|    Pachyderms in Vietnam 1970 "Birth of a Firebase" Contributed by Barry D. Echols (Pachyderm Pilot) Several pictures will load on this page about a Pachyderms view of the "Birth of a Firebase." Every effort has been expended to keep the pictures small for a tolerable load time. Scroll down slowly, study the pictures, peruse the text, and you will not notice the the time it takes for this page to load. Perhaps a tasteless joke would be appropriate to kill some time while the page loads: Adam was complaining to God that he felt lonely in the Garden of Eden. God, being in a good mood that day, responded. "Adam, I can create for you a perfect companion, beautiful in countenance, and sublime in nature. She will unfailingly attend to your every need without complaint. She will never argue with you and will be a most perfect companion. She will have no goal except to make you happy." That sounded great to Adam, but he had to ask: "That sounds perfect God, but what will that cost me?" "It will cost you only an arm and a leg, Adam," God answered. Adam replied, "What can I get for a rib?" This Page will take a time to load. Be patient! "Birth of a Firebase" First an airstrike to cleanse the hilltop Then further cleaning by ground troops. To hook unit: "Where is that D7 bulldozer you promised? Thanks Cobras for your help. I can just make you out near the ridge line. Yep, I see your yellow smoke (banana). Will be there in a few seconds. Down and dirty. More troops coming down the ramp to join you. Yes, I see you Cobra, orbiting above. Thanks for keeping a lookout. Lots of smoke, can't see much. The smoke is here to help us, right? Can't hear what he is saying but suspect it is something like "Thanks for the ride, but please get that noisy piece of crap out of here." Can't hear him either, but suspect he is saying something like "Jeez, that SOB is trying to blow my helmet off!" This one is saying "I like this place, nice view. Now hook, toddle off and bring us back some Howitzers. Maybe a couple of 155's and 4 or 5 105's. Some hot food and more ammo would be nice once in a while, and don't forget to bring my mail." A done deal trooper. We aim to please! . | 
