William (Bill) Rittenhouse Looking for Echo 2/4 Members from Late 1969

Hi fellow Bastards,

Hi… I was a member of Echo 2/4 in Vietnam for about 5 weeks (Sept 28 – Nov 3, 1969)…or until unit was withdrawn…I went on to 2/26 near Lang Co for 4 months (then they pulled out) and then moved on to 2/7 at both LZ Ross and LZ Baldy- leaving Nam on Sept 17, 1970.

I don’t remember anyone from Echo…I was the only new guy who made it, and being too tired and scared (as we were on an extended tour of mountains and valleys…lol). I think of Echo fondly though. The squad and platoon seemed to have Marines there a minimum of 8+ mos. in country and most had purple hearts…You might say I was the platoon’s pack animal..carrying everybody’s everything (or so it seemed)…basically, I did whatever I was told. By the time I left Echo I had gained a lot of survival knowledge which somehow allowed me to survive a whole tour being sniped at, shelled, mortared, ambushed, and booby trapped up the gazoo… My later tasks went way beyond the standard 0311 and 0331 MOSs I had. I did have a secondary 9940 MOS (Vietnamese language)…became a liaison with an ARVN unit to coordinate air and artillery strikes(so I had map, radio skills, and F.O added to my growing MOS list. The I became a battalion S-2 Scout-was attached out to companies (find the enemy, find and/or mark booby traps, did a kind of super point with a Kit Carson scout partner…set up listening devices…and night killer teams, long range LPs and a host of special missions) I never slept.

Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you’d steer me to other Marines who might have been there in early October-November 1969. What do you suggest? By the way I turned 21 in Vietnam with Echo.

Thank you,
Bill Rittenhouse

Contact Bill Rittenhouse with any further info