Introduction to The Nam - Page 5

The Summer of '69-Pay Back

Towards the end on July, Garrison was getting ready to DEROS and went back to the Aid Station. 
I got promoted to senior medic of A-troop and moved to Hq. Platoon. The troop moved north to 
the vicinity of An Loc under operational control of the 1st Air Cav and swept the rubber trees. 
Usually we spent the night at a FSB called Eagle I. There was also an Eagle II somewhere in 
the area to the west of An Loc/Loch Ninh. On the evening of the 8th, Lt. Armstrong saw NVA 
moving about one klick away and called in a Cobra strike. He got hit in the leg with fragments 
from a rocket. That's the only time I ever heard of someone shooting himself with a helicopter 
gunship!

On August 11th we moved through An Loc into the rubber trees to the east of Quan Loi. A 
surveyor must have laid out the roads through the trees. One road went straight for what 
seemed like two miles. I was so impressed I took a photo looking forward then another looking 
back, it seemed to go on a long distance.

One of the crew on my track, Dan Moore, had gone to Lai Khe on personal business, so on the 
night of Aug11-12 there were only three of us on Hq.63-the troop medical track. Headquarters 
platoon would split up at night and reinforce the three line platoons on their ambushes. This 
night we were with A66 and the 3rd Plt. We straddled a road in the trees, put out claymores, 
trip flares and RPG screens and settled down for the night. I stayed up from 8pm until midnight.

There was enemy activity at the base camp starting around 22:30. The Lima guys had a better 
view than where I was with the 3rd. At about 00:15 PSgt Sgt. Nolan called on the troop frequency 
that they had contact. The Troop CO, Cpt. Newell, asked him about an estimate of enemy strength. 
"Estimate enemy at five-zero to one-zero-zero" was the reply. We began picking up our claymores, 
trip flares and RPG screens and moved out to assist the 2nd Plt.



The 2nd Plt. had set up its ambush that night at a fork at the eastern end of that long straight 
road through the rubber trees. The 3rd Plt. was down a secondary road off that main road. The 
1st Plt. was closer to Quan Loi screening it from a village to the south. We moved toward the 
2nd Plt. at a jogging pace and began shooting up the sides of the road in case we were entering 
an ambush. When we got in sight of the 2nd Plt. I could hear their 50's shooting and see the 
flash of their tank guns. My TC told me, as we approached, that Cpt. Newell wanted me "up there." 
We were still two hundred yards away, but I grabbed my aid bag, jumped to the ground and ran up 
to A66, directly in front of my track, to confirm what he had in mind. I really didn't like the 
thought of being on the ground when there were NVA around. Leading our column were two tanks 
and the 3rd Plt. leaders' track. I wanted to be sure they knew that I was going to be on the 
ground running past them. With all the shooting going on I didn't want to get shot by my own 
men. With one hundred yards still to go, I went back down on the road. In passing the 3rd Plt 
tracks I made sure they knew what I was going to do. The tank TCs didn't seem overly nervous. 
They were just sitting out in the open behind their 50s, so I didn't anticipate any trouble up 
ahead. They had a better view of what I was about to enter than I did. I then continued past 
the 3rd Plt. vehicles and dashed the last couple of yards into the 2nd Plt.'s position.

It was like entering the eye of a hurricane. The 2nd Plt. had formed in a circle with A25 
aimed down the left fork and A27 down the right (A24 was in Quan Loi getting something 
repaired). By the time I got there those tracks facing our approach (Sgts Ribas, Street and 
Claybaugh) had swung out towards my right. Where there was a lot of noise outside, inside 
all seemed quite calm. There were four litters on the ground behind A-26. This was the crew 
from A21 (my old track with the 2nd Plt.). It had taken an RPG hit in my old Jeep seat; 
wounding the entire crew before anyone started shooting back! I found the 2nd Plt. medic and 
assessed the situation. Everyone looked good for the moment but one of the crew was chewed up 
pretty badly on his right arm. Not life threatening, but the sooner we could get them medivaced 
the better. My thought was to get everyone into the tracks, back down the road and call in 
artillery and blow the bad guys away.

There was a lull in the shooting and I was able to go back and bring my track up and guide it 
in beside A21. We lowered the ramp and prepared to load the casualties. I entered A21 to see 
how badly damaged it was and to see if it would start. It was operational and I couldn't see 
any serious damage. When I went to go out the back and looked out the main hatch, I saw that 
A25, the tank next to A21, was firing its CS (a tear gas launcher was mounted on top of the 
searchlight). An RPG had struck the searchlight moments before. The cloud of gas drifted back 
across our position. Three of the wounded on the litters jumped up and ran. Another guy and I 
went in and got out the fourth. The bad guys got real close. A hand grenade exploded 10 feet 
from me behind the tracks. The flash and sparks startled me; I fell backwards to the ground 
but wasn't injured. The battle would calm down, heat up, and then quiet down again.

There were more casualties. A26 took an RPG in the trim vane wounding the driver, Sherman. 
Two tanks had been sent down the left fork, but RPGs hit both. The first tank, from the 3rd 
platoon, got hit in the turret and continued down the road, idling until it ran off the road 
into the trees which stopped it one hundred feet away from the rest of us. The second, 
A15-PSgt Goodwin's tank, caught it from both sides (by now the 1st Plt. had joined us). 
One RPG struck it in the left side and exploded its ammo as the driver tried to exit through 
the escape hatch below the driver's seat. Flames shot out through the open hatches.

When these casualties entered the 2nd Plt. position I tried to find protection for them inside 
operating vehicles. I put our forward observer in Lynn Claybaugh's track with Sherman there to 
keep an eye on him and help or get me if needed. The FO entered Lynn's track and proceeded to 
lie down on the ammo cans. I got his attention, telling him he wasn't hit too badly and that I 
didn't want him to lie down. He then pointed to a quarter-sized hole in the side of his head. 
I looked him in the eye and said, "Yeah, I know you're hit in the head, but it isn't bleeding, 
so I don't want you lying down. You are alert and understand what I'm saying." He nodded. "I'm 
concerned about you going into shock. I want you to sit up and stay awake. We'll get you out 
of here as soon as possible." He nodded and pointed to a hit in his upper right arm. I put a 
bandaid on it and told him, "There you go, stay awake, if you start feeling drowsy, tell 
Sherman and he'll get me."

While inside I heard "Hey, Doc! Look at this." Above me, Lynn pointed to two bullet holes 
above his head in the poncho he used like a tent. All the wounded were taken care of as best 
we could. What I didn't know at the time was that there was a big attack that night all over 
the area. Loch Ninh, An Loc, Quan Loi, Eagle I and Eagle II all got attacked and had gooks in 
the wire. The Dust-Offs were all busy at other places. My understanding is that what we caught 
the NVA on their way to Quan Loi to exploit a breech in the wire made by sappers.

While making the rounds and checking on the wounded, I found out that we were missing someone. 
My understanding was that someone fell off A15 and may have been lying at the side of the road. 
The visibility was pretty poor and I couldn't see anything resembling somebody lying on the 
ground. I would have gone, with cover, but I sure wasn't going to expose myself like that 
unless I was sure that there was someone there. There was a lot of shooting going on in both 
directions. During another lull in the shooting the Dust-Offs were able to land and take out 
our wounded. I don't recall any numbers, but would estimate that thirteen men were evaced. The 
FO refused to lie down on the litter. He may be the only one who ever paid attention to anything 
I said. I lost my TC, one of three on our crew this time.

After it began getting light out we were able to reach the 3rd Plt. tank down the road. Cpt. 
Newell motioned toward the driver's compartment-here was our missing person. I climbed through 
the tree branches to check him out. His shoulder was cold. There was no pulse in his carotid 
artery (none of us could find a pulse on him anywhere). I found no signs of life and informed 
Cpt. Newell. Someone climbed inside and pushed up from below while I grasped under his arms to 
lift him out of the driver's hole. As I lifted he groaned! We got a litter up on the fender, 
laid him on it bringing him down to the road and getting a better look at his wounds. He was 
semi-conscious and grasped the back of his head. In the dim light I saw that there was a hole 
in the back of his head I could put my fist into! How was this guy still alive? The RPG had hit 
the turret above him, showering him with shrapnel. Then he sat alone for several hours in that 
condition. Unbelievable! I was able to call in the Dust-off and get him to safety. I learned 
that he was evaced to Japan several days later and have never heard anything more about him 
other than that his nickname was "Porky."



While the rest of A-Troop moved away the 3rd Plt. stayed and assessed the damage we had done. 
I was finally able to get some sleep. Later in the morning we rejoined the 3rd Plt. at the 
battle site. There were sixteen NVA dead and numerous weapons. It was then that I learned that 
the driver of A15, Stanley Mensing, had died and was found under his tank. There was nothing 
anyone could have done for him. During the course of the next several days we uncovered 
numerous fresh graves of the NVA who we killed that night. The final figure was 73 according 
to my recollection. If we got 73 of them there must have been many more than a reinforced 
company of NVA. But, they came at us piecemeal, and never made a coordinated attack. One of 
the qualities of armored cavalry in Vietnam was that we could absorb as much fire as the bad 
guys could pour at us (Re: the battle of the Minh Thanh Road in 1966) and still decimate them 
with the 90mms and 50cals.








Late morning or early afternoon of the 12th, we moved down the right fork at the battlesite to 
an ARVN compound and village. The ARVNs had a casualty and Cpt. Newell directed some of us to 
help them. Ron Hamilton, Lt. Jack Tinsley and I proceeded down the road to the gate. All around 
us were craters from artillery that they must have called in on their wire. When we got half 
way between the Cav and the ARVNs, Jack asked if anyone thought to bring a weapon. Ron and I 
carried only our aid bags and Jack had only a litter, so we acted like we owned the place and 
casually entered the wire. Inside there were holes in the roof and walls of the main building. 
The entire place looked like it had been shot at and hit. What a mess!

The bad guys must have gotten tired of us and began planting more mines. We were moving down 
one of the roads reentering the rubber trees when there was the big cloud of dust and a BOOM! 
I was about the fifth ACAV in line and looked toward the front of the column. Both leading tanks 
were still headed around a corner, so I knew it was an ACAV. This time it was Lynn Claybaugh's 
turn. Fortunately, the tanks were wider than the ACAVs and their right tracks left a nice path 
for me to follow up to the front without having to worry about setting off any "second" mines. 
When I got there, Lynn staggered from the left side of the track and collapsed on the ground in 
front of me, passed out. He got launched out of the cupola onto the trim vane and then to the 
ground. Ronnie Stachura was hiding behind one of the first row of rubber trees. The medic had 
fragment wounds to his legs, but they were just superficial. 

Several days later we located another mine at the same fork in the road. That one was in the 
trees, not in the road. One of the guys was slightly injured and wanted a Dust-Off. I asked if 
it could land at the fork, but 1st Sgt. Ponserella grabbed the front of the litter while Ron 
Hamilton and I took the back, and he headed us down the fork where Lynn had struck the mine 
only days previously. I don't think I opened my eyes until we stopped, I was sure we'd hit 
another mine and fully expected all four of us to get blown up. We were completely exposed, 
no cover at all! If we didn't draw any attention the helicopter sure would have let them know 
there were targets available. We had an entire Armored Cav troop right there, why not use them?

While under operational control of the 1st Cav, we were assigned a motor pool in their base camp 
of Quan Loi. On, or about, the 18th of August we were in that area resting, refitting and 
cleaning up. The cooks were preparing a meal and setting up a chow line. Mechanics were working 
on Hq.63, our driver was cleaning our M60 and Dan Moore and I were napping in the shadow of an 
adjoining ACAV when a 122mm rocket impacted near where the cooks were setting up the chow line. 
Two cooks were badly injured and were taken care of by our new 3rd platoon medic-Callahan-who


 
had only just joined us not more than a few days before. A mechanic was on the ground behind 63 
with a head wound that was bleeding profusely.  Jack Tinsley was there to help me with him. 
Ponserella ran around counting off how many were injured. Maybe he didn't like the way we 
accounted for all of the wounded. I was able to pinch it off, stop the flow of blood and start 
an IV before he was transported to an aid station down the road. My driver got hit in the 
shoulder blade. It didn't look too serious at the time, but he never came back to the unit; so, 
it must have been more of a problem than it at first appeared. Dan and I had been lying on two 
litters head to head. He took a piece of metal that split the skin between his big toe and 
index toe. He didn't come back either. He did write to me to say that they amputated his index 
toe. He was a surfer from California and can never hang ten again! The side of the ACAV where 
we were lying was covered with small hits from metal splinters, it's a good thing we were so 
low and that Dan's head wasn't where his foot had been. This was the third time I lost my crew, 
two of four.

I left Quan Loi  for Lai Khe on or about the 21st of August because my R&R was coming up from 
August 25th until the 29th. Prefect timing. I'd just come through the hairiest two weeks of my 
life, so a brief vacation was welcome. Bangkok was similar to any Western city, except for the 
strange language on the signs and the gold covered temples that might appear around any street 
corner. The traffic was unbelievable! The cars raced down the streets, wildly changing lanes, 
almost hitting pedestrians who stood in the middle of the street crossing the road. Then around 
a corner is a golden domed temple unlike anything I'd ever expect to see here in the states. 
For my part, I rested and recreated.

September-Back South to Lai Khe
 
When I got back from R&R, PSgt Nolan had been replaced by PSgt Reynolds. Lt. Armstrong wouldn't 
be rejoining us. He was promoted to A-Troop XO. As a keepsake, the 2nd Plt was giving Lt. 
Armstrong a plaque with all the platoon member's names on it. Sgt. Reynolds had my name as 
platoon medic. I thought that was nice, since I'd never met him and wasn't the 2nd Plt medic 
anymore. When I asked him about it he told me he included my name on the list for the CIB award. 
This was intriguing, since I didn't have an infantry MOS. Was someone spreading stories about me? 
Maybe PSgt Nolan told him about the "gunner" incident?

Our time up north in the Quan Loi area was uneventful through September. The bad guys left us 
alone for the most part. As a diversion we would open 50cal cartridges on bolt holes in the 
sides of the ACAVs. After amassing several loads of powder and some tracer rounds, I could 
shoot them like a roman candle at the other side of the perimeter, only 50 ft or so. After 
placing a reamed out cartridge in the mud and pouring in an inch of powder, I'd cut the back 
of a tracer and slip that in and cover the tracer with more powder. Light the powder and soon 
the glowing tracer would pop out of the casing and arc over towards them. More great fun!

We headed south towards the end of the September. We went down Thunder Road while it drizzled. 
Once we got near Lai Khe I got up from my jeep seat and sat on the engine cover to get warm. 
When we entered Lai Khe the First Division Band was on the side of the road, but I couldn't 
hear what they were playing. We must have done well up north to warrant the band playing in 
the rain like that. The significance was lost of me, I just wanted to get warm and out of the 
rain.

They sent us back to Di An and the R&R center again. Maybe they were really starting to like 
us? But, this time, no new uniforms or towels unless we had ones to exchange. At least the 
pool was full.

That was the summer of '69, some of the best days of my life.

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