1968

TO LISTEN TO GEORGE JONE'S 50,000 NAMES ON THE WALL

04 Jan 68- Paul H. Villarosa, SFC E-7, Recon Tm Ldr,  Ronald R. Watson, (former 1st Infantry Division) Sp/4 E-4;  FOB 4, RT INTRUDER Da Nang, Ops 35, USASF During a Recon mission in Laos, the team was fiercely attacked by the enemy who used flame throwers against the team. All KIA-RR. (SFC Villa Rosa was killed by the flame thrower). my name is Tim Schaaf and I was assigned to C&C between 12/67-2/69. I was reading some of the facts related to the SOG guys that were killed in 1968 and there are some mistakes that you may want to correct. First of all about me, I was assigned to FOB4 in 12/67 and placed as one two on Anaconda team. Charlie Wilcox was the one zero and Bob Dougherty was the one one. We were housed in hooches that allowed for the Americans from two teams. Villarosa's team was the other team in our hooch and the first team to ever insert from Fob4. He was a good guy, a little strange, but a brilliant commo man. Famous at Bragg and  former commo cadre at training group, he could copy 20 words a minute in each ear, at least that was the story. He also had a tattoo of a dotted line completely around his neck with the words "cut on dotted line. As I recall he also had tattoos of A spider webs on his elbows. Being the first team to be inserted, we were all very interested and closely followed all the commo relating to the team. 3 days they had trackers on them and they couldn't shake them. Then we heard later that they were hit on he 3rd or 4th morning by a small group . Villarosa was hit with a flame thrower and the team split. I can't remember their names but we were later told that the other two Americans were picked up individually and rescued. I do remember that one was black and the other was white. They were never however brought back to FOB4. It was a hell of a way to start, it was a wake up call for all of us.

05 Jan 68-John T Gallagher, SSG E-6 of Hamden, Conn, USASF, Spike Team Ldr, FOB-3, Khe Sanh, Ops 35, and Dennis C. Hamilton, WOl, Pilot, of Barnes City, Iowa; Sheldon D. Schultz, WOI, Pilot, of Altoona, PA; Earnest Frank Bridggs, Jr., SFC E-7, Crew chief, of Devine, TX and James D. Willamson, SP/4, Door Gunner of Tumwater, Washington assigned to 411^th Transportation Detch, 176th Avn Co, 14th Avn Bn, Americal Division, Ops 32/75 (Air Studies Branch/Group) all MIA?s (The helicopter was 20 miles inside Laos south of Lao Bao and about 4,000 feet when it was observed to be hit by ground fire and exploded and burst into flames upon impact with the ground. Four attempts was made into the area but had to be aborted due to heavy enemy fire; however, no part of the aircraft was recognizable, finally a team was inserted several days later and found nothing). NOTE: Another source says the helicopter was 2,000 feet and hit by 37mm anti-aircraft fire.  Note: RELEASE NO. #06-16 May 2, 2006 JPAC TEAMS DEPLOY TO LAOS TO SEARCH FOR MISSING AIRCREWS- Personnel from JPAC and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic are conducting recovery operations focusing on four American aircraft crews. One case involves a Special Forces reconnaissance team that disappeared Jan. 5, 1968, after ground fire showered their UH-1D Helicopter and sent it plummeting to the ground. The aircraft exploded on impact. Five Americans are unaccounted-for from this incident. {Posted 4/14/07: Hi Guys.   Kelly Brouwer is Dennis Hamilton's cousin.  As you know these guys crashed in Laos on Jan-5-68.  For you SF guys, SFC John Theodore Gallagher and several Bru were killed on this slick also.  May God grant their families peace and closure.  Dave Sebright,  Minuteman 17 ----- Original Message ----- From: "kelly brouwer" <kbrouwer39@hotmail.com Subject: Final result of the site excavation of 66-01172. Hi all,  Copying everyone I have spoken with since originally posting on the guest  board of the 176th web site in 2003 that the gov had requested dna of Dennis Hamiltons mom. Dale Weiss and Bob OConnell also responded but I  think I heard both have since passed away. If not, please forward. I got a letter from my aunt (Dennis's mom) this week. His mom is in her  late 80s now and although her handwritting is as clear and steady as ever,  the thoughts can kind of jump around before the sentence she was working on was complete sometimes. But this is what I got from it. In Feb and part of March 2003 the crash site in Laos was excavated. In May or June they requested a sample of dna from Dennis's mom and sister and told them that they had Dennis's dog tags in Hawaii. A year later my aunt  wrote them a letter and they responded that they were being processed. After another year she wrote again and asked "well, do we get his dog tags  or do we not". About 6 weeks later a Army rep hand delivered them to their home in Texas. Their was a big article in the local (Iowa) paper when that happened. The next summer (2006) they sold their house in Texas and moved  back to Iowa. This past Tues. March 27th they came again to their new place in Iowa with the final results. They apparently delivered some bone fragments and more personal effects of Dennis. She said they spent 3 hours and had in their possession artifacts from everyone on board. They did'nt let them see it all but she did mention seeing a picture with Earnest  Briggs in it  and numerous personal items like razor, lighter, pocket knife, shoe soles, sunglasses, watch and band, and camera. They explained that much of the remains had been burnt and the site was very acidic  making it difficult to do dna and they had at least one bone that they weren't sure was of Dennis or Eldon Schultz. They were on their way to  Pennsylvania (Schultz home state) when they left. My aunt and uncle are planning a funeral in "late spring/early summer" for  Dennis in Iowa. She will call me when she knows for sure. I think they are very happy to have closure before they die. Dennis's dad nearly died of cancer about 3 months ago but decided to try chemo and it worked  incredibly well. My dad and mom say he is doing great for anyone in their 90's. I don't trust what my aunt says in that regard because she has  always been one that could make a sprained ancle sound like a terminal injury. Anyway, if any of you that knew Dennis or anyone of the crew would like to write his parents, I'm sure they would like to here from you and it would  probably be read at his funeral. Hazel and Charles Hamilton P.O. box 55 Lynnville, Iowa 50153 Or email it to me and I'll get it to them. Thanks, Kelly Brouwer}

Earnest F. Bridggs From Vietnam Virtual WallJohn T. Gallanger From SF Honor Roll

 

12 Jan 68, James Derwin Cohron, SSG E-6, USASF and two Vietnamese Team Members (Names unknown), Spike Team "Indiana," FOB-1, Phu Bai, Ops 35, Spike Team Members on Recon in Laos when ambushed. MIA Presumptive finding of death. (The team moved to a predetermined location at which time SSG Cohron and the two Vietnamese were unaccounted for. Cohron was the second man from the rear of the team formation, when the team was ambushed, 1 mile inside Laos, south of Khe Sanh. Initially, the team broke contact and set up a defensive position on a small hill, after evading through a gully. The terrain was heavily vegetated with "elephant grass" which obstructed the teams view of Cohron as well as well as their ability to effect any contact with him. Air Support was requested and the team being extracted. Two days later a search team was inserted and these three individuals were not found).

James D Cohron (From SF Honor Roll)

17 Jan 68- Samuel F. Beach (Officer, rank unknown), USAF, 20^th Tactical Air Support, 0-1E Pilot,Ops 32 (Air Studies Branch), SFC Donald L. Chaney, C&C FAC "Covey," FOB 3, CCN, MACV-SOG, 5TH SF GROUP, took off in O-2A tail number 67-21327 for a mission into Laos. Shortly after leaving the runway the aircraft was hit by enemy fire and crashed. Both men were killed in the crash when trying to land at the Khe Sanh airstrip. KIA-RR. 

Donald L. Chaney (from SF Honor Roll)

29 Jan 68- Michael T. Mahoney, SP/5, and Two Bru Montagnards, FOB-3, Khe Sanh, Ops 35, KIA, Remains not recovered (while on local patrol was surprised by a large enemy force and received heavy enemy automatic weapons fire, which caused the patrol to split into smaller groups to escape the battlefield. SP/5 Mahoney and the two commando's deaths were reported by radio, but due to enemy activity, their remains could not be carried by the other soldiers). Charles Nichol Tredinnick, SFC E-7, FOB-3, Khe Sanh, Ops 35, Special Forces Det A-21 "Snake Bite" team 1st SFG Okinawa. KIA-RR (While on an "Operation Pick-up" recovery force. SFC Tredinnick led a five men assault on an enemy position capturing high ground when he saw an enemy platoon size element maneuvering to split the FOB element in half, he fired on the attacking enemy forcing them to retreat. Another American was shot and with complete disregard for his own safety exposed himself to a hail of enemy fire and ran 40 meters and dragged the wounded American to safety and when that position was threatened, he again exposed himself to a hail of enemy fire when he was mortally wounded).  Gary L. Crone_ SSG E-6 USASF FOB-3, Khe Sanh, Ops 35, Assistant Senior Medic at FOB-3, due to leave country on 30 Jan 68, KIA-RR. (SSG Crone volunteered for a local recon mission in an area outside but near the camp. During a firefight with a superior enemy force, he was captured and executed. He was subsequently intentionally decapitated by the enemy and abandoned for discovery-SSG Crone death was a calculated execution).  Photo furnished  by dave@sebrightproducts.com-Crone is on the left with the cigarette hanging in his mouth, Billy W. Wood is on the right with the Khe Sahn TOC antenna appearing to come out of his left shoulder.

"My cousin SFC Charles (Chuck) Tredinnick served with Tommy at F.O.B. 3 in Khe Sanh. Both Tommy and Chuck were killed on the same day, being 29 Jan. 1968. I have been trying to get information about Tommy for his family who lives in Towanda, Pa. I was so glad to see that his body was recovered. This brought a closure for his family and friends. As the poem titled "A Man is not Dead until He is Forgotten", Tommy is not forgotten. May God Bless him and his family forever. Jul 18, 2007-Dennis Tredinnick dentre1@comcast.net

The three Americans who died on the east side of Hill 471, 3 kilometers south-southwest of Khe Sanh airfield, were

As noted above, SSG Crone and SP5 Mahoney were killed in the initial ambush, while SFC Tredinnick was on the recovery team. The Defense Department announced the recovery and identification of SP5 Mahoney's remains on 08 May 1968; regretably, a review of the DoD casualty lists through August 1969 failed to produce a "remains identified" date for SSG Crone. Long after the action on Hill 471 Mr. Taylor edited a summary of the action on Hill 471.

The following by CPT "Rip" VanWinkle: In a letter dated 10 March 1997, Bill Wood wrote the following:  "At 0830 hrs we left the front gate of FOB 3: me (Wood), Don Voorhees, Gary Crone, Xon, To, Tu, and seven other Bru. Mike Mahoney accompanied us as a straphanger wanting to gain some experience.  I think he and Gary Crone had known each other somewhere before and Gary asked if it would be OK if Mike came along.  Voorhees and 6 of the 7 Bru were new to the team and this would be their first patrol out of the FOB.  Our objective was to move about two kilometers from the FOB to the small peak southeast of Hill 471 to take a look around. "There was a heavy fog that morning and that was one of the reasons that I was agitated about our late start and the reason I was hurrying.  The fog at Khe Sanh usually lifted between 0900-0930 hrs. and I wanted to be close up under the hill mass before it lifted.  We moved directly toward the hill, across the shallow valley that extended west and southwest from our perimeter.  To (the point man) chose a path where the weeds were shorter (Avoiding the taller weeds where some others and I had spread some gasoline the day(?) before) and we moved right along.  Still, we were too slow.  The fog lifted while we were in the middle of that open area, still 900 or more meters from the foot of Hill 471.  We continued to the hill and mounted it sort of diagonally, up across Hill 471 to the saddle between 471 and the small peak to the southeast.  I noted the grass, which was everywhere about 2 1/2-3 feet high, had been mowed in a swath 300 or more meters wide on the east slope of 471 itself.  The fire lanes I had experience with were usually from 1-3 feet across, so I ignored the short grass."There was plenty of evidence that the AF had bombed Hell out of the general area in the past couple of days.  Those bomb craters had not been there two days before."Upon reaching the saddle between Hill 471 and the small peak we stopped, or rather the Bru stopped so the rest of us, perforce, stopped also.  The Bru could best be described as agitated, saying, 'No! No! Beaucoup VC!'  They were all huddled together.  After some minutes of talk I said ' Well, let's go' and started walking toward the small peak.  In the saddle and on the nearest slope of the peak the grass was normal length--2 1/2-3 feet high.  The crest of the peak was only 6' or 8' higher than we were, but that ridge got higher to my right front; and (this occurred to me at the Casualty Clearing Point at the airstrip) I was walking on a path.  It was not a bare-earth path but a trace where the grass had been worn down and beaten off by passing feet.  At the time I never thought anything of it.  It was not my most perspicacious day. "About 12 or 15 meters along something caught my attention and I took a couple of steps to my left for a closer look.  All of the grass on the east side of the peak was mowed as well.  This was a fleeting glimpse because as I stepped aside, we took fire from directly ahead of us, from a range of about 5 meters.  I returned two magazines full auto but don't think I hit anyone.  About the time I finished firing a few (3-4) M-79 rounds hit the top of the peak.  I looked back to find I was alone again.  Crone lay face-up some 3-4 meters behind me and I could hear a lot of firing back about where we had stopped to talk.  No more M-79 rounds came past me.  I scrambled back to Crone to find he had been shot in the right cheek, the right eye, and the right forearm, which was broken.  He may have had other wounds as well.  As I tried to find signs of life, I noticed that his head was intact: the bullets hadn't exited although there was a large pool of blood under the back of his head.  (Crone had been carrying the radio and the cord to the PRC-25 handset had been shot in two.  There were no other radios with the patrol). "I started to drag Crone back to the rest of the team but a grenade came in and knocked me loose.  I scuttled back to where the rest of the team was to find Xon wounded in the ankle, one Bru dead (the M-79 gunner) and only Voorhees and 3 Bru firing at the top of Hill 471.  Now we were taking fire from the small peak as well.  I counted two MGs and a couple of AKs there.  I told Voorhees that Crone was dead and asked after Mahoney and the rest of the Bru.  Voorhees stated that he didn't know, that they had disappeared when the shooting started, presumably downhill, back to the east or northeast.  Then he told me that Xon was killed.  I remarked that in my opinion, it was about time we left, and suddenly I was alone again, but not for long.  After a hurried scan of the area (during which I spotted out not less than four automatic weapons positions on the military crest of Hill 471) without sign of Mahoney or the rest of the Bru, I was gone too. "I caught up with Voorhees and crew in a bomb crater 20-25 meters from the crest of the saddle.  We may have been in defilade again, as the NVA had stopped firing.  I mentioned that a bomb crater, unless you could see out, was a poor position.  Everyone scrambled out and we ran the roughly 50-60 meters to the foot of the hill, across the small dry stream bed there, and continued across the flat for 75-80 meters to a thin hedgerow at the foot of a fallow field. "Voorhees and two Bru, in the lead, got through this hedgerow but Tu, apparently beat out, slowed to a walk just before reaching it.  I slowed, too, put my hand on his shoulder when more than one automatic weapon opened fire behind us.  I think we had come out of defilade and one weapon was aimed directly at Tu and me.  I could see the bullets striking just ahead of us--I think one or more rounds went between my legs and between Tu and me.  One went through my knee (It felt like someone had slapped me with a ruler) and several hit Tu in the abdomen and chest.  I pushed Tu through the hedgerow and dived through myself.  the firing stopped again. "After ascertaining I couldn't help Tu I took out my CAC pad from the last mission (the only paper I had) and printed on the back of it:  'In deep trouble.  Team split.  Some wounded.  Need out.  Wood.'  This I gave to the Bru and in my best pidgin Bru, mangled English and hand and arm signals, told them to take it to the camp and give it to an American.  They left, moving carefully along the hedgerows and not hurrying."  That left Wood and Voorhees alone at one location and no sign of Mahoney and the other Bru.  The message turned out to be unnecessary.  Back at the FOB someone had heard the firing and had launched a gunship to investigate.  After finally locating and identifying Wood and Voorhees, LT Thieu picked them up in his H-34.  SFC Robert Scully (Deceased), the senior medic at FOB 3 was on board, and returned to the FOB. It was at this point that HF Denver  became involved.  ODA 221 was manning the American positions on HF Denver.  We were scheduled to rotate back to Okinawa within a week or so and I had received permission to depart early as my family was arriving on Okinawa on 31 January.  We were told that Wood had run into a reinforced squad and that we were needed to go out and recover all of the bodies and locate Mahoney.  I took SFC Charles "Chuck" Tredinnick (KIA on the mission), SGT Don Rumph, SGT Craig Lansing, and SP5 John Frescura from ODA 221, SFC Scully, 1LT Grenville Sutcliffe (WIA on the mission) and PFC Jim Taylor (USMC volunteer) and 16 Bru.  We landed atop Hill 471 and found all kinds of bad guys.  We were not successful in locating any of the bodies nor did we see any sign of Mahoney.  After a prolonged firefight and medical evacuation of our casualties, what was left of us withdrew down the north face of Hill 471 and walked back to the FOB.  We met Bob Cavanaugh with about a platoon of volunteers about one kilometer south of the FOB.  That reinforced squad was more likely at least a reinforced company and FACs flying overhead and directing air strikes all along the crest and reverse slope of Hill 471 spotted what appeared to be a battalion size unit moving north between the small peak and the large (abandoned) Bru village just northwest of Khe Sanh village.  Another "large" formation of NVA were spotted on the south side of Hill 471 west of where we landed. I didn't start out to tell a "war story" but to set the record straight about Gary Crone.  He was not captured or purposely decapitated.  When the body was recovered in April 1968, it was suggested that natural deterioration along with the head wounds he suffered had perhaps caused the head to break loose from the rest of the remains.  Hammond Salley, SOA 977 GL, was present when they recovered the body and he did not indicate any decapitation when I spoke with him at a SOAR 8-9 years ago. If there was anyone captured, it would have been Mike Mahoney.  I have no idea what happened to him.  I have heard all kinds of stories that he was seen trying to reach us by helicopter pilots flying overhead.  If that is true none of them passed that information on to me.  "Rip" VanWinkle SOA 697 GL

29 Jan 68-White, Charles E., SFC E7, USASF, TDY from Det A-213, Co B, 1ST SFGA (Okinawa) Project OMEGA (B-50)-Operation Daniel Boone, of MIA-  The Recon team had made contact with the enemy and had shot their way out and was in the process of being extracted 16 miles inside Cambodia west of Kontum via McGuire Rig with team members Nang and Khong when SFC White reported over the radio, "I'm having a problem with the rig." A passenger on the helicopter looked out and saw SFC White fall into the jungle below from 200 feet. He was a large man, 6'4", 28 lbs. After getting into the rig and as the chopper started lifting off, he turned upside down and fell away. A search team was inserted to look for him the following day, which discovered a path that a falling body made through the jungle canopy into thick bamboo, which was surmised as being enough foliage to have safely broken his fall, however, no trace was ever found of him. Due to increased enemy activity no further search was possible. Although, the Defense Department officially listed him as dead, Fred Zabitosky's bright light team felt he was still alive and a POW. White had only 3 days left in country before being rotated back home). {Filed by Don Martin, Crox Six:* I was in another, nearby area on a separate mission when that incident happened, but my gunships were diverted by operations/commander to the area where he fell. I coordinated with slicks (Hueys) from the 119th's "Yellow" platoon (2d Platoon ?) and we performed an aerial search with no results of any significance. Seems to me as if we looked until darkness or near darkness, then returned to base for fuel and RON. The opinions of the slick drivers and their crews with whom I talked later, who had seen SFC White fall, was that he could not survive such a fall. They also felt he had been "shot off of the rig." However, those opinions are unofficial and may or may not be close to the truth}. 

Charles E. White, Fr SF Honor Roll

 "White was a member of a reconnaissance team that came under heavy hostile fire. During the team's extraction from the area, Sergeant White fell from a McGuire rig attached to a helicopter with two other personnel at an attitude of approximately 60 meters between 75 and 200 meters. The incident occurred in the vicinity of grid coordinates YB489072, approximately 15 kilometers southwest of Pakha, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. Other individuals involved in the incident saw Sergeant White fall through the dense jungle vegetation. [inserted-->"According to the helicopter crew, the three personnel seemed secure at liftoff. SFC White indicated he was having difficulty holding on to the rope, then fell..."] On 31 January 1968, a ground rescue team searched the incident location and the surrounding area. The search team located the spot on the ground where the body had impacted, as well as a path through the jungle from the point of impact. Additional evidence discovered by the ground team indicated that the area had been searched by hostile forces the previous day. No body was located and no freshly dug grave could be found. [It was assumed that the Bamboo was thick enough to cushion the impact of SFC White, and that he could have survived the fall. No fresh grave sites could be located; and it is doubtful the enemy would carry a body any great distance before burying or otherwise disposing of it--neither blood trails were found nor equipment recovered.]"--JCRC Case 1006 Narrative. [In the original correspondence (letter) from LTC Baldwin III to Sgt White's family, to protect the secrecy of the areas of operation it was reported "Charles was on a patrol outside the town of Kha Sanh on 29 January 1968 when the patrol came under heavy enemy fire. During the ensuing fight he became separated from the rest of the patrol"]. On 15-18 November 1993, a joint US-Cambodian team flying over the loss location determined that it would take 3 days to travel to the area from the closes LZ due to the dense jungle and "...the steep slopes, greater than 70 degrees throughout the area, made it impossible to establish an intermediate LZ to support the investigation. The vegetation was so thick that visibility was extremely limited, less than five feet in many cases. Time distance factor to case 1006 prohibit safe movement on the ground. It is not feasible to leave Americans overnight on the ground in this remote, rugged area since there is no means to extract the team in an emergency. The security Force was unwilling to move on their own without the presence of Americans. The foremost reason was their inability to navigate to the reported location. Proven on the ground, GPS does not function consistently in this dense, triple canopy jungle; therefore GPS would be of no use in assisting the Cambodian Security Force. In summary, time and distance factors to the loss location, vague circumstances of the loss location, lack of any landing zone, no witnesses and safety preclude any further action in case"-- 1006. [Extracted from JTF-Full Accounting 28 Mar 94] (A note in White files relate: "If the fall was from 200 feet actual altitude and the bamboo was beginning to mature it is felt that SUBJECT may have been impaled. Although the board members opined that the enemy would probably not carry WHITE for any distance prior to burial. it is a known fact that many Vietnamese are ansetor worshippers and give even an enemy the best possible burial so that his spirit will not wander the area bothering the living. ) {Documentation furnished by CSM Grady F. Miles}

[Filed by Jim Kreutz, Avenger 8: Regarding the narrative on Charles White I believe it is essentially correct but maybe I can add a little more background---but please remember it was 32 years ago.  We were assigned to fly gun cover for the Emergency Extraction. There was some confusion when we got on site, When we called for smoke, smoke of all the colors came up in somewhere between 4-6 locations.  So it took a couple of passes to verify team location. The slick reported fire inbound and we were taking some but my sense was it was scattered small arms mostly to the south of the pick up spot.  Almost as though they had formed a line of pushers to move the team. We got the call after lift-off that someone had fallen, it might have been from the altitude in the narrative but the figure I remembered was 50'.  We escorted the slicks up to altitude and although I am not certain believe we came down and made one more pass but couldn't spot anyone. We then returned to Kontum.  By that time it was dusk and as I remember the plan was to put a Bright Light team in the next morning.  However, the 29th was the night the Tet offensive was launched at Kontum and Pleiku so the Bright Light couldn't get back in until the 3rd of Feb. Fred Zabitosky was 10 for the Bright Light]

02 Feb 68- Gilbert L. Hamilton, SFC E-7, USASF, Spike Team, Ops 35 while on a recon in Laos, the team came under fire from a superior enemy force. KIA-RR  The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Gilbert Lee Hamilton, Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Command and Control Detachment (North), FOB 1 (Phu Bai), 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. Sergeant First Class Hamilton distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 17 January 1968 as Special Forces advisor to a Vietnamese unit conducting a reconnaissance mission in enemy territory. The patrol had taken a defensive position on high ground while waiting for helicopter extraction from the area of operations. Sergeant Hamilton volunteered to lead a seven-man security team outside the unit's perimeter to search for signs of possible enemy activity around its position. While moving through heavy elephant grass, the patrol was savagely ambushed at close range by insurgents firing automatic weapons. Sergeant Hamilton was severely wounded by a burst of enemy bullets, but returned fierce fire killing at least one enemy soldier. He then quickly organized his trapped troops into a tight perimeter and directed their counterfire against the surrounding hostile elements. Although he was struck three more times by enemy bullets, he continued to direct the defense of his men. He made radio contact with helicopter gunships in the area and skillfully adjusted their supporting fires on the enemy positions to prevent the attackers from overrunning the small team. His gallant and determined actions in the heat of battle were responsible for saving his comrades from annihilation. Sergeant First Class Hamilton's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

19 Feb 68- Douglas J Glover, SSG E-6 of Cortland, NY, USASF, FOB-2, Kontum, Ops 35 and Melvin C. Dye, SGT E-5 of Carelton, Mich and Robert S. Griffith, SGT E-5, of Hapevile, GA, door gunners,, and four SCU Team Members, RT Main; MIA, Presumptive finding of death. The pilot, John W. Cook, WO, 57th AHC in Kontum died 10 days later from extensive burns.  Died of wounds. Grover was the team leader (One-Zero) with Fred Zabitosky "Zab" as the One-One, and Purcell Bragg as the One-Two and six SCU were inserted into a target Zulu Nine in the Bra, (Zab was the official 1-0; however, for this mission the role was reversed). The team discovered a bunker, which NVA ran to man and began firing on the team. Glover relinquished the one-zero status to Zab. Zab directed Grover to take the team back to the LZ while he initiated a delaying action. Shortly thereafter, a NVA platoon came upon Zab's delaying action and he stopped them with claymores, grenades, and his CAR 15. Zab then joined the remainder of the team at the LZ, with Grover calling in air strikes. The team was fighting off a large assault and the enemy's numbers were growing with four NVA companies converging on the team. Two Hueys arrived and Brag with two of the SCU boarded and were lifted off to safety. Zab and Glover and four SCU boarded the second Huey and it lifted off, almost clearing the LZ when it was hit by an RPG sending the helicopter spinning the tail boom into the main rotor and splitting the helicopter into two pieces and crashing into the ground ablaze in flames. Zab was thrown clear, but and as he regained consciousness he found his clothes on fire. He suffered severe burns, shrapnel wounds and several crushed vertebrae and ribs. Rolling to extinguishing the burning clothing he was able to extinguish his burning clothing. The pilot and copilot were still strapped in their seats in the burning in helicopter which had snapped into behind the pilot's section. The troop compartment was in completely inflamed and the final cries of the men trapped therein were heard by Zab, but there was nothing he could do. Realizing the flames had not completely engulfed the pilots, Zab, utilizing everything he had and entered into the flames to recover the copilot who had all his clothing burnt off and then returned to rescue the pilot. Movement was observed on the ground by another SOG soldier (Luke Nance) who was aboard a Huey flying above the downed helicopter. This helicopter made a decent and began engaging the enemy. The SOG soldier jumped from the helicopter and joined Zab in a fire fight with the enemy and rescuing the pilot and copilot together. One of the pilots died of the wounds which had covered 85% of his body. {Filed By Cpt Don Martin, Crox Six: * Fred Zabitosky, and the shot-down Huey which burned. I led one of the gunship teams which helped defend Fred while he and others were on the ground around the burning aircraft. The extraction took quite a while, so several, perhaps as many as five, gunship fire teams worked the PZ until the final extraction, for which I was present. Someone on the ground (perhaps Fred or one of his men) communicated with me (Crocodile Six) and directed my fire and that of my wingman, as I recall into the woodline and open ground to the north and east of the burning aircraft. As I remember it, we put the rockets and mini-gun fire where it was needed and assisted in the efforts to get Fred and others out alive. A good friend of mine, then Captain, now LTC (retired) John (Jack) Koshinsky "Gladiator Three," flew (pilot-in-command) the slick (Huey) which picked up Fred and others from the PZ. Fred Zabitosky, then SFC, I believe, deserved and received the Medal of Honor. Also, the incident did begin in Laos around the "Bra," an area with which I was very familiar at the time, but it ended just inside Vietnam, near Ben Het, I think just east of Hill 990, so the aircraft, though torn to Hell by enemy fire prior to going down, was able to limp back inside Vietnam before it crashed. The fact that it made it that far is a credit to its crew}.  (The pilot was previously unidentified, he was the roommate of Ken Haan who provided the identification)

Douglas J. Glover (Fr SF Honor Roll)

21 Feb 68- Paul Melvin Douglas, SSG E-6, US Army Long Range Reconnaissance Spike Team Leader, FOB-3 Khe Sanh, Ops 35, KIA-RR. Presumptive finding of death (SSG Douglas was not a member of SF nor Airborne qualified, however, he had volunteered for SOG and based upon his vast Recon experience, a man who had proven himself and assigned to FOB 3 where he was killed by an enemy mortar round explosion just after rising from a night's sleep, he removed his protective flak vest in order to change into a shirt for day time duty uniform and was in the process of slipping off the sweater when the mortar round exploded).

21 Feb 68- Robert N. Baker, SFC E-7, USASF, FOB1-KIA

29 Feb 68- Harold C. Whittaker, SSG E-6, USASF, B-50-Recon Mission-KIA

29 Feb 68-John W. Cook, Pilot, 57th AHC. died as the results of injuries suffered on the incident of 19 Feb 68 above.

01 Mar 68- Jeffery McClatchy, Jr, SP/5, USASF, Snake Bite Team, 1st SFGA, Okinawa, Hatchet Force Advisor, FOB 3, Khe Sanh, Ops 35, KIA-RR (SP/5 McClatchy was killed by a claymore while on security patrol outside of FOB-3). (Click on Newspaper article below that appeared in the El Campo, Tx requesting input for Jeffery-He and his older brother were both killed in Vietnam).

I saw this in today's (Mar 5, 2011) ECLN.  I am sending it your way to see if your readers may be able to assist VVFM & the ECLN. I am not familiar with this family.  Couldn't tell you if my dad knew of the McClatchy brothers?  My guess is this family probably left El Campo/Wharton County prior to us moving here in 1976 or perhaps live in another community in our county? Noel Benavidez (Son of Roy Benavidez)

06 Mar 68- Robert Lopez, Maj 04 of Seattle, WA, USASF, Comrnander FOB-I, Phu Bai, Ops 35 with William Henry Seward, Maj 04, USMC of Atlanta, GA and  Gary Lewis Colombo, Lance Corporal (LPCL, E-4), USMC, Aviation Branch, Ops 32 (Air Studies Branch) were aboard a CH-46. Maj Lopez-KIA-RR, Maj Seward and LPCL Colombo KIA-Remains not recovered (Their helicopter was the lead helicopter of a flight of two CH-46's that was supporting a SOG insertion attempt. Their aircraft was hovering above an 80' canopy and started receiving enemy fire and stared to descent then fell to the earth, exploded, and burned).

Robert Lopez (Fr SF Honor Roll)

22 Mar 68- Estevan Torres, SFC E-7,Tm Ldr;  , and "Scouts" member, names and ranks not known,Steve Sherman's book, Who's Who From MACVSOG has Estevan as being assigned to Project B-50, The Vietnam Virtual Wall and a fellow combat veteran Woodworth has him assigned to Project B56, Sigma,  Ban Me Thuot, Ops 35. KIA'S-RR (Based on this, I believe Estevan was with Project B-56 instead of Project B-50. (The team was conducting Recon mission in Northern Cambodiaa. The team destroyed by enemy action. FOB-5's first men to die. The camp was named "Camp Torres" in honor of the team leader).  The patrol discovered a freshly-dug enemy bunker and tunnel complex. The team then conducted a thorough reconnaissance of the area then moved into a defensive night defensive position. During the night, an unknown size NVA force closed on three sides of the friendly position and, at daybreak raked the team with heavy automatic weapons fire. Braving the withering enemy fire, the team moved through the enemy's flank without a casualty and quickly established a hasty defensive perimeter on a ridge line to await helicopter extraction. The NVA pursued the team, completely surrounded it and unleashed a savage attack which resulted in these men being killed. [Filed by SSG Jason "Woody" Woodworth: "I was a good friend of Estavan "Toro" Torres from 187 days. I can remember the day we were told he was KIA. Butch Fernandez, a real close friend and teammate of Toros and myself were working at RECONDO School at the time. The info we received that Toro's aircraft was approaching the insert LZ and ground fire hit the 40mm round in his over and under M16. He was bleeding profusely from the groin area as his weapon was on his lap, he died from loss of blood]. Photo is Estevan Torres

John C. Wells, SP/4 Killed in Action when the camp was over ran by the enemy according to the SFAHQ's listing of MIA/KIA noted above. The virtual wall has John as being assigned to B-50 as well as Special Forces Roll of Honor.  If John was assigned to HHC, FOB3 or B-50 at the time he was killed, he could not have been with Estevan and there is no mention by Terry Dahling who was on the operation with Linwood that John was on that mission.

22 Mar 68- Linwood Martin, SFC E-7,  Tm Ldr, RT Delaware, CCC, KIA-RR. SFC Martin was the 1-0 and I the 1-1 on an operation which commenced on 21 Mar, 1968.  The team was Delaware and there were 9 Montagnards on the team.  The operation was a recon of an area in country.  It was requested by the CG 4^th ID since his LRRPS were incapable.  We were inserted in the afternoon and everything was more or less uneventful.  We were looking for a road/train and possible crossing point of a medium sized river.  Around 1700 we came upon a classic high-speed trail.  It was about 4-6 feet wide and smooth and clean.  We also found some fresh bunkers looking over the trail and river.  While the indig got water I found some “rabbit holes” dug into the bank.  These rabbit holes were squared off – apparently man made. It was getting late so we decided to pull back and observe the trail over-night.  One of the yards planted a toe-popper on the trail.  We heard the mine go off and decided to pull further into the jungle.  One NVA happened upon us.  We killed him and a small fire fight ensued until we could break contact and pull as far into the jungle as possible to RON. All night the NVA probed and threw rocks and sticks trying to get us to betray our position.  In the morning they started making noise, beating sticks, blowing whistles, etc.  They had us surrounded on three sides with the river being the fourth side.  Martin and I discussed the situation and decided that the best course of action was to slip through a flank, rather than go where they were pushing us.  We managed to evade without a shot being fired. Linwood decided to go back to the bunker complex and take pictures.  I was dead against it.  My every instinct said not to return to the hornet’s nest we had just left. I said that if they wanted pictures I’d draw some foogin pictures.  Martin, being the 1-0 prevailed. Upon arrival at the bunkers we found the shoe of the individual who had stepped on our mine.  It still had the foot in it along with a letter from home. We were just getting situated and setting up a perimeter when we took a high volume of fire.  I was face to face with Martin and a round from the first burst hit him over the left eye.  I was going to apply a dressing but when I reached behind his head it was obvious he was gone. I immediately panicked and started screaming on the radio after a few minutes I realized the antenna was laying on the ground.  I set it up and got Covey and we declared a Prairie Fire Emergency.  We couldn’t go back into the jungle so we pulled into a clearing and set up a “wagon Spoke” perimeter with me in the middle.  I imagine we looked like Custer and his last stand from the air.  We were in the center of a football sized field.  We couldn’t go anywhere but the NVA had to cross the open to get to us. This exposed them to CAS and ground fire from us. I got support from gun ships as well as 2 F-100’s.  The F-100’s had napalm and I for one liked it at the time.  My standard correction was: “Put it in the same place but on the other side.  After three attempts they finally managed to extract us.  I grabbed yards by the collar and seat and literally tossed them into the choppers. After we lifted off, the crew chief wanted to know who was on the first ship.  I asked him why and he said it had gone down.  My stomach turned flips and I could see the looks on the yards faces.  However we found out the ship hadn’t been shot down.  One of the indig caught his gear on an extinguisher and the crew saw the smoke and thought they were hit.  They unloaded, realized the ship was OK and reloaded and joined us. In MACV-SOG.com they say Martin was with Torres and Wells out of FOB-5.  This is wrong. The account of Torres’ mission is similar to mine.  I don’t know what happened but I was with Martin when he died.  We were ST Delaware."  By Terry Dahling

27 Mar 68- Johnny C. Calhoun, SSG E-6 of Newman, GA, USASF, FOB-3, OPS 35,KIA-Remains not recovered (While awaiting extraction from a successful recon mission in Laos, the team was attacked by a superior enemy force 1-1/2 miles inside Laos south of Ta Bat in the A Shau Valley.. SSG Calhoun ordered a withdrawal and stood between the team and enemy providing cover fire for the rest of the patrol and while ordering the other five members of the team to withdraw, he was hit 3 times in the chest and stomach, fell to the ground and not move( witnessed by Ho-Thong, interpreter, Calhoun slumped to the ground, pulled the pin from a grenade, clutched it to explode among the advancing enemy). His ultimate fate is unknown because of the actual retreat of the survivors. Twenty six hours after initial contact, the team was finally extracted. Due to enemy hostilities, a further search for SSG Calhoun was not made).

Johnny C. Calhoun (from SF Honor Roll)