Bill Patterson - a Young Man Who Should Not Have Been in the War Zone

Bill Patterson - a Young Man Who Should Not Have Been in the War Zone

Bill Patterson - A Young Man Who Should Not Have Been In The War Zone.

The attached photo, taken by one of our 319th Transportation Company members, shows another member (Wallace Zealy I think) posing with an M-60 Machine Gun mounted on one of our trucks. I trained and qualified with the M-60 during my infantry training at Fort Polk LA in 1965. Our 319th also received similar training at Fort Lee VA prior to leaving for Vietnam. The gun was belt-fed and could fire hundreds or thousands of rounds of 7.62MM ammunition per minute and would do so as long as the trigger was pulled to the firing position. A very few of the weapons were authorized for our company as fighting was not our primary mission.

On one convoy I was assigned an assistant driver who had been armed with the M-60 that day. I do not remember if the young man (who was barely 18 as I recall) was assigned to the 319th or some other company from our battallion. I do not remember his name. I do remember he was quiet and seemed to have something on his mind which he chose not to discuss on the long day we shared. I also chose not to talk much as the truck noise would require yelling. Anyhow, I wanted to concentrate on driving the big truck and getting the job done.

We drove to our distant destination from Long Binh, delivered our cargo and were returning to Long Binh. We saw no enemy action on this day. On the way to our destination and for most of the way back, the assistant kept the M-60 in the cab. Most of the mounts were actually worthless. The guns would fall off or get so clogged with road dust they would not fire. As we neared the Cu Chi base, the assistant opened his windshield and locked it in the horizontal position. He opened the bipod of the M-60, raised it from the floor, pointed the barrel through the windshield and balanced the gun on the hood of the truck. I assumed he did this to cool off with the breeze or to allow more room in the cab. He said nothing that I recall.

The road smoothed near Cu Chi. The steady drone of the turbo-charged engine, the smoother ride and the afternoon heat calmed me. I was probably drowsy as I often was. The road for some distance was mostly in a straight line but turned sharply about 90 degrees to bypass a Vietnamese village of thatched roof "houches". I drove toward the houches and noticed no one visible in the village.

Without warning, the assistant pulled the loading bolt of the M-60 and fired a long burst directly into the village! I was nearly deafened by the noise inside the small cab. I then yelled something like "why did you do that?" He said nothing at first. I had to steer around the curve. After the curve I was still shaken but the assistant was calm. I again inquired why he did it. Had he seen some enemy? He finally admitted he only did it because he wanted to.

I instantly realized I was escorted by a mental case. By firing dozens of bullets into the village he could have killed or injured many civilians. He at least damaged private property and did so without being ordered to. I don't know what damage was done. I do know I was very rattled by the incident and could not relax when we reached Long Binh. I reported the firing to a non-commissioned officer in the 319th.

When our convoy ended that day, the assistant went to clean and turn the M-60 in to the arms room . I don't remember if I saw him after that day. He never rode with me again. I don't know what happened to him in his future life. I hope he found a doctor who could help him. I know he must live with the memory of firing a machine gun into a village of civilians.