Wayne Hunsucker   P.O. Box 331       Lucile, Idaho    83542        Phone:   (208) 628-3254        Email:  whunsucker@hotmail.com

Wayne Hunsucker   My Web Site from Lucile, Idaho

Cars and other things I find of interest.









These are just a few photos I have of my time in Vietnam.  After graduating from William and Mary in June, 1968  I joined the Army.  I went through basic training at Fort Sill, OK and stayed there for Artillery Officer Candidate School where I was commissioned a 2nd LT.  I spent a short time stationed in Georgia and then on to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas for a year where I made 1st LT.  I was assigned to a Hawk Missile Battalion.  From there I spent a year in Vietnam and was assigned to the 26th Support Group in i-Core.  I spent my first 5 months based in Phu Bai, 67th Maintenance Company.  From there we would go out to support the various fire bases like Bastogne.   My last 6 months were spent full time on the Vandergrift Fire Base about nine miles down the road from Khe Sanh and about 5 miles from the DMZ.  The Khe Sanh base had been overrun in the Tet Offensive of 1968.  In 1971 we were the first American troops back in since the Marines had left.  This was the “Dewey Canyon II / Lam Son 719” operation.  I had a detachment of 30+ guys out there and we were attached to the 101 Airborne Division.  

I had one month of service remaining when word came out to Vandergrift that my 3 year enlistment was going to be up. I needed to re-enlist and become a Captain or leave the Army.  I decided that I did not want to make the Army a career so I took the 28 day early out.

Some photos of my time in Vietnam 1970 - 1971

On the base at Phu Bai - a relatively easy first 5 months.

Gun truck escorting a convoy to Vandergrift FSB.  A lot of the convoys were run at night.




Vietnamese life went on.

Vietnamese grave site.

My jeep at Bastogne fire support base.

Bunkers built with ammo boxes filled with dirt.

175mm self propelled artillery gun can hit targets up to 17 miles away.  Bastogne FSB

On bunker duty with my M79 grenade launcher close at hand. Some long nights.  Phu Bai

In addition to the Cobras in the air , these heavily armored gun trucks ran escort for our convoys out to the fire bases.  Many took heavy fire in ambushes and saved many lives (and they lost some of their own).  The Protector was hit in a major ambush on 2/8/1971 and the driver Charles Howard Soule was killed. Fortunately I was not in that convoy.

    CLICK HERE to view a 3 minute video slide show on YouTube with      some of the guntrucks of Vietnam