Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
aggressively because we had more units: the Koreans, the Vietnamese, and the 173d, as
opposed to only the 47th ARVN Regiment when I was there earlier.
Q:
Was battalion command what you expected it would be like?
A:
Yes, very much so. I was ready for it and enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it because we had great
missions, doing super work, and I had area responsibility. I mean, my responsibility was for
anything and all that came into that area that needed engineer support. It was up to me, and it
was my decision. I could always be second guessed, but it was my decision as to what went
and what didn't go. When somebody needed engineer support, then that got the priority and
we would slow down something else.
What got slowed down was my decision. I knew they wanted me out of QL1 construction,
which also meant the Ban Thach bridge. That was construction, and that could take second
seat to combat engineer operations.
So, all of those responsibilities were mine. For about six weeks straight during that period I
never talked to my group commander.
I was promoted to lieutenant colonel on the 12th of August. I'd been there now in command
since the 6th of July. Colonel Fowler called me on the telephone at the end of the day and
said, "Well, I suppose you thought I was going to fly in and pin them on you." I said, "Yes,
Sir, I really thought so." He said, "No, just pin them on. I'm not coming." [Laughter]
Q:
That's interesting. So, the group commander left the initiative, the leeway, to you?
A:
Del Fowler's modus operandi was just that. He used to tell people that his group did so well
because he "turned on" his battalion commanders and didn't mess with them unless they
wanted to be helped.
Bill Barnes was not that way. He stayed in much closer contact. By the same token, though,
he didn't take away my responsibility or accountability and I made the decisions. He might
tell me that I hadn't paved enough, that the 864th Engineer Battalion under Lieutenant
Colonel Art Daolis had paved a kilometer that day, and "Why didn't you pave like the 864th
could?"
I got together with Art Daolis at a commanders conference three weeks later, and over a beer
in Bill Barnes' little club at the 35th Group headquarters he said, "Boy, you 577th guys are
really good. We just can't keep up with you. Barnes calls me every day and tells me how
much the 577th has paved." So, after that, we knew. [Laughter]
Q:
A technique, that.
A:
A technique. I enjoyed both of my group commanders, and I really enjoyed John Elder, the
brigade commander. I enjoyed being there in command at that time because I had an awful
lot of autonomy. You knew you were responsible.
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