In May 1970 the US and South Vietnam decided to invade Cambodia with the stated purpose of disrupting enemy supply lines and destroying Viet Cong sanctuaries in that ‘neutral’ country. The Snake Platoon was tasked to support the 4th Infantry in this endeavor, so Stan Potochar and Tom Yohn boarded a helicopter and went to Fire Base Wolf a scant few miles from the Cambodian border. They thought it would be a good idea to dig their foxholes next to the 105 millimeter howitzers, not realizing that artillery pieces are prime targets for enemy mortars, rockets and artillery. They call this concept ‘counterbattery fire.’
After they dug their foxholes and fortified them with sandbags full of red dirt, Yohn was cleaning his ear with a Q-tip. Someone yelled, “Fire in the hole,” he turned his head, hit his arm on an engineer stake and jammed the Q-tip through his ear drum. Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. You should have listened when we told you don’t do that.
While there, they ate C-Rations for breakfast and lunch and got a hot meal in the evening, which was served in their mess kits. Most Snake Platoon members would be surprised to hear that the army still had mess kits, because they certainly didn’t give us one. Speaking of C-Rations, have you ever wondered where Dr. Seuss got the idea for his book “Green Eggs and Ham?”
Anyway, this action caused quite a stir at places like Kent State, and the 4th Infantry was taking heavy casualties. So our guys returned to Nha Trang as part of the ‘token withdrawal.’
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