The 519th Transportation Association Thailand

Secret Project 972 Convoys Could Not Be Stopped

 

Published in the

Mekong Express Mail-

Volume 2, Issue 3 - September 2001 

(http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org) 

 

Editor's note: the following article is adapted from a letter Jose wrote to "my fellow truckers." We have many members who served at Camp Friendship, near Korat, but Jose's experiences and opinions will interest us all.

 

by Jose L. Benavides

 

I feel compelled, first, to identify myself so that some of my comments later will be understood. I am a Cuban-American that landed on these shores back in 1960. My parents understood that the political situation brought on by Fidel Castro did not lend itself to be good to two young boys, my brother and I, at an age that made our existence in Cuba very dangerous. My brother was 18 and I was 16. Also, they thought that in Puerto Rico, due to the commonality of the language, the transition into adulthood was going to be better than Miami. So, we were away from the emotions of Miami and in my case too young to participate in the "Bay of Pigs" invasion.

 

Life went on pretty good in Puerto Rico but in my mind I always felt that I needed to do something against communism. I don't mean to get controversial or argumentative, but I was, and still am, a fairly idealistic fellow. So as soon as I could, I enrolled in the ROTC program and when the time came, I volunteered for Vietnam. I became a US citizen in 1965 and got my commission in August of 1967. My first assignment was to the Transportation Corps, in the 519^th Transportation Battalion of the 291^st Transportation Company, at Camp Friendship, Thailand (near Korat).

 

After my initial Basic Training at Ft. Eustis, in Virginia, I arrived in Thailand sometime in the early days of December of '67. Lieutenant Colonel Middleton was leaving and Lieutenant Colonel Schwartz had just taken over as commander of the 519^th. Colonel Schwartz introduced me to the battalion staff and then took me to his office to give me a briefing about what the Army was doing in Thailand and what specifically the 519th was doing. Initially I was somewhat frustrated for not getting a Vietnam assignment, but after he explained about the support mission to the different components of the armed forces of the USA towards the support of the Vietnam efforts I began feeling better regarding my idealistic feelings towards doing something against communism.

 

..a transportation battalion in Vietnam ... closed

their year of operations with approximately the same

ton/mile record that we had in one month in Thailand!

... Our brothers in Vietnam were heroes. But

still, our record was great. We carried food, we carried

bombs, we carried spare parts, we carried general

cargo, toilet paper and such, we carried construction

equipment, we carried dirt, we moved what

our government told us to move.

 

Although I was not shooting at anybody directly, I was involved in certain aspects of the active war. Understanding the Army concept of FEBA (forward edge of the battle area) and RTO (rear theater of operations), I was "there". And I, as a transporter and RTO individual, was contributing directly to the fight against communism. Again, let us not get argumentative.

 

The fact is, the representatives of North Vietnam were communists and we, whether we agreed or not, where there fighting communism. In my idealistic Cuban-American mind I was putting my small contribution into the fight against Castro and all he stood for. As a 519^th/291^st officer I was part of the team that took moved cargo from Korat to NKP. Later I had the sole responsibility for the Phanom Sarakham to Korat route. And oh, I had a world of fun!

 

Initially we were working in the neighborhood of 12-14 hrs 5 days a week. But soon came "Project 972," and we began almost a 24-7 transportation mission. [Project 972 was also known as "IGLOO WHITE." See September 2000 MEM article by Gerry Frazier. Ed.] We had general cargo to distribute, and then we had 972, supposedly a secret weapon/bomb device that was going to be dropped over Vietnam, out of Nakhon Phanom (NKP). I understood it to be some sort of anti-personnel explosive and electronic signaling at the same time. We had 972 convoys at least twice a month for the first 6 months of my assignment.

 

The 972 container was a canister that was chemically pressurized and had to maintain the pressure or the device would be rendered a dud. For this we had to do a formal convoy operation with all kinds of unusual support. We had MP escort to take us through the whole route. We had Thai police support to open our way through the Thai roads. With that local authority our job was easier.

 

We had emergency medical support, and all kinds of direct maintenance support in the convoy. We had spare tractor trailers for immediate replacement if needed. We had a team of Chemical Corps officers in the convoy, to work with the 972 canisters. We had an indicator in the cab of the tractor that was constantly monitoring the pressure of the canisters. If the signal went to red it meant there was a problem with the canister and the convoy had to be stopped for the chemical guys to check it out and either fill it up again or disconnect it and declare it a dud. (There was never any danger of an explosion of the canister while in transit.) This mission was monitored directly by a staff at CINCPAC Headquarters, in Hawaii. We had been assigned some very powerful communications radios, the AN/GRC-6, that could communicate with the Philippines or Hawaii, and we had to identify our position and conditions at designated checkpoints and/or times.

 

Our 972 convoys could not be stopped! They had to continue traveling, with the exception of mechanical problems or scheduled stops, at all times. If stopped for any reason we had to report by radio immediately and explain the stop. One day my convoy got stopped and I didn't know why. I proceeded to investigate and, as a young, arrogant, aggressive, and immature 2^nd lieutenant, began yelling and using all kinds of profane Army language inquiring who dared to stop my convoy? After a couple of minutes of my idiotic ignorance, I was informed through my interpreter that the king of Thailand was coming and he did take precedence over my convoy. With my tail between my legs, I stood at attention when the king's entourage came by, and saluted with the greatest respect. I thought that was a story I could always say about "what I did in the war" to my children!

 

 

 

Between the 972 projects, the 809^th support and our regular general cargo distribution, our battalion did a lot for the war effort. Some of our accomplishments:

• Helped to build the "Inland Road" between Sattahip and Korat.
• Helped to build the Thai Military Training camp for the "King Cobra" regiment, in Kanchanaburi (an elite Thai Army unit to be part of the Vietnam/US allied forces).Supported the Air Force on every need except JP4 fuel.
• Supported the mission of the 9^th Logistics Command and USARSUPTHAI.

 

Our record in ton-miles was huge. Unfortunately, with so much done, so many miles run, our accident rate, although not high, was very deadly. We were a combined service organization, in that we had a lot of LN (local nationals) assigned to us as drivers. Between the variety of drivers (LN and US), the road conditions, driving on the "wrong" side and the steering  on the wrong side for left side driving, and the many miles we drove, we had a lot of deadly accidents, for both Thai civilians and US personnel.

 

Lieutenant Linsley once read in the Star and Stripes about a transportation battalion in Vietnam that closed their year of operations with approximately the same ton/mile record that we had in one month in Thailand! I do understand that there is a huge difference, and I don't mean to belittle the importance of that record in Vietnam, set under war conditions that were very different from the way we were doing our work. Our brothers in Vietnam were heroes. But still, our record was great. We carried food, we carried bombs, we carried spare parts, we carried general cargo, toilet paper and such, we carried construction equipment, we carried dirt, and we moved what our government told us to move.

We did it well and with a lot of professionalism. Many thanks are needed. First of all, to our Thai drivers.Their life with us was not easy, but they worked as hard as they could and as well as they could. Many, many of our accomplishments are due to their efforts. Thanks to our US maintenance teams. They kept our tractors and trailers ready and available. Those maintenance warrant officers and their teams did more than what was expected of them. Thanks to our Leaders, Colonels Middleton and Schwartz, and all those that followed. And, of course, thanks to Thailand, a country of beautiful people that allowed us to be there, and helped the US in a very special time of world history. What a country!

 

I knew Colonel Schwartz for 32 years until his death, and he always said that the 519^th had been the best Army assignment of his career. And although my career with the Army was short, it was the best for me also. As a Cuban American I am proud and happy of "what I did in the war," and of what we truckers did in the war. And I tell my children so!