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We have been learning about Porter's Dan Dybsetter and his Vietnam service. Dan grew up on a farm near Porter, graduated with the Canby High School Class of 1963 and was drafted into the Army after graduating from South Dakota State University in June 1968. He completed Army Basic and Advanced Individual Training before deploying to Vietnam in March of 1969.
Dan's orders were to the 9th Infantry Division in the southern, Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. A truck convoy took him south to the division headquarters at Dong Tam. His truck had bullet holes all the way down the box in the back.
He explained his first days there.
"They sent you to 'The Reliable Academy.' The 9th Infantry was nicknamed 'The Old Reliables.' It was three-four days. You went through training to acquaint you with the terrain because the Delta was different than you would find up north."
But the division headquarters at Dong Tam was not Dan's new home.
"Your battalion operated out of a fire base. I got sent to A Company of the 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment. It was at Fire Base Schroeder, which was fairly new. I got there in the last days of March in '69."
Dan described the fire base layout.
"When they built these firebases, they would go in with caterpillars. The Delta is absolutely flat, so they pushed dirt up and formed a berm in a big circle. That was your outer perimeter. Then they built bunkers into this berm and inside that were your company areas. In the center was the mess tent, a battery of 155's (heavy artillery pieces), mortars, and trucks. When I got there, it was the dry season, so this was dry and dusty."
The troops' accommodations were nothing to write home about. Dan pointed to a photo of what looked like a concrete, half-culvert.
"I called it a farrowing house (Dan laughed), except it was covered with sandbags. This was the entrance and this sandbag (a sandbag in front of the entrance) was so if a mortar round landed in front, it would keep you from getting hit. This was built into the berm so that you had a firing position out the front. Two of us had this position. I had a little wooden ammo box where you'd keep personal things. I had money stolen from that. Whatever company stayed at the base camp was in charge of perimeter security at night. So, if you were in base camp, there was somebody in every one of these bunkers and manning the machine guns."
Dan described his early days with A Company, 2nd of the 39th Infantry.
"The first month, most of April, was quiet. I was fortunate. I got a chance to learn how to carry your gear and try different things. The guys in our platoon would help you out. I started out as a rifleman and then I tried different things. The M-79, that's the single-shot grenade launcher. I didn't like the idea of getting in a firefight with a single shot, (Dan laughed) so I did it for a day. I carried the M-60 (machine gun) for one mission, but I was a little small. The M-60 is pretty heavy and then you've got all the extra ammo. I carried the demo bag, which carried a bunch of C4, plastic explosive. You'd use it to blow up a booby trap or a bunker. You had a tube of blasting caps to set off the C4. You'd attach those to a cord and fire those with your Claymore detonator. I stuck the blasting caps in the elastic of my steel pot so they weren't together. I only did that for a few days."
He described their load for a combat patrol.
"We were fairly free to carry equipment the way you wanted. You needed your rifle and your ammunition and grenades. Some guys carried a rope. Most carried a Claymore mine. Some guys used rucksacks and some used a backpack. Nobody hassled you so long as the squad leader knew you had what you needed. Most of us wore vests you put your magazines in that the mama-sans would make. Before you left base camp they'd get out C-rations and you picked out whatever you wanted. You could carry as much food and water as you wanted, but everything is heavy (Dan chuckled) and it was hot. So, you learned. We ate a lot of fruit."
Dan explained their combat patrolling cycle.
"Most of the time we went out by chopper from the base camp. They had learned that you couldn't stay in the field for days and days in the delta because your feet would rot off. You were virtually never dry. Even during the dry season you were constantly crossing canals and rivers. And during the rainy season you were wet all the time. So, they'd rotate the companies in the field. Once in a while you'd only stay out overnight. Usually it was three nights. The longest I was in the field at one time was five nights. Then you'd be back at base camp one or two nights."
Dan reflected on his first month in Vietnam.
"That first month of April -- I went through that and thought, 'This is going to be fine.' Then came the month of May."
The Lyon County Museum is organizing an exhibit about the Vietnam War and Lyon County. If you would like to share Vietnam experiences or help with the exhibit, please contact me at prairieviewpressllc@gmail.com or call the museum at 537-6580.