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Good story Steve...
My recollection is that the extensive NVA complex encompassed all of
Dong Ap Bia
(HH), and points north and northwest for about 2 clicks....There is a river about two clicks
northwest of the hill (mountain) that
leads west into Laos. You guys were shot down (again memory is slightly foggy) on what
would be the lower northwest slope
of what became known as Hamburger Hill. We had several of our scouts take hits in that
area for the next two days before we
were suddenly pulled out of the AO and sent to Chu Lai / Tam Ky in support of the 1st Bde
101st on May 15, 1969. The
Americal had declared a tactical emergency..
Back to the NVA complex where you were shot down.....It was an incredibly large and well
fortified supply and training
complex....and a major way station on the Ho Chi Minh Trail...Some of the bunkers were
two story...Virtually every time a
scout went in we could see enemy tracers seeking out the LOH from multiple directions. The
blessing and the curse from a
Cobra standpoint was that we had a hard time picking out specific targets due to heavy
jungle and steep terrain laced with
gullies. The blessing was that we could roll in on the enemy anti-aircraft positions (including
triangulated 50's) that we could
spot and when breaking off target we would be just as invisible to them as they were to us.
Very helpful on occasion!
One personal note about the river to the north that I mentioned earlier...Probably the day
after you went down someone had
the idea that we would send a LOH and two Cobras low level up that river into Laos for a
couple of clicks. I was in the front seat of the lead Cobra (i.e., the Map Reader!). Anyway,
we had just crossed the border
when I happened to hear on FM about an artillery mission destined for the same
coordinates. I informed my back seat, think it was Lt. Greg Johnson, and we kept pressing
west while he asked a few questions of the
multiple layers of C&C's up above and back over the valley. To make a long story endless,
my life and flying career just
about ended in the next few seconds before the "friendly fire" was cut off. We all made it
back to Fire Base Currahee on the eastern side of the A Shau Valley without a
scratch but it was an early lesson for a front seater...
Anyway, you were in on the original "bloodying" of B Trp 2/17th. Those days in the middle
of May 1969 impressed upon
me that this war was for real and our new found confidence just about proved our undoing
during the next few
weeks in the foothills west of Tam Ky.
...Bill Russell - Banshee 27
Learn more about
the Banshee's of B Troop, 2/17th Cav
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