 3rd Squadron 4th Cavalry, and to your fellow soldiers.

On this Veterans Day, Americans will take time to thank you and our Nation's 24 million veterans. The service, sacrifice, commitment to duty, and love of country of these brave men and women has kept America free for over 234 years. We should never forget what we owe our veterans.

This Veterans Day take time to remember our comrades who did not return. And of course enjoy this holiday which you earned with your service and sacrifice! Thanks again,

John,

Call for Photos - Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Fellow Troopers,

The original purpose of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was that no one would ever forget the names of those brave men and women who gave their lives for our country. Forty percent of the visitors who visit the "Wall" are now too young to remember the war. The Education Center at the Wall has a goal to collect all 58,261 photographs of each name inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We need to not only remember their names, but we need to never forget their faces.

54 of our unit's 87 casualties do not have a photograph on our web site's Memorial Page. If you have a photo of one of our comrades that did not return, submit it to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial web site or send it to our troop web site and we will submit if for you. Check our Memorial Pages for the troopers who do not have photos and check your old pictures from Vietnam. If you do not have a scanner, FedEX will scan the photo for you for free and submit it. We would also like a copy for our web site. Information is available on the "Call for Photos!" web page at the Vietnam Memorial Fund web site.

For our comrades we need 1 photo from 1965, 2 photos from 1966, 8 photos from 1967, 32 photos from 1968, 2 photos from 1969, and 7 photos from 1970. You can see which of our casualties we do not have photos of at our Memorial Page.

Your efforts in support of this project are sincerely appreciated.

Thanks,

John & Mel

September 11, 2001 - Remember

As the chaos unfolded on September 11, 2001, each and every freedom-loving American rediscovered their devotion to country. We stood together as a nation of citizens, policemen, firemen, & servicemen refusing to surrender to fear. That day, police, fire, & medical personnel answered the call of duty without hesitation and at great personal cost. In honor of those who died on that horrible day and to our military who have responded over the past 8 years fighting at home and abroad to preserve our freedom, remember to fly your United States flag on September 11th. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism. God bless all our military!

Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11.

Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Americans should fly the flag year-round and I know many of us do, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

God Bless You and God Bless America!

John,

Trooper needs help on Purple Heart.

Fellow Troopers, if you were in the first platoon during August 1968, a former trooper's son is trying to get the Purple Heart awarded for his dad's August 68 wounds. See the request below. Please help if you can.

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"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jeff Persons. My father, Harold Persons, was in 1^st platoon A troop during 1968. He was injured by an RPG in a fire fight. Shortly after the injury occurred his mother fell ill and he returned state side. Due to the circumstances and the way things fall through the cracks in our military he was never awarded a Purple Heart. I am making an attempt to have him awarded the Purple Heart for these injuries. I am writing to see if you can be of any help contacting one of the guys that he remembers as being there when it happened. One name he mentioned was Sgt. White who passed away sometime after the war. Another person he remembers is Wayne Suddeth. If you can be of any help it would be greatly appreciated."

Thank you!

Jeffrey A Persons

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If you can help, contact the website for Jeffrey's email address

John,

1st Plt A Troop 3/4 Cav Current Tour in Iraq

Fellow Troopers,

3/4 Cavalry will complete its current deployment to Iraq in October. The squadron is operating in the Balad area. They recently transfered Forward Operating Base Paliwoda to Iraq control. See the news release at this link.

This video is from the 1st platoon A Troop and was made at the start of their current tour. Shows some of the terrain and conditions that they conduct operations under. Enjoy!

We can all be proud of the job the current squadron's soldiers are doing for our nation.
Thanks,

John,