You would think that over time you would be able to clear the area of rockets and rocket attacks but due to the "Rules of Engagement" (ROE) it couldn't be done.
The rocket the name referred to are 122mm Russian made rockets.
There was no guidance on these missiles... they just point and shoot. Theoretically the rockets were able to hit an target about the size of a football field from up to about 15 miles away... I don't think these were that accurate.
The Viet Cong (VC) Guerrillas would look like any other villager. They would infiltrate villages around the base and threaten the locals with their lives. Though fear and intimidation they controlled the infiltrated villages. They would kill some people to ensure they wouldn't turn them in to us or the Vietnamese Army. Sometimes they would kill entire villages. They would set up the rockets in the cover of night.
We had various versions of gunships with low light and infra-red cameras that would circle the area at night. An AC-119 (used to be called a Flying Boxcar) gunship would often be landing about the time I would be taking off every morning. During the night they would often catch the VC setting up their rockets and would ask for permission to attack them. Permission to attack was usually denied because there were "friendlies" in the area. So... they would circle and watch. When the missiles launched they would call the base and let them know. Click Stinger to see a gun ship in action... There were several versions of the gunships that used old WW II or Korean War vintage aircraft. Probably not a very safe job even though they were very heavily armed.
The base had a vast loudspeaker system that would let us know when the rockets were coming. "ROCKETS, ROCKETS, ROCKETS... TAKE COVER" would be repeated over and over. We were usually asleep when this happened. We would roll out of bed with our helmets and flak jackets and slide under our bed. We actually felt pretty safe like this and would often fall back to sleep on the floor... especially if a follow on rocket attack was right after the first one. I would often wake up in the morning with my flak jacket being used as my pillow. We survived about 15 to 20 rocket attacks in the 30 or so days I was there.
A rocket impact sounded like a 50 pound sack of manure (we did not use that word) that you threw on the ground and it landed nice and flat... "WHUMP" and the ground would shake.
I think I was most affected by the rockets attacks during the day... though I don't believe we every had one in daylight. I would be walking somewhere and be looking for ditches or low spots to dive into in the event the rockets came. I believe this is the most nervous I was in Vietnam... walking around the base in broad daylight... weird. When I was in my airplane I felt in control and safe... also weird since people were always shooting at me.
After returning to the states I would react quickly to loud noises after I fell asleep... I don't believe I rolled out of bed though.
I think the rockets being fired on Israel now days are basically the same rockets. Someone must think this idea works... I think they are right.
We would frequently hear other explosions while on the base. The first time we heard it we thought we were getting bombarded by VC artillery. We were somewhat relieved to find out that the explosions were outgoing artillery from our Marines at Monkey Mountain... a tall mountain just North East of the base. We were aware that a large group of the enemy must be in range of the guns... somewhere less than 20 miles away. When we asked what incoming artillery sounded like, the answer was... "you will know"... thankfully I never heard it.
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