They Marched Into Sunlight (91 page)

Transcripts of interviews conducted by military historians in October 1967 included those of the following battle participants: Clarence Barrow, Jimmy Cheatwood, William Coleman, Joe Costello, Peter Edwards, Jim George, Paul Giannico, Tom Hinger, Robert Jensen, Willie Johnson, James Jones, Carl Kiser, Larry Lowe, Paul Malone, George Newman, Raymond Phillips, Donald Pipkin, Paul D. Scott, John Sloan, George Smith, Roy Stephens, David Stroup, Thomas Suttle, Mike Troyer, José Valdez, Thomas Wagner, James White, Clark Welch, and Carl Woodard, CMH.

In addition, battle participants interviewed by the author included: Tom Hinger, Clark Welch, Jim George, Joe Costello, Tom Grady, Frank McMeel, Michael Gormley, Dwayne Byrd, Clarence Barrow, Ray Albin, James Shelton, Gary Malone, Jim Gilliam, David Laub, Michael Arias, Faustin Sena, Santiago Griego, Bill Erwin, Carl Woodard, John Fowler, Ernest Buentiempo, Greg Landon, Dave Berry, Mike Troyer, Paul D. Scott, Peter Miller, Thomas V. Mullen (written communications), Mike Taylor, Doug Cron, Doug Tallent, Terry Warner, Bill McGath, Thomas Colburn, Mark Smith, Gerard Grosso, Vo Minh Triet, and Nguyen Van Lam. These accounts were bolstered by contemporaneous letters and tapes from Clark Welch, Greg Landon, Jim George, Mike Taylor, Michael Arias, Ray Albin, and Mike Troyer.

Also helpful were MacGarrigle,
Taking the Offensive,
349–61; Shelton,
The Beast Was Out There;
and various uncatalogued papers provided by Jim Shelton and Fred Kirkpatrick.

Chapter 17: Holleder’s Run

one of a small band of Black Lions:
Ints. Joe Costello, November 3, 2000; Clarence Barrow, October 18, 2002; Bill McGath, October 19, 2002; Randy Brown, October 19, 2002; Doug Cron, October 19, 2002.

Costello got on the radio:
Int. Joe Costello, November 3, 2000;
Joe Costello Interview with Major Daniel, 17th Military History Detachment,
October 20, 1967;
William Coleman interview with Capt. Cash,
October 21, 1967; “Memorandum for Commanding General,” from William S. Coleman, October 21, 1967, CMH.

For the Black Lions who had remained:
Ints. Ray Albin, January 29, 2001; Terry Warner, October 19, 2002; Doug Tallent, October 19, 2002.

The key point for Albin’s platoon:
Ints. Ray Albin, January 29, 2001; Terry Warner, October 19, 2002; Clark Welch, January 28–February 8, 2002;
John F. Sloan Interview with Military Historian Capt. Cash,
October 22, 1967, CMH.

The relationship between the brigade:
Int. Gerard Grosso, December 13, 2002;
John F. Sloan Interview,
CMH; transcript of statement of 1st Lt. Lester T. Scott in Cash papers, October 1967, CMH.

situation grew bleaker:
28th Infantry Regiment, Vietnam Unit histories, recollections of Koch and Watson, www.28thinfantry.org; Int. Ray Albin, January 31, 2002.

Lieutenant Erwin’s scout platoon:
Int. Bill Erwin, May 27, 2001;
2d Lt. William D. Erwin interview with Major Daniel, 17th Military History Detachment,
November 19, 1967.

When Holleder arrived in Vietnam:
Portrait of Maj. Donald Holleder drawn from interviews with James Shelton, March 14, 2000; Bill Crites, January 23, 2001; Pete Vann, January 25, 2001; Edwin J. Messinger, February 20, 2001; papers of Col. Earl (Red) Blaik, papers of Donald Holleder, U.S. Army Military Academy; also Blaik,
The Red Blaik Story,
336–57; Donald Walter Holleder obituary,
Assembly,
Fall 1969, by classmate Maj. Perry M. Smith;
Sports Illustrated,
December 5, 1955.

Doc Hinger was far behind:
Int. Tom Hinger, March 12, 2000;
Narrative Account, Death of Major Donald W. Holleder,
October 25, 1967, CMH.

actions of Vo Minh Triet’s regiment:
The 9th Division history, translated by Foreign Broadcast Information Service, October 1995; Vuong Thu Vu, “The Victories in Binh Long and the First Fresh Lessons,” November 29, 1967, Hanoi Domestic Service, CIA Files, NARA; ints. Nguyen Van Lam, February 5, 2002; Vo Minh Triet, January 30–31, 2002.

Grady was in Lai Khe:
Int. Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; Grady letter to Capt. George, October 24, 1967.

Back toward the jungle:
Ints. Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; Bill Erwin, May 27, 2001; Mark Smith, October 19, 2002; Ray Albin, January 29, 2001; Tom Hinger, March 12, 2000;, Steve Goodman, November 20, 2000; George Burrows, March 15, 2001; Thomas F. Reese, Clarence Barrow, October 18, 2002, March 8, 2001; Jim Kasik, report to Jim Shelton, May 1, 1989.

It was easier to find the fallen:
Coleman, “Memorandum”; MacGarrigle oral history interview with Col. Paul B. Malone III, CMH;
Major Larry E. Lowe Interview with Major William E. Daniel, 17th Military History Detachment,
October 28, 1967, CMH; Int. Joe Costello, November 2, 2000; correspondence of Thomas V. Mullen, Shelton papers;
Col. George E. Newman Interview with Military Historian Capt. Cash,
October 22, 1967; George E. Newman letter to Mike Dinkins, January 11, 1989.

At Lai Khe late that night:
Ints. Jim Shelton, March 14, 2000; November 4, 2001.

The camp was full of dazed men:
Ints. Michael Arias, March 11, 2001; Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; Ray Albin, January 31, 2001; George Burrows, March 15, 2001; Tom Hinger, March 12, 2000.

Chapter 18: “The News Is All Bad”

Johnson had just left a meeting: White House Daily Diary,
October 17, 1967. (“The President walked w/ Prime Minister Lee—through the center door to his office—en route to the West Lobby to say goodbye and to escort the Prime Minister to his car.”)

As historian Henry Graff:
“How Johnson Makes Foreign Policy,”
NYT Magazine,
July 4, 1965; also Graff,
The Tuesday Cabinet,
5, 17.

Johnson mentioned that he was impressed:
“Notes of the President’s meeting with Secretary McNamara, Secretary Rusk, General Wheeler, CIA Director Helms, Walt Rostow, George Christian, in the Mansion,” October 17, 1967. Meeting began 1:40. Tom Johnson Notes, box 1, LBJ.

his entire five-minute report:
“Front Line Report,” 6:55
A.M.
, WTOP Radio, October 17, 1967, republished in
The Pentagon Papers,
vol. 4, 209–10.

“NVN is paying heavily”:
JCSM-555-67, October 17, 1967, “Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense. Subject: Increased Pressures on North Vietnam,”
Pentagon Pagers,
vol. 4, 210–11.

The second October 17 memo:
“Memorandum for the President, October 17, 1967. Subject: Vietnam—October 1967.” McG. B., LBJ; transcript of news conference #1013-A, “At the White House with George Christian,” 11:05
A.M.
EDT, October 17, 1967, LBJ.

from presidential aide Joseph Califano:
“For the President, From Joe Califano. The White House, Washington, 12:40
P.M.
, Tuesday, October 17, 1967,” LBJ. The president signed off on his one-sentence response at 1:40; a handwritten notation on the memo says, “Relayed by phone to JC in Cater’s office.”

The second note came:
“Memorandum for the President, Tuesday, October 17, 1967, 1:00
P.M.
, White House Situation Room,” LBJ. The 6:30
A.M.
Vietnam memo from the White House Situation Room provided a brief report on the October 16 firefight involving Clark Welch and his company but not on the October 17 ambush, though it already had taken place.

Johnson sat down:
“Notes of the President’s Meeting,” October 17, 1967, Tom Johnson Notes, box 1, LBJ.

That afternoon in El Paso:
Ints. Jean Ponder Allen Soto, February 3, 2001; Bill and Bebe Coonly, February 2, 2001; Jonathan and Pat Rodgers, February 4, 2001; Albert Schwartz, February 3, 2001.

Chapter 19: The Spectacle

They settled for a prefabricated:
Int. Jim Rowen, April 8, 2002; various correspondence with Jim Rowen and Susan McGovern.

From the front bedroom:
Ints. Paul Soglin, April 10, 2002, June 22, 2001.

William Sewell, the chancellor, had arrived:
Ints. William Sewell, August 10, 2000, April 22, 2001; William H. Sewell oral history interviews conducted by Laura Smail, 1977, 1983, 1985, University of Wisconsin archives.

Hanson had been up since four:
Unprocessed Hanson papers; int. Lucille Hanson, June 11, 2001; Robben Fleming letter, June 28, 1967. The final paragraphs of the letter read: “You may note that I have given you a new tie. Thus, you are forever identified with the University of Wisconsin, even though you are soon to leave us for Michigan. I don’t know whether or not you have a pastime, but I do know that you keep your cool on the barricades. This has been inspirational to many of us and I know your presence will be sorely missed here on the Madison campus.”

The demonstration began at nine thirty: Capital Times,
October 17, 1967,
Scotton Report.

This caught the attention of:
Testimony of Ralph Hanson at SSC, November 2, 1967, Legislative Reference Bureau; Stark, “In Exile,”
History and the New Left,
ed. Paul Buhle, 166–77; Evan Stark interview transcript,
The War at Home,
SHSW; int. Evan Stark, July 16, 2002; Joseph F. Kauffman letter to Chancellor R. W. Fleming, March 10, 1967, Fleming papers, UW.

the demonstrators gathered for an hour:
Video and tape recording of October 16 demonstration, original film by Blake Kellogg, WKOW-TV, SHSW; “Why We Sit In,” appendix D, Scotton report; “Memo to: Dean Joseph F. Kauffman, from Jack W. Cipperly, Subject: Description of the events of October 17 and 18, 1967,” unprocessed Cipperly papers.

a spectacle of another form:
“Memorandum to Dean Kauffman, from Peter Bunn, Re: Meetings with Anti-Dow Coordinating Committee, October 9–17, 1967,” appendix F, Scotton report; “The Great Dow War,”
Connections,
November 1, 1967.

Into this unsettled place:
Ints. Ronald G. Davis, May 8, 2002; Morris Edelson, May 10, 2002; Michael Oberdorfer, January 3, 2003; Jim Rowen, April 8, 2002; Coyote,
Sleeping Where I Fall;
Davis,
The San Francisco Mime Troupe.

Chapter 20: “That’s All There Is?”

The morning after the battle:
Int. Vo Minh Triet, January 30–31, 2002.

Soldiers from Rear Service Group 83:
Int. Nguyen Van Lam, February 5, 2002; also discussions by Triet and Lam during tour of battlefield with author, Clark Welch, and translator Kyle Horst, January 31, 2002.

When men from Bravo and Charlie companies:
Int. Thomas F. Reese, March 8, 2001; Sloan interview; Kasik report; 28th Regiment Vietnam Unit History, Koch recollections.

when Lieutenant Grady held muster:
Ints. Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; Tom Hinger, March 12, 2000.

The only job to be done:
Ints. Gerald Thompson, May 26, 2001; Mike Troyer, August 21, 2002; Tom Colburn, October 19, 2002; Larry McDevitt, March 16, 2001; Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; Jim Shelton, March 13, 2000.

This is not Vietnam:
Ints. Joe Costello, November 3, 2000; Jim George, May 27, 2001; letters from Jim George to wife Jackie, October 18–31, 1967.

The Ninety-third had more of the atmosphere: Daily Staff Journal or Duty Officer’s Log, 93rd Evac Hosp, 1 July 67 to 21 October 67,
NARA;
Report of Army Medical Service Activities,
93rd Evacuation Hospital, Calendar Year 1967.

Clark Welch was taken:
Ibid.; Ints. Clark Welch, January 28–February 8, 2002; Clarence Barrow, October 16, 2000; Greg Landon, June 19, 2002; Dwayne Byrd, October 18, 2000; Santiago Griego, October 17, 2002; John Fowler, January 18, 2001; Faustin Sena, October 18, 2002.

It had been a typical morning:
“Schedule of Events for General W. C. Westmoreland, Sunday October 15 to Monday, October 23,” Westmoreland papers, MHI; “General Westmoreland’s History Notes, 16 October–12 November 1967,” MHI.

Lieutenant Grady was just leaving:
Ints. Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; Louis Menetrey, April 28, 2000; Gerard Grosso, December 13, 2002.

how to explain this:
“General Westmoreland’s History Notes, 16 October–12 November 1967,” MHI; notes of John Hay interview with oral historian George MacGarrigle, CMH; ints. Bert Quint, August 16, 2001; Kurt Volkert, August 16, 2001; “Radio-TV Defense Dialog,” broadcasts of October 19, 1967, transcript of
CBS Evening News
broadcast, 6:30
P.M.
, “Big Red One Catastrophic Battle,” Lichty archives. At his old Victorian house in Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern University professor Lawrence Lichty has developed an unmatched private archive of documents concerned with the media and war, especially television and Vietnam. His interest began in the 1960s when he taught at Wisconsin.

“I want every man right now”:
Int. Tom Grady, March 27, 2002; letters from Michael Arias, Ray Albin, Mike Taylor, Mike Troyer, Jim George, Greg Landon, October 18, 1967, from Lai Khe and evacuation hospitals.

“Elements of the U.S. Army’s 1st Brigade”:
News release, Office of Information, United States Assistance Command Vietnam, 18 October 1967, MACV Communiqué.

the young anchor Peter Jennings:
Radio-TV Defense Dialog, broadcasts of October 18, 1967, 6:30
P.M.
“Peter Jennings and the News, ABC-TV, Comments on the Ambush Near Saigon,” Lichty archive.

Chapter 21: Down with Dow