| Comments by Cpl. Steven P. Epps, former on Monday, October 13, 2003 at 00:34 |
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| Hi Marines! This is an awesome site. I love the pictures and the stories,etc. I was a 2531 Field Radio Operator, "Radio Humper" first with Fire Direction Control, H Batt.,3/13 Marines at Pendleton. Next I voluteered to go to Nam, which is why I had enlisted to start with. My recruit platoon was 177 P. Island,S.C., June to Aug.13,1968 to ITR at Camp Lejuene. Well, I went through Staging Bn. at Pendleton and left El Toro MCAS in Aug.1969 headed for Vietnam or so I thought. My comrades and I had only been in Okinawa for a day when we were told that half of us were going to Nam and the other half would be replacements for units in Okinawa that had recently been redeployed from Nam to Okinawa. Well, even though I was a volunteer all the way, I somehow was chosen to stay in Okinawa. I got sent to 1st Amtrac Bn., H&S Co., Radio Section at Camp Schwab, Okinawa outside Henoko, Okinawa. I had some good times in Okie. My brother, Hiram Larry Epps, who was a sgt. in the Air Force stationed in Thailand working on doppler radar on RF-4 Phantom jets actually took leave and visited me their at Camp Schwab and stayed in my barracks and even slept in and nobody even tried to wake him up. He had told me that they had to give him board, but I said to him,"you don't know the Corps"! Well, he must have been right. Anyway we had a blast for the week that he stayed and we had fun in Henoko and we even we all the way to Naha, the capital of Okie, and went ice skating, a first for me and probably Larry too. Well, Larry retired from 38 years combined service with the USAF and civil service for the Air Force earlier this year. Back to 1st Amtracs, I enjoyed my tour in Okie with them, even though I wanted to go Nam, which is what I had joined for. My ancestry of patriots goes all the way back to the Rev. War. I have found many ancestors who have served this country and some gave their all! I loved the beach at Camp Schwab and the other areas in Okie. I was the Radio Chief of H&S Co., and I was OJT as the Bn. Message center man. In Nam I was told the center had a four man TO, but I was the only one in there when the sgt. who trained me rotated back home. Well, after about five months, I decided I still wanted to go to Vietnam, so I did somethings to help me get those order, even though it took another five months, so on about June 1,1970, my transfer orders to Nam came in and I left for Vietnam after one day at Camp Hansen. About Okie, I remember the little hamburger joint coming into the village of Heneko, where the very friendly lady made very good burger with thick slices of onion, just like I like them. She always had a smile and treated us better than most of the Okies, and I believe that she was the most attractive lady I met there. The other things I remember in Okie were the typhoons and the constant drug searches-one of the reasons that I wanted to go on the Nam, cause I didn't do drugs and I still don't want to be around them. I have drank my share of beer and some mixed drinks though. Well, when I got to DaNang around the 2nd or 3rd of June 1970,I was taken to Camp Hoa Long to Radio Relay Co., H&S Section, 5th Comm Bn, where they made me the company supply man since they didn't need a 2531 MOS. They were 2532's i believe. We were half way between Monkey Mt. and Marble Mt. on the South China Sea not far from China Beach PX. Didn't see much action, except oh "Luke the Guke", liked to shoot Russian 122mm's at us at night. I did go to An Hoa Combat Base a few times and get to see our 175mm howitzers, and I got to see the 1970 Miss America show at Freedom Hill, but got sent home before Bob Hope came that year. I enjoyed seeing the German nurses swimming next to us on the beach of the Catholic orphanage next to our camp. I went to Bangkok on my R&R after being in Westpac for 14 months and had a great time. When I got back to 5th Comm., one of my buddies who was an office pinkie told me that the Corps was deactivating the unit and that I would be sent home soon, and that guys who had only been overseas for a short time would be transfered to other units in Nam. I hope you all made it back! Well, two weeks later on Sept. 25,1970 I touched down at Norton AFB, Ca. and then was on leave in Thomaston, GA. for twenty days and then got put in 2nd Recon Bn. at Onslow Beach, Camp Lejuene. I was there about four months about to freeze and transfered to Marine Barracks, NAS Cecil Field, Fla. to get some warm air, or so I thought. It was about 17 degrees F one night when I was walking guard duty around our supply bldg. on the weapons side of the base. I spent my last year and a half there, where my secret clearance got eventualy raised to a Final Top Secret and I serve as Cpl. of the Guard when 10 Marine sentries guarding "weapons". I even made a couple of bomb convoy runs out to Mayport Naval Station to the mighty aircraft carrier,USS Saratoga, which has long since been decommissioned, but her F-14's paid old Qadaffi{sp} a visit. Semper Fi! |
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for your website!
. Often crossed the Cua Viet River heading north either as a member of ambush patrols mounted on P5s to be dropped off in the tree-line or as part of the 3 vehicle delivery and pick-up crews. Also made several trips as the reaction force to ambushed "ambush patols." Remember the lights going out for HOW 6 fire missions? And all the photos taken of HOW 6 destroyed by rockets? Recall patrols to the "Rocket Box?" December 1967 joined Lt. Noke and Gunny Smith with a full T. O., for the first time in Vietnam, and assigned as Amtrac Platoon to SLF with 2nd Bn 4th Marines. Quick trip to Subic Bay landing back on the beach at Cua Viet in January 1968. Supported 2/4 and various other infantry battalions. Was on board a HOW 6 on 1 March 1968 when hit by at least 7 RPGs. The turret caught fire and we bailed out into heavy small arms fire. The crewchief was killed by an RPG and Lt. Gosch was killed by automatic weapons fire. Would like to talk with any crewman who survived that day. Jim Stahl in 40 came in like the Lone Ranger and got us out of a real bad situation. On 25 May 1968 I was with 2 tractors resupplying a grunt mortar position north of the river when we came under mortar fire. I remember Stahl and Lockhart were also there but hazy as to who else. I was seriously wounded for my third Purple Heart. Stahl got me back to BAS and I was medivaced to Delta Med in Dong Ha and eventually to the USS Sanctuary. I was out of the war! Looking forward to the reunion in Tampa April 2004...see you there! The Amtrac Platoon will be having their reunion in Phoenix in August 2004.