On occasion, the base at Nha Trang received enemy fire in the form of a few harassing rockets and mortars. In fact, Sergeant Robert Dew, 330th RRC, which was co-located with the 313th Battalion and next to the Snake Platoon operations building at that time, lost his life this way on August 30, 1970.
Usually, whenever there were some incoming rounds, we would either huddle in the bunker or line up between the hooches and the revetments in flak vests and helmets to scare off the enemy should they come down the street. It must have worked, because they never showed up.
One night, Lieutenant Bill Fraley was lying in his bunk in the officers’ quarters (wherever that was!) and a round exploded just outside the hooch. The concussion blew him off of his bunk, and the fragmentation did some damage inside the hooch. There was some bigwig visiting at the time, and being too important for a jeep, he had his black sedan staff car parked outside. The incoming round destroyed his freshly washed and waxed car. Fraley says he ‘felt real sorry’ for the man. As it turns out, this round was not fired by the enemy. It had been fired from offshore by the US Navy and was intended for a suspected VC location in the surrounding hills. We were used to the Navy firing over our heads, but this round had been a little short on powder. Someone from the Navy did call later and tell them “xin loi” (sorry about that). I’m sure that it is not relevant, but Army beat Navy that year 24 to 23 in their annual football game.
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