The FDC crew fills is sandbags and enjoying a smoke. The group includes Lt. Miller, the only FDC officer I remember doing this work.  Filling sandbags was an everyday job and could easily occupy 6 or more hours a day in the early stages of constructing a fire base. The man sitting on the sandbags is wearing stateside clothing, indicating he’s newly arrived in Vietnam. The heavyweight material of the stateside uniforms retained water and was slow to dry when compared to “jungle fatigues”.

This is FSB Washington II, the closest to the Cambodian border that our battery had constructed until we built FSB Crook. At Crook we sustained one of the last major ground attacks in South Vietnam. The NVA unit arrived via the new extension of the Ho Chi Minh trail into Tay Ninh province and rapidly tested their ability to fight us. Washington II was abandoned and destroyed by us after intelligence reports indicated large numbers of NVA soldiers arriving. As we left Washington II we detonated in excess of 400 105 mm rounds and many barrels of petroleum products creating a red glow in the night sky and wind that broke trees for a hundred yards. A bunker not destroyed in that blast provided a home for an enemy recoilless rifle, resulting in severe injuries to Jack Switzer and Tom McMullen at FSB Crook, June 17 1969.  The large number of trees indicates this base is outside the agricultural production area and is in “Indian Country”. Indian Country means it was quite likely we would be attacked in our location.

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