Chapter Twenty-One
To cap the victory, Colonel Codispoti presented Colonel Henry with a silver bugle. According to MACV’s very subjective distillation of prisoner statements, Hanoi did not consider their campaign in Hiep Duc a success. Some said that the commander and executive officer of the 1st NVA Regiment were relieved after pulling back into the mountains. Others said that a B52 arc light along Nui Chom had found the 2d NVA Division Headquarters and pursuing units killed dozens of North Vietnamese. It was impossible to verify the prisoners’ statements. Scores of NVA stragglers were picked off by the pursuing units. An NVA battalion commander was captured by M/3/7 Marines; he was found in a cave with three soldiers, all of whom surrendered after the Marines fired in a few rounds. The enemy colonel would not budge, so they tossed in tear gas and had to drag him out physically.
An ARVN battalion was brought in to help with the mop-up, and they spotted a withdrawing NVA column. U.S. artillery was brought to bear and by some accounts a hundred bodies were found.
The NVA were hurt more severely in retreat than in battle.
In the spring of 1970, when Colonel Henry was senior advisor, 5th Regiment, 2d ARVN Division, the ARVN troops overran an NVA hospital south of LZ West. The hospital records were translated and, according to Henry’s memory, they indicated 1,500 NVA casualties between 11 and 31 August 1969. Thus, if the campaign was honed to a simple matter of debits and credits, it was another American victory. The enemy had retired from the battlefield before they could put the torch to the Hiep Duc Resettlement Village, and General Ramsey called it “a successful pre-emptive battle … one of the greatest battles and victories my men have fought.”
Records are not comprehensive regarding U.S. casualties in the Hiep Duc and Song Chang Valleys, but it appears that the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry was bled the most. In twelve days, 17–28 August 1969, the battalion suffered 39 KIA and 204 WIA. They claimed 406 NVA KIA, 8 prisoners, and the capture or destruction of 36 individual and 11 crew-served weapons. For this defense of Hiep Duc, the Polar Bears won a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation and an RVN Cross of Gallantry.
The lulls and peaks continued.
On 12 September, an NVA attack on LZ Siberia was repelled by B/4–31 and C/3–82. The battle signalled a week of heavy fighting in both the 4–31 AO and 3–21 AO; casualties were heavy. Two months later, the 7th Marines rooted out numerous base camps and caches in the Que Sons; the NVA decided to slug it out and both sides were bloodied. They were bloodied again on 6 January 1970, when fifty NVA sappers penetrated 1/7’s perimeter on LZ Ross; thirty-eight of them were killed and three captured, but thirteen Marines died.
The Americal did not see prolonged action in the area until 30 April 1970, when NVA sappers slipped the wire on LZ Siberia two hours after midnight. The attack was repulsed by D/4–31 but, meanwhile, other NVA units rampaged through a section of the Resettlement Village. Fifty homes were burned and twelve civilians killed; most fled to LZ Karen. In fighting which continued into the first week of May, the 5th ARVN Regiment with Americal gunship support retook the village; 4–31 with reinforcements regained the valley. Two reasons were suggested for the NVA attacks: to confiscate the rice then being harvested and, as an Army officer commented, “… just to demonstrate they could do it.”
On 6 May, 2/7 Marines repelled a ground attack on Que Son District Headquarters. There was another series of mortarings and ground attacks in the area in June, then another lull, then another flurry of attacks in July, most of them weathered by B and C/1–46 Infantry.
The next lull for the 196th Brigade lasted until 28 March 1971, at which time Charlie 1st of the 46th Infantry was overrun by NVA sappers. They were on stand down atop LZ Mary Ann, a remote mountain south of the Song Chang Valley. Although the company commander had an outstanding reputation, a couple of bunker guards could not resist getting stoned; even sentries doing their duty could see practically nothing because of thick ground fog. The NVA sappers were able to wiggle through the wire under the fog. When a mortar barrage sent the GIs ducking, the North Vietnamese sprinted the last few meters into the perimeter. The sappers destroyed the B-TOC bunker (wounding the BnCO), cut communication lines, and tossed satchel charges into as many bunkers as they could before running down the opposite side of the hill.
Twelve NVA bodies were found; of the 200 GIs on Mary Ann, 33 were killed and 79 wounded. The battle was an indication of the state of demoralization of the U.S. Army in Vietnam, and resulted in the removal of the Americal Division commanding general.
The war was getting very old.
The Marines were also still in the area, conducting patrols which successfully dug out many of the enemy’s mountain hideouts. On 31 August 1970, 2/7 conducted Operation Imperial Lake in the Que Sons. It was the 7th Marine Regiment’s last operation; they were withdrawn in September. The 5th Marines CP then moved to LZ Baldy with 2/5 and 3/5 (1/5 was still in the Arizona, reinforced by the 1st Marines and the Vietnamized ARVN). In February 1971, the 5th Marine Regiment was withdrawn to Da Nang for further redeployment to the United States, and the 1st Marine Regiment became the last USMC infantrymen in South Vietnam. They held the Que Sons until the ARVN were ready, and on 12 April the last battalion, 2/1, terminated Operation Catawba Falls. Four NVA were killed in six days.
On 7 May 1971, 2d Battalion, 1st Marines stood down (they left Da Nang nineteen days later) and two companies of the 196th Infantry Brigade assumed the bunkers on Hill 327 and the rest of Division Ridge. At that time, the ARVN assumed completely the Que Son-Hiep Duc-Song Chang AO, and the 196th, Americal, joined the 101st Airborne Division in patrolling around Da Nang and the An Hoa Basin (in the new defensive terminology, “areas of responsibility” were now “areas of interest”).
In the fall of 1971, journalists again caught up with the 4th of the 31st Infantry. One correspondent tagged along on patrol with Bravo Company and reported that, although unenthusiastic, the men had a good captain and did a good job. It was also noted that Bravo had not made contact in six months. The morale was entirely different at 4–31 Rear, Da Nang. The story there centered on the battalion exec, a perceptive and strong man, and his war on drug abuse among the support personnel. By then, the GIs had graduated from marijuana to heroin and they did not limit themselves to private bitchings about the lifers. Fragging threats had been made against the exec; the major commented, unbluffed, “It’s like war, you take chances.”
It was a bad time for the Americal Division.
Fraggings. Drug abuse. Combat refusals. They seemed to be epidemic, and the trials for My Lai never seemed to end. “The press at times seemed eager to publicize only the most negative stories about the Americal,” commented Captain Downey of the 196th, who finished his second Vietnam tour in November 1971, “but remember this. In the midst of Nixon’s great Vietnamization program it wasn’t the 1st Cav, the Big Red One, 101st Airborne, nor the 1st Marine Division that was holding the NVA at bay. It was the Americal Division and not much more. My own very subjective opinion is that the Americal Division, after My Lai, was unofficially but purposefully designated as the sacrificial lamb to a war everyone knew would end in tragedy.”
The troops felt the same way. In April 1972, Alpha and Charlie 2–1 were airlifted to Phu Bai, north of Da Nang, to protect U.S. installations in the face of the 1972 Easter Invasion. Of the 142 troopers in Charlie Company, 50 temporarily refused orders to move outside the Phu Bai perimeter. It wasn’t even big news anymore, just a couple of paragraphs:
“Excuse me, colonel, but as accredited MACV correspondents we are entitled to talk to these soldiers.”
The colonel blocked the way. “Well, I’m not going to let you talk to them.” He was as good as his word. The trucks carrying a company of the U.S. 196th Infantry rolled away moments later. In a conversation over a concertina-wire fence, other soldiers explained there had indeed been a misunderstanding and a temporary refusal by a company to go into the field. The soldiers are reasonable and rational, and after a two-hour appeal by their commanding officer they all agree to go. But the soldiers make it plain they feel no obligation to fight for Vietnam and will accept only such action as is necessary to protect themselves and other Americans.
The colors of the Americal Division were folded in November 1971 (taking with it the 11th and 198th Brigades), and the 196th Brigade followed in June 1972. In four years in South Vietnam, about 100,000 men had served in the division; more than 3,400 had been killed and 22,500 wounded. They won eleven Medals of Honor. The last battalion of the last brigade, 3d of the 21st Infantry, remained on the Da Nang perimeter. Six years after its first operation in Vietnam, the Gimlets conducted the last U.S. infantry operation of the war. Two men were wounded by booby traps during the four-day patrol; then Hueys landed ARVN in their place in the bush and flew the GIs out. Thirteen days later, on 23 August 1972, the battalion deactivated as Increment IX of the U.S. Army withdrawal from the Republic of Vietnam. It was noted that the last ground combat units, 3d Battalion, 21st Infantry, and G Battery (Provisional), 29th Field Artillery, “… departed from Da Nang without ceremony.”
Major General Simpson (CG, 1st MarDiv) won his third star before retiring in 1973; he recently retired from a university administrative position and lives with his wife in Bryan, Texas. Lieutenant Pidgeon (C/11th MTB) is a reserve lieutenant colonel; he is married, with two children, and is general manager of a wine and beer distributorship in Kent, Washington. Corporal Dill (B/1st Tanks) served eighteen months in Vietnam and lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Corporal LaRue (D/1st Recon) is a police detective in Olathe, Kansas.
Colonel Codispoti (CO, 7th Marines) retired to Los Gatos, California. Lieutenant Colonel Dowd (CO, 1/7) won the Silver Star for his first Arizona operation, and a posthumous Navy Cross, Legion of Merit, and Purple Heart for his second. Major Alexander (S-3, 1/7) won his second Silver Star for the Arizona; in 1984 while a colonel on active duty he died of a heart ailment. Captain Clark (CO, A/1/7) owns a hardware store in Ellicott City, Maryland. Lieutenant Weh (CO, B/1/7) won the Bronze Star in the Arizona, then his second Purple Heart from a mortar round in the Que Sons; he also held five Air Medals from his NAO service, and rotated in November 1969. He is now a reserve lieutenant colonel, and president of an airline contracting company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lieutenant Hord (CO, C/1/7) received the Silver Star; he has since married and is a lieutenant colonel commanding an infantry battalion. Captain Fagan (CO, D/1/7) earned the Navy Commendation Medal his first tour, two Bronze Stars for his two Arizona operations and a third for his assignment as S-3, 1/7. He also picked up a Purple Heart during the LZ Ross sapper attack; moving towards the command bunker, he ran into a sapper with the same idea and was downed with AK47 rounds through the cheek and neck, and across the shoulder. He is now a colonel. Captain Beeler (CO, I/3/5) won the Silver Star and finished his tour as Battalion S-4 because of his wounds; he is also a colonel now. Lieutenant Peters (D/1/7) was the S-1A during the LZ Ross attack and rotated soon after with a Bronze Star. He was divorced in 1984, shares custody of his two children, and is a major. Sergeant Major Awkerman (BSM, 1/7) earned the Bronze Star and Navy Commendation Medals for his two Vietnam tours; he is retired and lives with his wife in Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania. Gunnery Sergeant Richards (D/1/7) had his face reconstructed after being shot in November 1969; he retired in 1974 as a first sergeant to Rawlins, Wyoming. Sergeant Lowery (C/1/7) won the Silver Star and his third and fourth Purple Hearts in the Arizona; the bumpy road of his present life has included a divorce after three children, and employment at the post office in Clarkstown, Washington. Corporal Brundage (D/1/7) is a gunnery sergeant. Corporal Cominos (D/1/7) made sergeant before rotating; he also came home with a Purple Heart earned during an ambush sprung on a party of NVA. He shot an NVA to death as the man threw a grenade at his feet. He is married, with two daughters, and owns an independent insurance agency in Schererville, Indiana. Corporal Valley (I/3/5) is a political consultant in Mass. Lance Corporal Bradley (C/1/7) was mede-vacked from the Que Sons in November 1969 when, as a squad leader, he took an AK47 round across his back in an ambush. He stayed in the Corps, usually serving embassy duty (thus winning a Navy Achievement Medal in Afghanistan during the 1979 Soviet Invasion), and is presently a master sergeant. Lance Corporal Nelson (D/1/7) earned a commission and is now a major. Lance Corporal Zotter (H&S/1/7) rotated in March 1970 after eighteen months in-country. After two divorces, he is engaged again, and he is a sergeant on active duty with the Army National Guard in Charleston, Arkansas. Lance Corporal Wells (H&S/1/7) was medevacked with malaria from the Que Sons in November 1969, but was back in time for the January 1970 sapper attack. He then returned to his hometown, Middletown, New York; put away his campaign ribbons with pride; married and had two children; and drives a truck for the city.
Lieutenant Colonel Lugger (CO, 2/7) retired in 1972, his only personal award a Navy Commendation Medal for the DomRep. He lives with his wife in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he has a successful career in consulting and computers. Lieutenant Colonel Hopkins (CO, 2/7) retired as a brigadier general. Major Steele (S-3, 2/7) retired as a lieutenant colonel with three Navy Commendation Medals and a Purple Heart; he is a security consultant in El Toro, California. Lieutenant Pickett (G/2/7) was KIA after Hiep Duc. Lieutenant Schuler (E/2/7) rejoined his platoon in October 1969 and rotated in February 1970 with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He is married, with two children, and is administrator of the Portsmouth Hospital in New Hampshire. Gunnery Sergeant Yohe (E/2/7) won the Bronze Star and his second Purple Heart at Hiep Duc. He retired in 1973 as a first sergeant, is married, and works for the post office in Longview, Texas. Lance Corporal Parr (F/2/7) won the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, and a 100 percent disability after reconstructive plastic surgery. He has since married; has three children; and, after graduating with a degree in design engineering, was hired by a gas and electric company in Georgetown, Indiana. Lance Corporal Russell (H&S/2/7), divorced three times and a college graduate, is a crane operator and a lieutenant in the Air National Guard in Anchorage, Alaska. Lance Corporal Sirianni (H/2/7) rotated in June 1970 as a squad leader with sergeant stripes and a Navy Commendation Medal. He was discharged in 1972, has since married, has three sons, and works in a VA hospital in Buffalo, New York. He earned a B.A. in art from the University of Buffalo (his speciality is drawing) and is involved in art shows dealing with Vietnam veterans. Lance Corporal Stickman (F/2/7) is a superintendent with a construction company, and lives in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Private First Class Collinson (F/2/7) rotated in February 1970; he is married, has two sons, and is an assistant vice president of a bank in Federal Way, Washington. Private First Class Norton (F/2/7) got out from Hiep Duc with a Navy Commendation Medal and Purple Heart, plus an 80 percent disability for wounds and posttraumatic stress disorder. He is in his second marriage and works for the post office in Morgan, Vermont.
Lieutenant Colonel Kummerow (CO, 3/7) was medevacked from the Que Sons in September 1969, but returned in October 1969, and earned a Legion of Merit and Purple Heart. He retired as a colonel and lives with his wife on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Captain Stanat (CO, M/3/7) resigned his commission in 1970 and reportedly moved into the mechanical engineering field. Captain Rider (CO, L/3/7) commanded a recon battalion before being promoted to colonel. Lieutenant Ramage (CO, I/3/7) entered the business world after the service. Lieuten ant Orefice (M/3/7) was released from the hospital with two Purple Hearts in October 1969, and completed his tour with B/1st Shore Party Battalion, An Hoa. He was released in 1971 with a 30 percent disability for his arm and leg; he has married, has three sons, and is manager of a golf country club in Simsbury, Connecticut. Sergeant Major Gledich (BSM, 3/7) is a convenience store manager in Casselberry, Florida. Corporal Jones (K/3/7) is a captain and counsellor in the U.S. Army Medical Service. Private First Class Besardi (L/3/7) was medevacked in January 1970 when he injured his knee running to a bunker on LZ Baldy during a rocket attack. In seventeen years, he’s worked seventeen different jobs for a total of four years. He receives a 30 percent disability for his knee and another 30 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder. He lives alone in Milbury, Mass. Private First Class Hammonds (L/3/7) was returned to the bush in November 1969 when his wounds healed, and was KIA in January 1970. Private First Class Smith (L/3/7) was mustered out with three Purple Hearts and is now working in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Private First Class Turner (L/3/7) lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
Major General Ramsey (CG, Americal Division) retired with almost four years of WWII duty and an extended Vietnam tour, earning three Silver Stars and five Purple Hearts; he gave up command of the division in March 1970 after being injured in a helicopter crash. He is a bank executive in McLean, Virginia. Colonel Tackaberry (CO, 196th InfBde) won his third Distinguished Service Cross during the September 1969 attack on LZ Siberia. As a company commander in Korea and a two-tour man in Vietnam, he also netted five Silver Stars and a Purple Heart, and retired with three stars. He is now a businessman in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Captain Downey (196th InfBde) is a business executive in Los Angeles, California. Specialist 4 Keefer (A/1–1 ArmCav) won a CIB and ARCOM,* then a BSM and his fifth Purple Heart during a 1970–71 tour with his old cavalry troop. It has been a rough mental road since his discharge as a sergeant platoon leader, and he is now a laborer in Ridgely, Maryland.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry (CO, 4–31 Inf) won a Distinguished Flying Cross for his resupply flight to D/4–31 in Song Chang, and a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his on-the-ground command in Hiep Duc. From January to June 1970, he was an ARVN advisor, and he retired as a colonel in 1981 to a cattle ranch in Amity, Arkansas. Major Lee (S-3, 4–31), after two combat tours, won three Bronze Stars for Valor and three more for service; he is now a colonel. Captain Gayler (CO, B/4–31) gave up the company in October 1969, served as Battalion S-1, and rotated with the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Army Commendation Medals for Valor, and the Purple Heart for a small punji stick wound. He is now a National Guard lieutenant colonel commanding a tank battalion; he lives with his wife and three children in Arlington, Texas, where he is starting an advertising and photography business. Captain Murphy (CO, C/4–31), Captain Thomas (CO, C/4–31), and Captain Mekkelsen (CO, D/4–31) are active-duty lieutenant colonels. Captain Whittecar (CO, D/4–31) earned his third Silver Star and Purple Heart for Song Chang. He retired as a major, is now a management analyst with the Department of the Army, and lives with his family in Salina, Kansas. Captain Kinman (HHC/4–31) is practicing medicine in Vincennes, Indiana. Captain Thomason (CO, C/3–82 Arty) is now a major. First Lieutenant Monroe (B/4–31) commanded the company during the sapper attack on LZ Siberia since Gayler was on R and R; after his discharge, he joined the New York City Police Department. Second Lieutenant Robinson (C/4–31) was WIA at Banana Tree Hill in September 1969; by the time he was rotated and discharged in August 1970 with a BSM, AM, and Purple Heart, he was the company commander. He is divorced and works for an accounting firm in Birmingham, Michigan. Second Lieutenant Wilson (C/4–31) won an Army Commendation Medal for Valor at the Banana Tree Hill fight, and finished his tour as an ammunition officer in Chu Lai. He married his fiancee in May 1970, and was discharged a captain in February 1971; they now have two children and he is a programmer analyst in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sergeant Allison (B/4–31) earned an Army Commendation Medal for Valor and a Purple Heart for Hiep Duc, and rotated in November 1969. He is a reserve captain and, after reenlisting in 1975, is a regular sergeant first class. Specialist 5 Kralich (HHC/4–31) served a second tour with the 101st AbnDiv, and is presently a professional counsellor in a chico hospital in Calif. Specialist 4 Ferris (D/4–31) was discharged with an ARCOM and two Purple Hearts; he lives with his wife and three sons in Woodbury, New Jersey, where he is a police officer. Specialist 4 Holtzman (A/4–31) won a Bronze Star for Valor for Song Chang and rotated as a sergeant in November 1969. He is married, with two children, and owns several coffee trucks in Islip Terrace, New York. Specialist 4 Parsons (A/4–31) rotated with an ARCOM and was discharged a staff sergeant. He is now a major in the Delaware National Guard and a safety consultant for an insurance company; he lives with his wife and two children in Folsom, Pennsylvania. Private First Class Bleier (C/4–31) won a Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart, and wangled an early-out in July 1970. Despite a 40 percent disability, through a program of disciplined exercise and legal steroids, he played in the 1975 Superbowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers (an achievement chronicled in a book and television movie). He has two children, runs a small advertising firm, and lives in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Private First Class Brantley (B/4–31) lives in Gainesville, Florida. Private First Class Jandecka (B/4–31) was mustered out as a Specialist 4 with an ARCOM. His wife owns a health food store, they have three children, and he is a police officer in North Olmsted, Ohio. Kit Carson Scout Twenty Ly (C/4–31) was KIA in 1969 when a GI beside him tripped a booby trap; he was posthumously awarded a U.S. Silver Star.
Second Lieutenant Baird (B/1–46) served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, won a Silver Star, and is now a major. Sergeant Brown (B/1-46) is divorced and working in a steel mill in West Point, Mississippi. Specialist 4 Hodierne (Stars & Stripes) was a civilian correspondent in Vietnam in 1966–67, then received his degree in political science, enlisted in the Army, and was a military correspondent in Vietnam in 1969–70; he now works for a television station and lives with his wife on a thirty-two-foot cutter in San Francisco Bay. Specialist 4 McWhirter (D/1–46) earned a Bronze Star for Valor at Hiep Duc. He has two sons and is an authorizations analyst for Caterpillar Tractor in East Peoria, Illinois. Private First Class Kosteczko (B/2–1) rotated as a sergeant with the BSM. He still lives at home and is a bank loan officer and collection supervisor in Chicago, Illinois. Private First Class Tam (B/1-46) co-owns a Chinese restaurant with his father in San Diego, California.
Lieutenant Colonel Bacon (CO, 3–21) retired as a colonel to Columbia, South Carolina. Captain Chudoba (CO, A/3–21) served two combat tours with the Gimlets between 1966 and 1969, won a Bronze Star for Valor and a Purple Heart, but then resigned his commission in 1980 after failing to make major. Captain Wolpers (CO, A/3–21) is still on active duty. First Lieutenant Shurtz (CO, A/3–21) was rotated and dis charged in July 1970 with captain’s bars and an end-of-tour BSM and ARCOM. He is a senior commercial sales and service representative, and lives with his wife in Oregon, Ohio. Captain Carrier (CO, C/3–21) is married, with a daughter, and is an independent oil and gas businessman in Sugar Land, Texas. First Lieutenant Browne (A/3–21) and First Lieutenant Maness (D/3–21) both wear Silver Stars and the oak leaves of lieutenant colonel. Sergeant Cuthbert (B/3–21) was KIA after the Song Chang battle. Specialist 4 Curtis (A/3–21) rotated in November 1969 with the Silver Star, BSM, and sergeant stripes; he is married, has two children, and works in a paper mill in Kelso, Washington. Specialist 4 Hurley (A/3–21) was WIA in the September 1969 battle and medevacked; he lives in Broomfield, Colorado. Specialist 4 Niebuhr (A/3–21) was reportedly killed when a car hit him in 1971. Private First Class Goodwin (A/3–21) is married, has a son, and is a computer operator for a bank in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Private First Class Kruch (A/3–21) spent seven months in the hospital, was discharged a Specialist 4 in December 1970, and testified two months later at a sensational hearing on war crimes conducted by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. He has since married, has two daughters, and is a building inspector in Williamston, Michigan. Private First Class Lasso (B/3–21) was rotated and discharged in April 1970; he is married and a computer programmer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Private First Class Shimer (B/3–21) was mustered out in August 1970, is married with two children, and is an attorney at law in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
* Abbreviations used to clarify the lesser end-of-tour awards.