A Subject of Mortars in Miniature.com

"A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, 
but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers."
- President John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963

For all those that have done their time with mortars...

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...Click on the unit patches to bring you directly to them...

...It is an honor and a privilege for me to have these men here...

Please submit your experiences.

25th Infantry Division
Association

Michael H. Pruett
United States Army
Republic of Vietnam, December 1970
1st Battalion, 5th Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division
"Tropic Lightning"

4th Infantry Division
Association

Fuller Brent Hughes
United States Army
3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division
"Ivy Division"

"We are old men now, If you see us stand a little taller with a tear in our eye when the flag goes by, know memories, both good and bad are filling our thoughts, and we are proud of the fact that we served our country well when freedom for the world was in great peril." - Fuller Brent Hughes. 1995

10th Armored
Division Association

John Fletcher
 United States Army
54th Armored Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division,
3rd United States Army
"Tigers"

John arrived in Normandy in September 1944, where the 10th AIB received the M21 MMC. He states that having the 'forward-firing' mortars was a great improvement over the earlier M4 series of MMC. Unfortunately, not many M21's were issued in the European Theatre of Operations. 

While serving with the 10th AIB, John participated in the Ardennes, the Rhineland and the Central Europe Campaigns.

He writes:

"When we approached the Saar river, the Germans were across the river in an elevated position.  We laid down some smoke to cover our crossing, but the wind kept blowing it away. We then decided to cross at night. The Germans guessed where we were, and laid in a heavy artillery barrage.  Probably 88's, no mortars.  The man ahead of me was the first gunner, carrying the bi-pod. I was carrying the barrel and the man behind me, an American Indian and recent replacement, was carrying the base plate. The man ahead ran and jumped into a ditch and I hit the ground where I was.  He was very badly hurt, but lived for several years in and out of army hospitals.  I ran forward to the river, jumped into the boat, and made it across. Those of us left crawled up the hill, through terraced vineyards, under heavy machine gun fire. The man with the base plate lost his arm from shrapnel.  Without the bi-pod and base plate, the barrel was not much good.  I was never wounded, and I will never know why.  The casualty rate in the 10th was 78%. When the Germans attacked in the Ardennes December 16, 1944, the 10th was fighting in France with General Patton's 3rd Army. CCB (Combat Command B) was not committed so we went north into Bastogne, split into 3 teams, and hit the German army about 5 miles beyond Bastogne. Being greatly out-numbered, we were forced back into Bastogne and then we were joined by the 101st Airborne."

John continues...

"We first hit the Germans outside of Wiltz (on the map there is a Rue de Wiltz). After very heavy fighting, my unit was forced back into the small town of Marvie, which is on the perimeter of Bastogne. We were attached to the 327th Glider Infantry, and the night before Christmas we retreated to the city of Bastogne. Marvie is in a depressed area, which helped us because the German artillery was going over our heads."  

John goes on to describe a couple of miss-fire procedures that he had to endure:

"One interesting fact about mortars is that when a round misfires in the barrel, it has to be removed (very carefully). This means you detach the barrel from the base plate, and tip it forward until the shell slides out. You place your hands on the rim of the barrel and catch the shell before it hits something and explodes. At one time in Europe we got a bunch of
defective shells colored blue, rather than olive drab, and had to slide quite a few of them out. Also, since our tracks were heavily loaded with high explosives, a number of members of our unit chewed tobacco (or snuff) rather than smoking. The men at the back of the track had to duck when one in the front spit."

John has returned to the Ardennes twice since the war. The first time he returned was in 1978 with his wife and four children, and again with his wife in 1994.

101st
Airborne Division
Association

Carl E. Larson
United States Army
Republic of Vietnam, Oct 1969 to Oct 1970
1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment,
101st Airborne Division
"Screaming Eagles"

Carl writes:

"Company E had 2 platoons of the M29, 81mm Mortar and one platoon of Recon. I was a Sergeant E-5, from Ft. Benning, Georgia, but I was assigned as a FO (Forward Observer) with Co. C, 1-501 PIR most of the time. I did go out with Co. A once, and as luck would have it they sent me out with a bunch of new guys and one tube. At that time I was in the FDC (Fire Direction Center). I was the only guy trained as both FO and FDC.

As the Mortar FO, I would patrol with the rifle companies and provide covering fire for them when we were hit.  This would include Defensive Targeting (DT) for night defensive positions. When hit at night, we would adjust fire from the DT’s, and that would also include the firing of Illumination Rounds to light up the area. The mortar rounds that were fired usually came from Fire Support Bases (FSB), or in some cases from a tube that we had with us in the field. From these positions, we would patrol around those areas during the day to look for any evidence of the enemy. We normally would not stay in the same area for more than two nights, as the longer that we stayed in one position, the longer the enemy had to plan and coordinate an attack on that position. Being inconsistent in the jungle was the name of the game.

During the Monsoon season, South East Asia’s winter, we would leave the mountains due to the fact that our helicopter support could not supply or cover us because of the overcast and rainy skies. At this time we would patrol and ambush in the low lands between the jungle and the villages. The nights were so cold and I can remember how my lips would turn blue and how my teeth chattered from that cold. We were always wet, if not from the sweat from the heat of the day, than from the rains that fell.

In the low lands, we would pull ambushes every night. We would be looking for the NVA going into the villages or for their supplies coming out of the villages. Everyone knew the rules… no movement at night.

Either in the mountains or on ambushes in the low lands, we would always set up our Claymore Mines every night as well as set up trip flares to warn us if anything was out there. As soon as a trip flare went off, we would fire off our Claymores and that would be followed by as much rifle and machine gun fire as was possible. He who fires the most bullets usually wins. As the FO, I would call in the illumination first and adjust the HE (High Explosive) if needed. Of course, through all of this, I had to cover my own ass with my own rifle.

Easter night 1970, after we had been staying in the same NDP (Night Defensive Position) for three nights in a row... not good, the NVA hit us about two or three in the morning and over ran us right after that.  After we pushed them off the hill with hand-to-hand fighting, we shot our mortar in the hand held position, this way we could fire more rounds closer to our position. We used all of the rounds we had, they didn't come back after that, thank God.

Other than the firefights and ambushes I was involved in when I was an FO, my tour was a normal one I guess. I would shoot in DT's at night and Illumination when we got hit. Of course I would shoot and adjust HE rounds also.

At FSB Bullet, we were surrounded by the NVA for three days. We damn near fired around the clock and went through a lot of ammo. Killed a bunch of NVA we were told, as there was a lot of blood out side the perimeter."

When I was in the FDC at FSB Bastogne, one night we were firing in DT’s for other units out in the field. The first round out was always a WP (White Phosphorous) round in case there was an error with the previous data. WP rounds have a smaller bursting radius that HE rounds. I remember that I just told my friend Joe, the squad leader, to go ahead and fire. The next thing I heard was a different sounding “pop”. It was not the normal sound of a round going out. Right after that, I heard Joe screaming. I stepped out of the FDC bunker and saw him completely engulfed in flames and walking towards me. A Staff Sergeant (E-6)  in the bunker closest to Joe pushed him into a muddy slop. He was trying to put out the fire that had engulfed our friend. The E-6 burned his hands so bad that he was evacuated to the Burn Center at Ft. Sam Houston Texas. We had heard that he was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for this action. Out of a squad of five, only one guy, the gunner didn’t get burned too bad or get killed. He was crouched down looking into his sight and the round had burst over the top of him.

Myself and three other guys carried Joe to the aid station on a stretcher, slipping and sliding in the mud all the way. After we got him there, the medic told us to leave. I went back later on to see what they were doing to my friend and to comfort him. I put my head into the tent and heard Joe saying that now he could go home and see his new born son and his wife. That was the last thing that Joe had said, and I heard him say it.

Joe Escandon was from a small town in Texas. He was a good and decent guy and my good friend.

I will never forget Joe and I’ve told this story to my family and friends. It turned out that one of my friends was quite taken in by this story and asked if I ever told it to Joe’s family. I told her that all I knew about Joe was that he was from Texas, so she got on the Internet and found that his son still living in Texas. I eventually talked to Joe’s son on the telephone and told him how his father died and that his last thoughts were of him and his mother. That was a very hard thing to do.”

On another occasion, Carl possibly saved the life of a D Company grunt. This particular Infantryman was out in the field on a night patrol and suffered an appendicitis attack. A Dustoff (MEDEVAC helicopter) was called in to pick this trooper up, but on arrival in the general area, the helicopter crew could not locate the patrol in the dark. Carl ordered an illumination round to be fired over the patrol's area. The Dustoff crew was then able to locate the patrol and picked up the trooper for evacuation to the rear. Carl does not know if the D Co. trooper survived or not. 

Today, Carl is a retired businessman. After Vietnam he finished college on the GI Bill and started a concrete construction company in Wyoming.

He has a daughter and a son, both of whom are now in college. His son is currently serving in the Army Reserve as a medic, and hopes to one day become a doctor.

Ed note: On Saturday, 24-Apr-2004, I had the honor to meet Carl and his son when they were visiting the Boston area. They took time out of their schedule to come out to Marlborough for a visit. Lots of great talk both here at my home and over dinner about Carl's wartime mortar experiences.  It was a wonderful visit!

501st Infantry

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9th ID Home

Paul J. DeNicola
United States Army
Republic of Vietnam, 1968-1969
3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry (MRF), 9th Infantry Division
"Old Reliables"

Paul spent the majority of his time in Vietnam on the water, and the photos on the left clearly reflect that. In the top photo, he is cradling a High Explosive (HE) round. Center photo is of Paul at the 'business end' of his M30 "Four-Deuce", and in the bottom photo, Paul is center frame. 

He writes...

"In 1968 I was sent to Vietnam as a rifleman/RTO and assigned to the 3^rd Battalion 60^th Infantry 9^th Infantry Division’s Mobile Riverine Force. The MRF was unique since it was comprised of Army and Navy personnel. My “base camp” was a Navy barracks ship the USS Benewah and we were transported through the waterways of the Mekong Delta by a flotilla of Armored Troop Carriers and Monitors.

Later, as part of the 3/60 HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters Company) riverine warfare unit I was assigned to a Four Deuce Mortar platoon which was located on portable barges complete with living quarters. There were two barges with two gun pits each. One barge also housed the Fire Direction Control. These were anchored in the turn basin in Dong Tam harbor. Dong Tam was the 9^th Division’s land based camp for non-riverine units and was located 35 miles south of Saigon. The barges having no means of self-propulsion could be towed via Naval vessels anywhere to support troops in other parts of the delta or remain stationed in the harbor for fire missions.

I was a gunner on one of the M30’s. I remember the times when the round would get hung up in the tube and I would need to kick the barrel as hard as I could to try and dislodge the round. If that didn’t work I would need the assistance of a couple of the crew who would proceed to lift the barrel from the base plate, tip the barrel and I or someone else would catch the live round. We would then disarm the round and have it destroyed.

In March 1969 while docked in the turn basin the VC shelled the ammo dump that was located near the harbor. The ammo dump eventually caught fire and 500 tons of ammo blew up. The shock wave sent the barges crashing into the riverbank and it literally rained shrapnel. Miraculously, all of the mortar crews sustained minor injuries since we were at the last minute able to dive into the protected part of the barge, which was surrounded by ¼ inch steel and where we slept. We fired counter mortar for hours until we ran out of rounds. As I recall we did not receive re-supply for 3-4 days due to the total loss of mortar rounds stored in the ammo dump."

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