Southern Cross information
for 196 BDE 23 INF
For date 700626
196 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, FSB HAWK HILL
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Five men keep the Chargers going" by SGT Bob Nordyke 196th INF BDE IO.
LZ HAWK HILL - Five men loading over 20 tons of supplies a day in 100 degree temperatures and under 100 mile per hour winds keep one battalion of the 196th Infantry Brigade supplied with vital necessities. This team and two similar ones based on LZ Hawk Hill are the vital link between the brigade and three off its forward infantry battalions. The supply teams daily unload tons of supplies arriving by truck convoy from Chu Lai, transferring them to nylon and rope nets that will be hooked to giant Chinook helicopters and carried to the fire bases. According to 1LT Harris Rowzie, Baton Rouge, La., assistant S-4 officer, an example of a single day's workload for one helicopter is 27 tons of ammunition, 4,200 gallons of water, three conexes of foodstuffs, and miscellaneous loads of wood, beer and soda. With maximum loads of 8,000 pounds per helicopter this adds up to a long day for the soldiers working on the chopper pad. And the working conditions are not the best with the intense heat and the blades of the helicopter whipping dust and gravel wildly through the air. From first light to dusk, the pad is a hub of activity. Men unloading trucks, sorting and organizing supplies, dragging Gulliver-sized nets, netting the cargo, careful to make sure nothing falls out in mid-air and the load will ride straight through the air, coordinating the Chinooks, and finally hooking the nets up to the helicopters. "It's a long day, but luckily we don't have to pull any guard at night," said SP4 Robert Anzinger, St. Mary's, Pa. With unrestrained respect, LT Rowzie explained further, "Those people are doing an outstanding job, with long, hard hours. When they hook stuff up, they're standing under a 100 mile per hour wind and this is nine or ten times a day." Besides loading supplies the men are responsible for keeping the pad clean, a constant police call under those circumstances and organizing the cargo by unit.
Photo Caption: A CH-47, "Hercules" is seen against grey skies above LZ Hawk Hill, as it lifts off with supplies for troopers of the 196th Infantry Brigade. (Photo By SP4 Garard Paulin)
The source for this information was 7006_323_scr supplied by Les Hines 12/19/2000
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Last updated
12/24/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023