A Shau Valor
Page 34
10 Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963–1969 (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1971), p. 45.
11 For a full discussion of LLDB incompetence, see Stanton, Green Berets at War, pp. 76–83.
12 5th SFGA, Detachment B-410 Debriefing, 18 Dec 1964.
13 William C. Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports (New York: Doubleday & Company, 1976), pp. 60–61.
14 Gordon L. Rottman, Special Forces Camps in Vietnam 1961–70 (New York: Osprey Publishing, 2005), pp. 47–48.
15 Justo Bautista, “Green Beret from Lyndhurst Earns Posthumous Salute,” North Jersey News, March 9, 2003.
16 Gerald Hickey, Window on a War: An Anthropologist in the Vietnam Conflict (Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2002), p.137.
17 Extracted from Houston Distinguished Service Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 23 May 2014.
18 Extracted from Donlon Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
19 Hickey, Window on a War, p. 144.
20 “Battle of Nam Dong,” http://www.wikipedia.org/Battle_of_Nam_Dong, n.d. Accessed 12 May 2014.
21 W.C. Westmoreland, Command Report on the War in Vietnam, January 1964–June 1968 (Saigon: Military Assistance Command Vietnam, 1968), p. 93.
22 LBJ, The Vantage Point, p. 118.
23 Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p. 194; See election discussion in McNamara, In Retrospect, pp. 145–160.
24 Thomas Preston, Pandora’s Trap: Presidential Decision Making and Blame Avoidance in Vietnam and Iraq (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2011), p. 196.
25 5th Special Forces Group, Monthly Operational Summary, 1–31 Dec 1964; Christopher M. Hobson, Vietnam Air Losses 1961–1973 (Hinckley, England: Midland Publishing, 2001), p. 13.
CHAPTER 2: THE RISE AND FALL OF CAMP A SHAU
1 Arthur J. Dommen, The Indochinese Experience of the French and Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001), p. 636.
2 Carl Berger, ed., The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1977), p. 89; for Administration thoughts on planning and implementing “Rolling Thunder,” see McNamara, In Retrospect, pp. 171–177.
3 Jack Shulimson and Major Charles M. Johnson, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Landing and Buildup 1965 (Washington, DC: USMC History and Museum Division, 1978), pp. 9–15.
4 Nigel Cathorne, Vietnam: A War Lost and Won (London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2003), p. 4.
5 Tyrone G. Martin, “Old Ironsides in Vietnam,” USS Constitution Museum, n.d. http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org. Accessed May 20, 2014.
6 John D. Blair IV, “Defense of Camp A Shau,” After Action Report, U.S. Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA, 2 January 1968, p. 27.
7 Ibid, p. 18.
8 John T. Correll, “The Lingering Story of Agent Orange,” Air Force Magazine, January, 2015, pp. 50–51.
9 James G. Jones, “Smokey Bear in Vietnam,” Environmental History, 2006, pp. 598–603.
10 5th SFGA Monthly Summary of Operations, February 1966.
11 Blair, AAR, pp. 29–30.
12 Ibid, pp.33–34.
13 “The Saigon Thi Party,” Time, March 18, 1966, pp. 10–11.
14 Blair, AAR, pp. 22–26.
15 Extracted from Hall Distinguished Service Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 12 May 2014.
16 Blair, AAR, pp. 39–40.
17 Victor C. Underwood “Battle of A Shau,” After Action Report, 5th Mobile Strike Force Command Collection, 22 June 1967, pp. 46–47.
18 John L. Frisbee, “Valor in Two Dimensions,” Air Force Magazine, January, 1988, p. 116.
19 Extracted from Peterson Air Force Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 23 May 2014.
20 Kenneth Sams, “The Fall of A Shau,” Project CHECO Report, HQ PACAF, 18 April 1966, pp. 4–5.
21 Blair, AAR, pp. 45–46.
22 Ibid, p. 48.
23 Extracted from Stahl Distinguished Service Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 12 May 2014.
24 Extracted from Adkins Distinguished Service Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 13 May 2014.
25 Hobson, Vietnam Air Losses, p. 52.
26 Laurence, The Cat From Hue, p. 365.
27 Underwood, AAR, p. 47.
28 John T. Correll, “Into the Valley of Fire,” Air Force Magazine, October, 2004, p. 52.
29 Ibid, p. 54.
30 Extracted from Fisher Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
31 Underwood, AAR, pp. 49–50.
32 Richard Camp, “Rescue in Death Valley,” Vietnam, April 2012, p. 32.
33 Underwood, AAR, p. 59.
34 Blair AAR, pp. 64–65.
35 Extracted from Berger Navy Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 3 June 2014.
36 Blair, AAR, pp. 66–67.
37 Hobson, Vietnam Air Losses, p. 52.
38 Camp, “Rescue,” p. 33.
39 Steven Sherman, e-mail message to author, 22 May 2014.
40 Laurence, The Cat From Hue, p. 368.
CHAPTER 3: PROJECT DELTA INVADES THE A SHAU
1 Shelby L. Stanton, The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965–1973 (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985), p. 132.
2 General Bernard W. Rogers, Cedar Falls-Junction City: A Turning Point (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1989), p. 39.
3 Ibid, p. 79.
4 Stanton, Rise and Fall, p. 133.
5 The Military History Institute of Vietnam, Victory in Vietnam: The Official History of the People’s Army of Vietnam, 1954–1975. Translated by Merle L. Pribbenow (Lawrence, KS: The University Press of Kansas, 2002), p. 199.
6 David Schoenbrun, As France Goes (New York: Atheneum, 1968), pp. 232–235.
7 Extracted from Leonard Medal Of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
8 Stanton, Green Berets, pp. 195–196.
9 R.C. Morris, The Ether Zone: U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment B-52, Project Delta (Ashland, OR: Hellgate Press, 2009), p. 18.
10 Jack Shulimson, U.S. Marines in Vietnam, An Expanding War, 1966 (Washington, DC: USMC History and Museum Division, 1982), p. 13.
11 B-52, Operation Pirous After Action Report (AAR), 16 June 1967, p. 89.
12 Ibid, p. 7.
13 Extracted from Siugzda Commendation Medal for Heroism, General Order 3017, 21 Jun 1967, provided by Steve Sherman, Radix Press, Houston, TX.
14 Donald J. Taylor, “The A Shau,” http://www.ProjectDelta.net. Accessed 25 June 2014.
15 Extracted from Robinette Silver Star Citation, General Order 4714, 17 Sep 1967, provided by Steve Sherman, Radix Press, Houston, TX.
16 Stanton, Green Berets, p. 202; Morris, The Ether Zone, p. 294.
17 Jim Morris, “Death-Dealing Project Delta, Part 3,” Soldier of Fortune Magazine, September 1981, pp. 47–51.
18 Hobson, Vietnam Air Losses, p. 99.
19 General Hugh Shelton with Donald Levinson and Malcolm McConnell, Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), pp. 57–61.
20 Extracted from Markham Silver Star Citation, General Order 4330, 25 Aug 1967, provided by Steve Sherman, Radix Press, Houston, TX.
21 Donald J. Taylor, “Remembering the 281st AHC,” http://www.ProjectDelta.net, 2005. Accessed 8 June 2014. Sgt Maj Taylor provided additional background on his article in correspondence with the author on 20 June 2014.
> 22 B-52, Operation Pirous AAR, pp. 39–41.
23 Ibid, pp. 169–170.
24 Ibid, pp. 167–168.
CHAPTER 4: SOG: WEST OF THE A SHAU
1 Yarborough, Da Nang Diary, p. 117.
2 Richard H. Shultz, Jr., The Secret War Against Hanoi (New York: Perennial, 2000), pp. 73–74.
3 Lt Col Raymond Call interview with Dr. Richard H. Shultz, Jr. MACV Studies and Observations Group Documentation Study and Command Histories (Houston: Radix Press, 2002). CD-ROM, p. 26.
4 Yarborough, Da Nang Diary, p. 33.
5 For the definitive account of the extraordinary courage and dedication displayed by SOG reconnaissance teams going in harm’s way in Laos and Cambodia see John L. Plaster, SOG: The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997).
6 Yarborough, Da Nang Diary, p. 126.
7 MACSOG Documentation Study, Appendix D: Cross-Border Operations in Laos (Washington, DC: Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1970), p. 51.
8 William D. Waugh, “The Story of Target Oscar 8,” pp. 1–2. http://www.macsog.cc/traget_oscar-8. Accessed on 3 July 2014.
9 Hobson, Vietnam Air Losses, p. 103.
10 Although several eyewitnesses on the ground and an airborne Covey rider observed this crash, there is no record of an F-4 loss on that date.
11 Mike Law, “Member Accounts Crucial to History,” Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association Newsletter, Jan–Feb 1998, p. 9.
12 Ibid, p. 10.
13 Plaster, SOG, p. 92.
14 Ibid, pp. 93–94.
15 Robert M. Gillespie, Black Ops in Vietnam: The Operational History of MACV-SOG (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2011), p. 117.
16 “Nov. 15, 1969: Anti-Vietnam War Demonstration Held,” The New York Times Learning Network, http://www.learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/15/Nov. Accessed 14 Jul 2014.
17 Extracted from Baxter Distinguished Service Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 3 June 2014.
18 John L. Plaster, SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars (Boulder: Paladin Press, 2000), p. 108.
19 John L. Frisbee, “Into the Jaws of Death,” Air Force Magazine, May 1987, p. 218.
20 Plaster, Photo History, p. 108.
21 Terry P. Arentowicz, That Empty Feeling: The Real Story of One 72-Hour Rescue Mission in Laos (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2013), p. 68.
22 Donald K. Schneider, Air Force Heroes in Vietnam (Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979), pp. 34–38.
23 John L. Frisbee, “A Hillside Near Khe Sanh,” Air Force Magazine, July 1985, p. 136.
24 U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group, Annex G, Command History 1967. Saigon: MACV-SOG, 1968, p. G-IV-2.
CHAPTER 5: ANNUS HORRIBILUS: 1968
1 LBJ, Vantage Point, pp. 382–383.
2 Extracted from Gonzalez Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
3 Extracted from Hooper Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
4 Erik Villard, The 1968 Tet Offensive Battles of Quang Tri City and Hue (Washington, DC: U.S. Army Center of Military History, 2008), p. 60.
5 Jack Shulimson et al, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: 1968 The Defining Year (Washington, DC: HQ USMC History and Museum Division, 1997), p. 213.
6 Villard, Tet Offensive Battles, p. 81.
7 Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p. 321.
8 Ibid, p. 234.
9 Karnow, Vietnam, p. 534.
10 “Tet Offensive Begins,” n.d. 1968 Timeline, http://www.NYU.edu. Accessed 23 July 2014.
11 Milton J. Bates, Lawrence Lichty, Paul Miles, Ronald H. Spector, ed., Reporting Vietnam, Part 1: American Journalism, 1959–1969 (New York: Library of America, 1998), p. 582.
12 Cathorne, Vietnam: A War, p. 242.
13 Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p. 344.
14 Berger, USAF in SEA, p. 52.
15 Extracted from Thomas Navy Cross Citation, http://www.HMM-364.org. Accessed 24 Jul 2014.
16 Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p. 346.
17 Gillespie, Black Ops, pp. 146–147.
18 Extracted from Calhoun Distinguished Service Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 3 Aug 2014.
19 Detachment B-52 (Project Delta), Samurai IV After Action Report, 7 Apr 1968, p. 3.
20 Ibid, pp. 43–46.
21 Ibid, pp. 57–60.
22 Rick Newman and Don Sheppard, Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail (New York: Ballantine Books, 2006), pp. 245–248. Newman and Sheppard incorrectly identify the date as 17 March instead of 14 March.
23 Ibid, p. 248.
24 Samurai IV AAR, pp. 85–89.
25 Bill Byrd, “A Shau Valley,” http://www.USAFhpa.org, n.d. Accessed 31 Jul 2014.
26 Extracted from Griggs Air Force Cross Citation, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://www.projects.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards. Accessed 3 Aug 2014.
27 LBJ, The Vantage Point, p. 435.
28 Edward F. Murphy, The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh (New York: Presidio Press, 2003), pp. 239–240.
29 Westmoreland, A Soldier Reports, p. 345.
30 Ronald H. Spector, After Tet: The Bloodiest Year in Vietnam (New York: The Free Press, 1993), p. 119.
31 Lt General Willard Pearson, The War in the Northern Provinces 1966–1968 (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1975), pp. 85–87.
32 “Victory at Khe Sanh,” Time Magazine, April 12, 1968, p. 12.
33 Lewis Sorley, A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam (New York: Harcourt, 1999), p. 7.
34 Lewis Sorley, “The Abrams Tapes: Insight to the MACV Headquarters During the Vietnam War,” Vietnam Magazine, December 2005, p. 36.
35 Peter Brush, “Battle of Khe Sanh: Recounting the Battle’s Casualties,” 26 Jun 2007. http://www.Historynet.com. Accessed 11 Aug 2014. Other sources put Marine casualties during Operation Scotland II at 270.
36 Spector, After Tet, p. 118; p. 138.
37 Pearson, War in Northern Provinces, pp. 90–91.
38 159th Squadron, 9th Cavalry, Combat After Action Report, 4 Jun 1968, p. 4.
39 Stanton, The 1st Cav, p. 145.
40 Oral History Interview with Michael Ward, 19 Apr 2003. http://www.virtualarchive.vietnam.ttu.edu. Accessed 30 Aug 2014.
41 Philip R. Shafer, Case Synopsis, virtual.vietnam.ttu.edu. Accessed 30 Aug 2014.
42 Lt General John J. Tolson, Airmobility, 1961–1971 (Washington. DC: Department of the Army, 1999), pp. 185–186.
43 Robert C. Ankony, “No Peace in the Valley,” Vietnam Magazine, October, 2008, p. 28.
44 Ibid, p. 29.
45 Ibid, pp. 30–33.
46 Bernard Edelman, Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (New York: Norton, 1985), p. 50.
47 Extracted from Sprayberry Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC; The M.I.A.’s on Tiger Mountain. Dir. Norman Lloyd. Commitment and Sacrifice Foundation, 2015. DVD; telephone interview with LTC Sprayberry, 18 Nov 2015.
48 Tolson, Airmobility, p. 188.
49 Hobson, Vietnam Air Losses, p. 146.
50 Extracted from Lee Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
51 Spector, After Tet, p. 79.
52 Plaster, SOG, p. 185.
53 Ibid, pp. 186–190.
54 Extracted from Fournet Medal of Honor Citation, U.S. Army Center of Military History, Ft. McNair, DC.
55 Tolson, Airmobility, p. 190.
56 Ibid, p. 191.
57 1st Cav Division, Combat Operations After Action Report, 11 Jun 1968, Tab 1. The most extensive list of captured enemy equipment/supplies is contained in 1st Cav Division Periodic Intelligence Report NR 5-68, pp. 1–3.
58 Pearson, War in Northern Provinces, p. 92.
59 “Recon Team Idaho,” http://www.TaskForceOmega.org. Accessed 9 Aug 2014.
60 Ken Freeze, “The Last Mission of Hellborne 215,” http://www.Check-Six.com, pp. 1–6. Accessed 5 Jul 2014; “Lead Sheet, Case 1205 (Schmidt): Recommendation of Case for CAT 1-JTFFA Activity.” Found in LOC POW/MIA Database, Item 84.
61 “Operation Somerset Plain,” Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, 6 Mar 2011.
62 Haynes Johnson, “1968 Democratic Convention: The Bosses Strike Back,” Smithsonian Magazine, August, 2008, p. 41.
63 Extracted from Black Silver Star Citation, Department of the Army General Order Number 5852, dated 26 Dec 1968; Jack Murphy, “Across the Fence with MACV-SOG: You Shot me Three Times,” http://www.sofrep.com/27914. Accessed 21 Mar 2015. For a detailed television account of this action, see the Military History Channel’s “Heroes Under Fire: Jungle Ambush,” airdate 1 Nov 2005.
64 Plaster, SOG, p. 195.
CHAPTER 6: OPERATION DEWEY CANYON
1 Spector, After Tet, pp. 46–47.
2 Andrew J. Rotter, Light at the End of the Tunnel: A Vietnam War Anthology (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010), pp. 393–394.
3 Spector, After Tet, p. 36.
4 Charles R. Smith, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: High Mobility and Standdown 1969 (Washington, DC: USMC History and Museums Division, 1988), p. 27.
5 Shultz, The Secret War Against Hanoi, p. 331.
6 Gen Raymond G. Davis Interview, 2 Feb 1977, pp. 17-18 (USMC Oral History Collection, History Division, Quantico, VA).
7 Robert H. Barrow, “Operation Dewey Canyon,” Marine Corps Gazette, Nov 1981, p. 87.
8 Jack Shulimson et al, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: 1968 The Defining Year (Create-Space Independent Publishing, 2013), pp. 516–517.
9 Smith, High Mobility, p. 17.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid, pp. 30–31.
12 C. Douglas Sterner, “Operation Dewey Canyon,” 2001, p. 2. http://www.1stbattalionin9thmarinesfirebase.net. Accessed on 16 Oct 2014.
13 Lt Walter J. Wood Interview, 5–9 Mar 1969, Sound Recording (USMC Oral History Collection, History Division, Quantico, VA).
14 Capt Daniel A. Hitzelberger Interview, 5–9 Mar 1969, Sound Recording (USMC Oral History Collection, History Division, Quantico, VA).
15 Sgt Robert D. Gaudioso Interview, 5–9 Mar 1969, Sound Recording (USMC Oral History Collection, History Division, Quantico, VA).