Abandoned in Hell : The Fight for Vietnam's Firebase Kate (9780698144262) (36 page)

MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam), 13, 190

MACV RECONDO Combat Operations Course (COC), 62

Maddox, Bob, 136, 137

Magee, John Gillespie, Jr., 198

Malvestuto, Terry, 286

Matlock, Jim “Herbie,” 144–50, 249, 286–87

Matson, SP4 Richard D., 276

McFarland, Sergeant, 98, 113, 154, 225

McKim, Randolph Harrison, xxiv

McNamara, Robert, 109

Melville, Herman, 218, 228

Mike Force (Mobile Strike Force), xiii, xiv, 14, 15, 18, 41, 62, 112, 192–94, 196, 211–13, 224, 231–33, 237–39, 244–47, 263

Military Occupational Specialty 13B, 75

Ming, General Duong Van, 13–14

Moffett, Ken, 290, 294, 295

Monsoon season, 17

Montagnard soldiers, v, xi–xiii, 6, 10–14, 26, 28–30, 69–71, 78, 87–91, 95–96, 123, 124, 148, 175, 190, 192, 213–14, 220, 223, 226, 234, 235

Moore, Major, 176

Moore, PFC Thomas M., 275

Mortars, development of, 24

Mosher, SP5 Craig W., 275

Murphy, Joe, 47–50

My Lai massacre, 53

Nachtigall, Dave, 136

Nadine, PFC Dennis, 120

Napalm, 4, 147, 176

National Security Agency (NSA), 16

Native Americans, 11–12

Newsweek
magazine, 189

Nha Trang, 16, 37, 61, 125, 254, 293

Nha Trang Bay, 62

Nixon, Richard M., xi, 3, 126, 189–91

North Vietnamese forces (
see
People's Army of [North] Vietnam)

Norton, PFC Michael R., 114, 249–50, 274, 280

Nung troops, xiii, 15

NVA (
see
People's Army of [North] Vietnam)

O-1 Bird Dog, 17, 104, 107, 111, 112, 114, 129

Officer Candidate School, 49–58, 67

Officer promotions, 40–41

OH-6 Cayuse (LOACH), 103–4

Olsen, SP4 Pete, 145, 146

Operation Switchback, 13

OV-1 Mohawk, 17

Owen, Major Dean M., 201–4, 249, 260, 276

Palmer, Captain William, 62, 63

Parachute training, 57–58

Parker, Steven, 272

Patton, George S., Jr., 94, 152

PAVN (
see
People's Army of [North] Vietnam)

People's Army of [North] Vietnam (PAVN), 1, 2, 6, 14, 15, 36–37, 70, 79, 80, 86, 89, 90, 96, 97, 101–4, 107, 112, 115–16, 119, 124–26, 141–44, 147–50, 156–58, 167–69, 174–79, 186, 188–91, 194, 202, 206, 207, 209, 211, 212, 224, 226, 230–31, 235–38, 245–47, 250, 253–54

24th Infantry Regiment, 19

28th Infantry Regiment, 18, 212

32nd Infantry Regiment, 19

40th Artillery Regiment, 18

66th Regiment, xii, 18–19, 81, 207, 212

174th Infantry Regiment, 19

K-393 Artillery Battalion, 18

Pepke, Major General Donn R., 125–26

Phan Rang, 34, 170, 174

Phuc, Phan Thi Kim, 4

Phyllis Ann project, 162, 163

“Picket-Guard, The” (Beers), 208

Pierelli, Sergeant Dan, 79–80, 86, 87, 89, 90, 95, 99, 101, 102, 161–62, 166, 168, 169, 174, 187, 191, 195, 211, 225, 226, 232–36, 243, 245, 246, 248, 263–64, 273, 287

Platt, Air Force FAC William E., 112, 179, 287

Plei Me Special Forces Camp, 124–26

Pleiku City, 15, 16, 62, 124, 125, 145

Pluhar, Larry, 268

Plummer, SP4 Ernest C., 276

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 33, 195

Pries, Colonel Hugh, 297

Project Friday Gap, 269–70

Pugh, Dick, 278

Quang Duc province, 16

Quang Tri province, 19

“Reaper and the Flowers, The” (Longfellow), 106

Recoilless rifles, 97

Relief columns, 123–24

Republic of Korea troops, 16

Resquist, Lieutenant, 169

Rickenbacker, Captain Eddie, 223

Riovo, Major, 77

Rock Island, Illinois, 45

Rogers, Gerald “Tex,” 69, 73, 77, 98, 229, 230, 232, 245, 248–49, 288

Roosevelt, Theodore, 19

Ross, First Lieutenant Ronald A., 153–56, 173, 174, 180–82, 195, 215, 274, 288–90

Ross, John, 290

Ross, Trisha, 290

ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps), 49, 53, 62

Royal Thai Army, 15, 60

Ryder, First Lieutenant Ken, 142

Saigon Cowboys, 5

Schilling, Bobby, 290, 294–95

Schmidt, Elvira, 291

Schulz, Charles, 223

Scott, Forrest, 29, 30, 80–81

11 Corps, 16, 34, 261

Serain, SP4 Calvin, 136, 275

Shadow (
see
AC-119G Shadow)

Shakespeare, William, 266

“Sheridan at Cedar Creek” (Melville), 218

Shriver, WO1 Kenneth, 276

Sidle, General Winant, 36

Simmons, Lieutenant Colonel Frank, 9, 10, 192

Simmons, Sergeant First Class Don, 248

Simpson, First Lieutenant Norman, 275

Smith, Elizabeth Clark, 27, 291

Smith, First Lieutenant Mike, 26–31, 67, 68, 70, 71, 77, 78, 80, 87, 91, 97, 99–100, 110–11, 116, 154, 209–11, 214, 226, 230, 235, 237, 243, 245, 246, 248, 256, 288, 290–91

Smith, Justin, 291

South Vietnam Air Force (VNAF), 3, 4, 14

South Vietnamese forces (
see
Army of the Republic of [South] Vietnam), 2–3

Special Forces (
see
United States forces)

Spectre (
see
AC-130H Spectre gunship)

Spooky (
see
AC-47 Spooky gunship)

Stevens, Sergeant First Class, 246–48

Strange Captain John, 104, 105, 114, 249

Sullivan brothers, 60

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 8

Tet Offensive, 2–3, 145

TH-55 Osage, 131

Thanh Hoa, 18

37 mm anti-aircraft gun, 142

Tidmore, Sergeant, 76

Tierney, Lieutenant George, 63

Tiranti, PFC Bernie, 98, 113, 118, 154, 157, 187, 248, 284, 291

Trace ammunition, 147

Trang Phuoc (Ban Don), 28, 29, 69, 79

Travis, William, 219

12.7 mm machine gun, 235–36

Typhoon, The
, magazine, 191–92

U-2 spy plane, 16–17

UH-1 gunship, 110, 114–16, 131, 132, 142, 144, 176

Uhring, WO1 Frank G., 276

United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races Front (Front Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées, FULRO), 14

United States forces

First Air Cavalry Division, 18–19, 124

First Aviation Brigade 48th AHC, 114, 132, 133, 134, 142, 249

First Aviation Brigade 155th AHC, 131, 133–35, 144–46, 199, 201, 203, 240, 249, 259

First Aviation Brigade 189th AHC, 144, 145, 249

1st Cavalry Division, xii, 19

I Field Force Vietnam (IFFV), 36, 41, 42, 16, 17, 19, 32–34, 125, 191, 220, 260

First Infantry Division, 221

United States forces (
cont.
)

4th Infantry Division, xiii, 19, 125, 126, 132, 190

Fifth Special Forces Group, 13–15, 35, 59–62, 190, 257

6th Special Operations Squadron, 223

17th Cavalry, 103

22nd Artillery, 34, 153, 154, 210, 289

27th Artillery, 28

35th Tactical Fighter Wing, 108

46th Special Forces Company, 60

52nd Artillery Group, 41

71st Evacuation Hospital, 177

92nd Artillery, 25–26, 28

101st Airborne Division, 38, 51, 133, 134

155th Assault Helicopter Company, 18

173rd Airborne Division, 19

185th Recon Company, 80, 104

486th Bomb Squadron, 177

559th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 108

after-action reports, 70, 125, 148

Air Force, 129–30

Army Air Corps, 129, 162

Army Security Agency, 16

Army Signal Corps, 53

Army Special Warfare Center, 58

Military Intelligence, 18

Special Forces Officers' Course, 58–59

Special Forces Team A-233, 28, 29, 69, 79–81

Special Forces Team A-234, 29, 112, 269

Special Forces Team A-236, 9, 10, 12, 15, 81, 253

Special Forces Team A-239, 19

Special Forces Team B-23, 9, 81, 112, 150, 158, 192, 220

Strategic Air Command, 175

Task Force Alpha, 125

Task Force Fighter, 125–26

USS
Juneau
, 60

Ut, Nick, 4

Utapao Royal Air Base, Thailand, 173–75, 177

Viet Cong, 2, 3, 12, 13, 15, 80, 123–25, 177, 221

Viet Minh, 12, 37, 86

Vietnam Memorial, Washington Mall, 2

Vietnamization, xi, 3, 5, 6, 126, 190, 259–61

Vinh Loc, Major General, 124, 125

VNAF (
see
South Vietnam Air Force)

War Between the States, 23

Ware, Major General Keith, 221, 222

Watson, WO1 Jerry, 275

Weapons, history of artillery, 23–25

Weather conditions, 66, 71–72, 132

Weaver, SP4 Billy, 220

Wells, CPT, 298

Whiteside, Captain Richard, 150, 257

Whitman, Walt, 84

Wilcox, SP5 Mike, 202–4, 207, 275

Wiles, SP4 Ronnie, 276

Wolf, Captain Marvin, xiv, 50

World War II, 31, 33, 54, 60, 74, 129

Wright, Colonel B. R., 204, 276

“Young British Soldier, The” (Kipling), 128

Zollner, First Lieutenant Maurice “Moe,” 174, 176–78, 195, 211, 214, 237, 243, 245, 246, 248, 268, 292,
299

1
   Full disclosure: Coauthor Wolf cowrote General Ky's wartime memoir,
Buddha's Child
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002), from which the above is drawn.

2
   In March 1975, more than a year after US combat troops withdrew from Vietnam, the North Vietnamese took BMT. Surrounded by PAVN regiments backed by heavy artillery and Soviet-built tanks, the 23rd Division offered stiff resistance for a few days, then broke. In panic, retreating troops stripped off their uniforms, threw away their boots, and fled into the countryside. Two months later, 100,000 PAVN troops seized Saigon to complete their conquest and end the war.

3
   My coauthor, then an Army combat correspondent in the First Air Cav's Public Information Office, was involved in the preparation of a “backgrounder” press briefing that described these negotiations.

4
   See Appendix.

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