Eight Days (& Seven Glorious Nights) At Khe Sanh
Forward –
As a USAF Air Cargo Specialist – 15th Aerial Support Squadron, I was assigned to the DaNang Air Base flight line for my one year tour. I arrived in country in early January of 1968. My duty was loading and unloading various cargo planes, of which the majority was the C-130. Within the first couple of weeks, we were taking in rockets at night and I heard the Tet Offensive was starting.
My Khe Sahn experience began with our top sergeant coming into our line shack saying that he received a request to ask for volunteers to help on the flight line at a Marine Firebase up at Khe Sahn. The time frame for the stint was 9 days.
I was in country for about a month at that time and thought about it for a day or so before I told him I would go. A fellow airman and I were getting ready to head up to Khe Sahn. The morning we were supposed to go, the other airman came down with an ailment so I had to go by myself.
I was issued a M16 and ammo and off I went. The following is a recollection of those 9 days. I am not a journalist, so I didn’t keep a daily record but I decided that I could write/paraphrase about the highlights (lowlights) of my Khe Sahn experience.
Rats –
Upon arrival I was assigned to a hooch and was surprised to find out everyone slept in underground quarters. As I entered the hooch and looked for a place to sleep, I was told that the only bunk that was available was in the back room where the C Rations where stored. It was a bunk with upper and lower unoccupied. I took the upper.
My first night was a real wakeup call as while asleep, I felt something run across my legs. As we were told not to turn on any lights after dark, I used my lighter to see a couple of the biggest rats I have ever seen scurry into a hole in the wall.
I spent the whole 9 days in that back room sleeping with my boots on and my flack vest over my head.
I vaguely remember someone asking me how I slept that first night and some laughter in the background.
It turns out they knew about the rats and left food out on table to keep the rats from getting too hungry.
C130 –
On Feb 10th we witnessed a Marine C130 (Silver) landing on fire and after not returning to the tarmac like usual. After waiting a couple of minutes, another airman and I took a Jeep down to see if I they could use some help. We were stopped and told to turn around as the plane was on fire and could possibly explode. Sadly, 8 of the 11 men on board perished and the plane was destroyed.
F4’s –
While heading back to flight line shelter on forklift, I was startled as the first of two F4’s screamed over my head – it seemed like 300 feet or so above me. I never heard them coming. They headed over to the valley below and went into an attack formation over the valley. They flew in a vertical circle about 180 degrees opposite each other. They took turns dropping the napalm bombs followed by rockets and ended up with cannon. Once finished they took off at high rate of speed. It was quite the experience to witness this and I hoped Charlie ate every one of those F4’s payloads.
Guard Duty –
Our hooch senior officer made an announcement that there was a possibility that the NVA was going to attempt to overrun the base that night and said we were to take turns manning the entrance to stop potential satchel charges being thrown into the hooch.
I remember the eerie feeling of silence and darkness – lit up by our flares. Good thing I was accompanied by a Marine in the trench in front of the hooch with me.
Purple Heart –
As anyone who spent time at Khe Sahn knows, there was always incoming at any point in the day. To us on the flight line, it seemed more so when a plane landed. My primary job was to either pick up pallets from the tarmac or hook up rollers to the tailgate to assist the offload of cargo (most of which was ammo). I was on the forklift returning for another pallet when an incoming round landed close to me.
The closeness made me jump from the forklift and in doing so, I scraped my hand and forearm on the tarmac. I jumped back on the forklift and finished the job. After that, I went to the medic tent for some bandaging.
The medic came back with a tag to fill out for a purple heart. I told him I wasn’t hit and my scrapes were self inflicted. He said if you are bleeding, you are eligible for a purple heart. I told him that I didn’t want one without being injured by shrapnel or bullet. I never regretted that.
Near miss –
I had one other near miss when it was my turn to run the rollers out to hook up to the tailgate. We usually waited for the first sign of the tailgate opening to run them out. For some reason, I hesitated for a moment and a round landed right behind the plane. I believe I dodged a major one by doing so.
Return Flight back to Da Nang –
On my 9th day, I was heading back to Da Nang and I recall getting on the plane and lying on the floor holding onto a strap tied down the width of the plane. The loadmaster said hang on as we were, out of necessity, going in to a steep climb leaving Khe Sahn. When I arrived back at DaNang, I remember someone asking me where did I get so messed up in red dirt. I told him Khe Sahn. He seemed clueless.
I am currently a life member of the Khe Sahn Veterans Association and had the pleasure of attending the 2018 reunion in Washington. DC. On the last night, my wife and I attended the banquet and were seated at a table with all marines. As we introduced ourselves I didn’t mention that I was not a marine.
As the evening wore on and everyone seemed to mention what marine company they served in. I avoided stating that I was an Air Force veteran because I felt kind of out of place. Eventually, I was asked what company I served in, by a Marine officer at our table.
When I said that I was an Air Force veteran and told them my purpose for being at Khe Sahn was, I was pleased at how well they accepted me. I was even given a challenge coin when I shook the hand of the officer as we were leaving. I didn’t realize the honor it represented at the time, but do now.
Looking back 58 years ago, it seems somewhat surreal. There is a lot of my time spent at Khe Sahn that I don’t remember but I will always remember the above events and remain proud that I served with the Marines albeit, for a short time.
Ken Czysz
Former Staff Sergeant
USAF 1967 – 1971