header1.jpg (51792 bytes)


From Sunup to Sundown............

and then some...........


 

Six days a week, the landclearing company worked to clear the jungle of South Vietnam, rising before sunup to check out their machines, and prepare for the days work.
The plows, would line up in single file, along with the 548 Track, and the contact trucks, and head for the area that needed to be cleared, known as "the cut".

 
A "trace" was cut in the foliage to outline the area needing to be cleared.  This was usually done with the help of a helicopter overhead giving the plow operator directions, as the jungle was too thick, for the operator to see ahead of the plow.
Once the trace was cut, the plows would clear the area inside.
 
As the designated area was cleared the plows would move further into the jungle growth.
 
Two kinds of plows were used by the company.  The "Rome Plow" which was equipped with a "stinger blade" and a "Bull Blade" which wasn't.
 
To the left, is the first cut with the "stinger" into a large tree. To the right is the second cut into the same tree.
 
These two pictures show the same tree toppling over from different angles.
 
Once the trees were toppled, they were pushed into a pile to be burned.
 
These four pictures are of a dozer that slid down a hill.
The picture to the left is the plow turning around to work his way back up the hill...
The picture on the right is the view from the top of the hill looking down at the plow.
The picture on the bottom left is the same view but a bit closer.  The picture on the right is an enlargement of the dozer.
 
A birds eye view from the operators seat in the picture to the left. On the right, the operator stands on the roof of the plow, the blade being camouflaged by the jungle growth.
 
On the left, the top arrow shows a plow in the overgrowth, the bottom arrow shows the winch of another plow. 
On the right, the circle in the middle of the picture, points out an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) pulling security. In the other circle is a plow.

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
     
     
  From Sunup...Page 1 Camps in the Field Mang Giang Pass
  From Sunup...Page 2 Ban Me Thuot Muddy Monsons
  From Sunup...Page 3 Bong Song Base Camps
  From Sunup...Page 4 Dak To Standdown
  Moving the Company Duc My Pass Vehicles of the 538th

Copyright Ó ; 2000, 2001, 2002  All Rights Reserved. This site was designed by Pat Briggs, Roger Briggs and Doug Kidd.