Days of Valor

by Robert L. Tonsetic

  The attacks on the highway bridges that connected Saigon to Bien Hoa and Long Binh were meant to divert attention from the Communists’ main objectives: the strategic Tan Son Nhut airbase and Cholon. Initially, Saigon and its suburbs were defended by ten South Vietnamese combat battalions—three airborne, three marine, and four Ranger. The battalions were deployed within the city and along its periphery. When it became apparent that there were insufficient Vietnamese forces to defend the city, the US II Field Force Commander ordered US reinforcements into the capital region. Task Force Hay, led by Major General John Hay, was activated to command and control the US forces. The US 1st Division, 9th Division, 25th Division, and 199th Light Infantry Brigade were all placed under the operational control of Task Force Hay.

  Fire Support Base Tri-Corners—0300 Hours, 5 May

  Tri-Corners was on high alert. There were light contacts with enemy reconnaissance units on 1 and 2 May, but no one was sure of the exact location of several battalion-size units that were reported moving south along the Bien Hoa–Long Khanh Province boundary. Numerous reports from civilians and agents indicated that the enemy battalions had crossed Highway 1 east of Trang Bom, but no one knew where they headed next. Brigadier General Forbes thought they were headed for the Long Binh–Bien Hoa area, and planned to intercept them before they arrived. Consequently, the change in mission that he received on 4 May was unexpected.

  The new mission was to become effective at 1200 hours on 5 May, and it called for the 199th LIB to move with all possible speed to the southwestern edge of Saigon where it would be under the operational control of Task Force Hay. Concurrently, the 1st Australian Task Force was designated to take over in AO Columbus. The movement of the Warrior and Cottonbaler battalions was scheduled to begin on the morning of 5 May.

  At 0300 hours on 5 May, Specialists Oldenburg and Lambert were three hours into their radio watch shift in the Warrior TOC, when they heard a series of muffled explosions outside the sandbagged bunker. The TOC bunker sat in a 12-foot-deep bulldozed cut in the ground. On the firebase’s outer perimeter, Captain Dabney’s Delta Company grunts, at first, thought they were under mortar attack. No one spotted the bright orange rocket exhausts of the incoming 122mm rockets. Fortunately the Warriors were experts in bunker construction. The bunkers were dug several feet down into the earth with overhead cover consisting of a piece of corrugated steel half-pipe covered with a triple layer of sandbags. When the rockets began to fall, the men were sleeping or standing watch inside the bunkers. Only two Delta Company soldiers were wounded as the 122mm rockets exploded on the firebase.

  A few minutes after the last rocket exploded, Charlie Battery, 2/40th Artillery’s 105mm howitzers and the Warrior battalion’s 4.2″ mortars fired counter-battery missions at the suspected rocket launching sites. One of the Delta Troop, 17th Cavalry’s platoons observed secondary explosions in the area of the counter-battery fires. Moments later the Warrior TOC was notified by brigade headquarters that Bien Hoa was also under heavy rocket attack. The May Offensive was underway.

  AO Winchester

  The new 199th LIB area of operations, AO Winchester, bordered the western and southwestern sides of Saigon and encompassed most of Binh Chanh District in Gia Dinh Province. The 4/12th Warrior battalion was assigned responsibility for the northern portion of the AO, and established FSB Stephanie just north of Highway 10. The 3/7th Cottonbaler Battalion moved into an area south of Highway 4 and established FSB Horseshoe-Bend just off Highway 4. A fishnet factory was located on the same property, and the factory building was used as as the 199th LIB’s forward headquarters. Only three kilometers separated FSB Stephanie and FSB Horseshoe-Bend. When the 2/3d Infantry returned to brigade control on 7 May, the Old Guard battalion moved into an area to the south of the 3/7th Infantry. The brigade’s fourth infantry battalion, the 5/12th Infantry, was placed under the operational control of the 101st Airborne Division.

  The terrain in AO Winchester was generally flat and most of the area was cultivated in rice paddies and small farmsteads. Numerous canals crisscrossed the area with sparse vegetation along their banks. Most of the population resided in hamlets and villages that sat astride the highways and roads that ran through the area. The areas that bordered Saigon and Cholon were densely populated.

  The local force units that normally operated in the area were in a high state of readiness and fully prepared for the May Offensive. In addition to attacking bridges, PF outposts, and other targets, the Local Force VC provided guides to lead the main force VC and NVA units through AO Winchester on their way to Saigon. The rapid deployment of the Warrior and Cottonbaler battalions to areas that straddled the enemy infiltration and withdrawal routes resulted in a week of intense and bloody combat.

  Fire Support Base Stephanie—1800 hours, 5 May

  The site chosen for Fire Base Stephanie was in a Vietnamese cemetery, four hundred meters north of Ap Tan Hoi. While the rice paddies that surrounded the site were dry in early May, the rice fields would be flooded with more than a foot of water before the end of the month. The monsoon season was fast approaching. The cemetery sat on the only ground higher than the flood plain. The villagers were dismayed about the new fire support base’s location, but there were no suitable alternatives.

  FSB Stephanie was ideally situated to protect Saigon’s western boundary. The firebase straddled a primary VC and NVA infiltration route that led from the large pineapple plantation located some 15 kilometers west of the city directly toward the city’s western suburbs. Intelligence reports, visual reconnaissance, and imagery interpretations revealed that the pineapple area contained in excess of 3,700 fortifications. Therefore, the pineapple area became the final staging area for Communist units marching from Cambodia to attack targets in the Saigon area. FSB Stephanie was located nine kilometers east of the pineapple area, and just six kilometers from the western perimeter of Tan Son Nhut Airbase. Having reconnoitered their invasion routes days prior to the offensive, the enemy units marching toward Saigon were totally surprised by the presence of US troops in the area on 5 May.

  Three of the Warrior battalion’s four rifle companies air assaulted into the area around the new FSB site during the afternoon of 5 May. Captain Dabney’s Delta Company moved overland with the battalion convoy to provide security en route. Lt. Colonel Mastoris selected Captain Bob Tonsetic’s Charlie Company to secure the new FSB. Captain Tonsetic was Mastoris’ most experienced company leader, and the Warrior battalion commander was concerned about the security of FSB Stephanie, particularly in its formative stages. With two artillery batteries, Charlie Battery 2/35th (155mm), and Charlie Battery 2/40th (105mm), Stephanie became a prime target for the NVA battalions and sapper units operating in the area.

  At 1800 hours, the 4/12 Infantry land convoy arrived at FSB Stephanie after a harrowing five-hour road march. After departing Long Binh, the convoy sped south on Highway 13 and crossed the Newport Bridge under sniper fire. Changing routes to avoid roadblocks, the convoy entered the congested traffic of Saigon and made its way to the western side of the city. Passing through Phu Lam, the convoy drove west on Highway 10 toward the village of Binh Tri Dong about 4.8 miles west of downtown Saigon.

  When the land convoy arrived just before dusk, ground guides directed the vehicles into positions within the firebase. Captain Tonsetic positioned the armored cav platoon’s ACAVs where they were most needed to bolster the perimeter defense with their .50 caliber and M60 machine guns. Two M42 Dusters also arrived with the convoy, and these were position along the northern and western perimeters. A 155mm howitzer battery from II Field Force artillery was directed into firing positions by Lieutenant Colonel Myer, the 2/40th artillery commander. The mud-spattered trucks and tracked vehicles rolled through the cemetery, in some cases knocking over grave markers and headstones.

  The Vietnamese cemetery was quickly transformed into a firebase, as fortification materials were airlifted in by CH-47 helicopter. Charlie Company grunts constructed sandbagged bunkers wit
h overhead cover on the perimeter. As the grunts began to dig in, the 105mm howitzers, slung beneath CH-47s along with boxes of howitzer rounds, were lowered near their surveyed firing positions. Artillerymen quickly unhooked the slings from the howitzers and manhandled the guns into firing positions, while other members of the gun crews rushed around the artillery pieces placing aiming stakes and laying them in for registration.

  While Charlie Company secured the firebase perimeter, Alpha Company, commanded by Captain Pete Albers, moved west to establish a night defensive position two kilometers to the west in the vicinity of the small village of Ap Tan Hoi. The villages of Ap Tan Thanh and Ap Tan Hoi were situated just to the west of Binh Tri Dong. It was difficult to distinguish one village from the next, since all three had grown together along Highway 10.

  Bravo Company, under Captain Lee Smith, was deployed four kilometers to the south of FSB Stephanie, and two kilometers south of Ap Tan Thanh and Highway 10. Most of the area around Bravo Company’s position was cultivated in rice paddies.

  When Delta Company arrived with the land convoy, LTC Mastoris ordered Captain Dabney to move his men to a position about a kilometer north of the base. The Delta Company position was surrounded by rice paddies, small groves of palm trees, and patches of swamp. Unbeknownst to the 4/12th commanders, NVA units were already infiltrating through the areas around FSB Stephanie, and moving into the villages of Binh Tri Dong, Ap Tan Thanh, and Ap Tan Hoi.

  It had been a long day for the grunts of Delta Company. After the early morning rocket attack at FSB Tri-Corner, the company had been air lifted back to the brigade’s main base at Long Binh. There, hopes for at least a shower, a few hours relaxation, and a night in garrison were dashed when the company was ordered to move south with the land convoy to the new AO. Arriving late in the day, the company had little time to reconnoiter the area north of FSB Stephanie. Captain Dabney selected the company’s night defensive position in a grove of palm trees, and selected two ambush positions and three listening posts outside the perimeter.

  At 2130 hours, the grunts manning one of Delta Company’s listening posts were on high alert. Staring through the green glow of their Starlight Scopes, the men on the LP saw a squad of NVA regulars walking directly toward their position. The enemy soldiers were less than twenty yards away. As a listening post, the men were not supposed to engage the enemy, but instead radio back an early warning to the Company NDP. There was no time for that. The LP was about to be discovered, so the men opened fire on the unsuspecting NVA. They killed one and took two prisoners, but the rest of the NVA squad fled. Unsure if there were other enemy in the vicinity, the grunts hurriedly searched the body of the dead NVA and hustled their prisoners to another hiding position about a hundred meters away. They bound and gagged their prisoners and opted to wait for morning before moving back to the company NDP. No one slept, fearing the NVA who had escaped during the firefight would return with reinforcements.

  AO Winchester—6 May

  Shortly after midnight, an ACAV crew attached to Delta Company spotted another NVA squad a few hundred meters from the company’s perimeter. The track opened up with .50 caliber machine-gun fire, scattering the group. Captain Dabney dispatched a patrol to check the area, but after sweeping the vicinity, the patrol leader reported finding only blood trails. Illumination rounds fired by the battalion’s mortar platoon cast long shadows over the dry rice paddies and palm groves, as the patrol returned to the company’s position. The weary infantrymen waited for the dawn.

  Charlie Company’s 1st Platoon, led by Lieutenant Howard Tuber, manned the bunker line on the northern perimeter of FSB Stephanie. The platoon heard firing and saw the muzzle flashes and tracer rounds from Delta Company’s contacts during the night. As dawn arrived, an alert 1st Platoon grunt spotted a group of soldiers moving into a palm grove 300 meters north of the perimeter. There was not yet enough light to identify them as US or Communist soldiers. The report was radioed in to the Charlie Company CP bunker, and Captain Tonsetic directed Lieutenant Tuber to send out a patrol to check the area.

  The Charlie Company patrol was about fifty meters from the palm grove when they were taken under fire by a dug-in NVA squad. Their fire was murderously accurate. Twenty-five year old PFC Dennis Dunsing was mortally wounded, and two more men were hit as well. The patrol pulled back toward the perimeter with their casualties, under covering fire from the base perimeter.

  Captain Tonsetic and his first sergeant, George Holmes, ran to the 1st Platoon CP as the squad withdrew. A hasty plan of attack was developed. Two squads from 1st Platoon and two ACAV from D/17th Cav moved north from the perimeter to destroy the enemy. Captain Tonsetic, Lieutenant Tuber, and 1st Sergeant Holmes accompanied the patrol. David Douglas led one of the 1st Platoon squads. As the combat patrol neared the palm grove, the NVA opened fire. Sergeant Douglas was hit by the first burst of fire. Although he was painfully wounded, the sergeant moved forward and destroyed the nearest enemy position with a hand grenade. Following his example, the Charlie Company grunts moved forward and in a short but violent firefight killed nine of the NVA and captured two prisoners. The patrol searched the surrounding area, as First Sergeant Holmes took charge of the prisoners and marched them back to the firebase. Douglas was awarded a Bronze Star for his leadership and heroism during the firefight.

  When Charlie Company’s combat patrol returned to the firebase perimeter, the CO’s RTO, Bob Archibald, was sent to the battalion aid station to check on the men who were wounded. According to Archibald, the medics were still treating them. He wrote, “The medics were trying to save someone…. One of our medics realized that they had lost him, and the medic was visibly upset by their failure to save the soldier.” The day was just beginning.

  A few hundred meters to the north, Captain Dabney redeployed his platoons to meet a new threat. Beginning at daylight, the company’s observation posts had begun to report sightings of groups of 10 to 15 NVA marching toward Delta Company’s position. Captain Dabney quickly readjusted his platoon positions to engage the enemy with maximum firepower. According to Pasqual Ramirez, a squad leader with 2nd Platoon, his platoon moved east to intercept the enemy groups as they emerged from a tree line. Sergeant Charles McGowen led one of the other 2nd Platoon squads.

  Sergeant McGowen’s squad was first to reach the new position and open fire on the NVA troops. As he moved forward to hurl a hand grenade at the NVA, McGowen was hit with a burst of fire and mortally wounded. His squad then advanced, killing seven enemy soldiers. They also captured a prisoner. ID cards and other documents found on the enemy bodies and prisoner identified the NVA as members of the 272d NVA Battalion and the C-100 Sapper Company, 9th NVA Division. During interrogation, the POW said that his unit had departed Cambodia six days earlier on a mission to attack Saigon.

  In sweltering heat, Delta Company continued to sweep the dry rice paddies and palm groves north of FSB Stephanie for the remainder of the morning. At 1145 hours, a platoon-size force from Delta Company intercepted a platoon of NVA. A sharp fight broke out. During the initial burst of fire, three Delta Company warriors were wounded as they took cover and returned fire.

  Specialist Harvey Cooley, a 19-year-old medic from Houston, Texas rushed forward and began to treat two of the wounded. The third wounded man, PFC Raymond Witzig, began to crawl toward Specialist Cooley’s location. When Cooley saw that the man’s wounds were too severe for him to move further, he ran forward and picked up the wounded soldier. As he carried Witzig back toward the cover of a rice paddy dike, the NVA opened fire. Both men were killed. Harvey Cooley received the Silver Star for his heroic actions to save the lives of his wounded comrades.

  Specialist Cooley had only been with Delta Company for a week when he was killed in action. He had replaced medic Ramiro Chavez, who was reassigned to the battalion aid station. When Chavez saw Cooley’s body at the aid station, he asked the battalion surgeon if he could return to Delta Company, even though he’d spent more than his share of time in the field.
When the battalion surgeon approved his request, Chavez grabbed his aid bag and hopped on the next resupply chopper headed for Delta Company’s location.

  Captain Dabney ordered his attached ACAVs to reinforce the platoon that was still in contact. With the additional fire support from the ACAVs, the Delta Company grunts assaulted the NVA position, killing seven, and capturing two 60mm mortars. During the assault, one of the attached ACAVs was hit with an RPG-7, wounding two of the crew members. Dust-offs were called to evacuate Delta Company’s seven WIA and the two wounded cavalrymen. It seemed as if the NVA were everywhere.

  As the day wore on, fighting continued around FSB Stephanie. In addition, there was really no safe spot at the firebase itself. Sniper fire wounded a howitzer crewmember and a soldier from the Warrior battalion headquarters. Despite the sniper fire, the men at FSB Stephanie continued to work on the fortifications. The battalion requested a bulldozer to construct a berm around the firebase, but the only one available to the brigade was attached to the 2/3d Infantry, and would not be available for several days.

  As dusk approached, the southeastern side of the perimeter began to receive heavy sniper fire. The fire came from the village 400 meters to the south of the firebase. It was later determined that a battalion of the 273d VC Regiment occupied a large bunker complex in the village. The bunkers were constructed under the houses, using the cement floors as overhead cover. Numerous tunnels were dug from each bunker to as many as eight firing positions. The fortifications had been under construction days before the offensive began. It would take a tremendous effort using ground troops, artillery, and air strikes to dislodge them. On the ground, the task would fall on the grunts of the Warrior and Cottonbaler battalions