They Marched Into Sunlight (90 page)

local Viet Cong officials had been lectured:
Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, intelligence report, October 1967, MHI.

Speaker John W. McCormick: NYT,
October 12, 1967.

“a little stronger chemical”:
“Notes of the President’s Meeting with Secretary McNamara, Secretary Rusk, Walt Rostow, President’s Office,” October 5, 1967, Tom Johnson Notes, box 1, LBJ.

Dirksen was talking primarily: Washington Post,
October 10–15, 1967, daily coverage of Senate debate on the war.

pushing hard for a United Nations role:
Mansfield letter to President Johnson, October 9, 1967, Mansfield File, LBJ.

memorandum to the White House:
“Memorandum for the President. From: Senator George McGovern. Subject: Vietnam,” October 12, 1967, LBJ. While McGovern pushed for a bombing halt, another future Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Walter Mondale of Minnesota, remained supportive of the White House position, while lamenting how difficult it was to hold his ground. In an October 12 memo to Secretary Rusk, National Security Adviser William P. Bundy wrote that Mondale had called him that morning. “Mondale went on to expound at length on the difficulties of liberal senators like himself who were still standing fast against public and easy endorsement of the UN solution or stopping the bombing in return for talks. He noted that, with Gene McCarthy and others such as Percy taking these easy avenues, it was increasingly putting him and others like him on the spot. He said that he was losing support in Minnesota from peace groups and others who had strongly supported him in the past—which was not critical for him since he does not come up in 1968—but was typical of the problems many others faced.”

CIA had been given:
Gibbons,
The U.S. Government and the Vietnam War, Part IV: July 1965–January 1968,
851–60. Also Wells,
The War Within,
184.

a report about the international connections: The Peace Movement: Confusion, Coordination, and Communism,
CIA report, October 1967; DeBenedetti,
A CIA Analysis of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement,
October 1967; U.S. Senate, 94th Congress,
Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (Church Committee),
1976, vol. III, 152–54.

it prepared a footnoted: The North Vietnamese Role in the War in South Viet-Nam,
Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, October 1967, LBJ.

“Dean, I want to know”:
“Notes of the President’s Meeting with Secretary Rusk, Secretary McNamara, Walt Rostow, CIA Director Helms and George Christian, October 16, 1967,” Tom Johnson Notes, box 1, LBJ.

Chapter 12: No Mission Too Difficult

The fourteenth had been a miserable day:
Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–Feb 8, 2002; Jim George, May 27, 2001, Ray Albin, January 29, 2001; Michael Arias, June 2, 2002; Gerald Thompson, May 26, 2001; Carl Woodard, May 27, 2001; Greg Landon, June 19, 2002; Mike Troyer, August 21, 2002; Bill Erwin, May 27, 2001.

Erwin’s recon platoon and Kasik’s Bravo:
Int. Bill Erwin, May 27, 2001; Report of Jim Kasik on Bravo Company, October 9–17, 1967, Kasik papers, May 1, 1989.

George went along:
Int. Jim George, May 27, 2001.

Joe Costello, the grenadier:
Int. Joe Costello, November 3, 2000.

Kirkpatrick had put in for the vacation:
Int. Fred Kirkpatrick, October 16, 2000. Kirkpatrick documents, unprocessed. Kirkpatrick, of Stow, Ohio, has done more than anyone else to reconnect enlisted men who served with 2/28 Delta in Vietnam in 1967. He has also organized reunions of the Black Lions in Las Vegas every October.

When the sergeant finished:
Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 7, 2002; Ray Albin, January 29, 2001; Clarence Barrow, October 15, 2000; John Durham, October 18, 2002; Durham family papers, unprocessed.

Back at Lai Khe, Lieutenant Tom Grady:
Int. Tom Grady, March 27, 2002.

General Westmoreland took leave:
“Schedule of Events for William C. Westmoreland, Sunday, October 15, 1967,” Westmoreland Papers, MHI;
Senior Officer Oral History Program,
General William C. Westmoreland, USA, Retired, interviewed by Lieutenant Colonel Martin L. Ganderson, USA, MHI; “Westmoreland in Vietnam, Pulverizing the Boulder,”
Army
magazine, February 1976.

Steve Goodman, a Black Lions armorer:
Int. Steve Goodman, November 20, 2000.

Fergusson’s son Bob:
Telex exchanges between Gen. Westmoreland and Gen. Furgusson, October 8–30, 1967, Westmoreland papers, MHI.

Gavin’s visit was by far:
Telexes from Gen. Wheeler to Gen. Westmoreland, October 6, 17, 1967; telex from Gen. Westmoreland to Lt. Gen. Brown, asst. to the chairman, October 11, 1967, Westmoreland papers, MHI. Biggs,
Gavin,
135–70; Malcolm Muir, ed.,
The Human Tradition in the World War II Era
(Scholarly Resources, Wilmington, Del., 2000), 191.

the “cross-over” point:
Transcript of Westmoreland press briefing in Saigon, June 29, 1967. In attendance were U.S correspondents John Apple, Joseph Fried, Sanders, Coffey, Tuckman, Erlandson, Stewart, Pisor, Randolph, Brannigan, Hughes, Martin, Kalb, Dillin, and Steinman, JUSPAO files, NARA.

Hay was too slow: Senior Officer Oral History Program, Lieutenant General John Hay, USA Retired,
interviewed by Lt. Col. James Thomas, October 4, 1980, MHI; Hay interview with military historian George L. MacGarrigle, April 29, 1980; telex from Gen. Westmoreland to Gen. Johnson, CSA, Washington, October 12, 1967; Record of COMUSMACV FONECON, Westmoreland and Weyand, February 22, 1968, Westmoreland papers, MHI; Int. Jim George, May 27, 2001.

Clark Welch’s Delta led the way:
Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 7, 2002; Paul D. Scott, August 25, 2002; Clarence Barrow, October 15, 2000; Peter Miller, August 27, 2002; Greg Landon, Terry Warner, October 19, 2002; Doug Cron, October 19, 2002; 2/28
Daily Journal and Officer’s Log,
October 16, 1967, NARA; Clark Welch letter to wife Lacy, October 24, 1967.

He was not a martinet:
Ints. Bill Erwin, May 27, 2001; Jim George, May 27, 2001; Clark Welch, January 28–February 7, 2002; Thomas F. Reese, March 8, 2001.

Gerard Grosso, the S-3 air:
Int. Gerard Grosso, December 13, 2002. Also Grosso letter to Jim Shelton, Spring 2002.

here came the troops:
Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 7, 2002; Clarence Barrow, October 18, 2002; Santiago Griego, October 17, 2002; Faustin Sena, October 17, 2002; Jim George, May 27, 2001; Bill Erwin, May 27, 2001; Jim Shelton, April 28, 2000; Report of Jim Kasik on Bravo Company, October 9–17, 1967, May 1, 1999, e-mail correspondence.

In their bunkers the troops were apprehensive:
Michael Arias letter to mother, October 16, 1967; ints. Carl Woodard, May 27, 2001; Peter Miller, August 27, 2002; Joe Costello, November 3, 2000; Ray Albin, January 29, 2001.

Chapter 13: Michigan Men

Curly Hendershot at age fifty-five:
Ints. E. N. Brandt, April 12, 2001; Herbert Dow Doan, April 12, 2001; Sherlynn Hendershot, April 16, 2001; Bill Seward, April 27, 2001; Ray Rolf, May 1, 2001; transcript of oral interview of E. N. Brandt by James J. Bohning in Midland, Michigan, June 17, 1992, PSA.

From the outside Dow appeared:
Ints. Herbert Dow Doan, April 12, 2001; E. N. Brandt, April 12, 2001; transcript of oral interviews of Carl A. Gerstacker, July 21, 1988; E. N. Brandt, June 17, 1992; Herbert Dow Doan, July 29, 1988, by James J. Bohning and Arnold Thackray, PSA. Also Brandt,
Growth Company.

“the patriotic generation”:
Ints. Donalda Doan, April 16, 2001; Herbert Dow Doan, April 12, 2001.

Jonathan Star Stielstra was a transfer student:
Ints. Jonathan Stielstra, August 20–21, 2001; Stielstra papers, unprocessed.

The same undercover agent: Officer’s Report,
Madison Police Department, Special Assignment, October 16, 1967;
Daily Cardinal,
October 17, 1967.

Chapter 14: For Want of Rice

This was his home territory:
Ints. Nguyen Van Lam, January 31, February 5, 2002, at his home near the Ong Thanh stream in the Long Nguyen Secret Zone, Kyle Horst interpreter.

A military doctor from Hanoi:
Zumwalt,
Bare Feet, Iron Will;
also int. James Zumwalt, May 20, 2001.

the logistical command flowed: Final Report on Rear Service Operations for the Nam Bo–Extreme South Central Region during the War of Resistance against the Americans,
edited by Nguyen Viet Phuong and Tu Quu, published by General Protectorate for Rear Services, 1986, for internal distribution within armed forces;
The History of Group 559, The Truong Son Troops and the Ho Chi Minh Trail,
edited by S. Col. Phan Huu Dai, 1999, with translations by Robert DeStatte.

In practice things were different:
Ints. Vo Minh Triet, January 30, February 7, 2002; Nguyen Van Lam, January 31, February 5, 2002.

Chapter 15: “The Trees Are Moving”

The night before:
Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 7, 2002; Clarence Barrow, October 15, 2000; also Clark Welch letters to wife Lacy, October 22–30, 1967.

Men were moving faster:
Ints. Frank McMeel, March 12, 2000; Mike Troyer, August 21, 2002; Ernest Buentiempo, June 9, 2002; Michael Arias, June 2, 2002; Joe Costello, November 3, 2000.

early evening in Washington: White House Daily Diary,
October 16, 1967; “Memorandum for the President, Subject: Notes for Use in Talking with Reporters,” from Gordon Ackley, October 13, 1967, LBJ.

At the same approximate time:
CIA reports on Hanoi broadcasts and Moscow Tass International Service, NARA, CIA box 39.

The Black Lions began gathering: Daily Staff Journal, Duty Officer’s Log, 2d Bn, 28th Inf, 1st Inf Div.,
17 October 67, NARA; Department of the Army, Headquarters, 1st Infantry Division,
Combat After Action Interview Report, Battle of Ong Thanh, 2-28 Infantry, 17 October 1967,
CMH files.

The morning opened:
Int. Joe Costello, November 3, 2000; 28th Infantry Regiment, Vietnam Unit History, Koch recollections.

Alpha came out:
Ints. Jim George, May 27, 2001; Michael Arias, June 2, 2002; Ernest Buentiempo, June 9, 2002; correspondence with Thomas V. Mullen, April 10, 2002; 2LT Peter J. Edwards interview with SP4 Williams, 17th Military History Detachment, October 24, 1967, CMH; Sgt. Donald W. Pipkin interview with Capt. Cash, Military Historian, October 24, 1967, CMH.

Private Costello was positioned:
Int. Joe Costello, November 3, 2000;
Pvt. Joseph P. Costello Interview with Major William E. Daniel, 17th Military History Detachment,
October 20, 1967, CMH.

a walking skeleton:
Int. Thomas Hinger, March 12, 2000;
SP4 Thomas M. Hinger interview with Capt. Cash,
October 21, 1967, CMH.

Welch’s Delta started moving: Daily Staff Journal, Duty Officer’s Log, 2d Bn., 28th Inf., 1st Infantry Division, 17 October 67,
NARA; ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 8, 2002; Peter Miller, August 27, 2002; Paul D. Scott, August 25, 2002; Clarence Barrow, October 16, 2000;
2LT David H. Stroup interview with Capt. Cash, October 21, 1967,
CMH.

Delta’s second was led:
Ints. Dwayne Byrd, October 16, 2000; Mike Troyer, August 21, 2002; Doug Cron, October 19, 2002; Faustin Sena, October 18, 2002; Fred Kirkpatrick, October 16, 2000, October 18, 2002.

“I got off the M-60”:
Jack Schroder letter to wife Eleanor, October 10, 1967.

His little sister, Diane:
Int. Diane Sikorski Kramer, July 28, 2001.

On the right file Greg Landon:
Int. Greg Landon, June 19, 2002; Landon letters to parents, October 10–15, 1967.

What are we doing this for?: Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 8, 2002.

With every step southward:
Ints. Jim George, May 27, 2002; Michael Arias, June 2, 2002; Ernest Buentiempo, June 9, 2002; Tom Hinger, March 12, 2000;
Combat After Action Report, Battle of Ong Thanh, 2-28 Infantry, October 17, 1967,
CMH.

another F-100 overhead:
Notes and papers of John Cash investigation of Battle of Ong Thanh, CMH;
Contemporary Historical Evaluation of Combat Operations Report, Ambush at XT 686575,
Department of the Air Force, December 29, 1967, CMH.

From his position with Delta:
Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 8, 2002; Peter Miller, August 27, 2002; Michael Arias, March 11, 2001; Tom Hinger, March 12, 2000;
Combat After Action Report, Battle of Ong Thanh, 2-28 Infantry, 17 October 1967,
CMH;
Daily Journal, 2-28, 1st Infantry Division,
October 17, 1967, NARA.

Chapter 16: Ambush

The fresh tracks along the trail:
Ints. Vo Minh Triet, January 30–31, 2002; Nguyen Van Lam, February 5, 2002.

Private first class Breeden:
Ints. Ernest Buentiempo, June 9, 2002; Michael Arias, March 11, 2001;
Combat After Action Report,
October 17, 1967, CMH;
José B. Valdez Interview with Major Daniel, 17th Military History Detachment,
October 18, 1967, CMH.

The opening fusillade echoed back:
The narrative of the battle, drawn from primary documents and interviews, is the author’s attempt to convey the chaos of the firefight while giving it some measure of coherence. It was accomplished by piecing together the accounts provided by dozens of participants in interviews conducted by Capt. Cash and military historians in the days after the battle, supplemented first by contemporaneous letters and tape recordings, next by the official military logs, journals, investigations, and after action reports, and finally by author interviews with dozens of participants decades later.