2K – ROAD TO NOWHERE 9/69

2K ROAD TO KNOWWHERE

One of my more significant accomplishments on Nui Ba Den was the completion of a roadway running around its perimeter. The idea for the road didn’t originate with me, but I happened to be on the watch during its completion. The road was needed to more quickly resupply the 18 bunkers along the perimeter. Until the road was completed, all the ammunition for the bunker line had to be carried from the two helipads to the individual bunkers by way of maneuvering through various boulder fields, a task too dangerous and strenuous for the men manning the bunker line. When I arrived on the mountain, the project had been stalled for over a year due to two large boulders blocking the chosen route. The route couldn’t be changed, so the road looked like the letter “C,” and since the 25th division wouldn’t give us a jeep until the road was completed, it was worthless. (I reconnoitered a jeep from another unit, but that’s another story.)
When I decided to tackle the road project, I realized that I would need the help of a lot of men from diverse backgrounds. I started by discussing my plans with the other four officers on the mountain and, although I didn’t get any technical advice from them, I did get some commonsense suggestions on how “not” to get anyone killed while completing the project. There was to be a huge quantity of explosives used in this project and the safety of the men had to come first. To ensure this, we agreed that the officers would take turns as safety officers overlooking the project. Now for the hard part: where and how I would get the Army Engineers to tackle the project.
Major Campbell was the CO on Nui Ba Den, and I was his Executive Officer (XO), but going through him and the normal channels was going nowhere. I was too aggressive and impatient to be playing the normal Army games. Being on Nui and having 15 different units under my wing gave me an unbelievable advantage that I had to make use of if I ever wanted to complete the road.
I got along with everyone on the mountain, and the men from the various units, including the Vietnamese units, knew that their safety always came first with me. I had a meeting with the NCOs from these units and they agreed to see what explosives they could scrounge up from their respective units. After 50 years, I can’t remember who or what the units gave, but somehow, with their help and the Army Engineers, we got those boulders blown. I had a lot of fun working with the engineers and, other than one mishap, where no one was hurt, the project was completed in three weeks. The completion of the road meant a lot to me, but the ability to rapidly resupply the bunker line had been completed; this alone made the project well worth the time, risk, and effort it took to accomplish it.