Days of Valor

by Robert L. Tonsetic

  Fighting in the village was sheer hell for the grunts. The earth shook beneath their feet as 500-pound bombs exploded a few hundred meters from their positions, and the powerful shock waves knocked some off their feet. The Cottonbalers and Warriors felt the searing heat of burning napalm as canister after canister was dropped near their positions. Most of the structures that were still standing after the bombings were consumed by leaping orange tongues of fire. Despite the blazing infernos, the enemy who were dug-in beneath the concrete slabs of the houses continued to fire on their attackers. An intricate tunnel system dug weeks before the offensive allowed the insurgents to move undetected from position to position. Progress was slow and costly for the grunts.

  LTC Hall orbited overhead in his C&C ship directing the battle. When he was notified that a Delta Company solider had been seriously burned by a white phosphorus grenade, Hall ordered his pilot to land to evacuate the injured man. As the C&C ship touched down, it was hit with a burst of machine-gun fire that mortally wounded Hall’s artillery liaison officer, Captain David Rodman. Despite the withering fire directed at the helicopter, the Delta Company grunts carried the badly burned soldier to the C&C ship, where he was lifted on board. While the C&C ship flew toward 3d Field Hospital, LTC Hall requested more air strikes to break the stalemate on the ground.

  The air strikes continued until 1900 hours, but stiff enemy resistance continued. As darkness approached, LTC Hall ordered his men to pull back to their cordon positions around the village. The exhausted infantrymen established ambush positions to seal off all enemy routes of withdrawal. It had been a frustrating and confusing day for the grunts. Despite heavy losses, and multiple air and artillery strikes on the enemy positions, they could only confirm six enemy dead. Undoubtedly, there were many more who were either buried beneath the rubble or pulled back into the underground bunkers by their comrades. Nonetheless, the enemy still held most of the village. The setting sun brought some relief to the nearly unbearable heat as the Cottonbalers and Warriors dug in for the night.

  AO Winchester—9–10 May

  Specialist Dave Taylor of Charlie 4/12 was standing watch on a night LP some three hundred meters north of FSB Stephanie. Peering through the eyepiece of a Starlight Scope, Taylor saw a startling sight. Silhouetted against the night skyline were several long columns of NVA moving slowly westward across the open rice paddies. Taylor wrote in a letter home a week later that, “The line of NVA was over 3,000 meters long. Some soldiers were carrying wounded on stretchers…they were walking out of Saigon at a measured pace. Even as artillery was called in on them, I don’t remember them scattering or changing pace dramatically. I recollect that there must have been easily a thousand troops in that column.”

  Taylor radioed his platoon CP to report the sighting. The NVA and VC were withdrawing from Saigon, heading west across the northern portion of AO Winchester toward their sanctuaries in Cambodia. The NVA columns were on a collision path with the night defensive positions of the Warrior battalion.

  A few minutes before 0100 hours, Delta Company 4/12 radioed the battalion TOC to report that their T-shaped ambush had made contact with three separate groups of NVA. An estimated 60 enemy were taken under fire as they approached the southern tip of the “T.” The western tip of the ambush engaged another group of 60 at a range of 200 meters, and a third group of approximately 30 enemy were taken under fire as they moved past the eastern tip of the “T.” Each group returned a half-hearted fire and then withdrew out of small arms range. As the enemy withdrew they were pounded with 81mm mortar fire, and when a gunship team arrived over the scene the survivors dispersed in all directions. Delta Company then dispatched patrols to sweep each contact area.

  While Delta sprung its ambush north of FSB Stephanie, Charlie Company’s 1st Platoon manning the bunker line on Stephanie spotted a column of 100 NVA moving east to west about 800 meters north of the perimeter. This was one of the columns spotted by Specialist Taylor’s LP. Charlie Company’s 81mm mortars opened fire on the column, scattering some, but the NVA soon regrouped. Carrying their wounded, the NVA continued their westward trek through the rice paddies north of the fire base. They moved toward a gap between the FSB Stephanie and Delta Company ambushes.

  Moments later, Captain Tonsetic hastily organized a combat patrol to intercept the NVA column. The Charlie Company CO led his men through the perimeter wire on the northwestern side of FSB Stephanie. The patrol moved north through the darkness for several hundred meters and then turned east to intercept the enemy column. Their course led them directly toward it. When the enemy was in sight, Tonsetic deployed his men behind a rice paddy dike, and the patrol opened fire when the enemy was fifty meters from the dike. Taken completely by surprise, the head of the enemy column was cut to pieces with M16, M60, and grenades. Fourteen NVA were killed and three badly wounded prisoners were taken. The remainder of the enemy force dispersed in small groups fleeing northward.

  Leaving a security force behind to guard the prisoners, Captain Tonsetic set off in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. The patrol overtook a group of about fifteen NVA who decided to make a stand behind a rice paddy dike. Charlie Company’s patrol took cover behind another dike and returned fire. Opting not to assault across the open rice paddy, Captain Tonsetic radioed his 81mm mortar platoon for fire support. Moments later the patrol heard the thunks of 81mm rounds being fired back at firebase. Seconds later, the rounds were blowing the NVA to pieces behind the paddy dike.

  When the fire mission ended, the Charlie Company grunts moved forward in an assault line firing from the hip. Four NVA bodies, all riddled with shrapnel wounds, lay strewn behind what was left of the dike. The patrol also recovered a US PRC-25 radio, set to one of the frequencies used by the control tower at Tan Son Nhut Airbase. Intelligence analysts later concluded that this group of NVA were from the assault force that had attacked Tan Son Nhut. After recovering weapons and documents from the fallen enemy soldiers, Tonsetic’s patrol returned to the site where the POWs were under guard and remained at that location until first light.

  While Charlie and Delta Companies of the Warrior battalion intercepted NVA units moving through the darkened rice paddies and palm groves north of FSB Stephanie, small groups of VC holed up in Tan Thanh village attempted to break out of the Cottonbaler cordon. Between 0200 and 0500 hours, small groups of insurgents attempted to slip between the Alpha 3/7 and Bravo 4/12 positions, taking full advantage of the moonless night. Using Starlight Scopes, the alert Cottonbalers spotted the fleeing enemy and opened fire. The survivors dispersed, each man fleeing on his own. Unit cohesion had completely broken down. Gunship teams orbiting the area hunted down the fleeing enemy like hungry sharks. Those who chose to stay and fight at Tan Thanh, or who were too badly wounded to flee, were about to experience the full weight of US air power.

  Lieutenant Colonel Hall requested and received authorization for a total of 18 air sorties on 9 May. His intention was to break the back of the enemy resistance before continuing the ground attack. Unlike the previous day’s strikes, LTC Hall requested 750-lb. bombs with delay fusing. The instantaneous fused bombs dropped during the prior day’s missions had resulted in little damage to the underground bunkers in Tan Thanh.

  At daybreak, the bright morning sunlight promised another scorching day in the parched rice paddies southwest of Saigon. Fires still smoldered in the village of Tan Thanh, and the smell of cordite and already decaying flesh of man and beast permeated the dewy morning air. At FSB Stephanie, Captain Tonsetic’s sleep-deprived patrol entered a gap in the razor sharp concertina wire with two badly wounded prisoners. A third had died of his wounds during the night. One of the wounded prisoners was identified as an officer, but was incapable of speech. Interrogation at the firebase was not an option. The pair was dusted off for treatment at 3d Field Hospital.

  While the Cottonbaler battalion stood by for the air strikes at Tan Thanh, Captain Dabney’s Delta Company grunts swept the areas of their previous night ambushes, finding
36 bodies and a number of weapons, documents, and a radio made in Communist China. Identity cards found on a number of bodies indicated that the KIAs were from the 246th NVA battalion. Delta Company also captured a prisoner who stated that his unit was to attack FSB Stephanie that night, but unexpectedly ran into Delta Company’s ambush and Charlie Company’s patrol, completely disrupting the attack. It was apparent that FSB Stephanie was a “thorn in the side” of the enemy commanders who were attempting to withdraw their units from the Saigon–Tan Son Nhut areas. The FSB was not in the equation when they planned for the attacks.

  The air strikes on Tan Thanh village began shortly after 0800 hours. Pairs of F-100s swooped down from the sky like birds of prey releasing their payloads of 750-lb. high-drag bombs. Thunderous explosions shook the earth as the bombs burrowed into the earth and detonated. Earthquake-like tremors shook the ground a kilometer away. Clods of dirt, pieces of concrete, and rocks shot upward like a volcanic eruption, then showered down on the ground below. Huge craters were created after each explosion. Troops on the cordon and at FSB Stephanie pulled their steel helmets down over their faces and crouched low in their fighting positions. The final air strike was completed at 1000 hours. It was inconceivable that anyone could have survived the bombings, but there were some who did.

  Platoon Sergeant Johnny Velasquez wrote, “The following morning after the airstrikes there was movement in the rice paddies next to the village. This person came towards us yelling in Vietnamese that he was not armed and wanted to surrender. I told the Captain that I would go and get him, and to cover me. I went towards him, which was approximately 200 meters. I grabbed him by the arm and escorted him back with our Vietnamese translator. The prisoner…was an officer with the NVA. He pointed out where many enemy positions were, and said they took heavy casualties during those three days.”

  The Cottonbaler companies and Captain Smith’s Bravo Company 4/12 began their sweep of the village shortly after the air strikes ended. Only sporadic enemy fire was encountered as the grunts began to pull dead and wounded VC from the wreckage. The work was nonetheless dangerous. PFC John Kirchner of Lancaster, Pennsylvania was killed in action, and six men were wounded during the mopping-up operation. Two more US personnel were wounded during the air strikes. In all, 70 enemy bodies were pulled from the wreckage and tunnel complex, and a number of dazed POWs were taken.

  Battlefield interrogation of the prisoners by the Cottonbaler battalion’s Kit Carson scouts revealed that the POWs were members of the 7th and 8th VC Battalions of the 9th VC Division. Others were members of the 264th NVA Battalion that was attached to the 9th VC Division. An officer POW said that his unit had marched to Tan Thanh from Cambodia. His battalion consisted of a light weapons company, an automatic weapons company, a machine gun company and a mortar company. The prisoner also said that there were still many men buried in the ruins and tunnels beneath the village. It was impossible to get them all out.

  The costly battle to dislodge the enemy from Tan Thanh village was over by dusk on 9 May. Fires continued to smoulder throughout the village, and the stench of death permeated the dank tropical air. War had come to Tan Thanh like a whirlwind and destroyed it in two days. Fifty-four structures were completely destroyed, and another twenty-seven were damaged. Tan Thanh would be rebuilt in time, but memories of the fighting would live on in the minds of the men who fought there. Meanwhile, as darkness descended, another deadly struggle was about to begin north of FSB Stephanie.

  Delta Company of the Warrior battalion spent the daylight hours of 9 May sweeping the rice paddies and palm groves north of FSB Stephanie, finding four additional enemy bodies and recovering nine AK-47 rifles, an RPD light machine gun, and a B40 rocket launcher apparently abandoned by fleeing enemy soldiers during previous contacts. Captain Dabney scouted the area for a new position for the company’s night operations. He selected an area approximately 800 meters southwest of the previous night’s ambush position.

  Delta Company arrived at their new defensive position by late afternoon. Captain Dabney order his platoons to dig in for the night. He paid particular attention to the 81mm mortar position. He wanted the crew to dig a pit deep enough to fire the mortar without exposing themselves to incoming fire. Dabney also managed to acquire a .50 caliber machine gun. This weapon was not found on a light infantry company’s TO&E. The .50 caliber had proved its worth in the previous night’s ambush, but the gun had subsequently jammed. Replacement parts were needed to put it back in service. Just before dark, four ACAVs arrived at Delta Company’s CP to deliver a resupply of ammunition, and the Cav platoon leader was able to supply the parts Dabney needed for his .50 caliber.

  At dusk, Captain Dabney went up and down the line, checking the fields of fire of all his machine guns and insuring that each fighting position had at least two Claymore mines placed to the front. Trip flares were placed on all approaches to the company’s defensive positions. After inspecting his perimeter, Dabney called his platoon leaders to the CP for final instructions. The Captain warned that he expected an attack before midnight, and he ordered his platoons to 100 percent alert. Dabney’s premonition was right on target.

  At 2020 hours, a small group of NVA probed Delta Company’s position, trying to identify crew-served weapons emplacements. Dabney’s riflemen and grenadiers opened fire, driving off the enemy. Delta’s machine gunners wisely held their fire, waiting for the main attack. Captain Dabney ordered a patrol to sweep the area. The patrol found five enemy dead, an AK-47 assault rifle, and a Chicom pistol fifty meters forward of the perimeter.

  An hour later, a major attack was launched against Delta Company’s NDP from the north. One heavy and two light machine guns began to rake the Delta Company positions. The enemy machine guns were firing from positions about 100 meters from the perimeter. Dabney ordered his 81mm mortar crew to fire on the enemy positions. One of the first rounds knocked out one of the enemy light machine guns. Moments later, artillery rounds fired from FSB Stephanie destroyed the 12.75mm heavy machine gun, but the company continued to take fire from the darkened paddies and hedgerows.

  As the fighting continued, Captain Dabney requested gunship and flareship support, while his platoons returned the enemy fire. Two Delta Company grunts were wounded in the initial exchange. Delta’s machine guns and Claymores mowed down more NVA before they could reach the perimeter. The NVA then moved to the southwest in an attempt to encircle Delta Company’s positions.

  Captain Dabney was up and down the firing line all night, encouraging his men and directing their fire. At one point, he personally manned a machine gun to kill three enemy soldiers who were less than 25 meters from the perimeter. RPGs began to slam into Delta Company’s perimeter, spraying shrapnel throughout the area. An Australian correspondent spending the night with Delta Company caught a piece of shrapnel in the head, but the wound was not fatal. A dust-off arrived to evacuate Delta’s wounded, but was unable to land due to heavy incoming fire.

  The situation began to improve when a Spooky flareship and a gunship team arrived over the battlefield to provide illumination and fire support. Captain Dabney had the gunships fire to the west of his perimeter, making their runs from north to south. Simultaneously, Charlie Battery, 2/35th Artillery fired close defensive 155mm fires north of Delta’s positions, while Charlie Battery, 2/40th Artillery launched blocking fires to the northeast and northwest. When the gunships departed the area to rearm and refuel, the Spooky took over, laying down a curtain of fire around Delta Company with its mini-gun.

  Colonel Davison, who was monitoring Delta Company’s fight, ordered a Forward Air Controller to the scene. It was 2300 hours when the FAC arrived overhead. Captain Dabney requested air strikes to the north and northeast of his positions. Minutes later, the fighters arrived and began dropping napalm on the enemy troops. One of the napalm canisters landed dangerously close to the Delta Company positions. The uniforms and web gear of several men were scorched, but none of the grunts were seriously burned. The air strikes w
ere complete shortly before midnight, all but ending the NVA attack on Delta Company. After his company was resupplied with ammunition, Captain Dabney ordered his platoons to sweep the areas in front of their positions. The patrols reported a total of 24 enemy bodies and an assortment of small arms and crew-served weapons. The Delta Company commander was cited for extraordinary heroism for his valorous actions during the period 6 to 10 May, and was awarded the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross. Delta Company was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for the May Offensive.

  While small unit actions continued to occur around FSB Stephanie over the following days, Delta Company’s night defensive battle on 9–10 May was the last major contact for the Warrior battalion during the Communists’ May Offensive of 1968. By the 10th it was evident that the enemy had largely withdrawn from Saigon, and by 12 May there were indications that the enemy was withdrawing troops from the surrounding areas. Nonetheless, the Communists maintained a capability to launch highly lethal attacks against US and Vietnamese forces. During the period 12–14 May 1968, the 199th Infantry Brigade’s 2/3d Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Carper, fought a bloody series of offensive and defensive battles with the VC 6th Local Force Battalion and elements of the 271st, 272d, and 273d Regiments in an area southwest of Cholon and north of Binh Chanh.

  CHAPTER 16