It might have been calm a few mornings, but the wind almost always blew and came from the north. I served in an artillery battalion in '73 and '74 including two winters. The second winter was the Arab oil embargo and we stayed in the field on reduced operations because we used much less fuel than when in garrison. I spent a lot of time on Artillery Observation Posts and every one faced north to the impact areas. Because of General Howze's dictum that you can't fight out of a closed vehicle, all of our trucks and jeeps had no windshields or cab canvas. I lived in the wool uniform shirt, field pants with liners. long johns, arctic mittens, "mickey-mouse" cold weather boots , pile cap under my steel pot, and a parka with liner with a fur-rimmed hood. Actuaslly the field gear worked very well except on long convoys. It got bitter cold at the guardposts on the actual DMZ at Panmunjon.. The Japanese logged out all of the trees during their occupation so there were no windbreaks. All of the hills were bare and all of the flatland was rice paddy, drained or frozen over in the winter. What I experienced was small potatoes compared to what the troops on both sides endured from '50 to '53 in combat. Adios, Larry.
Field Artillery brings dignity to what otherwise might be merely a vulgar brawl.
To post a new message, simply press the "Post An Article" button. If you are posting a message or replying for the first time you will need to create a Network 54 login and regsiter for the Forum.
To read a message, click on that message in the list. You will see the message and the following thread, and then have the choice of reading the remaining messages or replying to the original message.
