A tale of service in Vietnam

This story is about a local man Jimmy Rose, son of the famous Popeye Rose of Priest River. 

Jimmy is also a Vietnam veteran. For a time he was stationed at Quan Loi rubber plantation. These rubber plantations were owned by Michelin Tire Company of France and was probably the reason that the French Army was there in the first place. The big ones, like Quan Loi all had air strips. Jimmy was there in 1968. Coincidentally, I was also there in 1966, although at that time it wasn't a base.

We were just there for around five weeks in the 1st Infantry Division; we had over 100 Americans killed in action at that time. My unit took care of all the dead soldiers, so I saw them firsthand. The airstrip there could take C-130s, from which we received our fuel for helicopters and other supplies. 

When Jimmy was there it was more of an outpost base. He told me that they would get several mortar attacks every week. At the time of an attack, they were to go to bunker-type foxholes. Mortars didn't come in all at once, they were sporadic, so when the first one would hit, they would go to bunkers.

One time, a mortar hit, Jimmy was tired and didn't want to go to a bunker. He was lying on his cot in his tent, which was under some rubber trees. But his lieutenant came in and ordered him to the bunker. When the attack was over, Jimmy returned to his tent. 

And low and behold right where he had been lying there was a hole in his mattress, that penetrated the mattress and went into the wood floor underneath the bed. What had happened was that the mortar had hit the rubber tree above his bed, which then scattered fragments everywhere, including the one that went through his tent and bed. If he had remained there, he would have been severely wounded or killed. God must have been on his side that day.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran and business owner in Priest River.