We have begun learning about Mike Davis and his Vietnam service. Mike grew up on a farm near Sanborn and graduated with the Sanborn High School class of 1967. He was drafted into the military in 1969 and sent to Fort Lewis, Washington for Army Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT).

Since Mike and his fellow inductees trained as Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) 11B, Infantrymen, they expected orders to Vietnam. But the U.S. was beginning a troop drawdown there. Mike recalled their surprising orders.

“We all went to Fort Hood, Texas – the 2nd Armored Division. They split us up. We were all over the place. I was assigned to a brigade headquarters company as a parts clerk in the motor pool, ordering parts for the jeeps and the tanks.”

Mike described how his new unit trained him for his new responsibilities.

“I went to school for two weeks. Then I did a couple weeks with a guy who got out of the Army, replacing him. It was pretty easy. I was exempt from duty, so I didn’t have to pull KP or guard.”

But this too-good-to-be-true assignment did not last.

“We all came down on levy (for Vietnam) after five months in Fort Hood, which was another surprise because we thought we had it made and were going to stay Stateside. We did jungle training for two weeks. They made a mock village of bamboo hootches and it was like a refresher course of Basic or AIT.”

Mike went home on pre-deployment leave before reporting to Oakland Army Base for overseas deployment.

“I flew out with other draftees headed for Vietnam. It was quiet. We just watched movies. I had no idea what to expect, so I was just kind of going along.”

Their flight landed at Bien Hoa Air Base north of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. Mike remembered entering an alien place.

“Stepping off the plane — the heat and the smell — the smell of Vietnam. I can’t describe it other than that. It has its own, distinct smell.”

The Army quickly moved Mike into his new reality.

“We went to a reception station. It takes about three days to cut orders. Then we split up and went all over the country, mostly hopping C-130 flights to another rear base. I went up to Danang for a couple days and then I went to Phu Bai, where I ended up. It was a Supply Company to the 101st Airborne Division.”

Mike described his unit and responsibilities.

“Phu Bai had a landing strip, so they could bring planes in and they had fighter jets, too. The reason I went to Phu Bai to a Supply outfit is because while I was in Fort Hood, I got promoted under another MOS. As a Parts Clerk, I was a 76S, primary and then my 11B became my secondary MOS. When I went to Vietnam they stuck me in a Supply unit. Basically, we’d take a deuce and a half to the airport; pick up supplies; and bring them back. Then we had a pole barn where we’d stack the stuff. If it’s 115 degrees outside, can you imagine what it’s like inside a pole barn? It was hot.”

Mike found a way to get relief from the overwhelming, on-the-job heat.

“I spent a week or two in the warehouse before I decided to go to permanent, night guard duty. We had a concertina wire perimeter with sand-bagged bunkers. They had generators, so at night we could put lights onto the concertina wire. It was pretty simple and very boring. I worked from six at night until six in the morning, which made for a long night because you didn’t sleep. There was nothing to do except sit there. I’d have a partner. Even though we wouldn’t sleep, we would switch off being on watch.”

Mike explained how night duty solved one heat problem, but created another.

“We just had basic, little hootches with probably about a dozen cots. They were wooden and they were noisy when it rained. We didn’t have air conditioning, so it was tough sleeping during the day.”

About three months later, fortune again smiled on Mike.

“I lucked out and got on permanent, day guard, at which time I was the only one out on that sector. I had a whole sector to myself and worked from six in the morning ’til six at night. That was pretty good.”

Then, just as quickly, fortune abandoned him.

“One day they called me into the office and said, ‘Those guys in the field could use some help. I see you have an 11B secondary.’ So, I knew what was coming. They shipped me out to the 4th Infantry Division, which was in the Central Highlands. They put me on a chopper and I flew about an hour. I figured that put me somewhere on the Cambodian border.”

Mike described his new reality as an infantryman.

“I joined the unit; 1st of the 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, while they were in the field. (Mike chuckled) We’d get resupplied anywhere from four to seven days, so we had to carry food, water, and ammunition for four days, at least.”

Mike’s new infantry unit was involved in near-constant combat patrols in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region.

Please visit our new exhibit, The Vietnam War and Lyon County, at the Lyon County Museum to learn more about the experiences of our area Vietnam veterans. If you would like to share Vietnam experiences or help with the exhibit, please contact the museum at 537-6580.