Ozzy's last ride - A Vietnam forty-nine year retrospective - April 4, 1968 - 2017 | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Here are a couple of pictures I took before and after the battle. The second is the next day when we went back into the jungle to mop up the battlefield. It shows the APC that destroyed by an RPG. It blew up when the RPG set off the ammunition inside. The tree damage was the result of Air Strikes called in during the battle.

ONE BEFORE THE BATTLE

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ONE AFTER THE BATTLE

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    Some would ask why anyone would DWELL on those old memories. Well, for the record, you do not DWELL on them they DWELL on you.

    Below is a reprint of a comment I made on Alex Ortolano's post about Finding and Evacuating Wounded in Vietnam Click on the link to see that article and comments.

    I had numerous occasions to participate in the Medivac or Medevac (I never knew the correct spelling) as and RTO, Litter Bearer, and finally as a Squad Leader. By the grace of God, I never rode in one of those Hueys with a Big Red Cross on the front.

    Early in my tour on April 4, 1968, we loaded our wounded comrade Ozzy Osborne on a chopper after a fierce battle in the heavy jungle around Dau Tieng, Vietnam. We were working with a Mechanized Unit from the 199th Infantry. Fortunately, there was a rice paddy outside the battle area. As we left the paddy, I turned and took a quick picture of the chopper. I was using slide film. I mailed the film home and I never saw it until after my tour.

    The years were not kind to the film and I did not scan the picture until after my retirement in 2004. I have often thought about having the slides professionally cleaned and reproduced, but I always feared wading back into the Abyss again.

    I did make an effort to clean up the image with my limited Photoshop skills when I started writing my Battle Diary of that horrific day. I decided that the picture is best left somewhat as it was when taken. It reflects the quick over the shoulder look.

    It was not until many years later that I noticed the blooming flowers at the bottom of the frame. They perfectly illustrate the contradiction of combat. It was not until several days later that we learned that Ozzy did not survive his wounds.

    In the same battle we lost other soldiers. I have posted that in my Memorial Day tribute.

    A Memorial Day Thought, Words fail me

    Below is the image from my Vietnam Battle Dairy.