NVA Ambushed
The 2nd Marine Battalion at Pho Trach
Major Pham Van Tien
At about 7.00am on 29-6-1966, the 2nd Marine Battalion left An Hoa T-junction, Hue, to move to Dong Ha to participate in a combined operation with the US. Its movement was in the following order: Company 1, Company 3, Commanding Company, Company 2, and Company 4. Two L19 Reconnaissance aircrafts flew over the sky to make observations and kept radio contact with the Battalion Senior Adviser Campbell. At about 10:30am, when the last truck of Company 4 just crossed Pho Trach Bridge, Phong Dien district, the Battalion fell into an ambush. NVA forces were composed of regular Battalion 800 reinforced by AAA units C15 with its 12.7 mm heavy guns and .50-caliber machine guns on wheels; and also by unit C16 which had been equipped with 82 mm mortars, 57mm Recoilless rifles and two 75mm cannons. The NVA C15 was in charge of destroying our tanks and of supporting the NVA charges. The enemy forces were about 700 strong and a number of local VC guerrillas. They had been lurking in previously abandoned French bunkers and trenches in the night before. They simultaneously started firing at the moving convoy, especially in the middle of it where the Battalion Headquarters had been. Almost nearly all the GMC trucks carrying the commanding company were hit at the first enemy volley of fire. Since my vehicle was the first truck running right behind the headquarters GMCs, I eye-witnessed everything from the beginning of that unexpected and lightning NVA raid. The NVA from deep foxholes emerged and shouted "charge", and used brass horns and scimitars to intimidate us. Being caught by surprise, Marines were in a disadvantageous situation. There was no reaction at the first instance. However, when the NVA fire started crackling, crazy buffalos, by reflexes jumped down from trucks, ran to the left side, crossing a barren field of some tens of meters to occupy a higher position which had been the railway. However, the enemy had been there in a great number so we charged into a deadly dangerous place. The 1st Lieutenant Son Xil and his whole special platoon sacrificed. His body, full of bruises and marks of stabbing and chopping, lay next to the body of the Battalion Commander. The 2nd Lieutenant Thai Bong of S3, 2nd lieutenant Huong was lightly wounded. They hid in a bush and escaped. Dr. Hao was also injured. The NVA tried to capture Captain Campbell alive, but thanks to the intervention of helicopter gun ships, this American senior advisor of Battalion 2 escaped. The luckiest man in this ambush was Captain Tran Kim De, the commander of the commanding company. The death of 2nd Lieutenant Nguyen Van Cau, Chief of S5 had been an obsession for me until now. He was wounded by numerous different wounds on his body, but when I came to the rescue, he was extraordinarily lucid. He asked me to transfer his wallet full of papers and souvenirs to his family when the Battalion returned to its rear base, then he said farewell words. He continued to recite the bible while his mouth held a string of prayer beads and then he returned to God's nation some seconds later. Other companies were considered as having been intact. The executive officer, Captain Nguyen Van Hay ordered them to deploy widely to pursue the enemy… a group stayed back to assist the medevac.
In summary, the enemy had fired the first volley of Recoilless rifles and hit 14 trucks of the convoy. All Marines who had survived that first deadly blow were calmly and coherently fighting back. The enemy had not enough time to flee into ranges of hills extending into the mountain foot. They became moving fleshy targets for gun ships and for Airborne Battalion 5. The latter was urgently helilifted into the battlefield.
Our human losses were heavy but it was minimal in comparison with those of NVA. At noon 29-6-1966 Colonel Ngo Quang Truong, Commander of the 1st Infantry Division visited the battlefield at the 34th kilometre mark on National Route 1. He honestly admitted that during his military life, even in the French times, he had never seen any ambush which had so marvellously turned into a counter-ambush like this one.
Major Pham Van Tien
No comments:
Post a Comment