Leonard Davis took these photos while assigned to Charlie Troop. All of the photos, except for one, were taken at LZ Two Bits North, Bong Son, around September, October or November, 1967. Leonard’s Call Sign was “Buckshot 33.”
Leonard has graciously allowed us to include his photos in our collection.
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- Above is 1Lt. Perry Barber, gun pilot, affectionately known as “Deputy Dawg.”
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- WO1William Gibson, gun pilot, on the left and WO1 Junior Giddens, gun pilot, on the right. Junior was KIA on 2 February, 1968. These two guys went to flight school together and became close friends. I “roomed” with the two of them for six months until the division moved north to Dong Ha in late January, 1968. WO1 Gibson transitioned into Cobras about three months after this photo was taken.
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- Another pic of WO1 Dirk Kretschman, gun pilot, but his time at Camp Evans in February, 1968. Dirk would be awarded a DFC before he finished his tour.
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- I think the guy above is a WO1 gun pilot, but I’m not sure. I vaguely remember him, but I can’t put a name on him to save my life. Maybe the skytroopers out there can help identify him.
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- Above is another individual I think was a WO1 gun pilot. I have only the scantest recollection of him. Need help identifying him, too.
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- The trooper above was a gunship CE, a Spec4 and a damned good trooper. I flew several missions with him, but I’m totally at a lost for a name. I think he was from Catalina Island, California, if that’s of any help. The skytroopers out there will have to help ID him.
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- (Yes, this is me!) This guy is smart enough to be a 1Lt. now, but he’s not smart enough to avoid getting caught on the flight line at night during a mortar attack! Hence, the Dud-of-the-Week Award.
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- WO1William Gibson, gun pilot, on the left and WO1 Junior Giddens, gun pilot, on the right.
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- In the photo above is WO1 Dirk Kretschman, gun pilot. In the background are the Cay Giep mountains east of Bong Son, bordering the South China Sea. It was magnificently beautiful country and a dangerous place for C/1/9s gunships and H-13 scouts.
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- Above is SFC Dereld Jackson, a.k.a Red Mike. On the right is the laundry boy who used to pick up our dirty laundry and return cleaned clothes a few days later.
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- Above is WO1 Pat Delaney, gun pilot.
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- The schmuck in the above photo is me, 23 year-old 2Lt. Leonard Davis, Artillery Aerial Observer (Buckshot 33), known to his peers in C/1/9 as simply “Three-Three”. That’s a moniker that I cherish to this day.
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- Above is the laundry boy again. He’s squatting on an unopened pallet of sandbags. He also used to deliver blocks of ice to use, separated by layers of rice shoots to prevent the blocks from sticking together. I don’t recall his name. Maybe somebody out there can help with that. If the kid survived the war, he’d be in his sixties now.
