Vietnam 2015-06 (Vol.28, No.01)

New Revelations: Top-Secret POW rescue mission

GOT YOU BABE Sonny & Cher break out on Bandstand in ’65

AMBUSHED ‘ ’

in the

HUMP

Wounded troops are evacuated during Operation Hump, which left 50 Americans and 400 VC dead.

Before Ia Drang, 173rd Airborne troops fought VC in the Army’s first major battle of the war

INTERVIEW:

TONY ORLANDO

SHADOW WAR U.S. Airstrikes on Cambodia

Rolling Thunder XXVIII Official Guide

PORTFOLIO:

GI GAMES Play ball in a war zone

JUNE 2015

CONTENTS

June 2015

8

18

48

40 FEA T URE S

D E PA R T M E N T S

26

6

The Hump

When a unit of the 173rd Airborne was ambushed, a search-and-destroy mission turned into the Army’s first major battle of the war. By Al Conetto

In This Issue: Rolling Thunder Guide

Correspondence

Readers comment on

war photography,“Terror in the Night” and more

8

Intel

Vietnam cuts a deal with Russia

for submarines; Vietnam War and vets make appearance at Oscars; Top Gun carrier’s next port

34

Monument in the Mountains

The dream of an officer haunted by the outcome of the war, Soldierstone is a memorial to troops from all over the world who fought in Indochina. By Neal Ulevich

40

is scrap yard; infographic of draftees in recent wars

16

Voices

Tony Orlando, whose song

touched a chord with POWs and other veterans

18

Homefront

20

My War

May – June 1965

Sports in War: The Vietnam League

When they had a chance to put down their rifles, they picked up footballs, baseballs and cue sticks.

technician, U.S. Coast Guard

48

23

Arsenal

25

Editor’s Notebook

Shadows Over Cambodia

When U.S. ground troops pulled out of Cambodia, Shadow gunships continued the fight in a topsecret air campaign. By Larry Fletcher

54

The Hunt for Missing POWs

In 1981, the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command planned to rescue downed pilots being held in Laos. It didn’t go well. By Lynn O’Shea

David J. Davis, fire-control

B-26K Counter-Invader

On the cover: Wounded soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade are evacuated from War Zone D in 1965 after a fight with the Viet Cong.

Powerful memorials

come in many forms

60

Media Digest

The Pro-War Movement;

F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat

66

Offerings

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EDITOR IN CHIEF

Michael A. Reinstein Dionisio Lucchesi William Koneval

Roger L. Vance CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER PRESIDENT ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

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Vol. 27, No. 6

Chuck Springston

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Kevin Johnson Debra Newbold Sarah Richardson Elizabeth Howard Patty Kelly Jennifer E. Berry Jon Guttman David T. Zabecki

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etnam vi

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dec 25 2014

agazine

CORRESPONDENCE

JU NE 2 0 15

Cavalry Briefing—in Detail On page 53 of “Howard Breedlove’s Vietnam,” (April 2015) there is a photo captioned, “1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) platoon leader briefs squad leaders.” This is a picture of Captain William Taylor, commanding officer of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, on or around June 22, 1966. We were in mountains near Kontum, and my platoon was sent on a night patrol. I remember it vividly because I was on point. It was supposed to be a short sweep of the perimeter but turned into an allnight ordeal. We spent most of the time backtracking, looking for a way around rock formations and steep drop-offs and places to cross swollen streams. Given the lack of progress, the patrol should have been aborted, but we had a green ROTC lieutenant as a platoon leader, and it was his first night patrol. He was not going to request to abort, no matter the circumstances. We did finally complete the sweep, but it took nearly eight hours. Captain Taylor was a great leader and well-liked by everyone, but unfortunately he and eight other members of the company were killed on August 17 in an ambush in the Ia Drang valley. Mike Cherpeski Costa Mesa, Calif.

6

Location, Location, Location! As a two-tour Vietnam veteran and longtime subscriber to Vietnam magazine, I was somewhat disappointed with geographic inaccuracies in two of the articles in the April 2015 issue. In “‘Big Ears Three’ and

the Battle of Bien Hoa,” Edward H. Phillips places Bien Hoa 60 miles north of Saigon. Bien Hoa is closer to 15 miles northeast of Saigon. In “Terror in the Night,” Don North describes the Victoria Hotel as being in “downtown Saigon’s Cholon district.” For those of us stationed in Saigon, downtown and Cholon were separate and distinct areas of the city, and the U.S. Embassy in 1965 was more than a mile from the Metropole, rather than “a few blocks.” I don’t want to take anything away from the people featured in these two articles, particularly members of the 716th Military Police Battalion, some of whom I had the pleasure of knowing in 1967-68. Edward T. Luttenberger Flower Mound, Texas A few weeks after my arrival in-country as a truck master in the U.S. Army motor pool, we learned of the Brinks Hotel bombing. In March 1965 I was checking vehicles in the north of our Plique camp when I heard of the bombing at the embassy. Returning to Saigon the following day, I went to see the damage and learned that the bomb-laden car was parked by the embassy’s snack bar entrance. Until I read “Terror in the Night” I did not know that two Americans had been killed or that 100 locals were injured. Another place I had been, for a meal, was the My Canh floating restaurant. The day after I was there, an explosive was set off at the entrance. Reading your article, I realized I was lucky not to have been there the day of the bombing. Jack L. Daniels, U.S. Army (ret.) DeRidder, La.

More on Vinh Long’s Big Hotel “One Man’s Tet” (February 2015), which describes reclaiming Vinh Long City and the destruction of machine gun emplacements at a “four-story hotel” facing the intersection, states “there were no corner posts in the windows” of the hotel, allowing for almost 180-degree, overlapping fields of fire across the entire intersec-

tion. The hotel wasn’t pictured or named. When I served with the Military Assistance Command Vietnam Advisory Team 68 in Vinh Long City, from September 1969 to October 1970, there was only one fourstory hotel, and the photos I have clearly show it was the compound of MACV Advisory Team 68. The front gate corner pointed toward the airfield and the other corner to the city’s primary intersection. Based on the photos, I believe the machine gun emplacements identified in the article were actually along the outer walkways. The walkways allowed the enemy a far greater range of movement than specified in the article. It was interesting to read how the city was recaptured. We were informed that during Tet all MACV personnel withdrew to defend and hold the airfield, nothing more. Francis Richard Schreiber Richmond, Va.

In the Line of Fire In your February 2015 issue you thoughtfully noted the passing of the legendary pilot Jack Broughton. But the description of the Turkestan incident—“Film from the plane’s gun camera showed the pilot had the Soviet ship in his sights,” followed by “with no film as evidence of the ship attack”—seems to imply the Soviet ship was deliberately targeted by an F-105 pilot. A review of the incident indicated the pilot was suppressing enemy antiaircraft artillery firing at him in the port area. The Soviet ship, which happened to be in the background, was accidentally struck and not targeted by the pilot. Lt. Col. Terrence G. Popravak Jr. U.S. Air Force (ret.) Vancouver, Wash. Send letters and reunion notices to:

Vietnam Editor, 19300 Promenade Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176; or to Vietnam@ weiderhistorygroup.com. Become a fan at www.facebook.com/ VietnamMag. VA029479, HOWARD BREEDLOVE COLLECTION, THE VIETNAM CENTER AND ARCHIVE, TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY

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INTEL

Russian Submarines Shoring Up Vietnam’s Navy By Robert Guttman

The Vietnamese flag is raised April 3, 2014, on the submarine Ho Chi Minh City, acquired from Russia.

T

o bolster its military muscle in territorial disputes with China over oil and fishing rights in the South China Sea, Vietnam has been expanding its naval forces through an unprecedented acquisition of newly built warships. Over the past year, for example, it has cut deals to buy coastal patrol boats from Japan, India and the United States. Next year, the Russians are coming with three submarines—adding to the number of Russian vessels already in the Vietnamese fleet. In 2011 Vietnam took delivery of two Russian-built Gepard-class guided-missile frigates, the Dinh Tien Hoang and Thai To. Two similar frigates have been ordered from Russia, and two more Gepard-class

JU NE 2 0 15

YEARS AGO IN THE WAR MAY-JUNE 1965

8

frigates may be constructed in Vietnam later. In addition, four Sigma-class guidedmissile frigates are on order from the Netherlands, two to be built there and two in Vietnam. The Russian and Dutch ships are roughly equal in size and speed, and both are capable of deploying helicopters. Most formidable of all the recent acquisitions, however, are six Russian Kilo-class diesel submarines. Three are already in commission, and three more are to be delivered by the end of 2016. Their names may sound familiar to many Vietnam War veterans. The three subs already in commission are Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong. The remaining three are to be called Da Nang, Khanh Hoa

and Ba Ria–Vung Tau. Vietnam and China have gone to war on many occasions throughout history, most recently in 1979, and in spite of the disparity in the size of their forces the Vietnamese have never been known to back down when confronted by the Chinese on land. Now, as China aggressively imposes its sovereignty over many uninhabited but resource-rich islands, Vietnam seems equally disinclined to back down at sea. Robert Guttman is a retired U.S. Merchant Marine officer with three decades on many types of vessels in many regions of the world. He served on ships that participated in wars in the Middle East and the Balkans.

May 3 The first Army combat unit to enter the war, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, lands its initial wave of troops in South Vietnam. The 3,500-man brigade positions some of its soldiers at Bien Hoa and others at Vung Tau, both near Saigon.

May 11 The Viet Cong attack the Army of the Republic of Vietnam at Song Be, a provincial capital, where U.S. advisers and a Special Forces team also are deployed. The VC are in control of the town for several hours but withdraw after ARVN reinforcements arrive.

May 13 The United States initiates a pause in its Rolling Thunder bombing campaign over North Vietnam, a gesture to encourage negotiations for peace. The U.S. move has no effect on the North Vietnamese. Bombing resumes May 18.

TOP: XINHUA/ALAMY; BOTTOM: SP5 JAMES HATTON/U.S. ARMY/ NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Vietnam and Veterans Showcased at Oscars

C

risis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, a film that shows counselors answering calls on a 24-hour suicide hotline, won an Academy Award this year for best short documentary. A nominee for full-length documentary, Last Days in Vietnam, lost to Citizenfour, which explores the actions of Edward Snowden, who leaked National Security Agency secrets, and the journalists who helped disseminate his disclosures. Last Days in Vietnam looks at the fall of Saigon in April 1975, the frantic rush to evacuate the U.S. Embassy and the fate of South Vietnamese supporters left behind. Rory Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, directed and produced the film, which includes previously unseen archival footage.

Right: Johnson Reef, claimed by Philippines, in 2013. Below: The reef in 2014, enlarged by China for a military base.

China Ramps Up Island-Making

S

atellite images have revealed China’s continuing enlargement of reefs in the South China Sea, actions that provoked vehement criticism from both Vietnam and the Philippines in January. Those countries see the Chinese reef-construction projects as an attempt to create new islands for commercial activities like fishing or oil exploration or, more troubling, as a step toward claiming the islands as their own and using them for military purposes.

On the RECORD

Director Ellen Goosenberg Kent, left, and producer Dana Perry carried home Oscars for best short documentary.

This could be a quagmire. It could turn into an open end commitment on our part that would take more and more ground troops, without a realistic hope of ultimate victory.

—Clark Clifford, chairman of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, in a May 17, 1965, letter to the president concerning a buildup of U.S. forces in Vietnam.

June 18 Air Force B-52s launch Operation Arc Light, the first bombing campaign aimed at targets in South Vietnam. The bombers hit Viet Cong positions and provide air support for ground troops. Arc Light raids, which will include strikes in Laos and Cambodia, continue until Aug. 15,1973.

June 9 Shortly before midnight the Viet Cong attack Dong Xoai, defended by militia units and a small group of Special Forces soldiers and Navy Seabees. The enemy takes much of the town but is forced out on June 10 by U.S. airstrikes and the ARVN.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: KYODO EXTRA/ASSOCIATED PRESS; SSGT LYLE BOGGESS/U.S. ARMY/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; U.S. AIR FORCE; EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/ASSOCIATED PRESS

June 27 American ground forces begin their first major offensive when the 173rd Airborne, along with South Vietnamese and Australian troops, conduct search-anddestroy patrols in an area north of Saigon. There is little contact with the enemy during the three-day operation.

9

INTEL

FAREWELL

Marathon Founder Dies

Top Gun, Star Trek Carrier Scrapped

USS Ranger

A

n aircraft carrier from the Vietnam War, the USS Ranger, featured in the movies Top Gun and Star Trek IV, is headed to the scrap heap. The Navy sold the ship, which was decommissioned in 1993, for $1 and the value of its scrap metal. The 57-year-old ship was scheduled to be towed away from Bremerton, Washington, on March 13 for a five-month, 16,000-mile journey around the tip of South America (it’s too big for the Panama Canal) to Brownsville, Texas. International Shipbreaking Ltd. will then cut the Ranger apart and sell the scrap steel to other facilities for recycling. The Ranger, commissioned in 1957 and stationed in the Pacific, was called to Southeast Asia after the North Vietnamese attack on a U.S. destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964. After a stint away from the region, the Ranger returned to Southeast Asia in 1967 for combat operations. Its decks were used by A-7 Corsair attack jets and UH-2C Seasprite rescue helicopters. The ship also saw action during the 1990-91 Gulf War, when it handled more combat missions than any other carrier. After the decommissioning, various groups—including one in Long Beach, California—tried unsuccessfully to turn the Ranger into a museum.

Vietnamese-Language Papers Feud in Court

JU NE 2 0 15

T

he Little Saigon Daily News, a weekly paper serving the Vietnamese community in the United States, was ordered to pay $4.5 million in damages to rival Nguoi Viet Daily News after losing a defamation lawsuit in December 2014, reported the Orange County Register. Both publications are based in Orange County, California. A jury found that The Little Saigon Daily News, which promotes itself as “The Voice of the Non-Communist Vietnamese,” had defamed the other paper by alleging that Nguoi Viet’s CEO was affiliated with Communists. The weekly’s owner, Brigitte Huynh, plans to appeal. Orange County is home to about 189,000 Vietnamese, the largest community outside of Southeast Asia. Anti-Communist refugees and the media have clashed there before. In one of the worst incidents, Tap Van Pham, editor-publisher of a Vietnamese-language publication in Garden Grove, died in 1987 when his home was burned by anti-Communists. Between 1980 and 1990, five murders of Vietnamese journalists in the United States, including Pham’s death, were viewed as the work of anti-Communist assassins.

10

James Fowler, the Vietnam veteran who founded the Marine Corps Marathon, died January 20 in Alexandria, Virginia, at age 84. Fowler, a retired colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, also served in Korea. He suffered a leg wound in Vietnam. After his recovery in the United States, Fowler came up with the idea of a race that would improve the public’s view of the military, which had seen its image decline during the war years. The first marathon, on Nov. 7, 1976, had 1,175 participants. In recent years, more than 23,000 have signed up for the race, which ends near the Iwo Jima Memorial. Often called the People’s Marathon, it is open to anyone, and the winner receives no prize money. Henry E. “Hank” Emerson, a retired three-star general known as an inspiring leader and innovative tactician, died February 4, near Helena, Montana. He was 89. Emerson, who entered the Army in 1947, served in Korea and Vietnam. He made a lasting impression on his men. They called him “The Gunfighter.” Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell served under Emerson in South Korea in 1973 and regarded him as a mentor. Sandy Socolow, a CBS News producer and executive closely involved with Walter Cronkite’s broadcasts, died January 31 at age 86. He was instrumental in the introduction of critical coverage of the Vietnam War, including Cronkite’s 1968 broadcast characterizing the conflict as “mired in stalemate.” Bob Simon, longtime correspondent for 60 Minutes, died February 11 at age 73 following a car crash in New York. His globetrotting career included coverage of the Vietnam War in the early 1970s. Simon was on one of the last helicopters to leave Saigon in 1975.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SUPERSTOCK/ALAMY; FOWLER FAMILY/U.S. MARINE CORPS; SP4 ODDVAR BREILAND/U.S. ARMY/ NATIONAL ARCHIVES; NANCY KASZERMAN/ZUMA PRESS/CORBIS

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plan for a cable car system to ferry visitors to the remote Son Doong cave has been rejected. The 600-foot-wide cathedral-like tunnel, which stretches more than 3 miles, is the world’s largest cave and has 150 grottoes. Discovered in 1991 by a local man foraging for frankincense, the cave wasn’t fully explored until 2009, when a team from the British Cave Research Association went in. The cavern is in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, which was named a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2003. With the cable car project abandoned, the curious will have to hike six hours through forest—in the company of a tour operator—to reach the site.

12

ietnam is ranked 10th in the world for money received from people working outside their home countries, according to a report on Vietnamnet.va. Vietnam received $12 billion in remittances in 2014, up from $9 billion in 2011, Western Union reported. More than half, 57 percent, of the remittances came from the United States. Relaxation of regulations on money transfer has increased the flow. “Remittances have sharply increased in the past few years as a result of policies that expanded the money exchange network,” Nguyen Hoang Minh, an official the State Bank of Viet Nam’s HCM City branch, was quoted in the Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper. “There is no limit to remittances, and recipients do not need to pay income tax and are not forced to sell foreign currency to banks,” he added.

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When duty called, they answered. Some were drafted, others enlisted. It didn’t matter where they came from or how they got there, none of them could imagine what waited for them on the other side of the world. More than two million Americans served in the Vietnam War and the experience changed them forever. Together, they fought against a relentless enemy in an unforgiving country. Some were wounded, some became prisoners of war, and others paid the ultimate price. In Vietnam, boys became men, men became warriors, and warriors became brothers. They built a bond of brotherhood that will never be broken. Today when Vietnam Veterans gather at reunions, they share a bond that most of us will never know. Feelings. Stories. Secrets. Special moments. The true meaning of survival. And even though the war is part of history, they know what it’s like to trust their life to the man beside them and be willing to lay theirs on the line for their brothers.

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INTEL Vietnam Magazine February 5 at 5:05am

Posted on

A Marine “Bird Dog” spotter plane passes low over Marines of “E” Co., 2/9, ready to call in air support for the Marines who are on a sweep and destroy mission in the Royal Tombs area approximately 10 miles south of Hue, R. V. N. on February 5th, 1967. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Alfredo Romo, Sue Bond, Annette McNamara and 437others

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www.facebook.com/VietnamMag Bradley Jimerson Two days before I went into the Army. Two days before I turned 19 years old. About ten and a half months before flying to Vietnam. Thirteen and a half months before I’m wounded South of Hue. Seventeen months before my first Flashback. Nineteen months before my Hospital retirement. Almost 46 years before my 67th birthday. Amen. Thank you for ‘A second chance in life’. B-2-501st(101st).

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19 · February 5 at 1:32pm

Enahs Regnirps My Cousin brig. Gen. David Baker was shot down in one of those and was in a bamboo cage for 6 months with bullets up his side came off a troop transport on a stretcher.

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1 · February 5 at 3:02pm

Thomas Blackwell I rode in several of them. The pilots could have been stunt pilots the way they landed going almost straights down and stopping just feet from the concertina wire. Better than any carnival ride.

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4 · February 5 at 3:17pm

Ed Tucker Flew as Air Observer out of Phu Loi for Army Artillery in one of those! Had drinks the night before my first flight and I was queasy when taking off....lost my breakfast on that first flight. I think the pilot knew and was punishing me.

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1 · February 5 at 9:43pm

Thomas LaRoe I flew back seat in an O-1E USAF Birddog crew chief back seater in 1965-1966 in I Corps from DaNang to the DMZ, Hue Citadel Airfield, Dong Ha airstrip. Dong Ha just before Operation Hasting’s. I left in May-June 1966 from Dong Ha, but saw the build up of the NVA Forces inside the buffer zone of the DMZ to the North. They never believed us at debriefings until it happened????

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4 · February 6 at 9:46am

Ron Flood Many of those pilots ended up dead or in POW camps. They were the “tunnel rats” of the sky. Respect.

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1 · February 6 at 2:48pm

Dave Warman Those pilots saved a lot of good man. We should give them all a big thanks, and salute.

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DIGITS Drafted for War

2 · February 6 at 3:49pm

More than 16 million men were inducted into the Army to fight in the 20th century’s wars. No one has been inducted since June 30, 1973, when the draft ended. Until then, some men were drafted even in peacetime, such as during the mid-1950s, to meet manpower needs.

Korea – 1,529,539 (June 1950 – June 1953)

Vietnam – 1,857,304 (August 1964 – February 1973)

World War I – 2,810,296 (September 1917 – November 1918)

World War II – 10,110,104

JU NE 2 0 15

(November 1940 – October 1946)

14

SOURCES: U.S. SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

INFOGRAPHIC: KEVIN JOHNSON

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VOICES

During the Vietnam War’s 50th anniversary, Vietnam magazine will be interviewing 50 people whose lives are intertwined with the war and asking for their reflections on that era in American history.

How did that first association of the song with POWs come about?— Bob asked me if I would open the

Cotton Bowl show. He said the opening line fit perfectly for the POWs who were coming home. Many Vietnam vets did not receive the welcoming every soldier should have. But Ross Perot said to me not long ago that of all the Vietnam vets, the ones who felt some real closure were those POWs because they received a hero’s welcome and “Yellow Ribbon” was part of their welcome. How did the response to “Yellow Ribbon” affect you?— It’s the most humbling thing that’s ever

happened. What I did was, hopefully, make that record not just the song I’m famous for but a vehicle to raise money for veterans. In 1973, after that show, I wanted terribly to do something.

TONY ORLANDO rocked to the top of the pop charts in the early 1970s with hits such as “Candida” and “Knock Three Times.” In February 1973 the group Tony Orlando and Dawn (Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson) released “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” which opens with “I’m comin’ home, I’ve done my time.” The song became the anthem for the prisoners of war in Vietnam. It also has been a homecoming song for the hostages held by Iran from 1979 to 1981 and troops returning from practically every conflict since the 1990-91 Gulf War. Born— April 3, 1944, New York

What did you decide to do?— When I opened at the Copacabana club in New York, I asked Major Stephen Long, a POW who became a friend, and eight buddies who were POWs to come to New York. I paid for their airfare and hotel bills and put yellow ribbons throughout the Copa. I gave them what I hoped was a good time, a chance to enjoy the world outside of the horrendous seven or eight years they spent in the Hanoi Hilton. That turned into a driving force to do more. In 1993, when I opened a $10 million, 2,000-seat theater in Branson, I started the Yellow Ribbon Salute to Veterans [an annual November 11 show free for veterans and their families]. What’s your favorite Tony Orlando and Dawn song?

— Probably one that was never even a hit. It was “To Be With You” on the album “To Be With You,” which sold about—I think my mother, two people bought it. It was just one of those songs I really love. It was a Cuban jazz song and showed off the breadth of talent that Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson had. What’s your favorite music from that era not by you?

— The Beatles. Elvis was a friend, but I was a Beatles guy.

JU NE 2 0 15

Residence today— Branson, Missouri Yellow Ribbon backstory— The song was written by Irwin

Any fashions from the 1970s you would be embarrassed to wear today?— I’m not embarrassed to wear anything

Levine and L. Russell Brown for Orlando’s group. The record arrived simultaneously with the POWs’ return during Feb. 12 to April 4, 1973. The first live performance was at a Bob Hope show in Dallas’ Cotton Bowl stadium to welcome home the POWs before a crowd of 70,000.

I wore in the ’70s. Platforms came back. Women are wearing them. Bell-bottoms came back. They’re wearing them in jeans now. And what’s so funny is you’ll find polyester in most things. People don’t realize it, but they’re still wearing ’70s clothes. ★

16

ILLUSTRATION: FRANK EYESON, WWW.FRANKEYESON.COM. FROM PHOTO BY TRAVIS HOWARD

TO HONOR VIETNAM VETERANS, PURPLE HEART, BRONZE & SILVER STAR RECIPIENTS

     Featuring the Vietnam Medal & Ribbon, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Your Service Branch Emblem in 10 KT Gold and Personal Birthstones

We proudly present our Official Vietnam Veterans Military Service rings to honor those who served our Country.

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The inside band is solid (never hollow) and smooth for maximum comfort and fit. Your ring will be engraved on the inner band with your initials and year dates of service.

One shank features the Vietnam Medal/ Ribbon in official colors. The Vietnam Wall and words “You Are Not Forgotten” are on the other shank. HONOR RECIPIENTS Purple Heart, Bronze Star & Silver Star honorees may have their Medal/ Ribbon in place of the Memorial Wall Shank. (See order form).

INTEREST-FREE PAYMENT PLAN “Thank you” priced at a remarkably low $239* plus $19.95* for custom engraving, shipping and handling. An affordable payment plan is available. Satisfaction is guaranteed or return your ring within 30 days for refund or replacement. ORDER YOURS TODAY!

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Or, Mail to: Veterans Commemoratives™ Vietnam Birthstone Rings • Two Radnor Corporate Center, Suite 120, Radnor, PA 19087-4599

❑ YES. I wish to order the following Exclusive Vietnam Veteran Military Birthstone Ring, personalized with my initials and year dates of service.

SHIPPING ADDRESS (We CANNOT ship to P.O. Boxes) Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

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INITIALS DESIRED (3): ____ ____ ____ SERVICE YRS: ______ to ______

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❑ I am a Honor Medal Recipient - Put my Medal/Ribbon in place of the “Wall.” ❑ Purple Heart ❑ Silver Star ❑ Bronze Star

Signature ____________________________________________________

NOTE: A copy of your DD214 or other authorizing document must be sent with your order. Thank you.

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* Plus $19.95 for engraving, shipping, and handling. PA residents add 6% sales tax. ($15.54)

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© ICM 2012-15 These rings are registered with the United States Copyright Office as sculpture.

FOR OTHER FINE MILITARY RINGS, WATCHES & COLLECTIBLES VISIT VETERANS COMMEMORATIVES ONLINE AT WWW.VETCOM.COM

HOMEFRONT MAY–JUNE 1965 Ali knocks out Liston, an astronaut floats in space, the Supreme Court knocks down a contraceptive ban, and a TV broadcast rides a satellite ALI KOS LISTON Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight champion after winning a title bout with Sonny Liston in February 1964, fights Liston in a rematch on May 25, 1965, in Lewiston, Maine, and knocks him out in the first round.

Campbell Soup Co. is cooking up a new type of pasta little kids can eat with a spoon. The circle-shaped spaghetti, sold under the Franco-American brand, would first appear on store shelves in 1965.

GOING FOR A WALK IN SPACE On June 3 astronaut Ed White becomes the first American to walk in space. He is outside of NASA’s Gemini 4 spacecraft for 23 minutes.

SONNY & CHER’S TV DEBUT Rising pop stars Sonny and Cher Bono make their first television appearance, singing “Just You” in a June 12 performance on American Bandstand.

CONTRACEPTION CONSTITUTIONAL The U.S. Supreme Court rules on June 7 that laws banning the use of contraceptives violate constitutional rights of due process and privacy.

FIRST SATELLITE BROADCAST

JU NE 2 0 15

The first TV broadcast transmitted via satellite occurs May 3 when NBC’s Today show is beamed from Rome using Intelsat I, nicknamed Early Bird.

18

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: JOHN ROONEY/ASSOCIATED PRESS; COURTESY CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY; NASA; JAMES STEIDL/THINKSTOCK; INSET: CHRIS WATERS/WIRE IMAGE/GETTY IMAGES; CLASSIC STOCK/ALAMY; SCIENCE AND SOCIETY PICTURE LIBRARY/GETTY IMAGES

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Exceptional value; satisfaction guaranteed This jacket is a superb value at $89.95*, payable in four convenient installments of $22.49 each and backed by our 30-day guarantee. Send no money now; just return the Reservation Application. You won’t find this exclusive design in stores. So don’t miss out—order yours today!

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MY WAR

By David J. Davis

JU NE 2 0 15

I

20

n January 1966, I enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. Everyone was going to Vietnam; it was just the thing to do. I finished high school in Amsterdam, New York, did 1½ years at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica and spent another two years at GE making $1.55 an hour, which was good money. Following boot camp at Cape May, New Jersey, I went to Great Lakes Naval Station for training as a fire-control technician, who makes sure that gunfire hits its target. I met a girl while I was there, and we got married and moved to Alameda, California, where I was stationed on the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dexter. Dexter conducted fisheries control as part of the Alaska Fisheries Patrol and performed “ocean stations,” monitoring 310 square miles on the West Coast and tracking every aircraft in the patrol area in case a plane was in distress. I served on two other cutters before being assigned in September 1968 to USCG Sebago. I’d requested Vietnam, but didn’t receive that assignment until Sebago, which was after we’d decided to raise a family. So I moved everyone back east and reported to Pensacola, Florida. Sebago left Pensacola on January 29, 1969, bound for Vietnam as part of the Seventh Fleet. Our first adventure was going through the Panama Canal, and our second was arriving in Pearl Harbor for a six-day stay. We left for Subic Bay via Guam, and had sunny weather with following seas, which we had been blessed with since departing the Panama Canal. Back east, they were getting some of the worst snowstorms in recent years. Our first station assignment was to patrol right at the DMZ, to prevent infiltration by sea from the north and to be sure that no U.S. vessels inadvertently proceeded north of the zone. Sebago was armed with 5-inch guns, which were not

Davis, left, aboard cutter Taney before his transfer to Sebago for deployment.

really needed since we had the heavy cruiser USS Newport in our immediate area—we could feel the concussion of its 8-inch guns whenever they were fired. Next we moved 60 miles south and patrolled a barrier 20 miles offshore to intercept any trawlers that might try to infiltrate supplies into South Vietnam. We carried out many gunfire missions and had one of the best gun crews out there. During practice firing at Subic Bay, the Navy graded our exercise “outstanding,” for getting direct hits with eight rounds. During Operation Market Time duties in I Corps, we shelled a reported enemy assembly and storage area about 7 miles south of Da Nang. After firing more than 70 rounds of 5-inch gunfire on the target, the cutter’s aerial spotter counted nine enemy structures destroyed, and 20 structures and three bunkers damaged. Once, in firing about 50 rounds, we were able to produce three secondary explosions (indicating we had hit ammunition caches) and some fires. We were firing in an area where the Viet Cong were thought to be having a meeting of province chiefs. One of my jobs was to board junks. We boarded day and night to search for contraband, weapons and ID cards to make sure

everything was legal and to provide gunfire support whenever called for. Our 1st class boatswain’s mate, Albert Snelling, manned the .50-caliber machine gun on the bow to protect me and my crew of two or three as we boarded. I was strapped down with two bandoliers of shells, a shotgun, a Very pistol, a helmet and a flak vest. If we were attacked while onboard, my job was to fire the Very pistol with a red shell and then a green one when my crew evacuated to the water, all the while protecting everyone with the shotgun. Albert had told me that he was going to start shooting on the first shot, so I really didn’t know if the Viet Cong would kill me, or if Albert would with the .50 caliber, or if I would drown when I went into the water from the weight of everything I had on. Of more interest to us was MEDCAP, Medical Civil Assistance Program, which we performed on a regular basis, treating local villagers. Our doctor or chief hospital corpsman went ashore to treat the elders and children in local villages, and five or six of the crewmen went ashore with him to sightsee and mingle with locals, part of our “people to people” program. We performed inoculations and even built a new village pier to replace one that had deteriorated. We would have orphans out to the ship for movies, ice cream and cake. We also regularly donated blood. One time, we contributed 34 pints, twice what they would normally obtain from a crew our size. We were delayed leaving Vietnam in November, as our relief ship had engineering problems, but we made it home by Christmas. After being on a ship for a year, we were homesick and very glad to get on solid ground again. ★ David J. Davis served in Vietnam January to December 1969. He worked as a UPS manager for more than 20 years and is the New York State director for American Legion Riders.

COURTESY DAVID J. DAVIS; OPPOSITE: JENNIFER E. BERRY

Coast Guarding the DMZ

If we were attacked while inspecting a junk, I had to fire the Very pistol with a red shell and then a green one, all the while protecting my crew with a shotgun.

‘

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3DXO%HUNRZLW]$UP\&RPEDW&DPHUDPDQVW6LJQDO&RPSDQ\

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ARSENAL

By Carl O. Schuster

STATE OF THE ART

The A-26’s WWII-era avionics were replaced with new all-weather navigation equipment and a lighter, more reliable navigation system. The B-26K had both UHF and VHF radios.

ROUGHER AND TOUGHER

Fuselage and wings were strengthened to accommodate the stresses of diving and hard maneuvering. The landing gear was reinforced for operations over uneven runways. Wingtip tanks, new and stronger hard points and a steerable nose gear were added.

CREW CUT

The B-26K had co-pilot controls and could carry a third crewman as an observer for close air support or reconnaissance missions.

UP-POWERED

Powerful Pratt and Whitney R-2800-52W engines with water injection drove broad-bladed propellers. An additional air intake was installed to help with engine cooling by directing more air through the engine cowling.

B-26K Counter-Invader

O

n Nov. 9, 1962, troops from the Army of the Republic of Vietnam engaging Viet Cong forces south of Bien Hoa requested air support. Pilots from Detachment 2, 1st Air Commando Group, responded. Their T-28s escorted ARVN helicopters to their landing zones, while Douglas B-26 Invaders dropped bombs and napalm. The battle ended two days later as the VC melted away. Deployed under Operation Farm Gate and flying aircraft with South Vietnamese markings, the Det 2 pilots flew more than 70 combat support missions a week, delivering hundreds of tons of ordnance. Unfortunately, the early model B-26s—which had begun life as Douglas A-26 attack aircraft in World War II—were badly in need of refurbishing. In 1962 the Air Force had ordered a contract competition, and in February 1963 On-Mark Engineering Co. won a contract to remanufacture the B-26s. Those “new” bombers, designated B-26K Counter-Invaders, were faster, more robust and more maneuverable aircraft that carried a larger payload. Production of

GREGORY PROCH

the planes began in May 1964. The first of 41 B-26Ks arrived in Indochina in March 1966 with the 609th Special Operations Squadron deployed to Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. The Thais objected to bombers being stationed in their country, and as a result the Counter-Invaders reverted to their WWII “attack” status as A-26As. From Nakhon Phanom, the 609th SOS provided air support to Laotian forces and conducted night strikes against North Vietnamese supply convoys. Their heavy firepower and ability to linger over the target proved useful in search-and-rescue and close air support missions. Losses began to climb, however, as North Vietnam improved its defenses. Attrition and the lack of spare parts eventually reached unacceptable levels. The 60th SOS was inactivated in 1969 as the last A-26s were withdrawn. A handful of the planes remained in National Guard service until 1971, and variants saw action with allied air forces in Algeria and elsewhere before the last were retired in 1975. ★

Crew 2-3 Maximum weight for takeoff 39,250 lbs. Engines Two 2,500 shp Maximum speed 327 mph Cruising speed 302 mph Range 2,700 miles Tactical radius 675 miles Armament Eight .50 MGs Bomb load 4,000 lbs. internal 6,000 lbs. external

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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

By Chuck Springston

Powerful Memorials Take Myriad Forms The approach of Memorial Day weekend reminds us that there are many—often poignant and sometimes surprising—ways to remember, honor and memorialize the service of Vietnam War veterans. This issue of Vietnam shows how varied the range of possibilities is. In what has become an annual tradition, the June issue includes the official guide to activities related to the Rolling Thunder First Amendment Demonstration Run on the Sunday before Memorial Day. Motorcyclists set out from the Pentagon, cross the Memorial Bridge to the National Mall, pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, continue to the White House and loop back to the Lincoln Memorial. (For updates on the 2015 ride after this issue is published, check www.RollingThunderRun.com.)

Vietnam vets began the Demonstration Run in 1988 to demand accountability for the prisoners of war who had not come home and the troops who were still missing in action. It has now also become a more general celebration of patriotism and an opportunity to thank today’s members of the military for their service. Rolling Thunder is a big event. The organizers estimate that more than a million riders and spectators attend each year. A much smaller, largely unknown and incredibly difficult-to-reach memorial to the Vietnam War is set high in the Rocky Mountains. It consists of just a few stacked blocks of granite surrounded by scattered stones. But the words on the blocks and stones, combined with the solitude

of the setting, make Soldierstone as emotionally powerful as the rousing celebration at Rolling Thunder. Writer and Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Neal Ulevich makes that clear in “Monument in the Mountains,” pg. 34. Enduring memorials don’t have to come in a physical or even visual form. They can also come from the sounds of a song that touches the heart—a song like “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” from a 1973 record by Tony Orlando and Dawn. The song’s “comin’ home” theme resonated with the POWs who were released about that time and has become the anthem of returning U.S. troops from other wars as well. In our Voices department, pg. 16, Tony Orlando describes the impact that the POWs’ affection for “Yellow Ribbon” had on him. ★

JONATHAN ERNST/EPA/CORBIS

25

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS

THE HUMP The 173rd Airborne’s fight with the Viet Cong in November 1965 was the Army’s first major battle of the Vietnam War By Al Conetto

ASSOCIATED PRESS

A sergeant in the 2nd Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Brigade bellows commands to his troops, who are crossing a road under sniper fire northeast of Bien Hoa in June 1965, during one of the brigade’s engagements in the run-up to the Battle of the Hump in November.

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y breath came in short gasps. I tried to burrow into the ground and crawl inside my helmet at the same time. Other men were spread out in groups of two or three. Heavily outnumbered and outgunned, we waited for the enemy to attack. It was 1745 hours, Nov. 9, 1965. Dusk. We were in War Zone D, an area northeast of Saigon controlled by the Viet Cong. Fourteen of us were securing a small helicopter landing zone about 20 kilometers north of Camp Ray, our base camp. The remnants of a battered VC-North Vietnamese Army regiment surrounded us, scattered throughout the jungle. As darkness approached, it was eerily quiet except for occasional sniper fire. There were no helicopters in sight. I didn’t like our chances. The VC controlled our fate now. And so, we waited… I was a 23-year-old first lieutenant, the leader of 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. The brigade was the first Army combat unit in Vietnam, arriving on May 5, 1965. The 1st Battalion landed at Vung Tau and the 2nd at Bien Hoa. By June the brigade had incorporated the crack 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and set up a base camp at Bien Hoa. After conducting movements around Bien Hoa and Vung Tau, the 173rd Airborne Brigade expanded its operations from May through October. The brigade operated not only in War Zone D but also in other areas of South Vietnam, including Phuoc Tay, Pleiku-Kontum, Ben Cat, Phuoc Vinh, Di An, Phu Loc and Phu Loi. Those actions were a prelude to the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry’s fight on November 8 against regiments of the 9th Viet Cong Division while on a search-and-destroy operation near Bien Hoa in War Zone D. The brigade’s commander, Brig. Gen. Ellis Williamson, named the operation The Hump to signify the unit’s halfway point in its 12-month tour. The Hump was the first “major battle”—an engagement involving units the size of a battalion or larger—in the Vietnam War for the U.S. Army (Marine battalions had fought Viet Cong battalions in August during Operation Starlite), but less than a week later battalions of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fought a bigger and much deadlier battle against the HORST FAAS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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The 173rd Airborne Brigade’s leader, Brig. Gen. Ellis Williamson, briefs his men on May 24, 1965, shortly after they became the first Army combat unit in Vietnam.

NVA at Ia Drang in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Historians, reference books and the media now regularly list Ia Drang as the Army’s first major battle. But history books weren’t our primary concern in early November 1965.

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n 1965 War Zone D was home to the 9th Viet Cong Division and its three infantry regiments: the 271st, the 272nd and the 273rd. The 173rd Airborne had faced the VC 9th Division in late June and early July, but for the most part the enemy refused to fight and avoided contact whenever possible. By fall, however, there were rumors that the VC 272nd Infantry Regiment and a separate battalion were preparing for an attack on Bien Hoa Air Base. Brigade intelligence estimated that the enemy could mass up to 8,500 men within 48 hours. The 1st Battalion of the 503rd Infantry and the 1st Battalion of the Australian regiment had been selected for an air assault into War Zone D. The 2nd Battalion of the 503rd would remain in Bien Hoa as a reserve force. The U.S. battalion in the assault would search for the VC units north of the Song Dong Nai and west of the Song Be, while the Australians would hunt to the south and east of the two rivers. Helicopters dropped the American battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. John Tyler, at Landing Zone King on November 5. Our force consisted of three companies: Alpha, led by Cap-

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tain Walt Daniel, Bravo by Captain Lowell Bittrich and Charlie by Captain Henry “Sonny” Tucker. We didn’t see any VC, so we began sweeping north-northwest. Our first day on the ground, we patrolled the immediate area around the landing zone and encountered only light sniper fire. By evening, when we stopped, the battalion had moved only 800 meters from the LZ. The second day, platoons operating from company patrol bases continued the north-northwest movement and made only light enemy contact. On November 7, after three days of patrolling, we neared the base of Hill 65 in the late afternoon. We set up our base camp about 1,000 meters east of the hill in a dense jungle. A wide trail, once used for logging operations, ran north-south through the eastern portion of the perimeter. Bravo and Charlie companies secured defensive positions northwest and southwest of the trail, Alpha Company deployed east of it. As we were setting up, the brigade transmitted to the battalion the phrase “Sour Apple,” code words indicating that map grid coordinates were going to be transmitted next. The coordinates were sent when Army intelligence officials had located enemy command-and-control sites through intercepted radio signals and wanted ground troops to reconnoiter the area indicated by the coordinates and report their findings. With little daylight remaining, Tyler immediately sent patrols from Bravo and Charlie companies on recon missions. SP5 JC RIVERA/U.S. ARMY/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; OPPOSITE: KEVIN JOHNSON

Laos

Ia Drang

Cambodia South Vietnam

5A 3 4A 4B 4C HILL 65

THE HUMP Saigon

NG

SO

2

BE

1 LZ KING AMERICANS

LZ JACK AUSTRALIANS

NG

NG

SO

I NA

THE HUMP – November 1965 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry 1 Nov. 5

DO

ARTILLERY SUPPORT

4

2 Nov. 6 3 Nov. 7

5

Nov. 8 A, B, C companies

Nov. 9 A Company

Over four days, three companies of the 1st Battalion moved from LZ King to Hill 65. On the fifth day, A Company was there alone.

The patrol from Charlie got close to the base of Hill 65 and reported seeing bamboo fish baskets and rodent fences, but nothing else. The fences were a sign that many people had been hunting for food there and were hungry enough to eat rodents. By 1815 all patrols had reported back to their companies. It was decided that patrols would do further reconnaissance for “Sour Apple” first thing the next morning. Because we had little contact with the enemy during Operation Hump’s first three days, General William Westmoreland, in charge of all U.S military forces in Vietnam, requested that brigade commander Williamson fly from his base in Bien Hoa to Saigon to help brief some VIPs from the States: two governors and several members of the U.S. Senate and House. Early on November 8, Williamson turned command over to his deputy and flew to Saigon. He would be gone for several hours—out of contact with the troops in War Zone D. At first light, platoons from each company moved out to search for the enemy. My platoon and another from Alpha went east toward the Song Be. Bravo sent patrols to the north and northwest. Charlie pointed two platoons to the west and southwest. As the Charlie platoons advanced, they radioed that they had found fish traps in a small creek, portable latrines and

freshly cut trails. They started up Hill 65 and came across bunkers that were unoccupied but newly constructed. At 0800, 2nd Lt. Sam Russ and his 1st Platoon discovered an empty Viet Cong village. Russ split his unit in half, one searching to the left and the other to the right. A short time later Russ ordered the two groups to reunite, and just as he issued the order, Staff Sgt. Andrew Matosky saw 10 to 15 Viet Cong soldiers coming down a trail toward him. They were talking and didn’t see him. Matosky yelled to his men to get down, fired at the advancing enemy and got most of them on the first burst. About that time, 1st Lt. Ben Waller and Charlie Company’s 2nd Platoon arrived at a spot roughly 90 meters beyond the point they had reached the previous night and saw an abandoned camp. Waller noticed warm rice on the tables and hot coals from a fire someone had tried to smother. It was obvious the place had been recently deserted. Waller’s 2nd Platoon began moving again up the side of Hill 65. Just as it reached the top, the men could hear .50and .30-caliber machine guns in the distance: 1st Platoon was getting torn up. Waller ordered his men in a squadabreast formation and began moving toward 1st Platoon. He was about 35 meters deeper into the jungle when the earth seemed to erupt in front of them. Claymore mines exploded all around the platoon, and interlocking machine gun fire rained down. The two isolated platoons from Charlie Company were in danger of being flanked and destroyed, which would give the Communists a resounding victory over the Americans. Waller commanded his platoon to pull back and set up a defensive position. He also requested fire support ASAP. At the Charlie command post, Tucker saddled up the remainder of his company—one platoon and the headquarters group—and began moving toward the fight on the double, hoping to link up with the two units near the top of Hill 65.

B

attalion commander Tyler ordered Bravo Company to secure Charlie’s right flank and told Alpha Company’s two platoons to return to the battalion patrol base. Bittrich organized Bravo Company on the move and tried to establish radio contact with Charlie Company. Unsuccessful in that effort, the captain decided to move down from the northeast and at about 0930 saw the Viet Cong across a creek near Hill 65. He attacked across the creek and into the enemy’s left flank and rear. Bodies stacked up as the company moved against the enemy. It seemed to Bittrich that Charlie Company had pushed the enemy off Hill 65 and to the north. Blessed with the element of surprise, Bittrich’s men secured Charlie’s endangered right flank. As Bittrich reached the top of Hill 65, he spotted Tucker with his radio-telephone operator and Waller, the 2nd Pla-

29

toon leader. From what Bittrich could determine, Charlie Company had 21 soldiers on the hill who could still fight. The locations of the others were unknown. Bittrich and Tucker had to find them. Bittrich reported his confusing situation to battalion. He could not determine exactly where all elements of Charlie Company were, and what was left might be facing up to three Viet Cong battalions or an NVA unit. He called for as much artillery fire as he could get. Considering the size of the enemy force, the brigade staff decided to insert the 2nd Battalion northeast of the enemy, but the request for additional troops could not be granted because not enough choppers were available to transport them. The 1st Battalion was on its own. The steel curtain of artillery fire bought time for Tucker and Bittrich to locate the lost elements of Charlie Company. All but 17 men were found. The companies formed a defensive perimeter on a section of the hill extending from the southeast to the northwest. The perimeter was established as close as possible to the dead and wounded, and once the position was consolidated, they were retrieved. Even as the artillery continued, the enemy—a welltrained and highly disciplined force—moved closer to the Americans’ position. Bittrich reported to Tyler that Bravo and Charlie were surrounded. They would hold, he said, but they were going to need help.

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T

yler decided to send Alpha Company into the fight. His orders to Daniel, issued shortly after noon, were short and to the point: “Take the pressure off B and C companies. I want you to establish physical contact with the two commanders and open a corridor so they can evacuate their wounded.” Tyler had few options. The Australians, dropped at Landing Zone Jack, were battling the enemy across the river from us. The American 2nd Battalion was still in base camp at Bien Hoa, with no choppers available. The 1st Battalion was on its own, and Alpha Company was all it had left. In his orders to Daniel, Tyler emphasized, “There is no help on the way. Do not, I repeat, do not become decisively engaged.” If Alpha lost its freedom to maneuver, we were stuck. Daniel issued his orders to Alpha’s platoon leaders: 2nd Lt. Dave Ugland of 1st Platoon, 1st Lt. Bob Biedleman of 2nd Platoon and me, in charge of 3rd Platoon. We were to move in line up Hill 65 and relieve pressure on Bravo and Charlie companies so they could get back to friendly lines. Daniel directed us to move toward the west. Ugland and I began moving our platoons from our defensive positions toward Biedleman’s command post. But just before we reached it, mortar rounds landed inside the battalion perimeter. The volleys fell on the battalion command

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post and Biedleman’s platoon. His platoon sergeant and two squad leaders were killed immediately. Biedleman and two other squad leaders were wounded. The killed or wounded also included the platoon’s medic, the radio operator and the artillery reconnaissance sergeant. Tyler told Daniel, “Leave the survivors of your beat-up platoon in the battalion base and attack with two platoons.” As we approached Hill 65, Daniel put Ugland’s platoon on the right flank and mine on the left. He ordered one patrol from each platoon to go forward and find out what was in front of us. Ugland’s patrol returned first and reported an enemy machine gun about 27 meters to the front. The patrol leader said the gun was aimed in the direction of Bravo and Charlie companies. My patrol, meanwhile, had made contact with a large number of troops from Bravo and Charlie. The way to Hill 65 seemed to be blocked by the machine gun in front of 1st Platoon and open all the way in front of my platoon. The plan was to take out the machine gun as quickly and quietly as possible, then slip to the left and up the hill to meet up with the two companies. The plan did not work. As Alpha Company advanced, Tucker’s radioman at Charlie Company received word that three North American F-100 Super Sabre fighter jets were available to help. Tucker relayed his location for an airstrike. Right after the airstrike, the Viet Cong attacked the lead elements of Bravo and Charlie in an ambitious maneuver designed to encircle both companies. It was like a banzai charge. But the attackers were unaware of Alpha’s presence and assaulted with their backs to us. While enemy bugles blared in the jungle, our small-arms fire mowed down the attackers by the dozens. Ugland led his platoon forward and attacked the machine gun position, killing all but one of the crew. That one enemy soldier lived long enough to kill Ugland. A squad leader took out the position with a grenade. Only a few Viet Cong realized that we were behind them and fired in our direction. But we killed a large number of them before their leaders recognized the threat to their rear. “We came in on their flank. The jungle opened up, and we could see almost the entire length of their battle line,” recalled Alpha Company 1st Sgt. Bill Workman. “Our M16 and M60 fire rolled up their line, and took ’em out like ducks in a shooting gallery. The rest of the enemy melted back into the jungle.” The volume of enemy fire combined with the number of machine guns and bugle calls suggested to Daniel that he was taking on a superior force. He reported his observations to Tyler, who had to make a decision quickly. The colonel re-evaluated the situation and reminded himself the mission was to destroy the enemy, not to seize and hold ground. He ordered Daniel to break contact and return to the battalion patrol base. Tyler needed Alpha Company to assume responsibility for the battalion’s defensive perimeter. And he wanted

Troops from the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry jump into elephant grass north of the Dong Nai River, Nov. 5, 1965.

Alpha to hold the trail bisecting the perimeter should that become critical—as it would within the next 24 hours. Alpha Company leapfrogged back to the battalion base, one platoon moving and one platoon laying down fire. We inflicted enough casualties that the enemy finally fled the area. Meanwhile, captains Bittrich of Bravo and Tucker of Charlie were busy securing their positions on the battlefield. They had to get the critically wounded out, obtain more ammunition and prepare their defense. To accomplish this, both companies continued to clear an area for a landing zone, but it became apparent that they would not finish before nightfall. A group of NCOs with two medics went out and quickly pulled in the dead directly in front of the defensive perimeter. Moving to the left, they found two soldiers still alive and two dead. Brigade commander Williamson, returning from Saigon on a helicopter late in the afternoon, became aware of the battle when he turned on his chopper’s command radio. He couldn’t understand why Westmoreland’s staff had not interrupted the discussions with the VIPs from Washington so he could rejoin his unit. Williamson flew directly to the battle area, but we could not find a place to land and went back to Bien Hoa. As dusk approached, Bittrich had a painful decision to make. Air Force choppers were still evacuating the wounded with a winch-operated litter they lowered to the jungle floor, and Army UH-1 Iroquois “Hueys” were dropping supplies to

the beleaguered troops. Should he continue the rescue operation or end it? If Bittrich continued, the noise from the hovering rescue choppers would make it difficult to hear what was happening on the battlefield. Reluctantly, he called off the rescue attempts. Then it began to rain. “The day that seemed to be never ending came to a close with [the battalion] occupying two perimeters separated by several hundred yards of thick jungle containing an unknown enemy force,” Tyler recalled.

W

hen dawn broke on November 9, reinforcements were still not available. With Williamson’s approval, Tyler decided to break contact with the enemy and evacuate the area. In addition to the landing zone being cleared by Bravo and Charlie companies to evacuate the wounded in their position, another LZ would need to be cut by Alpha Company and other troops for evacuation in the battalion’s base area, and it would have to be hacked out of the overgrown trail by hand to allow at least three Hueys to land there. Chainsaws were dropped in for all three companies, and we began working right after dawn. We had to cut the LZ fast enough to give us time to evacuate the complete battalion before dark. About the time that Tyler made his decision, gunships, medevacs and Williamson were above Bravo and Charlie’s po-

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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sition. The two companies had three tasks to accomplish: probe to see if the enemy was still there; find the missing men from Charlie Company; cut a hole in the jungle for the choppers. The first job was checked off quickly. The VC seemed to have fled the battlefield, leaving many of their dead. As for the second, Charlie Company found all 17 of its missing men. They were in different locations, and only one was alive. The third task proved more difficult. The saws were useless against the teak trees. Cutting crews had to resort to dynamite, although the blast created a worse mess to be cleared. With a hole now carved out of the jungle, Williamson decided to have his chopper land. There was hardly any clearance between the blade tips and the trees, but he made it. Williamson and his aide jumped from the chopper and told Bittrich and Tucker to load as many wounded as possible. The chopper then began its slow climb. As soon as it was gone, medevacs came in. By 1100 all the dead and wounded had been evacuated and all the men accounted for. Williamson decided to walk out with his two companies. Bittrich was concerned because he did not know the situation between their position and the battalion base. How in the hell was he going to protect the general? Sensing the captain’s unease, the general looked at him and smiled. “Let me know when you’re ready,” he said. At that point, they all began the move back to battalion, and within an hour, Bravo and Charlie were at the battalion base area. Bittrich put Bravo Company on the perimeter and then stood there until the last man from Charlie Company closed the position. That last man straightened up and said, “All the way, sir.” Bittrich responded proudly, “Airborne.” Meanwhile, the battalion worked continuously under a blazing sun to complete the main landing zone that Alpha Company and others had been working on since dawn. The LZ would not have been finished on time without the help of civilian photographer and former Alaskan logger Chuck Keen, who was filming the battle. (Keen, who headed a company called Alaska Pictures, died in 2003.) When the area was large enough for the evacuation to begin, the wounded and dead were flown out first, followed by Bravo and Charlie companies. Alpha Company was next in line, but a Huey went down after hitting a tree and needed a replacement blade. Units guarding the evacuation and protecting the downed crew reported enemy movement nearby. Until the chopper could be repaired, the pickup zone was limited to only two birds. Finally, a blade was flown in from Saigon and the repair finished. More troops were evacuated. But 14 men still remained on the LZ: Captain Daniel; 1st Lt. Gene Krause, the executive officer; 1st Sgt. Workman; three noncommissioned officers; two company radio operators; Captain Gary DeBausch, the liaison officer with the 3rd Battalion of the 319th Field Artillery Regiment, and his radioman;

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The 173rd Airborne Brigade patrols a section of War Zone D in 1965.

three troopers; and me. We didn’t have much firepower, but we had DeBausch. He called in artillery fire from 18 105mm howitzers to support our little perimeter. All we could do was wait. Then it came: the “whoop, whoop, whoop” of chopper blades cutting the heavy, humid air, the most precious sound to an American soldier. Three beautiful Huey troopships with supporting gunships came into view and descended into the hastily constructed LZ. Daniel yelled out to everyone to head for the choppers double time. As they touched down we scrambled for the nearest one. I dove through the door of one with two of my NCOs following me. The other two birds filled up quickly, and we began to lift off. As we gained altitude and made a slight turn to the right, we saw eight to 10 black-clad Viet Cong. They began shooting at us, but missed. It was a short flight before we landed within the confines of our base camp. We had made it. TIM PAGE/CORBIS

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merican newspapers picked up the story of those five days in War Zone D. The Los Angeles Times reported a smashing American victory in the “first large-scale, standand-fight battle between nearly equal-sized Viet Cong and American forces.” The Pacific Stars & Stripes gave the 1st Battalion of the 503rd Infantry credit for defeating an enemy regiment. The Washington Post stated that the “toll of Vietcong known dead is one of the heaviest since American combat units were committed in March.” We had officially killed 403 enemy troops. (About three months later, the 1st Infantry Division captured an enemy field hospital’s records, which showed that troops from the November 8 battle were sent to two field hospitals, and just one of those hospitals had received more than 700 bodies, dead on arrival.) The American losses were 50 killed and 83 wounded.

President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade the Presidential Unit Citation for “the largest kill, by the smallest unit, in the shortest time in the war in Vietnam to date.” Spc. 5 Lawrence Joel, a headquarters medic assigned to Charlie Company, received the Medal of Honor for treating the wounded while suffering serious injuries himself on November 8. Five days later the battle of the Ia Drang Valley began. When that November 14-17 battle was over, more than 1,000 NVA troops and about 230 Americans were dead. America forgot the Hump. ★ Al Conetto served as commander of D Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, 1967-68. This article is adapted from soon-to-be released The Hump: The 503rd Airborne Infantry in the First Major Battle of the Vietnam War, published by McFarland & Co. (www.mcfarlandpub.com).

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A monument on Sargents Mesa, in panorama below, honors soldiers from across the globe who fought in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1975.

TKTKTKKTKTKTKTKTKTKTKKTKTKTKTK

High in the Rockies, Soldierstone fulfills an Army officer’s dream of a memorial to the men of many nationalities who fought in Indochina Story and Photos by Neal Ulevich

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That sanctuary is Soldierstone, a monument to troops from the multitude of countries that played a role in the Vietnam saga from France’s fight to retain its Indochina colonies at the end of World War II until the close of the Vietnam War in 1975. The monument, in a remote, achingly beautiful setting astride the Continental Divide on Sargents Mesa in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, is an approximately 10-foot-tall obelisk of stacked blocks surrounded on the ground by more than 30 quirky “quotestones” engraved with sad proverbs of foreign or indigenous soldiers from the war years.

COURTESY PHYLLIS BECKLEY ROY

tuart Allen Beckley, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, was dying of cancer. The pain was agonizing. But before night fell forever, he had one last mission. Beckley wanted to fulfill “a promise to the soldiers with whom I served, primarily the Asian soldiers who fought with us against our Communist enemy… soldiers whose service and suffering has been ignored by Americans,” he wrote. He would build a “sanctuary for those who mourn a lost soldier.”

Distraught by the way the Vietnam War ended, Stuart Allen Beckley found a new sense of purpose in his Soldierstone idea.

Soldierstone was erected in the summer of 1995. Beckley died in November that year, mission completed, although he never saw the monument in person because of his deteriorating condition.

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eckley, born in 1932 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, came from a family with a long military tradition. His father graduated from West Point. An ancestor served as a Confederate officer (and founded Beckley, West Virginia). These words of the German poet Heinrich Heine resonated with Beckley: “In my cradle lay the marching route for the whole of my life.” Beckley described himself this way: “I was born a ‘Soldier’…a very traditional, Spartan sort of man, narrowly focused on loyalty to duty, honor, country…and family.” He attended Washington and Lee University but left to join the military in the early 1950s, said his sister, Phyllis Beckley Roy. After serving in Germany and Korea in the 1950s, Beckley went to Southeast Asia. “He went to Thailand in 1962, when he was a captain, to teach counterinsurgency to the Thai armed forces,” said daughter Lila Beckley. Other domestic and Asian postings followed. Beckley made lieutenant colonel in 1967, went to Laos in 1968, was in Bangkok from late 1969 to 1971 and retired in January 1972, she said. “The ‘Cold War’ and the conflict in Southeast Asia was the war to which my soldier-soul was committed,” Stuart Beckley would write later. He worked for a securities firm after leaving the military, but disappointment and anger over the outcome of the Vietnam War lingered in him. “That I did not die with the last to die is a source of great shame to me….My country had ‘died’ that bleak April day in 1975 when the last helicopter lifted off from the American Embassy in Saigon,” Beckley wrote. He was haunted by a published image of a young South Vietnamese ranger, his wrist tattooed with the question, “When I die, who will build my tomb?” Beckley decided he would. His anger slowly transformed into a dream for a monument dedicated to every man of arms who found himself embroiled in the battle for the soul of Indochina. The project restored a military man’s sense of mission. “‘Soldierstone’ gave me something that I thought forever lost, a sense of purpose,” wrote Beckley. He also dreamed of a book titled Leaves of Stone that would tell the story of the project, but he was unable to complete it before he died. Roy and other family members have been pulling the book together. Making the case for his monument, Beckley wrote: “In this long overdue time of reconciliation with the North Vietnamese we have yet to recognize, honor…mourn…the sacrifices of our Vietnamese, Lao, Cambodian and Tribal Soldier Allies, and the soldiers of many other countries, a half-million battle deaths.” Roy, his confidante and helper with Soldierstone, said, “I

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believe his only passion was Asia.” That passion was reflected in the voracious reader’s large library and his research interests. He was collecting proverbs and poetry as Soldierstone took shape in his mind in the 1980s. In 1993 Beckley was diagnosed with the cancer that would take him two years later.

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bout 10,800 feet above sea level in the Rio Grande National Forest of southern Colorado, Sargents Mesa is quiet and regal in all seasons but accessible only when winter departs. Most years snows close primitive forest logging roads to the mesa until late spring. There is a pleasant copse of trees on the mesa, and cattle graze in the high summer pasture. Sargents Mesa was named for a 19th-century road builder, Joseph Sargents, who helped engineer nearby Marshall Pass. Sargents’ name also honors a small town north of the mesa. The name is often written incorrectly. It loses the final “s,” becomes possessive or is spelled “Sergeant.” Many people have mistakenly assumed a military connection. Beckley was one of them. Beckley had scouted various locations for his monument, and Sargents Mesa was his first choice, but he needed approval from the U.S. Forest Service before he could build Soldierstone. He had five months to live when he wrote to a Forest Service officer: “I do not want this to become ‘Stu’s Project’, it’s for those tired, spent dusty soldiers that march through my nights.” Beckley’s request was fast-tracked. Soldierstone received the Forest Service’s approval in February 1995 (today government policy strongly discourages additional monuments on public lands) and was completed in July of that year. As the end of Beckley’s losing battle with cancer approached, he worked closely with his sister to make sure the project would succeed. “He insisted we work our usual schedule, even though he was in such pain, in a wheelchair, a shadow of his former self,” Roy said. “I would sit at the computer, and he would dictate important things that needed to be done.” Ark Valley Memorial Co. at Rocky Ford on the eastern Colorado plains did much of the physical work—crafting and engraving the granite stones, which came from a quarry in Georgia. Cutting blocks of granite with inscriptions in foreign languages presented special problems. Ark Valley erected the tower using a big 6x6 truck with a crane. The quotestones were placed at random around the tower. Mike Donelson, the monument company’s owner, recalled his astonishment as he watched Special Forces soldiers shoulder 300-pound quotestones and carry them to their destinations. Constructing Soldierstone wasn’t just another job for Donelson. He had worked closely with Beckley on the project for five years, and the two men became good friends. Seven stacked blocks of granite form the obelisk. Three

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sides bear the names of Indochina’s trio of conflict countries: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. All sides carry reminders of soldierly qualities the struggle demanded: Honor. Sacrifice. Valor. Courage. A field mortar crowns the obelisk. The inscriptions on one side include these words: Soldierstone; In Memory of LONG WARS LOST and the Soldiers of Vietnam; Still in Death lies everyone, And the Battle’s lost. SACRIFICE. A low wall of loose rock surrounds the obelisk, a reminder of fortress strongpoints in a war that never seemed to end. In Beckley’s vision the wall also evoked the forts of Beau Geste, a novel and movie about three English brothers who join the French Foreign Legion and fight in North Africa. The randomly placed quotestones bring to mind fallen troops guarding the perimeter, and they make Soldierstone a land of ghosts. The soldiers honored with quotes include some unconventional choices not normally associated with the Indochina wars, including Muslim Arabs from French colonies in Africa, Japanese veterans of World War II who served under British commanders supporting the French, Hindus from India serving with the British and even German prisoners of war who joined the French Foreign Legion. The languages of the inscriptions are many: Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, English, French, Hindi, Japanese, Arabic, German. All the stones address the pathos of men at arms far from home. “‘Soldierstone’ will be starkly beautiful in its simplicity,” Beckley wrote. “It will stand definitely alone…as did those soldiers in their seasons of death….Soldierstone makes no political statement…except for the horrific tragedy of war.” The monument cost just under $100,000, and Beckley paid most of it himself, but he firmly forbade his name to appear at Soldierstone.

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eckley was content for Soldierstone to be a little-known, rarely visited place, revealed only by word of mouth or accidental discovery. On Sargents Mesa the Continental Divide Trail joins the Colorado Trail, which crosses much of the state, and a few hikers or bikers happen upon Soldierstone, but the monument is a bit off the path, and most hikers simply miss it. A few others, mainly veterans, arrive as pilgrims. Summer pasture cattle, perhaps bored, will investigate a vehicle parked at the end of the road. Scat indicates a good population of elk—and hunters who discover Soldierstone often leave a cartridge, spent or not. Mostly the place is just quiet—and beautiful. Someone placed an ammunition can at the base of the monument. It contains notebooks and pencils for travelers who feel moved to leave their impressions. Mark Wiederspahn of Austin, Texas, and his wife, Beckley’s daughter, visited Soldierstone in 2014. Wiederspahn knew Beckley well, and the notebook comments left him in tears, he said.

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For years the Forest Service office at Saguache, Colorado, acknowledged Soldierstone but did not promote it, out of respect for Beckley’s wishes that the monument not become a “tourist destination.” When asked, rangers would provide a small pamphlet and directions. Recently, mountain bikers exploring the mesa made a brief video of Soldierstone. They posted it on YouTube, and the secret was out. As a Forest Service official involved in the project said, “Stu’s dearest wish was that this site was not to be a tourist attraction or be publicized in any way but by word of mouth, but he and we didn’t envision social media and YouTube in 1995.” Because visitors have increased, the Forest Service is exploring ways to safeguard the monument and the pristine mesa. One possible solution is getting a veterans group or other organization to “adopt” Soldierstone to help keep it clean and in good condition. Even though more people are heading to the monument, getting there still isn’t easy. The logging roads, frequently strewn with sharp tire-killing rocks, limit visitors to intrepid backcountry explorers, the occasional Vietnam War pilgrim and vehicles with heavy-duty tires. The track is usually deserted. Stranded motorists might have a long hike—up to 15 miles—ahead of them. Water and emergency gear are important traveling companions. Additionally, the Forest Service has placed at the end of the track a log barrier barring motorized travel on the mesa. Visible but not obvious, Soldierstone is a quarter-mile north of the barrier. The way is level, but rocky terrain and high altitude make for a slow and careful walk. I first heard about Soldierstone from Dean Coombs, publisher of the Saguache Crescent newspaper, perhaps the last American weekly set in Linotype. He mentioned it to me one day in the 1990s. Since then, I have been to Soldierstone five or six times over the years, camping frequently below the mesa at a solitary hillock with a view of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range across the San Luis Valley. During my first two attempts I was unable to find Soldierstone. And then one summer’s day I located it. The monument moved my soul as Beckley wished. If you would like to visit: The directions are a bit complicated. Your best plan is to stop at the Public Lands Field Office just outside Saguache on Colorado 114 and ask for directions. Also ask about the road conditions. The office telephone number is 719-655-2547. ★ Neal Ulevich, who lives in Colorado, spent nearly five years covering the Vietnam War as a photojournalist and photo editor, first as a freelancer and later in The Associated Press Saigon bureau. He left Vietnam by helicopter from the U.S. Embassy roof on the last day of the war, April 30, 1975. Ulevich’s images of a violent political melee in Bangkok won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography.

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SPORTS IN A TIME OF WAR

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THE VIETNAM LEFT: SP4 RICHARD S. DURRANCE/U.S. ARMY/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; RIGHT: WILLIAM JAMES CUNNEEN/AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

AMID THE HORRORS OF WAR, American troops in Vietnam reconnected with carefree days back home through the sports they enjoyed. They could try to fight off the stress of combat with friendly competition, even battling their allies at times, in athletic pursuits such as baseball, basketball, football, volleyball and boxing. Outside the sports arena, there were other games—chess, billiards and foosball, for example. And just as if those players were contestants in the American League Championship Series, the NBA Finals or the last round of a duel for the world heavyweight title, photographers were there to capture all the thrilling moments in the Vietnam League.

Left: A sandlot basketball game caps a day in July 1967 that began with a search-and-destroy mission for Troop C, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), as part of Operation Pershing in Binh Dinh province. Below: Volleyballers of No. 100 Signal Squadron, Headquarters Australian Force, celebrate around their homemade Saigon Cup in October 1971, after their third straight championship in the Aussie competition.

LEAGUE

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Far left: A Marine Corps judo instructor, Master Gunnery Sgt. Charles A. Bender, observes Pfc. William L. Robinson’s technique as he gives Lance Cpl. Felton O’Neal a toss at a class in January 1970 in Da Nang.

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Left: In a September 1968 volleyball game between two allies at Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, an Australian soldier flips the ball back at the Americans. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: LCPL ROGER L. NYSTROM/U.S. MARINE CORPS; LT RONALD STEINER/U.S. ARMY/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; SGT MIKE TERAMOTO/U.S. MARINE CORPS/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; RICHARD WILLIAM CROTHERS/AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; CPL J.D. MOODY/U.S. MARINE CORPS

Enemy prisoners of war also participated in sports during recreation periods. These captives play soccer at the POW camp on the island of Phu Quoc in January 1973.

Above: Quarterback H.C. Maddox, a first lieutenant in the Headquarters and Service Company of Marine Force Logistics Support Group Bravo, scrambles to escape linemen from the logistics group’s Maintenance Company in “Dust Bowl Stadium,” near the Demilitarized Zone. Maddox’s team won 12-0.

Two Marines face off in foosball at the Freedom Hill base recreation center in Da Nang.

A member of the III Marine Amphibious Force goes airborne as he shows his athletic ability in the long jump during a sports festival in May 1968.

Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Holcomb of Supply Battalion lands a hard punch on the jaw of Lance Cpl. James Williams of the 7th Communications Battalion during a light welterweight bout in Da Nang during December 1970.

Above: An American trooper is ready to swing for the fence in March 1968 as he eyes a pitch flying past a sandbag bunker in a South Vietnamese village.

In August 1970, soldiers from the 1st Australian Task Force Base speed down a dirt track toward the finish line in go-karts made of salvaged engines and scrap metal.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SGT ERNEST H. LEBLANC/U.S. MARINE CORPS/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; TERRY FINCHER/HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS; PETER ANTHONY WARD/AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; SGT KANKE/U.S. MARINE CORPS/NATIONAL ARCHIVES

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Far left: Captain Lyle Parker, a surgeon and machine gunner in the 188th Assault Helicopter Company, contemplates a way to checkmate another medic during a 1968 chess match.

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Left: Marine 1st Lt. William Space adds some height to a Vietnamese boy going up for a shot. The young basketball player was waiting to see a doctor from the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing’s medical team in December 1965. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SSGT HIGHLAND/U.S. MARINE CORPS/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; SP4 ALAN HILL/U.S. ARMY/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; WILLIAM JAMES CUNNEEN/AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; SSGT SAVATT/U.S. MARINE CORPS/NATIONAL ARCHIVES; PAUL STEPHANUS

Soldiers “rack them and break ’em” while they enjoy some R & R at the billiards table in the service club at the U.S. Army Headquarters Area Command in Saigon in July 1970.

Above: Heavy hitters from the 3rd Marine Division show their stuff during an exhibition game at the Hue Sports Festival in November 1966.

An Australian soldier has a friendly arm-wrestling match in February 1971 with a former foe, a Viet Cong defector who became a scout for the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

SHADOWS OVER

CAMBODIA Relentless firepower from U.S. planes bolsters the Cambodian army in a fight against North Vietnamese forces at the Battle of Prey Totung By Larry Fletcher

A Shadow gunship, not visible, circles an enemy site near Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, and fires at it with rounds that include red tracer bullets, creating a “red tornado” in a time-lapse photo. COURTESY MIKE DRZYGA

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he Vietnam War moved west into Cambodia beginning May 1, 1970, after President Richard Nixon authorized an incursion to destroy sanctuaries used by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to plan and conduct their attacks in Vietnam. Cambodia’s ruler, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, allowed those safe havens to thrive, but he had been ousted in a March 1970 coup and replaced with an anti-Communist government under General Lon Nol, who welcomed U.S. intervention as he battled the North Vietnamese Army and pro-Communist Cambodians called the Khmer Rouge. The NVA and Viet Cong troops avoided direct confrontations with invading U.S. and South Vietnam forces, dispersing throughout Cambodia. American ground forces left Cambodia on June 30, the withdrawal date set by Nixon. His expansion of the war had faced fierce stateside opposition from antiwar protestors and Congress. But Air Force operations continued under the top-secret Cambodia Air Campaign. The program began with Operation Freedom Deal, which involved only reconnaissance and interdiction missions, but soon expanded with Operation Freedom Action, which allowed U.S. airstrikes on enemy ground forces. AC-119G “Shadow” gunships from the Seventh Air Force’s 17th Special Operations Squadron, stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon, provided round-the-clock support for the Cambodian army, aka the Force Armée Nationale Khmère, or FANK. The 26-plane Shadow fleet—created by adding machine guns to Fairchild-Hiller C-119 “Flying Boxcar” transport planes—replaced outdated Douglas AC-47 “Spooky” gunships, which carried the nickname “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Shadow gunships received assistance from a Forward Air Controller Task Force, a group of airborne observers established to carry out reconnaissance missions, gather

intelligence and direct fighter-bomber strikes in Cambodia. The forward air controllers, or FACs, flew North American twin-turboprop OV-10 Broncos during the day and twoengine Cessna O-2 Skymasters at night. Together they made up the “Rustic” task force, created on June 19,1970, and based at Bien Hoa Air Base, just north of Saigon. The Rustic group’s Bronco and Skymaster observation planes repeatedly teamed up with the Shadow gunships to provide close air cover for the Cambodian army—as they did during four days and nights at the deadly Battle of Prey Totung in December 1970.

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rey Totung, a village about 45 miles northeast of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, is near the Mekong River at the junction of Routes 7 and 71. It controlled communications and supplies for Cambodian army units in the country’s central region, making it a critical location for both sides in the war. In November, NVA troops had attacked Cambodian garrisons at Prey Totung. The attacks were repelled with fire support from Shadow gunships and A-37, F-100 and F-4 fighter-bomber strikes directed by Rustic FACs. The NVA,

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unsuccessful in the November assault, amassed a larger force to conquer Prey Totung in December. Cambodian soldiers defending the village were hit on the night of December 11 by an NVA force that attacked with heavy barrages of fire from mortars, 122mm rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, 12.7mm machine guns and small arms. As attacks intensified, the ground commander at Prey Totung, who used the radio call sign Hotel Prey Totung, requested Shadow fire support. Captain Bill Cunningham, commander of a gunship with the call sign Shadow 26, scrambled from Tan Son Nhut Air Base with his crew of seven at 0149 hours on December 12 and reached Prey Totung at 0220 hours. A Skymaster, piloted by Don Hagle using the call sign Rustic 40, was also in the area and in radio contact with Hotel Prey Totung. “When we arrived over Prey Totung, we could see fighting on the ground,” remembered Captain Robert Safreno, a Shadow 26 crewman who operated a night observation scope, which made objects visible in the dark. A computerized fire-control system displayed the scope’s crosshairs on the pilot’s gunsight. “Hotel Prey Totung radioed that his troops were located in the southwest corner of town. I located and put the NOS crosshairs on an enemy gun site and gave consent to the pilot to shoot.” Cunningham put Shadow 26 into a “firing circle,” a maneuver in which a gunship would repeatedly circle a ground target in a left-hand orbit to fire at it. Aligning the crosshairs of the scope and his gunsight, the pilot started firing one of the plane’s four 7.62mm miniguns on the enemy position. “Immediately, all hell broke loose!” Safreno said. “We started taking fire from six different 12.7mm ma-

THAILAND er Mekong Riv

Prey Totung

Mekong River

CAMBODIA

Phnom Penh

VIETNAM Saigon

Gulf of Thailand

chine guns positioned around our firing circle. They had us in what we called a ‘Shadow Trap.’ All of a sudden the NOS went completely blank in a flash of light and then I heard a boom. I asked over the aircraft intercom, ‘What happened?’ The flight engineer answered, ‘A big rocket just went by us and exploded.’ We broke out of the firing circle and regrouped a few miles away and called for gunship reinforcements before returning to another firing circle. We went Winchester [out of ammunition] as our replacement, Shadow 15, called us for a situation briefing. After 3.2 hours on target, our crew was exhausted.” Shadow 26 returned to its base in Saigon. In the excellent book The Rustics, Captain Clint Murphy, who flew on an O-2 Skymaster, conveys the emotional impact that night missions had on the airmen. “Night battle phenomena such as the Great Finger of God, the minigun fire from the AC-119 Shadow, touching the enemy were spectacular and evoked strong visual images that stay with you for a lifetime.” Shadow 26 was replaced by Shadow 15, which had taken off from Tan Son Nhut Air Base at 0326 hours. Shadow 15’s commander, Captain Don Rapuzzi, checked in with Rustic and Hotel Prey Totung, who reported hand-to-hand fighting on the front lines in the northern part of the village. Rapuzzi fired on enemy forces while taking heavy 12.7mm anti-aircraft fire the entire 3.3 hours on target. The engagement ended when the attackers withdrew. When daylight came, the Prey Totung ground commander counted 200 enemy troops killed by airstrikes and gave Shadow 15 the credit. The air support from Shadows and Rustic FACs was reassuring for Hotel Prey Totung. The commander, who spoke excellent English, worked from the basement of a village school. His transmissions were interrupted frequently by the horrendous noise from enemy recoilless rifle rounds passing through the wall just above his head, but his calmness on the radio while under attack was impressive. He would periodically crawl over to a window and shoot an enemy soldier trying to break into the school.

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fter the first attacks on December 11, combat action continued to be hot and heavy. NVA troops attacked Prey Totung night and day, especially when a Shadow or Rustic was not directly overhead. And they knew the best time to attack was when the gunships changed. Shadow co-pilot Captain Gene Van Over later described the flying environment at Prey Totung. “Immediately upon arriving over PT; we were met with heavy ground fire, mostly .51 cal,” he said. When the pilot commanding the aircraft shot at one gun

South China Sea

MAP: KEVIN JOHNSON

site, two other sites shot back. “Twice, rockets passed close by our gunship, leaving smoke trails. I don’t know how they missed us.” But Van Over added, “We did inflict heavy casualties on enemy forces.” To help maintain complete coverage of Cambodia, the 10 Shadow gunships assigned to 17th Special Operations Squadron at Tan Son Nhut were augmented with two Fairchild AC-119K Stinger gunships of the 18th Special Operations Squadron at Da Nang. The Stinger, equipped for truck-hunting duty on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, sported two 20mm Vulcan cannons and two J-85 jet engines that the Shadow did not have. Like the Shadow, the Stinger had four 7.62mm miniguns and two piston-driven R-3350 engines with four-blade propellers. A gunship was scheduled to launch from Tan Son Nhut every three hours to provide continual air support for Prey Totung. One hour before takeoff, crews were put on “alpha alert status,” ready to scramble at any time to reinforce other gunships. The flight time to Prey Totung was about 30 minutes. Shadow 71 Captain Gary Totten and his crew launched at 1354 hours on December 12 and arrived over Prey Totung, just in time to fire on NVA attackers probing the village’s defenses. The Rustic FAC in the area instructed Shadow 71 to back off so he could direct strikes from a flight of F-100s arriving from Phan Rang, South Vietnam. The strike went well until one F-100 was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire and the pilot ejected. Rustics and Shadows flew cover for the search-andrescue efforts. The pilot was recovered at 1813 hours. Later that night Cunningham and his crew began their second mission to Prey Totung, this time flying under call sign Shadow 16. They departed Tan Son Nhut at 0152 hours on December 13 to replace Shadow 36. Cunningham fired on enemy troops while drawing intense .51-caliber machine gun fire from bunkered positions ringing the village. He silenced two gun sites before running out of ammunition. The battle on the ground continued as Shadow 27 replaced Cunningham’s crew. Shadow 27 fired on the attacking enemy and bunkered guns that still threw up intense fire. Rustic 38 pilot Jack Strickland in a Skymaster, which had been flying elsewhere in the area, came in and requested bomber-strike aircraft to take out the anti-aircraft guns. Shadow 27 returned to Tan Son Nhut when Stinger 81 arrived under the command of Major Tony Bautz, with a crew of nine. Bautz, at the direction of Rustic 05 pilot Jim Nuber flying an OV-10 Bronco, attacked NVA troops battling Prey Totung’s Cambodian defenders. “We attacked enemy bunkers real hard” with 20mm Vulcan cannons, recalled Stinger 81 co-pilot Lieutenant Alan Jaeckle, “and sprayed advancing enemy troops with miniguns. We hit .50-cal. sites and a mortar site located on top of a building. Things were quiet when we departed. We logged 4.0 hours on the mission.”

Top: The Shadow’s 7.62mm miniguns sprayed withering fire at the enemy. Center: An OV-10 Bronco flown by Rustic FACs is on a mission in September 1970. Bottom: A Shadow has taken off from Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base in October 1969.

Shadow 67 replaced Stinger 81 after taking off from Tan Son Nhut at 1029 hours. Shadow 67 commander Lt. Col. Bill Gregory worked first with Rustic 09 pilot Captain Simon “Sy” Gaskill in an OV-10 Bronco and then with a FAC using the call sign “Sundog 10.” Murphy, who flew backseat on Gaskill’s plane, wrote in The Rustics that soon after takeoff “we contacted the aircraft we were to relieve over the battle area, and fell silent. Captain Gaskill and I had never heard such a volume and complexity of transmissions between aircraft and several stacked-up sets of fighters. Hell had broken loose!” As Rustic 09 came to the battle area, Murphy saw a flight of F-4s pass under him on their way to the target. And then his eyes focused on “an extraordinary sight: the enemy swarming over

U.S. AIR FORCE/NATIONAL ARCHIVES (3)

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the town in the open,” something the enemy normally did not do, he noted. “But this was frighteningly different; the enemy exhibited an arrogance and boldness that repelled and made one dizzy. We shortly began to receive a volume of ground fire that never slackened from beginning to end of the mission.” Gaskill assumed control of five sets of fighters circling above his plane, and Murphy contacted the ground commander. “We then set to work burying the enemy in the ruins of that town,” Murphy wrote. “Despite having destroyed those roof mounted 12.7’s, the enemy’s fire never seemed to slacken. We were hosed from every direction, all at the same time. Single enemy soldiers calmly stood in the rubble and shot at us. Sy put in the airstrikes nonstop, but the enemy crawled over the rubble anyway.” Shadow 67 was relieved by Major Don Fraker’s Shadow 80, which took off at 1350 hours on December 13. Fraker checked in with Hotel Prey Totung, and the commander confided that his troops were nearly out of ammunition and supplies. A resupply airdrop was expected very soon. This was Shadow 80’s second mission supporting Prey Totung. It took place in daylight, a particularly dangerous time to be flying a big black airplane slow and low over enemy troops with anti-aircraft guns. Fraker was firing on confirmed enemy locations when a surge of NVA troops suddenly attacked the Cambodians. After being hit with Fraker’s withering, accurate fire from all four miniguns, the enemy immediately stopped and retreated. The Rustic FAC directed Shadow 80 away from Prey Totung to make room for an airstrike from a two-ship flight of F-4s. After that strike, things quieted. A Cambodian Air Force C-47 made its airdrop and departed, and Fraker covered the friendly troops while they gathered airdropped supplies.

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A Shadow gunship skirts the coast of South Vietnam in July 1970.

At 1708 hours Stinger 17 departed Tan Son Nhut with Major Joe J. Jones in command. It blasted bunkers of enemy mortars and 12.7mm machine guns. NVA troops advanced for another assault, and the Stinger responded with horrific firepower from all six of its guns. Silence temporarily returned to Prey Totung. Another ground fight erupted shortly after Stinger 17 was relieved by Shadow 76, on its second mission, but Captain Bert Blanton’s crew stopped the assault at 2200 hours. Next came Major Rod Carter’s Shadow 35, which left the air base at 1953 hours. Its crew witnessed heavy mortar fire from many sites. Carter would quickly target and fire. He spent the entire three-plus hours at the battle site firing on enemy mortars, but surprisingly took no anti-aircraft fire.

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n December 14, Shadow 10 Captain Cunningham and crew launched at 0150 to return for their third night at Prey Totung. The mission was normal: Shoot and get shot at. Conserve ammunition until your replacement arrived. Stinger 59, assigned to relieve Shadow 10, launched later than planned because of an engine fire and fuel leak in the gunship scheduled for its flight. Bautz and his crew had to scramble onto a backup gunship and race to Prey Totung with both jets fired up and added power from the two reciprocating piston-driven engines. Bautz spent 2.7 hours on the target, firing under the direction of Skymaster pilot Rustic 35 Larry Driskill and stopping two attacks. Shadow 73, commanded by Captain Jerry Marples, took off at 0800 and was over the battlefield before Stinger 59 finished its work, so Driskill diverted Marples to other targets in the vicinity of Prey Totung. Afterward, Marples returned to Prey Totung. Shadow 31 departed the base at 1350 hours but pulled out of Prey Totung as soon as the gunship got there because of aircraft congestion. Everybody with wings was at the “party” as allied planes congregated for action around the village. NVA troops were hurting and hiding. Keeping the heat on, Stinger 94 took off at 1701 hours to replace Shadow 31 and fired more than 20,000 rounds on enemy locations west of Prey Totung. Captain James Craig, the night scope operator, had already flown a Shadow mission earlier in the day and thought he might get the day off because it was his birthday. No such luck. Just turn around and fly back to the battlefield. Cunningham, heading toward his fourth mission in four nights, left base at 2255 hours as Shadow 80. During three hours of shooting, he used all U.S. AIR FORCE/NATIONAL ARCHIVES

30,000 rounds of ammunition while taking heavy automatic weapons fire. December 15 would be another day of heavy fighting as the NVA attacked again. Shadow 65, with Carter in command, launched at 0155 and emptied its guns during 3.3 hours over Prey Totung while encountering heavy automatic weapons fire. Shadow 11 Captain Jerry Marples took off at 0510 and spent 3.5 hours firing on targets around Prey Totung and farther west. At 0745 hours, Shadow 81 Captain Vic Heiner took off from Tan Son Nhut to replace Shadow 11. Rustic 19 pilot Claude Newland, flying a Bronco, cleared Heiner to fire on enemy forces still occupying the northern part of Prey Totung. Anti-aircraft weapons in some remaining buildings fired at Shadow 81, but the gunship silenced them. In midafternoon, Shadow 85 with Lt. Col. Gregory in command replaced Shadow 81. Rustic 12’s George Brower directed Gregory to cover airdrops of supplies to Prey Totung while two Cambodian helicopters picked up wounded defenders. A final NVA assault was repelled by Cambodian troops and Shadow 85, which was hit by one 14.5mm round during the fight. The mass of NVA forces then withdrew from the area. Their plan to overrun Prey Totung and gain logistical control of central Cambodia had failed, thanks to American air power. When the Battle of Prey Totung ended, 11 Shadow gunship crews from the 17th Special Operations Squadron and three Stinger gunship crews from the 18th Special Operations Squadron had flown more than 30 consecutive missions to provide close air support for the Cambodian army at Prey Totung and used 555,800 rounds of ammo on their targets. One Shadow gunship was hit, sustaining minor damage. Rustic FACs covered the entire battle, directing all fighterbomber strikes and some gunship strikes. Except for the first night of the battle when Shadow 15 was credited with killing 200 enemy troops, the total kills were difficult to ascertain. NVA units did not abandon their dead and wounded on the battlefield if possible. An Associated Press article, appearing in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes after the battle, reported that the Cambodian High Command had claimed that Cambodian forces had “killed at least 2,000 Communist soldiers” in the four days and nights of fighting and that a “large number were killed by strafing and bombing from the air.” The secrecy of the Cambodia Air Campaign had been PATCHES: COURTESY LARRY FLETCHER (5)

Patches of the Rustic Task Force, the 17th Special Operations Squadron’s Shadow Force and 18th SOS Stingers

blown earlier by American journalists who photographed a Bronco flying very low over a Cambodian army convoy. The photo and accompanying article were considered evidence that anti-Communist Cambodians were getting support from U.S. warplanes. The AC-119G Shadow gunships continued to support the Republic of Cambodia until the 17th Special Operations Squadron had trained Vietnamese aircrews and turned over all Shadows to the South Vietnam air force in September 1971. The United States continued to support the Cambodians with FACs, AC-119K Stingers, AC-130 Spectre gunships and fighterbomber strikes until all American air support of Cambodia terminated on Aug. 15, 1973, when Congress stopped funding for the operation. The Republic of Cambodia surrendered to the Communist Khmer Rouge and its leader, Pol Pot, on April 17, 1975. Phnom Penh became a ghost city as the Khmer Rouge herded inhabitants out of the capital into the “Killing Fields,” the scene of the genocide of more than 1 million Cambodians the Shadow and Stinger gunships and Rustic FACs had sought to protect at Prey Totung and throughout the country. ★ Larry Elton Fletcher, a former Air Force captain, was a first lieutenant and co-pilot on Shadow 80 during the Battle of Prey Totung. He flew 177 combat missions as a Shadow pilot in Vietnam and Cambodia. After the war, Fletcher, who lives in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, served in teaching and administration positions in public schools and earned a doctorate in education. He is the author of Shadows of Saigon, The Shadow Spirit, and Charlie Chasers, which document the legacy of AC-119 gunships. His website is www.shadowgunships.com.

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I

n 2002, during a research trip to the National Archives to search the records of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs (1991-93), author Lynn O’Shea found a box containing declassified documents detailing the Joint Special Operation Command’s (JSOC) plan to rescue American POWs in Laos in 1981. These documents, along with interviews with sources speaking for the first time, allowed her to flesh out the story of the planned rescue, code-named Operation Pocket Change, the intelligence that led to the operation and how the mission was compromised. Years later, when O’Shea went back to the Archives to review the box of records, she found that the documents had been heavily redacted. “Page after page had been blacked out, making them useless to researchers,” O’Shea says.“I was fortunate to find these documents when I did, allowing me to lift a small portion of the veil of secrecy surrounding the planned rescue of American POWs held in Laos six years after the end of the Vietnam War.” Anyone familiar with the POW/MIA issue recognizes the name Nhom Marrott. Isolated deep in the Laotian jungle and surrounded by rugged limestone karst formations, Nhom Marrott, also referred to as Nhommarath, was the subject of a U.S. intelligence-gathering effort from 1979 to 1981 to confirm the presence of American POWs being held there. The quality of intelligence gathered—human, signal and imagery—convinced senior U.S. officials the Laotians held American POWs at a remote prison camp in Khammouane province. The Joint Chiefs of Staff authorized the newly formed JSOC in February 1981 to plan a mission to rescue an estimated 18 to 30 POWs believed to be at the compound. Before a rescue was allowed by the JSOC, however, the CIA was directed to go in first on a “recon” mission. In this excerpt from Abandoned in Place, O’Shea explains the government’s rationale and shortcomings in allowing the CIA on the recon mission. In the end, the agency failed to report to the JSOC any findings from its 45-day mission. And with little hard intelligence available to Operation Pocket Change planners—coupled with leaks to the press—the POW rescue mission was scrapped.

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ased on a decision made at the highest level of government, it would be the job of a CIA-trained Laotian indigenous team to confirm the presence of prisoners of war in Laos. The decision to turn the recon mission over to a Laotian indigenous team and exclude an American from that team likely doomed any chance for the mission’s success. The indigenous team was far less capable than the well-trained and motivated servicemen and women assigned to the JSOC and its designated special missions units such as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-Delta) and SEAL Team 6. The CIA team consisted of a group of inexperienced Laotian resistance forces led by a former captain in the Lao Royal Air Force, Houm Pheng Insisiengmay. Insisiengmay spent three years in a Laos re-education camp before escaping to Thailand. His only qualifications for this sensitive mission seemed to be that he once lived in Khammouane province and that the CIA trusted him. AKG-IMAGES/ULLSTEIN BILD

Excerpted from Abandoned in Place: The Men We Left Behind and the Untold Story of Operation Pocket Change, by Lynn O’Shea, copyright 2014 by Lynn O’Shea.

Indeed, there may have been a long and well-established connection between the CIA, Insisiengmay’s extended family and possibly Insisiengmay himself. Before and during the war years, the ruling family in Laos’ Military Region 3 was the Insisiengmay family. The head of the family, Leuam Insisiengmay, served as a deputy prime minister in the Royal Lao Government. Leuam’s brother-in-law was Prince Boun Oum, who headed the royal house of Champassak and served as the inspector general of Laos for the Royal Government and prime minister from 1948 to 1950 and from 1960 to 1962. Another Insisiengmay, who may have been part of the extended family, worked as a coded source for the CIA. Recognizing the need for air power in Laos yet deniability of U.S. government involvement, the CIA formed Air America in the early 1960s. Represented as a private airline, Air America flew supply and support missions throughout Laos. Pilots flying these aircraft were mostly American. By

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Chronology of Operation Pocket Change 1979 – U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), handling POW/MIA matters, receives a report from Laotian General Vang Pao of 18 American POWs moved from northern Laos to Attapeu province in southern Laos.

November 1980 – Based on DIA and CIA reports of American POWs in Laos in 1979-80, Army chief of staff orders the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment—Delta (1st SFOD-Delta) to plan for possible rescue of POWs. Reports included signal intercepts and human intelligence of “starving” prisoners; 18 Americans being moved to a cave north of Nhom Marrott; 30 U.S. pilots working on a road gang near the central Laotian town of Nhom Marrott.

December 1980 – Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) stands up with 1st SFOD-Delta now under its command. U.S. spy satellite photos of Nhom Marrott area show what appears to be an isolated security camp with an inner and outer compound, along with the number “52,” possibly followed by the letter “K,” a standard pilot’s distress signal, traced on the ground near the compound’s perimeter.

Jan. 17, 1981 – DIA requests “that CIA

Pocket Change. Based at Fort Bragg,

May 4 – A half-kilometer from target, team

attempt to confirm the presence of U.S.

North Carolina, elite forces of JSOC pick

spends 2 hours or 2 days (reports conflict)

PWs in Laos.” JSOC protests, saying CIA

up on the preliminary plan started by 1st

photographing with 11 rolls of film.

team does not have proper training to run

SFOD-Delta in November 1980.

May 13 – Team crosses back into Thailand.

recon mission. CIA argues that its indigenous team should carry out any ground

March 18 – DIA provides members of the

reconnaissance, allowing Washington to

House POW/MIA Task Force a classified

May 21 – CIA reports to DIA, “The team

briefing on the Nhom Marrott sighting.

was unable to identify any Caucasians.”

While operational information remained

CIA refuses to provide JSOC with the mis-

Mid-January – CIA receives green

restricted, more people know of the overall

sion’s EEI. Team returns with 10 rolls of

light to launch its recon mission. JSOC

concept of the rescue mission. By mid-

film, which JSOC does not obtain.

has two critical requirements of CIA team:

March, several outlets have the story, and

1) An American must be part of the team

the head of the Pentagon’s news division

May 21 – First news stories about mis-

since JSOC cannot commit resources to

has to convince news agencies to sit on it.

sion air: Washington Post publishes story

retain plausible deniability.

about a CIA recon team that visits a Lao-

a rescue mission based solely on the word of an indigenous team; and 2) CIA must

March 29 – CIA recon team crosses

provide to JSOC the “Essential Elements

Mekong River from Thailand into Laos, en

of Information” (EEI) from the recon mis-

route to target. Team does not include any

May 26 – Admiral Richard Long, com-

sion: descriptions of POW camp, number

Americans as required by JSOC.

mander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, rec-

tian POW camp but turns up nothing.

ommends to JSOC chairman that Pocket

of guards, camp defenses, terrain, land-

April – Reports of CIA team’s progress

Change be put “on back burner due to

to camp and lack thereof are monitored.

lack of positive intelligence.”

JSOC to plan a POW rescue mission at

May 1 – Two team members stricken with

June 10 – Laos files a protest of a U.S.-

Nhom Marrott, to be called Operation

malaria reported as wounded.

backed incursion of its sovereign territory.

marks, location of troops and villages.

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Feb. 10 – Joint Chiefs of Staff authorizes

the end of the war, it was an open secret: Air America was the CIA’s private airline. A secret better kept, but not by much, was Boun Oum Airways, which was created and supported by the CIA and owned by the prince. Crews for Boun Oum Airways were all Asian, which helped the CIA to continue its public denial of involvement in Laos. Boun Oum Airways had a poor safety record and the name disappeared in 1967. The CIA recruited the balance of the recon team from

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refugee camps in Thailand. There is no evidence to suggest that either the agency or Insisiengmay knew these recruits. Nor is there evidence to suggest that the recon team members were qualified to plan, lead or execute the type of reconnaissance mission required to confirm the presence of POWs at Nhom Marrott. Vice Admiral Jerry O. Tuttle, who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency’s search for POWs in 1980, highlighted a perfect example of the CIA and its recon team’s inexperience MAP: JOAN PENNINGTON

during a 1992 interview with an invesNhom Marrott Entrance tigator for the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. “The team needed Camp, Laos rope to scale mountainous terrain they Trench would be crossing,” Tuttle said. “They had to have the rope sent all the way from Chicago and when it arrived it was pure Fence Stream white making it highly visible, and thereDam fore useless, in the jungle.” Many close to Observation “52” and “K” the JSOC operation repeated this story tower Visible on ground during various interviews. JSOC later in satellite photo Crops Inner sent the appropriate camouflage rope compound Barracks from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where it was preparing for the rescue mission, Illustration taken from a Defense Intelligence Agency drawing based on spy satellite to the CIA in Washington. photos that show the compound where American POWs were believed to be held. The CIA lost valuable time as the Laotian team trained for the mission. Two months after the CIA’s January mission meeting, the recon team still was not ready. story. Under the code name Vagabond Warrior, mission planOne CIA memo indicated the recon team would enter Laos ners began an anti-terrorism training exercise to cover activion March 25. The CIA allocated 35 days for the mission, with ties in the Marianas. On Tinian, they would build a full-scale 16 days travel to the site, three days on site and 16 days to exit model of the Nhom Marrott camp to practice their assault on Laos. An allocation of 16 days to the site was extremely gen- the camp. Also underway were plans by the Pacific Command erous because the Nhom Marrott Prison Camp was approxi- (PACOM) to process an unknown number of POWs en route mately 41 miles from the Thai border. Someone expected the and return them to the United States. team’s overall daily progress to be not more than 2½ miles per One key to a successful mission was the cooperation of the day on average. A Dec. 30, 1980, estimate of travel time to the Thai government. Secrecy was paramount. As noted during site was 10 days. I found no document in my research one JSOC briefing, “We need that government’s coat the National Archives, the Texas Tech Vietnam operation in the pre D-Day and D-Day OperArchives or the Library of Congress’ POW/ ations because we want their Air Defense A serious MIA database to explain why the CIA alloStructure to ignore us, because we want threat came from the cated an additional six days travel time to permission to make emergency landreach the camp. Another CIA memo reings at their airfields, and because we Vietnamese who had a ports that the team completed training want to provide Thai leadership with large variety of fighter on March 22, with a mission duration a chance to get ready for post-rescue of 36 days, allowing for a fourth day reaction.” aircraft based at nine on site. This second memo indicates Planners hoped to provide only short airfields throughout the CIA would launch its recon mission notice to the Thai government to lessen within the next two to three weeks. the possibility of a leak. However, the Thai Vietnam. Looking back, it is impossible to underairfield at Nan Phong required considerable stand the delay between the discovery of the maintenance before the C-141s transporting camp and the number “52” and letter “K” visible in equipment and the rescue team to Thailand, and the the December 1980 satellite photos [see Chronology, opposite] rescued POWs home, would be able to land there. and the deployment of the recon team. Three months passed The airfield at Nan Phong, closed since 1975, was heavily before the CIA recon team entered Laos at the end of March overgrown. Mission planners originally estimated it would 1981. In a matter as time sensitive as confirming the presence take five men 20 hours to clear the airfield. A re-evaluation of POWs and their rescue, the delay is beyond comprehension. of conditions at the airfield revealed: “trees at NP will require The recon mission was now in CIA hands, but JSOC plans much more effort.” To cover the activities at Nan Phong, for the actual rescue continued. Mission planners selected a planners would “tie an airfield survey by helicopters to the training site in Tinian in the Marianas Islands. To explain the PACOM logistics survey now underway with Thailand.” movement of men and equipment, the JSOC needed a cover JSOC mission planners also conducted threat assessments.

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How quickly would the Laotian military react if it detected refueling sites, the ingress and egress routes, and where each man, the presence of American forces within its borders? Would by name, would sit on each helicopter or plane was all planned-out. it be a ground or air reaction or both? How quickly could Laotian aircraft reach Nhom Marrott? Would the Vietnamese react? In assessing the air threat, the immediate concern eather provided one of the many unknowns. By was the Soviet-built MiG-21 aircraft based at Wattay airfield May the Nhom Marrott area was at the beginning 2 miles outside the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Allowing the of its monsoon season, marked by high humidity and frequent Lao 30 minutes to react and calculating a flight time of 10 to heavy rain. According to the JSOC briefing on May 13, 1981: 15 minutes, the MIGs would reach the camp in about 40 to “Many conclusions can be drawn from the climatology for the 45 minutes. A more serious threat came from the Vietnam- area. But one thing is painfully clear. Based on the ceiling reese who had a large variety of fighter aircraft based at nine quirements for the mission, the lowest probability for success airfields throughout Vietnam, including Da Nang and Bien exists during the southwest monsoon (Mid-May thru Sept).” Hoa. Ironically, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces left behind It was not the best time, but launching a rescue mission some of the aircraft at the Bien Hoa airfield when the war was certainly possible. JSOC mission planners noted, “Weather ended. Using a worst-case scenario, the estimated reaction —while certainly wet, as indicated earlier, appears to provide time from Wattay was 44 minutes. The estimated reaction some good daily windows during May and June at 0700 Local time from the airfield at Da Nang was 46 minutes. time.” However, to ensure the best possible conditions for the Another worst-case estimate involved the reaction of rescue mission, JSOC hoped to launch it in late April or early ground forces. With limited intelligence available on May, before the start of the monsoon season. their strength and position, estimates indicated Everything depended on the CIA recon Laotian ground reinforcements in platoon team. Once it confirmed the presence of “We do not to company strength might reach the POWs, JSOC would mobilize for the talk about this project camp in approximately one hour. Vietrescue operation. But because the CIA nam also had ground forces in Laos, except on specified secure failed to fulfill the primary mission rewith their precise locations unknown. quirement of including an American phone links....We do not For the actual rescue operation, a on the recon team, JSOC would have carrier battle group would move into use the words Laos, POWs, been forced to duplicate the CIA recon the Gulf of Thailand. To cover the ships’ team’s mission with a second American detention camps outside team. Putting JSOC in the position of movements, the Navy scheduled a port visit to Pattaya Beach in Thailand. Aircraft having to duplicate the recon mission nethis room.” stationed overhead would monitor radio gated every reason offered by the CIA as to traffic and provide logistical support. Helicopters why it should have jurisdiction over the recon launched from an airfield in Thailand would fly beteam. The same political and diplomatic dangers faclow radar to the prison camp. On the ground, the JSOC teams ing an American first team would affect an American second would have to deal with an estimated 130-man guard force at team. A second team also increased the chance of tipping our the camp and secure the American POWs. That job would fall hand to the Laotians, resulting in dire consequences for any to two JSOC assault teams, with one team hitting the outer POWs at Nhom Marrott. compound and the other hitting the inner compound. Operations security continued to be of utmost importance. In addition to the site at Tinian, JSOC set up training Within the military, the operation was a “compartmented projsites at Camp A.P. Hill in Virginia and at Fort Bragg, North ect with access limited by direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” Carolina, as they prepared for the rescue. Several early To ensure mission security, officials buried the operation under plans, such as a training site in the Philippines, were later a series of classified code names: “Camshaft” and “Outerbridge eliminated. An investigator with the Senate Select Commit- Sandra.” The camp had its own code name, “Badger.” The mistee on POW/MIA Affairs described JSOC’s efforts this way: sion’s unclassified code name was “Operation Pocket Change.” Mission planners again stressed the need for total security. A Members of Delta traveled to the Philippines to select a site to memo issued by General Michael Nelson noted: construct a full-scale mock-up of the camp and a complete engineers blue print of the camp had been completed, and arrangeThe preservation of operations security through all phases of ments were being made for building materials. The Delta assault Pocket Change is of paramount importance. Access to planning teams were already selected and practicing the “take-down” on lo- data shall be restricted to the fewest number of personnel possication at Ft. Bragg. The number of planes, their fuel loads, the air ble, with strict limitations governing access to the entire spectrum

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OPPOSITE: MASTER SGT. CECILIO RICARDO/U.S. AIR FORCE

of planning data. All personnel with access to Pocket Change information will be identified by special access rosters with their appropriate level of access identified. One example of the extraordinary efforts by JSOC to preserve mission security involved the maps used for operational planning. JSOC created a fictitious name for the camp, “Muong Khomorath,” and nearby villages. They used specially made maps “to conceal the real village name near the camp. That was done for operational security purposes so that JSOC and subordinate unit personnel could not compromise the real camp name and location.” The Defense Mapping Agency provided the maps. “They performed superb work for us,” said Colonel Don E. Gordon, who was J2, intelligence officer, for JSOC. Those involved in planning the rescue mission were required to sign a statement detailing “security consideration and rules which we have imposed.” Among the rules imposed: We do not talk about this project anywhere outside this room. We do not talk about this project except on specified secure phone links between Ft. Bragg, Washington DIA, NSA, and PACOM. No electrical message traffic is sent between Ft. Bragg and any other terminal regarding this project. We do not use the words Laos, POWs, detention camps outside this room. All intelligence is requested and received through the J2. We use only codenames for key locations in operations area. Though the unclassified code name for this project is POCKET CHANGE, we do not use it at Fort Bragg or link it with the exercise Vagabond Warrior at any time. Personal notes do not leave this room and briefcases are checked. The extraordinary security measures resulted in ranking officers handwriting memos on the operation. Colonels carried messages, equipment and camp models between Washington and Fort Bragg. As JSOC continued planning the rescue mission, the CIA recon team continued its training. At CIA, in spite of overwhelming intelligence reporting—including human, signal and imagery—concern was evident. One memorandum prepared by Robert F. Grealy, acting chief East Asia Division for the director of Central Intelligence, “expressed concern about political ramifications of a U.S. military rescue if U.S. POWs are confirmed.”

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t midnight on March 29, 1981, the CIA team consisting of 13 Laotians led by Insisiengmay crossed the Mekong River from Thailand into Laos.

Under the mission name “Cypiston,” the team trained in two sections. The reconnaissance team, designated the “A-Section,” trained by the CIA, consisted of six men including two designated as primary observers. Equipped with telephoto cameras and a low-tech radio for communication with their counterparts in Thailand, this team would approach the camp and photograph the prisoners. The remaining seven men, the “B-Section,” were “trained by the Thais to perform the units’ security.” In Washington, less than a day after the recon team’s departure, a deranged gunman, John Hinkley, took aim at President Ronald Reagan, who had begun his term as the 40th president in January. Reagan’s national security adviser, Richard Allen, who had briefed the president on the Nhom Marrott intelligence and the imagery reports, said later during his deposition before the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in 1992, that Reagan was asking “virtually every day...about the progress of this mission, because he was quite excited about its potential.” While Washington, D.C., and the nation focused on the recovering president, half a world away the CIA’s indigenous recon team made its way toward Nhom Marrott. Its radio transmissions and movements were monitored by the National Security Agency. Four days later, NSA reported the team made “little progress since our last report on 13 April (see Chronology, p. 56). What developed over the CIA’s 45day mission led to growing resentment and allegations that the agency was bungling its job of providing human intelligence about American POWs trapped in Laos, a grand embarrassment. Meanwhile the experienced and well-trained JSOC-Delta team sat cooling its heels in Fort Bragg. ★ Lynn O’Shea is the director of research for the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen.

Air Force planes fly in the missing-man formation during the 2012 funeral of two officers shot down over Khammouane province on March 1, 1969.

59

ROBERT ELLISON

MEDIA DIGEST

Vietnam War Resonates in Today’s Political Divide The Pro-War Movement: Domestic Support for the Vietnam War and the Making of Modern American Conservatism, by Sandra Scanlon,

University of Massachusetts Press, 2013

JU NE 2 0 15

T

he military conflict in Vietnam set off a political, social and cultural war in America that is still being fought. The deep divisions prominent in the United States today had begun to emerge throughout the 1950s, but conflicts over the Vietnam War brought everything to the surface by the mid-1960s. Until recently, most of the historical analysis has focused on only one side of that internecine struggle—the antiwar movement. Ironically, many of the leaders and key figures of that era’s counterculture are the pillars of “the establishment” today. As University of Dublin scholar Sandra Scanlon argues convincingly in her book The Pro-War Movement, the evolving divisions over American support for the war completely reshaped the conservative movement. During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, people who supported the war vigorously opposed an approach focused on incremental and limited warfare. But by the time the more hawkish Richard Nixon was elected president in November 1968, support for the war had been effectively undercut by the mounting American casualties and especially the strategic surprise of the Tet Offensive. Hardline, old-style conservatives, such as magazine editor William F. Buckley and Sen. Barry Goldwater, an Arizona Republican defeated by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, continued to advocate a decisive military victory over North Vietnam,

60

but more pragmatic conservatives, including Nixon and Henry Kissinger, were emphasizing “peace with honor,” a face-saving withdrawal. Nixon’s “Vietnamization” policies—turning the war over to the South Vietnamese government—was a mechanism for accomplishing that objective, but it split the conservative movement. The hardliners were reluctant to oppose a president far more willing to use military force than his predecessors had been—witness the Cambodia incursion and the Linebacker President Lyndon B. Johnson gives a speech in bombing campaigns—but they Indianapolis on July 23, 1966, before rising instinctively knew that Viet- casualties make the war a more divisive issue. namization could only mean a temporary cease-fire that would leave through the mud in Vietnam.” North Vietnam in position to attack the If there is a central conservative figure South later, which is exactly what happened. running throughout Scanlon’s narrative As Scanlon points out, not all college it is Goldwater. The story of the modern students were antiwar radicals, but orga- conservative movement starts with his 1964 nizations such as the College Republican campaign. Johnson won, in part because National Committee and Young Ameri- Goldwater promised to fight the Vietnam cans for Freedom were in the minority War with both hands, defeat Hanoi deciand are largely forgotten today. sively and get it over with quickly. Scanlon also notes the disconnect beFor the remainder of the war, Goldwater, tween the stated beliefs and the actions an influential senator, continued to push of many pro-war students—few served for a decisive military solution, especially in the military and fewer still served in emphasizing strategic air power. But in Vietnam. During a postwar debate in 1977, an otherwise excellent analysis, Scanlon one of the leaders of Young Americans fails to offer any explanation for Goldwafor Freedom insisted that the pro-war ter’s fixation on air power and bombing, students had not been hypocrit- reminiscent of the questionable theories ical because of their “sacrifice of Giulio Douhet that have dominated in terms of grades and in terms air power thinking since the 1920s. His of being active in the battle on support for a strong military solution in campuses.” His opponent in Vietnam can only be understood within the debate retorted, “I don’t the framework of his own military backthink getting a C-plus instead ground, which Scanlon fails to mention. of an A is equivalent to slogging Goldwater was an Army Air Forces YOICHI OKAMOTO/LBJ LIBRARY

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pilot during World War II and after the war became the first chief of staff of the Arizona Air National Guard. He retired from Air Force Reserve in 1967 as a major general with a command pilot rating and qualified on the B-52 and a wide range of other aircraft. Goldwater was elected to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1982. It is in this area of military connections that Scanlon is at her weakest. Describing a leading pro-war advocate

who did serve in Vietnam, she states on page 251 that he was commissioned through ROTC as a second lieutenant “in the Armored Branch of the Intelligence Service”—an organization almost impossible to visualize. Yet despite this one weakness, The Pro-War Movement is a well-researched and important book about a facet of the Vietnam War ignored for far too long. —David T. Zabecki

F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat,

the Starfighter’s career was the attachment of some F-104 units to Colonel Robin Olds’ 8th Tactical Fighter Wing as “Wolf Cubs” to the “Wolf Pack,” providing top cover for his F-4C Phantom IIs when they wiped out half of North Vietnam’s MiG-21 strength in Operation Bolo on Jan. 2, 1965. Adding perspective to the Starfighter’s Vietnam exploits are chapters on its other combat operations, such as American squadrons that backed up the Republic of China (Taiwan) when Communist China menaced the islands of Quemoy and Matsu in 1958. Pakistan’s use of Starfighters in two wars with India included the only time an F-104 performed its originally intended purpose: Wing commander Jamal A. Khan destroyed an English Electric Canberra with a missile on the night of Sept. 20-21, 1965. Turks also flew F-104Gs during their invasion of Cyprus in 1974—and some of them helped sink their own destroyer Kotacepe after mistaking it for a Greek one! It may seem ironic that one of the mainstays of NATO did virtually all its fighting on the Cold War’s peripheries, but that has only added to the mystique of one of the most unusual-looking products of the jet age. Whether the reader flew an F-104 or built a model of one (that would come to a sizable percentage of the American male population), F-104 Starfighter Units in Combat does it justice. —Jon Guttman

by Peter E. Davies, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2014

O

ne of the more overlooked participants in the air war over Vietnam, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a Mach 2 interceptor forced to adapt its sleek, lean airframe to a variety of tasks for which it was not designed. In entry No. 101 in Osprey’s Combat Aircraft series, Peter E. Davies reveals details, largely provided by the pilots themselves, of combat operations involving Starfighters. In Vietnam the F-104 was initially pressed into service as a ground attack plane. After North Vietnam unleashed its fighter force in response to American bombings, F-104 pilots took up the combat air patrol role, but the MiG-17 pilots made a point of avoiding them. That enemy reluctance to fight them helped the F-104s protect airborne warning and control planes, or AWACS, and F-105F “Wild Weasels,” although in the latter case surface-to-air missiles took as much of a toll on Starfighters as on the Weasels. The only Indochina-deployed F-104 shot down in air-to-air combat fell victim to a Chinese Shenyang J-6 (MiG-19) when it strayed too close to Hainan Island on Sept. 20, 1965. Another lesser-known aspect of

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Doolittle Raid’s Ripples

In 1778, as the Revo-

lutionary War dragged on, it was clear to the Br i t i s h t h a t t h re e years of fighting in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states had settled nothing. Loyalist uprisings expected in places like New York and Pennsylvania had not materialized. The British probed for American weaknesses elsewhere and thought they discovered a soft underbelly in the South. Loyalist sentiments were strong there, while patriot military forces were weak and scattered. In December British troops captured Savannah, Georgia, and hoped it would be the first step in a campaign to conquer the entire region. Instead, the capture of Savannah touched off America’s first civil war, as patriot and loyalist militias squared off against each other. Many militiamen fought because they held strong views on independence from Britain and the formation of a new nation, but there were other reasons as well. Some fought because they had personal, social or economic grievances or because they had private scores to settle. More than a few probably just aimed for plunder. Whatever the motivation, the results were tragic. British redcoats weren’t the worst perpetrators of violence in the war’s Southern campaign. Most atrocities there were committed by Americans—against Americans. —From “Southern Showdown,” by Edward G. Lengel, June 2015

Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle zoomed

low. “Approaching target,” the airman told his bombardier. The B-25’s bomb bay doors yawned. “All ready, colonel,” the bombardier said. Amid antiaircraft fire, Doolittle leveled off over northern Tokyo. His instrument panel blinked as four incendiary bombs tumbled. He dove and turned south, toward the Pacific. He had accomplished what four months earlier had seemed impossible. The United States had bombed the Japanese homeland. Americans have celebrated the Doolittle Raid largely for reasons that have little to do with tactical impact. A few bombers, each carrying 2 tons of ordnance could hardly dent a war machine that dominated nearly a tenth of the globe. But the raid did have a significant impact. It generated more violent ripples than once thought, causing widespread damage— and civilian deaths. Retaliatory campaigns killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese, and after the war a Japanese general suspected of war crimes against some of the aviators was sheltered by American occupation authorities—all recently illuminated through declassified records and untapped archival sources. —From “Aftermath,” by James M. Scott, May/June 2015

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JU NE 2 0 15

66

L EFT AT THE V IETNAM V ETERANS M EMORIAL

PHOTO BY JENNIFER E. BERRY/VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL COLLECTION, DUERY FELTON, CURATOR

OFFERINGS

First Amendment Demonstration Run Washington D.C. Inc.

Marine veteran Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers and Sean Adams, a retired Marine corporal wounded in Afghanistan, salute veterans rolling across Memorial Bridge.

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Welcome to Rolling Thunder XXVIII

MIAs whose remains were returned home in 2014 are remembered.

Schedule of Events Demonstration Run, wreath laying and more.

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Defenders Lodge a Comfort for Patients A free hotel room awaits veterans who must drive a long way for appointments at the Palo Alto VA hospital.

COVER: JENNIFER E. BERRY ABOVE: JENNIFER E. BERRY

4 Stars and 6 Rides Air Force General Philip Breedlove says his Rolling Thunder rides are a way to recognize Vietnam vets.

Looking Back Scenes from Rolling Thunder 2014.

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Accounted For

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American Tribute Tour Bikes designed to honor each branch of the service will be displayed at rallies across the country,

Free issue inside

GO T O WWW. R OLLI N GT HU N D ER R U N . C OM F O R THE L A TES T N EWS A N D U P D AT ES

O FFI C I A L G UI D E 20 15

Rolling Thunder XXVIII

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AND PATRIOTISM For America’s Fallen Heroes

This gorgeously illustrated anniversary edition of the New York Times bestseller commemorates Arlington National Cemetery’s 150th year and includes touching new photographs of the milestone celebration. Readers are escorted over tree-lined slopes to learn about the cemetery’s surprising origins, the people who tend the graves and mourn the fallen soldiers, the guards who protect the tombs, the services, and more. Along with extraordinary images, this book features poignant essays and a detailed map of the memorials and historic points of interest.

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O FFI C I A L G UI D E 20 15

WELCOME TO ROLLING THUNDER XXVIII How Rolling Thunder Began

I

t takes a special breed of people to defend freedom. Those individuals are called veterans. It takes craziness, a little stupidity and a lot of courage to be one of the few. Most Americans have no idea of the hardships that veterans endure: poor pay, mediocre housing (especially on the battlefield) and, the most difficult thing, saying goodbye to their families, possibly for the last time, while trying to stay positive. Try to imagine—most people cannot—a parent, a spouse and, most important, a child saying goodbye to loved ones going off to defend what everyone should have and enjoy: freedom, something most Americans take for granted. Try to imagine—most Americans cannot—that your elected officials will talk of patriotism and why we should go to war when they themselves have never been on a battlefield, killed anyone, been captured and held as a POW or listed as MIA. This is where I come in. I am a Vietnam vet, and I learned in the spring of 1987 that since World War I our government has knowingly left behind tens of thousands of POW/MIAs. That is a disgrace to our veterans, to America itself. We, through our government, spend billions of our dollars all over the world but act like our men and women in uniform are not worth a dime. One thing I am not is a radical. I am a patriot, a United States Marine who wanted answers. Where are my brothers in arms? You sent them in harm’s way, yet you as a nation forgot them. That’s why on May 30, 1988, Memorial Day, “Rolling Thunder, Ride for Freedom” was born. About 3,000 bikers rode through the streets of Washington, D.C., stopping in front of the White House to let the powers that be know that the veterans of America want accountability, no matter the cost. Rolling Thunder did not go away. Now millions of bikers and veterans around the world are demanding respect, honor, accountability and proper care for our disabled veterans and those with post-traumatic stress disorder. Do not make them beg for what they deserve from this country. That is how “the idea, the dream, Rolling Thunder,” became a reality. Semper fi.

Raymond F. Manzo 1st Marine Division, 7th Engineers, Bravo Company, 2nd Platoon

Walt Sides, at left, founder and executive director, and Ray Manzo, founder and originator, Rolling Thunder, Washington, D.C. R O L L ING TH UNDE R R UN. C O M F O R THE L A TES T N EWS A N D U P D AT ES ROGER L. VANCE

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Many of our nation’s wounded warriors spend months and sometimes years away from their homes, extended family and friends recovering from severe injuries and trauma. Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness is a first-of-its kind country retreat for our nation’s seriously wounded warriors and their families to reconnect and recuperate in peaceful, natural surroundings with free accommodations, recreational and therapeutic activities and programs to support their healing and emotional wellbeing. The 37-acre retreat is a place for families to enjoy time together away from the clinical setting and is located in historic Bluemont Va., in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just 60 miles from Washington, D.C., where many wounded warriors receive outpatient treatment. It will take years and the commitment and support of individuals and organizations to meet the long term needs of our wounded warriors and their families.

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Rolling Thunder XXVIII Events Memorial Day Weekend 2015

Friday, May 22

First Air Mail Flight

9 p.m. Candlelight Vigil Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Inlet Bridge o ne

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2 p.m. National Memorial Day Parade Marching bands and veterans units from all 50 states. Begins at the corner M STREET of Constitution Avenue and Seventh Street Northwest.

8 p.m. Memorial Day Concert at the Capitol.

3 p.m. National Moment of Remembrance

Go to www.RollingThunderRun.com for the latest news and updates

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CHRISTOPHER KAMSLER

SCENES FROM ROLLING THUNDER 2014

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Everybody should make the trip either to take part on a bike or watch/stand/support all of us coming through. Truly an amazing event!

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Stacy Fonda

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‘

The Vietnam Memorial Wall should also be known as The Living Wall. I feel presence of life there.

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‘

You made a wonderful warrior’s day by allowing [wounded Marine] Sean Adams to be a part of your commitment to our country.

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CHRISTOPHER KAMSLER

John Croom

Ed Carneal to Marine Tim Chambers

ALL PHOTOS UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE: JENNIFER E. BERRY

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CHRISTOPHER KAMSLER; ALL OTHER PHOTOS: JENNIFER E. BERRY

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Every time I hear the song “More Than a Name on the Wall” by the Statler Brothers it makes me tear up! So true. God bless them & their families.

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Cheryl Gaunt

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When it rains, The Wall sheds tears—one name after another.

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Dave Dubé

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I’m not a vet but for what it’s worth, I give thanks to all our vets every day. God bless you and the other 58,000+. I hold you in the utmost respect!

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Derrick Barnes

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God bless all our men & women who serve.

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Delia Drowne Kurz

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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY PENFED FOUNDATION

Defenders Lodge a Comfort for Patients Hotel at Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital offers free rooms

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illy Bryels was drafted in August 1966 and severely wounded in March 1968 while serving in Vietnam as an infantryman with the 2nd Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division. The California native came home with three dozen fragment punctures in his back, legs and shoulder. He was medically retired from the Army in November 1968 and since then has been getting the bulk of his medical care at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Bryels says the care has been excellent—the Palo Alto center is the largest VA hospital in the western United States and considered one of the best. But there has been one problem. Bryels and his wife live in Oakland, about a hundred miles away.

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“That means we drive two to three hours each way, depending on traffic, for my appointments,” said Bryels, who is 69. “If we have to drive to the hospital on the day of my appointment, it can be quite stressful.” The drive wasn’t the only source of stress. If the appointment was early in the morning and required an arrival the night before, Bryels—like countless other veterans who live long distances from the hospital—had a difficult time finding affordable lodging in the Palo Alto area, one of the nation’s most expensive places to live. Relief for those headaches arrived in spring 2014 when Defenders Lodge, a free, first-class hotel, opened on the VA hospital grounds to accommodate veterans being treated at the Palo Alto

By Marc Leepson

VA hospital. The lodge replaced a small, antiquated housing facility, the Hometel, established more than 20 years ago in a building that had served as a temporary surgical ward after the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The Hometel “seemed to have been an afterthought” for patients who had to travel a significant distance and needed to stay overnight, Bryels said. It was often overbooked, and because there was no other affordable place to stay the night before their appointments, people “were literally sleeping in their cars or sleeping in the waiting rooms,” said Jane Whitfield, CEO of the PenFed Foundation, a nonprofit affiliate of Pentagon Federal Credit Union that led a public-private partnership to raise money for Defenders Lodge.

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compliant with standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Hometel wasn’t. Every part of the facility has wheelchair access. Veterans who stay at the hotel, however, must be in stable condition physically, medically and psychologically. Each veteran can bring one caregiver, who also stays in the room for free. The Hometel did not have space for caregivers. Whitfield says the presence of a caregiver can be “an essential component to the healing process.” More than 13,000 people used the Defenders Lodge in 2014. “We expect it will be 20,000 or more people per year,” Whitfield said. “Many of those people are on fixed or limited income. Many of them are older veterans, Vietnam War– era veterans. And many of them are on limited incomes, which is why they are staying at this lodge, by and large.” An affordable place with the same amenities “simply does not exist in the immediate Palo Alto area,” Bryels said.

A Great Partnership

R Veterans with appointments at Palo Alto’s VA hospital can spend the night at Defenders Lodge in rooms that offer privacy and a bed for a caregiver. The lodge’s family room provides a place to sit and relax beside a fire.

Even worse, the hospital staff “found that people were canceling their appointments because they couldn’t find a place to stay or they couldn’t afford a place to stay,” Whitfield said.

‘Comfort and Dignity’

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he situation for VA patients improved drastically in May 2014. The Hometel closed its doors May 18, and the $17 million Lee & Penny Anderson Defenders Lodge opened the next day. The 34,000-square-foot lodge is nearly twice as large as the Hometel. It has 52 rooms with two beds per room, far more than Hometel’s 49 beds. It also “offers privacy for its guests, unlike the Hometel,” Whitfield said. “Each guest room has a lock on the door.” Veterans are eligible to stay at the

free hotel if they have a scheduled appointment at the hospital and must drive at least 50 miles or two hours to get there. “I can now make appointments as early in the day as possible,” Bryels said. “We can spend the night before at the Defenders Lodge and get an early start home after my appointments.” The lodge has a dining room, a shared kitchen where guests can prepare their own meals, a family room, a small library and Wi-Fi throughout the building. “The big-screen television and the libraryreading room give me a feeling of comfort and dignity,” Bryels said. He and his wife also enjoy the spacious room with a large bath and a thermostat that enables them to control the temperature. Defenders Lodge is completely

ecognizing the need for a larger, high-quality lodge that could replace the Hometel, the VA approached the PenFed Foundation in 2007 to seek its support for the project. The VA would provide property on the hospital grounds for the hotel but wanted help with the construction costs. The PenFed Foundation, whose projects focus on assistance for military personnel and their families, quickly signed on. The foundation had worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department on other projects, including a hospice room and lounge at the old Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The lounge was a place where veterans in hospice care could spend time with their families. “That was kind of the impetus for how we got into the mix for the Defenders Lodge,” Whitfield said. “The opportunity to invest in something like the Defenders Lodge was a real departure for the PenFed Foundation, a different kind of project than we had ever done or ever envisioned doing.” But the foundation

GO T O WWW. R OLLI N GT HU N D ER R U N . C OM F O R THE L A TES T N EWS A N D U P D AT ES

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Penny and Lee Anderson, major financial contributors to Defenders Lodge, stand next to the “donor wall” with PenFed Foundation CEO Jane Whitfield, right.

undertook the project, she said, “because it is important for folks to get health care, and with the pressure that the VA is under to help do that, it’s in everybody’s best interest” to provide veterans and their caregivers with a place to stay during hospital visits. The PenFed Foundation took on the challenge of raising $11 million to cover the construction costs for Defenders Lodge, Whitfield said, while the VA contributed the land, as well as furniture and fixtures, at a cost of about $6 million. “We worked together to make sure that the $17 million project got funded and completed,” she said. The kickoff gift came from Lee and Penny Anderson, longtime supporters of veterans’ causes, who gave $2.5 million to the project in 2011. Lee Anderson, a 1961 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is owner and chairman of APi Group Inc., of New Brighton, Minnesota, the parent company of fire-protection and construction businesses in North America and the United Kingdom. Construction on Defenders Lodge started in September 2011 and was completed in October 2013. After the lodge was built, the PenFed Foundation turned it over to the VA, which is responsible for staffing and running R T 14

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the facility. But that wasn’t the end of the PenFed Foundation’s ties with Defenders Lodge. “It’s a great continued partnership,” Whitfield said. The foundation participates in a variety of activities for veterans and their families, such as potluck dinners and holiday cookie events, she said. “We have wonderful supporters in the Bay Area who were active in getting the lodge built and who stay involved.” Also pitching in are several corporate supporters, including Lockheed Martin Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and the 49ers Foundation. They “organize volunteer opportunities throughout the year and provide caregiver backpacks, for example, or opportunities to spend time to volunteer and visit with the patients and their families,” Whitfield said.

Peace of Mind

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he Defenders Lodge’s program, for patients whose treatments do not require an overnight stay in the hospital, complements the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation’s program, which provides free lodging at military bases and VA centers nationwide for family members of troops or veterans who are spending one or more nights in the hospital for surgery or a medical emergency.

“They may be there for a short or long term, but when somebody is in the hospital, there is a place for the family members to stay at the Fisher House so they can be nearby and help them and visit them,” Whitfield said. Defenders Lodge, on the other hand, serves veterans “who need to keep coming back to the hospital for physical therapy, for emotional therapy, for chemotherapy, for checkups,” she said. Veterans needing that kind of care are common at the Palo Alto hospital, one of the VA’s five polytrauma centers, which “are larger-scale hospital systems that have what they call centers of excellence,” Whitfield said. The Palo Alto center specializes in general surgery, chemo and radiation therapy, spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, gastrointestinal disorders, and dental and vision services. Every year some 63,000 veterans receive treatment at the hospital. Its patients come from all over the West Coast and as far away as Hawaii and Guam. The Palo Alto VA has a partnership with the Stanford University School of Medicine, and many of its doctors are also Stanford Hospital doctors, Whitfield said. The VA hospital is “considered one of the top medical facilities in the West—out of all medical facilities, not just VA,” she said. When Defenders Lodge opened on May 19, 2014, Lisa Freeman, director of the Palo Alto VA Health Care System, said during the dedication ceremony that the hotel would be “doing so much more than providing lodging” for veterans. “We’re providing greater access to veterans and their caregivers,” she said. “We’re offering peace of mind, and we’re ensuring that the high cost of lodging in this area is never again a deterrent to getting needed medical attention.” ★ Historian and journalist Marc Leepson, arts editor and senior writer for The VVA Veteran, is a longtime contributor to Vietnam magazine. He served with the Army in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. His latest book is What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life, the first biography of the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from a major publisher since 1937.

IT’S IN THE DETAILS. You know every inch of your bike. Not just the engine size, or the color code of the paint. It’s the special details that only you know about. Like the way the exhaust opens up just right at 3,200rpm. Or that scuff on the footpeg you picked up while riding through Deal’s Gap. It’s the details that make your bike unique, and no one knows this more than GEICO. With GEICO Motorcycle insurance, you’ll get coverage VSHFLĆFWR\RXUELNHDQGDWHDPRISHRSOHZKRORYH motorcycles as much as you do. When it comes to insurance, it’s the little things that make a big difference. Trust the details to GEICO Motorcycle.

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2014: Accounted For

U.S. Air Force Capt. Richard David Chorlins, 24, of University City, Mo., lost on Jan. 11, 1970, in Laos, piloting an A-1H Skyraider, hit by enemy fire. Accounted for on Jan. 17, 2015. WALL PANEL 14W, LINE 25

A tribute to the six servicemen whose remains were brought home in 2014 For a full listing of all POW/MIAs, searchable by name, home state of record or military branch, consult the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office website at www.dtic.mil/dpmo/vietnam/reports.

Col. William Earl Cooper, 45, of Albany, Ga., lost on April 24, 1966, during Operation Rolling Thunder, in North Vietnam, piloting an F-105D Thunderchief, shot down by groundfire. Accounted for on Dec. 22, 2014. WALL PANEL 06E, LINE 131 Capt. Douglas David Ferguson, 24, of Tacoma, Wash., lost on Dec. 30, 1969, in Laos, co-piloting an F-4D Phantom, shot down by groundfire. Accounted for on March 5, 2014. WALL PANEL 15W LINE 110

William Earl Cooper

Capt. Richard L. Whitesides, 27, of Stockton, Calif., lost on March 26, 1964, piloting L-19 Bird Dog observation plane downed by small arms fire near Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Accounted for on Oct. 21, 2014. WALL PANEL 01E LINE 48 Richard David Chorlins

U.S. Navy Master Sgt. James W. Holt, 26, of Hot Springs, Ariz., lost on Feb. 7, 1968, in South Vietnam when his position was overrun in a North Vietnamese infantry and tank assault during the Battle of Lang Vei. Accounted for on Jan. 10, 2015. WALL PANEL 37E LINE 84 Douglas David Ferguson

James W. Holt R T 16

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Richard L. Whitesides

TOP: U.S. AIR FORCE (4); BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY (2)

Staff Sgt. James Lee Van Bendegom, 19, of Kenosha, Wis., lost on July 12, 1967, in South Vietnam, when his company was overrun by the Viet Cong during a search-and-destroy mission along the Cambodian border. Bendegom was captured by the North Vietnamese. Accounted for on Oct. 17, 2014. WALL PANEL 23E LINE 65

James Lee Van Bendegom

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General Philip Breedlove, with wife Cindy at the 2012 Rolling Thunder run, says the ride combines his desire to honor Vietnam vets with a passion for biking.

4 Stars and 6 Rides NATO general and Rolling Thunder a perfect match

I

n May 2014, General Philip Breedlove completed a nearly 2,000-mile, seven-day ride through the Alps on a motorcycle. That trek, with a group of military colleagues, neatly encapsulates two of his biggest interests: Europe and bikes. Breedlove is commander of the U.S. European Command, in charge of U.S. military operations in Europe and parts of Asia, and also is NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), sitting at Dwight D. Eisenhower’s desk. Breedlove has spent more than 3,500 hours piloting Air Force aircraft, mostly the F-16 fighter. But he is equally enthusiastic about two-wheeled ground transportation. Breedlove got his first motorcycle at 14 and has chalked up six Rolling Thunder runs. What was your first bike?— It was a small Harley Davidson. I had a bigger bike later. I stopped riding for a while, but when my wife and I got married we were so broke that she drove the car and I rode a motorcycle. The motorcycle was my mode of transportation for the first seven years of our marriage. What’s your current bike?— I’m riding a Street Glide. I’ve had it for three years.

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How did you get interested in Rolling Thunder?— One of my mentors served in Vietnam, Lt. Col. James Haggerty [an Air Force pilot who died in 2010]. He served three tours as an F-4 fighter pilot. The example he set translated into my ethos as a fighter pilot and my own career. So witnessing what the Vietnam conflict meant to him made it very important to me as well. And my father shared a passion for riding motorcycles with me. The combination of recognizing POW/MIAs, strong participation by the Vietnam vets and recognizing their sacrifices made Rolling Thunder a natural for me. I’ve been overseas 11 times, and in the latter half of my life I’ve never had two assignments in a row in the States, but when I was home and my motorcycle was in the United States, I didn’t miss it. Do you ride with anyone in the run? — Mostly I ride with the same bunch of guys—all military guys, some senior, some not so senior. We all very much want to honor the service of our Vietnam vets and remain focused on POW/MIA issues. So it’s a match made in heaven. You have ridden six times. Did any races have something particularly memorable about them?— In every single one it’s the same thing—passing Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers at the

end of the Memorial Bridge. To me it is a seminal moment. That Marine standing there is a big deal. Can you imagine holding a salute for four or five hours? The message he sends is important. I am also impressed with the huge crowds as we go down the Mall. All those Americans come out to watch what’s going on. It is an important message. Frankly, our Vietnam vets were not treated the way they should have been treated when they returned. But it’s very different now. Americans are showing their appreciation, waving the American flag. I think the majority of them really understand what Rolling Thunder is. They are patriotic and know this is a patriotic thing. They want to support it. Rolling Thunder is tied to the legacy of the Vietnam War. What do you think are the lessons of Vietnam for today’s military and political leaders?— One of the things our nation didn’t do well at the end of the Vietnam War is recognize the sacrifice and the dedication of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who served in Vietnam. Because of the overall approach to the war by our nation, the bad [done by some in the military] was too often recognized while there was so much good that was not. Every organization has a bad egg once in while. Ours still do, but today our young troops get recognized for their sacrifice and for their excellence. I’m not sure that the generation of our Vietnam vets got recognized for their excellence and their contributions. Yet the people of that generation are now leading Rolling Thunder, Patriot Guard Riders [a biking group that attends the funerals of military members to demonstrate respect for them] and other activities that are doing good all around the country. And by the way, they’re also leading a whole generation of people who never rode motorcycles to join organizations that do good things. Motorcyclists have not always had a reputation for that. ABOVE: SCOTT ASH/U.S. AIR FORCE; OPPOSITE: U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND

Have a real Welcome Back with

Anything else you would like to add? — In our nation’s past wars and conflicts, many of our more severely wounded didn’t make it off the battlefield. But in the last several conflicts, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan, our medical capabilities, our training to do battlefield medicine, our ability to go in and get our wounded out quickly, has made our survival rate very high. Thankfully, these veterans, although severely wounded, will live with us for a long time. Our nation now, rightfully so, has a great focus on our wounded warriors. There’s a lot of patriotism. There’s a lot of well-meaning, well-focused people taking care of our troops. My fear is that we’ll gradually begin to forget. We owe these veterans long-term care. They have sacrificed in ways that are unthinkable. In the past, we had fewer of them, and sometimes their life expectancy was not good. Now, we have severely challenged people who will be with us for decades. How do we as a nation, as a military, as leaders and as civilians ensure long-term dedication to our troopers? I would hope organizations like Patriot Guard Riders, Rolling Thunder and others will pick up some of these themes and hit the road to keep raising awareness about our veterans’ long-term care.

Military Historical Tours...$PHULFD·VROGHVW86 Vietnam Veteran Owned & Operated Battlefield Tour Company

Philip M. Breedlove Position— NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Belgium; commander, U.S. European Command, Germany, both since May 2013 Born— Sept. 21, 1955, Atlanta Education— Bachelor’s in civil engineering, ROTC, Georgia Institute of Technology; Squadron Officer School, and Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base; master’s in aeronautical technology, Arizona State University; master’s in national security studies, National War College Military service— Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force, June 1, 1977; major assignments include: Commander, 80th Fighter Squadron, Kusan Air Base, South Korea Commander, 27th Operations Group, Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico Commander, 8th Fighter Wing, Kusan Air Base, South Korea Commander, 56th Fighter Wing, Luke Air Force Base, Arizona Commander, 31st Fighter Wing, Aviano Air Base, Italy Commander, 3rd Air Force, Ramstein Air Base, Germany Deputy chief of staff for operations, Air Force, Washington, D.C. Vice chief of staff of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe; commander, U.S. Air Forces in Africa; commander, Air Component Command, Ramstein Air Base, Germany

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What do you say to those who suffered a long time as a POW or who had family members killed in a war that, unlike World War II, didn’t end with victory? — We have had a series of wars across the last 40 years that didn’t end like a World War I or World War II. Yet that does not reflect on the service of those who served. The fact that Vietnam didn’t end the way we wanted doesn’t change my opinion of Lt. Col. James Haggerty or anyone who served there. The service of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines is not diminished by the way these wars were ended militarily or politically. We have an absolutely appropriate tradition of civilian control of the military, and what we do as military men and women is police and demand excellence of ourselves. I believe in what we’re trying to do around the world, but whether you believe in it or not does not diminish the service of our service members.

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PHOTOS: JENNIFER E. BERRY

Bikes Honor Vets of All Branches & Wars American Tribute Tour to take specially made bikes across the nation

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he American Tribute Tour, with motorcycles representing the four branches of the armed services, is roaring across the United States and will make a stop at Rolling Thunder XXVIII in Washington, D.C. Scheduled to start at a Florida motorcycle rally in March and end at a rally in Texas close to Veterans Day, the tour has a single purpose: to remind all of the men and women who defend our country that they are appreciated, honored and not forgotten. The four bikes honoring the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps showcase a variety of motorcycle makers and styles—from the Air Force “old school” Harley to the Navy customized Darwin built by Dar Holdsworth, an Air Force veteran of the Gulf War who lives in Oklahoma City. Some bikes are donated, and others are on loan for the Tribute Tour. A fifth touring bike, a Precision chopper with a 125 Rev Tech engine and a Superman theme, will be presented to

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the winner of a drawing at the last stop. Tickets for the drawing can be obtained with a $10 donation made wherever the bikes are displayed and at www. RollingThunderRun.com. The proceeds will go to the nonprofit Warriors Inc. One of the people responsible for keeping the wheels turning on the Tribute Tour is Vietnam veteran Walt Sides, a Rolling Thunder founder who spent 22 years in the Marines and retired as a first sergeant. Sides, who owns two of the tribute bikes, persuaded other bike owners to donate theirs for his project. He then coordinated the themed paint jobs and organized the cross-country tour. When many of his contemporaries are enjoying the leisurely life, Sides will be at work loading bikes in trailers and hitting the highway. Although Sides has become the most prominent leader of the Tribute Tour, he says, “It’s not about me. It’s about the armed forces and honoring them.” Sides said his devotion to the Tribute

Tour is fueled by bad memories of the poor treatment he other Vietnam veterans received when they returned after the war—and even worse, the memories of those who did not return. The bike tour’s first scheduled stop was Daytona’s Bike Week, March 6-25, followed by the Thunder Alley vendors’ area at Rolling Thunder XXVIII on Memorial Day weekend. Other stops are Laconia, New Hampshire, for a rally June 13-21; the Sturgis rally in South Dakota, August 3-9; Daytona again for Biketoberfest, October 15-18; and to end the tour, the Lone Star Rally in Galveston, November 5-8. As 2015 comes to a close, the lucky winner of the drawing in Galveston will have the shiny Superman chopper, and two bike donors will get their cycles back. But that may not be the end of the road for the American Tribute Tour. Sides will still have his two bikes, and there is a possibility that 2016 will see a new tour with new bikes.

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THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VIETNAM WAR COMMEMORATION 50th Anniversary

A GRATEFUL NATION THANKS AND HONORS OUR VIETNAM VETERANS AND THEIR LOVED ONES Join the nation, get involved and become a Commemorative Partner today!

www.VietnamWar50th.com /VietnamWar50th

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