My name is Leland Hove. I have had several people in the last few years that have asked me to write about my experiences in Viet Nam. I have been putting it off and spent twenty to forty years trying to forget the things that I experienced in the fourteen months that I spent in country. This month marks fifty years ago in the month of June the fourth and the sixth, days that I should have died, but God brought me through.
Let me start with where I came from, the way I was brought up and the back ground I came from. I was born in Williston, North Dakota the sixth child of Evelyn and Haakon M. Hove. Of the six of us, the first four were born at home with the help of a midwife, Mrs. Stockman. Only myself and my next older sister, Jeanette were born in a hospital. My siblings in order were Melvin, Beatta, Lyle, Luella, Janette and myself. We lived on a small farm East of Williston and south of Ray and Tioga. We raised wheat, oats, barley and corn. We milked cows and sold the cream. My mother had a very large garden (about an acre) that she grew a variety of vegetables which she would can for supply for the next year. Evelyn also would get three hundred rooster chicks every spring to raise for fall butcher. (Sometimes the chicks would come before we were ready and the weather bad, so they had to come in to our small house, put in the kitchen with the leaves of the table holding them in the corner.)
The school that we attended was about a mile away, a one room school with thirteen kids and all eight grades taught in the same room. (If you didn’t get the first time, maybe next year). Our church the Lutheran church was just south of the school and although late, we would attend every Sunday after milking the cows and feeding the livestock. I left home in the junior year of high school, (Tioga High) to work construction in a small town in Southeastern North Dakota. Mostly got rained out (got some experience sleeping in a barn when we couldn’t afford rent.) so ended up coming back to work for a farmer, Chet Halverson, for the rest of the summer (ten dollars/day). My mother arranged for me to stay in the basement of my sister, Beatta who by this time had married Ronald Gilbertson. I attended school and worked at the local Piggly Wiggly store. Somewhere in that year I got involved in a little rock band (the Setting Suns) and got to sing at dances for high schools in the area and surroundings. I graduated from high school and started working in the oil field as a roustabout, I was planning on going to college but it looked like I was not going to be able to afford it. (I may have forgot to mention that I fell in love with a pretty young lady, Debbie)
Joining The Army
Driving in from work one night (minding my own business) as saw a friend of mine, Bruce Hanson in a service station lot (across from the Piggly Wiggly). He waved me in (unbeknown to me he was talking to an Army recruiter) the draft was in effect and there was a possibility of being drafted. They weren’t offering much, but we could sign up for a two year RA (Regular Army) While Bruce and I were talking to the Recruiter, Tim Pfeifer drove by, and we waved him in to talk also. It ended up that we all three joined and were sent to Fargo, ND to be inducted into the Army. They put us on the last car of a train headed for Fort Lewis, Washington. (They also locked the door so we couldn’t go to any other car) I’m not sure why the car door was looked, but some of the guys were able to get beer on the train for us before we left.
Not too much to say about basic training, except that the drill sergeants were very full of themselves. They seemed to be in competition with each other. On day before a competition between platoons, a sergeant from another platoon caught me with my hands in my pockets, and so I had the pleasure of taking all of the garbage out of the dumpster by the mess hall and put it in a wheel barrow to take it down a block and put in another dumpster. It took me most of the knight, but got it done and still beat them in the competition the next day.
From basic, Bruce, Tim and I went to AIT (for most that is advanced individual training, but for us that was advanced infantry training) pretty much the same, except that we got a weekend off to go somewhere, I was able to go to my sister Luella and husband Denny Larson’s house for the weekend. When I got back to the barracks and was taking my turtle neck shirt off, two guys grabbed my arms and hollered for someone to grab my feet ( there had been someone stealing from lockers when the platoon was out on training, the normal action was called a blanket party where a blanket was thrown over the person and then beat on) I swore and asked what was going on when the guy tried to grab my feet ( he ended up with broken ribs and I with a broken big toe) at that time, they hollered relax Hove, we are just trying to give you a birthday shower. This would normally end this part of the story except that the next week was FTX week. (I don’t remember, but was probably field training exercise. This was mostly living off the land, avoiding the enemy and getting to a location without being captured. Last day of FTX week, this is where the broken toe comes in to play, I hadn’t gone to the doctor with the broken toe because I would have had to go through AIT all over again. I could hardly get my boots on and had to cut the laces off in order to get them on. So it always rains in Washington and we had the pleasure of conducting our exercises in this nice weather. The last day they brought us to some location and were giving us warm soup. They called us all to listen to an announcement, we were to have a ten mile march back to the barracks, but the top five in the battalion in the previous competitions would get to ride in the truck back and not walk. My name was called and I was very happy not to walk that far with the broken toe.
My Orders for Viet Nam
It is the middle of December and we are through basic and AIT. Everyone had orders to go somewhere, Bruce and Tim had orders for Viet Nam. I didn’t have any orders, as they had decided to send me to shake and bake school (our name for instant sergeant). Tim and Bruce headed for home and I was left in the barracks alone. After a day or so, I asked what it would take to get out or here and the answer was, go to S-2 and volunteer for Viet Nam. And so being a young ignorant eighteen year old, I went and volunteered.
I had orders to fly out of Minot, ND. My cousin Dallas Lalim was attending his first year of college in Minot University, I remember sitting in for him for a math test and got an “A”.(math was always my favorite) I remember getting to the airport a little late, the plane was getting ready to leave. I told them that I had to be on that plane or be classified as a-wall. (Absent without leave) They put me on some kind of lift and in the blowing snow raised me up and had me go in through the service door.(to the surprise of the stewardess)
They put me in some kind of barracks with some other new to country people for a couple days of in country training. I ran into a friend of mine from Tioga, Donny Severson. They issued me a M-16 rifle (we had trained with M-14) From there they sent me to my Unit 2nd and 47th Ninth Division (this was a mechanized unit with armored personnel carry tracks) and I started out in the Macon Delta. I don’t remember how I got to my platoon, probably by helicopter, just my luck, the guy that carried the M-60 machine gun, had been shot the day before. They were going to give the M-60 to a black guy (I don’t remember names). Well when he saw me arriving, I remember him saying “give it to the FNG (f***ing new guy) and so, I gave my M-16 to him and took the M-60 machine gun.(he wasn’t being nice to me, so as he brought me the M-60 and took my M-16 about dark, I said he should either smile or carry a flashlight) So my third day in country and eighteen years old I had the pleasure of getting on a helicopter for an air mobile offensive. There was no ammo carrier, so I had rapped belts of M-60 belts around my waist more weight on top of the twenty six pound machine gun. As we are flying to our designated location, (LZ) I look out and see red smoke. (This means ‘a hot LZ’ enemy in area) We were flying over a rice paddy and the pilot flew low and told everyone to jump. I had a lot of weight, so I said get lower to which he said jump, the rest of the guys were jumping and I was saying get lower, the pilot was starting to climb to get out of the hot LZ and said jump while someone pushed me out of the helicopter, The rest of the guys were way back, I held my M-60 high so it wouldn’t get in the mud. I got stuck almost to my waist. The helicopter took us back to our base station, (we didn’t spend much time there, being mobile we moved on very soon after) I was always told to keep my weapon clean, so as soon as I got in I was cleaning the M-60, and not knowing that I would not be getting the M-16 back I went to look for the weapon and the colored guy that had carried it. I found him in a room with several of the platoon members and asked where my M-16 was. He told me where his room was and as I was in it getting the weapon, he came in and said “I am just making sure you don’t steal anything” I got mad and said “I don’t lie or steal” on his way out he said “I’ll shoot your white ass out in the field” to which I said “don’t miss, cause I won’t”
The Daily Life in Veit Nam
As I stated before, I spent a lot of years trying to forget a lot of the things about South Viet Nam, so now, daily things are not easily recalled. Being mobile, we had any personal property in the tracks and went to where they wanted us. We would riff through the jungle during the day and the track driver and the 50 caliber machine gunners would stay with the tracks while the rest of us were split up into five man units to go out setting up observation and ambush stations. We would have to take turns staying awake and looking through a night scope device. The tide at night would cause the water in the rice paddies to rise, so we would prop our heads up against the dyke. It could get cold at night and I remember one night feeling a warm spot on my chest, I looked down to see a large rat, I couldn’t yell, but I did push him off me.
For food, we had c-rations which consisted of either canned beef slices or pork slices and some kind of flat round cracker. Some of the meals had a canned pound cake which we all liked. As I said, we got to the rear every three months or so, so when there, we would go to the PX and get mustard and hot Sause to put on our c-rations. One day we were driving through a small village and saw some Viet Nam women selling small rolls. They were about eight inches long, so we would take our bayonets and slice them open. Putting the meat slices in them we made ourselves sandwiches. I remember eating my sandwich and looking at it saw what was left of a bug I was eating. I tore off the bread with the bug in it and finished my sandwich.
Being mobile, we carried most of our supplies in the tracks with us, so we only went to the rear every three months for weapon cleaning and repairs if necessary. I don’t know when it was that I volunteered for the job of point man (the first man in the column when going through the jungle, everyone walked behind at about six feet intervals). The point man had to look out for trip wires and several other devices capable of death or injury. I chose a M-79 grenade launcher (it could launch grenades or shoot buck shot shells). The biggest down fall was that it was a single shot and to re-cock it, you had to open it up and shut it again. (This was a problem for me one day in Cambodia) One time on one of our trips to the rear, I had some Viet Nam ladies that were in the rear and did sewing convert an old shirt by taking the sleeves off and sew the pouches the shells came in on to it making a vest to carry most of my ammo. The rest of my ammo I carried in an over the shoulder bag.
Rice Wine Sneaks Up on You
Being young and ignorant, I never knew where I was at. They would give me a direction (azimuth) and I would go with everyone following. One of our ops was a river op, we took the tracks down to some river and got on a couple of pontoon type boats and headed up river. I was up with the captain trying to talk to him and his assistant. They were giving me drinks from a bottle (I found out later that it was rice wine). We came around a bend and started receiving enemy fire from shore, we returned fire and went a little farther up the river and unloaded on the same side of the river that the fire came from. I was told to take the rice paddy dyke and given a direction. This is when the rice wine hit me, I couldn’t stay on the dyke let alone look for booby traps, so I got off the dyke and walked in the rice paddy. The rest of the platoon was not happy with me, but no one offered to be point man, so we walked like that for about a mile to a higher spot and set up a look out. (I was not on the first watch that night)
We didn’t always have to go out on five man ambushes, when we were in an area that they expected a conflict we would stay with the tracks at night. The tracks would form a circle and we would go out about fifty yards and set up trip flares. (I really don’t remember how far) Coming closer to the tracks, we would set up claymore mines. When the enemy would come in, hopefully they would trip the flares at which point we could see them and would set off the claymore mines in that area. The tracks also were equipped with fifty caliber machine guns. The person on watch was able to set off the claymores and fire the fifty caliber machine gun. I don’t know when or how we got a monkey, but we had a small monkey, named Suzy. Suzy could be a mean little thing. One night I was setting out trip flares and claymores. I would put the firing mechanism (clackers) on the front of the turret of the fifty caliber (in order, left to right) When I brought the last one to the track, I see Suzy hand over hand pulling the claymore mines back towards the track. I back handed her off the track, she had a leash on and here she came back up on the track and madder than all get out.
This is me setting out night devices. 
One day we went to a location to be searched. I didn’t have to go as point man because they had brought a dog handler with a German shepherd to be point. The dog missed the bubby trap and the handler stepped on it. The handler was killed and the dog went kind of crazy. I tried to calm the dog down, but got bit for my efforts. (I may have gotten a couple of stitches for that one)
My First Trip to Cambodia
My first trip into Cambodia (although they said we weren’t operating there) we crossed a river and water came up over the track. As we were setting up camp, a helicopter dropped a water tank on a trailer into our location. Shortly after that and getting close to dark there were shells coming in all around us, I thought it was mortars from the enemy, but looking back it may have been our side sending in cover to soften up the area around our location. In the day time, the tracks would go ahead of us pushing down the jungle and we would walk behind. We received fire from the enemy, a gunner on one of the tracks was shot in the head. We got him down from the track and on a liter. I and another guy were trying to get him to a location where a dust off (helicopter) could pick him up. The colored guy that didn’t seem to like me the first day in the field was laying in the compressed ground made by the tracks. We had to step up out of those tracks to get around him while carrying our gunner.
Another trip into Cambodia, I remember that we had set up our tracks in a circle and put out trip flares and claymores. We took turns setting in the turrets for the fifty machine guns. (However the turret on one of the tracks would not latch down and so was not being used for night watch) The enemy came in setting off the trip flares and the fire fight began. I ran to the track with the turret with no latch and started firing the fifty, I would shoot to the left which would make the turret turn right and switch to shooting to the right bringing the turret back. I fired several boxes of shells which caused the barrel to get glowing hot (every fifth round is a tracer which has sulfur in it) I had a new barrel and an asbestos glove which would allow me to grab the barrel. I had an IL thought idea to pore oil on the barrel to cool it off. (Bad idea) the barrel was so hot that it caused a Hugh fire, so there I was standing on top of a track with a large fire making and excellent target. I got the new barrel on and resumed the fight.
God Looking After Me
June 4th 1970, we are back in Cambodia (I think this is my third time to Cambodia). I didn’t usually remember or even know the date, but the 4th and the 6th were two days that it was obvious that God had been and was watching out for me. They sent two tracks out for resupply, I was on the first track. We were sitting on top of the track in case we drove over a mine. Didn’t see it coming, but we were hit by two b-40 rockets. Our track had a 106 recoilless gun on it and the inside had a lot of shells for the 106. The rockets may have knocked some of us off, but the rest wanted to get away from the track thinking it would blow up with the shells inside. We were on the side of the road with no weapons and the track was still rolling. I decided to get back up on the track and through our weapons to the rest of the guys on the side of the road. The fire fight ensued and we kept them off. The second track had been ambushed also, I remember the guy designated as a forward observer had been shot, but someone got the message out about our situation.
June 6th 1970, we got back to the rest of our platoon and continued what I guess was our mission. I asked for a weapons test, but never got one. (Looking back I believe that they didn’t want to give out our location) I was point man again carrying the m-79 grenade launcher with a buck shot shell loaded. (The m-79 was a one shot weapon and had to have the breach opened up in order to change shells or recock it) We had captured an enemy, the day before I guess, I don’t know if he was Vietnamese or Cambodian but at any rate, I got to have him walk in front of me as point man. There was a pretty good trail, not something I had seen very much of having come from the Delta. I don’t know how far we had walked, quite a way. We went through and old location that the enemy had been set up in and used at an earlier time. With bunkers dug in, it took a little bit of time to get through it, a big monkey came swinging through the trees putting me and my unwilling new point man on edge. We got back on the trail and a mile or so down the trail, the trail turned down hill. (I had told myself that if the captured man did anything wrong, I would shoot him) we got quite a way done the hill when he turned back up the trail toward me, his eyes were very big and he appeared to have turned white. (no I didn’t shoot him) I continued down the trail and to my amazement, I see a bicycle on the side of the trail. About three more steps, I see three North Viet Nam officers in the trail ahead. I smiled to myself remembering the track they had blown up two days earlier with my pictures of my girlfriend and letters from her and my family. With the buck shot round I should be able to get all of them with the one shot. My m-79 misfired, I recocked it and tried again, same thing, I went through this procedure four or five times when I believe that I swore. They heard me and started shouting and pointing, they had their people on watch open fire on me. The guy that was supposed to have my back ran off, the sixty caliber machine gunner let loose with a “one” round burst when his gun jammed, now he ran back up the hill. The fourth guy back (only had four days left in country and the only guy with a helmet), had his helmet stuck in the ground and was firing a couple of shots. I crawled back to him and said we have to get out of here, to which he said “why” I said, “do you hear all that gun fire”? “You are the only one on our side shooting” We crawled back up the hill and back to the rest of the platoon. The platoon leader hadn’t been in country very long and told me to get an m-16 from another man in the platoon and go back down, somewhere in hear I told him that I had asked for a weapons fire test and had not gotten one, so I told him to stick it in his ass.(I had turned nineteen by now) The guy with only four days left said “I’ll go”, well this shamed me, and I took the m-16 and started back down the hill. This time I had him as a backup and a different m-60 machine gunner. We headed back down and got to the same place as before, I had the m-16 on full auto and as we got there, a machine gun of theirs opened up on us. A bullet hit the m-16 which was right over my heart right behind my left finger tearing the hand guard off and jamming the m-16 as I spun around I saw the backup man get shot in the chest. I thought he was dead and crawling back to him, I left my m-16 and using him for cover, I started shooting his weapon. The empty shells from his gun were hitting him in the face to which he said “oh that is hot”. Well like I said I thought he was dead. I called to the machine gunner to shoot up in the trees where I thought fire had been coming from. I called for a medic and he and I pulled the wounded man back up the hill. We used a poncho liner to make a make shift stretcher and headed back the way we had come in. The enemy was trying to flank us, but we were able to get to a location where a helicopter was able to lower a chair type device to put him in. I remember him hollering as he got caught in the trees as they pulled him up. We got news later that he had lived.
Well things went about the same, Jungle rot between our toes and crouch rot, we stopped wearing under shorts, I turned twenty, and I was tired of taking out five man ambushes and was trying to get to be a mechanic. One of our tracks needed parts for a track and we needed a VTR (vehicle track retriever) so that we could pick up one side and work on the track. Now the VTR that we got threw a track of its own. We sent for another VTR to help work on this one. Unable to fix it, we decided to have the operable VTR to pull the broken one into the rear. The ground is soft in Viet Nam, so the good VTR was unable to pull the broken one without some help. A short hitch was put on the one to be pulled and attached to the operating one. I got into the broken one and put a helmet with communication ability on. We had gotten a new platoon Sargent transferred in from Germany and he and an M-113 personnel carrier lead the way out of there. I noticed that we were on the same tracks that they had come in on the previous day and radioed the information up to the Sargent. He told me that he was in charge and just do my job. A very short time later, the first VTR ran over a large land mine. The blast picked up both the towing vehicle and the one I was in. The driver can be all the way inside the Vehicle and look through periscopes, or sit higher and have their head out of the hatch. Well, I had my head outside and when the blast threw us up off the ground, there was shrapnel which got stuck in the periscopes on both sides of my head and again I was not hit. The personnel carrier came circling back to where we were and guys were jumping off and running toward us. I yelled some obscenities and told them to get back. If we were all to get in one spot, it would be an excellent place to drop a mortar in on us. We made it back to the rear without further incidence. The platoon Sargent was getting everyone ready to go back and came back to me and said “get ready Hove” to which I said “I can’t hear you “ Well, I was left in the rear and put in resupply. I had extended my time in country and after most of a month in the rear, my time was up and I got orders to go home.
Me sitting on the boom of the VTR.
I remember being on the plane waiting to leave with mortars coming in to the airport. Someone that did not have orders to go home had altered orders and so the plane had too many on the plane. After a long time, they figured it out and the guy was taken off and we were allowed to get in the air.
Thanks for reading my story.
Leland Hove.
