The Magnificent Bastards (59 page)

Authors: Keith Nolan

BOOK: The Magnificent Bastards

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In turn, demoralized Alpha Company went to 1st Lt. Hal Bell, who had recently taken over Alpha Two and was soon to be promoted to captain. Snyder commented that “within six or eight weeks, Bell had pretty much turned the company around. Bell turned them into a bunch of tigers.” Commissioned from OCS after college, Bell, who had a winning personality and got along well with his men, also had the advantage of having attended the sixty-day British Jungle Warfare School in Malaya. He spent ten months commanding the Americal Division’s Combat Tracker Platoon, which employed tracker dogs—specially trained black labrador retrievers—and helped units find the enemy when contact was lost. Bell, thinking of making a career in the Army, had extended his tour to get a rifle company. He would eventually quit, disgusted at the no-win policy of Vietnamization that got a lot of GIs killed even as it lost the war.

In the meantime, however, Bell brought enthusiasm, aggressiveness, intelligence, and experience to Alpha Annihilator. In addition to enforcing the basics, he emphasized squad-sized night operations as the best way to catch the VC and NVA in the Que Sons and the Hiep Due Valley. Despite a lot of initial resistance from edgy, gun-shy troops, he remarked that “once you get used to it, your confidence level goes up.” The patrols killed a lot of surprised enemy soldiers who were moving at night in small groups or bedding down in remote hootches. “Once those guys started to get some successes, it became their idea of fun,” said Bell. “They would tell you the most ghoulish stories of what people were doing when they got ’Em.” Bell added that although the troops had demonstrated that “they would not put up with bullshit from incompetent leaders, the GIs’ recuperative powers are absolutely marvelous. It just amazes me some of the things they did. And they were not Regular Army—they were just draftees, and the lieutenants were just college kids. But if
you’ve got some captains, lieutenants, and sergeants that don’t screw up too bad and keep track of the fundamentals of the foot soldier, then those soldiers do very, very well.”

The Gimlets’ last recorded casualty on the DMZ occurred on 12 May 1968 when a soldier was hit in the back by fragments from the intermittent shelling on Force Tiger. The Gimlets killed a few more NVA as the operation wound down. Small groups of NVA were spotted after dark on 11, 12, 13, and 14 May as they crawled through the grass around Force Tiger to harass the perimeter and listening posts with grenades. The closest NVA were engaged with M79s, and the ones farthest away, visible under the near constant illumination, became targets for the artillery.

On 15 May, the 3-21st Infantry was relieved in place by elements of BLT 2/4, which marched up from Mai Xa Chanh West. The Army grunts got down in their bunkers when the Marines started filing along the paths through their claymores, trip flares, and concertina, as they expected all the movement to draw enemy artillery fire. Alpha Company was scheduled to turn over its positions first. A Marine lieutenant walked up to Sergeant Stone of Alpha Three and said, “We’re here to relieve your position. Have your men get out.”

“We dug these goddamn holes—we ain’t gettin’ out till they give the order to move,” Sergeant Stone answered. “They got this place zeroed with rockets. You know, your men are welcome to get in with us, but I’m not telling my men to get out of here.”

Staying under cover until it was finally time to leave, Alpha Company formed up into platoon columns and started south. A trash fire was burning inside a crater just outside the bunker line. Enemy munitions had been piled nearby—they were to be destroyed in the crater—and, somehow, what was later thought to be a satchel charge ended up in the blaze. The explosion set off the rest of the NVA ammunition in a huge fireball, which tipped over the Marine Otter parked nearby and sent the GIs standing on it flying. The explosion shook everyone up. They thought at first that the NVA were shelling them.
Sergeant Stone, heading back across the paddy in his file, noted that he “turned around and looked back, and here’s all this smoke and stuff going up. That was my last look at Nhi Ha. We kept right on going.”

Charlie and Delta Companies pulled out of Force Tiger by 1500 on 15 May, and all four of the 3-21st Infantry’s rifle companies spent the night dug in near the battalion CP with a flareship overhead. One NVA was spotted as he reconnoitered their perimeter. At 0700 on the sixteenth, USMC Sea Knights and Sea Stallions began lifting the battalion from the vicinity of Mai Xa Chanh East to the airfield at Quang Tri City. The move took eleven hours and forty lifts.

From Quang Tri, C-123s airlifted the Gimlets to FSB Baldy. Chinooks then moved the platoons from Baldy to FSB Colt, and on the morning of 17 May 1968 the Gimlets were back in the bush under 196th LIB control.

“What struck me the strongest was going back out in the Que Son Valley and starting to hump all over again,” said Sergeant Coulthard. “I think that’s when my discouragement with the war began. Not that I turned against the war, but I thought, My God, we’re going to have to do this for a long, long time. It’s when I really realized the magnitude of what the hell we were trying to do—and the enemy’s willingness to pay the price.”

1.
Captain Leach was awarded the Silver Star and his second Purple Heart for Nhi Ha. He also received two BSMv’s and an AM during his two combat tours.

2.
Sergeant Goad received the Silver Star, BSMv, ARCOMv, and Purple Heart, but his wound canceled his plans for OCS and resulted in his involuntary separation from the service because of physical disability.

Epilogue

Officially, the Battle of Dong Ha, as the 3d Marine Division labeled the series of actions above the Bo Dieu and Cua Viet rivers, lasted from 29 April until 15 May 1968. The brunt of the NVA offensive was borne by BLT 2/4 and the 3-21st Infantry in the Operation Napoleon/Saline TAOR, under the op-con of the 3d Marines. Considerable combat was also experienced by 1/3 in this sector, and by 3/3, 1/9, 3/9, and 1/ 26 near Cam Lo and Thon Cam Vu in the Operation Kentucky TAOR, as well as by the 1st ARVN Division above Dong Ha. Another highlight was the deployment of the 1st and 2d Battalions, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), which operated under the 3d Marines from 6 to 17 May. The Cav called its participation Operation Concordia Square, and its units ranged from northeast of Nhi Ha to north of Dong Ha.

The campaign was marked by heavy shellings of allied positions. More than a hundred tons of ammunition in the supply depot at the DHCB was blown up on 14 May. Total casualties in units under the operational control of the 3d Marine Division during this period were 233 killed, 821 wounded, and 1 missing in action. The Navy’s TF Clearwater lost 15 killed and 22 wounded. ARVN casualties, haphazardly reported, were 42 killed and 124 wounded. The NVA reportedly lost 2,366 dead and 43 prisoners.

The carnage bought only a week of relative peace for 3d Marine Division units along the DMZ before the next NVA offensive began.

Appendix A

Key Personnel of BLT 2/4, 9th MAB (opcon to the 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division), during Operation Night Owl and the Battle of Dai Do (27 April-3 May 1968):

CO: Lt. Col. William Weise (until WIA on 2 May); then Maj. Charles W. Knapp (acting until relieved by Lt. Col. Louis A. Rann on 6 May)

XO: Maj. Charles W. Knapp

Sgt. Maj.: Sg. Maj. John M. Malnar (until KIA on 2 May)

S1 (Personnel): IstLt. R. L. Jones

S2 (Intelligence): Capt. Richard J. Murphy

S3 (Operations): Maj. George F. Warren

S4 (Logistics): Capt. L. L. Forehand

Medical Officer: Lt. Frederick P. Lillis, USN; with Lt. Runas Powers, USN, and HM1 Walter R. Gorsage, USN

CO, H&S Company: 1st Lt. Edward S. Dawson

ECHO COMPANY

CO: Capt. James E. Livingston (until WIA on 2 May); then 2d Lt. Michael L. Cecil (acting)

XO: 1 st Lt. David R. Jones (until WIA on 2 May)

FO: GySgt. James Eggleston (WIA on 2 May)

1st Sgt.: not available

GySgt: GySgt. Roscoe Chandler

1st Pit. Comdr.: 2d Lt. Michael L. Cecil

1st Pit. Sgt.: not available

2d Pit. Comdr.: 1st Lt. James Sims (until WIA on 2 May)

2d Pit. Sgt.: not available

3d Pit. Comdr.: 1 st Lt. David R. Jones (acting until WIA on 2 May); then Sgt. James W. Rogers (acting)

3d Pit. Sgt.: not available

FOXTROT COMPANY

CO: Capt. James H. Butler

XO: 1 st Lt. James Wainwright

FO: 2d Lt. J. M. Basel (WIA on 30 April)

1st Sgt.: 1st Sgt. Theodore D. Duchateau

GySgt.: SSgt. Pedro P. Balignasay (acting until WIA on 1 May); then the assigned company gunnery sergeant, GySgt. P. E. Brandon, who had been in the battalion rear on an administrative run when the battle began

1st Pit. Comdr.: 2d Lt. David K. McAdams (until WIA on 2 May)

1st Pit. Sgt.: LCpl. Ronald J. Dean (acting until WIA on 2 May)

2d Pit. Comdr.: SSgt. Richard L. Bartlow (until KIA on 2 May)

2d Pit. Sgt.: Sgt. Albert Archaleta (until WIA on 2 May)

3d Pit. Comdr.: 2d Lt. Robert Lanham (until WIA on 1 May)

3d Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. Chateau

GOLF COMPANY

CO: Capt. Robert J. Mastrion (until medevacked on 28 April); then Capt. “J. R.” Vargas (acting until medevacked on 3 May)

XO: 1st Lt. Jack E. Deichman (WIA on 2 May)

FO: 2d Lt. Peter A. Acly (WIA on 2 May)

1st Sgt.: not available

GySgt.: GySgt. Billy R. Armer (until WIA on 27 and 28 April); then SSgt. Reymundo Del Rio (until medevacked on 2 May)

1st Pit. Comdr.: SSgt. Reymundo Del Rio (until he became company gunnery sergeant on 28 April); then SSgt. Wade (acting)

1st Plt. Sgt.: SSgt. Wade

2d Pit. Comdr.: 2d Lt. Frederick H. Morgan

2d Pit. Sgt: Sgt. Richard F. Abshire (until KIA on 2 May); then Cpl. Pless (acting)

3d Pit. Comdr.: 1st Lt. James T. Ferland (until WIA on 2 May); then 1st Lt. Jack E. Deichman (acting)

3d Pit. Sgt.: Sgt. Robert J. Colasanti (WIA on 30 April and IMay)

HOTEL COMPANY

CO: Capt. James L. Williams (until WIA on 30 April); then 1 st Lt. Alexander F. Prescott IV (acting until WIA on 2 May); then 2d Lt. Bayard V Taylor (acting until WIA on 2 May); then 1 st Lt. Alexander F. Prescott IV (acting after returning to duty on 3 May)

XO: 1st Lt. Alexander F. Prescott IV (in field); and 2d Lt. Bayard V Taylor (in battalion rear until battle began)

FO: 2d Lt. Carl R. Gibson (until KIA on 30 April); then the FO team radioman, LCpl. Carl M. Spaethe (acting)

1st Sgt.: 1st Sgt. Clifford Martin

GySgt.: GySgt. Bobby B. Wagner

1st Pit. Comdr.: 2d Lt. Boyle (WIA on 30 April)

1st Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. Richard A. Kelleher (until WIA on 30 April)

2d Pit. Comdr.: SSgt. Robert J. Ward (until medevacked on 1 May); then Sgt. Bruce Woodruff (acting)

2d Pit. Sgt.: not available

3d Pit. Comdr.: SSgt. Ronald W Taylor (until WIA on 30 April); then Sgt. Joe N. Jones (acting); then 1 st Lt. William B.
Zimmerman (acting until returned to the battalion headquarters on 1 May); then 2d Lt. Bayard V Taylor (acting until he assumed command of the company on 2 May); then Sgt. Joe N. Jones (acting)

3d Pit. Sgt.: Sgt. Joe N. Jones

Appendix B

Key Personnel of the 3-21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division (opcon to the 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division), during the Battle of Nhi Ha (1-15 May 1968):

CO: Lt. Col. Col. William P. Snyder

XO: Maj. Walter D. Burchfield

Sgt. Maj.: 1st Sgt. George M. Titko (acting)

S1 (Personnel): not available

S2 (Intelligence): Capt. John M. Householder

S3 (Operations): Maj. Paul N. Yurchak

S4 (Logistics): not available

Medical Officer: Capt. Jan S. Hildebrand

CO, HHC: Capt. Stephen F. Russell

CO, E Company: 1st Lt. Jerry D. Perkins

ALPHA COMPANY (ALPHA ANNIHILATOR)

CO: Capt. Cecil H. Osborn (pseudonym)

XO: 1st Lt. Robert V Gibbs

FO: 2d Lt. William A. Stull (WIA on 6 May)

1st Sgt.: not available

1st Pit. Ldr.: 2d Lt. James Simpson

1st Pit. Sgt.: not available

2d Pit. Ldr.: 2d Lt. Terry D. Smith (until WIA on 6 May); then 1st Lt. Robert V. Gibbs (acting)

2d Pit. Sgt.: Sfc. Alan Dickerson

3d Pit. Ldr.: 2d Lt. William B. Kimball (until KIA on 6 May)

3d Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. George L. Dale (until KIA on 6 May)

BRAVO COMPANY (BARRACUDA)

CO: Capt. Robert E. Corrigan

XO: not available

FO: Pfc. Rod Bublitz (until WIA on 3 May)

1st Sgt.: Sfc. Charles A. Cunningham

1st Pit. Ldr.: not available

1st Pit. Sgt.: not available

2d Pit. Ldr.: not available

2d Pit. Sgt.: not available

3d Pit. Ldr.: not available

3d Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. William F. Ochs (until WIA on 2 May)

CHARLIE COMPANY (CHARLIE TIGER)

CO: 1 st Lt. Gerald R. Kohl (acting) until relieved on 3 May by the assigned company commander, Capt. Dennis A. Leach, who had been in the battalion rear preparing for an R and R that was canceled by the battle

XO: 1 st Lt. Gerald R. Kohl (until relieved on 3 May)

FO: 2d Lt. John R. Jaquez

1st Sgt.: Sfc. William R. Brooks (until KIA on 4 May)

1 st Pit. Ldr.: 1 st Lt. Roger D. Hieb

1st Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. Isadore Davis

2d Pit. Ldr.: 1 st Lt. Edward F. Guthrie (until KIA on 2 May); then Sgt. Donald G. Pozil (acting); then SSgt. James M. Goad (acting until WIA on 10 May); then Sgt. Donald G. Pozil (acting)

2d Pit. Sgt.: Sfc. Eugene Franklin (until KIA on 2 May); then Sgt. Donald G. Pozil (acting)

3d Pit. Ldr.: Sfc. Henry A. Lane (acting) until relieved on
3 May by the assigned platoon leader, 1 st Lt. Dale W. Musser, who had been in the battalion rear on an administrative run when the battle began

3d Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. James M. Goad (acting) until relieved by the assigned platoon sergeant, Sfc. Henry A. Lane, who had been the acting platoon leader when the battle began

DELTA COMPANY (BLACK DEATH)

CO: Capt. James F. Humphries

XO: not available

FO: 2d Lt. Robert Bybee

1st Sgt.: not available

1st Pit. Ldr.: 2d Lt. Richard J. Skrzysowski (until WIA on 4 May); then Sfc. Buford Mathis (acting)

1st Pit. Sgt.: Sfc. Buford Mathis

2d Pit. Ldr.: 2d Lt. Erich J. Weidner

2d Pit. Sgt: Sfc. Floyd W. Buell

3d Pit. Ldr.: SSgt. Robert E. Gruber (acting); then 2d Lt. Richard A. Holt

3d Pit. Sgt.: SSgt. Robert E. Gruber