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Clair Dobson
U.S. Army - 1969-1971
MACV in Quang Ngai Province,
Vietnam 1970-1971
Khanh Duong, Vietnam, 1969
D.O.V.E. Fund member since 2000
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I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during graduation
ceremonies from Penn State on June 14, 1969. I entered active duty on September
7, 1969 and my first stop was Fort Benning Georgia for nine weeks of Infantry
Officer Basic training.
Upon completion I was assigned as a Platoon Leader of Company B, 4th
Battalion 30th, Infantry Division at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Fort Sill was the
Army’s Artillery Training School and our mission was to provide support for
various field-training exercises. I reported for duty on November 26, 1969 and
on June 22, 1970 received orders to report to the Military Assistance Command
Vietnam (MACV).
On September 2, 1970 I arrived at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhat airport and after a few
days was sent to Advisory School in Di An, a small hamlet a short drive away.
The course lasted about three weeks and helped ease me “in country”. Classes
included survival techniques along with Vietnamese language and culture studies,
all in preparation for my ultimate assignment to a Mobile Advisory Team (MAT).
Typically a MAT team had five members: a captain, a lieutenant and three
sergeants each with a different military specialty. Their mission was to live
with and support the People’s Self-Defense Forces (PF’s). These were soldiers
living close to their homes and functioning much like our National Guard. This
was one part of President Nixon’s “Vietnamization” program to end our involvement
in the war and bring American troops home.
MAT #17 and “the hill” became my home for the next several months. I was within
site of Highway QL1 about 50 miles south of Danang in Quang Ngai Province. It
was one of several MAT teams operating in the Son Tinh District.
“The hill” served as District Headquarters to all PF and MAT units. It housed a
small platoon of PF’s that provided security to the District Chief, his wife,
three small children and several American Advisors. My MAT team provided support
for daily operations and also monitored training for PF units. Different PF units
rotated in each week to a covered but open-air classroom to receive various types
of military training. The Vietnamese provided the instruction; we simply monitored
and offered support.
In early 1971 I was temporarily assigned as team leader to a different MAT team
when their leader was called home. We lived with a company of Montangards in a
portion of an old French citadel a few miles from “the hill” and very close to
the infamous village of My Lai. The compound was tucked into one corner of the
citadel and was protected by barbed wire and mines.
The Montangards, an ethnic minority from the mountain region, were very supportive
of the Americans. This put them in constant danger from Viet Cong attacks, so for
their safety, their complete tribe of men, women and children were relocated to
this area. Like so many of the Vietnamese people I met during my tour they were
hard working, peace loving and family oriented. They were well trained and I felt
relatively secure.
My tour was cut short as President Nixon continued to pull out troops. I left
Vietnam in June 1971. Fortunately my combat experiences were very few and leave
no scars. I simply have fond memories of the hard working Vietnamese people who
were struggling to exist in a wartime environment.
In March 2008 I made a return trip with DOVE. I was able to show “the hill” to my
wife Jan. As we toured we enjoyed meeting the school children, teachers and parents.
Everyone made us feel so welcome. The “American War” is in the past and the people
are moving forward.
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