Chapter 14
Village of Lo Dieu
On May 9, 1967, Charlie Company’s mission was to make a night landing in order to perform a dawn cordon and sweep of Lo Dieu, a small village on the South China Sea. Located at the base of a rugged mountain range southeast of Bong Son, it was cut off from the plains by mountains and a strip of boulders and rocks along the north and south boundaries of the shoreline. With limited accessibility, it was ideal for NVA infiltration, since the mountains were a favorite hiding and traveling site for the NVA, allowing them easy access to the village. US troops had limited opportunities to surprise the enemy at that location.
In late afternoon of May 9, my company was airlifted to a distant beach, far south of the village of Lo Dieu, so that our landing would have no impact on our target. At our new beach location, we set up camp and were given time to swim, write letters, read, or just relax. The plan was to make an amphibious assault on the village of Lo Dieu in the early morning. Around 2300 hours, we broke camp and boarded two navy amphibious landing craft that had arrived in the breakwater along the beach. We waded into the surf to board and were transported out to sea to wait until the appointed time to land. It was very dark, so we couldn’t see how far out we were, but land wasn’t in sight from my position. The sea was rough, at least to me, so we pitched and yawed, causing some soldiers to get a bit seasick. The movement of the boat made it easy for me to sleep, rocked by Mother Nature. However, many men stayed awake, too anxious about what lay ahead.
We stayed at sea for several hours until navy swift boats came to accompany the landing craft as we moved up the coast toward the village. As soon as the swift boats arrived, we started preparing for the landing. We really didn’t know what to expect. Were we surprising the enemy, was he waiting to surprise us, or was he in the area at all? As we traveled to the village, some men quickly ate cold C rations, but most of us just waited. Around 0300 hours, the landing craft came slowly onto the beach. The CO had told us earlier that we would have a quiet landing; however, the navy began bombarding the base of the mountains to the west of the village as we were coming ashore, reminiscent of the Marine landings in World War II. The noise was deafening—so much for surprise! When the landing craft hit the beach, we exited by the front ramp into water about waist high. On shore, Captain Markham called the officers together to give a final briefing. As we stood there, I heard a very loud noise close to my left ear. The noise was so loud that I didn’t hear what the captain had said. I told him about the noise and asked the others huddled around me if they had heard anything. Apparently I was the only one, so I asked the captain to repeat his last sentence. I think it was shrapnel from the bombardment. I’m still amazed that no one else heard that loud sound.
My platoon and First Platoon were to cordon south of the village, and Third and Fourth Platoons would cordon the north. I started the Second Platoon about 150 meters south of the village by posting Sergeant Sal in charge of the beach. We put one machine gun there, and I took the other one with me. Moving west, we came upon a well-worn trail, where I put the second M60 machine gun and the ammo bearer. I placed men every fifty meters, which took us to the southwest side of the village. Beyond the machine gun, the terrain became thick with bushes, hedges, and trees, all of which made it more difficult to keep straight-line contact between men. With the exceptions of the two machine guns and the RTOs, soldiers were alone and fifty meters apart. My RTO, Jim Henby, and I took up positions along a small path southwest of the village, and I placed my last two men west of me. The CO established his HQ just west of the Second Platoon, with the First Platoon spread out toward the mountain.
After I placed my last man and returned to my post, Captain Markham ordered the navy to cease firing, so as not to endanger the platoons moving toward the mountain range. Before I could settle into my position, automatic-weapons fire broke out in the middle of my line. I radioed Sergeant Sal, but he had no news about the firing. I called out to the soldier east of me and asked him to relay information to and from the man next to him. I was preparing to head east to investigate when the firing slowed. As I was talking on the radio with the CO and Sergeant Sal, I saw a figure appear about twenty meters in front of me moving along the path directly toward Henby and me. In the dark, the figure first appeared as a blur but came into focus as he approached.... (Continued in the book)
Enemy KIAs Enemy Captives
Village of Lo Dieu
On May 9, 1967, Charlie Company’s mission was to make a night landing in order to perform a dawn cordon and sweep of Lo Dieu, a small village on the South China Sea. Located at the base of a rugged mountain range southeast of Bong Son, it was cut off from the plains by mountains and a strip of boulders and rocks along the north and south boundaries of the shoreline. With limited accessibility, it was ideal for NVA infiltration, since the mountains were a favorite hiding and traveling site for the NVA, allowing them easy access to the village. US troops had limited opportunities to surprise the enemy at that location.
In late afternoon of May 9, my company was airlifted to a distant beach, far south of the village of Lo Dieu, so that our landing would have no impact on our target. At our new beach location, we set up camp and were given time to swim, write letters, read, or just relax. The plan was to make an amphibious assault on the village of Lo Dieu in the early morning. Around 2300 hours, we broke camp and boarded two navy amphibious landing craft that had arrived in the breakwater along the beach. We waded into the surf to board and were transported out to sea to wait until the appointed time to land. It was very dark, so we couldn’t see how far out we were, but land wasn’t in sight from my position. The sea was rough, at least to me, so we pitched and yawed, causing some soldiers to get a bit seasick. The movement of the boat made it easy for me to sleep, rocked by Mother Nature. However, many men stayed awake, too anxious about what lay ahead.
We stayed at sea for several hours until navy swift boats came to accompany the landing craft as we moved up the coast toward the village. As soon as the swift boats arrived, we started preparing for the landing. We really didn’t know what to expect. Were we surprising the enemy, was he waiting to surprise us, or was he in the area at all? As we traveled to the village, some men quickly ate cold C rations, but most of us just waited. Around 0300 hours, the landing craft came slowly onto the beach. The CO had told us earlier that we would have a quiet landing; however, the navy began bombarding the base of the mountains to the west of the village as we were coming ashore, reminiscent of the Marine landings in World War II. The noise was deafening—so much for surprise! When the landing craft hit the beach, we exited by the front ramp into water about waist high. On shore, Captain Markham called the officers together to give a final briefing. As we stood there, I heard a very loud noise close to my left ear. The noise was so loud that I didn’t hear what the captain had said. I told him about the noise and asked the others huddled around me if they had heard anything. Apparently I was the only one, so I asked the captain to repeat his last sentence. I think it was shrapnel from the bombardment. I’m still amazed that no one else heard that loud sound.
My platoon and First Platoon were to cordon south of the village, and Third and Fourth Platoons would cordon the north. I started the Second Platoon about 150 meters south of the village by posting Sergeant Sal in charge of the beach. We put one machine gun there, and I took the other one with me. Moving west, we came upon a well-worn trail, where I put the second M60 machine gun and the ammo bearer. I placed men every fifty meters, which took us to the southwest side of the village. Beyond the machine gun, the terrain became thick with bushes, hedges, and trees, all of which made it more difficult to keep straight-line contact between men. With the exceptions of the two machine guns and the RTOs, soldiers were alone and fifty meters apart. My RTO, Jim Henby, and I took up positions along a small path southwest of the village, and I placed my last two men west of me. The CO established his HQ just west of the Second Platoon, with the First Platoon spread out toward the mountain.
After I placed my last man and returned to my post, Captain Markham ordered the navy to cease firing, so as not to endanger the platoons moving toward the mountain range. Before I could settle into my position, automatic-weapons fire broke out in the middle of my line. I radioed Sergeant Sal, but he had no news about the firing. I called out to the soldier east of me and asked him to relay information to and from the man next to him. I was preparing to head east to investigate when the firing slowed. As I was talking on the radio with the CO and Sergeant Sal, I saw a figure appear about twenty meters in front of me moving along the path directly toward Henby and me. In the dark, the figure first appeared as a blur but came into focus as he approached.... (Continued in the book)
Enemy KIAs Enemy Captives
