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AMERICAL
NEWSLETTER VIETNAM NETWORK
Proudly Served! The 23rd Military Police
Company
No other company was more widely dispersed and multi-tasked than the
Americal's combat MP's
by David W. Taylor
A
Special thanks to Dave Taylor and the Americal Division Veterans Association
for use of this artical.
More
than Policemen
The 16-foot
"Boston Whaler" slowly prowled the An Tan and Tra Bong river
complexes, setting up floating ambushes to catch unwary Viet Cong sampans.
Dubbed "River Rats", the soldiers inside the boat watched
the riverbanks warily, careful they didn't become the hunted instead
of the hunter. One soldier sported a steel helmet that had a large dent
in it, a souvenir from an enemy AK-47 round during a previous firefight
from the riverbank. Each boat was outfitted with 80 and 85-horsepower
motors, M-60 machine guns, an M-79 grenade launcher, two M-72 anti-tank
weapons, hand grenades and individual M-16 rifles. They were ready.
Further north, soldiers from the same company patrolled 32 miles of
highway #1, from Quang Ngai in the south to Tam Ky in the north, and
all towns, villages and hamlets in- between. Their quarter-ton gun jeeps
with specially mounted machine guns may not have been enough if hard
hit in an ambush, but it's all they had. The floors of the jeeps were
covered with sandbags to hopefully protect legs from being blown-off
should the jeeps cross a command-detonated mine.
Still further north two other soldiers from the same unit landed by
helicopter to the scene of a savage firefight, to take charge of 18
Viet Cong prisoners. The soldiers of this company manned bunker defenses,
guarded bridges, searched for VC infiltrators, raided remote areas for
illegal drugs and contraband, as well as stragglers and AWOL's. And
some … paid the ultimate price of a warrior. These were men who
were a new kind of soldier in a new kind of war: the combat military
police of the 23rd MP Company, Americal Division.
A
Proud History
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| 23rd MP's Standing
Inspection at Guard Mount-Americal Division, Chu Lai. Photo courtesy
23rd MP web site |
The roots
of the 23rd MP Company go deep with the Americal Division. Constituted
April 3, 1943 as the Military Police Platoon, Americal Division, it
was activated on May 1, 1943 in New Caledonia, South Pacific. Inactivated
in December 1945 at the conclusion of World War II, it was activated
again in December 1954 to serve with the 23rd Infantry Division at Fort
Amador, Canal Zone until its inactivation in April 1956. In April 1967,
with the advent of Task Force Oregon in Vietnam, half of the 148th platoon
of the 18th MP Brigade and half of the 544th platoon of the 196th Infantry
Brigade came together as the MP Platoon in support of the task force.
Operational control of this MP platoon came under the Provost Marshall
of the task force. This consolidated platoon eventually became the 23rd
Military Police Company with the changeover from Task Force Oregon to
the activation of the Americal Division. Thiscompany would always be
spread thin serving throughout the division's area of operations (AO).
Coming
Together - Vietnam
Major Warren
Lucas was the Deputy Provost Marshall of the 1st Infantry Division in
Vietnam when he was called to Saigon in the spring of 1967 to plan for
the MP assets of a new task force being formed, called "Oregon".
By the summer he was heading north to Chu Lai to begin the process of
assuming control of Provost Marshall (PM) and military police duties
in this large operational base on the coast, soon to become the headquarters,
Americal Division. "The biggest problem we faced", he recalls,
"was understanding what to do. Each component in Chu Lai, the Air
Force, Navy, Marines and Sea Bees had their own security element. But
within one month it was under Americal Division control".
Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Lucas focused on three primary areas:
First, coordinating with the separate brigades who had their own PM
with the rank of Major, and a dedicated MP platoon ("this was my
biggest focus"). Second, providing security for the entire Chu
Lai base perimeter, both land and seaside and operation of the Americal
POW camp. "My particular emphasis was on keeping the Vietnamese
that were allowed on base from stealing everything that they could get
their hands on" and third, coordination with local police to control
the interface of the soldiers with the civilian population.
Captain George "Ron" Sunderland assumed command as the first
23rd MP Company Commander, on 27 December 1967 and reported to the Division
PM. "At that time we operated under a modified TO&E" he
recalls.
"I
had two line platoons, a security platoon and a headquarters section.
Even though it wasn't according to MP doctrine, we used the security
platoon at the POW cage. The two line platoons performed security around
the division Tactical Operations Center (TOC), the general's quarters,
discipline law & order duties, front gate security, etc. Within
a couple days we also got the commitment to run daily convoys north
to LZ Baldy and occasionally south to Qui Nhon".
Sunderland's biggest responsibility outside Chu Lai was the daily convoys,
both north and south. He recalls, "After we started the convoys
we soon got enough jeeps but I wanted them modified. We moved the M-60
machinegun mount back further so we could get more traverse on the gun.
We took out the windshields and put a rectangular "flower box"
across the front, with sandbags inside it and we put wire cutters on
the front of the jeeps. We then got some 106 Recoilless Rifle jeeps
from some infantry outfit turning them in and put the 106's in our supply
room."
Sunderland's previous MP Company Command in Germany came in handy with
the heavy maintenance requirement for the jeeps. "We found out
early on we were wearing out those jeeps quickly. Those vehicles were
eaten up because of the slow speeds, low gear driving, and heavy weights
with the gun mounts, sand bags on the floors, etc. We were wrecking
jeep transmissions with less than a thousand miles on them. With the
beating the jeeps were taking we were changing oil about every three
days and we drained the radiators every 1-2 days because of all the
sand that got in them. We couldn't get them flushed professionally so
we stole ('borrowed') baking soda from the mess halls to use for flush.
When the rear transaxle would wear out our motor sergeant would flip-flop
it with the front one to keep them running. Most of those jeeps only
had two-wheel drive most of the time."
Regarding POW control in those early days Sunderland reflects,"We
never had any escapes during my tenure (one or two attempts) and by
and large the prisoners were happy to be under US control. I remember
two prisoners though: One was an NVA and the other a VC, who were both
witnesses to an alleged war crimes case.
We called one "Twiggy" and the other "Horseface".
"Twiggy" was so named because he had had malaria and was nothing
but skin and bones. He became our bartender at the MP Club. "Horseface"
was so named because he had been smashed in the face with the butt-end
of an M-16. We used him as our 'Straw Boss' to supervise the prisoner
details cleaning the area"
SFC William McMinn started his tour in May 1968 as the Operations Sergeant
for the Division PM and witnessed the transition that finally brought
the 23rd MP Company together division-wide. By late 1968 the brigade
MP platoons reported to the division MP Company and the division PM
oversaw the entire Americal. McMinn remembers, "On Chu Lai we didn't
know who the enemy was … we had so many Vietnamese working on the
base. We had to watch them carefully. I do remember this … we had
a lot of enlisted draftees but overall they were just as good as the
RA's. They were a great group of soldiers".
As Operations Sergeant McMinn spent an inordinate amount of time on
vehicle accidents within the Chu Lai base. "I remember we had an
APC hauling a tank and the APC lost its breaks, crashing into a ¾
ton truck which was bringing some new soldiers of out of Combat Center.
About eight were killed. There were lots of stolen vehicles… units
trying to get more than they were authorized. We even had marines stealing
Army jeeps even though they were an entirely different configuration.
We collected so many stolen vehicles our compound looked like a used-car
lot."
Forward
… With the Grunts
Roy Dolgos
was assigned as a 196th Brigade MP when Task Force Oregon was formed.
He recalls, "The 196th would take two MP's and send them to each
line battalion to take care of POW's and informants captured in the
field. At that time we were usually in the field for one-two weeks at
a time with the grunts, usually on company size operations. On one operation
we captured an informant late in the day. The company CO expected to
get mortared that night. He told me 'Don't let him escape' so I placed
my handcuffs, one on his wrist and one on mine. That night we got mortared
and I ran to the right and he ran to the left. This happened 2-3 times
like a Laurel & Hardy movie, until I got control of him in the dark
and he went my way".
Ed Costello also served with line battalions as part of his duties during
his tour from November 1968 to June 1970, spending some time with both
the 2nd/1st and 5th/46th infantry battalions. While with the 5th/46th
on LZ Gator in May 1969, sappers attacked the LZ and killed the battalion
commander. Costello remembers, "We were off-duty that night, sleeping
in a tent with sandbagged walls. As the sappers ran by they threw a
satchel charge under my cot. I had two mattresses that probably saved
me. At the opposite end of the tent was the Civil Affairs office that
took care of the civilians who worked on Gator during the day. The sappers
knew exactly where to go. My fellow MP and I retrieved the Colonel's
body from his bunker. He was hit with two satchel charges - his body
was in six pieces - barely attached."
"River
Rats" - Patrolling the Water Ways
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| River
Rat base camp at the An Tan Village with a 23rd MP.The An Tan River
is in the background. Photo courtesy of
Tom Brown |
Tom Brown
arrived in country with the 198th Brigade in October 1967. He was assigned
on the northern edge of the Americal's base to patrol the river flowing
west from the South China Sea. "We would run our Boston Whalers
out to the ocean, running patrols day and night", he recalls. "The
fishing boats were supposed to be back in by dusk but we realized these
fishermen were trying to make a living. If they came in late with their
lights on we checked them out. If there were no lights we went after
them." Brown remembers an odd incident: "Once we were at the
headwaters, on a mainland beach having some lunch. We saw some Viet
Cong come out of the brush on a small island and set up a mortar to
fire on us. We called in a gunship to take care of them".
In addition to river patrol, Brown's group of MP's also guarded one
of the bridges over the An Tan river, manning two bunkers, one at each
end. An infantry unit guarded a second, larger bridge adjacent to it.
He remembers, "Bridge duty was good duty, with no one on us. It
was good duty, that is, until Tet '68. Before the attack the villagers
stopped talking to us. The attack started with mortars and rockets,
then a ground attack. The VC put two rockets into our bunker and a whole
bunch of mortars onto it. They tried to knock us out, especially the
M-60 being operated by Bob Little. They managed to blow up the other
bridge the infantry guarded. We had no place to run. I killed three
or four of them in the ground attack. I had my eardrums perforated by
a rocket that exploded. The attack lasted a couple of hours and afterward
Bob stood up in the bunker and saw that a rocket had hit only about
a foot above his head. The next day we found a few bodies around the
area. We held the bridge."
Jerold "Jerry" Lear also patrolled the waters, but south of
the Chu Lai Base in the forbidding complex of the Tra Bong River Basin.
An incident in early May 1968 reflects the treacherous conditions river
rats on the Tra Bong were subjected to. Lear relates how, "It was
a beautiful day, we were happy for daylight because the ARVN had shot
at us the previous night while we were on the river in ambush. We had
to send up flares and give our position away. We always traveled in
two boats; each boat had two MP's, two infantrymen and an interpreter.
Some places on the river were only 6-8 feet wide where we could get
our boats through because of sandbars. We were canalized and sitting
ducks. We were trying to wind our way through one of these when the
VC opened up on us from a machinegun nest. By targeting us in that close
space all hell broke loose. Three of us were hit; Brent Smith was the
worst, getting hit 3-4 times. With the machine guns from both boats
directing fires we finally masked the fires of the VC. We got on the
other side of the channel and called in a medevac. Brent was bad …
I never saw so much blood. When we got him on the medevac he was face
down but I know he was alive. We heard he had been sent to Okinawa.
Three months later he came back walking into our base camp. We thought
he was crazy. He said, 'I have no one at home, my friends are here.'
That guy had balls. He survived the rest of his tour".
Convoy Duty: Down "Mine Alley"
From the
southern end of the division's AO to its northern limits, possibly the
most dangerous duty for 23rd MP's was convoy duty. No where was that
more evident than Highway 535 in the 196th Brigade AO.
Cordie Croft remembers the area well: "I arrived in Vietnam in
early March 1969. I was fortunate to have Gary Akers, a guy with experience,
break me in on how to do convoy runs. The platoon did a lot of them
to LZ Ross, which was south and west of LZ Baldy where we were located.
Ross was a rearming and refueling point for the Hiep Duc campaign and
also a place for refugees to gather. So there was a continual need to
run resupply convoys to it. The lead MP vehicle called the checkpoints
into the battalion Tactical Operations Center, and then the trail vehicle
would call a "touchdown" when they passed through the gate
at LZ Ross. Convoys were made up of JP3 tankers, mogas, and small arms
ammo up to 8" shells, food and personnel.
"Convoy duty was dangerous. We constantly lost vehicles. If your
vehicle hit a mine you did your best to drive it off the road. In the
convoy we had the pressure truck, a 5-ton truck with lots of steel plate
and sandbags and with extended steering and brake/clutch, etc. so that
the driver could sit up inside the truck bed. In the middle of the convoy
we had a Quad .50 caliber machine gun truck. Our rules of engagement
were to fire on anything that shot at you or looked suspicious, and
to keep the convoy moving."
Samuel "Varn" Varney, another 196th MP recalls "The most
dangerous duty we had was the convoy on Highway 535. It was better known
as 'mine alley'. The Americal lost some 70 vehicles from January to
August 1969. The convoy to LZ Ross passed through a village called Que
Son. This ville was known to be 90% or more VC or VC Sympathizers".
On March 26, 1969 another convoy was readied to make the hazardous trip
from LZ Baldy to LZ Ross. MP Jerry Widiker will never forget the day.
"I was slated for convoy duty that day. The duty roster listed
Bob Corey and I in the lead vehicle. He was the driver and I was on
the M-60. Two months earlier I wouldn't have been fazed by this assignment,
but ever since Tet 1969 the convoy route had been filled with mines.
Bill Fenton, an MP who had worked in the PW cage, informed me that he
too would be making the trip. Bill and our jeep mechanic, Gene Zugelter,
who had never been out on the road before, but had volunteered for this
convoy, had to transport ten Vietnamese prisoners to Ross."Bill
and Gene had borrowed a 2 ½ ton truck from our artillery unit,
picked up the ten prisoners and were ready to go. As we left the platoon
area, Bill yelled to a few buddies standing outside our tent, 'Well,
I'm gonna go out and get my shit blown away'. As we left out the west
gate of Baldy, Corey and I were in the lead vehicle with Bill and Gene
in the truck right behind us. About twenty vehicles trailed them.
"We started down 'Graveyard Alley', a 200 or 300 meter stretch
of road so named because it had been the scene of all but two of the
35 mine ambushes during the past six weeks. I turned and looked at the
deuce-and-a-half, which was about 30 yards behind us. Gene and Bill
looked as tight as I was. I stuck up my middle finger and waved it at
them in an attempt to ease some of the tension. Bill quickly returned
my signal.Widiker continues, "we got half way through the critical
stretch when it happened. The truck went over a command-detonated mine.
Though Corey and I was a safe distance away we were pelted with fragments
of rock and metal. Corey stopped instantly and radioed for a Medevac.
I grabbed my M-16 and headed back towards the truck. The prisoners were
sprawled out on and off the road groaning and crying. Several severed
body parts were lying among them. I gutted the courage to look forGene
and Bill. Gene was lying about 100 feet off the road. Bill, who was
lighter and absorbed more of the impact, was thrown an additional 50
feet. When I got to Gene he was unconscious but groaning. I looked out
at Bill who didn't appear to be as badly wounded as Gene. A medic arrived
within seconds and began administering first aid to Bill. "I stayed
with Gene and tried to do as much as I could. I turned his head to the
side and scraped all the blood and broken teeth from his mouth so he
wouldn't choke. His right leg was badly wounded around the knee. I tied
my shirt around the wound to slow the bleeding and kept clearing his
mouth until the Medevac arrived about fifteen minutes after the blast.
As we loaded Gene on the chopper Bill was already on board. One look
at him and the apparent absence of wounds assured me that he would make
it. Gene appeared very critical." After returning the convoy back
to Baldy the MP's learned the hard news. Gene Zugelter, although critically
wounded, would survive. Bill Fenton had caught a large piece of shrapnel
in his chest that killed him almost instantly. On April 30th "Varn"
Varney was on another convoy on Highway 535 when an 8" self-propelled
artillery piece hit a mine. He remembers vividly, " fourteen men
died on this vehicle, climbing out of it with fire all over their clothes.
There were five crewmen and nine ARVN passengers hitching a ride back
to Ross. I'll never forget the explosion - the fireball and the cloud
of black smoke rising…"
Further south in the spring of 1969, 11th Brigade MP's were supporting
a convoy from Sa Huynh to Duc Pho along Highway 1. The last vehicle,
acting as rear security, hit a mine. The MP machine gunner, SP/4 Peter
Jewell was thrown from the jeep. The driver stayed with the damaged
jeep as it swerved off the road. Although wounded Jewell low crawled
100 yards to his jeep and began firing his machinegun against enemy
fire coming from both sides of the road. He recalls, "that low
crawl back to the jeep seemed like an eternity. I always wanted to have
lots of ammunition with me at all times and there I was, wounded, away
from my gun with only a side-arm." In short order two armored personnel
carriers arrived from E Troop, 1st Cavalry to turn the tide. Jewell
was promoted to Sergeant the next day and subsequently awarded a Bronze
Star for Valor.
From
Civic Action to Confiscation
23rd MP's
were tasked with a myriad of duties. Working with South Vietnamese police,
the MP's habitually set up roadblocks to stem the flow of black market
goods. When checkpoints were set up on Highway 1 near Quang Ngai City
in the summer of 1969, about one in every five vehicles was found to
be carrying illegal goods. After a couple days the Americans and Vietnamese
would move to other roads and catch traffickers trying to detour the
roadblocks. South Vietnamese police also worked with the MP's in the
field. In August 1968 a platoon of the Vietnamese National Police Field
Force (NPFF) arrived in Duc Pho to work with MP's and infantry in the
areas of demolition, psychological warfare, field interrogation teams,
intelligence and special search squads.
Working closely with Vietnamese civilians put MP's in unique situations
that required these young soldiers to have a discerning maturity beyond
their years. "Civilians" could be Viet Cong, black marketers
or friendly villagers in support of the government. In July 1968 quick
thinking by a 1st Platoon MP near Sa Huynh saved a women's life. Villagers
brought him to a woman who had a deep gash in her head. Her vein was
broken and she had a sandbag tied around her head to stop the bleeding.
He kept her from bleeding to death and took her to a nearby aid station.
Facing
the Challenge in a No Win War
As the war
began drawing to a close with Vietnamization and the slow departure
of American units in 1970-1971, the Discipline, Law and Order function
of the 23rd MP Company's role became critically important. John Baky
was assigned to the company in that time frame in a number of capacities:
OIC of the POW cage, 1st Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer.
He recalls, "The morale started sliding when I got there …
everyone from a newly assigned private to a senior company commander
had this unmistakable sense we weren't in it to win … just to figure
how do we get out. People were pissed off they could get killed by mortars
or rockets for no good purpose. We weren't going to win or couldn't
win but yet couldn't get out."Adding to this growing tension were
the numerous accidents occurring with GI's driving at high speeds to
avoid mines but hitting civilians. This reached the height of crisis
when a GI killed a pedestrian near Quang Ngai City. MP's arrived to
restore some order. The civilians put a sheet on an MP jeep and used
it as an altar for the body. Baky remembers, "The civilians surrounded
the convoy so it could not move. They knew a Civil Affairs rep would
fly in to pay off the villagers. Vietnamese soldiers (ARVN) started
to hang around to see what they could get, siding with the villagers.
My men, trying to restore order were agitated and started to argue with
the ARVN. I was proud of how much crap my men took that day. They could
have unloaded on the ARVN." In an effort to stem the high rate
of accidents MP's went to the air, flying in Light Observation Helicopters
(LOH) and accurately estimating the speed of trucks on Highway 1. Recalls
Baky, "We flew in the LOH's and would land on the highway, stop
the truck and give them a ticket. We gave a lot of tickets and lowered
the number of accidents. But it didn't help the morale of those drivers
trying to do their job. And we agreed with them."
Dale Meisel served with the 23rd MP's in the same time frame, as 1st
Platoon Leader in Duc Pho and then Division Provost Marshall Operations
Officer. "The Vietnamese sensed we were pulling out and one of
our duties was to set a payment schedule for everything, from a pig
being killed, to a Moped damaged, etc. This became a rather contentious
issue with the Vietnamese." When he was a platoon leader, in an
effort to stem black market activities, the military across Vietnam
changed the Military Payment Certificates (MPC). "We had a lock
down at the 11th Brigade base in Duc Pho", he recalls. "We
prohibited all movement - in and out - until the currency changeover
was completed. It was a huge headache logistically. I remember the Koreans
ran the PX Concessions in Duc Pho and elsewhere. They were only supposed
to have X amount of money and they had much more. They got caught short
with the MPC change-over."
Captain Gary Lundgren was the last Commander of the 23rd MP Company
- Vietnam. He was assigned in Chu Lai for approximately five months
before the division base was moved to Danang after a hurricane devastated
the Chu Lai complex. Lundgren remembers, "At 24 I was a very young
Captain but I had a very experienced First Sergeant, John Skittlethorpe
(now deceased) who was in his 50's and the senior E-8 in the MP Corps.
Every other word out of his mouth was a four-letter word but he ran
a tight ship. Drugs were rampant at the time but it was not a big issue
in the company. We were a tight group."Lundgren continues, "When
we moved to Danang and the pull-out was in full swing I continually
preached esprit de corps. I told my men 'do your job professionally
- keep it consistent.' One of our tasks was guarding the main gate in
Danang near Freedom Hill. ID cards were very important. One of my men
stopped a general at the gate who didn't have his ID card. The general
was quick to point out his position to my sentry. The MP replied, '
sir, don't confuse your rank with my authority.' Needless to say the
Provost Marshall and me had a 20-minute audience with the general hearing
about rank and authority. But I gave my sentry an attaboy."True
to the diverse nature of the 23rd MP Company serving throughout the
Americal's area of operations, when the final ceremony was held in Danang
to retire the division colors, Lundgren's 23rd MP's were there …
standing tall … and proudly serving.
Proudly
Served!
John
Baky left active duty, obtained a masters degree in Library
Archival Management and is Director of Libraries & Research, LaSalle
University, Philadelphia. He lives in Gladwyne, PA.
Tom Brown left the Army and returned
to his roots where he has worked for 30 years in the Produce Business
at the Food Distribution Center, Philadelphia, PA. He and his wife and
two children live in Upper Darby, PA.
Cordie Croft
retired from active duty in 1977 after 20 years and served as a police
officer in Hopkinsville, Kentucky - where he resides - until retiring
in 1998. He now serves, at the age of 62, as Deputy Sheriff/Chief Bailiff
in charge of Justice Center operations in Christian County, KY.
Roy Dolgos left the Army and returned
to Chicago, Illinois and college. Dolgos is very active in veterans'
affairs, serving as President of VVA Chapter 242 (Chicago Loop). He
was also Chairman - Veterans Advisory Group, City of Chicago. On March
5, 2003 he was
appointed by the Governor of Illinois to head the states Department
of Veterans Affairs. Dolgos is also the National VP of the 196th Brigade
Association.
Peter Jewell finished his Army stint
in September 1969 and returned to his native New England. Since then
he has lived in rural Maine keeping busy in the antiques and livestock
businesses. He lives in Smithfield.
Jerold Lear left the Army and has
been involved in industrial selling ever since. This former "River
Rat" appropriately lives in a house on the river, in Delphos, Ohio.
LTC Warren Lucas remained on active
duty, retiring in 1973 with 24 years of service. He lives in Mount Pleasant,
SC and works in physical security consulting and commercial real estate.
Gary Lundgren remained on active
duty, retiring in 1989. He is a High School teacher in Tampa Florida
where he lives. He works with sick children at the Tampa General Hospital,
teaching all subjects.
SFC William McMinn remained on active
duty, retiring in 1982 as a Sergeants Major. He earned a Masters Degree
in Criminal Justice and worked as an Abuse Investigator - Nursing Homes
& State Schools - State of
Texas, retiring in 1998. He lives in Copperas Cove, Texas.
Dale Meisel retired from active duty
in 1988 and is the Warden of Lehigh County Prison, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
He lives in Wescosville, PA.
CPT George "Ron" Sunderland
remained on active duty, retiring in February 1980 in North Carolina.
Since then he has supervised a six county Community Health Center working
with substance abuse cases. He resides in Fayetteville.
Samuel Varney left the Army and returned
to his native West Virginia, returning to the
teaching profession he had been in before the Army, retiring in 2000.
He was recently classified disabled from the effects of Agent Orange.
He lives in Crum, WV.
Jerry Widiker returned to his native
Milwaukee, Wisconsin after the Army, and regained the job he had at
Evinrude Motors before he was drafted. He recently retired after 32
years with the company.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
In addition to interviews conducted by the author, references include
Americal Division Magazine - fall 1968; 11th Brigade Trident Newsletter,
April 4, 1969; Southern Cross Magazine: August 17, 1968 & August
20, 1969. Quotations from Tom Brown, Cordie Croft, Roy Dolgos, Samuel
Varney and Jerry Widiker are courtesy of written interviews provided
by Dale Meisel as well as the author's own interviews.
BACK
|
Headquarters
(Chu Lai)
11th Brigade (Duc Pho)
196th
Brigade (LZ Baldy & Hawk Hill)
198th Brigade (LZ Bayonet)