I was on a convoy going from AnKhe to Pleiku.
Pleuiku was a provincial capital.
I don't know what Anhke was except a big mountain and camp where the
battle of Anhke Mountain was fought.
All the way everything was defoliated except green circles around the
villages.
Saw some mushroom clouds made of flame during that ride.
I saw apache attack heliocoptrs fly directly over head searching the
country side around us. At least fifty trucks.
Anhkhe Pass was ambushed all the time.
There was an oil pipeline to pleiku but it would be blown up as fast as
it was repaired.
So.....I chose a truck to get on and asked the driver what we were
carrying?
He said diesal fuel.
This made me uncomfortable and he excused my cowardice.
I found a nice tuck needing a "shotgun" rider with a steel window.
I like steel windows.
Trucks pulled out and that meant no stopping. What are we carrying I
ask?
"Howitzer Shells" he says.
Frying pan into the fire. Maybe deisal fuel would have been better.....
But.......when I had to load, slip a round into the chamber and unlock
I couldn't decide how far up or how far down to turn the window.
People started trying to kill each other.
Do I get my lower regions chewed up with ak47 45 caliber rounds, or do I
get my chest chewed up with 45 caliber rounds.
AK47s fired 45 calaber rounds. Big around as a finger or thumb and very
slow moving and firing schedual.
So I couldn't decide, run the window up and loose my insides, or run the
window down and loose various other body parts.
Difficult decision.
I knew it hadda be low enough to see and shoot because they jump out of
the ditches and board the trucks in passing.
They said it was a fifty mile ride. Defoliated jungle and all along the
highway, main highway to Pleiku were burned out Japanese and chinese and
french and american pieces of armour from the years of conlict over
keeping the road to that, outpost, Pleiku while a city was as an out
post. Right next to Cambodia...open.
It was how pleiku was maintained.
Cars and stuff were all stripped and reused but the tanks and various
armour vehickles of the French, Chinese, Japanese, maybe some British,
ad american lay there just off the road.
Rusted hulks.
Antiques often.
Some were clearly real old armour.
Big mushroom shaped fireball rolling into the sky........bang bang went
some guns.
First mushroom fireball I ever saw.
Pretty exciting part of history.
Fifty Miles 
Linear Mode
