Smitty Steps Up (continued)
Surprised Once More
But the NVA artillerymen surprised us once more.
My small group had covered only a few meters thinking we were leaving the danger zone behind when another 130mm round screamed across the narrow valley. This one exploded into the trail just ahead of us, flinging rock and dirt and jagged steel fragments in every direction.
Another few steps and we would have taken a direct hit.
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But we were close enough that PFC Larry Towne, who had performed so bravely on Margo, was sprayed with shrapnel. I happened to be in his “shadow” and was hit by only a couple of stray pieces.
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I was OK and so were the others but, after bandaging, Towne limped back to join the group to be medevac’ed.
PFC Larry Towne with his radio on LZ Susan. Towne was wounded by artillery fire just off LZ Duster in the DMZ. Photo by Alan Green.
