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A Very Close Encounter Of The Worst Kind
It's the first week in Nov 1968 and I am Platoon Sargent of 3rd Platoon Fox Company 2nd Battalion 1st Marine Regiment 1st Marine Division We have had a new 2nd Lt. as Platoon Commander for a few weeks now. He should make it out of here because he listens and learns.
His first action was about a week ago our platoon was in a blocking position waiting for other units advancing and pushing the enemy into our area.
We were all set in and chowing down when Automatic and RPG's began to hit our area. We were at the platoon C.P. and Lt. Soli {think that was his name} jumped up and started running around screaming orders. Well I tackled him and said Lt. Look around , every marine was in his hole and firing back and I said Sir first thing you do in a firefight is hit the deck. Then you get your bearings and do what needs doing. He understood because he told me I thought I stepped on a beehive, but those bees were very close bullets, when they sound like an angry bee. I knew I had a good Lt. then.
Anyway, our company and a sister company had moved in before daybreak and surrounded an island with a ville [I think it was Go Noi island}because we wanted to catch the VC leaving. I have to explain the terrain. This is rice patty city. The small berms [that's what I call em] were maybe 3 foot high with a walk path down the middle. These were around all the square rice patties. We were facing in because the island and ville was surrounded by these patties.
So my platoon was the anchor of the company. We set up 2 man positions at about 20 yd intervals . I had just set the last hole with a Squad Leader and his radioman. Told him I'm going back to Platoon CP, so keep in touch and your eyes open cause you no one on your left flank.
Picture this long berm over rice patties and another berm with high bushes came in from behind that position and made a T with a treeline about 30 yards away so they needed to watch both front and rear.
It is light now and I had my cartridge belt with my 45. and 2 canteens and was armed with my Thompson. I turned and started off down the trail on top of the berm . I took about 4 steps and turned back to tell them just one eat chow at a time and as I pivoted to my right, and I will never forget these next few seconds. My men were facing Go Noi island and just clearing the bushes to their back was a Viet Cong pointman for his squad. He was wearing shorts with a cartridge belt and 2 grenades on it and he was couched down moving forward with his AK-47 outstretched and was ready to fire but my movement caught his eye and I opened fire with my Thompson. I got off the first round and my only one because the Thompson jammed . All of this is like hours to me but really it was in millseconds .I watched my round go through the bushes about a foot away and to his rear.
And watched that Ak-47 complete its swing towards me and he began firing. We were no more then 10 feet apart and I melted. I didn't jump , my body became like water and going down one round hit a canteen . He fired a 14 round burst at me [ I counted the spent cartridges later ] and dropped to the trail to go back but my Squad Leader got off a round which wounded him. I rolled off the top of that berm as the whole treeline opened up on us.
That was a curse in Viet Nam sometimes because usually when the firefight begins it is just maybe 3 or 4 who can actually use their weapons in the initial contact. The VC had rolled off his trail into the rice patty.
The CO wanted us to capture a live VC if possible so I,m thinking I'll crawl out and drag him in.
I didn,t really think that the treeline would all try to get me cause they might hit their buddy, and I didn't even think about that then I guess I wasn't even thinking at all cause I crawled out and dragged him over to our berm and finally got him in . And they really did try to kill us both. I was not thinking about being brave, I just felt I could get him.
After getting him my marines had worked their way down and the VC broke contact.
I know one thing , to score a VC point man , whom by the way credit goes to my Squad Leader but I felt good, I had saved my men and there is no doubt all 3 of us would have died if I hadn't turned to my right, he would have killed them and his VC squad in that treeline would have killed me when they opened up.
This happened on Nov 4th I'm pretty sure because later that day our platoon was ordered to advance across the rice patty and climb up on the land and advance towards the Ville. As we approached closer being able to climb on the island I observed a open area of maybe 25 across and 40 deep and then a small berm type separation with a clearing of maybe 25 feet and a trench started. I held up the squad and told our Lt. and we pulled back to our starting place to call in some gunships or jets to bomb which would help set off Bobby-traps also and clear some of the brush away from the trench. Well the word came back No Air, No Arty No Prepfire due to how close this empty Ville was.
Damn were the Lt. and I Mad. Look, you gotta understand this place had not been searched because every unit that tried had taken KIA or WIA from Bobby-traps.
So I put a squad to lead us onto the island. Told em move slow take your time and take no chances. We are in no hurry and we really was hoping it would get to dark anyway but it was not to be. So we started out and I was 3rd from the front with about 3 or 4 meters between us and my Point man started climbed on the island about 2 feet from around that little berm to his left and took 2 steps and BOOM knocked me down , killed him and wounded the second marine plus set off tear gas grenades he had on his flak jacket What a mess, we called a med evac and got em out by letting the helo hover right where we were when the bobby-trap went off and loading them on. So now it's later in the afternoon so we were ordered to pull back and set in for the night and get resupply and be ready to go back in in the morning. We were furious because we still couldn't use supporting arms. Wasn't our CO, Lt. went to talk to him that night.He understood but someone up the chain of command said no surporting fires to be used.
Well by morning, I had decided to probe with a bayonet so a squad could get on land and started so when I told the Lt that I was going to probe with a bayonet to get us started on the island He got a bayonet also and the two of us probed an area big enough for about 8 or 9 men at a time single file. We probed past the first blast which looked like a mortar rd bobby-trap [that little berm sure did stop a lot of scrapel} and we went almost up to the trenchline where it started.
All night my friend and 3rd Squad Leader Cpl. Ardon Halt was begging me to let his squad take the lead. You don't need no medal, naw Sarge, I wanna lead out Please let me. Allright I said, we have to enter the trenchline just to get over it and continue on so I told him, You take your time and anything suspicious you call me up. So we are at a crouch with him first, next was a marine to watch ahead of him in case a VC was gonna shoot him and then Me with rest of his squad in file with 3 to4 steps between them. And all Hell Breaks Out with those angry bees buzzing. Down we all go.
We were getting ready to return fire but the rounds were coming from our right flank and luckily we didn't start shooting our Own Marines who had the island surrounded and saw movement and were not told we were gonna get on that island. My LT. went ballistic, He got on the Bn. Net and told em you make sure everyone knows what the hell is going on.
Anyway we let our energy burst relax and cooled it for about 20 minutes in place still. OK we get ready to start again ,we are crouching down and Ardon began to probe into the trench and disappeared in a huge blast. He was KIA , next marine was badly WIA knocked me into the rice paddy ,and the fifth marine was slightly wounded, so I climb up and call in a med-evac for 2 WIA 1 KIA. I,m standing in the same spot almost as the day before. And I tell the marine that was forth in line to get the rest moved off this island and he's kneeling with his head hung down and I go to him and he's KIA from metal that went into his chest where his the flak jacket would meet.
We lost 3 KIA 3 WIA in a space of no more then 10 steps We got em all med-evaced and Captain told us to pull back and they bombed and napalmed for a good 2 hours and we never went back on that Little Piece of Our War.
That was on Nov 4th and 5th 1968 I was med-evaced from an Operation in the field Nov 10th 1968 Marine Corps Birthday when I collapsed into a coma with 105 0r 6 temp from Japanese B Encepilatas Sleeping Sickness and never woke up until I was in Hospital on Guam.
March 21, 2009
Sgt Chuck Thompson
