"Ernie what the hell are you doing here in Viet Nam?" he asked. He said it was the off season and thought it was a good idea to come over and help boost the troop's morale. Dan had to pinch himself. Being from the Chicago area, Ernie left with one of his trademark slogans, "the Cubs will shine in 69". There was time for lunch before heading over to the show. The place was packed. Dan doesn't remember who opened but Bob Hope finally came out on the stage. There was on an air strike on V.C. Island. After the first bomb hit, Bob crouched down, then jumped up looking over the back of the stage at the big black cloud and remarked, "What the hell was that?' Someone yelled out, "That's war Bob!"
Ann Margaret came on stage and did she ever look bad, like 1,000 miles of bad road, but she finally came around toward the end of her set. All in all the guys felt lucky to have seen the show before hiking back to the company area for the ride back to Tan An.
Someone inquired how the guys were to get back to Tan An before Christmas dinner (one just like home) was served. They were told that some one would take them back in a "deuce & a half ". Loading up with some F.N.G. driving and another one riding shot gun and it was off to Tan An. The bone jarring shifting caused someone to ask the driver if he had a license. He mumbled something none of the Rangers could hear. As they headed out of the gate from Dong Tam a couple of them stood up and rode leaning on the cab of the truck. The breeze felt good.
You can maybe remember Highway 4 as being two paved lanes with a short shoulder and a 6' to 8' drop off to the rice paddies below. Well, they were progressing nicely when up ahead loomed a column of trucks stopped for some reason or another. It appeared to be an ARVN convoy. Dan yelled down for the driver to slow down.
He will never forget the three ARVN soldiers, squatting in the shade at the back of the last truck, eating something from their bowls with chopsticks. The load of rangers was bearing down on them at break-neck speed. The driver yelled that he had no brakes. Someone yelled for him to downshift to reduce the speed. You could see the terror in the eyes of the ARVN soldiers as the "deuce & a half' bore down on them. They finally dove head long into the rice paddy. As contact was made the sound of bumper meeting bumper echoed ahead. The ARVN's were not happy campers. Finally "old man" said "back this thing up and let's get out of here." As they passed the convoy they met stares that were not friendly at all. Somehow they made it to Tan An in time for Christmas dinner and received a "ditty bag" from the Donut Dollies. What a Christmas it had been!
Don't even ask me how or why, but while at Dong Tam, sometime in December. I went to Mama - Sans laundry to pick up some of my clothes. After I got back to the hooch I opened up the freshly starched uniforms and started putting them away when I made the big discovery.
There was the fully embroidered shirt of the 9th Infantry Division's Commanding General, 2 star Julian J. Ewell, right there In front of me. What was I going to do? I found Poncho and Counts. They looked at it and said "hey, let's put it on and take pictures. We can send them home and say we made it to the Big Time." Little Jonesy and a couple of others showed up and wanted their pictures taken wearing the shirt as well.
Do you think he'll miss it? After our photo session I locked it up in my footlocker. After supper Poncho said that he was going to head up to the Donut Dollies compound for a visit and wanted me to come along, but I had letters to write and begged off.
About and hour or so later the C.Q. came and got me. He said someone wanted to talk to me on the born. It was Poncho. He said lets have some fun with that shirt. I asked "how?" He said wear it on over here to the Donut Dollies compound. I told him he was outs and he prodded me on. Finally I agreed. I put the shirt on knowing full well I was going to L. B. J. (Long Binh Jail) for impersonating an officer.
My route took me right through the headquarters area. I was glad it was dark. Someone approached us from the opposite direction and I was glad that the area was dimly lit. We passed but I wasn't recognized. When I got to the compound the place was surrounded by M.P.'s. As I walked up to the gate one of them snapped to attention and saluted. I thought for sure was I in deep trouble. I returned the salute and the M.P. said "Evening. Sir." I told him to "Carry on" as I walked up to the door of the compound. As I opened the door and stepped inside someone shouted "Attention" and everybody got to their feet and saluted. They looked and saw that I was not General Ewell. The salutes fell and I knew my goose was cooked. Everybody started to laugh and I felt better. Our company commander, Dale Dickey, was in attendance as well as other captains, majors, and colonels. To my everlasting relief somebody said "Let me have that shirt. I want to have fun with it". I was glad to relinquish the shirt as I had all the fun I had ever wanted with it. I was looking for Poncho as I fully intended to strangle him right there in front of his beloved Donut Dollies.
Dan was not superstitious but when word came alerting them for a mission by PBR out of Tan An that night he had second thoughts. "Poncho" came with the operations order and they headed for the docks on the beautiful Van Co Tay River. The team was to head up river along the Plain of Reeds almost to Moc Hoa, a stones throw from Cambodia. The mission would be to monitor for any sampan traffic.
Meeting the captain of the lead PBR they went over the plan. The captain pointed on the map to where there was a cut at the narrow end of an ox-bow. He explained they had been ambushed there a couple of nights before. They would take the same route that night. Dan told the boat captain that he was short with only thirteen days to go. The captain commented that he wasn't superstitious. That made him feel better.
At dusk they headed up river toward the destination. Just as the boats entered the ox bow short cut, they drew fire from the South bank. Making it out of the kill zone the boats regrouped a mile or so up river to check for casualties and damage. It was a wonder that no one was hit and the boats survived. Up ahead there was a conflagration going on with gun ships and flares that lit up the night sky right where the patrol was to go.
The mission was aborted and gun ships were called to cover the exit out of the ambush area. None were available. The boats would have to make it out on their own. Knowing about where the ambush had occurred, they would be ready. All available firepower was lined up along the gunwale. The rangers were ready with their rifles as well as the navy machine gunners on both boats. The boat captain told his crew "Let's go" and off they went. When the lead boat hit the area he opened up with all he had and was followed in short order by those on the trailing boat. Dan didn't recall receiving fire at that time.
Making it back to Tan An in the wee hours of the morning the patrol leader called for a vehicle to pick them up. The roads hadn't been cleared so if the guys wanted to get back to camp they would have to walk. Anxious to return and get some sleep they opted to walk the short distance home. As they crossed the bridge over the river the rangers found the GIs guarding the approach fast asleep. They were tempted to take the machine gun but decided to wake them instead. As they neared the gate one of the guards hollered "Halt. Who goes there?" We were tired, upset, and anxious to get some sleep. They were not in the mood to play games. Needless to say they let the team in.
Dan went straight to the tactical operations center (T.O.C.) and was greeted by an "S-2" major who exclaimed, "Oh, you were ambushed by Charlie Company 2nd of the 60th. When Dan heard that he went off to the tune of "with all due respect sir, if we could have gotten gun ships to cover our ass as we broke out of the area you'd be writing a hundred or so letters home to those guys' folks" and walked out.
It wasn't that the route hadn't been cleared to insure that there were no friendly troops in the area. The rangers were told that we were in "Charlie's Country", which seemed to account for the confusion. Dan is bothered to this day of the ramifications if they would have gotten the gun ships. He shudders at the thought.
"Poncho" came in with the operations order for Ron Webber's next mission. Bob Pegram and Dan Bien were scheduled for radio relay. They would set up with Bravo Company 2nd of the 60th at "too-a too-a". Unfortunately their transportation broke down. As they waited for the jeep to be fixed they wondered if they would get set up in time. Once it was fixed they made it to Thu Thua just in time to set up the 292 antennas and radio, then have a "hot pack" supper prior to the team's insertion.
The night passed uneventfully, but as Bob and Dan surveyed the surroundings, they were both glad that they didn't end up in an outfit like that. The trip back to Tan-An was also uneventful. They would make one more journey to Thu Thua before heading back to Dong Tam.
With four days to go, Duane got word to head back to Dong Tam to get ready to DEROS. The next day, Dan finally got word to head back as well. Arriving at Dong Tam, Dan found that Jim Counts and Richard Jones had not received his orders. Dan Bien worried? You betcha! Finally, the next day (two days to go) his orders were cut and he started to clear out. He was given the usual re-up talk and really thought hard about it. Bob Pegram, Gary Beckham, Jim Counts, and Richard "Little Jonesy" Jones decided they would extend the 45 days and get out for good. Poncho had opted to go home. Dan thought about it as he looked around at all the new people who had arrived in recent weeks and felt like he should stay to help out.
Headed for the "club", Dan ran into Richard Bellwood. He stopped him asking, "Ritchie, whose going to keep an eye on you when I leave?" Bellwood replied "Don't worry Sergeant Bien. I can take care of myself". Wondering out loud if he really meant that, Bellwood assured him that he would make it OK. That helped Dan make up his mind. He let Lt. Dickey know of his intentions. Dan would later suffer great remorse over his decision when informed by letter from Pegram of Richard's demise along with a bunch of others.
On 25 January 1969, a long range reconnaissance patrol in Dinh Tuong Province came under an intense barrage of hostile fire from a numerically superior enemy force. As the patrol neared the wood line , they were completely exposed and came under a murderous hail of fire. Specialist Bellwood courageously engaged the enemy with his rifle, quickly silencing two of the nearest hostile emplacements , giving his comrades time to reach cover. As he continued to lay down a heavy base of suppressive fire, he was mortally wounded by an enemy round.
Poncho and Dan loaded up with their gear in a 3/4 ton and were given a ride to Bien Hoa for the appointment with a Freedom Bird and a trip across the pond to a place called home. Words cannot express the torture of the last 24 hours in-country as you waited for your name to be called at "Port Call". When it finally comes you are too exhausted to fully comprehend the joyful feeling of going home. After boarding the plane and taxing down the runway, no one drew a breath until the plane reached an altitude that they all felt safe from being shot down. "What a long strange trip it had been!"