Lainey Randall. Provisional Rifle Company. 3rd platoon 3rd squad Squad Leader. RVN. 1969-1970.
Lainey Randall was my bud for several months until he rotated home. Lainey was from Texas, loved both Country and Hard Rock music, and had gone to translator school to learn Vietnamese, which he spoke with a strong Texas accent. On one patrol, he dropped a grenade on a suspected booby trap, and then got stuck in the mud trying to get away from the blast. I thought he was a goner, but the mud absorbed the blast, and the explosion just produced a ten foot geyser of mud and a muffled "Bloop" sound. I remember this incident because I had a camera out, ready to take a picture, but when Lainey got stuck I was so worried for his safety that I forgot to aim the camera and got an excellent picture of my boot!
Courtesy of Ron Weber.
Photos courtesy of Jack Gaskins.
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