Southern Cross information
for 11 BDE 23 INF
4/3 INF 23 INF
For date 700605
11 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
4/3 INF 23 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Ngai Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, FSB SAN JUAN HILL
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled ""Old Guard" uncovers enemy salt cache" by SP4 Robert Daniels 11th INF BDE IO.
FSB SAN JUAN HILL - Due to the efforts of an 11th Infantry Brigade unit, villagers in the 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry area of operations now have 11,000 pounds of salt which they can use when the need arises. The large salt cache was uncovered recently by a platoon from Company B of the "Old Guard". "It is the first cache we have found in eight months but one this size makes the wait worthwhile," said SP4 Robert Scott of South Dayton, N.Y. The company was patrolling 120 yards east of the Song Ve River when the point element spotted the camouflaged hooch. The Kit Carson Scout was leery of the area so the first platoon, the point element for the company, reconned the area by fire before moving up to investigate the hut. PFC Russell Pincardi, Fall River, Mass., said, "The hooch looked like an ordinary one, except for a plastic covering over the top, but what we found inside wasn't." Inside the hooch was five and a half tons of rock salt stored in an area 12 by 20 feet. The storage area started at ground level and angled down to a depth of five feet. Along with the salt was found an aluminum ? which was used to shovel the salt into sandbags. The second and third platoons secured the area while the first platoon cut a landing zone so that choppers could deliver sandbags. One squad from each platoon was detailed to fill the sandbags and it was late evening before the task was completed. All that remained now was to guard the salt so that it could be extracted the next morning. Tight security was set up around the salt throughout the night. The next morning, a Chinook helicopter "hooked" the enormous cache to FSB Bronco. 1LT Larry Collett, Oklahoma City, the Battalion's S-5, said, "Salt is a precious commodity to the Vietnamese people. It will be distributed to the local villagers as part of a continuing programs to return enemy staples to the people."
The source for this information was 7006_320_scr supplied by Les Hines 12/14/2000
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Last updated
12/25/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023