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These stories are true, but the names may be When the US sent forces into Cambodia (officially...see "Men in Green") in April, 1970, the area was first "prepped" by B-52 bombers from Guam. They dropped 5,000 pound bombs to clear the triple- canopy jungle for LZs (Landing Zones). These blockbusters were powerful enough that they turned 200-foot trees into toothpicks for a radius of 50-70 yards! The 71st was probably 30 miles from Cambodia, but the ground shook and we could feel the blasts when the '52s started their "music". I was REALLY happy to not be on the ground anywhere near where those bombs were falling! Shortly after the ground troops were choppered in, we started to get casualties. At one point, we received about eighty wounded, dropped on our pad by two Chinook helicopters (the egg-beater, two-bladed "flying banana"). That made us the busiest hospital in-country for awhile. Everybody worked around the clock for nearly three days until we cleared up our caseload. We'd work until we couldn't work any more, lie down on a stretcher, sleep a couple of hours, grab a bite of chow, then hit it again. We lost some, but we saved most of them. I remember one GI from Oregon. He'd been a football player at Oregon State and had one leg mostly blown off by a RPG (Rocket-Propelled Grenade) round. As I was getting him ready for surgery, he was really happy. He was happy to be alive and going home. Losing his leg meant nothing to him at that moment. We had to take it off just below the knee. I hope he did okay when he got back to the World. I hope he did okay and is enjoying his grandkids! Comments: E-mail me Thanks for visiting ...SP5 Steven Streeper
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