Vietnam February 2022 by HistoryNet

New U.S. Army Museum A Look at Exhibits on the War

HOMEFRONT Staubach shines in Super Bowl VI

First Firefight KIA Doomed Outpost

Tom Davis died in 1961 on a critical intel mission

Green Berets, Aussies, and Marines battle NVA invaders

Civilian Air Support Pan Am was there from start to finish

FEBRUARY 2022 HISTORYNET.com

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FEBRUARY 2021

ON THE COVER

James T. “Tom” Davis was the first American killed in ground combat in Vietnam. DAVIS FAMILY VIA MARK D. RAAB; HELICOPTER: LARRY BURROWS/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/ SHUTTERSTOCK; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN WALKER; INSET: FOCUS ON SPORT VIA GETTY IMAGES

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‘THE GRIM REAPER WAS CLOSE AT HAND’

When a large enemy force struck a base at Ngok Tavak in May 1968, a band of Green Berets, Australians, Marine artillerymen and South Vietnamese soldiers found themselves in a desperate struggle for survival. By Dick Camp

11/17/21 10:29 AM

6 Feedback Letters 8 Intel February Briefing 14 Reflections Army Siblings in Vietnam 18 Arsenal AN/PRC-25 Radio

20 Homefront January-February 1972 21 Battlefront 50 Years Ago in the War 60 Media Digest Reviews 64 Hall of Valor George S. Patton IV

FIRST U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN GROUND COMBAT

In December 1961, Tom Davis was on a mission to find an enemy radio transmitter when he ran into a Viet Cong ambush. By Mark D. Raab

30 36 PAN AM’S WAR

During the Vietnam War, Pan Am planes seemed to be flying nonstop into and out of the war zone. By Jim Trautman

TURNING POINT AT TAM KY

A 101st Airborne unit sent to protect the town of Tam Ky had been fighting the enemy for weeks with seemingly little progress. Then one day it all changed. By Ed Sherwood

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MORE THAN A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS

A new Army museum’s Vietnam section has become a gathering place for vets and their families. By Zita Ballinger Fletcher

11/17/21 10:29 AM

MICHAEL A. REINSTEIN CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER DAVID STEINHAFEL PUBLISHER ALEX NEILL EDITOR IN CHIEF

FEBRUARY 2022 VOL. 34, NO. 5

CHUCK SPRINGSTON EDITOR ZITA BALLINGER FLETCHER SENIOR EDITOR JERRY MORELOCK SENIOR EDITOR JON GUTTMAN RESEARCH DIRECTOR DAVID T. ZABECKI EDITOR EMERITUS HARRY SUMMERS JR. FOUNDING EDITOR BRIAN WALKER GROUP ART DIRECTOR MELISSA A. WINN DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY JON C. BOCK ART DIRECTOR GUY ACETO PHOTO EDITOR

THE PAN AM WAY

During the war, Pan American World Airways took U.S. service members to R&R destinations, such as Hawaii. The R&R flights weren’t the only service Pam Am provided to assist the military and U.S. government, as an article in this issue explains. To read more about the history of Pan Am, visit Historynet.com and search: “Pan Am.” Through firsthand accounts and stunning photos, our website puts you in the field with the troops who fought in one of America’s most controversial wars.

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Vietnam (ISSN 1046-2902) is published bimonthly by HISTORYNET, LLC, 901 North Glebe Road, Fifth Floor, Arlington, VA 22203 Periodical postage paid at Vienna, VA, and additional mailing ofﬁces. Postmaster, send address changes to Vietnam, P.O. Box 31058, Boone, IA 50037-0058 List Rental Inquiries: Belkys Reyes, Lake Group Media, Inc. 914-925-2406; belkys.reyes@lakegroupmedia.com Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 41342519 Canadian GST No. 821371408RT0001 © 2021 HISTORYNET, LLC The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of HISTORYNET, LLC. PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA

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VIETNAM

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11/15/21 11:18 AM

Colin Powell, here during his June 1968July 1969 tour as a major in the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal), was the first African American chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state.

Thank you for your service and dedication for our country. Semper Fi sir. R.I.P. Bill Seneriz There was a man that would have made a great president. Thank you for your service. Rest in peace. Joan Abbey One of the best. Thank you for your service sir. R. I. P. John Austin

Remembering Colin Powell

Honor and respect. Joyce Daubert He was truly a great man with integrity and wisdom. Gary Hall

A soldier’s soldier. Steve Joslin R.I.P. my brother. Thank you for your service. I look forward to serving with you in the hereafter. God bless you and your family. Arthur Van Riper One of the best men I ever worked for in the Army. Bobby Mace You weren’t Cav, but I’m sure you’re welcome to stop in Fiddler’s Green. John Guillory R.I.P. A great man lost. Ralph Jackson

Another Look at Famous Photo

When Colin Powell died on Oct. 18, 2021, (see obituary Page 12) many visitors to Vietnam magazine’s Facebook page shared their thoughts. Here’s a sampling: He should have been our first Black POTUS!! R.I.P. sir! John J. McMahon The Black American president we should have had. William Stronk 6

Everyone is forgetting he is the one that went to the U.N. and told all the people Bush’s lies about Iraq and got us into 20-plus [years] wars. Lewis Smith [Powell said later he didn’t know statements indicating Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction were not true.] Great gentlemen, gone too soon. Sherry Darby Sabo

R.I.P. hero, slow salute. Ed Rohner Thank you for your service. God bless. Fallon Pendleton-Doolin R.I.P. my veteran brother. Thank you for your sacrifice for our country. I salute you sir. Slow salute. Gary K. Reynolds Thank you for your service. My deepest condolences to your family. Bud Slagle R.I.P. You will not be forgotten. Johnny L. McBride

Regarding “Ho Chi Minh’s Shadow Government” by Virginia Morris (June 2020), which included the dramatic photo of National Police Maj. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan shooting Viet Cong Nguyen Van Lem: I think the only reason there was such an uproar after Maj. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed Nguyen Van Lem is because it was so graphic and publicized. Actually seeing, up close and personal, someone pump a bullet into the head of another human being, blood and brains pouring out of his head, is very shocking for most people. The day-to-day violence of ’Nam on American TV was bad enough, but showing things like Lem’s execution every day, because violent things happened every day, may have sped up the end of “the American War.” Richard B. Ellenberger Normandy Park, Washington Email your feedback on Vietnam magazine articles to Vietnam@historynet.com, subject line: Feedback. Please include city and state of residence.

HISTORYNET ARCHIVES

FEEDBACK

R.I.P. sir, one of the greatest generals there was in the U.S. Army. Jack Gilley

VIETNAM

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The statue of Vietnam War fighter pilot Robin Olds at the Air Force Academy is a commanding feature of a new memorial commemorating 100 years of aerial combat.

lieutenant in June 1943. During World War II, he flew the P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang, completing 107 combat missions. During the Vietnam War, Olds became commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in September 1966 and began flying in an F-4 Phantom II in October of that year. He completed 152 combat missions, 105 of which were over North Vietnam. Olds is credited with shooting down two MIG17 and two MIG-21 aircraft using air-to-air missiles. He returned to the U.S. in December 1967. Survived by his larger-than-life personality, Olds is widely recognized for energizing the men under his command both in Vietnam and at the Air Force Academy. His statue is framed by a series of plaques reflecting his views on leadership and war. One of the quotes says: “When outnumbered by the enemy the first thing you should do is praise the Lord for a target-rich environment.” Nance told The Gazette he intended the memorial to withstand the test of time. “A thousand years from now, if somebody comes and takes a look at this and they have no idea who he is, they will walk away with a deeper understanding of the person and not just what he accomplished.”

—Zita Ballinger Fletcher

VIETNAM

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U.S. AIR FORCE

new Air Force Academy memorial includes a statue of colorful Vietnam War fighter pilot Col. Robin Olds. The academy unveiled the $1.4 million Air Warrior Combat Memorial on its campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Oct. 1, 2021. A dominant feature is a 6-foot-4-inch bronze likeness of Olds, who had 17 shootdowns in World War II and Vietnam combined, making him a “triple ace.” Promoted to brigadier general after his return from Vietnam, Olds served as commandant of cadets at the academy from 1967 to 1971. The Class of ’71 led the planning and fundraising efforts for the memorial, which took 11 years, and donated 90 percent of the costs. The memorial’s creation began in 2011 with discussions at the class’s 40th reunion. “We were eating pizza and having a beer. That’s how this started,” retired Col. Frank Morgan told the academy’s public affairs office. “We all knew we needed to do something.” In addition to the bronze statue of Olds, the memorial features a 2,000-pound bronze model of an F-4 Phantom II with an 11-foot wingspan and a wall of 17 panels charting the history of air power over 100 years. The sculptor, Jim Nance, in an article published by The Gazette of Colorado Springs, said the memorial is “dedicated to everybody who had flown in harm’s way.” Olds was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and received his commission as a second

COURTESY CHRISTINA OLDS

Air Force Honors Vietnam Aviator Robin Olds

A CON T R OV ER SI A L QU EST ION

A SERIES EXAMINING CONTENTIOUS ISSUES OF THE VIETNAM WAR BY ERIK VILLARD The short answer is yes, though with important qualifications. Prior to 1968, the nearest the United States came to deploying nuclear weapons in Vietnam was in early 1954 when the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu was in danger of being overrun by an independence movement led by communist Viet Minh forces, the predecessor to the North Vietnamese Army. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his advisers privately discussed the use of tactical nuclear weapons to save the fort. Eisenhower chose not to deploy nuclear weapons because their use would generate an international outcry and not guarantee the French garrison’s survival. Between 1963 and 1965, the U.S. Army conducted a series of war games to examine the use of tactical nuclear weapons in land warfare. Though largely focused on a potential war against the Soviet Union in Europe, the games, code-named Oregon Trail, also looked at scenarios pitting the U.S. against communist China in Asia. The Army concluded that tactical nuclear weapons were highly effective against massed formations of enemy troops and vehicles but only marginally effective against dispersed or dug-in enemy formations, such as the United States faced in South Vietnam. The lessons of Dien Bien Phu and Oregon Trail became relevant in early 1968 when North Vietnamese forces surrounded the Khe Sanh Marine base near the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. Prompted by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s anxiety over the fate of Khe Sanh, the chair-

man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Earle G. Wheeler, sent a message on Feb. 1 to Gen. William Westmoreland, head of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, recommending that he investigate the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons to break the siege. Westmoreland had already initiated a secret study code-named Fracture Jaw to do just that. When Johnson learned about it, he reacted with dismay and anger. The president ordered that Fracture Jaw be shut down, and all work on the study ceased on Feb. 12. It is not entirely clear whether Westmoreland supported the idea of using nuclear weapons or was performing his due diligence as MACV commander and weighing all military options. Given that Westmoreland never doubted that the garrison could be defended with conventional means, one must conclude that Fracture Jaw represented due diligence rather than a preferred tactic. The final episode of Vietnam’s nuclear weapons story came in late 1969, when President Richard Nixon initiated a White House planning group code-named Duck Hook that examined the possible use of nuclear weapons against North Vietnam if Hanoi did not agree to U.S. terms at the Paris peace talks. Like Eisenhower and Johnson before him, Nixon decided that the use of nuclear weapons carried too great a political risk without guaranteeing the diplomatic or military outcome he desired.

Did the U.S. Consider Using Nukes?

Dr. Erik Villard is a Vietnam War specialist at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington D.C.

U.S. AIR FORCE

COURTESY CHRISTINA OLDS

A weapons crew in 1961 positions a training version of a nuclear weapon so it can be loaded onto an F-105 Thunderchief, designed with the capabilities of a tactical nuclear bomber.

F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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FINANCIAL TOLL THE PHOTO INTO THE WATER

A unit from Company B, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, crosses a river at an unidentified location in March 1968.

THE PRICE TAGS OF WAR

The military operations of the Vietnam War were the second most expensive in the 20th century, in raw numbers and after adjustments for inflation calculated in 2010 ($1 in 2010 would be $1.28 in 2021). With the exception of the Persian Gulf War, all major 20th century wars were more expensive than their predecessors, even accounting for inflation, largely because of increasingly advanced and expensive technology developed in the 1900s. Military operations in the 21st century’s post-9/11 conflicts—including Afghanistan, Iraq and others—have cost about $2.1 trillion.

ESTIMATED MILITARY EXPENSES World War II (1941-1945)

$296 BILLION THEN

$4.1 TRILLION TODAY Vietnam War (1965-1975)

$111 BILLION THEN

$738 BILLION TODAY Korean War (1950-1953)

$30 BILLION THEN

$341 BILLION TODAY World War I (1917-1918)

$20 BILLION THEN

$334 BILLION TODAY Persian Gulf War (1990-1991)

$61 BILLION THEN

$102 BILLION TODAY THE ESTIMATED COSTS ARE FOR MILITARY APPROPRIATIONS ONLY AND DO NOT INCLUDE VETERANS BENEFITS, INTEREST PAID TO FINANCE THE WARS, RELATED STATE DEPARTMENT FUNDS OR ASSISTANCE TO ALLIES. SOURCES: “COSTS OF MAJOR U.S. WARS,” STEPHEN DAGGETT, CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, JUNE 29, 2010; FOR POST-9/11: COST OF WARS PROJECT, WATSON INSTITUTE, BROWN UNIVERSITY, SEPT. 1, 2021

“Those damn SAMs [surface-to-air missiles] were something else. When I saw my first one, there were a few seconds of sheer panic, because that’s a most impressive sight to see that thing coming at you. You feel like a fish about to be harpooned. There’s something terribly personal about the SAM; it means to kill you and I’ll tell you right now, it rearranges your priorities.” —Robin Olds, commander, U.S. Air Force 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, September 1966-September 1967, quoted in Slipping the Surly Bonds: Great Quotations on Flight, Dave English, 1998 10

TOP: USMC PHOTO; BOTTOM: U.S.AIR FORCE

WORDS FROM THE WAR

VIETNAM

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2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Division, Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He also was an assistant operations and training adviser at ARVN 1st Division headquarters and airfield commander at the Hue Citadel airfield. Back home, Powell graduated from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1968. He returned to Vietnam as a major serving in staff administrative positions at battalion and headquarters levels of the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal). Powell earned the Soldier’s Medal, honoring heroism not involving the enemy, when he rescued a general and others from a burning helicopter that crashed

Joseph Maxwell “Max” Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, led the Veterans Administration and served in the U.S. Senate, died on Nov. 9, 2021, in Atlanta. He was 79. Cleland, born in Atlanta on Aug. 24, 1942, earned a bachelor’s in history at Stetson University in Florida in 1964 while in the ROTC program and went to Vietnam in May 1967. A captain in the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), he was awarded the Silver Star for heroism on April 4, 1968, when he exposed himself to rocket fire while assisting the wounded near Khe Sanh. On April 8, as he stepped off a helicopter, Cleland reached to pick up a grenade he believed he had dropped. Although he did not know it at the time, the grenade belonged to a soldier who failed to secure the pin so it would not 12

in November 1968. He earned a master’s in business administration from George Washington University in 1971. Powell became a military aide to President Ronald Reagan’s defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, in 1983. Reagan appointed him national security adviser in 1987. Powell received his fourth star in April 1989 and in October was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President George H.W. Bush. Powell retired from the military in 1993. He served as secretary of state under President George W. Bush from January 2001 to January 2005. Powell’s name was frequently raised as a possible Republican candidate for president.

fall out. Cleland lost both legs and his right arm to the explosion. He was in surgery for five hours, followed by eight months of rehabilitation. In a 2002 interview for the Veterans History Project, Cleland said he decided to enter politics after being stuck in his parents’ house and thinking: “Well, no job. No future. No girlfriend. No car. No apartment. No money. This is a great time to run for the state Senate.” Cleland, a Democrat, won election to the Georgia Senate in 1970 at age 28, becoming the youngest state senator in Georgia history, and served until 1975. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Cleland director of the VA. Cleland served as Georgia’s secretary of state 1983-1996. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 but lost his reelection bid in 2002. Cleland was a strong advocate for survivors of post-traumatic stress disorder, which the VA began to recognize as a legitimate condition under his leadership. He authored a 1980 memoir, Strong at the Broken Places. —Zita Ballinger Fletcher

POWELL: MARK REINSTEIN VIA GETTY IMAGE; CLELAND: AP PHOTO/JOHN AMIS

Colin L. Powell, a groundbreaking African American soldier and statesman, died Oct. 18, 2021, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, at age 84. Powell, born on April 5, 1937, to Jamaican immigrants in New York City, was commissioned in the U.S. Army after graduating from City College of New York and its ROTC program in 1958 and rose to national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state—the first African American to serve in each role. He completed two tours in Vietnam, 1962-63 and 1968-69. During his first tour, as a captain, he was a senior tactical adviser to the

VIETNAM

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RENDEZVOUS IN NHA TRANG TWO SOLDIERS, A BROTHER AND SISTER, WERE REUNITED AT A BASE IN SOUTH VIETNAM By Michael L. Kelley On a typical hot and humid Vietnam afternoon in July 1966, I was on a work detail at An Khe base camp, the home of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in the Central Highlands, when I was told to report to the orderly room tent. The company clerk told me I had a phone call from Capt. Kelley in Nha Trang, a coastal city to the south. I picked up the handset and said, “Hello.” On the other end of the line was my big sister, Joan Kelley, an officer in the Army Nurse Corps. “Michael, this is your sister. I am in Vietnam, REFLECTIONS and I want to see you as soon as possible. Over.” When using a tactical phone, you had to say the word “over” after a complete sentence. I was very surprised to hear Joan’s voice. I had not seen her since Thanksgiving 1964, when she was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. I was then a student at the Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Joan had sent me an airline ticket so I could spend the weekend at her off-post apartment for a Thanksgiving dinner with my mother, who was staying with my sister for a few weeks’ vacation. I told my sister that I did not know when I could go to Nha Trang to see 14

her because I was on flight status as a helicopter crew chief and door gunner. Getting out of combat duty was not easy. I told Joan I would have to request some leave from my first sergeant. We had a good chat for a few minutes, and then I had to get off the phone. “OK Joan, I will do my best to visit you soon. Over.” I requested to see my first sergeant to apply for leave: “Top (slang for first sergeant, the top sergeant in a company-level unit), I need three days’ leave to visit my sister down in Nha Trang.” The grizzled sergeant gave me a cold stare. “Kelley, this is a damn combat unit, soldier, not a country club,” he said. “We don’t have time to be screwing off on leave unless you have orders for some R and R. Besides, your platoon is short on manpower, and if you’re not on duty your bird will not be flying on combat missions.” “OK, Top, I understand the situation. If you can do anything for me to get some time off, I would appreciate it very much.” “I will take it under consideration, Kelley,” the sergeant replied. “I will let you know if I can do anything for you. Now, get out of my office and get back to your detail.” Months slipped by as I got closer to the end of my tour of duty and return to the States. By early November, I was worried that I would not get to see my sister. My unit had a new first sergeant, a big guy from Samoa, who looked like a bear but was as easygoing as a favorite uncle. With all the courage I could muster, I went to see the new top sergeant to find out if I could go to Nha Trang. Without any fuss, he instructed the company clerk to fill out orders for a three-day leave for Nha Trang. Off I went to the An Khe airfield to catch an Air Force C-130 cargo plane to the Nha Trang Air Base. It was about a 45-minute flight down the coast to Nha Trang, a beautiful city on the South China Sea. The first thing I saw were the little islands off the coast that seemed to have high mountains covered with jungle. It was fantastic. I saw an Air Force snack bar and went in for a cold drink and food. The place had almost everything you could want: cold beer, cold soda, hot dogs and burgers. We had none of that in An Khe. Those Air Force guys sure had it good. I ordered a cold soda and a burger while two airmen entered the snack bar and sat next to me. “Hey soldier, I see you are with 1st Cav. How is the war going up north?” one of them asked. “Yeah, I am with the Cav,” I replied. “We keep pretty busy up north.”

COURTESY MICHAEL L. KELLEY

Spc. 4 Michael L. Kelley, by his OH-13S chopper, was in the Central Highlands when he got a call from his big sister, a nurse captain on the coast.

VIETNAM

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TODAY IN HISTORY MAY 1, 1931 THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING OFFICIALLY OPENS. IN ITS FIRST YEAR ONLY 23% OF THE AVAILABLE SPACE WAS SOLD. THE LACK OF TENANTS LED NEW YORKERS TO DISMISS THE BUILDING AS THE “EMPTY STATE BUILDING.” IN YEAR ONE THE OBSERVATION DECK HAULED IN APPROXIMATELY $2 MILLION IN REVENUE, EQUAL TO WHAT ITS OWNERS COLLECTED IN RENT. THE BUILDING FIRST TURNED A PROFIT IN THE 1950s. For more, visit

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Capt. Joan Kelley poses with Michael at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio when they got together with their mother for Thanksgiving in 1964. He was at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The 1966 meeting was the first time they had seen each other since then.

Michael L. Kelley served in Vietnam December 1965-December 1966 as a helicopter crewman in a weapons platoon on a UH-1B Huey gunship and later in a scout platoon on an OH-13S Sioux observation helicopter with Troop C, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment. Postwar Kelley was a contracts production specialist for the Defense Logistics Agency, assigned to the Raytheon Missile System Division in Massachusetts. He lives in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Do you have reflections on the war you would like to share?

Email your idea or article to Vietnam@historynet.com, subject line: Reflections

COURTESY MICHAEL L. KELLEY

“What are you doing down here?” “I came down to see my sister at the field hospital.” The airman told the cook they would pick up my tab because I was with the Cav. I told them they did not have to do that, but they insisted. When I finished eating, they asked if I wanted a ride to the main gate to get off base. I climbed onto the back of their big blue Dodge airport pickup truck with the yellow “Follow Me” sign on the back. As we rode down the street we passed a row of Douglas AC-47 planes on the maintenance ramp. “Is that Spooky?” I asked them. They said it was Spooky, the nickname for the AC-47 gunship. I asked them if I could get a closer look. They drove their big Dodge onto the airfield and parked next to a Spooky. Mechanics were around the plane, and the guy in charge said I could check it out. I got my 35 mm camera and began taking shots of the famous aircraft I had seen in action up in the mountains. This was an awesome bird with fearsome miniguns that could wipe out a Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army company in 10 minutes. After I had my fill of the Spooky, I got back in the Dodge. The airmen took me to the main gate and dropped me off so I could walk into town. But I didn’t walk. A jeep stopped, and a full colonel driving it offered a ride downtown. He saw my Cav patch and asked what unit I was with. I told him the 1st Squadron of the 9th Cavalry Regiment. “You must be one of Jim Smith’s boys,” he said. Smith was my squadron commander, a lieu-

tenant colonel. It seemed like my Cav patch was getting me a lot of perks, free food and free rides. I met up with my sister, “The Captain,” and she took me to her base at the 8th Field Hospital in a baby blue civilian jeep with a few of her nurse friends. Joan introduced me to her first sergeant who provided me with a bunk in a large World War II-type Quonset hut barracks. He had a few medics on temporary duty elsewhere, which meant there were some empty bunk beds in the hut. Vietnamese women worked inside the hut to keep things clean. I was shocked as they polished my boots, washed my uniform and made my bunk bed, just like hotel maids. Up north, the Cav did not allow any Vietnamese on our base. We were field soldiers, who did our own cleaning and slept in dirty sleeping bags. My sister took me to a seaside French restaurant for a nice meal. I don’t recall what I ate as it was all French cuisine. Joan ordered everything, and I just ate it. It sure beat the hell out of C rations beef stew and hot dogs and beans. On the walk back to Joan’s villa, jeeps and cargo trucks passed by and the soldiers gave us a salute. I saluted back. My sister got upset with me because I was not an officer. But my uniform made me look like a young officer pilot—sleeves rolled up over my specialist 5 insignia, white air crewman wings on my cap and left pocket, and the gold 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry, crest on my cap. I was having a ball because enlisted men do not walk with nurses, so the soldiers thought I had to be an officer. It was so funny. Joan invited her nurse friends and some doctors to her villa for a party. I was the only enlisted person there. I was like a fish out of water. They were amused that Capt. Kelley had a kid brother who was an enlisted man. My sister was 31, and I had just turned 21. Those nurses were far from the real war and living on their nice base. It got late, and my sister suggested I stay overnight and sleep on the bunk bed of a nurse who was on night duty. I went to sleep on clean sheets and a pillow. When I woke up in the morning, I thought I was dreaming. The sheets had the scent of perfume and not the musty smell of my dirty sleeping bag. When our “rendezvous in Nha Trang” was over, it was sad to say goodbye to my big sister. I would soon be going home as my tour ended, while she would be left in Vietnam for another six months. She stayed in the Army for 26 years and retired as a chief nurse colonel in 1986. I stayed in for over 22 years and retired as a master sergeant. We think we may have been the only officer and enlisted brother and sister to serve in Vietnam at the same time. V

VIETNAM

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Tuning, gross and fine

Receptacle for a speaker in a vehicle Volume control

Frequency band selector Handset

Portable power

The battery back was attached by metal spring clamps. Patrols carried one to two spare packs.

Power and squelch switch

Compact dimensions

The radio and batteries combined were about the size of a case of sodas.

Good range

The radio’s standard 3-foot antenna enabled units 5 to 7 miles apart to communicate with each other.

AN/PRC-25 ‘PRICK 25’ FM RADIO By Carl O. Schuster

Frequency range: 30-75.95 MHz Operating bands: Low, 30-52.95 MHz; High, 53-75.95 MHz Channels: 920 with 50 kHz separation Signal power: 1.5 watts Normal range: 5-7 miles Long-range antenna:12-31 miles Range limitation: line of sight Battery life: two to 20 hours Weight: 23 lbs. GREGORY PROCH

Shortly after 11 a.m. on July 1, 1970, Capt. Bill Williams, commander of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and two radio telephone operators with AN/ PRC-25 radios jumped from their Huey helicopter. They immediately drew fire. The North Vietnamese Army placed a high priority on destroying the radios or killing their RTOs. Developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the Korea War-era AN/PRC-10, the AN/PRC-25, or “Prick 25,” incorporated pioneering solid-state circuitry. Additionally, it was water resistant, simple to operate and easy to maintain. Its 50 Hz “squelch feature,” muting routine backARSENAL ground noise when a strong signal wasn’t detected, simplified tuning. The radio had two antennas, a 3-foot standard antenna for most missions and a 10-foot longrange antenna carried in a canvas bag attached to the radio’s side. U.S. Special Forces and long-range reconnaissance patrols developed improvised “jungle antennas” that extended the range even farther. The AN/PRC-25 pack consisted of two metal cans. The lower can contained the battery pack; the upper the transceiver. The radio proved to be almost “soldier-proof ” in the field. The handset, however, was vulnerable to moisture. Most RTOs pulled the battery pack’s clear plastic wrapping over the handset, securing it with a rubber band. The batteries were good for two to three hours of heavy use and could last for several days if used sparingly. The radios also could run off a vehicle’s power supply. The battery packs had to be destroyed when expended since the NVA used them in booby traps. The “Prick 25” entered Vietnam in 1965 and was carried on virtually all land vehicles, riverine craft and aircraft. Gen. Creighton Abrams, deputy commander and then commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, called the Prick 25 “the single most important tactical field item in Vietnam.” Adopted by more than 30 U.S. allies, the AN/PRC-25 remained in service well into the 1980s. V VIETNAM

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THE LAST JAPANESE HOW MANY TIMES SOLDIER HAS THEFROM DESIGN WORLD OF THE WAR U.S.IIFLAG SURRENDERED CHANGED? IN THIS YEAR 27, 31, 36 or 40?

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- 1945 - 1947 1- 1950 - 1974 For more,search visitDAILY QUIZ For more,

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HistoryNet.com ANSWER: 1974. PRIVATE TERUO NAKAMURA, A TAIWANESE NATIONAL,27. ENLISTED IN THE JAPANESE ARMY IN 1943. ANSWER: THE CURRENT DESIGN HAS BEEN IN HE HELD OUT ON 1960 MORTAI IN INDONESIA HE WAS CAPTURED PLACE SINCE WHEN THE FLAGUNTIL WAS MODIFIED IN DECEMBER 1974. EARLIER THAT YEAR, HIRO ONODA, WHO TO INCLUDE THE 50thFINALLY STATE. SURRENDERED. HELD OUT INHAWAII, THE PHILLIPINES,

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Jan. 15 Don McLean rises to No. 1 on the singles chart with “American Pie,” an 8½ -minute song using cryptic references to musical and cultural events between 1959 and 1969 to show that America was, as McLean explained in a 2015 interview, “becoming less ideal, less idyllic.”

Jan. 2 Jackson Browne, born in Germany where his Army father worked for Stars and Stripes but raised in Los Angeles, releases his self-titled debut rock album. It produced two hit singles, “Doctor My Eyes” and “Rock Me on the Water.”

HOMEFRONT

JANUARY-FEBRUARY

1972

Jan. 5 President Richard Nixon announces his support for the $5.5 billion Space Shuttle program. NASA started planning and design work in 1968. Congress approved funding for the project May 16. The first shuttle sent into space, Columbia, was launched on April 12, 1981.

Jan. 14 NBC debuts sitcom Sanford and Son. Redd Foxx played cranky Los Angeles junk dealer Fred Sanford. Demond Wilson was son and partner Lamont. The humor had a racial edginess as Fred confronted and exhibited bigotry. The show’s success spawned other sitcoms focused on Black characters. 20

Jan. 16 In Super Bowl VI, the National Football Conference Dallas Cowboys trounce the Miami Dolphins of the American Football Conference 24-3. Quarterback Roger Staubach, a Naval Academy graduate and Vietnam veteran, was MVP. He completed 12 of 19 passes, two for touchdowns.

VIETNAM

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Jan. 25 Shirley Chisholm, a New York City educator who in1968 became the first African American woman elected to Congress, announces she will seek the Democratic Party nomination for president. She placed fourth among 13 candidates in the delegate count, won by George McGovern.

Jan. 10 The U.S.-backed Cambodian and South Vietnamese armies begin an 11-battalion joint action, Operation Prek Ta, to clear areas along Route 1 in Cambodia’s BATTLEFRONT Parrot’s Beak region, bordering South Vietnam, about 50 miles from Saigon. The North Vietnamese Army, already preparing for a spring offensive, avoided all contact. The operation terminated a few days after it started. Jan. 25 President Richard Nixon says in a televised address that national security adviser Henry Kissinger has been secretly negotiating a peace plan with North Vietnamese officials in Paris. Nixon offered North Vietnam an eight-point plan that included withdrawal of all U.S. and allied troops within six months of a peace agreement. Hanoi rejected the plan and called for an end to all forms of U.S. aid to Saigon. Jan. 31 Operation Keystone Mallard, the redeployment of the 101st Airborne Division from Vietnam back to the States, is completed. The division had been in Vietnam since July 1965. The withdrawal brought U.S. troop strength down to 136,500.

Feb. 2 The Federal Aviation Administration requires a metal detector scan and baggage inspection of passengers fitting a “hijacker profile.” On Dec. 5, 1972, the FAA required screenings of all passengers and carryons, starting Jan. 5. There were 159 U.S. hijackings from the first in May 1961 to the end of 1972. Feb. 13 The musical Cabaret makes its cinematic debut. Liza Minnelli is Sally Bowles, an American singer in a club in 1931 Berlin. A backdrop to the film’s love story is the rise of Nazism in Germany. Minelli’s performance garnered an Oscar for best actress in 1973.

Feb. 1 As the American troop drawdown continues, the principal U.S. Army ground combat units remaining in Vietnam are two brigade-sized units: 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in the area between Saigon and Cambodia; and the 196th Light Infantry Brigade at Da Nang in northern South Vietnam. Feb. 21 Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to visit communist China. The historic weeklong visit had ramifications for the Vietnam War. North Vietnamese officials were concerned that improved relations between the U.S. and China could mean less support from their chief communist ally. JAN. 2: GUY ACETO COLLECTION; JAN. 14: NBCU PHOTO BANK/ NBCUNIVERSAL VIA GETTY IMAGES; JAN. 15: GUY ACETO COLLECTION; JAN. 16: FOCUS ON SPORT/GETTY IMAGES; JAN. 25: AMERICAN PHOTO ARCHIVE/ALAMY; FEB, 2: DENVER POST VIA GETTY IMAGES; FEB.13 MOVIESTORE COLLECTION LTD/ALAMY

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The small base at Ngok Tavak, attacked by the North Vietnamese Army in the pre-dawn hours of May 10, 1968, was defended by a mix of forces, including an Australian training team, U.S. Army Special Forces, South Vietnamese special forces, militiamen from the Nung ethnic group and Marine artillerymen. Australian Capt. John White, second from left, was the base commander. This photo of Australian and U.S. Special Forces soldiers was taken in April 1968.

By Dick Camp

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PHOTO CREDITS

AT NGOK TAVAK IN MAY 1968, MARINE ARTILLERYMEN HAD TO FIGHT LIKE INFANTRYMEN

PHOTO CREDITS

‘THE GRIM REAPER WAS CLOSE AT HAND’

PHOTO CREDITS

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The forward operating base was commanded by Capt. John White of the Australian Army Training Capt. John Team Vietnam. His force was a mixed bunch, White comprising 113 men in the 11th Mobile Strike Force Company, shortened to Mike Force, consisting of militia fighters from the Nung people (an ethnic Chinese minority), along with two Australian warrant officers, three U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers, three South Vietnamese special forces men and three interpreters. There was also a 30-man CIDG platoon, positioned outside the base’s perimeter. Adding firepower to the base was a 44-man U.S. Marine artillery detachment, Delta Battery, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. The unit consisted of one officer and 43 enlisted, including a Navy hospital corpsman. Delta Battery furnished two M101A1 105 mm howitzers, designated Delta X-Ray, to provide artillery support for long-range patrols between Ngok Tavak and the Laotian border. The detachust after 3:15 a.m. on May 10, 1968, ment, commanded by 1st Lt. Robert L. Adams, was airlifted by helicopter soldiers in a South Vietnamese mili- to Ngok Tavak on May 4, along with rations, ammunition and a three-quartia organization known as a Civilian ter-ton truck, similar to a pickup. The two howitzers were in the northeastIrregular Defense Group approached ern portion of the compound behind earthen breastworks 3 to 4 feet high. The day the detachment arrived was marked by its first casualty. Lance the main gate of the U.S. Special Forces compound at Ngok Tavak. Cpl. Bruce Lindsey was killed while attempting to rig a hand grenade as a They yelled: “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! Friendly, booby trap. “I guess [it was] an omen of the bad things yet to come,” Lance friendly.” Gate guards held their fire—a tragic Cpl. Tim Brown said, while Lance Cpl. Greg Rose remembered: “I could mistake. It was a trap. These CIDG men weren’t ‘feel doom,’ like the grim reaper was close at hand.” friends. They were the enemy. Forward Operating Base Ngok Tavak, a small n May 10, as the intruders entered Ngok Tavak, a combined force outpost in Quang Tin province, 10 miles from the of about 200 defenders was up against 500 to 600 North VietnamLaotian border, was a satellite of the large Kham ese Army soldiers. The attackers headed for the .50-caliber maDuc Special Forces camp, 4 miles to the northeast. chine gun position covering the main approach to the base. It was manned Ngok Tavak was surrounded by rugged moun- by three Marine lance corporals, Rose, Joseph Cook and Paul Czerwonka, tainous terrain covered with lush, largely unin- cannoneers from the two-gun 105 mm howitzer detachment. habited jungle. Highway 14, nothing more than a The enemy assault force started throwing hand grenades and satchel footpath and unusable for vehicles, ran past the charges, inflicting heavy casualties on the Marines. “A deafening explosion base to the Laotian border. A small dirt airstrip erupted to my right,” recounted Rose, whose colleagues at the machine gun was in a valley 500 yards north of the base. post became casualties as Czerwonka was killed and Cook badly wounded. Ngok Tavak was an old French Foreign Legion “I saw a group of the enemy run by with flamethrowers lighting up the fort on a small ridge surrounded by a double- perimeter.” apron barbed wire fence and an unmarked Two companies of the NVA poured through the gap. “When the attack French minefield. The main position consisted of began the NVA came right up the road yelling and firing as if there had two rectangular sets of earthen breastworks, one been nothing to stop them,” Cpl. Raymond Scuglik recalled. Lance Cpl. enclosing the other. The outer breastworks mea- Raymond “Butch” Heyne and Pfc. Robert Lopez were killed at the front sured approximately 55 yards by 70 yards, and berm. Pfc. Thomas Blackmon was wounded. Lance Cpl. James Garlitz came the inner about 30 yards by 50 yards, surrounded across Blackmon as he moved to a firing position. “I tried to help him, and by a 6- to 8-foot berm with fighting positions when I was trying he was shot in the head,” Garlitz said. “He was gone, so I built into it. About 20 yards from the fort and had to leave him.” parallel to one wall ran a trench about 7 feet deep Simultaneously, the NVA pounded Ngok Tavak with 60 mm mortar fire. and almost 10 feet wide. It was crossed by a small The first three rounds hit “boom, boom, boom,” recalled Cpl. Henry wooden footbridge that led to a cleared area the Schunck. Pfc. Barry Hempel was killed by one round, which detonated an French used as a parade ground. artillery ammunition storage area and set on fire a three-quarter-ton truck.

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With White on the Australian team were warrant officers Don Cameron, left, and Frank Lucas. They led a counterattack attack at dawn on May 10,

The explosion and fire silhouetted the attackers. The NVA assault scattered the Marine detachment—cannoneers, radio operators, ammunition technicians, a truck driver and a cook—forcing them to fight as infantrymen from one- and twoman positions scattered throughout the base. The NVA attackers were confronted by small arms and machine gun fire from many directions— front, flanks and rear, which confused and disoriented them. Lance Cpl. David Fuentes, a Mexican American of slight build, had gone to sleep with his shirt and boots off, wearing only a cutoff pair of utility

trousers. He found himself totally ignored by NVA soldiers, who mistook him for one of their own. As they rushed past Fuentes to get to the guns, he felt like he was at a turkey shoot. “I was standing there bare-chest with no shoes on and the NVA and whoever else was attacking us, so I was shooting them anywhere I could,” the corporal said. “And when they came in with a satchel to blow up my gun, that really pissed me off. Everything was concentrated to get into the guns, but they were running right by the Mexican.” Schunck rushed from the protective cover of his position near the command bunker to an

Battle of Ngok Tavak

DEMILITARIZED ZONE

SOUTH CHINA SEA

AWM P11058.002; MAP; JON C. BOCK

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May 10, 1968

In a 3:15 a.m. attack, the North Vietnamese Army stormed into Ngok Tavak after the gate was opened for invaders who entered under the guise of friendly forces. Ngok Tavak, defended by a mix of South Vietnamese, Australian and U.S. forces, was a satellite base for the larger Kham Duc Special Forces camp, 4 miles to the north. In the early evening, the troops at Ngok Tavak evacuated to Kham Duc, which was hit with a ground assault on May 12 and evacuated that day.

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13th Marine Regiment The 13th Marine Regiment was formed on July 3, 1916, as an infantry unit to fight in World War I. It was deactivated in 1919. The 13th was reactivated in December 1943 as an artillery regiment and fought on Iwo Jima in 1945 before another deactivation in early 1946. The regiment went back to war, again as an artillery unit, in May 1966. As troop withdrawals from Vietnam began, the regiment was deactivated on April 30, 1970.

Kham Duc Ngok Tavak

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Four CH-46 Sea Knight choppers from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron HMM 265, like the one shown here near Da Nang in February 1968, evacuated Ngok Tavak’s survivors.

two wounded, not too bad as I remember, put battle dressings on them and got up to run,” he said. “Explosions—grenades, mortars, don’t know which—ended up in an open pit that had rice and other stores.” Schunck was there, and Sgt. Glenn Miller, a U.S. Special Forces member, jumped in also. As Miller got up, he was hit in the head and killed instantly. “I remember Schunck holding him,” Thomas said. “Lots of foggy memories after that.” “Sgt. Miller made me fearless because of his fearless attitude,” Schunck said, “and I think [he] had a lot to do with us making an effective defense. I believe he should have been awarded a Medal of Honor.” Garlitz was asleep next to his howitzer when the attack started. He ran to his fighting position directly adjacent to the opening in the berm. Almost immediately, “three NVA soldiers came running through the hole in the berm towards my gun,” he recalled. “The first one I shot in the side of the head. It was quite obvious that I had killed him.” Somewhat shocked to have killed someone, Garlitz didn’t have time to dwell on it. The dead man’s two buddies knew “where I was at, so their attention was directed at me,” he said. “So, I quickly disposed of them.” Garlitz then noticed a large number of North Vietnamese headed directly for him. “I had a full magazine at that time, and I sprayed it into them, probably two or three bursts,” he said. “I could hear people screaming and moaning.” The NVA targeted his position and blasted it with a recoilless rifle and small-arms fire. At one point, the Marines had to confront an NVA flamethrower. “Things got pretty hairy for a while,” Garlitz said. “Flames were rolling up over the

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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY PRESS; ILLUSTRATION: GREG PROCH

“We killed as many as we could at the time. There were dead NVA lying all over the position. What a wakeup call.”

USMC PHOTO

abandoned 4.2-inch mortar emplacement at the center of the compound in a more exposed position. Although wounded in the leg, Schunck tried to fire the weapon, but he was suddenly attacked by an enemy soldier with a flamethrower. The Marine shot and killed him. Schunck then left his position to drag a seriously wounded comrade to cover. With another Marine, he moved to an 81 mm mortar, which they fired at advancing NVA troops until they ran out of ammunition. Schunck was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions. Pfc. Paul Swenarski was sound asleep when the attack began. He grabbed his rifle and took a position along the fort’s wall. “I had two magazine belts and four hand grenades,” he said. “I ended up in a hole in the wall with Cpl. Richard F. Conklin and a .30-caliber machine gun.” The two men kept up a galling fire on the NVA. “We got their attention, and they started throwing grenades and automatic weapons fire at us,” Swenarski added. “We were both hit several times. They fired an RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] into our hole and that put us out of business.” Those heroics led to a Navy Cross for Conklin. Scott “Doc” Thomas, a Navy hospital corpsman, was sleeping when the first explosion erupted. He grabbed his medical kit and started for the artillery command center. “On the way, I ran into

Marine artilleryman Cpl. Gerald King poses with a 105 mm howitzer before his deployment to Delta Battery, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marine Regiment, at Ngok Tavak. King was killed in the fighting on May 10, 1968.

top of my fighting hole.” Pfc. Charles Reeder said he “saw the flame from a flamethrower set off our ammo bunker. The explosions sent fragments all around, and I felt some burns on my arms, but they were minor.” Garlitz also got “scorched” but believed he killed the flamethrower’s operator. The corporal pulled back to a position behind a berm in the northeast corner of the base, where he came across six other Marines. “My fellow Marines and me were in such a position that we could still lay down fire towards the opening in the berm,” Garlitz said. Pfc. Dean Parrett recalled that more NVA fighters came up the road to the Marines’ position. “We killed as many as we could at the time,” he said. “There were dead NVA lying all over the position. What a wake-up call for a bunch of young Marines.” Parrett found Lopez, the private killed early in the battle, on the berm and saw that he was dead. He noticed one Marine who was shot through both legs and in pain but, “he was happy that he was still alive and earned the Purple Heart.”

TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY PRESS; ILLUSTRATION: GREG PROCH

USMC PHOTO

dams, the lieutenant commanding the artillery detachment, had just turned in for the night after checking on his men and “was awakened by the sound of the attacking force,” he said. “I got into my flak jacket I’d been using as a pillow and was immediately hit in the head and back of my shoulder, probably by shrapnel from a mortar.” Staff Sgt. Thomas Schriver, Adams’ platoon sergeant, was badly wounded in the hands and arms by the same round. Adams momentarily lost consciousness. When he regained his senses, he saw an enemy soldier jump the berm, throw a grenade and run toward the howitzers while spraying fire with a Soviet AK-47 assault rifle. “Two more NVA jump the berm, silhouetted by the burning three-quarterton truck.” Adams recalled. “I was able to shoot at them. I could see that the attack was coming through the CIDG position.” Although severely wounded, the lieutenant was able to reach the bunker where base commander White was coordinating the arrival of a Douglas AC-47 Spooky gunship. About 4:20 a.m. the AC-47, nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon,” arrived. White directed the aircraft to fire around the perimeter, particularly the eastern end of the

base, which the Nungs had abandoned. After some soul searching, the captain told Spooky to fire on the 105 mm howitzers because he was concerned that NVA soldiers were in the positions. “There was no alternative but to have Spooky fire on the friendly 105 mm howitzer positions, despite the fact that there may have been friendly wounded in the position,” White said. His request for gunships to hit the howitzers was never acted upon for some reason. (The guns were destroyed by an airstrike after the battle.) Spooky’s fire was concentrated outside the perimeter. The gunship remained overhead dropping flares and providing a communication link until daylight, when an Air Force pilot flew overhead to determine enemy positions and direct other planes in airstrikes. He called in 30 strikes to keep the NVA at a distance. Toward dawn, someone yelled, “Tear gas!” The NVA had turned to a new weapon. Reeder, the Marine private, put on his gas mask, “but it was hot, and it felt like I couldn’t see,” he said. “So I tested the air and found the gas was weak and not even close to being as strong as the gas chamber we experienced back in training.” After the ineffective gas attack, the NVA began a slow withdrawal, leaving the local Viet Cong unit, supported by mortars and recoilless rifles, to contain the defenders. At first light, the two Australian warrant officers led a counterattack with several Marines and a handful of loyal Nungs. The Marines had decided to go down fighting. White and the remaining

M101A1 105 mm Howitzer

Crew: 8 Bore: 105 mm Barrel length: 7 ft., 7 in. Max muzzle velocity: 472 m/sec. (1,550 ft./sec) Max range: 11,270 m (7 miles) Max rate of fire: 10 rounds per minute Sustained rate of fire: Three rounds per minute

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UH-1H Huey medevac helicopter, call sign Dustoff 55, piloted by Army Maj. Pat Brady, commanding officer of the 54th Medical Detachment, began taking out the wounded under cover of the airstrikes early in the morning. Brady made several trips and hauled 70 wounded men to Kham Duc where an aid station had been set up on the landing apron. Surprisingly, the NVA did not fire on the medevac copter, marked with a large red cross. “We did not take fire even though I could see fire from the surrounding terrain going into Ngok Tavak,” Brady remarked. “Sometimes the disciplined NVA respected the Red Cross, but you could not count on it.” The NVA did not show the same restraint for reinforcements flown in by two sections of Marine CH-46A Sea Knight transport helicopters from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron HMM-265. “Our flight of four was doing a radial around the hill while the Army medevac was loading up on the side of the berm,” explained

Sgt. Robert Mascharka, one of the crewmen. The first CH-46 took heavy automatic weapons fire and couldn’t take off after unloading the reinforcements. The second CH-46 dropped off its reinforcements and attempted to pick up the first helicopter’s crew but was hit and exploded, blocking the landing zone. The crew was able to get out, but one man suffered leg burns. A third CH-46A tried to extract the crews of the downed birds but took so many hits that it was driven off and had to make a forced landing at Kham Duc. Despite the damage, the helicopters were able to land 45 replacements. The fourth CH-46A left without unloading any troops. The next time Brady returned the landing zone was blocked and he had to set the medevac’s front skids on a downed tree just long enough to pick up the stranded aviators. As the Huey lifted out of the zone, two CIDG men and one of the CH-46 pilots, 1st Lt. Horace “Bud” Fleming, grabbed the skids as the Huey flew away under heavy fire. Fleming and one CIDG man were unable to hold on. They fell to their deaths. A helicopter crewman had tried to grasp Fleming’s hand, but the lieutenant slipped loose. Fleming was listed as missing in action and three years later formally declared killed in action.

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A. HORAN

survivors “came charging up over the berm and at the same time we charged from where we were,” Garlitz and Rose related in a joint statement. The assault forced the VC to withdraw beyond the perimeter wire.

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Nung soldiers, South Vietnamese of Chinese descent, who fought at Ngok Tavak in the 11th Mobile Strike Force Company, receive treatment for their wounds after being evacuated.

White felt that his battered force could not withstand another attack. The base was low on ammunition, and the Mike Force troops were very nervous. Constant U.S. airstrikes all around the position had not silenced the NVA’s sporadic 82 mm mortar fire. At 10:45 a.m., White sought permission to abandon Ngok Tavak but was told to hold on because help was on the way. The commander knew better. The landing zone was blocked with wrecked helicopters. The road was surely ambushed. The base’s airfield was undoubtedly covered by enemy fire. White quietly made the decision to evacuate, despite the orders to remain. White told his men to haul all the things they couldn’t carry to the command bunker, put them in a pile and rig it for demolition. Extra weapons and equipment were collected, and the two howitzers were disabled by thermite grenades (which contain a chemical mixture that burns at very high temperatures after the pin is pulled and can melt metal).

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t 1 p.m., White gave the order to move out. To clear an escape route, he called for napalm strikes down the pathway that had been used for the main NVA attack and then departed with his surviving troops—a mix of South Vietnamese militiamen, the Australians, Special Forces and Marines. Of the 44 Marines at the base, 13 were killed and 20 wounded. Only 11 escaped injury. The hardest decision was to leave the 13 dead Marines and one Special Forces sergeant behind. There was no way the evacuees could carry the bodies and fight through the NVA positions at the same time. “The American bodies were gathered and put together in the area in the fort behind my bunker,” White said. White led evacuees along the burning pathway, and they cleared the base without trouble. They descended a hill, crossed a river and climbed a mountainside until they reached a ridgeline where they hacked a landing zone out of bamboo. Four Marine CH-46s came in to pick them up. The helicopters could only carry about 10 at a time, so a shuttle service took the men to Kham Duc, with each aircraft making two trips. By 6:30 p.m., there were only 20 men left. The pilot of the last CH-46 decided to take them all in one load. He landed his two rear wheels on the ridgeline, holding his front gear off the ground and dumped fuel to lighten the aircraft. He ordered all nonessential items to be thrown overboard. Guns, ammo, helmets, protective vests, radios and even the co-pilot’s helmet were all

Battle of Ngok Tavak

tossed out. The Marines were taken to Da Nang, where they rejoined their artillery battalion. The secretary of the Navy presented the Delta X-Ray detachment with a Meritorious Unit ComMAY 10, 1968 mendation “for extraordinary heroism in action U.S. KILLED against enemy Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces during the defense of Ngok Tavak on 10 May 1968.” White received the Australian Distinguished 13 MARINES, ARTILLERY, Service Cross in 2019 for his leadership under fire. 1 MARINE, CH-46 PILOT, All of the men left behind were listed as missing 2 SPECIAL FORCES in action, yet they were not forgotten. Brown, the U.S. WOUNDED lance corporal who saw an accidental death on May 4 as a bad omen, lobbied the Pentagon to conduct searches of the battlefield. Brown made three trips to Vietnam starting in 1993 to gather evidence in MARINES, ARTILLERY support of excavating the area. In 1999, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command uncovered enough evidence—bones, dog tags, wallets—to identify 11 of the 13 missing Marines and the Special Forces sergeant. “It took a long time,” Brown said, but “we did what we were trained to do, to make sure our comrades are not left on the battlefield…If it was me left on the hill, I know they would have come for me. I am sorry it took so long, but now we can give them a proper burial in their homeland.” Five of the remains were returned to their families. The other seven were buried in a collective grave in Arlington National Cemetery. The bodies of pilot Fleming, Green Beret Spc. 4 Thomas Hepburn Perry (missing after the battle) and two Marines haven’t been recovered. V

Dick Camp retired from the Marine Corps in 1988 as a colonel after serving 26 years. He has written 15 books and more than 100 articles in military magazines. Camp lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

In the evacuation of Ngok Tavak, fallen troops had to be left behind. In 1999, recovered remains were identified as those of 11 Marines and one Special Forces man. Most are in a collective grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

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FIRST U.S. SOLDIER KILLED IN GROUND COMBAT

SPC. 4 JAMES T. DAVIS LOST HIS LIFE TRACKING DOWN AN ENEMY SIGNAL IN VIETNAM By Mark D. Raab

PHOTO CREDITS

n the morning of Dec. 22, 1961, three trucks carrying members of the 3rd Radio Research Unit, their intelligence counterparts in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam and an ARVN security detail rolled out the gate of their compound at Tan Son Nhut Air Base on the outskirts of Saigon. This compound was a high-security area surrounded by barbed wire fences. Only people with a legitimate reason for being there James T. “Tom” Davis was sent to Vietnam and “a need to know” were admitted. The small convoy was embarking on a in May 1961 with a mission west of Saigon. When it ended, all but one member in the third truck secretive intelligence would be dead. Among the casualties was Spc. 4 James T. “Tom” Davis, age 25, unit that went into the field with equipment the first American to die in a ground combat action in Vietnam. to pinpoint enemy Davis grew up in the small town of Livingston, Tennessee, about 100 miles radio transmitters. northeast of Nashville. It was a rural area with lots of mountains, streams and woods. According to his family, Davis was an “outdoor person” who spent most of his time fishing, hunting, trapping and roaming the woods. After high school, Davis attended Tennessee Polytechnic Institute but left to enlist in the Army. When he completed basic training Davis was sent to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, for Morse intercept training at the Army Security Agency. Afterward he was selected for radio direction finding school, where the Army sent its most promising ASA students to learn how to locate enemy communications signals.

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PHOTO CREDITS

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Davis is shown with radio direction finder equipment similar to that used on missions. Teams went into an area with a suspected transmitter, and when they detected a signal they used the finder to get a fix on it.

The Army Security Agency was formed in 1945 to intercept and listen to enemy radio chatter. In 1949, it was combined with other military cryptologic activities into the Armed Forces Security Agency, which became the Defense Department’s National Security Agency in 1952. The ASA operated covertly in Vietnam as“radio research units.” In 1977, the ASA was disbanded when its functions were incorporated into the new Army Intelligence and Security Command.

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MD RAAB COLLECTION; MAP: JON C. BOCK

Army Security Agency

In early 1961, under increasing pressure from communist guerrillas, the South Vietnamese government requested additional assistance, including military support from the United States. On Saigon’s wish list were equipment, personnel and training to support an intelligence program to monitor the communications of the North Vietnamese-backed Viet Cong. In response to this request, the U.S. Army sent radio receivers as well as AN/PRD-1 direction finders. Shortly thereafter, the ASA formed the 3rd Radio Research Unit. The term “radio research” was chosen to disguise the unit’s secret connection to the ASA. The troops needed for this deployment were assembled and equipped at Fort Devens within three days after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order establishing the unit on April 27,1961. The newly formed ASA radio research unit developed plans for two operations. Operation Whitebirch was a 77-man unit established to target Viet Cong communication transmitters. The second operation, Sabertooth, would field a 15man team to train ARVN communications intelligence operators. The highly skilled, highly trained and highly secret 92-man contigent of the 3rd Radio Research Unit arrived at Tan Son Nhut on May 13, 1961. It was the first entire Army unit to deploy to Vietnam, although the men who got off the plane wore civilian clothes, a reflection of their secretive assignment. Previously, members of the military arrived as individuals and were placed in units after they were in-country. U.S. personnel in Vietnam in May 1961 were assigned to Military Assis-

FOR SEVERAL MONTHS during the fall of 1961 intelligence reports indicated a significant increase in enemy troop strength and activity around the town of Duc Hoa in Hau Nghia province, some 15 miles west of Saigon. That area had a history of communist insurgency dating back to French colonial days. By late fall Viet Cong activity had increased significantly. The ARVN command, their American MAAG-V counterparts and U.S. and South Vietnamese intel specialists suspected the Viet Cong had established a battalion headquarters and communication center in the vast expanses southeast of Duc Hoa. By December, teams from the 3rd Radio Research Unit had begun to make forays into that area searching for a suspected communist transmitter. The most recent mission took place on Dec. 18 when the unit detected very strong radio signals from the suspected transmitter. The radio research troops were confident that they had acquired an accurate “fix” on its location. Spc. 4 William Bergman, a member of the radio research unit, said in email correspondence with this article’s author, “The sad thing about the ambush is, that four days earlier on Dec. 18, we had obtained a fix on the enemy’s transmitter. On the mission of the 18th, I was in the lead unit, and we had set up just off the edge of the road. When their transmitter came up, it nearly blew out my eardrums.” The transmitter appeared to be sited in vast pineapple fields south of the villages of Cau Xang and Chau Hiep. Even though the Americans had obtained what they considered accurate and actionable intelligence, ARVN commanders in Saigon ordered yet another mission to reconfirm the transmitter’s location, now designated as Target 627-C. They refused to commit their troops on an operation without another confirmation. Thus on Dec. 22, members of the 3rd Radio Research Unit and their ARVN counterparts set out yet again to confirm the transmitter’s location. The troops on the mission were divided into three separate radio direction finding teams. Each team consisted of one American, several ARVN radio technicians and a small detachment of ARVN security personnel. While the teams normally operated out of three-quarter-ton trucks,

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tance Advisory Group-Vietnam, formed in November 1955. The U.S. had approximately 3,000 military personnel in Vietnam at the time.

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essentially pickup trucks, this time they requested three bigger 2½-ton cargo trucks to carry a larger security group, a response to an ambush earlier that month near Duc Hoa. Only two 2½-ton trucks arrived the morning of Dec. 22. One team had to use a three-quarter-ton truck—and thus fewer security personnel. That was Davis’ team. Team 1 was headed by Bergman, a radio direction technician who took the front passenger seat in the cab of a 2½-ton truck. In the second large truck was Pvt. Richard Simpson and his team. The three-quarter-ton truck brought up the rear, with Davis in the front passenger seat.

THE TEAMS HEADED to the Cau Xang-Chau Hiep area, about 9 miles west of Saigon in the vicinity of Duc Hoa. The road, Highway 10, was narrow, rough and dusty, but it was the highest elevation for miles in all directions and provided an excellent view. As the three-truck convoy moved west the terrain changed from dry, lightly populated uplands to marshy emptiness as far as the eye could see, spreading south into the Mekong Delta and westward to the Cambodian border. The countryside consisted mostly of rice paddies and reeds, interlaced with hundreds of canals and a few scattered patches of woods. The rest was the old French Thieng Quang pineapple plantation. The three teams were nearing their destination by midmorning with the villages of Cau Xang and Chau Hiep just ahead. The teams on the Dec. 22 mission had figured out the enemy radio transmission schedules on previous missions and planned to use those schedules to confirm the location of the transmitter. Radio direction finding teams preferred to take bearings from several different directions, but this area’s extensive wetlands and the lack of roads made that impossible. The radio technicians would have to make calculations from only three positions along the same road. The teams established a 3-mile baseline along Highway 10 near Cau Xang and waited for the Viet Cong transmissions to begin. In the typical process, once the transmissions begin an operator shoots a bearing using a radio direction finder, a receiver that picks up the transmitter’s signal and determines the direction it’s coming from. The operator draws a line on a map from his location outward in the direction of the signal. This process is conducted simultaneously at each of the other two teams’ locations. Once completed, notes are compared. The point at which the three lines intersect should be the location of the enemy transmitter. Two teams believed they were at good signal detection points, but “Tom was not satisfied with the quality of his signal and had made a request by radio to Control Net for permission to move to a better location,” Bergman recalled. Davis needed to move quickly, however, because the next transmission was scheduled to take place shortly. The similar operations conducted by radio research teams in recent weeks had not gone unnoticed by communist forces in the area. The three Dec. 22 teams needed to complete their mission and get out as fast as possible. The lead truck with Bergman was parked on the north shoulder of the road at an old French fort a hundred feet or so west of the Cau Xang Bridge when Davis’ request for one more transect came over the radio about 11:30 a.m. Shortly after Davis got the go-ahead, his truck came over the bridge and drove past Bergman’s to get a better location for that last bearing. Bergman watched as Davis proceeded west on the road. About two minutes later, “I saw a black plume rise vertically from the roadbed,” Bergman said. “Then I heard and felt the explosion and the sound of automatic weapons…then silence.” Bergman’s team raced to help Davis and the 10 ARVN troops in his team. By the time Bergman’s men arrived, the engagement was over, and the enemy had vanished. The sole survivor of the ambush was Davis’ ARVN driver. According to the driver’s account, recalled by Bergman, the Viet Cong

to Saigon

French Fort

Ambush Site French Fort Cau Xang

PLE PINEAP FIELDS

Chau Hiep

Duc Hoa

TO SAIGON

Operation Chopper Landing Zone

Ambush of 3rd Radio Research Dec. 22, 1961

Three teams from the 3rd Radio Research Unit, which used receivers to pick up enemy radio signals and determine the location of transmitters, left Saigon to confirm the location of a suspected communist transmitter. Each team traveled in a truck with one American and several South Vietnamese. About 9 miles west of Saigon, a truck carrying Spc. 4 Tom Davis and his team were ambushed by the Viet Cong. Davis was killed. The next morning, CH-21 Shawnee helicopters, carrying airborne soldiers in Operation Chopper, used intelligence from the radio research unit to destroy the transmitter and kill Viet Cong around it.

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LONNIE M. LONG COLLECTION, VIETNAM CENTER AND SAM JOHNSON VIETNAM ARCHIVE, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

had set off a remotely detonated mine (later determined to be a Czechoslovakian-made artillery shell) buried in the road. The mine was triggered a little late and exploded just after the truck passed over it. Even so, the explosion disabled the vehicle, which continued down the road about 30 yards, then rolled into a ditch. Intense small-arms fire from Viet Cong ambushers hiding alongside the road ripped into the vehicle. All nine ARVN soldiers in the truck’s cargo area died from the explosion or the subsequent VC gunfire. Davis survived the explosion unscathed. He grabbed his M1 carbine and

ON DEC. 11, 1961, the carrier USS Core docked in downtown Saigon with 32 Army Piasecki CH21 Shawnee helicopters and 400 men belonging to the 57th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) from Fort Lewis, Washington, and the 8th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. This event was the first major symbol of American combat power in Vietnam and the beginning of a new era of airmobility in the U.S. Army. The morning following the Dec. 22 ambush, 30 CH-21s of the 8th and 57th Transportation companies were loaded with several hundred troops from ARVN’s elite Airborne Brigade. Using fresh intelligence from Davis’ outfit, the 3rd Radio Research Unit, they headed west to attack the Viet Cong at the Thieng Quang pineapple

TOP: U.S. NAVY; BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY

The information that Davis and other radio research teams collected on Dec. 22, 1961, enabled South Vietnamese soldiers transported by CH-21 helicopters to destroy a communist transmitter and kill or capture Viet Cong in the area. The helicopters had arrived in Vietnam aboard the carrier USS Core on Dec. 11, shown above.

scrambled off the truck, taking with him a satchel containing secret communication codes and other classified materials. He immediately threw the satchel into the water to keep it out of enemy hands and returned to the truck as small arms-fire cracked all around him. He pulled his wounded ARVN driver from the vehicle, while still under intense fire, and shoved the man into a culvert to hide him from the Viet Cong. Davis then ran west on the gravel road, turning and firing his carbine to draw enemy fire toward himself and away from other team members. He ran a short distance, turned and fired on the ambushers again. Davis was hit and fell, some 50 feet or so from the vehicle. The Viet Cong, no longer receiving any return fire, rushed to the wounded Davis. They shot the American in the head, killing him. According to the driver’s testimony, the attackers searched Davis for anything of value including his watch. However, Davis, an experienced radio direction finder, kept his watch in a breast pocket so it would not interfere with the direction-finding process. The Viet Cong didn’t have time to search his body any further. Bergman’s team and an ARVN relief force were rapidly approaching from the east. The attackers quickly fled. A radio call was made to ASA headquarters at Tan Son Nhut. Within an hour an officer from the 3rd Radio Research Unit and a member of the ARVN general staff were dispatched to the ambush scene. Arriving by helicopter, they picked up the wounded driver and retrieved the bodies of Davis and the nine dead ARVN soldiers. All were returned to Saigon on an aircraft that was part of the 57th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter), which had arrived in Vietnam less than two weeks earlier.

First Deaths in Vietnam

LONNIE M. LONG COLLECTION, VIETNAM CENTER AND SAM JOHNSON VIETNAM ARCHIVE, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

TOP: U.S. NAVY; BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY

First Killed in Vietnam

plantation in Operation Chopper, the Three weeks after Davis was killed, the Army Security first helicopter assault of the Vietnam Agency honored the fallen War. Already in place along a canal south soldier by naming the of the target was an ARVN blocking 3rd Radio Research Unit’s Saigon compound after him. force to prevent a VC escape. The lead helicopter in the formation was piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Bennie Potts of the 57th Transportation His co-pilot was Capt. Emmett Knight, the operations officer of the 57th and the man responsible for planning the aviation component of the mission. “We were looking for a large sugar mill near the distinctive ‘Y’ intersection with the An Ha and the Kinh Xang canals,” Knight, who retired as a colonel, said in an interview with this article’s author. “From there, we were to bank to the left and begin our descent to the LZ about 5 clicks [kilometers/3 miles] to the south. We flew in at 500 feet and initiated a 500 foot per minute decent.” The location of a radio transmitter suspected to be part of the Viet Cong command center for the Saigon region had been verified by Davis and the two other radio direction finding teams the previous day and was one of the assault’s targets. As the choppers headed south along the Kinh Xang canal they flew over portions of the pineapple plantation and passed a huge statue of Buddha sitting only a half-mile south of Cau Xang. Later in the war and for many decades beyond, this would be known as The Lonely Buddha. The choppers landed about 3 miles south of of Cau Xang. Reports indicated the Viet Cong were completely surprised by the speed with which the ARVN airborne troops surrounded them. The radio transmitter was put out of operation and an unknown number of Viet Cong killed and captured. Operation Chopper’s success was directly attributed to the Americans of the 3rd Radio Research Unit and their Vietnamese counterparts, who diligently searched for and located the transmitter—for which Davis and nine ARVN soldiers paid the ultimate price. Davis was buried in his hometown at Livingston’s Good Hope Cemetery on Jan. 3, 1962. On Jan. 10, less than three weeks after his death, the Army Security Agency officially named the 3rd Radio Research Unit’s Tan Son Nhut compound “Davis Station.” V

Mark D. Raab served in Vietnam February 1970-March 1972 as a specialist 4 in the 277th Field Artillery Detachment, 23rd Artillery Group, II Field Force. A student of Southeast Asia and the Vietnam War, he has returned to Vietnam four times beginning in January 1989. He retired as a superintendent of Natural Resources in Howard County, Maryland, in 2015. He lives in Reisterstown, Maryland.

Sept. 26, 1945, Army Maj. A. Peter Dewey, U.S. Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA). Dewey, driving a jeep in Saigon at a time of rising tensions between Vietnam’s French occupiers and the communist-led Viet Minh independence movement, was killed by Viet Minh who mistook him for a Frenchman. Dewey is not a casualty of the American war in Vietnam, which officially began 1955 with the creation of Military Assistance Advisory Group-Vietnam. Dewey is not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

First Killed in U.S. War

June 8, 1956, Air Force Tech Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr., MAAG-V. Fitzgibbon had reprimanded a staff sergeant radio operator for his performance on a flight, and that evening in Saigon the staff sergeant got drunk and shot Fitzgibbon with a pistol. This is the earliest death on the Wall. The shooter jumped or fell to his death from a building’s balcony.

First Killed by Hostile Fire July 8, 1959, Army Maj. Dale R. Buis and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand, MAAG-V. Viet Cong terrorists attacked a mess hall at Bien Hoa, near Saigon, where U.S. advisers, South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians were watching a movie. The VC opened fire through the windows and tossed grenades. Buis and Ovnand were killed in the turmoil.

First Killed in Aircraft Shootdown

March 23, 1961, crewmen on an Air Force C-47 Skytrain transport. The plane was loaded with equipment to determine radio frequencies the communists were using in Laos. Piloted by 1st Lt. Ralph W. Magee, the C-47 carried five other airmen and two Army officers. It was shot down by anti-aircraft guns fired by Pathet Lao communist insurgents. The only survivor was Army Maj. Lawrence R. Bailey, who parachuted out before the crash. He became the first American prisoner of war in the Vietnam conflict. Bailey was released in August 1962.

First Killed in Ground Combat

Dec. 22, 1961, Spc. 4 James T. “Tom” Davis, 3rd Radio Research Unit, MAAG-V. Davis was part of a three-truck convoy of radio technicians sent to detect VC radio signals and pinpoint the location of a communist transmitter. Davis, the only American among 10 South Vietnamese soldiers in his truck, was killed when the Viet Cong ambushed the vehicle about 9 miles west of Saigon.

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PAN AM’S WAR FROM TRANSPORTING TROOPS TO EVACUATING BABIES, PAN AM WAS IN VIETNAM FROM BEGINNING TO END

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PHOTO CREDITS

By Jim Trautman

PHOTO CREDITS

he history of Pan American World Airways’ involvement in the Vietnam War began decades before the last Boeing Jumbo 747 departed Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport on April 24, 1975, as the city was about to fall to communist forces. It began in the 1930s during the events leading to World War II. After several meetings with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Juan Trippe, Pan Am’s president, allowed the company’s aircraft and operations to become America’s outreach to the world, “showing the flag” to establish a global presence that countered Axis aggressions. During World War II, New York-based Pan Am and other airlines provided major support to the war effort, especially at the outset when the government’s capability was limited. Besides operating regular passenger service, Pan Am turned its fleet of giant Clipper flying boats over to the government for high-value military and civilian passengers. Transports carried critical military equipment and supplied outposts. The airline touted itself as the government’s “chosen instrument” and “the second line of defense.” With the end of World War II, the government began selling surplus aircraft believing planes in such vast numbers were no longer needed. Scrapyards were filled with discarded military equipment. Suddenly, on June 24, 1948, the need for aircraft changed dramatically when the

Soviets imposed a blockade of the road, rail and canal routes into the Western Allies’ sectors of Berlin. The only option was to supply the inhabitants with life-sustaining food and coal by air. From June 24 until the blockade was lifted on Sept. 30, 1949, Allied planes—including those of Pan Am and other commercial carriers—flew 278,228 flights into blockaded Berlin, losing 25 aircraft and 101 lives from accidents during the Berlin Airlift. When the Korean War erupted nine months after the end of the Berlin Blockade, President Harry S. Truman’s administration recognized that a formal pact had to be secured to employ civilian aircraft in times of crisis. On Dec. 15, 1951, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Lovett and Commerce Secretary Charles Sawyer signed a joint agreement establishing the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, a voluntary program in which participating civilian airlines committed their planes to the military in a national emergency. Pan Am signed on. Over the years Trippe had disagreements with the federal government over routes or regulations, but he was first and foremost a patriot—when the president called and made a request, he did it! By 1952 Trippe’s airline had transported 343,000 Korean War troops and 48,000 wounded under routine, non-emergency military contracts.

U.S. soldiers prepare to board a Pam Am Boeing 707 circa 1967. During the Vietnam War, Pan Am transported cargo and troops to Vietnam. One of the airline’s most appreciated jobs was flying troops from Vietnam to rest and recuperation destinations. The R&R runs, begun in March 1966, escalated to 18 flights per day.

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As the military buildup in Vietnam increased in 1965, Pan Am was operating 40 flights each week between California and Saigon. The flights going to Saigon included in-bound troops, along with military and medical supplies, ammunition and oil. Around the Christmas holidays, entertainment troupes and Christmas trees arrived on Pan Am planes. By the end of the war Pan Am had transported more medical supplies, cargo and troops than any other civilian airline. In the beginning, most of the aircraft were piston-driven Douglas DC-6s. By early 1969, some 12 percent of Pan Am’s jet aircraft were involved in the war in Southeast Asia. After three years the DC-6s were replaced by Boeing 707s and 727s. By 1969 Pan Am operated 104 aircraft of various types in the war zone, the most of any civilian airline.

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PANAM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION

TOP: Juan Trippe, the president of Pan Am, boards a B-377 Stratocruiser in 1957. Trippe had tied Pan Am closely to U.S. military operations during World War II and bolstered that relationship during the Vietnam War. ABOVE: Soldiers from Vietnam arrive for R&R in Hawaii in the 1960s. All service members on Pan Am R&R flights received first class treatment.

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s 1966 dawned it became apparent to military officials that the troops fighting in Vietnam needed periods of relief. However, the time and cost of flying men to the United States for a week’s rest and recuperation would be too great and unfeasible, especially since planes were needed for the 50,000 service members sent to Vietnam each month to meet the war’s growing demands. On Feb. 2, 1966, Pan Am’s president, Harold Gray—a Pan Am Clipper pilot in the 1930s and ’40s—signed an agreement with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration to provide R&R flights for troops in Vietnam. The charge to the U.S. government would be cost plus $1. This R&R operation began almost immediately. On Feb. 25, two DC-6Bs were transferred from their German routes to full-time operation in Vietnam. The operation was organized by Thomas Flanagan, one of Pan Am’s most experienced pilots. It involved 35 six-member crews and 100 maintenance personnel—all volunteers. On March 1, the first flight took off. In the first month of operation 1,800 service members made R&R trips. The initial flights went to Hong Kong, then later to Tokyo. By the end of 1966, Pan Am had added trips to Guam, Taipei, Sydney, Bangkok and Hawaii, a popular destination, and taken more than 100,00 troops on R&R flights. As the numbers of men and women increased during the war, so did the R&R runs, eventually reaching 18 flights per day. DC-6s were replaced with 707 jets. The aircraft departed from Cam Ranh Bay, Nha Trang and Da Nang. All service members on Pan Am R&R flights were treated like first-class passengers. Many were just 18 or 19 years old and had never been away from home before their induction into the military nor flown as civilians—making the flight itself a treat. The meal consisted of Kobe steak, home fries or French fries, green beans, milk and ice cream for dessert. In one month, 9 tons of steak, 9,000 quarts of milk and 5 tons of ice cream were served. Flight crews, once on the ground, generally sought out restaurants that did not serve steak. One steak was nice, but not so many times in a week. One aspect of the R&R flights has received little attention over the past 50 years: the role of Pan Am stewardesses. Like many of the troops, the stewardesses never had a parade. Even worse, they received no medals or even certificates for their service, although the flight crews did. The stewardesses were mostly new Pan Am recruits about the same age as the young men they were serving. Those who worked on the Vietnam flights were volunteers and given the rank of second lieutenant in the Air Force while in the war zone. If captured, they would be covered by the protections of the Geneva Convention, an international agreement after World War II that established the rights of military prisoners of war.

A shortage of men because of Word War II demands finally convinced Pan Am to hire women for its cabin crews.

PANAM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION

PREVIOUS SPREAD: PANAM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION; THIS PAGE: PANAM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION (2)

Pan Am’s public relations operation heavily promoted the airline’s services for U.S. troops in Vietnam. This illustration, showing an R&R flight, appeared in the 1966 annual report.

Pan Am was the last of the major airlines to employ women for its passenger services. Until the last year of World War II Pan Am cabin crews were all male. A shortage of available men because of the military’s war demands finally convinced Pan Am to hire women for its cabin crews. The process to become a stewardess was difficult. Only one of every 100 who applied was accepted. The stewardesses were required to wear a girdle and stockings. Their hair could only reach the cheekbone. They could not be married, nor more than 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 125 pounds. Makeup was limited to four specific colors approved by the airline. Pan Am did not hire its first African American stewardess until 1970. Like military veterans’ organizations, Pan Am’s stewardesses have their own reunions. Members of Wings Over the World meet and talk about their experiences in the Vietnam War. They reminiscence about things they did to make the flight more enjoyable and relaxing for the troops, such as baking cookies at home and warming them on the plane so the smell would fill the passenger cabin. Pan Am provided special paper for men to write letters

home, and many stewardesses became pen pals. Some still hear from men who were on R&R flights. Richard Upchurch, an Air Force sergeant who was on an R&R flight in mid-1968, wrote in a publication of the Pan Am Historical Foundation, “I always wanted to thank Pan Am and all the Crews and Flight Attendants for a wonderful slice of the States, for a short time anyhow.” Almost all of the stewardesses remember their first landing in Vietnam, when they looked out the windows and saw bomb craters, burning wreckage and planes and helicopters coming and going. Every flight had a quick turnaround time, so crews had to immediately clean the aircraft, do maintenance work and get one group of men off and another on. “If you go into Vietnam as a stewardess with any sort of feeling for or against the war, you’re dead,” said stewardess Nancy Hughes, in a wartime interview with The Main Line Times in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, her hometown. “What you F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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Pan Am Timeline

s the war neared its end, Pan Am was involved in two other major undertakings. The first was the Operation Babylift evacuation of orphans, instituted by President Gerald Ford, who had been lobbied by many organizations, including the Pearl S. Buck Foundation (focused on impoverished children in Asia), Friends of Children of Viet Nam and Holt International Children’s Services. On April 3, 1975, Ford announced that $2 million would be authorized to arrange flights on C-5A Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter military transports and Pan Am planes. Operation Babylift was under the command of Air Force Maj. Gen. Edward J. Nash. The first flight, on April 4 with a C-5A, ended in tragedy

1927

Pan American Airways is founded on March 14 by a group of investors, and former Navy pilot Juan Trippe becomes its president. The airline instituted the world’s first scheduled international flight on Oct. 28 with a mail run between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba.

1928

Pan Am started passenger service, flying to Caribbean islands, Mexico, Central and South America.

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BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES

see is 170 human beings on the airplane and you have to accept it as that. You can’t like or dislike it...In the job I have, it’s always the men I remember best. I’ll always remember these men.” Pan Am advertised itself as the “World’s Most Experienced Airline,” with 86 destinations, 150 jets and 67 million passengers. Its “Blue Ball” logo was recognized across the globe. Pan Am didn’t achieve that status without self-promotion, and its role in the Vietnam War figured prominently in that campaign. Annual reports usually had photos of men, stewardesses or aircraft intermingled with military C-130 Hercules transport planes or other aircraft in Saigon or Da Nang.

The annual report of 1966, the first year of the R&R program, featured a painting of a young Marine standing next to a sign that stated: “Pan Am flight CKAP 246 Saigon to Honolulu.” In the distance, other Marines were getting ready to board the Clipper Friendship.

TOP LEFT: PANAM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION; TOP RIGHT: BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES; BOTTOM: SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT COMMISSION AVIATION LIBRARY AND LOUIS A. TURPEN AVIATION MUSEUM

TOP LEFT: Pan Am stewardesses pose for a serviceman’s camera. RIGHT: The stairwell of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet is the backdrop for this photo. LEFT: Some stewardesses collected mementos from the troops, such as this jacket decorated with military insignia worn over a Pan Am uniform.

BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES

TOP LEFT: PANAM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION; TOP RIGHT: BETTMAN/GETTY IMAGES; BOTTOM: SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT COMMISSION AVIATION LIBRARY AND LOUIS A. TURPEN AVIATION MUSEUM

when the cargo door flew off and the aircraft crashed in a rice paddy. The disaster killed 138 people, including 78 children, in the aircraft’s lower cargo section. Other aircraft continued the flights. A chartered Pan Am Boeing 747 reached San Francisco on April 5 with 325 infants and children, including the survivors of the C-5A crash. There were 60 escorts on the aircraft. The men on the flight claimed they had learned how to diaper a baby shortly before boarding the plane. There were too many infants and children to strap all of them into seats. Some infants were placed in blue Pan American cardboard bassinets and stashed under seats. Hundreds of baby bottles had to be prepared, since the entire flight might be as long as 30 hours depending on where the aircraft landed. Stewardesses recall the deafening sounds of hundreds of babies crying at the same time, waiting to be fed and needing diapers changed. There were other volunteers on the aircraft to assist them, but it was still a difficult flight. Ford and first lady Betty Ford were at the airport to greet them. The president carried the first child off the aircraft. The Pan Am flight was chartered and funded by Robert Macauley, the owner of a paper company, who used $250,000 of his own money. “Somebody has to do it,” he told The New York Times. “It was only money, against saving the lives of 300 to 400 children.” Another Pan Am flight had arrived in San Francisco earlier. A third went to Seattle, carrying 407 children around midnight. Twenty buses took the children from the flight Ford met to the military facility at San Francisco’s Presidio, where they were registered into the country and met by 26 Red Cross volunteers. Also waiting for them were 7,886 bottles of baby formula, 10,000 disposable diapers and 2,400 cotton swabs. Makeshift beds with blankets for the infants had been arranged on the floor. The children wore bracelets with their Viet-

1929

Pan Am is the first airline to serve meals on its flights.

The wreckage of a Galaxy C-5A military transport carrying orphans to the United States is strewn over Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport on April 4, 1975. The plane crashed after takeoff during Operation Babylift, killing 138 people, including 78 children.

namese names on one hand. On the other was information about the family adopting them. My niece was on the flight that Ford met. She was flown from San Francisco to Boulder, Colorado, and greeted by Friends for All Children, an adoption service participating in the evacuation. Shortly thereafter she was on an aircraft that took her to Los Angeles and the home of her adoptive parents, my wife’s brother and his spouse. Friends for All Children also sponsored orphans who arrived on the “Giant Bunny” aircraft of Playboy magazine publisher Hugh Hefner. When the plane landed in San Francisco, it was met by Playboy bunnies. The Giant Bunny flew 41 orphans to various destinations in the United States. Pan Am charters also delivered babies to London, Australia, Germany

1935

Pan Am begins the first scheduled transpacific service with flights from the West Coast to Hawaii, the Philippines and Hong Kong on large four-engine “flying boats,” called Clippers.

1939

Pan Am launches the first scheduled transatlantic service, flying from New York to Portugal, France and England.

1941-45

Pan Am supports U.S. forces in World War II by transporting equipment and troops, training pilots and helping construct airfields overseas.

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Pan Am Timeline Continued from Page 41

1948-49

Pan Am participates in the Berlin Airlift.

1950

Pan American Airways changes its name to Pan American World Airways.

1950-53

Pan Am supports the military in the Korean War.

1958

Pan Am is the first customer for Boeing’s 707 jetliner. In 1966, it was the first airline to fly the Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

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TOP: AFP PHOTO/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; BOTTOM: DOUG ENGLE/OCALA STAR BANNER

uring those turbulent final days of the Vietnam War, Pan Am would undertake secret flights or missions if needed. Yet the company took care of its employees and got them out of harm’s way, as it had done in World War II. As the North Vietnamese Army rapidly approached Saigon in April 1975, the Federal Aviation Administration on April 24 banned all commercial flights. Trippe sought special permission for a final flight on that date, using a Boeing 747 jumbo jet named “Unity,” to get all of his remaining employees flown out. That included the Vietnamese ground staff and their families. Ford personally approved the mission. Once all the

maintenance staff was pulled out, no more Pan Am service would be available. Before the precise date was set, Pan Am, knowing the end was near, had asked for volunteers to make the last flight and sent them to Guam to wait for the airline’s senior executives to determine when the final flight would be made. That aircraft would not take any luggage or personal belongings of the passengers. Life vests, rafts and other standard items were offloaded to make the plane lighter. Safety regulations would not be enforced. Passengers would be allowed to sit on the cabin floor. The goal was to get as many people out as possible. Pan Am’s station manager in Saigon, Al Topping, had already begun making preparations. “The days leading up to our final departure contained many situations of uncertainty and drama,” Topping wrote in an account on the Pan Am Historical Foundation’s website. “I knew what we had to do. I was just not so sure how we would accomplish the mission.” Many of Pan Am’s Vietnamese employees did not have the proper documents to leave the country. Processing their exit papers would normally take two to three months. Topping had an idea. He would try the same tactic that worked with Operation Babylift: adoption. He asked the South Vietnamese government to allow Pan Am to adopt its employees. “It worked,” Topping wrote. The airline got adoption papers for 315 South Vietnamese—Pan Am employees and their immediate families. LEFT: Orphans from Vietnam are strapped into Pan Am seats en route to Los Angeles during Operation Babylift, on April 12, 1975. RIGHT: President Gerald Ford holds a baby who arrived at the San Francisco airport April 5, 1975.

GERALRD FORD PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY (2)

and Canada. The last flight out included 59 taken to Ontario. The total number of children evacuated is uncertain due to the chaos in the last days before Saigon fell but is estimated at 2,500 to 3,300. The newly unified Vietnam maintained that infants and children had been taken out of the country illegally. In the end nothing came of Hanoi’s demands.

TOP: AFP PHOTO/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; BOTTOM: DOUG ENGLE/OCALA STAR BANNER

GERALRD FORD PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY (2)

TOP: South Vietnamese who fled Saigon on April 29, 1975, are at a stopover in Thailand. BOTTOM: Former Pan Am manager Al Topping shows off a model of the 747 that evacuated 463 people from Saigon on April 24, 1975.

On April 23, Topping told all employees and their families to be ready the next morning at the ticket office for buses to take them to the airport. That night, many slept in the downtown office to make sure they would be able to meet the buses. One of Pan Am’s most experienced pilots, Bob Berg, flew the Boeing 747 into Tan Son Nhut airport. Once Berg landed, he told crew members disembarking so they could assist the evacuees that when it was time to board he would flash the plane’s red lights. He promised that no one would be left behind. As employees and their families boarded the aircraft, masses of people swarmed the other side of the runway fence, hoping they could find a way onto the plane. Crew members tried to get as many on as possible. To slip by airport guards, some women disguised themselves as stewardesses by wearing Pan Am uniforms and wigs that the crew had brought for that purpose. Many others found that bribes were the tickets that got them past the guards. Eventually it was not safe to take on any more passengers. “With captain Bob Berg in command and an all-volunteer crew we headed for Clark AFB in the Philippines with 463 souls on board,” Topping wrote. The plane’s official capacity was 375. From Clark Air Force Base it was on to Guam, where the refugees would be resettled. A headline the next day in the Los Angeles Times proclaimed: “315 ‘Adopted’ By Airline: Refugees Reach Guam on Cloak-Dagger Flight.” An NBC television movie starring Richard Crenna and James Earl Jones, Last Flight Out, was broadcast in 1990, and a documentary film, Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam,

1965-75

The airline performs a variety of services to assist the U.S. in Vietnam.

1978

was released in 2009. Pan American World Airways has since disappeared. In its time, it was part of major historical events that engulfed the United States during the Vietnam War, when it truly lived up to its nickname “America’s Airline.” V Jim Trautman, a former Marine, wrote The Pan American Clippers— The Golden Age of Flying Boats, a book first published in 2007 and updated in 2019. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario.

The federal government deregulates the airlines. Pan Am faced increased competition on international routes, and efforts to get a foothold in domestic markets were unsuccessful.

1981

A recession buffets the airline industry. Pan Am took heavy losses. Over the next decade the company’s financial condition worsened, exasperated by rising fuel prices.

1991

Pan Am files for bankruptcy reorganization on Jan. 8, but reorganization plans fail. Pan Am flew its last flight on Dec. 4. F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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PHOTO CREDITS

Members of companies B and D, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, take a break from jungle fighting east of Tam Ky in June 1969 during an operation that started shortly after the division began its battle for Hamburger Hill, which became famous while the Tam Ky fight was largely forgotten.

TURNING POINT AT TAM KY ON JUNE 9, 1969, AFTER WEEKS OF BITTER FIGHTING, THE 101ST AIRBORNE SAW VICTORY ON THE HORIZON

PHOTO CREDITS

By Ed Sherwood

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Excerpted from Courage Under Fire: The 101st Airborne’s Hidden Battle at Tam Ky, by Ed Sherwood, Casemate Publishers, 2021

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MAP BY JON C. BOCK

n early May 1969, the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong were threatening Tam Ky, the capital of Quang Tin province in northern South Vietnam. The U.S. Army unit with responsibility for that area, the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal), was unable to stem the enemy advance. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, ordered the 101st Airborne Division to send in an airmobile brigade to destroy the enemy forces. The division chose the 1st Brigade, which went into action with its 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, along with Americal’s 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment. Among the soldiers in what was officially called Operation Lamar Plain was Lt. Ed Sherwood, a platoon leader in Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry. In Courage Under Fire: The 101st Airborne’s Hidden Battle at Tam Ky, he gives a detailed, day-by-day account of his battalion’s actions during the operation, with a focus on Delta Company. Sherwood begins at May 15, the move to Tam Ky, and the first combat assault the following day. He ends with June 12, Delta’s extraction from Hill 376 a few days after a massive artillery barrage destroyed the enemy force. Delta had been fighting for control of the hill since June 3. On June 8, it seemed that little progress had been made. The next day would be crucial.

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Soldiers of the 101st Airborne reposition and clean an 81 mm mortar during Operation Lamar Plain, undertaken to thwart an enemy advance on Tam Ky. The men of Delta Company faced 82 mm enemy mortar rounds with blasts that could cover almost half of a football field.

MAP BY JON C. BOCK

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TODAY [JUNE 9] WILL BE A TURNING POINT, not an easy day, but a pivotal change for the better on Hill 376. Of course, no one knows it. Nothing in the last six days gives any hint that a breakthrough is about to occur. It is the nature of warfare. The decisive moment a favorable turn in a battle’s outcome occurs is often not recognized by those in the throes of fighting. Early morning events are a bad start for the day. At 3 a.m., Alpha Company is shaken awake by the booming of 15 enemy 82 mm mortar rounds exploding in rapid succession. Sleep-deprived soldiers instinctively react to the unwelcome wake-up call. “Get down! Stay down! God please let me survive!” is the common thought. There is a collective sigh of relief when it is clear the rounds aren’t on target. The enemy gunners have overshot Alpha Company’s position, but not by much. No friendly casualties occur. Each 82 mm mortar round has a lethal blast radius of 30-35 meters (33-38 yards). In open terrain, a single round’s blast can cover almost half the size of a football field. In mountainous, forested terrain the lethal blast area is reduced. Fifteen rounds are still a deadly barrage. Had it landed on Alpha Company, casualties would be high. Capt. Patrick McGuire, the company commander, has his forward observer call for artillery in the area from where they suspect the mortars were fired. Likely, the enemy mortar crews have already moved. They know return artillery fire will arrive soon. At 3:50 a.m., Alpha’s artillery request is fired. An incoming 105 mm round falls short and explodes in Bravo Company’s position. The bursting shell kills three soldiers: Sgt. William Bushard, Sgt. William Sparks and Pfc. Larry Gilbertson. Pfc. David Bleeker is wounded and needs immediate care. A nighttime medevac is requested. At 04:25 a.m., the medevac is canceled due to dangerous flying conditions. Capt. Leland Roy hears the enemy mortars hitting Alpha Company over the battalion radio net. The delayed muffled booms rapidly echo across the mountainside. It is an ominous, unwelcome sound. Roy recalls the enemy attack mentioned in the recent intelligence report. The attack is to begin tomorrow, June 10. Maybe this is it, a day early. If he is right, the battle action on Hill 376 will soon get more intense. The early morning hours before sunrise are peacefully quiet. It is an illusion. FINDING A LANDING ZONE for Charlie Company is the first of Delta Company’s morning tasks. Soon after first light, Roy adds several Delta Company soldiers to the attached Reconnaissance Platoon (now no bigger than a reinforced squad). He sends them out 200 meters (220 yards) to the southwest of Delta Company’s position to search for a suitable LZ. The battalion plan from yesterday to have Charlie Company relieve Delta Company was postponed. Delta Company’s enemy contact prevented their move south to the proposed pickup point. Roy still believes the solo move south by his understrength company is too risky with an enemy attack expected soon. The Recon element moves out of Delta’s perimeter to see if a long ridgeline running southeast off Hill 376 may be a suitable LZ. It seems capable of handling five or six helicopters at a time, and it will take 15 Hueys to bring in Charlie Company. As each

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Operation Lamar Plain

May 15–Aug. 13, 1969 The 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade was ordered to protect Tam Ky, a provincial capital, from advancing forces of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong in Operation Lamar Plain, which began May 15, 1969. The operation’s first combat assault occurred on May 16. A decisive battle on June 9 ended the enemy threat, although there was light resistance until the end of the operation on Aug. 13. Nearby in the A Shau Valley, the division’s 3rd Brigade was fighting the Battle of Hamburger Hill, May 10-20. of Charlie’s lifts arrive, Delta will load up the empty helicopters with their own men for extraction. At least, that is the plan. While Recon is still scoping out the potential LZ, the air commander responsible for Charlie Company’s movement vetoes the location. He tells Roy the proposed LZ on the ridge line will expose inbound and outbound helicopters to the enemy’s 12.7 mm heavy machine-gun fire. Roy then quickly recommends and gets approval for using a much smaller, oneship LZ adjacent to his company’s position. The approved LZ is small and cramped. Only one Huey can land at a time and after unloading must do a 180-degree turnaround to fly out. With some needed brush cutting, it will have to do. The LZ has two advantages. It is close by Delta Company’s position and can be covered by fire from the company’s perimeter. It is also in a swale with high ground immediately to its north and south, which provides protection from enemy observation and anti-aircraft fire. The Hueys can approach the LZ from the south and fly out on the same route. F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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ABOVE: As fighting raged at Tam Ky, a rocket exploded directly behind a 101st Airborne soldier, wounding him during an assault on Hamburger Hill, May 20, 1969. LEFT: Delta Company Capt. Leland Roy calls in artillery fire and air support. With him are two of his soldiers and a Vietnamese guide.

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Staff Sgt. Ronald Sahrle, who is leading the remnants of 1st and 2nd platoons, takes on the task of clearing brush to widen the LZ and enlists Sgt. Jim Littleton in 3rd Platoon to provide a threeman team with machetes. Littleton will also take a security team several hundred meters to the west of the LZ to cover the likely direction from which an enemy attack may come.

AT 07:15 A.M., the morning’s humid temperature is rising. Clearing the LZ is hot work. Rada is sitting down for a short break. Strand is standing 6 feet behind him, Clouatre is standing near to the side of Rada. Their weapons are nearby. Without warning, an enemy grenade explodes just in front of Rada, killing him instantly. It is thrown from a concealed enemy position on the west end of the berm up above the LZ. Strand and Clouatre are both wounded, Clouatre seriously. He will survive, but will require hundreds of stitches and several operations.

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Sgt. Robert Clouatre, Spc. 4 Terry Rada and Pfc. Steve Strand, all from 3rd Platoon, begin work with machetes clearing the west end of the LZ. Some 20 meters (22 yards) away and just above them on the high ground to their north is a berm running parallel to the LZ from east to west. It is 70 meters (77 yards) long and 8-10 feet high. Overgrown with vegetation, the berm is part of an abandoned terraced area once used for farming.

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Roy is on the LZ checking the progress of the brush clearing just 30 feet to the east of when the enemy grenade explodes. Doc, the company medic, bolts out from the company perimeter to the wounded men. Roy knows the medic and the wounded men are in danger and yells for them to pull back to the company’s perimeter. Soldiers on the company’s southwestern perimeter begin providing suppressive fire on the berm to cover their withdrawal. Strand and the medic help move Clouatre to safety. Rada is carried by others who have come out to help. The enemy position near the west end of the berm is continuing to fire AK-47s. Roy estimates by the firing there are several enemy soldiers, maybe more. Fortunately, the enemy is not positioned on the military crest of the hill. They are unable to see directly down to the wounded soldiers on the LZ or take them under fire as they make their way back to Delta’s defensive position. The suppressive fire from Delta’s perimeters keeps them from improving their position. Otherwise, there would be several more casualties. Once within the perimeter, Doc treats Clouatre with Strand’s help. It takes more than a few minutes since Clouatre is bleeding badly from multiple shrapnel wounds. Doc makes sure he hasn’t overlooked any life-threatening wounds and applies bandages to the worst of them. When done, Doc notices Strand has bled through his jungle fatigues jacket. His rolled-up right sleeve is saturated with dark red blood. Once bandaged, Strand is surprised when Doc tells him he will also go out on the next medevac. That won’t happen until the enemy contact has ended. In the meantime, Littleton’s security team is told to return, and they make it back without incident. While Strand waits for a medevac, his thoughts turn to Rada. They were good friends. Rada was well liked by his platoon members. Before Tam Ky, he was a top-notch radio telephone operator for Staff Sgt. Gary Tepner, 3rd Platoon’s former platoon sergeant. His slight, wiry frame and average height belied his This is likely strength. Rada could easily carry his 50-pound part of the rucksack and 35 pounds of radio and batteries enemy’s even in mountainous terrain. He wore military general issue, heavy, black-framed glasses, had reddish, offensive short-cropped hair and a quick wit. When he returned from R&R a few weeks back, he asked that has been to give up his RTO job and be a rifleman in the expected. platoon with the guys. He got his wish. He was It may be a great soldier, fondly remembered by all who more than knew him. Tepner will soon hear of his death expected. with deep regret and sorrow.

ROY AND LT. PAUL WHARTON, the captain’s crackerjack artillery observer, take up a position on the southwestern edge of Delta’s perimeter next to a huge rock that towers over them. The top of the rock is a perfect place for locating the large international orange panel that marks their position for friendly aircraft. From their vantage point, both Roy and Wharton can observe the enemy position on the berm about 50 meters (55 yards) away. The enemy continues to fire sporadically. For a welcome change, it is

A soldier searches a destroyed bunker for enemy bodies. Ed Sherwood writes that Delta Company respected the enemy dead and often left bodies where enemy recovery teams could find them.

not well-aimed. No one is hit. For once, they have strangely encountered enemy soldiers who can’t seem to shoot straight. The Recon element is still out. Roy radios for them to immediately pull back and take cover. Just as they begin to withdraw, no more than 50 meters away they spot a large enemy force of undetermined size moving east among the trees. The enemy also sees Recon and begins to fire at them with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Recon knows their small element is in great danger of being overrun. Pfc. Ken Hornbeck, a Delta soldier serving as the Recon RTO, calls in and yells they are surrounded by a “horde of enemy soldiers.” This is likely part of the enemy’s general offensive that has been expected. It may be more than expected. Later, it is estimated the enemy is a reducedin-strength battalion from the NVA regiment defending Hill 376. Perhaps it is as many as 200 soldiers, maybe more. A recently captured enemy soldier reported their casualties had reduced their companies to around 60 men. The enemy’s location, numbers and direction of movement indicate they are likely massed for an attack on Delta Company’s position. The enemy attack from the berm seems to have been a diversionary attack, a planned distraction to allow the larger enemy force to make a surprise attack from a different direction. The easterly movement by the F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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THE ENEMY CONTINUES TO ADVANCE from the northwest on Delta’s position, hidden from direct observation from Roy and Wharton’s position. They quickly overrun Thurston and Winkler’s position and are closing in on Recon’s position. Just then, the cavalry arrives, just like in the movies. This time it is for real. Wharton is on two radios. Handset in each hand. One held to each ear. He has been talking with the team from the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which was loitering nearby. On the other phone is the artillery fire direction net. He is also setting up and sequencing artillery fires. The immediate target is the enemy position on the berm, 50 meters to their front. Wharton directs the Cav team to make several runs along the berm with

miniguns from east to west. As usual, the fires are danger close to Delta Company and the Recon Team. Wharton uses the berm to direct their fires. The Cav team is to keep its fires along the berm and not extend its firing beyond the two ends of the berm. The high-decibel onslaught of the light observation helicopter and two AH-1 Huey Cobra attack helicopters is much louder that the uninitiated could possibly imagine. The rotors, engines and deep-throated roar of almost continuous minigun fire is impossible to describe. Movies, television or video games aren’t even close. To say it is oppressively loud and violent is only a start. The air reverberates with ear-splitting sounds. A fire started by minigun tracers breaks out on the berm. It spreads quickly, fanned by the rotor wash and wind and soon engulfs the length of the berm. Smoke and dust clouds along the berm are blown by the rotors and the wind. Smells of cordite, splintered and torn vegetation, and newly overturned earth permeate the air. Time and again well-bunkered NVA soldiers survive such attacks, but not this time. The enemy firing from the berm quickly ceases. At 8:45 a.m., the Cav team goes off station to rearm and refuel. While the Cav attacks the enemy position on the berm, the enemy force stops its advance and takes cover. Once they begin moving again, the Recon team is in danger of being overrun. The

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main enemy force indicates they are getting into position to attack Delta Company from the north. It appears the firing from the berm began too early, before the larger force was in position to attack. A fatal mistake. As Recon makes their way back, they are firing and moving. Reaching a position in the tree line near the eastern end of the berm, they can go no farther. They are a hundred or so meters from Delta Company’s defensive position and safety. The two medics in Recon, Spc. 4 Gary Winkler and Spc. 4 Daniel Thurston, are in trouble. They normally are at or near the rear of Recon when the unit is moving. In case a Recon soldier is wounded, they can easily go forward to treat the soldier. This time they are the ones in danger. Thurston is wounded and unable to move. In the rush to pull back, no one sees that he is hit. He has not made it to the tree line with the others. He calls out to his fellow medic and close friend, Winkler. Winkler stops and quickly decides to stay with Thurston. It is an unselfish act typical of medics whose first instinct is to stay with, treat and protect the wounded.

Soldiers in the Tam Ky battle are fatigued following an allday firefight in an intensely hot climate. Some troops in Delta Company suffered from heat exhaustion and collapsed.

burning berm is between Recon and Delta Compa- Operation ny. Recon requests permission to drop their ruckLamar sacks and make a run for it. They will run through Plain the smoke and flame just as soon as the Cobra heliMAY 15–AUG. 13, 1969 copters finish their attack. Roy gives them the OK. As the Air Cav helicopter team completes its at1ST BATTALION 501ST INFANTRY tack, Sahrle and a small group of his soldiers higher REGIMENT up on the hill within Delta Company’s perimeter can see the Recon Team. Behind the team, they catch sight of enemy soldiers moving in the trees KILLED and closing in on Recon. They are heavily camou182 WOUNDED flaged with vegetation stuck in their helmets, web gear and packs, and practically invisible until they DELTA COMPANY move. From Sahrle’s position, their easterly move1ST BATTALION ment is from left to right in an attempt to flank Delta Company’s position on the north before beginning their attack. KILLED Sahrle and his men begin yelling at Recon, “Get 47 WOUNDED out of there! Run for it! Let’s go!” The Recon soldiers drop their rucks and sprint as hard as they can go the 100 meters (109 yards) to Delta’s perimeter. Only afterward is it known the Recon’s two PRC-25 radios are purposely left behind by the RTOs to lighten their load. At least they remembered to twist the dials to make sure the enemy couldn’t detect the radio frequencies being used. As soon as the Recon team is clear of the hill, Sahrle and several others open fire on the enemy force with their M16s. The enemy doesn’t return fire. They are still not wanting to disclose their position in the trees as they close in for the attack. Pfc. Lyle Stoner is with 3rd Platoon in Delta Company’s perimeter. He sees the Recon team’s frantic flight through the heat of the burning berm fire and broiling sun. They are exhausted. Several suffer from heat exhaustion. They collapse inside the perimeter. Doc enlists Stoner to help treat those who are in the worst condition. He tosses a saline solution bag from his medical kit to Stoner. He points to a prostrate soldier and tells him to plug it into his arm. Stoner looks at the bag, the soldier and then back to Doc. He has never done an IV before. Doc reassures him, “I’ll talk you through it.” One step at a time, Stoner follows the medic’s instructions, “Put the tourniquet on his upper arm good and tight. Next, find a vein on his arm below the tourniquet. Should be one around the inside of his elbow. Take the needle and stick it in the biggest vein you see.” Stoner complies. It takes him three sticks to get a vein. The barely conscious soldier is too exhausted to complain. The needle is in. Stoner tells the medic, “Nothing’s happening!” Doc tells Stoner, “Loosen the tourniquet.” That works. The saline

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solution begins to flow. Twenty minutes later the soldier comes around. Jokingly, Doc tells Stoner, “I’ll put you in for a Combat Medic Badge!” Stoner smiles and gives a quick, “No thank you!” Quietly, he is glad he could help. That is what good soldiers do. Whatever it takes. The Recon team is done. They are still suffering effects of heat exhaustion. They are also now without their equipment and radio. Roy decides to put them on the next helicopter out. They’ve performed a vital mission. Their early identification of the enemy force moving toward Delta Company saved many lives. At that time the enemy force was within 100 yards of Delta Company. American artillery from nearby firebases was cranked up. A Navy ship in the South China Sea added its guns to the fight. Massed fires of three batteries and the Navy destroyer created “the most awesome firepower display Delta Company soldiers have ever seen, heard, felt, or even imagined,” Sherwood writes and adds: “The results of the destructive force of massed artillery fires won’t be known until tomorrow. What is obvious immediately is the enemy attack hasn’t and won’t reach Delta Company’s position.” Operation Lamar Plain officially ended on Aug. 13. V

After Vietnam, Ed Sherwood served as an infantry officer in assignments in the 3rd Armored Division in Germany, the U.S. Army Infantry School and the 197th Infantry Brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia. He retired from active duty as a lieutenant colonel in 1988.

Members of Delta Company discuss their battles and receive treatment for the wounds they received during the fighting near Tam Ky on Aug. 12, 1969. A box of Cracker Jack from back home aids in one soldier’s recovery.

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MORE THAN A COLLECTION OF OBJECTS U.S. ARMY’S NEW MUSEUM HAS BECOME A PLACE FOR SHARED EXPERIENCES By Zita Ballinger Fletcher

PHOTO CREDITS COURTESY ROGER SCHULTZ; OPPORSITE PAGE: DUANE LEMPKE/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATE ARMY

he National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, has created a Vietnam War exhibit as part of its Cold War gallery which is proving to be popular with Vietnam veterans and their families. The museum, which opened on Nov. 11, 2020, encapsulates the entire history of the U.S. Army in a 185,000-square-foot space with displays that emphasize the personal experiences of the men and women who have served. The museum staff combined artifacts, LEFT: Retired Lt. Gen. war-related objects, digital displays, cast models and pylons with Roger Schultz, who served biographical information of individual service members to create in a mechanized infantry in Vietnam, says the an experience that accurately documents the Vietnam War and unit museum shows Vietnam brings to life many of its forgotten aspects. vets how they fit into “They [veterans] connect not only Army history. The cast figure of an infantryman, with the big things but also with the right, is Schultz’s favorite little things,” said chief of exhibits Paul element in the Vietnam due to its high Morando. “The feedback we’re getting exhibit level of detail. is about the attention to detail.” The museum’s Vietnam section “brings back so many memories,” said retired Lt. Gen. Roger Schultz, president of the U.S. Army Historical Foundation. Schultz, a former director of the U.S. Army National Guard, has said that his perspectives as a soldier were forged in Vietnam, where he served as a platoon leader in 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, and later as a scout platoon leader. His numerous military awards include the Silver Star and two Purple Hearts. Schultz appreciates the care and meticulousness with which the museum staff designed the Vietnam displays.

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PHOTO CREDITS COURTESY ROGER SCHULTZ; OPPORSITE PAGE: DUANE LEMPKE/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATE ARMY

A B “We talk to Vietnam vets all the time. They identify with the equipment they carried. It’s personal for everybody.”

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A The National Museum of the United States Army charts the Army’s history through the stories of individual soldiers. B This map of Vietnam, which shows the terrain’s features in raised relief, has become a focal point for veterans to share details of their service. C The Vietnam War exhibit contains cast figures, artifacts and interactive elements displayed within the Cold War gallery. D One of the artifacts is a notebook kept by reporter Charles L. Black, who covered the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam in 1966 for Georgia’s Ledger-Enquirer newspaper. E This boonie hat belonged to Capt. Terry Van Meter, shot three times in combat in 1968. After medical retirement Van Meter became a military historian.

“We talk to Vietnam vets all the time,” he said. “They all identify with the pieces of equipment that they carried. It’s personal for everybody.” Schultz, an Iowa native, reported to his unit in Vietnam in April 1969. He was a self-described “brand-new soldier.” Although it takes a “short while to prove your worth” to an infantry platoon in combat, Schultz said, the men of his new platoon were ready to bond with him, which he will never forget. “From the day I arrived in my first platoon assignment, that platoon just adopted me,” he said. “They didn’t know me from anybody,” he said. “But I was their lieutenant, and they adopted me instantly—I mean, within a day. It was clear to me that they wanted to keep me alive as much as I wanted to keep them alive while performing our missions. It was really clear.” Hopscotching across the country in a mechanized infantry unit, Schultz covered a lot of terrain during his tour, including in areas north and west of Cu Chi and across Tay Ninh province between Saigon and Cambodia. One feature of the terrain that looms large in his memories is the extinct volcano Nui Ba Den, the “Black Virgin Mountain.” Rising more than 3,200 feet from a flat landscape, the lonely peak is an ancient shrine steeped in spiritualism and tragic legend. It is veiled by cold, impenetrable fog at nightfall, and visibility on its slopes was reduced to zero in darkness, reported Stars and Stripes in 1969. A mere 18 miles from Cambodia, the eerie mountain became even more ominous in wartime due to its proximity to the Ho Chi Minh trail, where guerrilla activity was always a danger. Schultz’s survival largely depended on his ability to learn fast in the field. “I was in combat the first mission, the first day,” he said, recalling his

A, C: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; B, D, E: SCOTT METZLER/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY;:

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A, C: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; B, D, E: SCOTT METZLER/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY;:

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F These clothes were worn by U.S. Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Jon R. Cavaiani as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Cavaiani, imprisoned in the notoriously brutal “Hanoi Hilton,” was held captive from June 1971 to March 1973. He received the Medal of Honor for protecting his comrades in events that led to his capture. G This Huey helicopter served in combat missions in Vietnam and was painstakingly restored. Three lifelike cast figures are seated inside, including a pilot and door gunner. H Pylons bring to light the experiences of diverse service personnel in Vietnam and connect visitors with individual stories. I The door gunner in the Huey is one of many cast figures meticulously created for the museum. The figures were inspired by historical images and developed in a detail-oriented process that used currently serving soldiers as models.

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F: SCOTT METZLER/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; G, I: DUANE LEMPKE/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; H; NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

The museum’s Vietnam gallery has become a gathering place bringing veterans, their families and other visitors together.

F: SCOTT METZLER/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; G, I: DUANE LEMPKE/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; H; NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

brush with the enemy in the small rural district of Dau Tieng. “We did the complete range of missions, from convoy security to defensive operations to offensive operations.” Telephone calls to family were nonexistent, and care packages from back home were “a lifeline.” What really stands out to Schultz from those hard times are the soldiers he served with. “I was in a rifle platoon,” he said. “The soldiers around one another are the strength of those units. When you get in combat, you’re depending on every soldier in that unit to look after soldiers in their squads or in their platoons. That’s what we did. The soldiers that I served with were phenomenal. They’d never quit. I’m proud of those kids. They were really something special.” Schultz proudly recalls working side by side on missions with men of the South Vietnamese airborne forces. “It was fantastic,” he said. “They’re superb soldiers—I mean, really courageous.” The Vietnamese paratroopers flew from their base in Saigon on missions all over the country, Schultz said,

yet their contributions are often overlooked. He also cherishes the memory of his best friend, Lt. Corbin Tindall, who served in the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) and was killed in Vietnam. Thus, for Schultz, the museum’s Vietnam War gallery contains much more than just objects. It is a place where veterans’ experiences can be honored and shared openly. A particularly special spot for Vietnam veterans is the gallery’s large three-dimensional map fleshed out with terrain features. It has become a gathering point bringing veterans, their families and other visitors together. “There are any number of stories about Vietnam vets who have talked to nobody,” Schultz said. “In many cases we don’t know of their stoF E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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Trip Tips

Location: 1775 Liberty Drive, Fort Belvoir, Virginia Hours: 9 a.m.–5 p.m., daily except Dec. 25 Price: Admission is free, but tickets are required for timed entry. Food: Museum cafe offers lunch and snack options. Phone: 1-800-506-2672 Website: www.thenmusa. org Advice: Bring a mask or face covering. They are required regardless of vaccination status for visitors over 2 years old.

J These punji stakes were used by the Viet Cong. Communist guerrilla forces were notorious for their use of improvised weapons and concealed booby traps. The stakes are part of a small group of Viet Cong objects in the exhibit. K Viet Cong “sappers,” who were commando-style troops, and assault units used small, handheld woven cane baskets like this one to carry Chinese stick-type fragmentation grenades.

ries. We’ve had Vietnam veterans come here and tell a story about where they were across this countryside who have never said anything to their wives or to their kids before. So, for the first time in their lives, they’re now explaining where they were in Vietnam. On this map.” Schultz encourages fellow Vietnam veterans to visit the museum to gain a greater perspective of their service and sacrifices within the U.S. Army’s legacy as a whole. “We had an Army before we had a nation,” he points out. “It’s the selfless service, selfless duty of millions who have helped save this nation.” Veterans who visit the museum “will learn how their tour of duty fits into Army history and how it connects with others who served,” Schultz said. “It all relates. From the first to last gallery, a veteran’s story is embedded in all these places.” Schultz also believes that veterans’ family members, civilians and those unfamiliar with the Vietnam War can gain a better understanding of the war from visiting the exhibit and the other sections of the museum as well. “The Army doesn’t send itself to war,” Schultz said. “Civilian leaders send us to war. People need to remember that.” V

Zita Ballinger Fletcher is senior editor of Vietnam magazine. 58

J: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY; K: SCOTT METZLER/NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

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STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (required by Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code). 1. Vietnam 2. (ISSN: 1046-2902) 3. Filing date: 10/1/21. 4. Issue frequency: Bi Monthly. 5. Number of issues published annually: 6. 6. The annual subscription price is $39.95. 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: HistoryNet, 901 N Glebe Rd, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203. 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: HistoryNet, 901 N Glebe Rd, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203. 9. Full names and complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor. Publisher, Michael A. Reinstein, HistoryNet, 901 N Glebe Rd, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203, Editor, Chuck Springston, HistoryNet, 901 N Glebe Rd, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203, Editor in Chief, Alex Neill, HistoryNet, 901 N Glebe Rd, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203. 10. Owner: HistoryNet; 901 N Glebe Rd, 5th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203. 11. Known bondholders, mortgages, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent of more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None. 12. Tax status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publisher title: Vietnam. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: October 2021. 15. The extent and nature of circulation: A. Total number of copies printed (Net press run). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 40,376. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 41,734. B. Paid circulation. 1. Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 28,181. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 28,960. 2. Mailed in-county paid subscriptions. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 3,570. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 3,862. 4. Paid distribution through other classes mailed through the USPS. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. C. Total paid distribution. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,751. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date; 32,822. D. Free or nominal rate distribution (by mail and outside mail). 1. Free or nominal Outside-County. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 2. Free or nominal rate in-county copies. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other Classes through the USPS. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 0. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 4. Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 599. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 579. E. Total free or nominal rate distribution. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 599. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 579. F. Total free distribution (sum of 15c and 15e). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 32,350. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 33,401. G. Copies not Distributed. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 8,026. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 8,333. H. Total (sum of 15f and 15g). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 40,376. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing: 41,734. I. Percent paid. Average percent of copies paid for the preceding 12 months: 98.1% Actual percent of copies paid for the preceding 12 months: 98.3% 16. Electronic Copy Circulation: A. Paid Electronic Copies. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. B. Total Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 31,751. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 32,822. C. Total Print Distribution (Line 15f) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 32,250. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 33,401. D. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c x 100). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 98.1%. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 98.3%. I certify that 50% of all distributed copies (electronic and print) are paid above nominal price: Yes. Report circulation on PS Form 3526-X worksheet 17. Publication of statement of ownership will be printed in the February 2022 issue of the publication. 18. Signature and title of editor, publisher, business manager, or owner: Shawn G. Byers, VP, 50th Anniversary Coin Stamps.indd 1 VIE-220200-001 Mystic Stamps Audience Development & Circulation. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanction and civil actions.

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U.S. Special Forces members advise South Vietnamese soldiers and local militia troops on patrol near Cambodia in November 1969 as they fight the Viet Cong insurgency. U.S. commanders had to develop not only a counterinsurgency plan for guerrilla forces but also a strategy for battling the conventional forces of the North Vietnamese Army.

As old as war itself, insurgencies—and corresponding counterinsurgencies—have emerged as the most common form of armed conflict in the modern age. Yet, many Western observers can scarcely explain what constitutes a counCounterinsurgency: terinsurgency, much less how to conduct one. Theory and British scholars Daniel Whittingham and Stuart Reality Mitchell examine that disconnect and the evoluBy Daniel tion of counterinsurgency doctrine and practice Whittingham and over the last two centuries in Counterinsurgency: Stuart Mitchell Theory and Reality. Casemate, 2021 Mindful of the inherent ambiguMEDIA ities with the term “counterinsurDIGEST gency,” Whittingham and Mitchell begin by providing a concise definition. “Counterinsurgency is a violent intervention conducted to defeat an insurgency either locally, regionally, or internationally,” they write. “This may rely on a combination of political, military, legal, psycho60

logical, social, civic or economic means.” Counterinsurgents, moreover, are advised to consider the nature of the insurgency and the political motivations of the insurgents. By the early 1900s, Whittingham and Mitchell note, European armies had acquired considerable experience in colonial wars and the “pacification” of indigenous populations. From these conflicts and other “wars of empire,” the Europeans developed a set of basic counterinsurgency techniques, including the use of relocation camps, large-scale sweeps and repressive measures to enforce compliance. British doctrine eventually espoused close civil-military cooperation and, whenever possible, minimal force, an approach later adopted by American theorists. Nevertheless, force and coercion figured prominently in the U.S. campaign in the Philippines (1899-1903) and the British response to the Irish

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IN VIETNAM, AMERICANS PIONEERED NEW TYPE OF COUNTERINSURGENCY

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War of Independence (1919-21), two of the more compelling case studies on the intellectual origins of counterinsurgency. More important, both reflect the book’s central theme—that counterinsurgency theories often obscure the brutal reality of counterinsurgency warfare. This was particularly true after Word War II as the French, British and Portuguese struggled to preserve their crumbling colonial empires. The conduct of British security forces in Kenya (1952-60), for instance, prompted a leading authority to call that period “the horror story of Britain’s empire in the 1950s.” Similar in some respects to an anti-colonial conflict, the Vietnam War was arguably the first in which a global superpower fought alongside and on behalf of a “host” nation. Vietnam remains historically significant, the authors argue, because it is frequently cited as “an example of a failed campaign.” Critics maintain the war was unwinnable, and when the U.S. attempted to conduct counterinsurgency operations, the Army’s hidebound, narrow-minded officer corps botched the job. Much of the blame falls on Gen. William Westmoreland, head of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. His detractors allege that he expressed little interest in counterinsurgency and instead waged a fruitless war of attrition predicated on body counts. Whittingham and Mitchell present a more nuanced view of the war. Acknowledging that some scholars “judge everything the US did in Vietnam as a failure simply because [it] lost,” they correctly point out that Westmoreland faced a potent conventional threat as well as an entrenched insurgency. As

the former MACV chief lamented, he could not simply ignore the enemy’s big units without inviting disaster. Nor did the Army dismiss the importance of counterinsurgency. “The US put more into their counterinsurgency effort than is often realized,” the authors assert. “In the end, the US lost its war in Vietnam not because it failed to learn or to do ‘counterinsurgency properly’; instead, it lost in spite of its efforts to forge an effective strategy and not because that effort was lacking at all.” Rather, the U.S. lacked the ability to remake a politically fractured country in the midst of a bitter civil war. Concluding with a thoughtful review of “modern counterinsurgency” in Iraq and Afghanistan, Counterinsurgency: Theory and Reality reminds us that historical context matters. What worked in the past may not necessarily work in the present—and even the most well-intentioned and enlightened counterinsurgency theories rely to a large extent on force and violence. —Warren Wilkins

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A Guide to the Life of a U.S. Infantryman in Vietnam This concise and informative book succeeds in its ambitious goal to produce a comprehensive document on the field experiences of U.S. Army infantrymen in Vietnam, presented in the form of a soldier’s manual. Drawing on a wealth of sources, including field manuals, technical and weapons manuals, instructional booklets, infantry guidebooks, after-action reports and intelligence analyses, The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual reconstructs the Vietnam War from the perspective of American soldiers operating in the field. While acknowledging that “there can be some significant difference between reality and written records,” pocket manual Editor Chris McNab has painstakingly reproduced a compendium that he hopes will “provide a detailed insight into how the U.S. Army infantry was adapting to an emerging type of warfare—counterinsurgency— and doing so with a new generation of weapons and equipment.” McNab offers a time capsule of information covering arguably all facets of infantry combat in Vietnam. The book is divided into five chapters encompassing training and orientation; equipment and weaponry; understanding the enemy; infantry tactics and operations; and airmobile

combat and air/fire support. Each chapter thoroughly covers its topic. “Chapter 3: Understanding the Enemy,” for example, details nearly all of the guerrilla warfare techniques used by the communists, including methods employed to organize resistance movements, types of ambushes and escape methods— knowledge that would be useful for soldiers learning how to defeat the Viet Cong. The book addresses the practical aspects of an infantryman’s life in Vietnam, such as how to adapt to jungle surroundings. It also provides an introduction to Vietnamese culture to ease interactions with locals. An especially interesting aspect of the book is its inclusion of “Lessons Learned” and information drawn from contemporary after-action reports, to which the editor has added helpful descriptions, including dates and sources, to provide context. There are gems such as infantry “patrol tips,” immediate action and maneuver techniques, as well as methods for fighting in various situations and environments. Particularly fascinating elements include a section describing methods of fighting in rock complexes and an excerpt from an illustrated 1968 brochure explaining how to identify and destroy

The U.S. Army Infantryman Vietnam Pocket Manual

Edited by Chris McNab Casemate, 2021

F E B R UA RY 2 0 2 2

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Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 87th Infantry Regiment, walk on patrol north of the Long Binh base near Saigon in November 1972. In Vietnam the infantry fought with a new generation of weapons and equipment.

VC hiding places and tunnels. Also included are tips on how to launch successful ambushes and defend against commando attacks, along with methods for breakout, evasion and survival. Additionally, the book takes an extensive look at the war’s weaponry and equipment, accompanied by diagrams and maintenance guides. It also includes information on calling in air support and artillery tactics. Richly enhanced with photos and illustrations, the infantryman’s pocket manual is well organized and of a conveniently compact size to

allow for easy storage and reading. It is a valuable research tool for general readers seeking an overview of infantry combat during the Vietnam War and is particularly useful for those who wish to gain a closer understanding of the conduct of ground operations. The book’s detailed breakdowns of tactics and analyses produced by military minds is perhaps its greatest strength, making it particularly valuable to readers with an interest in studying counterinsurgency and the fine details of infantry combat techniques. —Zita Ballinger Fletcher

Vietnam 1972: Quang Tri

By Charles D. Melson Osprey Publishing, 2021

In a popular bit of lore surrounding the British capture and burning of Washington, D.C., in August 1814, the Royal Marines spared the American Marine barracks—perhaps because the U.S. Marines held their ground at a battle in Bladensburg, Maryland, two hours after the rest of the American force had retreated in disorder or perhaps just professional courtesy. In Vietnam 1972: Quang Tri former U.S. Marine Corps Chief Historian Charles D. Melson extends similar professional courtesy to South Vietnam’s marine corps. Although arranged to describe essential-

ly two different battles for the same ground, this book, by Melson’s own admission, focuses almost entirely on the South Vietnamese marines, with little more than their respective orders of battle to offer on the thousands of other participants in the fight. On March 30, 1972, the North Vietnamese Army launched a conventional invasion of South Vietnam, and on April 2 an NVA armored column reached an American-built bridge across the Cua Viet River that offered swift access to Route 1, Dong Ha and Quang Tri near the De-

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South Vietnamese Marines Impressed U.S. Marines

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militarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. This fast-moving journey As the first tank approached, through a century of Vietnamese marine Sgt. Huyn Van Luom fired an M72 light anti-tank soldiers’ heartbreak and weapon at the vehicle, missed, then rage at being dumped by launched a second M72 round that their sweethearts reveals struck the turret, disabling it. The the psychological NVA tanker backed away to cover, between distance sapping the momentum from the the home front and the entire tank column. war theater, but even more Shortly afterward, two U.S. adtellingly illuminates the visers, Army Maj. James Smock and war between men eternal Marine Capt. John Ripley, braved enemy fire to place charges under and women. the bridge and blow it up. Smock NANCY F. COTT, author of was awarded the Silver Star and Fighting Words: The Brave American Ripley the Navy Cross, but Luom’s Journalists Who Brought the World deed became fixed in Ripley’s memHome between the Wars ory as the “bravest single act of heroism I’ve ever heard of, witnessed or experienced.” Despite that setback, the North Vietnamese offensive proceeded. The NVA reached Quang Tri on April 27 www.cambridge.org/dearjohn and took it on May 1. Blame flew at most elements of the South Vietnamese armed forces, but Melson stands up for the courage and professionalism exhibited by the Vietnam46952.indd 1 01/11/2021 ese marines in holding their position as long as possible and in covering the flood of South Vietnamese army and civilian refugees from the doomed city. Melson goes on to describe the Vietnamese marines’ prominent role in retaking Quang Tri’s ruined Citadel on Sept. 16—the climax of an 81day counterattack. While it is welcome to see an exceptional South Vietnamese fighting force given overdue credit, the author’s 2022 Tours: approach seems more appropriate for Osprey’s “Elite” series, which usually II, III, and IV-Corps - (March 6-20, 2022) covers such units.“Campaign” books I-Corps - Emphasis on Northern I-Corps - (March 6-22, 2022) typically offer a comprehensive look at both camps, but in Vietnam 1972: VIE-220200-003 Cambridge Press - 1/3 SQUARE.indd 1Marine Reconnaissance - (March 20 - April 3, 2022) Quang Tri the Vietnamese marines 5th Infantry Division & Lam Son 719 - (March 20 - April 3, 2022) are virtually running the show. I-Corps - Emphasis on Southern I-Corps - (May 1-15, 2022) Marines of all stripes should love II, III, and IV-Corps - (Sept. 4-18, 2022) this book, although anyone wanting an overview of the two Quang Tri Marine Corps Epic Battles Tour - (Sept. 4-19, 2022) campaigns might want to read other books as well. 1-877-231-9277 (toll free) —Jon Guttman

“

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FATHER IN VALOR By Doug Sterner

George Smith Patton IV, asked what it was like to grow up in the shadow of a World War II icon, replied in a 1977 interview: “I’ve never worried about it. I’ve been too busy.” Born in Boston on Dec. 24, 1923, he was the fourth in his family to bear the George Smith Patton name. The first was his great-grandfather, a Confederate colonel killed during the Third Battle of Winchester in Virginia. His grandfather, George Smith Patton Jr., was a lawyer and politician in California. His father, third in the lineage but also a “Jr.,” served in two world wars and earned two Distinguished Service Crosses and two Silver Stars. George Patton IV was in his last year at West Point HALL OF when his father died in December 1945 of injuries from an automobile accident in Germany. The son changed his VALOR name to drop the Roman numeral. After graduation in 1946, Patton was sent to Germany as an infantry officer and participated in the 1948 Berlin Airlift. In 1952 he became an armor officer. A year later, while in Korea with the 140th Tank Battalion, 40th Infantry Division, Patton received a Silver Star and Purple Heart. Patton served in Vietnam in 1962-63 and returned for a shorter tour in 1967. A third tour began in January 1968. In April, after being promoted to colonel, he was given command of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. On Aug. 9, during a search operation with a unit from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the ARVN troops were struck by enemy forces fighting from tunnels under the village of Chanh Luu, north of Saigon. Patton 64

Doug Sterner, an Army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, is curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor database of U.S. valor awards.

U.S. ARMY

GEORGE S. PATTON IV SON MATCHES FAMOUS

instructed his senior staff to cover him while he took a smoke grenade (he couldn’t find a fragmentation grenade) and advanced toward the enemy. Exposing himself to heavy fire, he threw the smoke grenade into a tunnel opening. Patton’s actions resulted in 16 enemy killed, the capture of 99 suspected Viet Cong and a second Silver Star. On Sept. 5, Patton, in his command helicopter, saw 58 North Vietnamese Army soldiers trying to escape the encirclement his troops had made. While his door gunners fired, Patton ordered his pilot to land. As the helicopter landed, it sustained heavy damage traced to fire from a ravine. Patton directed an assault that forced the NVA to withdraw. He also led a squad in an attack on the ravine. Patton personally captured one soldier and killed two as they tried to flee the ravine. He received the Distinguished Service Cross. On Sept. 24 Patton and the 11th Armored Cavalry were on an operation near Chanh Luu with ARVN rangers. When enemy fire from a house slowed the rangers’ momentum, Patton ordered his helicopter to land. He disembarked and, as the firing continued, moved the rangers into a supporting position near the NVA, while blasting the enemy with a grenade launcher. Patton then led his men on a charge that demolished the house and exposed a heavily fortified bunker. As his men covered him, Patton crawled across the open terrain and threw a grenade into the entrance. It didn’t do the job. Patton came back with two other men and TNT, which pulverized the bunker. He received another Distinguished Service Cross. The son matched in two wars the two Distinguished Service Crosses and two Silver Stars awarded to his father in two wars. Before he left Vietnam, Patton’s decorations included a Distinguished Flying Cross and 27 Air Medals. Patton received his first star in 1970 and his second in 1975. As a major general, he commanded the 2nd Armored Division (1975-77), the same division his father had led. They are the only father and son to command the same Army division. While in Germany, Patton became friends with Stuttgart’s mayor, Manfred Rommel, also born on Christmas Eve, five years after Patton. Rommel was the son of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, whose German tanks had gone head-to-head with Patton’s father in North Africa. After Patton retired in 1980, the two remained friends. Patton died from Parkinson’s disease on June 27, 2004. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. V

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