New information on Harry Baig

Some of us who remember Harry Baig, who was our CO in the Summer of 1967, are aware that he was unique. No one who met Harry forgot him. What some may not realize is that when he left 1st Guns in September 1967 he was assigned to 3rd MarDiv G2 and from there he was assigned to Khe Sahn. This book covers his work at Khe Sahn and attributes Harry with saving the lives of the people stationed there during the siege.

Michael Archer spent his time at Khe Sahn in the command bunker where he watched Harry in action and writes about his experience in his new book, which is available on Amazon.

Love him or hate him, Harry was a part of the history of 1st Guns and this book offers some insight into his character.

More records located

I was able to get to the National Archives in College Park, MD last week and I found the Command Chronologies for 1st Guns for the year 1970. They appear to be intact with the exception of February, 1970, which has a few pages missing. Using this new information I was able to flesh out the Battery History page.

For a moment I thought I would be able to locate the unit rosters for the Guns but it appears that when the Marine Corps turned the files over to the National Archives they got lost in the shuffle. They were either mislabeled like the 1st 155mm Guns files were or they were not included. I’m not finished with the National Archives yet. Now that I am a registered “Researcher” and I know my way around there a bit, I intend to get back there one day and delve into the unit roster files a bit more.

175mm FDC

I’m curious to know if  know if Fire Direction Control on the 175 Guns used FADAC or was it done manually. I know FADAC was not available for the 155 Guns because they were never converted to the metric system but I’m sure the Army was using FADAC with the 175 Guns in Vietnam. Did the USMC use FADAC with them as well?

New Records Found

I was able to locate the Command Chronologies for 1st Guns for Mar69 to Dec69 in the National Archives and have ordered copies. This should allow me to “flesh out” the Battery History entries for that period. I’m still looking for the records from Jan70 to Oct70.

What do you know?

I think it’s ironic that the last firing position for 1st Guns in Vietnam in September of 1970 (Hill 55) is only 6 miles from its first firing position in March of 1966 and that platoons of Guns had been deployed there off and on as early as Apr66.

Danang locations