Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
So, it was an interesting start. I really had nothing to do with the assignment, to go back to
your question, to the 577th, other than the fact that, once I'd been designated, I kept trying to
make sure I got there. I was also back in an area that I had served in previously--back in Tuy
Hoa and Phu Yen Province.
The battalion was located in several Southeast Asia huts that had been built in the Army Phu
Hiep compound next to the Army airfield. It was the logistics subbase of Qui Nhon, and the
commander was the lieutenant colonel who reported to Qui Nhon in the logistical chain. The
air base had a separate commander, also a lieutenant colonel. There was a large field hospital
there that had a colonel commander. Periodically one battalion of the 173d Airborne would
come in. Phu Yen was the 173d's area of operations, but they weren't always there. The
lieutenant colonel was the senior person there in the operational chain.
So, the next morning I walked into my office, and I looked around and I didn't see any
activity. There was one specialist sitting out there. Major Bob Tener had been the battalion
executive officer. He left that morning, early.
So, Bob McDonald, the battalion commander, had left; Tener, the executive officer, had left.
I was told my new executive officer wouldn't be in for another couple of weeks.
I'd seen a major out there as the commander of troops during the ceremony. He was the new
S3. The command sergeant major had left the week before. The S1 was on leave in
Honolulu, so there wasn't anybody around.
I told the specialist sitting out in front, the legal clerk in the S1 section, to go find me that
major. So, Major Pat Cummings came in and introduced himself. He'd been there about four
days. He really didn't know much.
Bob McDonald and I had had about 45 minutes to an hour of talking about what the battalion
was doing. He gave me some warnings, such as don't let yourself get trapped into paving that
airfield; the matting is good enough. He warned that, "They're going to try to have you clear
Vung Ro Bay of all jungle brush. Don't let them get you trapped into that. That's not
engineer work."
He also evaluated the company commanders, all of whom were very junior. I think I had one
first lieutenant and the other five were second lieutenants. Remember, you made first
lieutenant in one year at that time, so this was, rankwise, a very junior battalion with little
experience. So, I found myself right in the middle of that big summer rotational hump that
we always read so much about.
Anyway, Pat Cummings did know that there was a meeting that afternoon at the sector
headquarters--sector being the U.S. counterpart of the Vietnamese province headquarters. I
said, "Great. Let's go."
He said, "Okay, but I don't know where it is." So, I said, "Well, let's go find the driver. He'll
know where it is."
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