Shells were smacking the water all around us, raising big spikes of foam. Over the general racket I couldn’t hear bullets dinging Number 13, but we kept our heads down anyway. The last thousand yards we were under fire the whole way. Somewhere along our way in Jap artillery found the range and started working us over. A curtain of black smoke hung over the whole beach. I’d never heard a sound like that before. After our wave got under way, a couple LSTs that were parked out on our flanks sent swarms of rockets screeching over our heads. They paused long enough for the Dauntless dive bombers and TBMs to sweep in and dump their bombs. Our battleships and cruisers had been working over the island since dawn, guns cracking like thunder. We circled for half an hour until the beach master dropped his red flag, the signal to form up and head for shore. We barely managed four and a half, which is about as fast as a man can walk. The flat-bottomed Higgins boats could do twelve knots. Links are encouraged.An amtrac at sea wallows like a buffalo. This copyrighted material may not be republished without permission. 25, 2009 and is republished with permission.Ĭlick here to view the War Tales fan page on FaceBook.Ĭlick here to search Veterans Records and to obtain information on retrieving lost commendations.Īll rights reserved. This story was first published in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Fla. Unit: A-Company, 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion in Vietnam, 1966-67Ĭommendations: Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, a Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation, a National Defense Ribbon and a Good Conduct Medal Ciullo’s Fileĭ.O.B: 63 at time of interview in December 2009 It was a bunch of lies,” he admitted.Īfter Ciullo was honorably discharged from the Marines in ’68, he went to work for Con Edison, where he worked for 31 years until he retired and moved to Venice in 2005. The other went to the family at the house. “I could never tell my mom the truth about what was going on over there with me. This was Private Vic Ciullo at 18 when he joined the Marines at Parris Island, S.C. “The fact is, my Christmas present lasted about 25 minutes, thanks to the VC,” Ciullo said in exasperation 45 years later. “I must have done it when I hit the deck when VC rounds punched holes in our tent,” he said. The arm that held the needle had been broken off,” he said. “When I went into the tent the next morning, I found the record completely shattered. The VC was probing us to see how much firepower we had,” Ciullo said. We had a firefight that lasted about 20 minutes. Everyone else in the tent scrambled around and did the same thing. I reached for my rifle and cartridge belt. Just as I did, the Viet Cong started shooting bullets through the tent at us. “When the first side was done, I flipped it over to the other side. He said, ‘Yes, go ahead.’ There were probably eight or nine guys in the tent with us. “I was really thrilled and I asked the lieutenant if I could put the record on and play it. My mother knew I like Petula Clark very much,” he recalled with a smile. When I returned and opened it, I found she had sent me a battery-powered record player and a 33 rpm album of Petula Clark. “I was on a river patrol when her Christmas package arrived. Photo providedīut Ciullo ‘s story is not about any of this it’s about a record his mother sent him as a Christmas present in 1966. Vic Ciullo is pictured near the Namo Bridge in I Corps in the middle of Vietnam in 1966-67, when he served with the 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion. He came home from Southeast Asia without a scratch. Often the vehicles burst into flames.Ĭiullo was pretty lucky. And the occupants in these vehicles didn’t fare too well when they were hit by enemy fire. During the Vietnam War, Ciullo said, some 200 of these vehicles were lost that way. The amtrac was susceptible to enemy mines and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades). It was on tracks,” the 63-year-old Marine explained. “We could drive right through rice paddies. The front door of the contraption dropped to allow the leathernecks to get out. 30-caliber machine gun mounted on its top. The amtrac he drove carried 26 Marines in an armored box that was 30 feet long, weighed 30 tons had a. He started on the beach at Chu Lai and then moved to I Corps, west of DaNang, at Hill 55, Hill 190 and at the Namo Bridge during the 13 months he was on the ground over there. His outfit was assigned to various Marine divisions in ‘Nam - the 4th, 5th, 7th and 9th.
NEVER LOST AMTRAC REDDIT DRIVER
was an amtrac driver in Vietnam with A-Company, 3rd Amphibious Tractor Battalion in 1966-67. Viet Cong wrecked Vic Ciullo’s Christmas present while he served with the Marines
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