Vietnam December 2020 by HistoryNet

A Holiday Tradition Bob Hope’s Christmas Shows

HOMEFRONT Ali MacGraw’s ‘Love Story’ a smash hit

Risky Raid on POW Camp Assault on Son Tay to rescue Americans

Shake ‘n Bake

Training program filled sergeant shortages—fast

Down, Not Out Australians battle back

DECEMBER 2020 HISTORYNET.com

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DECEMBER 2020

ON THE COVER

A machine gunner of the 21st Special Operations Squadron has a good view of an HH-53 helicopter, like those used in the Son Tay raid. KEN HACKMAN/U.S. AIR FORCE; INSET: BERT STERN/CONDÃ&#x2030; NAST VIA GETTY IMAGES

26 MINUTES AT SON TAY

PHOTO CREDIT

Green Beret teams and Air Force special operations units meticulously planned and practiced an audacious mission to grab and bring home Americans held in a North Vietnamese prison. By Eileen Bjorkman

VIETNAM

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6 Feedback Letters 8 Intel December Briefing 16 Reflections Thanksgiving in Saigon 20 Arsenal ‘Swedish K’ Submachine Gun

22 Homefront November-December 1970 23 Battlefront 50 Years Ago in the War 60 Media Digest Reviews 64 Hall of Valor Ruppert Leon Sargent

SHAKE ‘N BAKE SERGEANTS

As the U.S. sent more troops to Vietnam in the mid-1960s, the Army realized it didn’t have enough sergeants to lead those men. So it came up with a new recipe for training them. By Dan Elder

BEATING THE ODDS

An ambushed, seriously outgunned Australian unit managed to hold on and survive in the Aussies’ iconic battle of the Vietnam War. By Dana Benner

40 ‘GOING ROGUE’

Intelligence analyst Ed Keith’s commander wanted him to stay on base, but Keith wanted to put his knowledge to use out in the field. By Michael Putzel

48 PHOTO CREDIT

HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Every Christmas season from 1964 to 1972 Bob Hope took his entourage of entertainers to the bases of Vietnam. By Jon Guttman DECEMBER 2020

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MICHAEL A. REINSTEIN CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER DAVID STEINHAFEL PUBLISHER ALEX NEILL EDITOR IN CHIEF

DECEMBER 2020 VOL. 33, NO. 4

CHUCK SPRINGSTON EDITOR ZITA BALLINGER FLETCHER SENIOR EDITOR JERRY MORELOCK SENIOR EDITOR JON GUTTMAN RESEARCH DIRECTOR DAVID T. ZABECKI EDITOR EMERITUS HARRY SUMMERS JR. FOUNDING EDITOR

AUSTRALIAN ALLIES

Australian forces were valuable partners with the U.S. and South Vietnamese during the war. An article in this issue looks at their most famous engagement,the August 1966 Battle of Long Tan. To read more about the Aussies in Vietnam,visit Historynet.com. Search: Australians in Vietnam Through firsthand accounts and stunning photos, our website puts you in the field with the troops who fought in one of America’s most controversial wars.

Let’s connect

Vietnam magazine

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ADVISORY BOARD JOE GALLOWAY, ROBERT H. LARSON, BARRY McCAFFREY, CARL O. SCHUSTER, EARL H. TILFORD JR., SPENCER C. TUCKER, ERIK VILLARD, JAMES H. WILLBANKS C O R P O R AT E ROB WILKINS DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIP MARKETING TOM GRIFFITHS CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT GRAYDON SHEINBERG CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT SHAWN BYERS VP AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT JAMIE ELLIOTT PRODUCTION DIRECTOR ADVERTISING MORTON GREENBERG SVP Advertising Sales mgreenberg@mco.com RICK GOWER Regional Sales Manager rick@rickgower.com TERRY JENKINS Regional Sales Manager tjenkins@historynet.com DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING MEDIA PEOPLE / NANCY FORMAN 212-779-7172 ext. 224 nforman@mediapeople.com SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 800-435-0715 or SHOP.HISTORYNET.com List Rental Inquiries: Belkys Reyes, Lake Group Media, Inc. 914-925-2406; belkys.reyes@lakegroupmedia.com

Vietnam (ISSN 1046-2902) is published bimonthly by HISTORYNET, LLC, 1919 Gallows Road, Suite 400, Vienna, VA, 22182-4038 Periodical postage paid at Vienna, VA, and additional mailing ofﬁces. Postmaster, send address changes to Vietnam, P.O. Box 422224, Palm Coast, FL 32142-2224 Canada Publications Mail Agreement No. 41342519 Canadian GST No. 821371408RT0001 © 2020 HISTORYNET, LLC The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of HISTORYNET, LLC. PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

JOIN THE DISCUSSION AT VIETNAM MAG.COM

STEPHEN KAMIFUJI CREATIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN WALKER GROUP ART DIRECTOR JON C. BOCK ART DIRECTOR MELISSA A. WINN DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY GUY ACETO PHOTO EDITOR

VIETNAM

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South Vietnamese troops transported by an H-21 helicopter participate in a May 1962 operation similar to the one that took place in December 1962 when Charles Holloway was killed.

Thanks for the excellent article by Thomas Messick in the October issue (“The Day We Lost Charlie,” about H-21 troop transport helicopter crews facing enemy fire that killed pilot Charles Edward Holloway at Tuy Hoa on Dec. 22, 1962). Too little is written about the early days of the Vietnam war, so this article is very instructive. I was on my first tour to Vietnam and was one of the 100-plus teams FEEDBACK that President John F. Kennedy sent in to take our advisory effort [to assist the South Vietnamese army] down to the battalion level. On the day Messick describes, I was with the South Vietnamese 47th Regiment, the troop contingent dropped in by the H-21s. We had secured an abandoned French airfield just outside of Tuy Hoa to stage the operation. It was really a big operation and the airfield had, in addition to the 29 H-21s, quite an assemblage of other aircraft that landed that morning and then took us into an area we knew was very active with Viet Cong and probably the North Vietnamese Army as well. I had been in Tuy Hoa with my battalion since March 1962. We had made numerous operations in the area, but usually with only light skirmishes. We seldom had a hot landing zone, mostly just a few snipers that would escape into the jungle as soon as we landed. But Dec. 22, 1962, was different. It proved there really was an NVA buildup beginning. I observed Mr. Holloway’s H-21 land back at the Tuy Hoa airfield and have a picture of the medical team removing him from the cockpit. We were saddened by his death, but very pleased that he was memorialized by naming Camp Holloway in Pleiku for him. Charles (Hac) Reding San Antonio, Texas 6

Family Ties to Dr. Dooley I have just finished reading your article “Tom Dooley M.D., CIA” (October 2020) and found it very interesting. I was fortunate to have met Dr. Dooley and his nurse when I was a very young child. This occurred in Paterson, N.J., at my grandfather’s surgical and orthopedic supply business, Cosmevo Surgical. Dr. Dooley had made appeals for some prosthetic devices for children who had lost limbs in Vietnam. My grandfather, Cosmo Invidiato Sr., who manufactured and patented a below-knee prosthetic device known as the Ambulator, made his devices available at no cost to patients in Vietnam and Laos. As a show of gratitude, Dr. Dooley mentions my grandfather on Page 89 in his book Deliver Us from Evil. Your article also brought up the fact that Dr. Dooley may have had ties to the CIA. One can only speculate on how extensive his connections were. However, it should be noted that my father, Capt. Bruno H. Bettini, a career OSS [Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the CIA] intelligence officer, may have reached out to Dr. Dooley. Richard Bettini Edgewater, New Jersey

Correction In the Battlefront timeline in the October 2020 issue, an incorrect party affiliation was given for Oregon Sen. Mark Hatfield, who supported legislation to pull all troops out of Vietnam by Dec. 31, 1971. He was a Republican. Email your feedback on Vietnam magazine articles to Vietnam@HistoryNet.com, subject line: Feedback. Please include city and state of residence.

UNDERWOOD ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

Also There on the Day Charlie Died

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mericans who did combat in the bush of Vietnam do not have fond memories of rats. Rats indeed have a notorious reputation when it comes to jungle warfare. Times and circumstances change, however. One rat making headlines in Indochina for good behavior in a “combat-related” role has been awarded a Gold Medal by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, a British organization formed in 1917. PDSA has recognized animal heroism since 1943. The honored rat, “Magawa,” a Gambian (African) pouched rat, has been a leader in efforts to clear Cambodia from the pestilence of land mines planted during decades of war. Globally, land mines left in the wake of wars still menace 60 million people in 59 countries, according to Anti-Persoonmijnen Ontimijnende Product Ontowikkeling, (Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development), a Belgian nonprofit that helps other organizations find land mines. In 2018 alone, 6,897 people were killed or injured due to land mines, APOPO reports. Among the worst afflicted is Cambodia, the location of numerous confrontations between the North Vietnamese Army, which operated there, and U.S. and South Vietnamese forces trying to drive the NVA out. At the same time, the Cambodian government was engaged in its own fight against an insurgency led by the communist Khmer Rouge, which took control of the country in April 1975, the same month Saigon fell, ending the Vietnam War. Postwar border disputes with Vietnam led to a Vietnamese invasion in December 1978, the

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RAT RECEIVES GOLD MEDAL FOR ANTI-MINE WORK IN CAMBODIA

overthrow of Khmer Rouge in January 1979 and a 10-year occupation punctuated by guerrilla war until the Vietnamese withdrew in 1989. A relatively stable Cambodian state emerged in 1993. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War and internal power struggles, Cambodia was left with an estimated 4 million to 5 million mines and other unexploded ordnance, according to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority. From 1979 to 2019, those devices killed 19,780 people and injured 45,075 others, including many who became amputees, the authority reported. APOPO trains African pouched rats to detect and identify mines in Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Cambodia. Taught from infancy to sniff out explosive devices and tap locations with their noses for a food reward, APOPO’s living minesweepers are too lightweight to detonate the mines and generally live up to eight years. Magawa’s exceptional zeal for his job has resulted in the discovery and safe disposal of 39 land mines and 28 other forms of explosive ordnance in seven years. The ambitious rat’s detection skills have cleared 154,000 square yards of land. For what the PDSA hails as his “lifesaving courage and devotion,” Magawa was awarded on Sept. 25, 2020, the organization’s Gold Medal, sometimes called “the animal’s George Cross,” one of Britain’s highest awards for heroism “in circumstances of extreme danger.” —Jon Guttman

APOPO (2)

Trained rat Magawa shows off his Gold Medal for sniffing out 39 unexploded land mines in Cambodia. Inset: one of Magawa’s co-workers still on the job.

A CON T R OV ER SI A L QU EST ION

A SERIES EXAMINING CONTENTIOUS ISSUES OF THE VIETNAM WAR BY ERIK VILLARD AFTER AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT IN 1954 split Vietnam in two, communist China became an important source of military aid for Ho Chi Minh’s communist government in North Vietnam as a counterweight to the Western democracies supporting South Vietnam. China’s leader, Mao Zedong, wanted the Chinese Communist Party to expand its influence in Asia by supporting wars of national liberation. In the early 1950s, when communist North Korea invaded South Korea, the United Nations under U.S. leadership struck back and marched into North Korea, bringing China into the war. Similarly, China promised to support Ho Chi Minh’s government as Hanoi expanded its war in the South and pledged to come to North Vietnam’s aid if the United States attacked. Between 1955 and 1963, China provided 240,000 infantry weapons, 2,730 artillery pieces, 15 aircraft, 28 naval vessels and plenty of ammunition and spare parts. When the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam began in spring 1965, China increased its military aid. It also sent support personnel but insisted that none of them operate near the Demilitarized Zone, where they might come into direct contact with American troops. Conversely, U.S. policymakers, remembering Korea, feared that an aggressive drive into North Vietnam for an all-out victory would again bring in Chinese troops. The Chinese position was nuanced. If the United States invaded the lower part of North Vietnam but didn’t move beyond there, China would boost its military aid as much as Hanoi needed to repel the invasion with its own troops, according to research first published by Chinese scholars in the mid-1990s. However, if the United States invaded North Vietnam’s upper

regions or began bombing targets in southern China, Mao was prepared to send combat units into North Vietnam. The fears of American policymakers were not irrational. If U.S. ground forces approached Hanoi, Chinese intervention was likely. From early August 1965 to March 1969, 16 Chinese anti-aircraft artillery divisions with a total of 150,000 personnel served in North Vietnam. During that period, Chinese engineer units with a combined strength of 170,000 personnel repaired roads, bridges and airfields damaged by the American bombing. More than 1,100 Chinese died and 4,300 were wounded in U.S. airstrikes. When the bombing campaign ended in November 1968, China withdrew its support troops. Despite anecdotal stories of “Chinese advisers” being spotted on South Vietnam’s battlefields, there is no evidence from Vietnamese or Chinese sources that any Chinese troops served in the lower part of North Vietnam—much less Laos, Cambodia or South Vietnam. Indeed, China wanted to avoid a confrontation with the United States, and North Vietnam wanted to keep the Chinese Communist Party out of Southeast Asia. The sightings can be explained in other ways that are consistent with the historical evidence. Some North Vietnamese Army soldiers were recruited from tribal peoples who inhabited the northern and eastern mountains adjacent to China and Laos. Those tribes, ethnically distinct from the Vietnamese, trace their lineage to groups originating from southern China or other parts of Asia.

WERE FEARS OF CHINA JUSTIFIED?

Dr. Erik Villard is a Vietnam War specialist at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair in Washington D.C.

UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES

APOPO (2)

China’s Mao Zedong, center, dines with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, at left, and North Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh in Beijing, on Sept. 30, 1959, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

DECEMBER 2020

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Denise Doring VanBuren is the 45th president general of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The DAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit, nonpolitical women’s volunteer organization that promotes American history and patriotism and emphasizes support for U.S. veterans. Membership is open to any woman 18 years or older who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. A former radio and television news anchor, VanBuren was editor-in-chief of the DAR’s award-winning American Spirit magazine and Daughters newsletter for 15 years. She is married to Christopher G. Barclay and has three sons. She lives in Chelsea, New York. Under VanBuren’s leadership, the DAR has been an enthusiastic participant in the 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemoration. She discussed the organization’s initiatives to honor Vietnam veterans with Senior Editor Zita Ballinger Fletcher. Why did you decide to join DAR? I come from a long line of family history-tellers and amateur historians, who made me love history from my childhood. My mother and sisters already joined in DAR in the mid-1980s, and when I moved to a new city in 1988 for a new job, they suggested it would be a great way for me to meet new people. Obviously, they were right! During my three decades of involvement, I have met the most amazing women through DAR—smart, kind, hardworking and generous Daughters devoted to our country and its people. The friends I have made in DAR have been one of the greatest rewards of my lifetime. Tell us about your patriot ancestors. I joined DAR on the line of Ja-

cob Plattner, a miller, and his son, Marcus Plattner, who both served with the Albany County Militia. Also I am descended from Simon Freer, who in 1775 signed the Articles of Association in Dutchess County, where I live today. These patriots are all on my mother’s line. Her family lived along the Hudson River since it was New Netherlands. I hope to research more on my father’s side once I fully retire, with the hope of finding more

As DAR president general, you’ve made it a priority for DAR to support Vietnam veterans. Why? DAR members are support-

ive of all our active duty military and veterans, as we feel it is part of our patriotic obligation to thank these men and women for their service to our nation. Vietnam veterans hold a special place in the hearts of DAR members, because we recognize they were never properly thanked when they returned home from the war. In fact, many of them were mistreated for wearing the uniform of our nation. Many of us had fathers, sons, brothers, uncles or other relatives who served. My eldest first cousin on my mother’s side, Stanley Myers of Colonie, New York, was an engine mechanic who was deployed to Vietnam during the height of the war, so for me it is deeply personal and important to thank members of the armed forces who fought during this era, often times sacrificing the best years of their young lives to do so. My cousin has passed away, but there are thousands of Vietnam veterans and their family members who are still alive—and who deserve to receive demonstrations of gratitude from fellow citizens. On a personal note, I am the first Blue Star Mother to also serve as president general of the DAR since our founding in 1890. My eldest son is a U.S. Army captain and Army Ranger stationed at Fort Carson [Colorado]. Supporting active-duty military and our veterans is a foremost priority in our lives for obvious reasons.

What are some projects and initiatives you have brought about as president general to recognize Vietnam veterans?

The most popular way our Daughters have been involved is through local recognition ceremonies to thank Vietnam veterans—presenting official pins and certificates but most importantly saying “thank you”— two short words that mean so much. In addition to hundreds of local ceremonies, our members are in involved in many other efforts, including collecting oral histories, sewing

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DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Revolutionary War descendants work to honor Vietnam veterans

DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Denise Doring VanBuren

patriots. Both my parents are deceased, so it is bittersweet to no longer share this historical journey with them, though my three sons are avid history lovers too. It must be genetic! Once you uncover ancestors with connections to events in American history, every chapter of their story takes on new meaning and life to you. It’s exhilarating. I wish more people would research their family histories so that they might find the same type of connection to our shared past.

Quilts of Valor, serving as VAVS [Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service] volunteers, participating in Wreaths Across America and escorting Honor Flight participants [older veterans flown to Washington to visit the capital’s war memorials]. Among various types of organizations offering support to Vietnam veterans, what makes DAR unique? It is my understand-

ing that we are one of the most active organizations partnering with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration as part of the formal effort to locate and honor Vietnam vets. We have nearly 3,000 chapters around the world, virtually all of them located within the United States. Those chapters are populated with nearly 190,000 members—engaged, vibrant women committed to our mission of service. Wherever you find a DAR chapter or member, you find American citizens willing to support our purpose of promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism. We are devoted to the United States and particularly to those who have worn its uniform in strange and foreign lands to protect not only our national interests but also the country for which our ancestors fought and died.

We are all volunteers, but we are getting there! Hundreds have already become partners. What would you like Vietnam veterans to know about DAR? DAR is a remarkable women’s service organization. We share a joyful obligation to fulfill a promise not only to those who founded our nation but our own posterity who will inherit it. Through our work to promote historic preservation and patriotism, we hope to unite citizens through love of country. We encourage anyone who would like to know more about who we are and what we do to find out more at www.DAR.org. Also invite a local chapter member to your group to highlight the many rewards of DAR membership. We are always looking for new members. We have volunteers who can help with genealogy and the ap-

Is it possible for Vietnam veterans’ groups to organize events with local DAR chapters? If so, what is the first step? Certainly! They need only

search the internet or visit our website, [https://www.dar.org/national-society/ become-member/chapter-locations] to find the chapter closest to them. We also have a volunteer who heads our official Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War who can help direct them to the correct contact: National Vice Chair Grace Ellsworth at gracesdar@ suddenlink.net.

DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Are there any particular Vietnam veterans who have had a special influence on your life? While I grew

up farther upstate, I have worked or lived in Beacon, New York, for over 35 years. I am the five-term past president of the Under VanBuren’s plication process. Trust me: documenting local historical society, my DAR chapter is based leadership, the DAR has organized many events to your family history may not be easy, but it here, and I raised my three sons here, where they commemorate the Vietnam sure is fun. And it makes all of American have long family roots that reach back to the War and thank the war’s history come to life once you connect your American Revolution. So, Beacon is home. There veterans for their service. own family to it. are nine names on the Vietnam Wall of boys from Beacon, a poignant reminder of our small city’s sacrifice in the war. It is a bittersweet pride to read their names each time I visit the memorial Is there anything else you would like to in Washington, D.C., proud they served but so very sad that they never add? We are grateful to be an official commemreturned. As a Blue Star Mother, my heart aches in particular for mothers orative partner of the Vietnam War Commemwho never welcomed their sons home from combat, as I did when my oration. It speaks to the very essence of being son returned safely from Afghanistan in 2018. an active, engaged citizen. We recognize that our Vietnam-era veterans are passing away an alarming rate, and we are honored to take part in What are some Vietnam-oriented initiatives you hope to accomplish in the future? It would be my goal to have every DAR chap- a program that locates and recognizes them, and their families, for their service and sacrifice. ter become an official partner with the Vietnam War Commemoration. DECEMBER 2020

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Top Singles

What the Vietnam War generation was watching, reading and listening to 50 years ago

Highest Rated TV Shows (1970-71 SEASON) 1. Marcus Welby, M.D. (season 2) ABC 2. The Flip Wilson Show (season 1) NBC 3. Here’s Lucy (season 3) CBS 4. Ironside (season 4) NBC 5. Gunsmoke (season 16) CBS 6. ABC Movie of the Week (season 2) ABC 7. Hawaii Five-0 (season 3) CBS 8. Medical Center (season 2) CBS 9. Bonanza (season 12) NBC 10. The F.B.I. (season 6) ABC

Top Grossing Films (DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE, IN 1970 DOLLARS) 1. Love Story $106,397,186 2. Airport $100,489,150 3. M*A*S*H $81,600,000 4. Patton $62,500,000 5. The Aristocats (animation) $41,162,795 6. Woodstock (documentary) $34,505, 110 7. Little Big Man $31,559, 552 8. Ryan’s Daughter $30,846, 306 9. Tora! Tora! Tora! $29,548,291 10. Catch-22 $24,911, 670

Top Albums

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel 2. Led Zeppelin II Led Zeppelin 3. Chicago Chicago 4. Abbey Road The Beatles 5. Santana Santana 6. Get Ready Rare Earth 7. Easy Rider movie soundtrack 8. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid movie soundtrack 9. Joe Cocker! Joe Cocker 10. Was Captured Live at The Forum Three Dog Night

Bestselling Fiction

1. Love Story Erich Segal 2. The French Lieutenant’s Woman John Fowles 3. Islands in the Stream Ernest Hemingway 4. The Crystal Cave Mary Stewart 5. Great Lion of God Taylor Caldwell 6. QB VII Leon Uris 7. The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight Jimmy Breslin 8. The Secret Woman Victoria Holt 9. Travels with My Aunt Graham Greene 10. Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw

Bestselling Nonfiction

1. Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex but Were Afraid To Ask David Reuben 2. The New English Bible 3. The Sensuous Woman “J” (Joan Garrity) 4. Better Homes and Gardens Fondue and Tabletop Cooking 5. Up the Organization Robert Townsend 6. Ball Four Jim Bouton 7. American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 8. Body Language Julius Fast 9. In Someone’s Shadow Rod McKuen 10. Caught in the Quiet Rod McKuen

WORDS FROM THE WAR

“We are fighting a war with no front lines, since the enemy hides among the people, in the jungles and mountains, and uses covertly border areas of neutral countries. One cannot measure progress by lines on a map.” —Gen. William C. Westmoreland, at a joint session of Congress, April 28, 1967 12

CHART SOURCES: TV SHOWS: CTVA-THE CLASSIC TV ARCHIVE/NIELSEN RATINGS; FILMS: THE NUMBERS (MOVIE BUSINESS WEBSITE); SINGLES: BILLBOARD, YEAR-END CHARTS, HOT 100 SONGS; ALBUMS: SOURCE: BILLBOARD, YEAR-END CHARTS, BILLBOARD 200 ALBUMS FICTION: LITERARY HUB/PUBLISHERS WEEKLY; NON-FICTION: LITERARY HUB/PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: M*A*S*H FINGERS: MOVIE POSTER IMAGE ART/GETTY IMAGES; WESTMORELAND: CO RENTMEESTER/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES

Fan Favorites 1970

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel 2. (They Long to Be) Close to You The Carpenters 3. American Woman/No Sugar Tonight The Guess Who 4. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head B.J. Thomas 5. War Edwin Starr 6. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Diana Ross 7. I’ll Be There The Jackson Five 8. Get Ready Rare Earth 9. Let It Be The Beatles 10. Band of Gold Freda Payne

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Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump, died in Fairhope, Alabama, on Sept. 17, 2020. He was 77. Groom, born March 23, 1943, in Washington, D.C., joined the U.S. Army in 1965 and served in Vietnam as an officer in the 4th Infantry Division. After returning to the U.S. and leaving the Army with a captain’s rank, he worked as a reporter at The Washington Star. Groom left the paper in 1976 to write novels. His first book, Better Times Than These, focused on an infantry company in Vietnam and was a commercial success when published in 1978. Groom became famous for creating the character of Vietnam veteran Forrest Gump, a low-IQ man who nonetheless excels in mathematics and is an extraordinary runner. Forest Gump first appeared in Groom’s 1986 novel and later in a 1994 film starring Tom Hanks. Vincent H. Okamoto, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge and Army Ranger in Vietnam, died Sept. 27, 2020, at age 76. Okamoto was born on Nov. 22,1943, in a World War II internment camp for Japanese Americans in Poston, Arizona. During his tour of Vietnam, he served with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment “the Wolfhounds,” 25th Infantry Division. He was wounded multiple times and awarded 14 combat decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross. After leaving the Army as a captain, Okamoto went to the University of Southern California School of Law. He was appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court bench in 2002. In 2007, Okamoto became the first Japanese American inducted into the Army Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia, since World War II. He penned two novels. One, Wolfhound Samurai, tells the story of a Japanese American soldier fighting in Vietnam. Le Minh Dao, one the most highly regarded South Vietnamese generals, died March 19, 2020, in Hartford, Connecticut, at age 87. He was born March 5, 1933, and joined the Army of the Republic of Vietnam after high school. Trained at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, Dao rose to brigadier general and gained fame for his leadership of the ARVN 18th Division at the Battle of Xuan Loc in April 1975 as communist forces were converging on Saigon, less than 40 miles away, to complete their conquest of South Vietnam. Facing overwhelming odds, Dao told journalists in a TV interview, “I don’t care how many divisions the other side sends against me. I will knock them down!” His forces were able to hold back the NVA’s advance for almost two weeks until ordered to evacuate. Dao was captured by communist forces after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, and endured 17 years in a “reeducation camp” for political prisoners. He was granted political asylum in 1992 and moved to the U.S. with his family. —Zita Ballinger Fletcher

MEYER: U.S. ARMY: GROOM: ANDREW WARDLOW /NEWS HERALD VIA AP; OKAMOTO: HISTORYNET ARCHIVES; DAO: HISTORYNET ARCHIVES

Edward C. Meyer, four-star general and Army chief of staff from 1979 to 1983, died Oct. 13, 2020, at age 91 in Arlington, Virginia. Meyer, born Dec. 11, 1928, in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1951. He was awarded a Bronze Star and Silver Star for his service during the Korean War. Meyer served with the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam in 1965-66 and 1969-70. He received the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross and Purple Heart for his service there. Meyer attended the National War College and studied international affairs at George Washington University. He spearheaded efforts to restructure the Army in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, famously referring to it at a 1980 congressional hearing as a “hollow Army,” beset with troop shortages, equipment needs and low morale. Among many reforms, he worked to improve pay and educational benefits. He also revamped Army training requirements, adding two weeks to basic training and an hour to daily drills. Meyer retired from the Army in 1983 and served on advisory panels for the Pentagon and White House.

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THANKSGIVING IN SAIGON,1968 TWO IOWA BOYS RECONNECT FOR A MEMORABLE DINNER By Jim Van Eldik In the fall of 1968, I was a U.S. Army first lieutenant roaming the helicopter pad behind Army headquarters at Long Binh, about 20 miles northeast of Saigon. Low-slung UH-1 “Huey” helicopters and “Loaches,” the nickname for OH-6 Cayuse light observation copters, squatted in the faint morning mist like slugs hunkered down in a garden back home. I needed a ride to Saigon, or more specifically, to Tan Son Nhut Air Base to link up with my college buddy, Air Force 1st Lt. Mike Buss, who worked on the air base. It was Thursday, Nov. 28, and time for a couple of Iowa boys to get together for some Thanksgiving dinner. At Long Binh, I oversaw an eight-man Army REFLECTIONS night crew tasked with ensuring all U.S. ammunition in South Vietnam was accounted for. After spending some 119 consecutive workdays with my crew of bullet counters, my bosses at the 1st Logistical Command Ammunition Directorate were agreeable to a junket to the city if I could squeeze it in between a couple of night shifts. Naturally, Vietnam is not a typical first choice for an American Thanksgiving celebration, and an Air Force lieutenant is not normally one’s first choice of a companion for such a family-oriented occasion. Yet at that time, I couldn’t have done much better. Mike and I had been close friends all the way back to the first day of our freshman year at South Dakota State University in Brookings. We had been next-door neighbors in the dorm. Mike achieved a sort of star status as he became the starting tight end on the Jackrabbit football team and starting catcher on the baseball team. Between football and baseball seasons, Mike and I formed our own team, so 16

to speak, manning the giant cowbell at Jackrabbit basketball games. At the time, all male students at South Dakota State were required to enroll in Army or Air Force ROTC their first two years. Completing the optional final two years resulted in a second lieutenant’s commission. Although not especially “gung ho,” Mike and I enrolled in the advanced courses and became commissioned officers. Despite graduating at different times and joining different services, extraordinary coincidences put us both in Vietnam in mid-1968, literally “just down the road” from each other. At 7:30 a.m. on the Long Binh helipad that Thanksgiving Day, the morning sun struggled through a blanket of wet mist that permeated the low bunkers on the base’s perimeter and the scraggly jungle beyond. This haze gave the helipad a soggy look. Adding to the dense atmosphere, pungent exhaust spewed from several Hueys and Loaches preparing for takeoff. Wandering across the helipad brought me to a Huey bound for Tan Son Nhut with one empty seat. After verifying that the seat was truly and unequivocally empty and not needed for official business, I hopped aboard. The trip between Saigon and Tan Son Nhut was a “milk run” for Huey pilots—a nice secure route operating close to banker’s hours. We called the soldiers at the controls VIP pilots. Assignment to those flights gave air assault pilots a chance to relax after combat duty. With no one shooting at us and our destination being a nice civilized airport, the Huey ride was a joyous experience. The air was cool, and the Vietnam countryside was spectacular. However, since this was wartime, I kept a sharp eye out for “bad guys.” At one point I spotted a couple of fellows clad in black “pajamas”— what we called the pajamalike work clothes of Vietnamese peasants—sneaking along a riverbank. I pointed out these obvious Viet Cong to the nearby door gunner, but he refused to shoot. Tan Son Nhut Air Base was a hub for troops en route to destinations in country and out. Mike worked in the base’s radar dome, a short walk from the helipad. The “radome,” as it was called, had strict security, but all I had to do was men-

DR. ANDREW AUERBACK VIA MANH HAI

College buddies Jim Van Eldik and Mike Buss ended up in Vietnam at the same time but in different places. Away from their families, they decided to spend Thanksgiving at the same place: Saigon’s Continental Palace hotel.

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tion Mike’s name to the air policeman at the door. After Mike arrived, we exchanged high-fives and walked to one of the radar screens. Mike’s radar operation was dubbed “Paris Control” (he wasn’t sure why). He and his cronies were the bosses of the airspace for the greater Saigon area. No one entered “Paris Control” airspace without their permission. We observed the meanderings of various aircraft and eventually focused on three B-52 bomber blips as they lined up for a bombing run in South Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Then we hiked to Mike’s off-base apartment. The Air Force leased several hotels for its staff to live in. While the view left something to be desired, Mike’s apartment seemed to me to define luxury. It was also relatively safe. According to Mike, the only action that had occurred nearby was a nasty little firefight between two Air Force security guards who mistook each other for Viet Cong. Departing Mike’s billet, we boarded a couple of bicycle rickshaws for a short ride to the Continental Palace Hotel for Thanksgiving dinner. The Palace was the place to be in 1968 Saigon. It was a common watering hole for news journalists—with Mike and I and many Army green suits mixed in on this day. There were also civilians of many stripes. The huge dining area was on the top floor of the four-story hotel and offered an impressive view of the city. The top floor also provided one other feature especially dear to lovers of fine dining—its high altitude made it impossible for Viet Cong zipping by on one of the ubiquitous small Honda motorcycles to toss grenades into the room. The Palace served a magnificent Thanksgiving buffet with all the trimmings—turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, 10 different vegetables and five desserts. Dining with Mike was the closest I could possibly get to a family dinner on this other side of the planet so far from home. We had a lot to be thankful for. After the meal Mike and I thumbed for a ride to our two primary destinations: the U.S. Embassy and the Army Post Exchange store in Cholon, an area of Saigon where many Vietnamese of Chinese descent lived. We were picked up by a couple of Korean troops who spoke no English—except for “American Embassy” and “Cholon PX.” The US. Embassy became the focus of world attention earlier in the year. During the notorious communist Tet Offensive that began across South

Jim Van Eldik is a retired Army lieutenant colonel. He was discharged from active duty following his Vietnam tour and shortly afterward was assigned to an Army Reserve unit. He returned to active duty in 1983 and retired in 1995. Do you have reflections on the war you would like to share?

Email your idea or article to Vietnam@historynet.com, subject line: Reflections

COURTESY JIM VAN ELDIK (2)

Van Eldik, left, was an Army first lieutenant at an ammunitions center in Long Binh, about 20 miles from Saigon. Buss, an Air Force first lieutenant, worked at a radar operation at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, just outside the city.

Vietnam on Jan. 31, 1968, a 19-man Viet Cong commando team, mounted in a truck and a sedan, drove past a South Vietnamese security screen and blew a hole in the wall around the embassy grounds, where the invaders intended to hold out as long as possible, although they made no attempt to breach the embassy building itself. After about six hours of fighting, U.S. Marine security guards and Army military policemen squelched the attack, killing 18 VC and capturing one. Five Americans were killed. The media reported all this excitement back to the States, making the embassy a subject of intense interest to everyone, including myself. Despite the heavy security, I managed to stroll through the back gate to take a look while Mike waited outside. There was considerable activity in the embassy courtyard to keep the MP screening visitors busy while I gazed around and took a couple of photographs. He did eye me off and on and eventually took notice of my lack of progress inward or outward. Eventually he approached and asked, “What are you doing here?” “Nothin,’” I answered. He replied: “You need to get out of here!” I exited the embassy grounds without undue ceremony and rejoined Mike. We got a couple of cooperative soldiers to take us on a drive-by tour of South Vietnamese government buildings. By then, there wasn’t sufficient time left to shop at the Cholon PX, so we called it a day. Because the Tan Son Nhut VIP Huey flights avoided nighttime trips we needed to hustle back to the air base to make sure I caught a flight. We got a ride straightaway, but a bit of an unusual one: Mike and I found ourselves ensconced in a steel cage mounted on the back of a military truck. My Huey flight back to Long Binh arrived in plenty of time for my usual 12-hour night shift. Naturally after being awake for well over 24 hours, a few catnaps were in order, at least until the depot reports started streaming into our office around midnight. I must say that despite my lack of sleep I still maintained my high standards of bullet counting. V

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Barrel climb and recoil were reduced by the gun’s relatively low firing rate.

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The 36-round magazine is wider in the rear than the front, which all but eliminates jams.

‘SWEDISH K’ SUBMACHINE GUN By Carl O. Schuster

Round: 9 mm Magazine: 36 rounds Weight: 9.25 lbs. Length (unfolded): 31.8 in. Barrel length: 8.38 in. Rate of fire: 550600 rpm Sustained rof: 50 rpm Effective range: 200 meters (220 yards)

GREGORY PROCH

In early 1969, Reconnaissance Team Illinois of the Studies and Observations Group, an elite covert operations unit, encountered North Vietnamese Army soldiers while on a battle damage assessment mission in northeast Cambodia. As the SOG team retreated to its extraction landing zone, Sgts. George Bacon and Newman Ruff laid down suppressing fire. Whenever Bacon stopped firing his CAR-15 carbine, the NVA rushed forward and were shot by Ruff ’s sound-suppressed Karl Gustav submachine gun. Unsure of the shooter’s location, the North Vietnamese held back, which enabled the team to escape. Commonly known as the “Swedish K,” the Karl Gustav m/45 was created by weapons designer Gunnar Johnsson for the state-run Karl Gustav rifle factory. The gun entered serARSENAL vice in 1945—the 45 in its designation. It incorporated features from several World War II-era submachine guns to provide the Swedish army with a robust and easyto-use automatic infantry weapon. It was cheap to manufacture with a simple, no-frills design limited to firing only in automatic. It employed a straight blowback firing system with a fixed firing pin. The Gustav had a low cyclical firing rate, the number of rounds fired if you held the trigger for a full minute, which reduced the recoil and made the gun easy to control. Soldiers could fire single shots by releasing the trigger before the second round engaged. The Gustav fired over an open bolt to facilitate cooling. Sliding the cocking handle into a short side-slot above the main (lock) slot or placing a removable cover over the ejection port put the Gustav in safety mode. The Gustav had an innovative straight two-row 36-round box magazine with a tapered feed that all but prevented jamming. The Gustav’s compactness and reliability made it popular with SOG and other U.S. special operations units. The SEALs loved the gun’s ability to fire immediately upon breaking the water’s surface. American forces often added sound suppressors and removed all markings so the weapon’s origins could not be traced to a lot purchased by the U.S. The CAR-15 carbine began to replace the Gustav in 1966. Retired from U.S. service by 1972, it was used by Sweden’s Home Guard until the late 1980s. V VIETNAM

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Nov. 8 Tom Dempsey, a New Orleans Saints kicker wearing a special boot because of a deformed foot, kicks a record-breaking 63-yard field goal in a 19-17 victory over the Detroit Lions. (The Denver Broncos’ Matt Prater kicked a 64-yarder in 2013 for a new record.)

Dec. 2 The Environmental Protection Agency begins operations. The EPA was created to consolidate several related programs and enforce environmental standards. On July 9 President Richard Nixon had sent a proposal for the new agency to Congress, which approved it in September.

HOMEFRONT

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

1970

Nov. 14 The Osmond Brothers, a pop group from Ogden, Utah, release Osmonds, their first album featuring younger brother Donny. The other brothers are Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay. One of the album’s singles, “One Bad Apple,” became a No. 1 hit in 1971

Dec. 12 Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, a Detroit rhythm and blues group, tops the charts with “Tears of a Clown.” One of the song’s co-writers was another Motown star, Stevie Wonder.

Dec. 1 What Color is Your Parachute?, a career guide for people who are laid off or want to “bail out” of bad jobs, is published by Episcopal minister Richard Bolles. Parachute, which has sold more than 10 million copies, was at the forefront of a surge in selfhelp books in the 1970s.

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Dec. 16 The movie Love Story premiers with Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw as college students who fall in love and see their dreams shattered by a terminal cancer. Based on a bestselling book, it became the highestgrossing movie of the year, raking in $106 million.

Nov. 2 Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, which oversees all U.S. forces in South Vietnam, announces the lowest number of casualties for any week since 1965. The MACV BATTLEFRONT headquarters in Saigon said 24 Americans were killed and 431 wounded the week of Oct. 25-31.

Dec. 21 Nixon meets with Elvis Presley in the White House. Presley offered to use his sway with fans to discourage drug abuse. He wished to be “a federal agent at large” with a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. He got the badge (but no authority). Dec. 29 Nixon signs the Occupational Health and Safety Act, passed by Congress on Dec. 17. The legislation set up the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and gave OSHA the authority to establish workplace standards and enforce them through inspections.

Nov. 4 The U.S. Air Force transfers a base at Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta to the South Vietnamese air force, which also gets 31 American helicopters. This was the first of many U.S. air bases shifted to the Republic of Vietnam under President Richard Nixon’s Vietnamization policy to transition combat operations from U.S. to South Vietnamese troops. Nov. 20-21 U.S. Air Force and Army special operations forces conduct a raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay, near Hanoi, hoping to free about 70 American prisoners thought to be held there. Helicopters transporting the raiders successfully landed inside the prison compound, but the rescuers found the cells empty. The prisoners had been moved months earlier. Nov. 29 An Air Force C-123K Provider transport plane carrying 32 American servicemen and 12 South Vietnamese from Phan Rang to Cam Ranh in central South Vietnam crashes into a jungle ridge, killing all but two of those aboard. Dec. 17 Troops from the U.S. 3rd Marine Amphibious Force, the South Korean 2nd Marine Brigade and the South Vietnamese 51st Regiment begin patrolling Quang Nam province in Operation Hoang Dieu 101. The operation, which concluded on Jan. 19, 1971, killed 538 communist soldiers, while allied nations suffered light casualties. Dec. 22 Reversing its long-standing policy, Hanoi releases a partial list (368 names) of U.S. prisoners of war it is holding. NOV. 8: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; NOV. 14: MICHEL PHILIPPOT/SYGMA VIA GETTY IMAGES; DEC. 1: NWAR HUSSEIN/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; DEC. 2: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; NOV. 12: HISTORYNET ARCHIVES; DEC. 16: AF ARCHIVE/ALAMY; DEC. 21: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; DEC. 29: BERNARD GOTFYRD/GETTY IMAGES

DECEMBER 2020

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26 MINUTES AT SON TAY

A U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS TEAM STAGED A HIGH-RISK RAID TO FREE POWS IN 1970

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SON TAY RAIDERS ASSOCIATION

Blueboy Platoon, shown here around Oct. 20, 1970, was one of three Green Beret platoons transported by helicopters to break into a North Vietnamese prisoner of war camp on Nov. 21. Blueboy was the only one dropped right into the center of the prison compound at Son Tay.

PHOTO CREDITS

By Eileen Bjorkman

PHOTO CREDITS

SON TAY RAIDERS ASSOCIATION

DECEMBER 2020

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The raiders would have about one minute on the ground to overwhelm guards near the prisoners. That one minute drove every planning decision. A helicopter was needed to drop a main assault force inside the prison walls, which contained three guard towers and 40-foot high trees. The Air Force’s HH-53 “Super Jolly Green Giant” search and rescue helicopters were the best choice for inserting the raiders and returning the freed POWs. However, the HH-53 was too big to land inside the prison itself. A smaller helicopter, the UH-1 “Huey,” was selected to perform that task. Planners expected the UH-1’s rotor blades would be damaged from hitting a building while landing inside the compound, rendering it unable to take off again; the raiders would need to destroy the Huey instead. Five propeller-driven A-1E Skyraider attack planes would circle above the prison to hold approaching ground forces at bay if needed. Two MC-130E Combat Talon transport planes, packed with highly classified equipment designed for precise navigation and stealth operations, would lead the Skyraiders, the Huey and Super Jolly helicopters to the prison. Attacking at night, a one-quarter moon just above the horizon would offer good visibility while still providing night cover in clear skies. These conditions determined the time window for the prison raid—two five-day periods in late October and late November, predicted to be the driest months.

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TOP: U.S. AIR FORCE; BOTTOM: SON TAY RAIDERS ASSOCIATION

n Nov. 20, 1970, at 6 p.m., U.S. Special Forces Sgt. Terry Buckler reported to an auditorium at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base. Hours earlier, he had been fed a sleeping pill and steak for lunch and told to get some sleep. Army Col. Arthur “Bull” Simons, deputy commander of the operation Buckler had been training for, entered with Lt. Col. Elliot Sydnor Jr., the operation’s ground force commander. Simons pulled out a map of North Vietnam. Hanoi was circled, with the town of Son Tay nearby. Simons tapped Son Tay and said: “That’s where we’re going tonight, guys. We are going to rescue as many as 70 POWs. Americans have a right to expect this from their fellow soldiers. We have a 50-50 chance of not making it back. If you do not want to go, now is the time to say so.” As Buckler remembers, “That auditorium got dead silence for about five seconds and then you thought a cannon got shot. These guys jumped out of their seats, hugging and yelling, ‘Let’s go get ’em!’” Soldiers who had trained as alternates for months were disappointed that no one dropped out. Everyone, from President Richard Nixon to individual raiders, recognized the moral imperative of the mission and the need to live up to the U.S. military’s ethos to “leave no man behind.” They also realized that when the rescued prisoners of war revealed the brutal treatment they had received in captivity it could help turn world opinion against the North Vietnamese and force them back to the stalled Paris peace talks. In May 1970, intelligence analysts in a unit keeping tabs on POWs noticed photos of new construction at a compound in Son Tay, along with POW uniforms laid out to dry on the ground in a manner spelling a code for search and rescue. A dirt pile resembled a “K,” meaning “Come get us.” The prison, 23 miles northwest of Hanoi, was relatively isolated by a river bend with only one bridge to the north. About 12,000 enemy troops lurked at military facilities within a 15-minute drive. The raid was planned to take place within 26 minutes—before enemy reinforcements could be alerted and arrive.

U.S. AIR FORCE

The lead aircraft in the 1970 Son Tay raid, an MC-130 Combat Talon designated Cherry 1, taxies at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, during its retirement ceremony on June 22, 2012. The transport aircraft was loaded with sophisticated navigation and electronics gear the night of the raid.

TOP: U.S. AIR FORCE; BOTTOM: SON TAY RAIDERS ASSOCIATION

U.S. AIR FORCE

ir Force Brig. Gen. LeRoy Manor was appointed overall mission commander. Manor and Simons, his Army counterpart, decided all raiders would be volunteers. Simons interviewed about 200 men at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, asking questions designed to obscure mission details, such as: “Have you ever had scuba training?” At 20, Buckler was the youngest raider of the 82 enlisted men and 15 officers selected for training. When he was asked to make a will before he left, the sergeant realized this mission would be somewhat different from previous operations. Manor had an especially difficult task. He had to coordinate the planning with Air Force special operators strung across Florida, South Carolina and Germany. He also needed crews for four types of aircraft. But Manor had no problem recruiting volunteers, even though he told them only they would be flying a dangerous mission. Except for a handful of senior officers and planners, the raiders had no idea where they were going or exactly what they would do. Two counterintelligence agents constantly monitored the activities of the team, listening in on phone calls and rifling through trash cans to make sure no information leaked. Training began in September at Eglin Air Force Base’s Duke Field in the Florida Panhandle. The raiders practiced in a full-scale mock-up of the prison camp built from 2-by-4s and cloth so it wouldn’t show up on spy satellites that occasionally flew overhead. Because the North Vietnamese guards might be standing close to POWs, Simons insisted on accurate shooting. Some creative supply troops purchased night scopes advertised in a hunting magazine, with the result that the raiders’ accuracy dramatically improved. The CIA also provided a more detailed model of the prison camp on a large sheet of plywood. The CIA’s version, named “Barbara,” was so realistic that during the raid Buckler spotted a bicycle leaning against a building in the exact spot as on the model. The ground plan called for three platoons consisting of 56 Special Forces soldiers in total. Blueboy Platoon, with 14 men, was the assault unit in the Huey that would blast a hole in the southwest corner of the wall for the POWs to escape through. The 22-man Greenleaf Platoon in a Super Jolly would provide security support to the east and north, such as clearing buildings and blowing up the bridge. Redwine Platoon, the command party headed by Sydnor in another Super Jolly, was to secure the area to the south of the prison and prepare a landing area for the helicopter pickups. Buckler was assigned to Redwine as a

radio operator. Each platoon trained for backup plans. If one team didn’t make it to Son Tay, the raid could still be executed. The MC-130E Combat Talon planes and helicopter crews flew training routes around Florida, Georgia and Alabama. To lead the slower-moving helicopters, the MC-130E had to fly at 121 mph, nearly its stall speed. Some helicopters drafted in the wake of the plane’s wing so they could fly a bit faster than their normal power allowed. The helicopters also could not climb at the faster speeds, so Maj. John Gargus, an MC-130E navigator, planned a route that began at a higher altitude and occasionally descended as the aircraft closed in on the target. However, the MC-130E’s radar and navigation equipment degraded at the slow speeds, so one of the planners borrowed two infrared devices from the CIA that helped reveal rivers and other landmarks no longer visible on the radar.

Five HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant search and rescue helicopters, like the one shown at top in a formation with Air Force A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft, participated in the assault at Son Tay. The American force also included five Skyraiders. One of the HH-53s carried the Special Forces’ Redwine Platoon, here with an ax and chain saw to help clear a landing zone.

DECEMBER 2020

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In the final training phase, the air and ground forces practiced together. During these rehearsals they discovered that after three hours of sitting inside the cramped Huey, Blueboy raiders had trouble straightening their legs and moving on the ground, making the one-minute time frame for subduing the guards impossible. The Huey was replaced with a larger HH-3E Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter. However, the HH-3E would be such a tight fit inside the prison walls that the pilots would have to make a controlled crash into the compound. As training progressed, Manor, the Air Force general, and Simons, the Army colonel, raced around Southeast Asia with other planners to set up the launch bases. The raiders would use aircraft already in Southeast Asia. Rather than having those aircraft assemble at one location— which might give the enemy a clue that something was in the works—the crews would go to different bases. The planners carried a letter from the Air Force’s chief of staff, four-star Gen. John D. Ryan, telling other commanders to support them with no questions asked. Manor and Simons also met with senior Navy officers, who agreed to launch aircraft from three carriers, the USS Oriskany, Hancock and Ranger, in the Gulf of Tonkin. To draw the attention of North Vietnam’s anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles away from Son Tay, the carriers would make a diversionary feint to Haiphong Harbor, about 60 miles from Hanoi. Training was complete in early October. On An Air Force reconnaissance photo shows the location of the Son Tay prison camp and various features of the area around it.

Nov. 18, Nixon gave his final approval. The date was set for Nov. 21.

he two MC-130E Combat Talon crews had flown their aircraft from Eglin to Thailand the previous week. After the final go-ahead on Nov. 18, other raiders, who weren’t told where they were going, boarded a C-141 Starlifter troop transport plane at Eglin and 28 hours later landed in what the raiders surmised was Southeast Asia. As the raiders’ aircraft waited for the final “go” signal for the raid, Typhoon Patsy threatened the Navy diversion. Rather than delay for five days, Manor moved the raid up to Nov. 20. That evening, Gargus and the rest of his MCHelicopter 130E crew, call sign Cherry 2, took off from Takhli at 10:25 p.m. and headed to their rendezgunners point with the five A-1E Skyraiders. The sprayed the vous A-1E pilots had a few anxious moments after guard towers takeoff when they encountered some clouds. at 4,000 Eventually they linked up with Cherry 2 for the rounds per trip to Son Tay. About 11 p.m., Cherry 1, the Combat Talon minute, that would lead the one HH-3E Jolly Green and collapsing five HH-53 Super Jolly helicopters, could not start the critical one of its engines. Although the plane could take southwest off on three engines, that would be very risky at night. Manor was monitoring the mission from a tower. command center at South Vietnam’s Da Nang Air Base and was about to order Cherry 2 to lead the helicopters when Cherry 1’s engine finally started, according to Gargus. The plane took off about 23 minutes behind schedule. The six helicopters that would conduct the rescue departed from Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. Three—the one H-3E and two of the HH-53 copters—carried the assault force. The other three HH-53s were empty, a gunship and two for the returning POWs. The helicopters refueled over Laos and then joined with Cherry 1, which had made up for lost time. At about 1 a.m., Navy carriers began launching 59 fighter, attack and support planes. The pilots flew routes that seemed to indicate they were headed for targets around Hanoi. Several Air Force support aircraft were also airborne over the Gulf of

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MAP: JON C. BOCK

LEFT: U.S. AIR FORCE; RIGHT: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;

Air Force Brig. Gen. LeRoy Manor, overall commander of the Son Tay mission, uses a mock-up of the prison to discuss the raid during a news conference at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on Dec. 2, 1970.

Apple 1 (Greenleaf Platoon) Apple 2 (Redwine Platoon) Apple 3 Banana 1 (Blueboy Platoon)

NORTH VIETNAM HANOI HAIPHONG

GUARD TOWER DESTROYED BY APPLE 3

SON TAY

ASSAULT FORCE

Oriskany, Hancock and Ranger

STRIKE FORCE

GULF OF TONKIN

NAKHON PHANOM UDORN

THAILAND

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The Son Tay Raid

MAP: JON C. BOCK

LEFT: U.S. AIR FORCE; RIGHT: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;

The night of Nov. 20-21, 1970, an assortment of American aircraft and special operations troops took off from bases in Thailand on a mission to free 70-some American prisoners of war believed to be held at the Son Tay prison camp in North Vietnam. The main assault force included one HH-3 Jolly Green Giant search-andrescue helicopter, call sign Banana 1, which was to crash-land in the prison comNov. 21, 1970 pound and free the prisoners. Also on the assault force were five larger HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giants, call names Apple 1-5, some of which would land outside the compound and secure the area, while others would pick up the freed POWs. A strike force of five A-1E Skyraider attack planes, Peach 1-5, armed with guns and bombs, accompanied the assault teams to blast enemy soldiers who might threaten the rescue. Two big MC-130E Combat Talon planes, Cherry 1 and 2, outfitted with sophisticated navigation equipment, guided the assault and strike forces to the prison and once there dropped flares that lit up the site for the raiders and created diversions to confuse the enemy.

Tonkin, providing radio relays and monitoring North Vietnamese radios and radars to ensure the raiders hadn’t been detected. A little after 2 a.m., Air Force F-4 Phantom II fighter-bombers with air-to-air missiles arrived at a high altitude above Son Tay to defend against possible launches of MiG fighters aiming for the raiders. F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bombers also arrived to take out any threatening SAM sites. The diversion worked. As the raiders approached Son Tay, North Vietnamese radars pointed east at the diversionary Navy attack and at the overhead F-4s and F-105s. Equipment on the Combat Talon showed enemy radars routinely scanning but failing to detect the inbound raiders. At 2:16 a.m. after three hours of flying, the assault formation aircraft arrived at their planned break-off point 3½ miles from Son Tay. Cherry 1 broadcast a final heading for the helicopters bound for the prison camp and then flew ahead. Two of the empty HH-53 helicopters landed nearby, waiting for the POW pickup call. At 2:18 a.m., the “execute” command came

over the radio: “Alpha! Alpha! Alpha!” Cherry 1 arrived over the prison compound and dropped four flares bright enough to light up the camp below as if it were daytime. Air Force Maj. Frederic “Marty” Donahue turned his empty HH-53 gunship to fly across the camp between two guard towers. He ignored a warning light that signaled an emergency engine problem as his gunners sprayed the guard towers at 4,000 rounds per minute, collapsing the critical southwest tower. The gunners then strafed other buildings. Tracer bullets ignited a fire in a barracks. The compound was ready for Blueboy’s HH-3E.

s the helicopters carrying the ground force moved toward their landing spots, Cherry 2 dropped flares and other incendiary devices outside the prison to create diversions for enemy soldiers in the area. It then entered an orbit a few miles south to monitor and record the raiders’ radio transmissions. Cherry 1 dropped additional diversion devices and flew to an orbit in northern Laos. The two pilots flying the HH-3E Jolly Green Giant nearly landed a few hundred yards south of the prison in a similar-looking compound that planners called a “secondary school.” The pilots realized their mistake at the last second and corrected back to the prison. Blueboy raiders armed with personal sidearms, CAR-15 commando carbines, shotguns, M79 grenade launchers and M60 machine guns crouched by the helicopter’s doors and windows. Some raiders lay flat on the open ramp. DECEMBER 2020

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The HH-3E’s controlled crash inside the prison compound was much more violent than expected. When the rotors hit the trees, the helicopter jerked violently to the right and tossed 1st Lt. George Petrie out the right front door—granting his wish to be the first raider on the ground. He had extra motivation: His cousin, Navy Lt. Cdr. James Hickerson, was a POW. The crash didn’t slow anyone down. As severed tree limbs rained all around, raiders attacked what was left of the southwest guard tower and prepared to blow the exit hole. Blueboy’s leader, Capt. Richard “Dick” Meadows, shouted on a bullhorn: “We are Americans! We are here to rescue you!” The raiders broke into some cells but found no POWs. They kept searching. Greenleaf Platoon’s pilot mistakenly touched down in the secondary school. Raiders poured from the helicopter and headed toward their targets, but quickly realized something was wrong. Simons, traveling with Greenleaf, called for an extraction. In the four minutes it took the helicopter to return from its holding area, the Greenleaf men obliterated the school compound’s occupants, armed men who seemed much larger than average Vietnamese and were possibly Chinese advisers or trainers. Redwine Platoon’s pilot realized Greenleaf had landed in the wrong spot and broadcasted the backup plan on the helicopter’s intercom before landing outside the wall of the prison. While still on the helicopter’s ramp, Buckler fired his M16 at a guard shooting at RedThe HH-3 Jolly Green Giant wine raiders as they dashed to take over helicopter Banana 1, carrying some of Greenleaf ’s duties as well as their Blueboy Platoon, crash-landed

inside the prison compound. After the operation, the raiders left in another helicopter and placed a charge in Banana 1 to destroy the aircraft so it was of no value to the enemy.

own. With the reduced ground force unable to take out the bridge to the north, orbiting Skyraider pilots happily dropped cluster bombs on it instead. A Redwine group blew up a concrete pole in the helicopter return area, and the explosion knocked out power in parts of Son Tay. In the midst of the commotion, Greenleaf Platoon arrived. The raiders had never practiced a late arrival. There was momentary confusion as newcomers joined the fight. Sydnor ordered the Redwine raiders to momentarily hold their positions while they sorted things out. By then, Buckler had heard the words “negative items” over his radio. The crews circling above or waiting in helicopters heard them as well. “Items” was the code word for POWs. Negative POWs? Simons couldn’t believe it. “Check again,” he demanded. Simons followed this by a string of expletives and, “I’m coming in.” Simons checked the cells and found no one. At 2:30 a.m., 11 minutes into the raid, Sydnor called for withdrawal. The two lead HH-53s flew back to pick up the raiders, who left a charge with a time delay on the HH-3E to destroy it. Meanwhile the North Vietnamese realized they were under attack. Radar detection equipment on Cherry 2 lit up as a North Vietnamese radar for anti-aircraft artillery targeted the plane. The pilot flew north to a safer position. At 2:35 a.m., the North Vietnamese near Son Tay launched their first SAMs at the raiders. At 2:45 a.m., 26 minutes after the crash into the courtyard, an HH-53 lifted off with the last of the ground force. There was a brief scare when a count came up short one raider. After a few anxious mo-

TOP: SON TAY RAIDERS ASSOCIATION; BOTTOM: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

Blueboy Platoon is packed into a C-130 transport plane on a flight from Takhli Royal Thai air base to Udorn Royal Thai air base where it will connect with other units for the assault on Son Tay.

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TOP: SON TAY RAIDERS ASSOCIATION; BOTTOM: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

President Richard Nixon honors the Son Tay raiders during an awards ceremony on Nov. 25, 1970. From left are Brig. Gen. LeRoy Manor, Tech. Sgt. Leroy Wright, Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Adderly and Col. Arthur Simons.

ments and several recounts, they realized no one had been left behind. The raiders suffered only two casualties: one Green Beret shot in the leg, the only “enemy fire” casualty, and an HH-3E crew member with a broken ankle from the controlled crash. As the raiders departed Son Tay, SAMs filled the sky, hitting two F-105 Thunderchiefs. One was able to refuel and limp back to Udorn. The pilot and electronic warfare officer in the other aircraft ejected over Laos at 3:17 a.m. and Cherry 2 located them. Two of the empty HH-53s refueled, waited for first light, and picked up the downed crewmen, who had spent three hours on the ground.

he dejected raiders returned to Udorn for debriefing. Manor and Simons flew to Washington for a press conference on Nov. 23. The men emphasized the bravery of the raiders and the difficulty of pinpointing POW camps, but some in the press focused on the apparent intelligence failure. Later evidence showed that intelligence indicated the POWs had been moved, but that information hadn’t been conveyed to the final decision-makers—who at that time were only two hours from mission launch. The tight secrecy to prevent leaks was likely a contributing factor, according to Gargus. Yet the raid was far from a failure. Shocked at how easily the raiders had slipped in and out of

their country, the North Vietnamese consolidated the POWs into the notorious “Hanoi Hilton” prison to make future rescue attempts more difficult. Ironically, the consolidation at the Hanoi Hilton was the best thing that could have happened for the prisoners, short of rescue. Retired Col. Leon “Lee” Ellis, one of the Son Tay POWs, says that during the raid the POWs knew something was up. In their new camp about 10 miles away, the power went off, probably from the raiders accidentally knocking out power to the surrounding area. The POWs then heard explosions from Son Tay, followed by the SAM launches. Two days later, guards came into the cells “with fear in their eyes” and moved the prisoners to Hanoi. POWs previously in solitary confinement now roomed with dozens of men. Senior officers organized a POW wing with a military chain of command. The POWs taught each other classes, had evening speakers and surreptitiously held church services. For their actions, all raiders were awarded medals—Silver Stars and above—but some feared they had made things worse for the POWs. The raiders finally learned the truth after the POWs were released in February-April 1973. Many POWs wanted to meet the Son Tay raiders to thank them for the positive impact they had. Billionaire Texas businessman Ross Perot brought the raiders and the Son Tay POWs to a thank-you party in San Francisco. The two groups have had many reunions since. In 1979 Simons led the rescue of two of Perot’s employees from an Iranian prison. The planning and execution of the Son Tay Raid became a blueprint for special operations forces, such as the 2003 rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch, captured during the Iraq War, and the 2011 Osama bin Laden raid. V

Eileen Bjorkman is a retired Air Force officer, freelance writer and author of Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin: A Story of the U.S. Military’s Commitment to Leave No One Behind. She lives in Edwards, California. DECEMBER 2020

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SHAKE â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;N BAKE SERGEANTS THE ARMY IN VIETNAM NEEDED LOTS OF SERGEANTS, FAST By Dan Elder

Two soldiers at an Army training camp for sergeants are locked in a struggle during the hand-to-hand combat portion of the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate Course designed specifically to prepare NCOs to lead small units in the jungles and hills of Vietnam.

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across vast distances against equally large enemy forces. But in Vietnam the brunt of combat was borne at the smaller-unit level of infantry companies, cavalry troops and artillery batteries, which placed an incredible burden on the leadership, resourcefulness and skills of platoon leaders, squad leaders and fire team leaders. Without the deployment of reservists and guardsmen, U.S. officials had to sustain their frontline forces in Vietnam by reducing America’s military presence in Europe and increasing draft calls. Those measures provided the men necessary to keep the units in Vietnam filled, but there were additional complications that hampered the combat missions of U.S. forces. One was a Defense Department directive establishing a 12-month tour of duty. Another was the system for replacing departing troops. Instead of rotating major units in and out of Vietnam, the Army rotated individual soldiers in and out of units that stayed overseas. Newly assigned replacements were sprinkled across the platoons and squads that needed more men. The individual replacement system, however, could not adequately replenish the shrinking pool of noncommissioned officers, particularly sergeants. Combat losses, the 12-month tour limit and a policy requiring soldiers returning from overseas tours to remain in the United States for at

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HISTORYNET ARCHIVE

y the first months of 1965, Viet Cong battlefield successes caused Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, to request an expansion of the American military presence, launching a troop buildup that foreshadowed a long-term commitment of ground forces. As early as April, a U.S. Marine brigade was directed to Chu Lai in northern South Vietnam and the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade was sent to Bien Hoa, near Saigon. Soon the entire 1st Infantry Division would join them, with many more combat units to follow. The introduction of large-scale operations in Vietnam was accompanied by the inevitable increase in combat casualties. When mustered for battle, the Army’s overall active duty strength was approximately 970,000 personnel (110,000 officers and 860,000 enlisted soldiers). As combat losses increased, Westmoreland requested additional forces from Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. After a fact-finding trip to Vietnam, McNamara recommended that President Lyndon B. Johnson increase the U.S. presence there from 75,000 to 175,000. He also requested a call-up of reservists and National The First Guardsmen to boost the “strategic reserves”— forces available to react on short notice to Shake ‘n Bake Soldiers in the condensed threats anywhere in the world. However, Johntraining program for son declined McNamara’s request, leaving acsergeants were derisively tive duty forces to fight the war on their own. compared with the breadIn most past conflicts, such as World War II, crumb coating mix massive troop formations division size and larg- introduced in 1965 as a fast way to prepare chicken. er, led by senior commanders, maneuvered

TOP, LEFT: HISTORYNET ARCHIVES; RIGHT BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;BOX: HISTORYNET ARCHIVE

Sgt. Maj. of the Army William O. Wooldridge, at left, told an interviewer that he presented the idea for a noncommissioned officer candidate course to Army Chief of Staff Harold K. Johnson, who approved the program in June 1967.

geant major of the Army (19661968), insisted in an interview that he got the idea from future Sgt. Maj. of the Army William G. Bainbridge during a visit to II Field Force, the U.S. headquarters group for American units operating in the southern part of South Vietnam. Woodbridge said he presented the concept to Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Harold K. Johnson. The NCOCC applied the concept of Officer Candidate School—where enlisted men were selected for officer training during basic training—to education for sergeants. If a carefully selected soldier received 23 weeks of intensive training that would qualify him to lead a platoon as an officer, then in theory others could be trained School and the in the same amount of time to lead Noncommissioned Officer squads and fire teams as NCOs. The lthough the Army estabCandidate Course. program would maximize the twolished basic leadership preparatory schools known as NCO Acad- year tour of the enlisted draftee by tacking the emies during World War II, they were often NCO course onto the end of basic and advanced viewed as being focused more on “spit and pol- training, followed by a 12-month tour in Vietish” or parade ground skills than on practical nam, with leave and travel time built in. There was initial opposition at the Army’s setraining to prepare NCOs to lead fire teams and nior levels, but it was short-lived. The commandsquads in combat. Consequently, the Skill Development Base ing general responsible for training, Gen. Paul L. Program was conceived in 1967 to remedy the Freeman Jr., never accepted the idea of the shortage of deployable enlisted personnel and to NCOCC, according to Army chief Johnson, who fill requirements (mostly overseas) for soldiers therefore waited for Freeman’s replacement to with the ranks of sergeant and staff sergeant. The oversee the program. Gen. James K. Woolnough skill development program had three subpro- began those duties on July 1, 1967, after Johnson grams: the Noncommissioned Officer Candidate had approved the program eight days earlier. The NCOCC developers settled on a 21- to 22Program to meet the pressing need for NCOs on the battlefields of Vietnam; the Noncommis- week, three-phased program and established sesioned Officer/Supervisor Program; and the Spe- lection criteria to screen potential candidates. The criteria included: cialist Program. Various Army officials have claimed credit for H Security clearance of Confidential. creating the skill development program’s NonH Specified skill levels in the military commissioned Officer Candidate Course. But specialties of basic infantry (rifle fire team naming a specific founder of the NCOCC is diffimember), mortarman or anti-tank gunner. cult because major Army initiatives are seldom H Rank of first-level sergeant or below. created independently, but rather as the result of H Demonstrated leadership potential. efforts from multiple individuals and agencies. H 13 months or more remaining in service The Army had been researching solutions to after completion of the course. NCO shortages during rapid buildups as early as H Selected by unit commander. 1956. In his 1989 book About Face, retired Col. David Hackworth claimed he and Lt. Gen. Henry The immediate need was to beef up enlisted “Hank” Emerson came up with idea for the leaders in infantry fire teams, squads and plaNCOCC while working at the Directorate of toons. The Infantry School at Fort Benning, Training for the Army Personnel Office under di- Georgia, was selected as the initial site to test this rector Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais. concept. The first class reported in September However, William O. Wooldridge, the first ser- 1967. Candidates were mostly two-year draftees least 25 consecutive months had taken a toll on the NCO corps to a point of crisis. By 1967, the Army was sending career sergeants back into action sooner or filling team and squad leader vacancies with lowerlevel specialist ranks or the most senior privates first class. Older and more experienced NCOs—some of them World War II veterans—became overstrained by the physical demands of jungle fighting. Even with those efforts, the Army Infantry was quickly running out of men School Patch qualified to fill NCO positions in the This patch bears the combat specialties. Replacing skilled insignia of the Infantry NCOs was no simple task. In the School’s Candidate Brigade standard rate of promotion, it typi- at Fort Benning, Georgia. cally took three to five years for a The brigade was responsible for the Officer Candidate soldier to earn NCO stripes.

HISTORYNET ARCHIVE

TOP, LEFT: HISTORYNET ARCHIVES; RIGHT BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;BOX: HISTORYNET ARCHIVE

Vietnam-Era NCO ranks, pay grades

Command Sergeant Major E-9

Sergeant Major E-9

1st Sergeant E-8

Master Sergeant E-8

Platoon Sergeant E-7 AND

Sergeant 1st Class E-7

Staff Sergeant E-6

Sergeant E-5

Corporal E-4

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he tactical training portion was divided into three distinct phases designed to develop the candidate into an NCO who could perform command responsibilities with confidence and competence. Phase I was five weeks of intensive hands-on training. For soldiers in the basic infantrymen specialty, the course included physical training, leadership training, hand-to-hand combat, weapons, first aid and wound care, map reading, navigating all types of terrain, communications equipment and mortar fire. Vietnam veterans or Ranger school graduates taught many classes, but the instructors of the first course were commissioned officers. The four-week Phase II focused on instruction in fire team, squad and platoon tactics oriented toward Vietnam. There was also instruction in defensive operations, camouflage techniques, demolitions and various type of fire support, including mortar, air and artillery. Phase III was a three-week dress rehearsal for Vietnam that put all of the previous training to the test. This phase concentrated on extensive patrolling and counterguerrilla training structured along the lines of the Ranger course. It covered ambushes, defensive perimeters, navigation, jungle quick-kill techniques, aircraft rappelling, artillery support, aerial resupply and a candidate-led counterguerrilla exercise. During quick-kill training, candidates protected by masks and padding engaged each other with air rifles to attain realism and sharpen reflexes. In total, around 600 hours of instruction were given, and 80 percent of the training was conducted in the field. Twice daily, Vietnam-schooled members of the Ranger Department critiqued candidates, and all training was oriented toward preparations for combat. Near the end of the course, the NCO candidates received an oppor-

Program of Instruction

The 12-week training course’s Phase I, five weeks, covered the basics. Phase II, four weeks, focused on tactics used in Vietnam. Phase III, three weeks, was a practice run before the real thing. TR AINING

PHASE I

Tactics

PHASE II

165 hours 216 hours

Miscellaneous 3 hours Doctrine 12 hours Offensive operations 48 hours Defensive operations 17 hours Intelligence 55 hours Airborne/airmobile 6 hours Artillery operations 9 hours Engineer operations 15 hours Patrolling

Weapons Individual Special purpose Crew served

PHASE III

216 hours

63 hours 10 hours 17 hours 32 hours 14 hours

Physical Training 22 hours 17 hours Conditioning 19 hours Bayonet 3 hours 2 hours Hand-to-hand 6 hours Forced march 6 hours Physical fitness test 3 hours Map reading

28 hours

7 hours

Drill and ceremonies

10 hours

Leadership

15 hours

Communications

13 hours

Medical subjects

10 hours

tunity to question a panel of recently returned Vietnam veterans to discuss any questions they still had. Throughout the 12 weeks of training, the candidate was observed and his performance rated by combat veteran instructors. A student chain of command and the instructors supervised the daily performance of the candidates. Ratings consisted of formal reports on the candidate’s performance, attitude, conduct and appearance. The company commander and the instructors used the reports to evaluate and counsel the candidate. An NCO Candidate Evaluation System was provided by the infantry school for academic areas, while the instructors evaluated the candidates’ leadership abilities. The benefits of being an NCO candidate were considerable. Vietnambound troops received the best training available, along with an increase in rank, pay and prestige without incurring any additional service obligation. NCO candidates were immediately promoted to corporal and after successful completion of the course (and before the on-the-job training phase) earned a promotion to sergeant. Honor graduates who scored in the top 5 percent of their class were awarded promotion to staff sergeant, one pay grade higher. Honor graduate Melvin C. Lervick, who was in the first Fort Benning course, said “the trainers and NCOs who taught the classes really did an amazing job.”

TOP, MIDDLE: COURTESY MALON HILE; BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY

who volunteered or were selected while in basic combat training and advanced infantry training. Not all were initially eager to be selected. Walter Ruoff, an NCOCC honor graduate, admitted that he was not enthused about attending the course at first, but “after the first week, I changed my view. I guess it was the quality of instruction.” After selection, the candidates were placed in groups and assigned a class number. Each class was divided into two segments: a 12-week tactical training program followed by nine-weeks of on-the-job training in which graduates were assigned as assistant drill instructors in one of the six Vietnam-oriented centers for advanced infantry training.

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TOP: In the “pit” at Fort Benning, NCO candidates show off the hand-to-hand combat skills they have learned. MIDDLE: Candidates relax near a wooden building used as a barracks in the World War II era. BOTTOM: An Infantry School instructor delivers a lecture on Army leadership. A candidate’s leadership potential was a key factor in his evaluation.

TOP, MIDDLE: COURTESY MALON HILE; BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY

he NCOCC solved an immediate problem for the Army. However, many old-Army regulars, senior NCOs and some soldiers in general harbored resentment toward the course’s graduates. In peacetime, sergeants were trained and professionally developed following a time-honored tradition relying on experience and the proverbial “school of hard knocks.” Sergeants typically earned their stripes by progressing up the promotion ladder over several years. Career NCOs expressed prejudice against graduates of the new training course and began to use derogatory terms like “Shake ‘n Bake,” “Instant NCO” or “Whip-n-Chills” (a Jell-O dessert mix popular in the 1960s) to refer to the new type of enlisted leader. Many complained that it took years to form a noncommissioned officer properly and that the program was ill-conceived. Others feared it would affect their own promotion opportunities and denigrated the program based on their view that graduates were inexperienced, overly familiar with subordinates and lacked “military bearing.” NCOCC graduate Leonard F. “Budd” Russell recalled: “We were referred to as Shake ‘n Bakes and Instant NCOs by just about everyone. I never took it personally because there was slang for everything, so I considered it as a distinction between us and senior NCOs. What the hell. We called them lifers.” Regardless of the rivalry, the initial success of the Fort Benning program resulted in the adoption of the NCOCC model in training programs for other Army specialties, including those at Fort Bliss, Texas (air defense), Fort Knox, Kentucky (armor), Fort Sill, Oklahoma (artillery), Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (engineers) and Fort Gordon, Georgia (signal/communications systems). Some schools later offered a correspondence preparatory course for those who wanted to volunteer for the NCOCC or obtain the benefits of formal military schooling. Participants immediately recognized the value of their training since most of them were draftees who expected to be sent to Vietnam, although a few graduates remained stateside and a small number were sent to Korea or Germany. Though many potential candidates were eligible for Officer Candidate School, most did not pursue it because that would have required them to extend DECEMBER 2020

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“The skill development base program has had considerable impact on Army training concepts, manpower management, and the ability of the Army to fill its requirements in grades E-5 and E-6 [sergeant and staff sergeant]. The objective of the program is to train individuals so that they may perform satisfactorily in their initial duty assignment. This training is undertaken immediately following basic combat and advanced individual training and is normally of 21 to 24 weeks’ duration. During fiscal year 1969 approximately 11,600 enlisted men were graduated from 42 courses of instruction and promoted to either E-5 or E-6 under this program. Reports from commanders in Vietnam indicate that these men are doing well in combat.”

s President Richard Nixon’s Vietnamization program shifted more combat responsibilities to South Vietnamese soldiers, U.S. troop withdrawals accelerated. Skill Development Base programs, including NCOCC, ended by January 1972. During their 4½-year run, the programs produced about 33,000 graduates in 86 military occupational specialties. Fort Benning alone was reported to

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TOP: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; BOTTOM: COURTESY MALON HILE

their time in the service. However, they wisely recognized that NCOCC, which didn’t require extended service, was a way to expand on their military training before entering combat. After a 12-year break in service, Korean War veteran Ruben Rodriguez attended NCOCC training at 39 years old. He called it “the finest training an infantryman can get in such a short time.” Some graduates said the NCOCC, taught by Vietnam veterans who experienced the war firsthand, kept them and their soldiers alive. Its lessons also served them well later in life, they added. Former Vietnam commander Col. W.G. Skelton, who led the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, described in 1969 what many others had observed. “Within a short time they [NCOCC graduates] proved themselves completely and we were trying for more,” he said. “Be-

cause of their training, they repeatedly surpassed the soldier who had risen from the ranks in combat and provided the quality of leadership at the squad and platoon level which is essential in the type of fighting we are doing.” The NCOCC graduates had a specific role in the Army—they were trained to do one thing in one branch in one place in the world. They did not receive instruction on how to teach drill and ceremonies, inspect a barracks or conduct a police call (lining soldiers up to walk across an area looking for trash). Many critics judged the program by the graduates’ performance in garrison, functions that received little attention in the course. However, their final exam took place elsewhere—in Vietnam’s rice paddies and jungles. Staff Sgt. Robert Prock, who spent 28 months in Vietnam as a platoon sergeant and later served as a course instructor, worked with squad leaders who were all NCOCC graduates and reported: “Most of them were good. Once they got their feet on the ground and showed the men who’s boss, they were usually OK. Besides, there isn’t time for resentment when someone’s firing at you.” The Army’s historical perspectives on the skill development and NCOCC programs reported these findings in the 1969 Department of the Army Historical Summary:

TOP: COURTESY CHARLES W. GALLON JR. BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY

An NCO candidate lowers himself down the side of a tower using a rope and his hands to control his descent as he practices rappelling. BOTTOM: Candidates lined up in formation prepare for their next activity.

TOP: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY; BOTTOM: COURTESY MALON HILE

TOP: COURTESY CHARLES W. GALLON JR. BOTTOM: U.S. ARMY

have had 26,078 NCOCC graduates. In Vietnam, 1,118 graduates were killed in action, five are listed as missing in action and four were posthumous Medal of Honor recipients. At least two NCOCC graduates went on to serve in top U.S. government positions. Jim Marshall was a four-term Democratic congressman from Georgia. Tom Ridge, a six-term Republican congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, was the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. As the Army emerged from Vietnam with the draft gone and an all-volunteer force arriving, there was a renewed focus on high-quality leaders in the enlisted ranks. To achieve that goal, the Army created career educational programs for noncommissioned officers similar to officer career training. NCOCC was selected as the model for what would become known as the NCO Education System. Thus, an expedient response to a short-term problem in Vietnam was such a resounding success that the NCO Candidate Course and its predecessor NCO Academies became the foundation for a renaissance in noncommissioned officer education and training in the U.S. Army that remains even today. V

Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Dan Elder is an author and historian who specializes in the history of U.S. Army noncommissioned officers. A former active duty soldier of 26 years, he has served in overseas assignments that include Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Iraq. He has written four books and is wrapping up Shake and Bake Diaries: Stories from the Noncommissioned Officers Candidate Course. He lives in Temple, Texas. Elder can be reached by email at csm@ danelder.com. Arthur Wiknik, an NCOCC graduate who served with the 101st Airborne Division and took part in the Hamburger Hill battle, contributed to this article. He is the author of Nam Sense—Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division and was featured on the History Channel show Vietnam in HD and the Military Channel show An Officer and a Movie. He lives in Higganum, Connecticut.

Tom Ridge, the Department of Homeland Security’s first secretary, was a graduate of the NCO course. He served in Vietnam 1969-70 as staff sergeant in B Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (Americal).

“Because of their training… they provided the quality of leadership at the squad and platoon level which is essential in the type of fighting we are doing.”

Malon Hile, a graduate of the NCO Candidate Course, took his “final exam” during a tour in Vietnam 1969-70.

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MICHAEL PUTZEL

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‘GOING ROGUE’ INTELLIGENCE ANALYST ED KEITH BROKE AWAY FROM HIS DESK JOB TO JOIN TROOPS IN BATTLE

MICHAEL PUTZEL

By Michael Putzel

apt. Phil Bernstein, commander of the 265th Radio Research Company, the cover name for the secretive intelligence-gathering Army Security Agency, watched as his new soldier arrived at the company’s Phu Bai headquarters in northern South Vietnam in late December 1970. As a military truck rolled in from the helicopter landing zone carrying Staff Sgt. Ed Keith, Bernstein noticed that the new intel analyst was wearing nonregulation camouflage fatigues bearing a Special Forces patch and lugging two heavy Army footlockers. Bernstein remembers Keith as having “hand grenades, belts of ammunition, knives, Claymore mines,” and an assortment of automatic weapons and pistols. That was hardly equipment needed to analyze intelligence gleaned from enemy radios and telephones. Impressed by Keith’s background, Bernstein pulled him off to one side. “I told him I had a very weak lieutenant leading one of my platoons” and needed his experience “to prop up” the lieutenant, Bernstein said. He appointed Keith platoon sergeant and sent him off to find that unit. Bernstein, who rarely left his Phu Bai headquarters, never saw Keith again. Keith had been trained in signals intelligence—listening in on radio and telephone communications to decipher the enemy’s plans and troop movements. He tested extremely high on military aptitude exams, spoke

Huey helicopters of C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, fly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos on Feb. 11, 1971, as U.S. air power supports South Vietnamese units attacking the North Vietnamese Army. Staff Sgt. Ed Keith left his assigned station at a communications center to help C Troop on combat missions.

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n December 1970, Bonnot’s radio monitors picked up clues that the North Vietnamese were moving large numbers of troops into positions just inside the Laotian border and around the town of Tchepone at the top of the Ho Chi Minh trail, used to funnel supplies to communist forces in South Vietnam. The analysts thought the maneuvers were preparations for a spring offensive “I was always against U.S. forces below the Demilitarized looking for Zone separating North and South Vietnam. The a fight. Radio Research team didn’t realize the North I thought Vietnamese had achieved an intelligence coup I was going of their own. They had learned about a U.S.South Vietnamese plan for an invasion of Laos to die in to cut the trail network and were setting a trap. Vietnam, and The top-secret plan instigated by U.S. strateI wanted to gists constituted a last desperate attempt to do the best hamstring the NVA before it could reach the I could South. Some senior military officers—including Gen. Creighton Abrams, top U.S. commander before that in Vietnam—suggested the proposed invasion happened.” might end the war. American officials in Saigon

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BRUCE ROLLMAN

Mandarin Chinese and had quit the Army twice before enlisting a third time to get to Vietnam. Keith had worked with the Special Forces at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and was coming from the 5th Special Forces Group at Pleiku in the Central Highlands, although he wasn’t yet a qualified Green Beret when he got to Vietnam. He rarely told anyone who he worked for. Keith had arrived in Vietnam on July 20, 1969, and was sent to the Duc Lap Special Forces Camp near the Cambodian border. When troops there found a wire strung across the ground, he quickly determined it was a North Vietnamese telephone line and installed a tap to listen in. He was also dispatched to a border region in the Mekong Delta and looked for phone lines to tap there. One day when he was with a small contingent of local fighters recruited by Special Forces, two enemy machine guns opened fire. Keith grabbed his radio operator, jumped into a bomb crater half filled with water and hid submerged as two Air Force F-100 Super Sabre fighter-bombers saturated the

KEITH FAMILY COLLECTION

In January 1971 Keith was directed to establish a communications center at the former Khe Sanh Marine base to serve the forces invading Laos.

area with deadly napalm. Once the shooting stopped, the pair surfaced. When Keith’s group returned to the U.S. in November and December 1970, he still had several months before he was scheduled to leave Vietnam. The Army ordered him north to the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Eagle for reassignment. While waiting, Keith completed a correspondence course to qualify as a full-fledged special operations paratrooper, entitling him to wear a green beret with the Special Forces insignia. An acquaintance stationed at Phu Bai, Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Bonnot, was the noncommissioned officer in charge of Bernstein’s 265th Radio Research Company, attached to the 101st Airborne Division. He heard Keith was 5 miles away at Camp Eagle and set out to recruit him. A career intelligence specialist, Bonnot bristled at what he perceived to be his parent organization’s view of its mission. The Army Security Agency was set up after World War II to collect and distribute intelligence for strategic planning in preparation for future wars. In Bonnot’s view, it was too passive when it actually went to war. Bonnot was often frustrated when intelligence analysts picked up information about the North Vietnamese Army’s intentions, but the information was filtered through several layers of command before it arrived in the field—too late to be of any use. Bonnot’s immediate boss, 1st Lt. Bruce Rollman, called that “the perishability of intelligence.” In an interview long afterward, Rollman said, “If you can’t get it to the guys in the field exactly when they need it, you might as well forget about it.” Bonnot believed his intelligence analysts should not be restricted to immobile defensive enclosures surrounded by high chain-link fences and topped by concertina wire deep inside Army bases. He wanted them closer to enemy radios and telephone wires. However, company commander Bernstein maintained that the Army’s electronic eavesdroppers, with their superhigh security clearances, should never be placed so close to the enemy that they were at risk of capture. But that’s where Keith wanted to be. “I was always looking for a fight,” Keith said. “I thought I was going to die in Vietnam, and I wanted to do the best I could before that happened.” He quickly teamed up with Bonnot, who oversaw more than 200 Radio Research troops scattered around firebases and outposts in South Vietnam’s northernmost region.

BRUCE ROLLMAN

KEITH FAMILY COLLECTION

Keith believed that intelligence gathered by the Radio Research team should be forwarded immediately to troops in the field, a view held by others in the unit, including Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Bonnot, left, and 1st Lt. Bruce Rollman, both posing at the Khe Sanh base.

believed a successful offensive would weaken the enemy forces and lead to lower U.S. casualties. President Richard Nixon, already focused on his 1972 reelection campaign, hoped reduced losses would soften anti-war sentiment. To support the planned invasion of Laos, the U.S. Army reopened the abandoned Marine base at Khe Sanh, near the Laotian border and just south of the DMZ. Informed of the invasion plan only days before execution, the Radio Research boys scrambled to scrounge, repair and deliver radios and other intelligence-gathering gear to forward firebases. In Bonnot’s account of the operation in his 2010 book The Sentinel and the Shooter, he said that when parts weren’t available his team cut equipment out of other units’ military vehicles, sometimes using bolt cutters, to obtain radios, batteries and other needed items. Keith was ordered to set up a secure communications link at Khe Sanh, the operation’s forward headquarters. He persuaded an Army engineer with a bulldozer to dig a deep cross-shaped trench to hold a radio teletype machine and related gear for gathering, analyzing and distributing coded messages. The bulky setup was used to link Bonnot’s Khe Sanh intelligence operatives to their Phu Bai headquarters, to the 101st Air-

One Real Unit, One Fake Officially, analyst Ed Keith was part of the 265th Radio Research Company, but he and others who went into combat without authorization formed the fictitious 605th Mobile Guerrilla Force (Provisional).

borne’s intelligence staff at Camp Eagle, and even to analysts as far away as the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. The invasion, designated Lam Son 719, began on Feb. 7, 1971. A few days later, Keith took a helicopter to the division headquarters at Camp Eagle about 50 miles to the south. It was his turn for a shower, a hot meal and a comfortable night’s rest. The 29-year-old sergeant was asleep at about 3 a.m. when a private woke him with an order to immediately carry a classified message to Brig. Gen. Olin E. Smith, assistant commander of the 101st Airborne, at Khe Sanh. The officer on duty ordered a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter and mustered a crew to fly Keith and his top-secret message to Smith who, it turned out, was not at Khe Sanh, but rather spending the night at Quang Tri, a base somewhat closer to Camp Eagle. After Keith landed at the camp, he was directed to a clutch of mobile-home trailers that served as generals’ quarters. He knocked on a door and roused a sleeping general—unfortunately the wrong one, a lieutenant general, who redirected the sergeant to the correct trailer. Keith woke up Smith and handed him the 24page intelligence report. The general asked if he had read it. Keith acknowledged that he had. The DECEMBER 2020

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PHOTO CREDITS

BRUCE ROLLMAN (2)

him to spot targets others couldn’t see. Molinelli referred him to Maj. Jim Newman, commander of the 2nd Squadron’s C Troop “Condors.” Newman was quickly becoming a legend in the air cavalry for his daring exploits, particularly in rescuing downed helicopter crews under enemy fire. Despite standing orders barring signals intelligence specialists from participating in risky missions, Keith wanted to use his skills to help Newman’s Condors fight in Laos rather than operate his radio teletype machine at Khe Sanh. With Bonnot’s blessing—but without telling commanding officer Bernstein—Keith jumped aboard every flight he possibly could. At that point, Keith and Bonnot were operating in what they jokingly called the “605th Mobile Guerrilla Force (Provisional),” a made-up unit with a fictitious shoulder patch they designed featuring a white tiger on a red and black background. They had the unauthorized patch expertly embroidered by one of the ubiquitous Vietnamese civilian shops outside Phu Bai and other bases. The “605th” had only a handful of members, all close buddies Bonnot trusted, who shared the radio unit’s intelligence directly with troops heading into combat. Bernstein had no idea that some of his men were operating out front. “I had guys scattered all over the place at that time,” he said. “I didn’t really know who was where.” The first time Keith flew with Newman, a couple of weeks after the invasion’s Feb. 7 kickoff, they had crossed into Laos when the major received a radio message that a South Vietnamese ranger base was under atintelligence had come from a North Vietnamese radio trans- Keith, in center, and tack and in danger of being overrun. mission intercepted and translated by the Radio Research Bonnot, at left, are outside their portable team. The document, declassified years later, disclosed that trailer at the Khe Sanh Newman turned toward the base, a few miles to the north. The crew could see the North Vietnamese knew that American ground forces communications The crossartillery shells exploding all over the were ordered not to cross the Laotian border and would be center. shaped trench housed outpost. Keith spotted at least some of limited to support functions for the South Vietnamese a radio teletype the enemy artillery. Newman called in troops conducting the invasion. The NVA intended to mass machine and various intelligence-gathering AH-1 Cobra helicopters and Air Force its own forces inside Laos, wait for the South Vietnamese equipment. jet fighters that silenced the guns. infantry and armor to drive deep into the country, then cut A few minutes later, Newman turned toward them off and chew them up before they could get back to South Vietnam. Keith behind him and said over the intercom: That is, in fact, what would happen in the coming weeks. Smith read the report and discussed it with Keith before a scheduled “How’d you like to fly with us?” “All day every day, sir.” meeting that morning with Abrams, who was flying from Saigon to discuss “Fine. You’re flying with us now.” the latest intelligence. Keith lay down on the grass outside the briefing room Back at Khe Sanh, Newman told Keith he wantfor some sleep. ed his help searching for an underwater bridge the hen the generals’ meeting ended, Smith flew Keith back to Khe North Vietnamese were using, likely as a link to Sanh, just a few minutes away by helicopter. There he intro- their supply depot close to Tchepone. Although duced Keith to Lt. Col. Robert Molinelli, the commander of the bridge was invisible from the air in daytime, at the 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, a unit of the 101st Airborne night the NVA drove convoys across it. Newman’s helicopter approached at about 5,000 feet. Keith Division. Keith told Molinelli he wanted to fly over the terrain in Laos and help suggested they drop down to treetop level, turn locate the enemy. The sergeant believed his partial color blindness enabled sharply to the right and fly east across the river to

The Radio Research unit set up an antenna field near the Khe Sanh communications center.

give him a good look. During the descent, a North Vietnamese tank that Keith spotted fired at them. Just moments later Keith saw and plotted the location of the submerged bridge. Newman called in waiting Air Force bombers that took out both the bridge and the tank. Keith recalled that during subsequent flights with Newman on March 7, 8 and 15, 1971, their chopper was hit by enemy fire intense enough for Newman to land in Laos and check the damage before returning to Khe Sanh.

PHOTO CREDITS

BRUCE ROLLMAN (2)

n March 17, Capt. Dennis Urick, flying reconnaissance in Newman’s place, told Keith to come with him. When Keith climbed aboard the Huey, borrowed from another unit, he discovered there was no cable to connect him to the aircraft intercom and radios. He was about to get off when Urick told him to take the door gunner’s cable. Keith sat on the right side of a long bench running across the rear of the cargo compartment. He carried a couple of survival-type sheath knives and wore around his neck a camouflage bandanna fashioned from a bandage in a first-aid kit. Keith also carried sophisticated gyro-stabilized binoculars that helped sharpen distant images, Urick recalled. The Lam Son 719 invasion was in desperate straits. South Vietnamese ground forces in Laos were taking a beating. The NVA, as planned, let the invasion force land with little resistance, but

Six rounds ripped through the chopper’s belly. A white-hot incendiary bullet tore upward through the sole of Keith’s boot.

five weeks later the South Vietnamese were strung out and bleeding, trying to fight their way home. Among the worst hit was the 4th Battalion, 1st Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division, one of Saigon’s elite units, which demonstrated its courage repeatedly on the battlefield. Its firebase was surrounded and being hammered by NVA artillery. All the 4th Battalion’s officers had been killed. The ragged band of survivors was desperate for ammunition—or a ride out. Heavy fire took down several American helicopters attempting to reach the beleaguered unit. Urick’s crew tried to pinpoint the enemy gun positions so AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships could silence them long enough for other Hueys to rescue downed American crewmen and the remnants of the South Vietnamese battalion. Keith spotted some likely targets and asked Urick to go around again to help him get a fix on those guns. The crew chief, Spec. 5 Richard Frazee, saw the escarpment below light up as enemy gunners on the ground fired colored tracer rounds that whizzed past the circling helicopter. On the pilot’s third and lowest pass, six rounds from a .51-caliber machine gun ripped through the chopper’s belly. A white-hot incendiary bullet tore upward through the sole of Keith’s left boot, came out through the top of his knee, hit his wrist and shoulder, and cut his mic cord before smashing into the helicopter’s transmission assembly controlling the main rotor overhead. Frazee, firing his M60 machine gun from the left rear door, heard someone shouting over the intercom: “Who’s hit? Who’s hit?” He looked down and saw his own flight suit and chest armor soaked in blood. Frazee thought he was wounded but then turned and noticed Keith on his back in the cargo bay. DECEMBER 2020

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South Vietnamese and American soldiers are on the move near Khe Sanh during the Lam Son 719 Operation launched in February 1971.

the Army’s 18th Surgical Hospital at Quang Tri, where his leg was amputated above the knee that night. Hours later, Urick and his crew flew to Quang Tri to visit Keith in the hospital and gave him a black Stetson “cav hat,” the unauthorized but proud symbol of cavalry troops, and a .51-caliber bullet they dug out of the shot-up Huey.

eith was transferred to military hospitals in South Vietnam and Japan before being flown to Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco. He underwent major surgery to clean up the leg wound, hastily treated during the emergency amputation, and then had more surgery to remove shrapnel from his arm and shoulder. Two-and-a-half months after Keith had been wounded, he was sent home to his family in Corcoran, California. At Letterman, Keith had begun to feel “phantom limb” pain, a condition doctors believe is rooted in the brain or spinal cord. Keith described it as a burning sensation in his missing leg so intense he couldn’t concentrate to read a book or watch television. He tried college but didn’t finish. He was married for a time but divorced. He was unable to hold a job for long. “I’d started taking drugs within three months

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TOP: BILL KEITH FAMILY COLLECTION; BOTTOM: VIA MICHAEL PUTZEL

Most of Keith’s leg was missing. A few white ligaments were twitching, still attached to Keith’s foot inside his boot. Keith saw part of his leg lying in the copilot’s lap and red warning lights flashing on the dashboard. Frazee couldn’t reach Keith because the webbing of the bench seat blocked his way. He unhooked his safety strap and climbed out on the helicopter’s skid to get around the seat, but every surface he touched was slick with melted fat and blood from Keith’s wound. Frazee lost his grip and thought he would fall from the aircraft but managed to grab onto a strut and pull himself into the cargo compartment where Keith lay on the floor. A tourniquet was tightened around Keith’s thigh to stanch the bleeding. Keith and Frazee differed later on the details. Frazee recalled reaching for a tail rotor tie-down strap that he wound around the stump. As Keith remembered it, he used his bandanna to cinch up what remained of his leg, using his knives to twist the bandage tight. Urick saw Keith give him a thumbs-up sign when the tourniquet was in place, then turned back to steady the violently vibrating chopper. The pilot radioed his gunship escorts to cover him as he hastily descended, calculating that if he lost power he was better off autorotating—essentially gliding—close to the ground in search of a place to land. The Huey made it back to Khe Sanh, where Urick executed a “controlled crash” on the landing pad outside the aid station. When medics saw the extent of Keith’s wounds, a medevac helicopter was summoned to fly Keith to

BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

Keith had decided to “go rogue and play Rambo,” in Vietnam, his former commander complained. “He wasn’t supposed to be doing that work.”

TOP: BILL KEITH FAMILY COLLECTION; BOTTOM: VIA MICHAEL PUTZEL

BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

of getting out of the Army,” Keith said. “I tried anything I could get—not illegal drugs, but anything they had that might stop the pain.” He became addicted and his health deteriorated. In 2015, a doctor suggested Keith try a generic drug, venlafaxine, sometimes used to treat depression and not recognized as a painkiller. Within 48 hours, the phantom limb pain was practically gone. “I still have pain in the leg but nothing like I used to have,” Keith said a couple of years later. Bonnot and Urick campaigned to get Keith a Silver Star in recognition of the many American lives they say he saved through the use of his intelligence expertise on combat missions. Those efforts infuriated Bernstein, the 265th Radio Research Company’s former commander. Bernstein, who later worked as a civilian in military intelligence and retired as a colonel in the Reserves, complained that Keith had decided to “go rogue and play Rambo” in Vietnam. Keith, who had a special top secret clearance, had gone into the field and exposed himself to possible capture. “He wasn’t supposed to be doing that work,” an outraged Bernstein said. “That wasn’t his mission.” Six months after Keith was wounded, Bernstein, on his way home from Vietnam, had called Keith and told him that he felt terrible about what had happened, but added that if he had known Keith was on that mission he would have relieved him of his duties. Bernstein said he didn’t learn until four decades later the full details about the efforts of Keith, Bonnot and Rollman (who as a lieutenant supported the actions of the two sergeants) to provide secret intelligence directly to troops in the field. Bonnot wrote about their activities in an alumni newsletter. Had he known about them in Vietnam, Bernstein said, “I would have relieved all three soldiers and sent them to higher headquarters in Da Nang for insubordination.” Bernstein drafted a letter to the Army’s personnel chief opposing the Silver Star award but after seeing a photo of his one-time subordinate as an old man, he destroyed the unsent letter. “Let the old man go to his grave with an award,” Bernstein said. “Who am I to stop him from getting his last honors?” Ed Keith died on Oct. 4, 2018, at 76, of multiple organ failure. He never got the Silver Star. V

Keith wears a cavalry hat presented to him on Oct. 7, 2017, at a reunion in San Antonio for alumni of C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, in appreciation for his assistance during the war. TOP: Keith, recovering from a leg amputation resulting from his wound in Vietnam, welcomes the Baltimore Orioles to Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco in 1971.

Michael Putzel is a former reporter and bureau chief for The Associated Press and The Boston Globe and the author of the Vietnam War book The Price They Paid: Enduring Wounds of War. He lives in Washington, D.C. DECEMBER 2020

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BEATING THE ODDS

A SMALL BAND OF AUSSIES HELD BACK A MASSIVE ENEMY FORCE AT LONG TAN

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AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

PHOTO CREDITS

By Dana Benner

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

PHOTO CREDITS

Men of the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, search for retreating Viet Cong in August 1966. Their weapons include the U.S. M16 rifle and M60 machine gun supplementing the Aussies’ standard L1A1 rifles.

n the late afternoon of Aug. 18, 1966, Australian Maj. Harry Smith and the men in his Delta Company faced a vastly superior force of 2,500 heavily armed Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops at an abandoned rubber plantation near Long Tan, a village about 40 miles southeast of Saigon. Against all odds the Australians held out for more than three hours until reinforcements arrived. The 108 men of D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, fought for their lives in pouring rain as ammunition dwindled, casualties mounted and the enemy massed for a final assault. There seemed to be no way the Aussies could survive the onslaught. The Battle of Long Tan was the most important engagement of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam, which began in July and August 1962 when 30 military advisers from the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam arrived to work with the American contingent of military advisers assisting South Vietnam’s armed forces in their fight with the NVA and Viet Cong. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson asked nations across the globe to join the U.S. military effort to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam. Australia and New Zealand were among the countries that sent a substantial combat force. A total of 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1973, with a peak strength of 7,672 in 1969. These troops included ground, air force and naval personnel. By the time Australia’s troops were removed from Vietnam in 1973, Australia had suffered 521 killed and about 3,000 wounded. New Zealand sent 3,890 troops to Vietnam between 1964 and 1972, with a peak of 552 in 1969. The casualties included 41 killed and more than 180 wounded. In May 1966, Australia dispatched to Vietnam the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, which was temporarily attached to the American 173rd Airborne Brigade in Bien Hoa province, bordering Saigon. A typical Australian battalion had 37 officers and 755 enlisted men, spread among a headquarters group, four rifle companies (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta), a support company and an administration company. Each rifle company ideally had 123 men: five officers and 118 enlisted. However, it is unlikely that the battalions were ever consistently at full strength. There were personnel shortages because of illness, leave, casualties and gaps between the end of some tours and the arrival of replacements. Each soldier carried at least 150 rounds of ammunition in addition to his weapon. The standard issued rifle was the British Commonwealth’s L1A1 self-loading DECEMBER 2020

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THE 6TH BATTALION of the Royal Australian Regiment arrived in South Vietnam in May 1966 and joined the regiment’s 5th Battalion at Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy province, which included Long Tan. From June to August the 6th Battalion took part in Operation Enoggera, a search-and-clear mission at Long Phuoc. The men also participated in Operation Hobart, a five-day search and destroy mission. During Hobart, the battalion made its first contact with the Viet Cong’s Mobile Battalion D445—a unit the Australians would encounter again on the fateful day in August. For days leading up to Aug. 18, the headquarters at Nui Dat had picked up radio transmissions and other signs indicating a large VC and NVA force was within 3 miles. On Aug. 16, the 5th Battalion patrolled an area north of the Australian task force base. At the same time A Company of the 6th Battalion patrolled the area north and northeast. Intelligence reports estimated enemy strength as 300 to 3,500—a range so large that it was an essentially meaningless number. Most patrols reported contacts with groups of three to six men, typical for the VC. Getting a fix on the enemy force was crucial because the Australian 50

base camp at Nui Dat was in poor condition due to the monsoon weather and could be easily overrun. The rain made visibility practically nonexistent, and the ground turned into an oozing red mud that made maneuvering difficult. In the early morning of Aug. 17, 1966, the communists attacked. Enemy mortar and recoilless rifle fire struck Nui Dat. The defenders responded with return fire from base artillery and the attack caused only limited damage. However, the 1st Australian Task Force commander, Brigadier Oliver David Jackson, realized the vulnerability of his base. After the attack, B Company of the 6th Battalion conducted a sweep of the area east-northeast of Nui Dat to determine the location and size of the enemy force and to retaliate against the perpetrators. However, the Australians found nothing but abandoned firing positions. At 10:35 a.m. B Company reported the discovery of a dug-in pit large enough to hold about 20 men and evidence of a 75 mm recoilless rifle that was fired at the base camp. At 12 p.m. a B Company patrol following the enemy’s escape trail came across another recoilless rifle position and evidence of at least two wounded VC, who had likely been injured by Australian artillery counterfire. D Company relieved B Company on Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. As B Company returned to Nui Dat, D

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AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

rifle. Starting in 1966, the American M16A1 rifle became available, and some Australians shouldered those as well. Other items carried by Australian troops included an entrenching tool, machete, bayonet, at least one M26 grenade, nine full canteens of water and five days’ worth of rations. Each 10-man section shared the load of ammunition and a spare barrel for the M60 machine gun, the M79 grenade launcher, extra grenades, Claymore mines (remotely detonated mines that spray steel pellets) and extra radio batteries. All of those weapons and equipment were used by D Company in its desperate holdout against VC and NVA forces.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

Soldiers of the 6th Battalion pursue a fleeing Viet Cong force on Aug. 19, 1966, the day after the Long Tan battle, fought in heavy rain and thick mud that bogged down men and equipment. BELOW: Maj. Harry Smith, commanding officer of the battalion’s D Company, had to move three platoons into positions where they could survive until reinforcements arrived.

Bien Hoa Saigon

North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong

Long Binh

SOUTH VIETNAM ENLARGED AREA AT RIGHT

The Battle of Long Tan Aug. 18, 1966

NUI DAT

10TH PLATOON KENDALL

Task Force Headquarters 1ST AUSTRALIAN TASK FORCE

11TH PLATOON SHARP 12TH PLATOON SABBEN

D Company, Headquarters Platoon, Smith RUBBER PL ANTATION

LONG TAN

In early August 1966, the Royal Australian Regiment’s troops in South Vietnam, headquartered at Nui Dat, got word that a large force of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong was nearby. On Aug. 17, the NVA and VC struck the Aussie base. The next day the 10th, 11th, 12th and Headquarters platoons of D Company, 6th Battalion, patrolled the area hunting for the enemy. The search took Company D to an old rubber plantation near the town of Long Tan. Around 4 p.m., 11th Platoon was attacked by a surprisingly large force. The other platoons were also hit by enemy fire. Before long, D Company was nearly surrounded, and the 11th Platoon was in a particularly dire situation. Relief forces and artillery saved D Company from annihilation.

Company continued the search for signs of the enemy but didn’t expect to find much. Based on intelligence at the time, recounted D Company leader Smith, “my commander indicated a weapons platoon and protection, perhaps 50-60 VC, probably long gone. No indication was given to me of any larger force in the area.” D Company followed a series of parallel cart tracks leading from the base camp into an abandoned rubber plantation near Long Tan. The Australians made their way through the plantation with 11th and 10th platoons in the front, followed by the 12th Platoon and D Company’s headquarters platoon. On the right front was 11th Platoon under the command of Lt. Gordon Sharp. The 11th Platoon made contact with a small force of Viet Cong about 3:30 p.m. After a short firefight, the VC disengaged and fled east.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

D COMPANY’S TROOPS MOVED into the rubber plantation and soon realized they had stumbled upon the enemy’s lair. Sometime around 4 p.m., 11th Platoon was hit with heavy fire from

multiple directions as the enemy attacked with rocket-propelled grenades. Several soldiers were hit, and the rest were pinned to the ground. Sharp reported contact with a platoon-sized enemy. The lieutenant did not yet know the tremendous force he had come up against. Realizing the enemy’s number was much larger than he could have imagined, Sharp quickly changed his assessment, reporting a company-sized enemy directly in front. At the same time, 60 mm mortar shells rained down on the 10th, 12th and Headquarters platoons. Smith immediately moved those elements north and away from the mortar blasts. Artillery support was called for and 11th Platoon was ordered to disengage. However, it was too late—the platoon was outflanked and unable to withdraw. Sharp was killed. Sgt. Bob Buick took command of the already battered 11th Platoon. The Headquarters Platoon included three New Zealand artillery forward observers from the 161st Field Battery, Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery: Capt. Maurice Stanley, Bombardier (artillery rank equivalent of corporal), W.G. Walker and Lance Bombardier N.N. Broomhall. The forward observers called in and adjusted enemy fire to support the infantrymen under attack. Following the attack, 10th Platoon, in the front left position under the command of Lt. Geoff Kendall, was ordered to assist 11th Platoon. Despite taking heavy casualties, 10th Platoon got within 100 yards of 11th Platoon before its men were stopped by intense small-arms fire.

L1A1 Self Loading Rifle

Most Australian troops carried this firearm, featuring a halflength fore stock, half-exposed barrel with a flash suppressor muzzle and a bayonet lug. The weapon has a pistol grip and a detachable 20-round box magazine.

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Danger Close!

The 2019 Aussie film brings the Battle of Long Tan “up close and personal”

Adding another tragic twist to an already bad situation, an intense storm rolled in. This reduced visibility and made it difficult to identify targets. But there was an even bigger problem: 10th Platoon no longer had a functioning radio. The 10th Platoon’s radio and radio operator were hit early on, according to Cpl. Graham Smith, who was first radio operator for company commander Smith. Headquarters Platoon’s second radio operator, Bill Akell (a private nicknamed “Yank” because he was born in Boston), grabbed a spare radio and “charged towards 10 Platoon, killing two VC on the way,” according to radioman Smith. This act of bravery reestablished communications between D Company’s 10th Platoon and its Headquarters Platoon. Kendall was ordered to withdraw 10th Platoon and rejoined Headquarters Platoon. This was accomplished under the cover of allied artillery fire. Lt. David Sabben, commanding 12th Platoon, took two sections of his platoon west in an attempt to reach 11th Platoon from a different direction. Sabben’s men also encountered heavy fire and could not reach the trapped platoon. In essence, D Company was being surrounded and broken into separate groups with each one taking heavy fire. At 5:10 p.m. D Company reported the enemy was 200 yards in front. The 11th Platoon was in the worst trouble. It was being attacked from north, east and south. An hour and a half had passed since first contact with the enemy. More than half of 11th Platoon’s 28 men were killed or wounded within the first 20 minutes. As 10th Platoon withdrew and the Australians planned another attempt to help their trapped comrades, the VC and NVA forces closed in around the struggling remnants of 11th Platoon. The communist troops hoped to wipe out D Company one small piece at a time—starting with the unfortunate 11th Platoon. However, 11th Platoon was able to hold on and “never lost radio communications, not until withdrawal when their radio operator was killed,” headquarters radioman Smith recalled. As the NVA and VC advanced on the 11th Platoon, New Zealand gunners of the

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AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

ABOVE: After the battle, troops in the rubber plantation examine Viet Cong weapons, including rocket launchers, heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles. RIGHT: Battalion commander Lt. Col. Colin Townsend surmised that half of the VC were killed by artillery.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

Readers seeking a realistic, authentically staged re-creation of the conditions that Maj. Harry Smith’s D Company Aussie soldiers endured at the August 1966 Battle of Long Tan are encouraged to watch director Kriv Stender’s combataction film, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan. When you watch this movie you are experiencing Australia’s deadliest battle in the Vietnam War as close as one can possibly get—at least, without getting shot at. Danger Close was filmed in northern Queensland, Australia, at tropical/subtropical locations that closely parallel the terrain of the abandoned rubber plantation at Long Tan in South Vietnam’s Phuoc Tuy province, where the battle took place. The two-hour film stars Travis Fimmel (best known to American audiences for his role as “Ragnar Lothbrok” in the long-running History Channel series, Vikings) as Smith and Luke Bracey (Hacksaw Ridge) as his righthand man and closest confident, Sgt. Bob Buick. Anthony Hayes plays Smith’s battalion commander, Lt. Col. Colin Townsend, and veteran actor Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge, Mission Impossible: 2) is contentious Brigadier Oliver David Jackson. All the actors portray actual participants in the battle, although Stender’s characterizations of them are somewhat dramatized to propel the film’s plot and artistically accentuate actual incidents of physical and moral courage faced by the protagonists. In addition to presenting the combat in gut-wrenchingly authentic detail, the film emphasizes the vitally important role that the “Kiwi” (New Zealanders) artillery played in providing the “danger close” fire support that prevented D Company from being overrun by waves of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong attackers. It also shows the courageous actions of Royal Australian Air Force helicopter Flight Lts. Frank Riley and Bob Grandin who volunteered to brave enemy fire and “socked in” monsoon weather to deliver lifesaving ammunition to D Company. To this Vietnam combat veteran, Danger Close deservedly joins the ranks of exceptionally wellmade, authentically re-created Vietnam War films, such as Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and We Were Soldiers (2002). —Jerry Morelock, senior editor

161st Field Battery began “walking” their artillery fire, moving it closer and closer to the pinned-down Australians to blast the enemy troops as they drew near. Some shells fell “danger close” (less than 100 yards from the Aussies). The artillery unit’s success in walking shells so close to friendly troops indicates that the radio operator must have been feeding coordinates to the gunners the entire time.

Battle of Long Tan

108

AUSTRALIAN D COMPANY

KILLED 24 WOUNDED

1,500

10th and 12th, at about 75 percent effective strength and one platoon, the 11th Platoon, all but noneffective. All ammunition was distributed to everyone who could still fight. At dark, the enemy assault began. For the next 30 minutes or so, there was no reprieve as D Company repelled wave after wave of attacks. Suddenly at about 7 p.m., the foot soldiers of B Company and the personnel carriers transporting A Company arrived almost simultaneously. The .50-cal. machine guns of the personnel carriers blasted through the surrounding rubber plantation. The enemy scattered, ending the Battle of Long Tan as quickly as it had started.

TOWNSEND ORDERED D COMPANY BACK to the western AT ABOUT 4 P.M. ON AUG. 18, the NORTH VIETNAMESE/ edge of the plantation, and the wounded were evacuated. Over first reports regarding the attack VIET CONG the next two days cleanup operations were carried out across the reached the base camp at Nui Dat. AUSTRALIAN ESTIMATE battle area. All the Australian dead and wounded were recovWithin minutes artillery from three ered. In total 18 Australians were killed—17 from D Company batteries of the 1st Field Regiment, and one from the 1st APC Squadron. More than 20 were woundRoyal Australian Artillery, and one KILLED ed and taken to field hospitals for treatment. battery of the American 2nd Battal3 CAPTURED More than 245 communist soldiers were found dead on the ion, 35th Field Artillery Regiment, fired on the communist attackers, using coordi- battlefield, but captured documents suggest hundreds more had been nates provided by the New Zealand forward ob- killed or wounded. The exact number was impossible to determine because servers attached to D Company’s Headquarters the communists typically removed their dead and the impact of the high Platoon. Those guns fired continuously, dropping explosive artillery rounds that struck the battlefield left little evidence of almost 3,500 rounds on the enemy. Lt. Col. Colin what had been there before. In an area no bigger than two football fields the men of D Company, 6th Townsend, commanding officer of the Australian 6th Battalion, estimated 50 percent of the VC Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, faced a much larger force and yet survived against 20-1 odds. Even so, the fight of Long Tan is considered killed were eliminated by artillery. Three F-4 Phantom II fighter-bombers of U.S. the costliest battle for the Australians during their entire time in Vietnam. Sabben, the commander of D Company’s 12th Platoon, summed up the Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 542 arrived for airstrikes but had trouble identifying targets battle this way: “Long Tan wasn’t the biggest battle the Australians experibecause of the rain. Two Royal Australian Air enced. It didn’t last the longest. Nor did it involve the most troops. But it Force UH-1B Huey helicopter pilots from the was perhaps the most desperate, the most critical to the Australian mission, 9th Squadron were able to come in low and drop and certainly it was the most decisive in terms of results.” V boxes of ammunition to D Company. B Company was ordered back to Long Tan to reinforce D Dana Benner holds a master’s degree in heritage studies. He teaches history, Company. Additionally, Australia’s 3rd Troop, 1st political science and sociology on the university level. Benner served more Armoured Personnel Carrier Squadron, loaded than 10 years in the U.S. Army. He lives in Manchester, New Hampshire. A Company soldiers into 10 vehicles and set out for Long Tan. But would they get there in time? Around 6 p.m., the 11th Platoon’s survivors were able to pull back and make their way to 12th Platoon. Tragically, in this withdrawal the radio operator who played a vital role in the platoon’s survival was killed. About half an hour later, the combined 11th and 12th platoons were able to regroup with the rest of D Company. Using whatever cover was available, the Australians in D Company deployed in a defensive position and prepared for the onslaught they knew was to come. Smith had two platoons, the

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245+

The piper’s lament is played during a commemorative service at Long Tan on Aug. 18, 1969, the third anniversary of the battle. Men who fought on that site in 1966 were present at the memorial service.

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HOPE FOR THE

HOLIDAYS

BOB HOPE’S SHOWS BROUGHT STARS, JOKES AND SMILES TO THE TROOPS By Jon Guttman LESLIE TOWNES HOPE was born in London on May 27, 1903. His parents moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1908, and there at age 12 he took up busking—singing, dancing and doing comedy routines for whatever passersby chose to pay him. After gaining experience in vaudeville, Hope was determined to make show business his career. He created a mildly irreverent (including toward himself) persona and adopted the name “Bob” in 1929. Bob Hope became a star on stage, radio, film and television. During World War II he began entertaining at stateside training bases, then took his show overseas. His winning formula combined comedy monologues, specialty acts, celebrity guests, dancers, singers, skits…and women—to remind the troops, as he often put it, “of what they were fighting for.” By war’s end he and his troupe had appeared everywhere from Alaska to Berlin. Hope did his first Christmas special in Germany during the 1948 Berlin Crisis and performed in Korea from 1950 to 1953, Vietnam from 1964 through 1972 and at numerous other military installations until 1990. In 1997 Hope became the only civilian formally declared an honorary veteran for his half century of service in the cause of U.S. armed forces morale. He died on July 27, 2003, at age 100. 54

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Newly arrived at Pleiku Air Base for his USO Christmas show on Dec. 19, 1966, Bob Hope brandishes his ever-present wood golf club, flanked by Col. William Bonneaux and Maj. Gen. Arthur S. Collins Jr., commander of the 4th Infantry Division.

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Hope at Christmas

A Gen. William Westmoreland, the commander of U.S. forces in South Vietnam, thanks Hope on Christmas Eve 1965, during his USO Christmas tour. B Hope jokes with more than 2,500 crewmen aboard aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga in Cam Ranh Bay on Dec. 27, 1965. C Actress Carroll Baker snaps her fingers at cheering sailors on the Ticonderogaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bridge as Hope leads her to the stage set up on the flight deck. D Hope introduces Madeleine Hartog-Bel, Miss World from Peru, at Da Nang in December 1967.

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DECEMBER 2020

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Hope at Christmas

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BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

E Comedian Phyllis Diller performs for American troops at Cam Ranh Bay on Jan. 6, 1967. F Actress Raquel Welch gives the troops some encouraging words in December 1967. G Dancers strut their stuff for the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) base at Cu Chi during the 1969 “Bob Hope Christmas Special.” H Ann-Margret revs up the crowd during a performance at the 9th Infantry Division headquarters on Dec. 27, 1968. I American troops surround the film crew at a Bob Hope show on Dec. 29, 1967. The words on the cue card are from the Cole Porter song “It’s All Right with Me,” written for the 1953 Broadway musical Can-Can.

AP PHOTO; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; D GUEST SMITH/ALAMY; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

AP PHOTO; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; D GUEST SMITH/ALAMY; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES

H I

DECEMBER 2020

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A C-130 Hercules transport plane lands at Khe Sanh in early 1968 carrying pallets of supplies to Marines who have been under siege since Jan. 21. Strong air resupply capabilities enabled the base to hold off the North Vietnamese Army until ground reinforcements broke the siege.

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower famously observed that “battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost because of logistics.” Feeding Victory: Innovative Military Logistics from Lake Feeding George to Khe Sanh, an intriguing new title from Victory: Air Force Col. Jobie Turner, explores the wisInnovative dom of those words and the impact of logistics Military on three centuries of armed conflict. Logistics from Defining logistics as the “combination of Lake George to transportation and supply for a fighting force,” Khe Sanh Turner focuses on four technological eras and seBy Jobie Turner lects a handful of battles and campaigns that best University Press of Kansas, 2020 illustrate the role of logistics in each of those historical ages. The four-year campaign (1755-59) to wrest control of New York’s Lake MEDIA George from the French and their DIGEST Native American allies, for example, severely tested the ability of the British to supply their forces in the pre-industrial era. Turner also discusses the influence of technology and logistics in warfare during historical periods encompassing World War I, World War II and Vietnam. 60

In Vietnam, Turner homes in on the communist siege of the U.S. Marine base at Khe Sanh. Following months of debate, in January 1968 the North Vietnamese Army launched the Tet Offensive, nearly simultaneous attacks on dozens of cities across South Vietnam. The North believed the attacks would foment an insurrection and cripple the government in Saigon. To draw American troops away from urban areas before the attacks began, communist units laid siege to Khe Sanh, a remote outpost near the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Vietnam. NVA planners, Turner writes, believed the Americans lacked the resources required to fight effectively in the cities and in the countryside at the same time. Similarly, Communist Party First Secretary Le Duan naively suggested the U.S. economy, the world’s largest, could not sustain an expeditionary army fighting half a world away. North Vietnam, a small impoverished nation propped up by generous support from China and the Soviet Union, developed a surprisingly sophisticated logistical system. By 1967, Hanoi

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

KHE SANH A HISTORIC BATTLE ON THE LOGISTICS FRONT

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VIETNAM WAR-GO

had transformed the Ho Chi Minh Trail, WITH THE FIRST running through supposedly neutral & THE BEST! Laos and Cambodia, into a network of routes and way stations capable of acDon’t Be commodating a fleet of 2½-ton trucks Left Home! that delivered troops and supplies to communist forces fighting in the South. VN Tours At Khe Sanh, communist logisticians Begin at moved two NVA divisions (roughly $2,495! 20,000 troops) and enough food, arms and ammunition to conduct a prolonged 13-Days siege of the Marine base. Don’t Pay Critical of static defensive positions, More for the Marines questioned whether Khe Sanh could be adequately supplied Less! during a major attack and recommended We weathered COVID-19 from China so now go with the abandoning the base in the summer of 1967. However, Army Gen. William C. originator of the battlefield return to Vietnam —often Westmoreland, the overall commander copied but never dupliof U.S. ground forces in Vietnam, orcated! MHT has been dered the Marines to hold the base. He welcomed the opportunity to bring Disabled VN Vet Owned American firepower to bear on the large & Operated since 1987! enemy force congregating around the base and viewed the isolated outpost as Call @1-703-590-1295 a potential staging area for a future invaWWW.MILTOURS.COM email@ MHTOURS@MILTOURS.COM sion of Laos. Shortly after midnight on Jan. 21, 1968, the North Vietnamese assaulted Marine positions on Hill 861 to the north of Khe Sanh. Later that morning, the NVA shelled the main base. Turner, recounting the hellish 77-day siege that followed, notes that the struggle “resembled the Western Front in 1917.” As Westmoreland predicted, American firepower, aided by an advanced targeting system that tracked enemy movement, prevented the NVA from overrunning the beleaguered garrison. “At Khe Sanh,” Turner explains, “the ability of American aircraft and artillery to pin down the NVA blunted their of, 2-3 minutes, fensives, halted their logistics, and kept utes or 7 minutes?the NVA from their food.” 14 minutes, 2-3 minutes, Marshaling the combined resources 16-17 minutes or 7 minutes? of several services, the Americans hurVIE-201200-002 Military Historical Tours.indd 1 riedly deployed fixed-wing transports and helicopters to resupply—entirely by For more, visit air—the 6,000 Marines defending Khe WWW.HISTORYNET.COM/ Sanh and the surrounding hills. MAGAZINES/QUIZ Contrary to misguided communist assumptions, the United States not only HISTORYNET.com was able to afford the financial costs of ANSWER: 2-3 MINUTES. DELIVERED FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS a war in Southeast Asia, but could also AFTER THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG, LINCOLN’S ICONIC ADDRESS FRAMED THE CIVIL WAR AS NOT A STRUGGLE FOR THE UNION, BUT arm and supply friendly forces in any A STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN EQUALITY,

HOW MUCH TIME DID IT TAKE FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN TO DELIVER HIS GETTYSBURG ADDRESS?

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

W MUCH ME DID IT KE FOR RAHAM COLN TO LIVER HIS TTYSBURG DRESS?

AS OUTLINED IN THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

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theater of the conflict. In April, a joint U.S. Army-Marine operation ended the siege. “Though the United States won at the game of supply and inflicted heavy losses on the NVA at Khe Sanh, they still lost the war,” Turner acknowledges. “The narrative of the small third-world country, besieging the Marines at Khe Sanh and attacking U.S. and [South

Vietnamese] controlled cities in South Vietnam, was enough to turn American public opinion against the war.” Turner, incidentally, misses the mark when he asserts that the war in South Vietnam was a “counterinsurgency.” The conflict actually combined main-force war elements and a well-entrenched military-political insurgency. Nevertheless, policymakers and military leaders alike would do well to read Feeding Victory. —Warren Wilkins

U.S. Secret War in Laos Told Through Life of Hmong Pilot

Prisoner of Wars: A Hmong Fighter Pilot’s Story of Escaping Death and Confronting Life

By Chia Youyee Vang Temple University Press, 2020

Details of the secret CIA-sponsored war in Laos during the Vietnam War came to light beginning in the late 1980s with the publication of more than a few books on the subject. The most revealing included Jane Hamilton-Merritt’s Tragic Mountains (1993), Christopher Robbins’ The Ravens (1987), Roger Warner’s Back Fire (1995) and Kenneth Conboy’s Shadow War (1995). One aspect of the United States’ so-called “secret war” in Laos, however, remains relatively little known in this country: the U.S. Air Force/CIA program that recruited young airmen from Laos’ Hmong mountain tribes to fly dangerous missions for the Royal Lao government in its civil war against Pathet Lao communist forces. Chia Vang, who was born in Laos and came to the United States as a child in the early 1970s, has been trying to give those airmen the recognition they are due. A history professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee specializing in the Hmong diaspora, Vang interviewed several dozen Hmong pilots, their family members and their one-time American advisers for her 2019 book, Fly Until You Die: An Oral History of Hmong Pilots in the Vietnam War. Her new book, Prisoner of Wars, is a concise biography of former Hmong pilot Pao Yang, who—as the title indicates—was shot down during a bombing mission and taken to a remote Lao prisoner of war camp in 1972. Vang interviewed Yang for her oral history. In the new book, she tells his story, focusing on Yang’s time as a POW, his escape with family members to Thailand and their up-anddown saga after settling in the United States. Yang and his family joined some 50,000 other Hmong refugees in the U.S.—a segment of “the collateral damage that has been left out of dominant Vietnam War narratives,” Vang notes.

Yang, who was able to overcome the rural poverty of his youth and become a military pilot, is an “impactful illustration of the possibilities that existed at the time for a humble Hmong… to gain access to the U.S.-sponsored military bureaucracy,” Vang writes. His life, she says, “provides a unique lens through which to better understand the lasting impact of the wars in Southeast Asia” over the past two centuries. Like other Hmong pilots, Yang flew a piston-engine T-28D Trojan trainer remodeled into a rudimentary dive bomber—“poor-quality aircraft that were no longer used in Vietnam,” Vang notes, adding that the planes were moved to Laos “without regard for the safety of local pilots and the American volunteers who flew with them.” The Pathet Lao released Yang from the POW camp in late October 1976 but did not permit him to leave the country. He was forced to perform arduous manual labor building bridges and working on farms and in sawmills. That ordeal lasted nearly three years before Yang gathered members of his family, including his second wife and child, and undertook a hazardous journey by foot to the Thai border. The family made it out of Laos, spent time in a refugee camp in Thailand and arrived in the U.S. in late December 1979. Yang and his family came to America with little money. They could find only menial jobs and moved frequently. The family survived, but the acclimation was extremely difficult for everyone, including Yang’s American-born children. Prisoner of Wars is a valuable book that adds to the ongoing saga of the continuing, multifaceted legacy of the American war in Vietnam. —Marc Leepson

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STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (required by Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code). 1. Vietnam 2. (ISSN: 1046-2902) 3. Filing date: 10/1/20. 4. Issue frequency: Bi Monthly. 5. Number of issues published annually: 6. 6. The annual subscription price is $39.95. 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: HistoryNet, 1919 Gallows Rd. Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182. Contact person: Kolin Rankin. 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: HistoryNet, 1919 Gallows Rd. Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182. 9. Full names and complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor. Publisher, Michael A. Reinstein, HistoryNet, 1919 Gallows Rd. Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182, Editor, Chuck Springston, HistoryNet, 1919 Gallows Rd. Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182 , Editor in Chief, Alex Neill , HistoryNet, 1919 Gallows Rd. Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182. 10. Owner: HistoryNet; 1919 Gallows Rd. Suite 400, Vienna, VA 22182. 11. Known bondholders, mortgages, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent of more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities: None. 12. Tax status: Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months. 13. Publisher title: Vietnam. 14. Issue date for circulation data below: October 2020. 15. The extent and nature of circulation: A. Total number of copies printed (Net press run). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 40,376. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 34,349. B. Paid circulation. 1. Mailed outside-county paid subscriptions. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 27,637. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 27,428. 2. Mailed in-county paid subscriptions. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 2,769. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 4. Paid distribution through other classes mailed through the USPS. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. C. Total paid distribution. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 30,406. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date; 27,428. D. Free or nominal rate distribution (by mail and outside mail). 1. Free or nominal Outside-County. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 2. Free or nominal rate in-county copies. Average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months: 0. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 3. Free or nominal rate copies mailed at other Classes through the USPS. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 0. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. 4. Free or nominal rate distribution outside the mail. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 549. Number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 373. E. Total free or nominal rate distribution. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 549. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 373. F. Total free distribution (sum of 15c and 15e). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 30,956. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 27,801. G. Copies not Distributed. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 9,420. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 6,548. H. Total (sum of 15f and 15g). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 40,376. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing: 34,349. I. Percent paid. Average percent of copies paid for the preceding 12 months: 98.2% Actual percent of copies paid for the preceding 12 months: 98.7% 16. Electronic Copy Circulation: A. Paid Electronic Copies. Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 0. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 0. B. Total Paid Print Copies (Line 15c) + Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 30,406. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 27,428. C. Total Print Distribution (Line 15f) + 1 Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a).VIE-201200-003 Average number of John copiesBlack.indd each issue during preceding 12 months: 30,956. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 27,801. D. Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c x 100). Average number of copies each issue during preceding 12 months: 98.2%. Actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: 98.7%. I certify that 50% of all distributed copies (electronic and print) are paid above nominal price: Yes. Report circulation on PS Form 3526-X worksheet 17. Publication of statement of ownership will be printed in the December 2020 issue of the publication. 18. Signature and title of editor, publisher, business manager, or owner: Shawn G. Byers, VP, Audience Development & Circulation . I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanction and civil actions.

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FOR HIS COMRADES By Doug Sterner

Ruppert Leon Sargent grew up in Hampton, Virginia, as a devout adherent to the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith. Although they identify as Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not celebrate Christian holidays, recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor salute the American flag. The church also prohibits its members from serving in the military, including service in noncombat roles for conscientious objectors. Members who do join the military are not expelled or shunned, but they usually get treated as if they had been. Despite the prohibitions of his religion, Sargent, born Jan. 6, 1938, enlisted in the Army after graduating from Virginia State University, a historically Black school in Petersburg. Sargent spent six years as an HALL OF enlisted man and then was accepted for Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned an infantry second lieuVALOR tenant on Oct. 15, 1965. In September 1966, Sargent, who by then was married and had two small children, deployed to Vietnam as a platoon leader in Company B, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He rose to first lieutenant and became friends with his company commander, Capt. Watty Smith from Tennessee. Seven months later Sargent was offered the position of company executive officer. Smith congratulated the lieutenant and told him, “Your days of wading around in rice paddies and water and mud and the jungle are over.” On March 15, 1967, Smith was sent into the jungle to investigate reports of a Viet Cong meeting house and weapons cache in Hau Nghia province west of Saigon. Since most of his soldiers were assigned other tasks that day, Smith, 64

Doug Sterner, an Army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, is curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor database of U.S. valor awards.

VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND

RUPPERT LEON SARGENT VIRGINIAN SACRIFICED HIS LIFE

not expecting serious action, assembled a group of 15 cooks who were transported to the place where the reconnaissance was to begin. “I’m getting everybody unloaded, and I look up and there stood Ruppert Sargent on the mission with me,” Smith recalled. He pulled Sargent aside and was going to chew him out for coming along but actually was glad the lieutenant showed up. “Boss, there was no way in hell I’m going to let you come out here by yourself,” Sargent told him. Smith led his men into the jungle. Sargent spotted a camouflaged tunnel with a booby-trapped entrance. He tried to destroy it with grenades. When that failed, he moved in with a demolitions man. They flushed out an enemy soldier who was killed by the nearby platoon sergeant. Sargent then moved toward the tunnel entrance with the platoon sergeant and another soldier. Just then, a Viet Cong emerged and threw two grenades at the three Americans. Sargent rapidly fired three shots at the enemy soldier. He then threw his body over the two grenades and absorbed the blast. Sargent’s sacrifice saved the lives of his two comrades, who sustained only light wounds. A grieving Smith carried Sargent’s body from the jungle and then sat down to write a letter to Sargent’s family, another recommending him for the Medal of Honor and a third to Hampton officials to tell the community about the hometown boy’s heroism. Sargent was buried in a quiet ceremony at Hampton National Cemetery. When Sargent’s Medal of Honor was approved in 1968, the Army faced a dilemma. The soldier’s widow, Mary Jo Sargent, also a devout member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, declined to accept the medal based on her beliefs—only the second time in history that a next-of-kin declined to accept America’s highest military honor. However, when the Army eventually agreed to a private presentation, she consented. On March 10, 1969, Brig. Gen. Donly P. Bolton drove to the Sargent family’s home in Hampton to hand the medal and citation to her. The only others present were Sargent’s two small children. Smith’s third letter ended up on the desk of Andy Greenwell, head of Hampton’s commerce department. Decades later, in October 2002, Hampton named a city administration building the “Ruppert L. Sargent Building.” Smith served a second tour in Vietnam and retired a major. Smith, who died in 2017, would tell people he and others owed their lives to “my best friend.” V

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! N IO T C U D O R P Y C N E G R E EM

Actual size is 40.6 mm

Rush Production of U.S. Silver Dollars Creates 2nd Lowest Mintage in History

4,000,000

2,000,000

The Mystery of Silver Bullion A coin’s value is often tied to its rarity. One way to determine a coin’s rarity is by its mint mark—a small letter indicating where a coin was struck. Since Silver Eagles are almost always produced solely in West Point, the coins don’t feature one of these mint marks. But this year’s Silver

2015-P

2020-P

2017-P

2016-P

2017-S

1996

1994

1,000,000

Philadelphia Steps Up For just 13 days, the U.S. Mint struck an “Emergency Production” run of U.S. Silver Dollars at the Philadelphia Mint. This was great for silver buyers, and really great for collectors. Here’s why:

2nd Lowest Mintage (240,000)

3,000,000

1997

West Point, the U.S. Mint branch that normally strikes Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) Silver Eagles, went into lockdown. Prices quickly shot up, and freshly struck Silver Eagles became much harder to find at an affordable price. To meet the rising demand, the U.S. Mint knew it had to act—and act fast.

5,000,000

1995

U.S. Mint Halts Production

Eagles were also produced in Philly—so few (a scant 240,000) that they are now the second smallest mintage of Silver Eagles ever struck! So how do we tell a 2020(W) Silver Eagle from a 2020(P)?

2016-S

ne of the most popular ways to buy silver is the Silver Eagle— legal-tender U.S. Silver Dollars struck in one ounce of 99.9% pure silver. When the COVID-19 pandemic began sweeping the world, demand skyrocketed. But there was a problem...

Certified “Struck at” Coins Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) is one of the world’s leading third-party coin grading services. Thanks to some skilled detective work, they have certified these coins as being struck at the Philadelphia Mint during this special Emergency Production run. What’s more, a number of these coins have been graded as near-flawless Mint State-69 (MS69) condition—just one point away from absolute perfection!

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GovMint.com • 14101 Southcross Dr. W., Suite 175, Dept. EPE241-01 • Burnsville, MN 55337 GovMint.com® is a retail distributor of coin and currency issues and is not affiliated with the U.S. government. The collectible coin market is unregulated, highly speculative and involves risk. GovMint.com reserves the right to decline to consummate any sale, within its discretion, including due to pricing errors. Prices, facts, figures and populations deemed accurate as of the date of publication but may change significantly over time. All purchases are expressly conditioned upon your acceptance of GovMint.com’s Terms and Conditions (www.govmint.com/terms-conditions or call 1-800-721-0320); to decline, return your purchase pursuant to GovMint.com’s Return Policy. © 2020 GovMint.com. All rights reserved.

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10/8/20 8:01 PM

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n the early 1930s watch manufacturers took a clue from Henry Ford’s favorite quote concerning his automobiles, “You can have any color as long as it is black.” Black dialed watches became the rage especially with pilots and race drivers. Of course, since the black dial went well with a black tuxedo, the adventurer’s black dial watch easily moved from the airplane hangar to dancing at the nightclub. Now, Stauer brings back the “Noire”, a design based 27 jewels and handon an elegant timepiece built in 1936. Black dialed, assembled parts drive complex automatics from the 1930s have recently hit this classic masterpiece. new heights at auction. One was sold for in excess of $600,000. We thought that you might like to have an affordable version that will be much more accurate than the original. Basic black with a twist. Not only are the dial, hands and face vintage, but we used a 27-jeweled automatic movement. This is the kind of engineering desired by fine watch collectors worldwide. But since we design this classic movement on state of the art computer-controlled Swiss built machines, the accuracy is excellent. Three interior dials display day, month and date. We have priced the luxurious Stauer Noire at a price to keep you in the black… only 3 payments of $33. So slip into the back of your black limousine, savor some rich tasting black coffee and look at your wrist knowing that you have some great times on your hands.

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