I served with the 56th Signal Co DS/85th Lt. Maintenance Co DS
May '66 to May '67. The 56th arrived in Qui Nhon about June '65. They
were one of the first units in the big build up to arrive. They were
located in Valley A (also called Phu Tai or Phu Thanh Valley). The
56th and the 85th were part of the 5th Maintenance Bn. When I arrived
the Battalion HQ was located in the 1st Log compound adjacent to the
Air Base. In August '66 a reorganization took place and the 56th was
split into two companies, the 85th Lt. Maintenance Co. (DS) and
another (552nd maybe?). I was assigned to the 85th Maintenance. 1Lt
Douglas Crawford was the first CO of the 85th. Capt. Young arrived
later in '66 and became CO. Being activated in country, we were an
orphan unit without a home of our own. We were co-located with the
old 56th Signal for a while. Since most of our soldiers were
ordnance types we relocated twice to other maintenance companies in
the valley. The 85th moved to Da Nang late in '66 and became part of
the Da Nang Sub Area Command, but I believe we were still considered
part of the 5th Maintenance Bn, or at least we always reported
through them. We had a detachment at Dong Ha where we did DS
maintenance for the Army Artillery units (175s, 155s, Qaud Forties
and Twin Fifties) up near the DMZ. Names like the .........................Bill Bellinger |
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| In 1967, there was a lieutenant
from one of the 5th Maintenance Bn Qui
Nhon companies detailed with the 85th Maintenance Co. Dong Ha detachment.
His name was Alfred Pelham. The Dong Ha maintenance detachment was part of a larger
logistical task force. Dong Ha was a good place to stay away from. Definitely VC territory.
Fortunately I only had to go up there 2 or 3 times. The 85th's detachment consisted of 6 or 7 GIs
and 2 DACs (Department of Army Civilians or Damned Army Civilians). The detachment's job
was to help keep the big guns on the DMZ firing. We had 155s and 175s up there providing fire
support for the Marines, so it was a high priority operation in Saigon.
That area was a dangerous place. In 1967 we lost two soldiers and had two wounded in an ambush of one of our vehicles. One of the KIAs and one WIAs were from the 85th. The others were from one of the Army Artillery Bns. I remember trying to sleep up there at night was quite a trick with the incessant firing. The quad fifties and twin forties made a racket with their 'mad minutes'. I had tucked a lot of these memories away, but when I came across the website, with all the pictures, etc., it all started coming back like it was yesterday. .........................Bill Bellinger |
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