During early 1969, I was sitting in my
office as the Superintendent of Police at Phu Cat AB.
A TSgt Edward S. Harmon from EOD came in and requested
someone come with him to our anti personnel minefield
to take a compass reading in order to find the first
cluster of three mines so he could start taking them
out. I knew nothing about the operation and I told
him that I had bleachers put up at that location and
sold tickets to watch him get his ass blown off.
Ed was a good friend of mine
and he laughed at my joke. I told him that I would
go with him and take the compass reading, which I did.
Ed found the first cluster of three mines and started
digging them out. He would hand them to me just
on the other side of the barbed wire and I would unscrew
the small detonator and put both items in an ammo box
filled with saw dust. Ed had removed two clusters and
was working on the third when he stepped to his left'there
was an explosion knocking him down and me backward.
Ed stated screaming, 'I can't see, I can't see!'
He was also thrashing around and I thought he would roll
onto more mines so I immediately ran along the barbed
wire to the entrance and immediately ran into the minefield
to Ed. I picked him up and assisted him out of
the minefield and immediately radioed for an ambulance.
When the ambulance arrived, they put Harmon on a stretcher,
placed him into the ambulance, and I got in with Ed.
As the ambulance started to drive away, it was on a bumpy
dirt road and Ed's leg was bouncing around causing him
to scream out from the pain. I knelt beside him,
picked up his left leg to cushion the ride, and as I
did could see his entire foot had been blown away.
I also noticed a large tear in his pants just below his
crotch. I put his leg down and tore open his pants
to see if there was any further damage I had not seen.
I could see a very large opening in the inner thigh area,
but there was little or no blood. I again lifted
his leg to cushion the ride.
Ed was still blinded from the
explosion, and said to me, 'Is it still there?'
I told him that I had seen it, and it was still there.
He kept this line of questioning up for several minutes,
when I asked him why he was so worried about it.
Ed said that he was going on R&R to Hawaii next week
and his wife was going to meet him there and he planned
on using it. Even with the great amount of pain
he was in, he still had a sense of humor.
Ed was Air Evac'd to a large
Army Hospital and one of my Captains and myself drove
down to see him before he was flown back to the States.
Ed told us that they would be able to save the heel bone
and make things much easier for them to replace his foot.
I had not heard from Ed since that day in 1969.
After a couple of years, I tried many times to somehow
locate Ed, but I had forgotten his first name and could
only remember 'Harmon', from either Washington or Oregon.
I tried all those years without success, but during October
1995, I was looking through the Reunion's section when
I saw that the Retired AF EOD Master Blasters were having
a reunion on November 11, 1995 in Florida. There
was a phone number for information, so I called and when
someone answered, I explained that I had saved an EOD
man's life at Phu Cat AB, and all I could remember was
'Harmon' and either Washington or Oregon. The individual
said he knew who I meant and gave me his phone number
in Princeville, Oregon, and said the name was Edward S.
Harmon. Well, I immediately called the number and
got an answering machine and I repeated who I was, and
that I was looking for an EOD person I carried
out of a minefield at Phu Cat AB, and said, 'Are you
that man?' A few minutes later, Ed returned my
call and confirmed that he was in fact that person.
We talked about old times and his injury and how he was
getting along. He told me that he was still in
the explosive business and was doing great.
We intend to get together soon and Ed said that
he has pictures of the incident and would send me copies
when he finds them.
