Clearing a mortar tube

Service in Viet Nam presented many opportunities to die. This is just one example.

As mentioned elsewhere, the remote Special Forces camps were often attacked. These attacks varied in their intensity... sometimes just a 'probing' action... sometimes harassment-type fire... and sometimes large-scale attack by armored units.
	*During enemy probing, the perimeter was usually attacked. Small arms fire and, occassionally, mortar fire were directed at the perimeter... most likely to assess our response.*
	Harassment-type fire usually involved incoming mortar or rocket rounds. I am convinced this was done just to piss us off. (It worked!) Gia Vuc, for example, was routinely mortared on the 11th day of the month. I still haven't figured that one out. Of course, we conducted the same type of actions. A-109 had three 105mm howitzers which we used to fire at locations based on intelligence reports. (These fire missions were referred to as "H & I" fire -- Harassment and Interdiction.)
	Full-scale attacks were simply brutal... the battle of Nam Dong (Special Forces camp A-726) involved Russian-built tanks used against the Special Forces camp. Capt Donlon received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions in this battle.

I remember one particular attack at Gia Vuc. The attack began when the perimeter took small arms fire one night. Soon after, we began to take incoming mortar rounds. The camp responded with small arms fire and automatic weapons fire. Our 4.2 mortars were used to lob high explosive (HE) rounds if we knew the location or source of the incoming fire. Sometimes we used the 4.2 mortars to launch "illumination rounds". These were "flares". The shell would burst high in the air... releasing a flare suspended from a parachute. The flare would illuminate the surrounding area and allow us to see if there were enemy troops approaching the perimeter on foot.

Here is a quick lesson on 4.2 mortars. These units may not be exactly like the ones we used, but the principals involved are the same. The images and text were copied from one of the URLs listed below.

" ...Ammunition for the M30 (T104) was issued as complete rounds, similar to those for the 4.2 inch M2, but had extended length of cartridge container and larger propelling charge. The round consisted of shell, fuze, propelling charge, and ignition cartridge. When fired, the shell was stabilized in flight by rotation transmitted to the shell by means of the pressure plate expanding the rotating disk on the base of the shell thus forcing the disk to engage the rifling in the bore. The shell, which had a deep cavity and suplementary charge, was fitted with a point detonating fuze. The ignition cartridge was housed in the cartridge container extension and was held in place by the striker nut which contained the striker. The propelling charge consisted of a number of increments of propellent powder in the form of square sheets assembled on the cartridge container. When the round was inserted into the bore and released (Ed: that is, 'dropped into the tube'), it slid to the bottom where the firing pin drove the striker into the primer of the ignition cartridge. Flame from the ignition cartridge flashed through vents in the cartridge container extension to ignite the propellant, thus firing the round."


http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/4pt2.htm		http://members.aol.com/wmmqueen/42mort.htm

You may not realize this, but everything doesn't always go according to plan! Once in a while we would drop an HE round in the tube and... thud! The round would fail to fire. Before you could use the mortar again, you had to clear the mortar tube. There was only one way to do this.

Someone would have to form a circle by using their hands. The individual would touch their thumbs together and also touch their index fingers together. (See photo at right.) This circle would be held at the open end of the mortar tube. Another person would disconnect the 'barrel assembly' from the 'rotator assembly' and then... SLOWLY!... lift the bottom end of the barrel. The idea was to let the mortar shell slid back to the top of the barrel. The first person's hands (formed in a circle) would prevent the shell from falling out of the barrel, striking the ground, and detonating. The scary part stemmed from the fact that these mortar rounds used a 'point detonating fuze' (see above)... if the tip or end of the shell struck the circled hands, the round would detonate! If the round were allowed to fall and strike the ground or another object, it would detonate. *Risky business!*	(Photo available soon)

It was during one such attack that Sgt Daily exhibited the typical Special Forces attitude. With bullets flying everywhere, he abandoned the little protection offered by the recessed mortar pit we were manning. He jumped up -- out of the mortar pit ---, extended his middle finger, and shouted "F*** all you Communist bastards!" Was this bravery... or just a 'stupid' moment?? Looking back on it, I would say "Both!"