My Dad served 12 years on the USS New Jersey ,I went Army , I was a forward lookout “ LRRP Ranger” in South Vietnam .. around the end of 1968 I was watching NVA crossing the DMZ , forming a trap for our grunts on the ground .( The First Cav Div) I tried calling artillery support for them but all units were busy , so I went to my last radio contact , the US Navy ..! I got a ship out in the bay and asked for smoke rounds to position my fire.. they were perfect on first try, so I called “ fire for effect”… … after a few min I saw what looked like a swarm of bees coming over my head … they hit my target and destroyed a full grid ..
I was really impressed.. thanking them …
After my mission was complete I had to do a debrief with my commanding officer..he asked for a kill count,I told him I’m sure we got a few gooks.. He said Sargent you’d better got more than a few , the USS New Jersey sent you a million dollars worth of ordnance ..!!
I couldn’t wait to write my dad of my contact with his old home the USS New Jersey ..

- Bruce C.