Other Stories

The 1/92nd Field Artillery
Association - Vietnam

Do you remember the Artillery?

William L. Harlan

Few and far between are the stories, articles or any writings about the Artillery in Vietnam. In my case, there will always be a fond memory of one Artillery gun above all. The 155mm Towed Howitzer. Some called them “Ladies” some called them ”Pigs” but we all respected and took loving care of our “Guns”.

My AIT training was spent at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. When finished I had an MOS of 13A10. We called ourselves Gun Bunnies. Once in Vietnam, the training started all over again. I was assigned to 1 st Battalion, 92 nd Artillery in Pleiku, Vietnam. Artillery Hill was home base for the unit and was my new home. I worked on one of the guns for a month or so and decided to volunteer to be a Forward Observer. After a week of intense training, I was an F.O. Now I was on the receiving end of those guns and got a while new perspective of Artillery. If you ever had the experience of having 100 lb shells full of high explosive rain down upon you, you will always carry that memory with you. The awesome power of an artillery barrage is unexplainable. The noise alone is enough to put a fear in any man. I know from my personal experience that just the first few rounds of a fire mission put the enemy on the run before they had a chance to react. Artillery saved many lives.

I can't begin to tell the real story of the young men that manned those guns, day in and day out. I do know there hasn't been enough said about their roll in the war in Vietnam. They were among the bravest and most honorable men there. I am writing this in part to say “Thank you” to the men of the 1/92 nd Artillery for saving my life more than once. Not to mention the people I happened to be with. I would like to recommend that anyone interested in leaning the “Real” story of the 92 nd , get the book by Bohdan Prehar, Ph.D. The books name is “ Brave Cannons” WWII Relic in Vietnam 1 st Battalion, 92 nd Artillery .

Well over thirty years have passed and I still remember those guns and the kids who were my friends and fellow soldiers. I'll be an Artilleryman forever.