I saw and experienced some of the most surreal stuff at Quan Loi - 1969-1971 - I tried to sleep in a bunker under ground when I first got there… The sounds of like a dozen rats in the dark knocking over old C-Rat cans quickly inspired me to sleeping in an above ground hootch before dawn. I think this was the Quan Loi version of “Rocket Watch” for FNGs.

The Mosquitoes were associated in my memory with Phu Loi, given that rice paddies were adjacent to several sections of perimeter.

There were a number of sapper assaults at Quan Loi, primarily focused on destroying big guns and in one instance an assault on a mortar unit left about a dozen men dead from satchel charges as they slept.

I used to occasionally eat at a mess hall adjacent to a 175 that inevitably would get a fire mission while I was there. I remember my tray bouncing from the table clearly. So, given your proximity to these guns, I totally get being the shock wave knocking you from your cot.

I witnessed an E6 being accidentally crushed by a tank as he tried to shoo a mutt away. He slipped in that miserable fucking laterite red clay, which as you rightly recalled wither stuck to or dusted everything depending on the time of year.

After returning I decided in the early 70’s that one great way to eliminate Vietnam from my mind was to throw away dozens of B&Ws that I took there. A decision I regret deeply, becuase it is surprisingly hard to get quality visuals of over a decade shared by over 5 million men.

In any case, I’m thankful to be home and able to get treatment for Agent Orange when i did.