Traps and Mines
in Chuong Thien Province, 1966
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dang Hoa
In 1966, I was a Company Commander of the 4th Marine Battalion. The latter was reinforcing MR IV. At the time, each company numbered at about 247. The situation of the battle was still mild and that is why each Battalion used to send Companies separately to reinforce districts.
One day, my Company was sent to Go Quao district, Chuong Thien province. The area of operation was full of traps and mines. The VC just hid in secret bunkers or trenches and counted the number of explosions and then calculated our casualties. Along a canal, there were only two high edges. We had to walk on them to advance.
When my Company started entering Go Quao, we were at 247 strong. Most of this number were killed or wounded by mines and only 83 remained unscathed when we arrived in the gathering area. I was wounded by a mine shrapnel piercing though one of my forearms. Fortunately, although it was close to the elbow, there was neither a fracture of bones nor a cutting of nerves.
It was a pity for soldiers walking in the forefront. After every five to ten metres an explosion was heard. Bones and flesh splashed over the bushes. Squad leaders could not decide to designate whom to go first, because he, who went first, would die or wounded first. Squad leaders then had to choose themselves as pioneers and fate would decide. Experienced soldiers also could not evade death. Some of them were very agile. Whenever they were going to be caught in a trap (with an explosion), they jumped into the canal. However, they could evade once, but not twice or three times. Everybody knew that death was waiting for them, but still continued on. Was it because of their military discipline or was it because of noble causes which had urged them such as patriotism or duty of boys in war time? I still recalled the moment we had crossed a big canal. It was late in the afternoon. Flights of birds were returning to mangrove forest in U Minh Thuong forests. My Company deployed on a canal bank. I let small groups, one after another to cross the canal. The remainder of the Company would protect them during the crossing and would react if any sudden VC attack would occur. The tidal water was rising. The water surface was large like a sea. Only some small bushes were seen on the high mounds. Suddenly a deafening loud explosion occurred. Columns of water splashed up like in a hurricane.
It was an explosion of an artillery's 105mm Howitzer round. I thought a friendly Artillery unit had mistakenly fired. However, the pioneering platoon reported that they had found a long segment of wire, a proof that a trap had been set up by the VC. A 2nd Lieutenant who had been a newly graduated and "on job training" with a platoon was killed, partly due to lack in fighting experience and partly due to his extreme exhaustion after a whole day of fording. Once he saw a bush on a mound, he climbed up it to have rest and thus being caught in an explosive trap. My company received an order to stay in place to find his body. However, after a thorough search of about 100m around, we could not find any piece of flesh. When I reported his death, higher authorities informed me that he had been a nephew of a General of ARVN.
Everybody quietly searched for his body, heartbroken. It was pity for him. He just had arrived in the 4th Battalion for just over three months. He was killed without saying a single word of "will" to the Brothers in Arms.
The Battalion Commander ordered my Company to remain in position overnight until the next morning to continue and find his body. Nightfall covered everything. Water was everywhere, reflecting a ghostly moon crescent of the beginning of a lunar month. We were like monkeys sitting on mounds, soaked in water. We poured salty water in bags of dried cooked rice and opened "three slices canned beef" to eat. We gulped them down to have strength for the next day.
Early, in the morning, the Battalion ordered my company to widen area of search. I quietly prayed:
"Dear Friend, if you were sacred, please help us find your body so your Brothers-in-Arms in the company would be allowed to move to higher and drier area to avoid the coldness. We had been soaked in water for two days."
Luckily we found him. However, there was only his head stuck inside his helmet, thanks to the tight helmet strap that held onto his chin. The explosive blast threw the helmet 150m away, carrying with it his head. Packed inside a poncho, with the helmet, his head was still less than 10 kg. All his so-called remains was put inside a small rucksack which then was carried easily by a soldier to a higher area to wait for a helicopter which would come and bring him back to a city.
He passed away, leaving everybody's heart in a stupefied grief.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dang Hoa
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