In 1953 - 1955 I was the battalion operations Sergeant for Major John SD Eisenhower at Fort Benning. I had fought with his battalion for one operation in Korea in the winter of 1951 - 1952. He volunteered me for a classified mission. There were four of us Infantry type NCOs. We developed a special weapon with the inventor. We fired thousands of them in different configurations and many different silhouette targets. With the finished product, we knew we were going to jump into Denbienphu and give the French a hand. The United States decided not to get involved in Vietnam. The weapon was the claymore mine. I could not have imagined that many years later I would go to Vietnam with a great battalion and the claymore would play such an important role in that war.
NOTE: Bill Kindt was the original Battalion Executive Officer for the 8th Bn 4th Arty beginning in March 1967 and through the battalion’s first year in Vietnam. To many he was known fondly, or unfondly, as "Hurricane Kindt." | |