Vila Chau
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Ethnicity: Kampuchea Krom
Place of Birth: Rach Gia Province Branch of Service: U.S. Army, 5th Special Forces, IV Corps Khmer Republic Special Forces Dates of Service: U.S. Army - 1966 - 1973; Khmer Republic; 1973 - 1975; Forced conscription w/Khmer Rouge, 1978 - 1979 Battles or Ops: SVN - Nui Cam, Nui Coto, CAM - Neak Luong, VN/Khmer Rouge Boarder War Refugee Camp: UNHCR Camp; Non Chang, Thailand Camp NW9, Chon Buri Thailand Transit/Processing Center, 1981 Re-education-POW Camp: Pothi, An Cu, Chou Doc Province, SVN Citizenship: United States of America |
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North & South Vietnam divided by the 17th Parallel
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IV Corps - Mekong Delta Area of South Vietnam
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Map of the 4 Military Regions of South Vietnam - Corps
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Part One - Becoming a MIKE FORCE Soldier
I would like to dedicate my story to all former Mike Force soldiers as well as the Americans, Khmers, Montagnards, and Chinese Nungs who served with the Mike Force units in all Corps Tactical Zones during the Vietnam War, and who didn’t come back home alive from those battles. I also wanted the readers to know that I wasn't a writer and just wanted to share my story with the fellow friends who might want to read it.
My name is Vila Chau (AKA) Huon Chau. I joined Mike Force soldier around October 1966. My parents were concerned that I might not be qualified to join due to my age being eighteen, but they gave me their permission to join. However, I knew that I was about sixteen years of age, but my parents were late to make my birth certificate for about two years so that my age was only around fourteen at that time. I tried to duplicate my birth certificate to become eighteen for the legal age to join the army so I had to bribe the local government to make it. During the war, most parents didn’t bother to make birth certificates for their children at all, and until they really needed it, they visited the local government to make it so it was late and wasn’t correcting the birth date as their child was born. They also reduced the ages of their children because they didn’t
1
want their children to be drafted into the army. That's why it happened to me as my parents did.
I worried that I might not pass the interview by the American when I showed up for the interview, and I signed up to join Mike Force soldier with other friends anyway. About two weeks later, the American called us for an interview to see if we were qualified to join Mike Force or not?
There were only eight people who showed up for the interview, and I was the only person who looked younger in the group so I wore a long sleeve shirt with a loose pan to make myself look bigger, but most people thought I wouldn't pass the interview because they knew I was still too young to join.
We waited outside the building to be called names one by one for an interview. However, I was the six or seven persons who was call for interview so I walked inside the building with heading to an office which they told me to go, and when I stepped into the office, I felt a little nervous and saw the American’s Captain, the interpreter, and the tribal leader who sat and waited for interview me.
Most of the people who interviewed before me didn’t speak Vietnamese and needed a tribal leader to translate from Khmer language into Vietnamese language, and the interpreter translated from Vietnamese to English so that it took a very long time to finish the interview for each person to see if he qualified or not? While I walked inside the office, the tribal leader seemed not happy to see me because he thought I was too young I guessed, but I tried to answer back in Vietnamese to the interpreter as much as I could at the interview so he was able to translate to English for me.
The American Captain wanted to know about my background so I answered back to an interpreter each time the Captain wanted to know ,and I didn’t need a tribal leader to help me because I had some formal education and was able to speak Vietnamese language by myself.The American’s Captain seemed like me each time I answered back to his question so I thought I passed the interview, and I was right.
At the end of the interview, the American’s Captain said,”Congratulations you passed”. He also wanted me to get a haircut and handed me $50 piasters in Vietnamese money and told me to come back to the supply room around 3 pm to receive clothing. I said,”Yes, Sir!”.It was my happiest day ever and felt great after I found out that I passed the interview.
2
Outside the building, there were a lot of people who waited and wanted to know about the result of my interview with the captain. After I walked out and told them I passed the interview to allow me to join Mike Force, they cheered with joy because they didn’t think I would pass at all.
In addition, I didn’t forget about the captain who told me to get a haircut so I headed straight downtown to find a barber to cut my hair. The barber only charged $20 piasters in Vietnamese money and had $30 piasters left for coffee and lunch before I returned back inside the camp to wait for receiving supplies.
The supply room opened around 3 pm, and the supply officer called each name to come inside to collect their issued uniforms as two pairs of tiger-striped uniforms, one pair of green uniforms, one mosquito net, one hammock, one pair of jungle boots, one poncho and poncho liner, two ammo pouches, one belt, web belt with web gear, one boonie hats, one canteen cup, two 1qt plastic canteen with canteen cover, one rucksack, and one first aid pouches etc.
We walked to the next room to receive rifles and ammo. They issued a .30 cal M2 carbine, five of 15 rounds magazine, and about 250 rounds of ammo to me. After we received the clothing and rifle, they took our pictures to make payroll cards for each of us. I was lucky because the American who took pictures gave me an extra photo to keep so I said,”Thank you Sir”. I felt so happy. We then walked to the barracks where we were supposed to stay and waited for our basic training. And we officially became Mike Force soldiers.
For the next several weeks, our group went to basic training where we learned how to disassemble and assemble our rifles as well as learn how to take care of our rifles too. At the firing ranges, we practiced firing our weapons from different fire positions such as standing position, sitting position, prone position etc. We also practiced combat tactics for completion of our basic training.
They assigned me to the 1st Platoon and 1st Squad with the 42nd Company. My friend, Lam Chau, who met with me at the interview, was assigned to the 1st Platoon with 3rd Squad so both of us were in the same platoon. I was happy to know Mr. Lam Chau after we met each other. He and I had similar ages and were happy to stay with the same platoon. We finished the basic training and waited to go jump school.
For the first couple months, my platoon leader won’t allow Lam Chau and I to join the operations with our company because he thought that we might not be able to keep up
3
with the group during they walked at operations so he chased two of us out from the columns and told us to stay back in the camp. Why our platoon leader wanted us to stay back inside the camp was because he considered we were too young and weren’t able to walk for long distances so he wanted us to stay and to guard the camp.
We had to obey his order so we had to walk out from the columns and to stay back inside the camp. We wanted to participate with our company ,but they didn’t allow us. While the soldiers left the camp, they assigned us to guard the gasoline and ammunition dump which was located outside the camp. Usually, they used about one squad of soldiers to guard the place at night. Instead, only two of us guarded the ammunition dump during the day and night due to those soldiers being out to operation.
While my friend and I guarded the ammunition dump, there were two Huey Helicopters coming to land. The Americans asked us to help them to carry lots of boxes, rocket rounds and ammo for machine guns as well as rolling out 55 gallon drums of gasoline while lifting the drums up, opened the top crew cap, inserted a pump into drums, and used a hand pump to pump.
Therefore, my friend and I didn’t speak any words of English so we used our hand signals to communicate with them. My friend and I assumed that our troops engaged with the enemy at the battle fields so the gunship helicopters came to refuel and rearm at our location. We were happy to help them at that time. It was our duty that we had to do.
“Basic Airborne Jump School at Nha Trang”
There was time for us to go to jump school at Nha Trang so my commander said that we prepared to go to jump school at Nha Trang tomorrow, and everyone packed our belongings and readied to go, but some of the soldiers didn’t want to go because they were afraid to jump out from the airplane. For myself to be qualified as a Mike Force soldier, I was excited and was eager to go to jump because I received extra pay after I received my jump wings and jump certificate.
4
The next day, we formed around 0800 hours for a roll call with our commander to inspect the soldiers to see how many people showed up to go etc. We marched to the dirt airstrip where a C-123 airplane waited to transport us to Can Tho so everyone of us boarded the plane and arrived at Can Tho Airbase about 45 minutes later. We had to change to the C-130 cargo plane which transported us over an hour to reach Nha Trang Air Base where we were supposed to be there for our jump training. The convoy trucks waited to transport us at the airport to our destination safely that afternoon.
However, the army tents used as houses for the soldiers who came for jump school at Nha Trang, and the inside of those tents had two rows of army cots with an air-mattress for those soldiers to sleep. Therefore, we seemed happy that we had an army cots and an air-mattress for us to sleep while we stayed there for our jump training, and it was much better than using a plywood bed to sleep at our base camp.
Therefore, we received a brief message from the camp commander after we arrived there. He wanted us to follow the camp rules so that we knew what we should or shouldn't be able to do before they allowed us to go inside the tents and put down our rucksacks for resting while waiting for our chow time.
Before we went to eat our dinner, we needed to turn in our weapons for storage inside the container. It was for security reasons that they didn’t allow us to keep our weapons inside those tents while we were out for training. They also issued helmets to each of us to wear during the training as they required for everyone to wear while we jumped out from the airplanes.
It was around 1800 hours, we heard the sound of a whistle to tell us our chow time so we needed to form four columns while jogging slowly to the mess hall for our dinner. The food was considered good to me as well as other fellow soldiers. Each of us jogged slowly back by ourselves after we ate our meal and didn’t have to form a formation to jog back.
At the first night, It was around 0530 hours, we heard the sounds of whistle which it woke up us while we slept soundly inside the tents so we had to get up quickly as we could do with dressed ourselves and ran out to form formation for our physical training exercise, and if someone was late, they got punishing by those instructors who waited for us outside to catch someone who was late and ordered them to do push-up for late to arrive. As you know that it was still dark outside and was a little bit cold, we had to take off our shirts before we started jogging slowly along the dirt road for several kilometers which most of us weren’t able to do because we didn’t practice a lot at our
5
camp. For that reason, I had a hard time keeping up with the group, and each time I saw someone who dropped out from the columns, I ran to help to hold them from falling down. By helping fellow soldiers, I didn’t have to jog with the group anymore.
After returning from the physical training exercises, the instructors allowed us to have a fifteen minute break to cool down our bodies with fifteen minutes more for eating breakfast before we continued to practice our jump training exercise. For breakfast we got a half loaf of French bread, a cup of black coffee with sugar. It wasn’t much compared to the American soldiers. But we were grateful to have that type of breakfast for us. We formed a single line and started to practice jumping exercises after we ate breakfast. The instructors told us to do pull-ups ten times for each person, and if someone wasn’t able to do it, the instructors punished them to do ten push-ups for not being able to do. For myself, I wasn’t able to pull up the bar so I received punishment from the instructors everytime. We took turns practicing our jumping exercises such as how to control the chute after it landed on the ground for about two weeks before we received real jumps etc.
Those instructors used to tease me a lot while I was at the practice jump area. I guessed they wanted to chat with me because I was the only person among the younger soldiers in the group that came to jump school. Through an interpreter, they asked me a lot of questions and advised me not to allow the instructors to push me out from the airplane when I jumped out etc. I told them that I jumped out by myself without pushing them. The instructor smiled and said,”Very good”.
On the last day of our jumping exercise, we watched a film. It showed us how to wear the chutes before we boarded the plane to jump out from the airplanes. The film was made during World War II so the instructors wanted us to pay attention to how they controlled their parachutes after they landed on the ground and didn’t want anybody hurt while they hit the ground.
Early the next morning, It was time for us to have a real jump out of the airplanes so they woke us up around 0530 hours for our breakfast as usual as we had to get up early and prepare ourselves for breakfast before we headed to a nearby airstrip, and we didn’t have to do our physical exercise for that day. Everyone seemed happy to know that we had a real jump with a little nervousness because it could be wrong if someone didn’t pay attention to the chutes when it came down to the ground so that we must know how to control it.
6
It was around 0600 hours. We boarded the convoy trucks after we ate breakfast and headed to Nha Trang Air Base which wasn't far from our jumping school. It was still dark outside when we arrived there, but we had to get off the trucks and form formation by team and waited for the instructors to tell us to get the parachute bags out from parked trucks which were parked not far from us so each one of us ran to grab a parachute bag and brought back. We then opened the bag and took two parachutes out. One was the main chute, and the other one was a reserve chute to put on our bodies. We had to wait for airplanes to come to pick us up so we sat down in a single line while leaning our backs on the main chute. The instructors walked along the lines to check to make sure that each of us put the chutes correctly or not etc.
At the Nha Trang Air Base, It seemed very busy while we were there because I saw different kinds of airplanes flying in the sky early in the morning and didn’t know where it was headed to. While we waited for several minutes, there were C-47 cargo planes coming to land to pick us up so we got up and walked toward to board the planes. With the reserved chute and main chute put on my body, it seemed just a little heavy loaded on my body that I felt ,and I got some help from my fellow soldiers who pulled me up into the airplane.
Therefore, there were three teams of eight soldiers for each airplane so we sat on metal seats while waiting for the airplane to take off from the runway. With the moment that we waited, the C-47 cargo plane taxied up from the runway and headed to our jumping objective that we had no idea where it was located at all.
My name is Vila Chau (AKA) Huon Chau. I joined Mike Force soldier around October 1966. My parents were concerned that I might not be qualified to join due to my age being eighteen, but they gave me their permission to join. However, I knew that I was about sixteen years of age, but my parents were late to make my birth certificate for about two years so that my age was only around fourteen at that time. I tried to duplicate my birth certificate to become eighteen for the legal age to join the army so I had to bribe the local government to make it. During the war, most parents didn’t bother to make birth certificates for their children at all, and until they really needed it, they visited the local government to make it so it was late and wasn’t correcting the birth date as their child was born. They also reduced the ages of their children because they didn’t
1
want their children to be drafted into the army. That's why it happened to me as my parents did.
I worried that I might not pass the interview by the American when I showed up for the interview, and I signed up to join Mike Force soldier with other friends anyway. About two weeks later, the American called us for an interview to see if we were qualified to join Mike Force or not?
There were only eight people who showed up for the interview, and I was the only person who looked younger in the group so I wore a long sleeve shirt with a loose pan to make myself look bigger, but most people thought I wouldn't pass the interview because they knew I was still too young to join.
We waited outside the building to be called names one by one for an interview. However, I was the six or seven persons who was call for interview so I walked inside the building with heading to an office which they told me to go, and when I stepped into the office, I felt a little nervous and saw the American’s Captain, the interpreter, and the tribal leader who sat and waited for interview me.
Most of the people who interviewed before me didn’t speak Vietnamese and needed a tribal leader to translate from Khmer language into Vietnamese language, and the interpreter translated from Vietnamese to English so that it took a very long time to finish the interview for each person to see if he qualified or not? While I walked inside the office, the tribal leader seemed not happy to see me because he thought I was too young I guessed, but I tried to answer back in Vietnamese to the interpreter as much as I could at the interview so he was able to translate to English for me.
The American Captain wanted to know about my background so I answered back to an interpreter each time the Captain wanted to know ,and I didn’t need a tribal leader to help me because I had some formal education and was able to speak Vietnamese language by myself.The American’s Captain seemed like me each time I answered back to his question so I thought I passed the interview, and I was right.
At the end of the interview, the American’s Captain said,”Congratulations you passed”. He also wanted me to get a haircut and handed me $50 piasters in Vietnamese money and told me to come back to the supply room around 3 pm to receive clothing. I said,”Yes, Sir!”.It was my happiest day ever and felt great after I found out that I passed the interview.
2
Outside the building, there were a lot of people who waited and wanted to know about the result of my interview with the captain. After I walked out and told them I passed the interview to allow me to join Mike Force, they cheered with joy because they didn’t think I would pass at all.
In addition, I didn’t forget about the captain who told me to get a haircut so I headed straight downtown to find a barber to cut my hair. The barber only charged $20 piasters in Vietnamese money and had $30 piasters left for coffee and lunch before I returned back inside the camp to wait for receiving supplies.
The supply room opened around 3 pm, and the supply officer called each name to come inside to collect their issued uniforms as two pairs of tiger-striped uniforms, one pair of green uniforms, one mosquito net, one hammock, one pair of jungle boots, one poncho and poncho liner, two ammo pouches, one belt, web belt with web gear, one boonie hats, one canteen cup, two 1qt plastic canteen with canteen cover, one rucksack, and one first aid pouches etc.
We walked to the next room to receive rifles and ammo. They issued a .30 cal M2 carbine, five of 15 rounds magazine, and about 250 rounds of ammo to me. After we received the clothing and rifle, they took our pictures to make payroll cards for each of us. I was lucky because the American who took pictures gave me an extra photo to keep so I said,”Thank you Sir”. I felt so happy. We then walked to the barracks where we were supposed to stay and waited for our basic training. And we officially became Mike Force soldiers.
For the next several weeks, our group went to basic training where we learned how to disassemble and assemble our rifles as well as learn how to take care of our rifles too. At the firing ranges, we practiced firing our weapons from different fire positions such as standing position, sitting position, prone position etc. We also practiced combat tactics for completion of our basic training.
They assigned me to the 1st Platoon and 1st Squad with the 42nd Company. My friend, Lam Chau, who met with me at the interview, was assigned to the 1st Platoon with 3rd Squad so both of us were in the same platoon. I was happy to know Mr. Lam Chau after we met each other. He and I had similar ages and were happy to stay with the same platoon. We finished the basic training and waited to go jump school.
For the first couple months, my platoon leader won’t allow Lam Chau and I to join the operations with our company because he thought that we might not be able to keep up
3
with the group during they walked at operations so he chased two of us out from the columns and told us to stay back in the camp. Why our platoon leader wanted us to stay back inside the camp was because he considered we were too young and weren’t able to walk for long distances so he wanted us to stay and to guard the camp.
We had to obey his order so we had to walk out from the columns and to stay back inside the camp. We wanted to participate with our company ,but they didn’t allow us. While the soldiers left the camp, they assigned us to guard the gasoline and ammunition dump which was located outside the camp. Usually, they used about one squad of soldiers to guard the place at night. Instead, only two of us guarded the ammunition dump during the day and night due to those soldiers being out to operation.
While my friend and I guarded the ammunition dump, there were two Huey Helicopters coming to land. The Americans asked us to help them to carry lots of boxes, rocket rounds and ammo for machine guns as well as rolling out 55 gallon drums of gasoline while lifting the drums up, opened the top crew cap, inserted a pump into drums, and used a hand pump to pump.
Therefore, my friend and I didn’t speak any words of English so we used our hand signals to communicate with them. My friend and I assumed that our troops engaged with the enemy at the battle fields so the gunship helicopters came to refuel and rearm at our location. We were happy to help them at that time. It was our duty that we had to do.
“Basic Airborne Jump School at Nha Trang”
There was time for us to go to jump school at Nha Trang so my commander said that we prepared to go to jump school at Nha Trang tomorrow, and everyone packed our belongings and readied to go, but some of the soldiers didn’t want to go because they were afraid to jump out from the airplane. For myself to be qualified as a Mike Force soldier, I was excited and was eager to go to jump because I received extra pay after I received my jump wings and jump certificate.
4
The next day, we formed around 0800 hours for a roll call with our commander to inspect the soldiers to see how many people showed up to go etc. We marched to the dirt airstrip where a C-123 airplane waited to transport us to Can Tho so everyone of us boarded the plane and arrived at Can Tho Airbase about 45 minutes later. We had to change to the C-130 cargo plane which transported us over an hour to reach Nha Trang Air Base where we were supposed to be there for our jump training. The convoy trucks waited to transport us at the airport to our destination safely that afternoon.
However, the army tents used as houses for the soldiers who came for jump school at Nha Trang, and the inside of those tents had two rows of army cots with an air-mattress for those soldiers to sleep. Therefore, we seemed happy that we had an army cots and an air-mattress for us to sleep while we stayed there for our jump training, and it was much better than using a plywood bed to sleep at our base camp.
Therefore, we received a brief message from the camp commander after we arrived there. He wanted us to follow the camp rules so that we knew what we should or shouldn't be able to do before they allowed us to go inside the tents and put down our rucksacks for resting while waiting for our chow time.
Before we went to eat our dinner, we needed to turn in our weapons for storage inside the container. It was for security reasons that they didn’t allow us to keep our weapons inside those tents while we were out for training. They also issued helmets to each of us to wear during the training as they required for everyone to wear while we jumped out from the airplanes.
It was around 1800 hours, we heard the sound of a whistle to tell us our chow time so we needed to form four columns while jogging slowly to the mess hall for our dinner. The food was considered good to me as well as other fellow soldiers. Each of us jogged slowly back by ourselves after we ate our meal and didn’t have to form a formation to jog back.
At the first night, It was around 0530 hours, we heard the sounds of whistle which it woke up us while we slept soundly inside the tents so we had to get up quickly as we could do with dressed ourselves and ran out to form formation for our physical training exercise, and if someone was late, they got punishing by those instructors who waited for us outside to catch someone who was late and ordered them to do push-up for late to arrive. As you know that it was still dark outside and was a little bit cold, we had to take off our shirts before we started jogging slowly along the dirt road for several kilometers which most of us weren’t able to do because we didn’t practice a lot at our
5
camp. For that reason, I had a hard time keeping up with the group, and each time I saw someone who dropped out from the columns, I ran to help to hold them from falling down. By helping fellow soldiers, I didn’t have to jog with the group anymore.
After returning from the physical training exercises, the instructors allowed us to have a fifteen minute break to cool down our bodies with fifteen minutes more for eating breakfast before we continued to practice our jump training exercise. For breakfast we got a half loaf of French bread, a cup of black coffee with sugar. It wasn’t much compared to the American soldiers. But we were grateful to have that type of breakfast for us. We formed a single line and started to practice jumping exercises after we ate breakfast. The instructors told us to do pull-ups ten times for each person, and if someone wasn’t able to do it, the instructors punished them to do ten push-ups for not being able to do. For myself, I wasn’t able to pull up the bar so I received punishment from the instructors everytime. We took turns practicing our jumping exercises such as how to control the chute after it landed on the ground for about two weeks before we received real jumps etc.
Those instructors used to tease me a lot while I was at the practice jump area. I guessed they wanted to chat with me because I was the only person among the younger soldiers in the group that came to jump school. Through an interpreter, they asked me a lot of questions and advised me not to allow the instructors to push me out from the airplane when I jumped out etc. I told them that I jumped out by myself without pushing them. The instructor smiled and said,”Very good”.
On the last day of our jumping exercise, we watched a film. It showed us how to wear the chutes before we boarded the plane to jump out from the airplanes. The film was made during World War II so the instructors wanted us to pay attention to how they controlled their parachutes after they landed on the ground and didn’t want anybody hurt while they hit the ground.
Early the next morning, It was time for us to have a real jump out of the airplanes so they woke us up around 0530 hours for our breakfast as usual as we had to get up early and prepare ourselves for breakfast before we headed to a nearby airstrip, and we didn’t have to do our physical exercise for that day. Everyone seemed happy to know that we had a real jump with a little nervousness because it could be wrong if someone didn’t pay attention to the chutes when it came down to the ground so that we must know how to control it.
6
It was around 0600 hours. We boarded the convoy trucks after we ate breakfast and headed to Nha Trang Air Base which wasn't far from our jumping school. It was still dark outside when we arrived there, but we had to get off the trucks and form formation by team and waited for the instructors to tell us to get the parachute bags out from parked trucks which were parked not far from us so each one of us ran to grab a parachute bag and brought back. We then opened the bag and took two parachutes out. One was the main chute, and the other one was a reserve chute to put on our bodies. We had to wait for airplanes to come to pick us up so we sat down in a single line while leaning our backs on the main chute. The instructors walked along the lines to check to make sure that each of us put the chutes correctly or not etc.
At the Nha Trang Air Base, It seemed very busy while we were there because I saw different kinds of airplanes flying in the sky early in the morning and didn’t know where it was headed to. While we waited for several minutes, there were C-47 cargo planes coming to land to pick us up so we got up and walked toward to board the planes. With the reserved chute and main chute put on my body, it seemed just a little heavy loaded on my body that I felt ,and I got some help from my fellow soldiers who pulled me up into the airplane.
Therefore, there were three teams of eight soldiers for each airplane so we sat on metal seats while waiting for the airplane to take off from the runway. With the moment that we waited, the C-47 cargo plane taxied up from the runway and headed to our jumping objective that we had no idea where it was located at all.
Seven Mtns Map
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Special Forces Photos at Camp B-43 Phuoc Tuy in III Corps at Long Hai South Vietnam 1972
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Special Forces Photos at Camp B-40 Cam Tho in IV Coprs South Vietnam
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While the plane was in the sky, I peered through a small window and saw a blue sea with mountains so I asked myself where we were supposed to jump because I didn’t see any inland? For the instructors on board the plane, they inspected our parachutes to see if we connected properly or not so they walked along the aisle to inspect each person. And due to the noise from the plane’s engines, we communicated with each other by hand signals. We also shouted, Airborne! Airborne! Airborne! Repeatedly several times during the flight to jump objective because the instructors wanted to keep us busy and didn’t want us to feel nervous before we jumped out from the plane. The flight to the objective took about 15 minutes or so.
Then, it was time for the first group to get up from their seats after the instructor signaled for them to get up and to hook up a chute cord static line into cable by inserting a safety pin through a small hole for our safety so that I knew we were very close to our jumping position. The instructor signaled for the first team to move forward slowly and
7
used our feet to hit the floor of the plane to make noise while we waited for a green light before we started jumping out from the plane.
When a green light was on, the first person jumped out with the next person following until everyone jumped out. When it was my turn to jump, I was unconscious after I jumped out until the main chute opened with jolting my body so that I just felt like I just woke up sitting on a chair while my chute descended down.
By that time, I knew that I was safe from jumping out while waiting for the chute to come down on the ground. I also was able to control the main chute to land on the opening grass field without any problems, and before my chute hit the ground, there were some children who waited there to help us. Those children shouted and told us to take a good landing position before we landed on the ground? Those children also worried we could be hurt if we didn’t get a good landing position.
I offered some money to children who came to help me to roll up my main chute and put inside the chute bag for me after I landed on the ground.
I then carried my chute back to put inside the parked trucks to take back to the warehouse at Nha Trang. I then picked up a can of coke for me to drink as they allowed for us to have. My fellow soldiers and I waited for the rest of our groups to finish their jumps before we would return back to Nha Trang by convoy of trucks, but some of fellow soldiers got hurt after their parachutes landed on the trees or ocean with sprained ankles or broke their legs. Maybe, those fellow soldiers didn’t pay attention to the instructors who taught them how to control their parachutes while they trained.
Even though my fellow soldiers and I seemed very tired after we jumped, we felt happy to know the area we jumped was called,”Dong Ba Thin”. We also felt happy to see downtown Nha Trang while our convoy drove through the town when we returned back from jump parachutes. Most of our fellow soldiers really wanted to visit if they had a chance, and we knew that they wouldn't allow us to visit because we were the trainees so we rested our bodies inside the army tents and waited for our chow time and around 1730 hours or so.
After the dinner, most soldiers would play cards or they tried to sleep and waited for the next day that we were supposed to have second jumps as well as our last parachute jumps that they required for each soldier to jump to qualify as Mike Force soldier etc.
By the next morning and around 0530 hours, while we slept soundly the sounds of a whistle woke us up to form a four column formation so everyone of us rushed to form
8
after we heard the sounds of a whistle. For that day, we didn’t have to do P.T. as physical training, and we just went to have breakfast before we boarded army trucks and headed to the airstrip nearby for our second parachute jump parachutes.
For our breakfast’s time, we had about 15 minutes to finish so we ate very fast to beat the time and started to go on an airstrip to board the planes to the jump field at Dong Ba Thin. We knew that it was our last jump to qualify as Mike Force soldiers so that everyone was excited to jump. When we arrived at the airstrip on that early morning, the sky was still dark with some airplanes flying in the sky. I didn’t have any ideas where those planes headed to and could be to help friendly outposts somewhere in the area that I just assumed. The second day of our jump was the same as the first jump so we formed formation and waited for our commander to give his orders for us to pick up the chute bag and put on our bodies while we waited for airplanes to pick us up to go to the jump objective at Dong Ba Thin. Again, we finished our parachute jumps around 1200 hours of noon time and returned back to our jump school at Nha Trang by convoy of trucks as we did from yesterday.
While the convoy of trucks drove through the town of Nha Trang, those soldiers shouted with joy because they felt happy to see the town for second days after they came back from their jump parachutes, and they wished they could came to visit Nha Trang to buy or to drink coffee from the coffee shops, but we weren’t lucky enough to visit Nha Trang because they won’t allow us to wander outside the jump school during we were still as trainees. The trucks stopped after it got inside the camp so we had to get off from the trucks and walk back into the army tents to rest our bodies until the time for us to have chow time.
Most of us tried to rest. There was around 1530 hours, an army truck arrived and parked outside with the engine running. Then, we heard the voices coming from the driver and American as well as the sound coming from the horn of a truck saying that anybody wanted to go to downtown Nha Trang, please get inside the truck quickly?
After those soldiers heard who wanted to go downtown Nha Trang, all of us rushed to get inside the truck because we didn’t want to miss that opportunity to visit downtown Nha Trang. Plus, they allowed about twenty people only. I was also able to get inside the truck at that time, and most of us seemed very happy because we thought that we really visited downtown Nha Trang for the first time since we arrived at Nha Trang Jump School.
The driver and Americans told other soldiers to wait until the first group of soldiers came back, they will pick up second groups who wanted to go so the driver drove the truck
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out.Therefore, the truck left the camp and assumed it headed to downtown Nha Trang. For the above reasons, we felt happy and cheered because we thought that we were so lucky to visit Nha Trang as we always wanted.
However, the truck stopped after it left the camp in just about two minutes so we wondered why the truck stopped and parked near the tall buildings? Through an interpreter, the Americans told us that the truck arrived at downtown Nha Trang and wanted us to come down.
At that point, we knew that they misled us, and we couldn’t refuse their order because they really needed us to unload the parachute bags from the trucks and storage inside the warehouse for repacking and reuse again,and those chutes were from our jumps that morning.
At that point, there were a lot of chutes inside three trucks so that my group wasn't able to finish our job yet, so we kept for the second group to finish them. The Americans of our commanders told the driver to take my group back and brought the second group to the warehouse to finish the jobs.
We returned back to our camp after we worked for about an hour or so, and each of us wanted to keep quiet because we didn’t want second groups to know about our situations that we felt disappointed. At the same time, we arrived back at the camp. The second group already waited there so they asked us what downtown Nha Trang looked like?
We told them it looked very nice while wishing them a lot of fun while they were there. The truck departed the camp with the second group so most of us laughed because we already knew they would be disappointed as much as us. The army truck returned about an hour later with the second group of soldiers, and they were very upset with us because they knew that we lied to them so we laughed and teased them for making the same mistake as us too. From that situation, nobody wanted to visit Nha Trang anymore. The next day will be our graduation’s day and will be a big party for us.
At our graduation celebration, we felt very excited during our formation and waited for our commander to come to congratulate us at our ceremony. Finally, around 0900 hours on November 08, 1967,the camp commander came to congratulate us by walking along the column to greet each soldier before he padded silver jump wings to each soldier who stood in line to receive their silver jump wings with jump certification for each of them.
10
The camp commander also provided coke, beer, and hamburger meat for the barbecue to our party so that we had a lot of fun that afternoon so that most of the soldiers drank too much and drank before the party was over. After the party, we tried to pack our belongings and prepare to return back to our camp at Don Phuc in IV Corps Tactical Zones.
On the last day of our jump school at Nha Trang, we had the same routine as we got up at 0530 hours for breakfast. Then, we prepared our belongings to return back to our camp. After the convoy trucks came, we formed and climbed up army trucks which took us to Nha Trang Air Base to board a C-130 cargo plane that transported us to Can Tho.
From Can Tho, the C-123 cargo plane transported us back to Camp Don Phuc and took about 40 minutes to reach our camp. In addition, we arrived back at our camp around 1600 hours, and after we got out, I saw a lot of family members waiting to greet us at the airstrip. We were so happy to go back to our base camp and wait for our new mission.
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Then, it was time for the first group to get up from their seats after the instructor signaled for them to get up and to hook up a chute cord static line into cable by inserting a safety pin through a small hole for our safety so that I knew we were very close to our jumping position. The instructor signaled for the first team to move forward slowly and
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used our feet to hit the floor of the plane to make noise while we waited for a green light before we started jumping out from the plane.
When a green light was on, the first person jumped out with the next person following until everyone jumped out. When it was my turn to jump, I was unconscious after I jumped out until the main chute opened with jolting my body so that I just felt like I just woke up sitting on a chair while my chute descended down.
By that time, I knew that I was safe from jumping out while waiting for the chute to come down on the ground. I also was able to control the main chute to land on the opening grass field without any problems, and before my chute hit the ground, there were some children who waited there to help us. Those children shouted and told us to take a good landing position before we landed on the ground? Those children also worried we could be hurt if we didn’t get a good landing position.
I offered some money to children who came to help me to roll up my main chute and put inside the chute bag for me after I landed on the ground.
I then carried my chute back to put inside the parked trucks to take back to the warehouse at Nha Trang. I then picked up a can of coke for me to drink as they allowed for us to have. My fellow soldiers and I waited for the rest of our groups to finish their jumps before we would return back to Nha Trang by convoy of trucks, but some of fellow soldiers got hurt after their parachutes landed on the trees or ocean with sprained ankles or broke their legs. Maybe, those fellow soldiers didn’t pay attention to the instructors who taught them how to control their parachutes while they trained.
Even though my fellow soldiers and I seemed very tired after we jumped, we felt happy to know the area we jumped was called,”Dong Ba Thin”. We also felt happy to see downtown Nha Trang while our convoy drove through the town when we returned back from jump parachutes. Most of our fellow soldiers really wanted to visit if they had a chance, and we knew that they wouldn't allow us to visit because we were the trainees so we rested our bodies inside the army tents and waited for our chow time and around 1730 hours or so.
After the dinner, most soldiers would play cards or they tried to sleep and waited for the next day that we were supposed to have second jumps as well as our last parachute jumps that they required for each soldier to jump to qualify as Mike Force soldier etc.
By the next morning and around 0530 hours, while we slept soundly the sounds of a whistle woke us up to form a four column formation so everyone of us rushed to form
8
after we heard the sounds of a whistle. For that day, we didn’t have to do P.T. as physical training, and we just went to have breakfast before we boarded army trucks and headed to the airstrip nearby for our second parachute jump parachutes.
For our breakfast’s time, we had about 15 minutes to finish so we ate very fast to beat the time and started to go on an airstrip to board the planes to the jump field at Dong Ba Thin. We knew that it was our last jump to qualify as Mike Force soldiers so that everyone was excited to jump. When we arrived at the airstrip on that early morning, the sky was still dark with some airplanes flying in the sky. I didn’t have any ideas where those planes headed to and could be to help friendly outposts somewhere in the area that I just assumed. The second day of our jump was the same as the first jump so we formed formation and waited for our commander to give his orders for us to pick up the chute bag and put on our bodies while we waited for airplanes to pick us up to go to the jump objective at Dong Ba Thin. Again, we finished our parachute jumps around 1200 hours of noon time and returned back to our jump school at Nha Trang by convoy of trucks as we did from yesterday.
While the convoy of trucks drove through the town of Nha Trang, those soldiers shouted with joy because they felt happy to see the town for second days after they came back from their jump parachutes, and they wished they could came to visit Nha Trang to buy or to drink coffee from the coffee shops, but we weren’t lucky enough to visit Nha Trang because they won’t allow us to wander outside the jump school during we were still as trainees. The trucks stopped after it got inside the camp so we had to get off from the trucks and walk back into the army tents to rest our bodies until the time for us to have chow time.
Most of us tried to rest. There was around 1530 hours, an army truck arrived and parked outside with the engine running. Then, we heard the voices coming from the driver and American as well as the sound coming from the horn of a truck saying that anybody wanted to go to downtown Nha Trang, please get inside the truck quickly?
After those soldiers heard who wanted to go downtown Nha Trang, all of us rushed to get inside the truck because we didn’t want to miss that opportunity to visit downtown Nha Trang. Plus, they allowed about twenty people only. I was also able to get inside the truck at that time, and most of us seemed very happy because we thought that we really visited downtown Nha Trang for the first time since we arrived at Nha Trang Jump School.
The driver and Americans told other soldiers to wait until the first group of soldiers came back, they will pick up second groups who wanted to go so the driver drove the truck
9
out.Therefore, the truck left the camp and assumed it headed to downtown Nha Trang. For the above reasons, we felt happy and cheered because we thought that we were so lucky to visit Nha Trang as we always wanted.
However, the truck stopped after it left the camp in just about two minutes so we wondered why the truck stopped and parked near the tall buildings? Through an interpreter, the Americans told us that the truck arrived at downtown Nha Trang and wanted us to come down.
At that point, we knew that they misled us, and we couldn’t refuse their order because they really needed us to unload the parachute bags from the trucks and storage inside the warehouse for repacking and reuse again,and those chutes were from our jumps that morning.
At that point, there were a lot of chutes inside three trucks so that my group wasn't able to finish our job yet, so we kept for the second group to finish them. The Americans of our commanders told the driver to take my group back and brought the second group to the warehouse to finish the jobs.
We returned back to our camp after we worked for about an hour or so, and each of us wanted to keep quiet because we didn’t want second groups to know about our situations that we felt disappointed. At the same time, we arrived back at the camp. The second group already waited there so they asked us what downtown Nha Trang looked like?
We told them it looked very nice while wishing them a lot of fun while they were there. The truck departed the camp with the second group so most of us laughed because we already knew they would be disappointed as much as us. The army truck returned about an hour later with the second group of soldiers, and they were very upset with us because they knew that we lied to them so we laughed and teased them for making the same mistake as us too. From that situation, nobody wanted to visit Nha Trang anymore. The next day will be our graduation’s day and will be a big party for us.
At our graduation celebration, we felt very excited during our formation and waited for our commander to come to congratulate us at our ceremony. Finally, around 0900 hours on November 08, 1967,the camp commander came to congratulate us by walking along the column to greet each soldier before he padded silver jump wings to each soldier who stood in line to receive their silver jump wings with jump certification for each of them.
10
The camp commander also provided coke, beer, and hamburger meat for the barbecue to our party so that we had a lot of fun that afternoon so that most of the soldiers drank too much and drank before the party was over. After the party, we tried to pack our belongings and prepare to return back to our camp at Don Phuc in IV Corps Tactical Zones.
On the last day of our jump school at Nha Trang, we had the same routine as we got up at 0530 hours for breakfast. Then, we prepared our belongings to return back to our camp. After the convoy trucks came, we formed and climbed up army trucks which took us to Nha Trang Air Base to board a C-130 cargo plane that transported us to Can Tho.
From Can Tho, the C-123 cargo plane transported us back to Camp Don Phuc and took about 40 minutes to reach our camp. In addition, we arrived back at our camp around 1600 hours, and after we got out, I saw a lot of family members waiting to greet us at the airstrip. We were so happy to go back to our base camp and wait for our new mission.
11
Main Entrance to Camp A- 401 Don Phuc, IV Corps SVN
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Can Tho Special Forces Camp
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Nha Trang 5th Special Forces HQ 1969
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C-123 Aircraft
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C-47 Aircraft
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C - 119 Aircraft
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DHC-4 Caribou Aircraft
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C- 130 Aircraft
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Part Two - The First Mission
“The First Mission at Chi Lang in early January 1967 by Vila Chau”
There was around January 1967, the 42nd Mike Force Company at Camp A-401 Don Phuc in IV Corps Tactical Zones was called for standby to deploy out immediately after the sounds of whistles alerted us as well as the calling from our platoon leaders so my fellow soldiers and I rushed to form the formation by platoon with our equipment. However, we didn’t have any idea where we might be headed, and we guessed it might be a very important mission that was why they wanted us to move out as quickly as possible.
However, Chau Lam and I used to be chased out from the column by our platoon leader because he didn’t allow us to participate in any missions. He worried we might not be able to walk to keep up with the rest of the troops. Therefore, we told him that we wanted to participate with our fellow soldiers this time and didn’t want to stay back to guard the camp anymore like we did several times.
At that point, our platoon leader didn’t know what to say after we told him that we wanted to participate with the operation, he then nodded his head and said that two of you might go with us this time, but he wasn’t able to help us if we didn’t able to keep up with the rest of the troops. Both of us told him that we won’t ask for help if we had any problems and will try to keep up with the group. At that time, my friend and I felt happy to know that we finally were able to go.
At the same time, we didn’t have much time to talk because they prepared to issue three days of food rations for us as called,”Packet Indigenous Ration”.(PIR) with three cans of mackerels, and three cans of spams with six packets of the PIR for each of the soldiers before we started to go out to the operation. Those types of food rations had five different numbers such as packet number one had a bag of instant rice, a small packet of dried vegetables, a bag of candied fruit pieces, a small packet of dried hot peppers, a small packet of instant tea, a small packet of salt and pepper, a small packet of beef jerky, and a vitamin pill.
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Most of five numbers of the food rations had the same types of food inside the packets, but number#2 had small packet of smoked anchovies, number#3 had shrimp-mushrooms, number#4 had smoked lamb , number #5 had small packets of smoked sausages etc. Those food rations were for the indigenous soldiers to eat each time we went out for the operation, but some of the American soldiers loved to eat too. Instead, they carried C-Rations while they were out to combat. Well, my rucksack seemed quite heavy after I put everything's inside of it.
There was around January 1967, the 42nd Mike Force Company at Camp A-401 Don Phuc in IV Corps Tactical Zones was called for standby to deploy out immediately after the sounds of whistles alerted us as well as the calling from our platoon leaders so my fellow soldiers and I rushed to form the formation by platoon with our equipment. However, we didn’t have any idea where we might be headed, and we guessed it might be a very important mission that was why they wanted us to move out as quickly as possible.
However, Chau Lam and I used to be chased out from the column by our platoon leader because he didn’t allow us to participate in any missions. He worried we might not be able to walk to keep up with the rest of the troops. Therefore, we told him that we wanted to participate with our fellow soldiers this time and didn’t want to stay back to guard the camp anymore like we did several times.
At that point, our platoon leader didn’t know what to say after we told him that we wanted to participate with the operation, he then nodded his head and said that two of you might go with us this time, but he wasn’t able to help us if we didn’t able to keep up with the rest of the troops. Both of us told him that we won’t ask for help if we had any problems and will try to keep up with the group. At that time, my friend and I felt happy to know that we finally were able to go.
At the same time, we didn’t have much time to talk because they prepared to issue three days of food rations for us as called,”Packet Indigenous Ration”.(PIR) with three cans of mackerels, and three cans of spams with six packets of the PIR for each of the soldiers before we started to go out to the operation. Those types of food rations had five different numbers such as packet number one had a bag of instant rice, a small packet of dried vegetables, a bag of candied fruit pieces, a small packet of dried hot peppers, a small packet of instant tea, a small packet of salt and pepper, a small packet of beef jerky, and a vitamin pill.
1
Most of five numbers of the food rations had the same types of food inside the packets, but number#2 had small packet of smoked anchovies, number#3 had shrimp-mushrooms, number#4 had smoked lamb , number #5 had small packets of smoked sausages etc. Those food rations were for the indigenous soldiers to eat each time we went out for the operation, but some of the American soldiers loved to eat too. Instead, they carried C-Rations while they were out to combat. Well, my rucksack seemed quite heavy after I put everything's inside of it.
Asian Type - (PIR) - Packet Indigenous Ration
Asian Type - (PIR) - Packet Indigenous Ration, containing dried fish, rice & fruit
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Remembering MACV-SOG's "Q" - The Legendary Special Forces Logistics Wizard. 1928-2019
Conrad Bennet "Ben" Baker pictured with his creation the Asian Type (PIR) - Packet Indigenous Ration.
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American Type - (LRRP MRE) - Long Range Recon Patrol Meal Ready to Eat.
Typical contents of an American (MRE) Meal Ready to Eat Packet
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However, we marched out to the airstrip which was about five-hundred meters from our camp for the transportation planes coming to pick us up and transport us to our last destination somewhere unknown. At that moment, Chau Lam and I felt very excited because it was the first time that we had a chance to participate with other fellow soldiers for real combat. We have always wanted to participate with them since we joined the Mike Force soldiers.
The C-123 cargo plane had been waiting for us there to board the plane because it landed at the airstrip before we marched outside so we formed the formation by platoon with clearing our weapons before we walked up from the rear ramp door after it was lowdown into the ground, and there weren’t enough seats for us to sit so we sat on the plane’s floor.
Therefore, we were able to hear the pilots accelerated the plane’s engine for take off after they closed the ramp with the several minutes later the C-123 cargo plane taxied off from the dirt airstrip runway and leaped off from the ground with heading to our
2
unknown destination, and most of us shouted and laughed while the C-123 plane was on the air. At the sametime, everyone seemed happy to do our jobs as soldiers must do without any complaint to our commander. The C-123 Plane had been in the air for about thirty minutes or so and seemed ready to land because the C-123 Plane had descended down so that I tried to peer through the airplane’s window and thought I knew the location which the C-123 airplane tried to land. It was the airstrip at Chi Lang Training Center for the South Vietnamese Army in the Seven Mountain region.
All of us marched out from the C-123 Plane and formed a formation and waited for the order from our commander who might want us to do next. However, we received an order for us to march out in two column formation and headed southwest which we exited the rear entrance gate with continuing to west for about one more kclick. Our leader ordered for us to stop while we were close to the foot of the mountain of Nui Cam so that we wondered why they wanted us to stop there until the interpreter wanted us to know there were two companies of the Mike Force Hoa Hao sect that went out for operation on top of Nui Cam Mountain about a week ago ,and they didn’t obey the orders from their American commanders and threatened to hold them as the prisoners so we came here today as our rescuing missions if the Americans and the leaders of those Hoa Hao didn’t agreed to come down from the mountain. We might have to go up to search and rescue those Americans, and we hoped they agreed with each other while they talked, and if they agreed to come down, we didn't go up and just waited down here to welcome them.
It was around 1330 hrs, we received the good news that Americans and Hoa Hao sect leaders agreed with each other to stop the operation and returned back to their base camp. They started walking down from the mountain so that our commander told us to camouflage our bodies and tried to hide ourselves inside the bush. At the sametime, we saw the Americans driving an army truck with a pulling water trailer behind coming to park at an open rice paddy which wasn’t far from where we hid inside the bush. The water trailer was for those soldiers to drink because they really needed water badly due to the dry season while they were at the top of the mountain etc.
Therefore, the army truck and a water trailer were borrowed from the American (MACV) who served as advisors for the South Vietnamese Army at Chi Lang Training Center. Our American commander kept their radio contact with other Americans on the mountain so that they would know how far or how long those soldiers would reach down from the mountain. We didn’t have any idea whether those soldiers might know our presence in the areas or not? What would happen to them after they reached down to Chi Lang?
In addition, my group just waited for the sounds of whistle which signaled for us to take action immediately so we hoped they didn’t resist while we tried to disarm them, and if they resisted, we might have to shoot them ,or they had to shoot us so that we
3
had to be careful not to allow them to shoot us first during we tried to disarm them. Around 1500 hrs, we were able to see the column marching down from the mountain so we knew they would arrive at our location in about twenty minutes or so. We saw the Americans and interpreters who stood and waited at open areas to welcome the Mike Force Hoa Hao sect who walked down from the mountain.
After the last soldiers reached down from the mountain, we heard our commander tell the interpreter to tell those soldiers that they needed to form the formation by platoon, and they also needed to stack their arms. Those soldiers wondered why they had to stack their arms while they were out to combat etc, and they did obey the order from the American commander so they stacked their arms while waiting for the next orders.
The American commander told those soldiers that they might take one or two water canteens with them to get water from a water trailer which was parked on their right about fifty meters or so. My fellow soldiers and I assumed those soldiers were confused why they must stack arms while they were in a combat situation, but they obeyed the order and took out their water canteens with them and walked toward a water trailer to fill their canteens. The soldiers seemed very thirsty during the dry season with very hot weather so they needed water badly.
The C-123 cargo plane had been waiting for us there to board the plane because it landed at the airstrip before we marched outside so we formed the formation by platoon with clearing our weapons before we walked up from the rear ramp door after it was lowdown into the ground, and there weren’t enough seats for us to sit so we sat on the plane’s floor.
Therefore, we were able to hear the pilots accelerated the plane’s engine for take off after they closed the ramp with the several minutes later the C-123 cargo plane taxied off from the dirt airstrip runway and leaped off from the ground with heading to our
2
unknown destination, and most of us shouted and laughed while the C-123 plane was on the air. At the sametime, everyone seemed happy to do our jobs as soldiers must do without any complaint to our commander. The C-123 Plane had been in the air for about thirty minutes or so and seemed ready to land because the C-123 Plane had descended down so that I tried to peer through the airplane’s window and thought I knew the location which the C-123 airplane tried to land. It was the airstrip at Chi Lang Training Center for the South Vietnamese Army in the Seven Mountain region.
All of us marched out from the C-123 Plane and formed a formation and waited for the order from our commander who might want us to do next. However, we received an order for us to march out in two column formation and headed southwest which we exited the rear entrance gate with continuing to west for about one more kclick. Our leader ordered for us to stop while we were close to the foot of the mountain of Nui Cam so that we wondered why they wanted us to stop there until the interpreter wanted us to know there were two companies of the Mike Force Hoa Hao sect that went out for operation on top of Nui Cam Mountain about a week ago ,and they didn’t obey the orders from their American commanders and threatened to hold them as the prisoners so we came here today as our rescuing missions if the Americans and the leaders of those Hoa Hao didn’t agreed to come down from the mountain. We might have to go up to search and rescue those Americans, and we hoped they agreed with each other while they talked, and if they agreed to come down, we didn't go up and just waited down here to welcome them.
It was around 1330 hrs, we received the good news that Americans and Hoa Hao sect leaders agreed with each other to stop the operation and returned back to their base camp. They started walking down from the mountain so that our commander told us to camouflage our bodies and tried to hide ourselves inside the bush. At the sametime, we saw the Americans driving an army truck with a pulling water trailer behind coming to park at an open rice paddy which wasn’t far from where we hid inside the bush. The water trailer was for those soldiers to drink because they really needed water badly due to the dry season while they were at the top of the mountain etc.
Therefore, the army truck and a water trailer were borrowed from the American (MACV) who served as advisors for the South Vietnamese Army at Chi Lang Training Center. Our American commander kept their radio contact with other Americans on the mountain so that they would know how far or how long those soldiers would reach down from the mountain. We didn’t have any idea whether those soldiers might know our presence in the areas or not? What would happen to them after they reached down to Chi Lang?
In addition, my group just waited for the sounds of whistle which signaled for us to take action immediately so we hoped they didn’t resist while we tried to disarm them, and if they resisted, we might have to shoot them ,or they had to shoot us so that we
3
had to be careful not to allow them to shoot us first during we tried to disarm them. Around 1500 hrs, we were able to see the column marching down from the mountain so we knew they would arrive at our location in about twenty minutes or so. We saw the Americans and interpreters who stood and waited at open areas to welcome the Mike Force Hoa Hao sect who walked down from the mountain.
After the last soldiers reached down from the mountain, we heard our commander tell the interpreter to tell those soldiers that they needed to form the formation by platoon, and they also needed to stack their arms. Those soldiers wondered why they had to stack their arms while they were out to combat etc, and they did obey the order from the American commander so they stacked their arms while waiting for the next orders.
The American commander told those soldiers that they might take one or two water canteens with them to get water from a water trailer which was parked on their right about fifty meters or so. My fellow soldiers and I assumed those soldiers were confused why they must stack arms while they were in a combat situation, but they obeyed the order and took out their water canteens with them and walked toward a water trailer to fill their canteens. The soldiers seemed very thirsty during the dry season with very hot weather so they needed water badly.
Chi Lang Camp IV Corps, SVN 1969
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Can Tho Camp, IV Corps, SVN 1967
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Can Tho Air Field, IV Corps, SVN 1969
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At that time, those soldiers still didn’t know what would happen to them yet so they walked to fill up their water canteens as normal activity to them. After most soldiers left the area to fill up their water canteens, we surprised them by rushing out from hiding and shouted while demanding them to put their hands up after we heard the sounds of whistle to signal for us to take actions against the Mike Force Hoa Hao.
At that moment, those soldiers didn’t try to resist back at us either because they didn’t have their weapons with them while we demanded for them to put their hands up while not moving so they put their hands up as we told them to do. Immediately, we rushed to stripoff their ammunition belts and searched their bodies to make sure they didn’t have any types of weapons left inside their bodies as well as the hand grenades etc. Then, we collected all of the weapons and tied them into a bundle to put inside an army truck as well as the ammunition belts and the rucksacks. The army truck transported those weapons, ammunition belts, and those rucksacks to the airstrip for taking back to our base camp.
However, our commander allowed them to keep one water canteen, one pair of uniforms on their bodies, and some of their personal belongings etc. Therefore, our commander wanted them to form the formation in three columns and told them that they had been fired from the Mike Force so they will be transported back to their home villages by tomorrow where they were from. After the disarms, collected ammunition belts, and those rucksacks, my unit leaded them to march back to Chi Lang airstrip for transporting them back to their home villages, but when we arrived at Chi Lang airstrip, there weren’t any air planes to come because it was late of afternoon so we had to wait until next day or so for the transportation planes to come.
4
The weather on that day was a little hot, and we had no choice but to stay on the open field guarding those soldiers because we didn’t want them to riot against us if we didn’t pay attention to our situations so we kept our eyes on them all the time during the day or night until the transportation planes might come to transport them back to their villages. The Americans had to bring water trailers, food rations, and poncho with poncho liner for those soldiers to sleep, to eat, and to drink at night.
That night, my unit guarded them by watching closely to prevent rioting while they slept. The next morning, It was around 1000 hrs, the Caribou Plane came from Can Tho to transport those soldiers back to their villages somewhere at the Mekong Delta region so my unit cleaned up the mess and waited there for more airplanes coming to pick up us back to our base camp at Don Phuc because we had been done our mission etc. We finally arrived back at our base camp around 1700 hrs with the greeting from family members who waited at the airstrip to welcome us.
In addition, I really wanted to share with other people what I felt after my first mission was over. The good news was that there weren't as real combat situations so that my life wasn’t as dangerous as for real combat. However, I didn’t know why those Mike Force Hoa Hao leaders tried to hold the Americans hostage so that we almost had to shoot each other if they knew about our plan to disarm them. I felt bad because I didn’t want to see that situation happen again after my first mission. Furthermore, I wanted to hear from the Americans who were there during that incident if they somehow read my short story because I wanted them to share their opinion with me how they felt without the help of my Mike Force Company? Thank you.
5
At that moment, those soldiers didn’t try to resist back at us either because they didn’t have their weapons with them while we demanded for them to put their hands up while not moving so they put their hands up as we told them to do. Immediately, we rushed to stripoff their ammunition belts and searched their bodies to make sure they didn’t have any types of weapons left inside their bodies as well as the hand grenades etc. Then, we collected all of the weapons and tied them into a bundle to put inside an army truck as well as the ammunition belts and the rucksacks. The army truck transported those weapons, ammunition belts, and those rucksacks to the airstrip for taking back to our base camp.
However, our commander allowed them to keep one water canteen, one pair of uniforms on their bodies, and some of their personal belongings etc. Therefore, our commander wanted them to form the formation in three columns and told them that they had been fired from the Mike Force so they will be transported back to their home villages by tomorrow where they were from. After the disarms, collected ammunition belts, and those rucksacks, my unit leaded them to march back to Chi Lang airstrip for transporting them back to their home villages, but when we arrived at Chi Lang airstrip, there weren’t any air planes to come because it was late of afternoon so we had to wait until next day or so for the transportation planes to come.
4
The weather on that day was a little hot, and we had no choice but to stay on the open field guarding those soldiers because we didn’t want them to riot against us if we didn’t pay attention to our situations so we kept our eyes on them all the time during the day or night until the transportation planes might come to transport them back to their villages. The Americans had to bring water trailers, food rations, and poncho with poncho liner for those soldiers to sleep, to eat, and to drink at night.
That night, my unit guarded them by watching closely to prevent rioting while they slept. The next morning, It was around 1000 hrs, the Caribou Plane came from Can Tho to transport those soldiers back to their villages somewhere at the Mekong Delta region so my unit cleaned up the mess and waited there for more airplanes coming to pick up us back to our base camp at Don Phuc because we had been done our mission etc. We finally arrived back at our base camp around 1700 hrs with the greeting from family members who waited at the airstrip to welcome us.
In addition, I really wanted to share with other people what I felt after my first mission was over. The good news was that there weren't as real combat situations so that my life wasn’t as dangerous as for real combat. However, I didn’t know why those Mike Force Hoa Hao leaders tried to hold the Americans hostage so that we almost had to shoot each other if they knew about our plan to disarm them. I felt bad because I didn’t want to see that situation happen again after my first mission. Furthermore, I wanted to hear from the Americans who were there during that incident if they somehow read my short story because I wanted them to share their opinion with me how they felt without the help of my Mike Force Company? Thank you.
5
Kampuchea Krom Soldiers at Camp A-401, IV Corps, Don Phuc, SVN
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Camp A-401, IV Corps, Don Phuc, SVN
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Don Blue, John Nesbitt & Chau Dien at Camp A-401, Don Phuc, IV Corps, SVN
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Part Three - BLACK JACK 41 RED
The First mission at Nui Cam Mountain in January 1967 which was called,”BlackJack 41 Red,” from Camp A-401 Don Phuc in the Mekong Delta region in IV Corps Tactical Zones South Vietnam by Vila Chau.
Upon returning back from the first mission at Chi Lang near the Cambodian border, the 42nd Mike Force Company of Khmer Kampuchia Krom (KKK) which led by Major George Marecek to return back to Chi Lang for the second time so we had to be standby again for another mission , and we formed the formation by platoon with full gears for roll call to see how many soldiers had to be participated in the next mission before we started to deploy out. We didn’t have any idea where we might go until we got off the airplanes.
Therefore, Chau Lam and I didn’t have any problems with our platoon leader after we had participated in the last mission at Chi Lang so he felt happy to allow the two of us to go without saying anything. For us, we felt happy to join with our fellow soldiers again. Well, before we marched out to an airstrip which was located outside the camp to board the airplanes, our leaders had to inspect our equipment to make sure we had enough ammunition such as claymore-mines, M-72 rocket launchers, smoke grenades ,hand grenades etc.
For the food rations, they issued six packet indigenous rations(PIR) for three days before we went out to the operation, and each soldier received two packets of (PIR) with one can of mackerels and one can of spam per day as well as heat tabs for boiling water, insect repellent, and water purification tablets etc.
At the same time, we readied to march out to an airstrip which is located not very far from our camp and waited there for the airplanes coming from Can Tho to transport us to our last destination somewhere unknown yet. Except our commander. Around 1130 hrs, the C-123 plane came from Can Tho and landed to transport us so we formed a formation to prepare ourselves to board the plane, and before we would board the plane, we must clear our weapons to prevent any accident while we were inside the plane. After all the soldiers sat down inside the plane with the rear ramp close, we were able to feel the plane starting to move while the pilots accelerated the plane’s engines for taxi off from the dirt runway airstrip and just a couple minutes later the C-123 airplane leapt off into the air with most soldiers shouting with happy. I was able to tell that soldiers could be happy and nervous because they might be expected to engage with the enemy as soon as they got to their destination so most soldiers tried to rest themselves while the airplane was still in the air.
It was the second time that Chau Lam and I were able to participate with the fellow soldiers since we joined the Mike Force soldiers together. Therefore, I thought the C-123
airplane was about to land after it circled back and descended down slowly so I assumed the C-123 airplane was trying to land and touched down on the runway with lowering a rear ramp for us to get out so we recognized the place was the Chi Lang airstrip. The area was also known as Seven Mountain Region, and most people who lived in the area were ethnic Khmer as Cambodian people.
The C-123 airplane returned back to pick up the rest of the troops while we waited there for the rest of our troops to join us. The last group of the troops arrived around 1400 hrs so we received orders for us to form the formation to move out. We then marched out in two columns which we headed east and exited through the main entrance gate of Chi Lang Training Center, and we turned left with headed north along the unpaved road for about two to three click the column stop at the Khmer’s temple which it located in commune of Vinh Trung and district of Tri Ton with provincial of Chau Doc, South Vietnam. At the same time, we were told to set up our disposition around that temple temporarily and waited for a new order from our commander for us to move out again soon. It was around 1530 hrs after we got to the temple so we needed some rest with cooking food for us to eat or chatting with the local villagers who came to visit us at the temple because most of the soldiers were from surrounding villages before they joined Mike Force as well as myself. There were a lot of children who gathered around me because I looked similar to them as the youngest soldier so they liked to talk to me and ask a lot of questions. Therefore, I offered some of my candies to them for our friendship that we met for the first time.
At the sametime while we rested and chatted with the local villagers, I was able to fill up my water canteens with boiling hot water to cook the instant rice for me to eat while I waited for a new order for us to move out, but It was around 1700 hrs at that afternoon and wasn’t any new order for us to move out yet, some of my fellow soldiers and I walked to market at Vinh Trung because we wanted to visit the market and wanted to buy somethings from the market as well as to chat with the relatives who lived not very far from the market of Vinh Trung. By surprising my relatives at their home,they felt so happy to see me after I showed up. My fellow soldiers and I had to return back to the temple about an hour later because we must prepare ourselves to move out again so we needed to be at the temple, and the villagers had to return back to their home villages before the night fell, and the temple was a little bit quiet
Around 1900 hrs, we received orders to move out and didn’t know where we might head to. Each of us came to formation and waited for order to move. I heard they told the Recon Platoon started first, and the first platoon followed with the second platoon after that etc. Immediately, we moved out in two columns heading south back to Chi Lang Training Center along unpaved road. We reached Chi Lang about an hour later and marched through the town center continuing south until we reached outside the town limit later that night. There were a lot of dogs which barked furiously at us so those
2
villagers might peer through their huts and know the soldiers walked outside their homes etc. At that point, we must carefully watch for our enemy who might wait to ambush us. Plus, it was dark at night and hard to see things in front of us. It was around 2100hrs
that we changed into single line formation heading to the southwest direction so we knew that we might have to climb up the Nui Cam Mountain where the group of Mike Force Hoa Hao was there earlier before we disarmed them. We also might engage with the enemy soon because we entered their territory.
For myself, I wondered why we hadn't had any rest yet since we left the temple about over two hours ago? My body was so tired from walking over two hours with my gear and without any rest. My shoulders were aching while I walked with my rucksack and ammunition belt so I felt It pushed down on me. In the meantime, I hoped we might have a brief break soon so I was able to get rid of some of my stuff inside my rucksack. For some reason, the column halted so I saw my platoon leader who walked along the column and spoke very lowly to us that we had a little break time here and kept our eyes on our enemy too. Some of the soldiers sat down and some stood up carefully watching the areas close to them. Luckily, I was able to get rid of some of my stuff during the break time and felt much much better after some of that stuff was cleaned up, but I didn’t know the situation of Chau Lam yet because he was in 3rd Squad which walked behind my squad, and I hoped he was okay to walk to keep up with the fellow soldiers.
At that point, I wondered why my platoon leader didn’t want to allow Chau Lam and I to join the operation last time? I knew now and wasn’t able to change it back due to volunteering to come, and I didn’t want to blame anybody at all and blamed myself. At that moment, I knew how hard it was for the combat soldiers who tried to search for the enemy during their combat operation. I wished that I listened to my platoon leader and stayed back in the camp. Somehow, the column started to move out again after we had about fifteen minutes or so for our break time. By that time, I felt much better after I had some break time, getting rid of my stuff out of my rucksack. It was much lighter than it was before.
Around 2230 hrs, we were able to see the shadow of the mountain and hoped to reach the foot of the mountain of Nui Cam soon. We climbed up slowly due to steeper slopes ahead of us with the jungle very thick so the lead soldiers had to clear the brush first before we were able to move forward. In that situation, we hardly saw things ahead of us, but we kept pushing ourselves up until we reached about halfway up the mountain, the column halted around 2400 hrs at midnight.
Next, we received an order for us to set up a disposition there to stay overnight so each of the platoons linked up to make a circle for our defensive perimeter lines. It wasn’t easy for us to move around at night in the middle of the night inside a jungle and must search for a spot for us to rest through the night hoping our enemy won’t come to bother us while we tried to rest ourselves in the night. Well, I didn’t know about the fellow
3
soldiers whether they dug their foxholes or not.If they did, they might have a hard time digging the ground because most of the area was covered by rocks as well as they weren’t able to see at night in the jungle.
In that situation, I just tried to find a good spot behind the rocks and put down my rucksack, taking out a poncho with poncho liner to lay on top of falling leaves, broken tree branches on the ground while trying to rest my body until the next morning and didn’t have much time to dig the foxhole either because I thought the enemy might be able to hear our activities in the mid of jungle if we dug the foxholes during the midnight. By that time, I felt much better and realized how difficult it was to climb up the mountain with a full load of gear.
I assumed there would be nothing happening to us that night, and if we must digging the foxholes, I didn’t bring a pick with me to the operation because It might adding some more weight to my body so that I preferred not to bring it and might borrowing from the fellow soldiers if I needed it to dig my own foxhole. However, I was concerned that we might disturb the wild animals which lived in the jungle such as snakes, insects,and deers etc.
For our security in the night, we shared guard duties so that other fellow soldiers were able to rest safely throughout the night. It was my first time that I slept in the middle of a jungle while listening to the sounds of wild animals and insects. I was also amazed to hear those sounds while I sat down leaning against the rock during my guard duty that night. Luckily, we haven't received any contact with the Viet Cong yet since we left the temple so most soldiers slept soundly through the night.
The next morning I was able to see the ground, the tall trees, big rocks, and the sky much better after the sun had risen up in early that morning while I saw fellow soldiers preparing themselves to be ready to move out because we received orders from our commander that we might be moving out again after we ate our breakfast, but I wanted the American people to know that the Vietnamese people had only two meals per day back then as during the war so the indigenous soldiers (Mike Force) might use the packet of instant coffee or instant tea from the (PIR) to drink and to eat some of candy fruits as well as packet of the instant rice for their breakfast. instead of real breakfast like the American soldiers. Fortunately, the indigenous Mike Force soldiers were happy to receive those types of food rations each time when they went out to the operation because the South Vietnamese Army didn’t receive the same types of food rations as we did so we considered ourselves lucky to have those packets of food rations for us to eat.
In the early morning, we really needed water for us to drink, to cook food, to brush teeth, to wash face because we almost ran out of water so that we tried to collect water nearby to fill up our water canteens and must bury all the trash which we used from food ration before we might move out again. Around 8000 hrs in the morning, we started to move out and headed west to climb up to reach one of the top hills. The Recon platoon
4
moved first, and my First Platoon moved out next as well as other platoons followed with our weapons locked and loaded ready for combat. At that time, we didn’t have much problems climbing up because we used small trees to help pull ourselves up even though we met with the steeper slopes, dense jungle ahead of us, we won’t change our minds to stay back. For myself in that situation, my body was soaking with sweat, and my shoulders were aching again, but I tried to keep up with the rest of my fellow soldiers until we reached the top of the mountain around 1530 hrs. The column halted for break time. I was grateful to know the top of the mountain considering it is flat with some hills and high ground. Several minutes later, my platoon leader returned back from a meeting with the commander, he said that we remained overnight in this location until we received a new order for us to move out again.
Immediately, each platoon set up and shared a defensive perimeter line with other platoons so that my First Platoon covered southside areas which we linked up with the Recon Platoon, and the rest of platoons must linked up to make a circle for our defensive perimeter lines to protect us from enemy attacking. Again, from the starting to move up and after reaching the top of the mountain around 1530 hrs, we didn’t make any contact with the Viet Cong and NVA yet. At the same time, most of the soldiers were very busy digging their foxholes and setting up tents before they made their dinner. For myself, due to the rock under the ground, I wasn’t able to dig a foxhole, but I was busy collecting big rocks to build my foxhole by stacking it on top of each other, and if I didn’t have problem with the ground, I might not dig my foxhole at all because I didn’t like to carry a pick with me to the operation as I told you earlier. I must wait to borrow from fellow soldiers after they have done their work etc.
While I was busy collecting rocks, a fellow soldier came to visit and asked me if I knew the situation of Chau Lam or not? I said that I didn’t know anything about him yet. I asked what happened to him? He told me that Chau Lam had trouble walking while we were about to climb up the mountain. At first, I thought he lied to me until he said that he didn’t lie. Therefore, I grasped my rifle and rushed to see Chau Lam because I wanted to know what happened to him? After I was able to find Chau Lam and asked him, he told me he had fever and headache, but he felt much better now after he took the medications which the medic gave to him. He seemed weak when I met him. Chau Lam seemed happy to see me when I met him.
Both of us talked for a while when I visited and knew he got rid of most of his belongings as well as food rations due he had a fever and wasn’t able to carry. He carried only his rifle with one magazine so some fellow soldiers helped him to carry his ammunition belt with an empty rucksack. At that point, I told him about my situation. I did get rid of some of my stuff too so I still had about half food rations left inside my rucksack. However, I told Chau Lam that I gave him half of my food ration for him to eat until we received the next food supply again, and we had to eat less too, or we walked
5
around to beg our fellow soldiers to see if they had some extra food rations for us or not? Well, I walked back to my tent and took out some food rations to give to my friend and returned back to finish my shelter around 1730 hrs with heating hot water for instant rice, for soup, or for coffee, my dinner etc. Before the night fell, I helped fellow soldiers to set up the claymore mines and the trip-flares outside of our perimeter lines to protect us from the enemy that might want to come to attack us.
That night, I was the first person assigned on guard duty from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs, and the rest of the night we had other fellow soldiers who took care. My squad leader showed me where I was supposed to sit when I started my guard duty. I cocked my rifle to check to make sure it had a round inside the chamber before I sat down behind a big rock at my guard station. My eyes and ears kept watching the area in front of me while paying attention to the sounds and the noises which came from the insects and wild animals as well as any sign of the enemy who might crawl up under brush coming toward our position to surprise us.
For the above reasons, If the enemy tried to come to attack us, they could meet with the trip-flares and might puff up to alert us first before the enemy was able to come to attack us, but we didn’t have any problems throughout that night so it was calm and very peaceful. Those soldiers were able to sleep soundly throughout the night. That early morning on top of the mountain of Nui Cam, the sky seemed very nice with little clouds covering the hills. Most of the soldiers got up early to make their coffee or to cook their food for breakfast in the morning etc.
I helped fellow soldiers to retreat the claymore-mines and trip-flares which we set up from last night so fellow soldiers could go outside for the morning activities etc. Then, I visited Chau Lam to see how he felt after I came to see him yesterday. I was happy to see him and to know that he felt much better and was able to bring all of his stuff back from the fellow soldiers who helped him to carry it. I somehow returned back to my squad and walked to a nearby stream to fill up the water canteens for me to drink. I put water purification in it to kill the parasites in the water before I could drink the water.
By then, It was around 0930 hrs and we didn't hear any news about whether we might move out again so most of the soldiers played cards under the big tree. It was a little boring to stay inside my tent for me so I held my rifle and walked to see how those soldiers played their cards by standing next to them and watching the games. The card games continued until around 1330 hrs, suddenly, the fire-fights erupted south of us with the small arms, rocket rounds exploding directly south of my platoon, and the bullets passed through our location. I took cover behind a big tree while aiming my rifle toward the southside as the sounds of guns fired while waiting for the order for us to do next. Several seconds later, my platoon leader shouted,” Our patrol got hit!”. after he heard from a radio calling for help. Immediately, he gave orders for us to reinforce for our patrol so we rushed to reinforce them right away by running toward the sounds of those bullets and the explosions from rocket rounds regardless of dangerous situations etc.
6
Upon returning back from the first mission at Chi Lang near the Cambodian border, the 42nd Mike Force Company of Khmer Kampuchia Krom (KKK) which led by Major George Marecek to return back to Chi Lang for the second time so we had to be standby again for another mission , and we formed the formation by platoon with full gears for roll call to see how many soldiers had to be participated in the next mission before we started to deploy out. We didn’t have any idea where we might go until we got off the airplanes.
Therefore, Chau Lam and I didn’t have any problems with our platoon leader after we had participated in the last mission at Chi Lang so he felt happy to allow the two of us to go without saying anything. For us, we felt happy to join with our fellow soldiers again. Well, before we marched out to an airstrip which was located outside the camp to board the airplanes, our leaders had to inspect our equipment to make sure we had enough ammunition such as claymore-mines, M-72 rocket launchers, smoke grenades ,hand grenades etc.
For the food rations, they issued six packet indigenous rations(PIR) for three days before we went out to the operation, and each soldier received two packets of (PIR) with one can of mackerels and one can of spam per day as well as heat tabs for boiling water, insect repellent, and water purification tablets etc.
At the same time, we readied to march out to an airstrip which is located not very far from our camp and waited there for the airplanes coming from Can Tho to transport us to our last destination somewhere unknown yet. Except our commander. Around 1130 hrs, the C-123 plane came from Can Tho and landed to transport us so we formed a formation to prepare ourselves to board the plane, and before we would board the plane, we must clear our weapons to prevent any accident while we were inside the plane. After all the soldiers sat down inside the plane with the rear ramp close, we were able to feel the plane starting to move while the pilots accelerated the plane’s engines for taxi off from the dirt runway airstrip and just a couple minutes later the C-123 airplane leapt off into the air with most soldiers shouting with happy. I was able to tell that soldiers could be happy and nervous because they might be expected to engage with the enemy as soon as they got to their destination so most soldiers tried to rest themselves while the airplane was still in the air.
It was the second time that Chau Lam and I were able to participate with the fellow soldiers since we joined the Mike Force soldiers together. Therefore, I thought the C-123
airplane was about to land after it circled back and descended down slowly so I assumed the C-123 airplane was trying to land and touched down on the runway with lowering a rear ramp for us to get out so we recognized the place was the Chi Lang airstrip. The area was also known as Seven Mountain Region, and most people who lived in the area were ethnic Khmer as Cambodian people.
The C-123 airplane returned back to pick up the rest of the troops while we waited there for the rest of our troops to join us. The last group of the troops arrived around 1400 hrs so we received orders for us to form the formation to move out. We then marched out in two columns which we headed east and exited through the main entrance gate of Chi Lang Training Center, and we turned left with headed north along the unpaved road for about two to three click the column stop at the Khmer’s temple which it located in commune of Vinh Trung and district of Tri Ton with provincial of Chau Doc, South Vietnam. At the same time, we were told to set up our disposition around that temple temporarily and waited for a new order from our commander for us to move out again soon. It was around 1530 hrs after we got to the temple so we needed some rest with cooking food for us to eat or chatting with the local villagers who came to visit us at the temple because most of the soldiers were from surrounding villages before they joined Mike Force as well as myself. There were a lot of children who gathered around me because I looked similar to them as the youngest soldier so they liked to talk to me and ask a lot of questions. Therefore, I offered some of my candies to them for our friendship that we met for the first time.
At the sametime while we rested and chatted with the local villagers, I was able to fill up my water canteens with boiling hot water to cook the instant rice for me to eat while I waited for a new order for us to move out, but It was around 1700 hrs at that afternoon and wasn’t any new order for us to move out yet, some of my fellow soldiers and I walked to market at Vinh Trung because we wanted to visit the market and wanted to buy somethings from the market as well as to chat with the relatives who lived not very far from the market of Vinh Trung. By surprising my relatives at their home,they felt so happy to see me after I showed up. My fellow soldiers and I had to return back to the temple about an hour later because we must prepare ourselves to move out again so we needed to be at the temple, and the villagers had to return back to their home villages before the night fell, and the temple was a little bit quiet
Around 1900 hrs, we received orders to move out and didn’t know where we might head to. Each of us came to formation and waited for order to move. I heard they told the Recon Platoon started first, and the first platoon followed with the second platoon after that etc. Immediately, we moved out in two columns heading south back to Chi Lang Training Center along unpaved road. We reached Chi Lang about an hour later and marched through the town center continuing south until we reached outside the town limit later that night. There were a lot of dogs which barked furiously at us so those
2
villagers might peer through their huts and know the soldiers walked outside their homes etc. At that point, we must carefully watch for our enemy who might wait to ambush us. Plus, it was dark at night and hard to see things in front of us. It was around 2100hrs
that we changed into single line formation heading to the southwest direction so we knew that we might have to climb up the Nui Cam Mountain where the group of Mike Force Hoa Hao was there earlier before we disarmed them. We also might engage with the enemy soon because we entered their territory.
For myself, I wondered why we hadn't had any rest yet since we left the temple about over two hours ago? My body was so tired from walking over two hours with my gear and without any rest. My shoulders were aching while I walked with my rucksack and ammunition belt so I felt It pushed down on me. In the meantime, I hoped we might have a brief break soon so I was able to get rid of some of my stuff inside my rucksack. For some reason, the column halted so I saw my platoon leader who walked along the column and spoke very lowly to us that we had a little break time here and kept our eyes on our enemy too. Some of the soldiers sat down and some stood up carefully watching the areas close to them. Luckily, I was able to get rid of some of my stuff during the break time and felt much much better after some of that stuff was cleaned up, but I didn’t know the situation of Chau Lam yet because he was in 3rd Squad which walked behind my squad, and I hoped he was okay to walk to keep up with the fellow soldiers.
At that point, I wondered why my platoon leader didn’t want to allow Chau Lam and I to join the operation last time? I knew now and wasn’t able to change it back due to volunteering to come, and I didn’t want to blame anybody at all and blamed myself. At that moment, I knew how hard it was for the combat soldiers who tried to search for the enemy during their combat operation. I wished that I listened to my platoon leader and stayed back in the camp. Somehow, the column started to move out again after we had about fifteen minutes or so for our break time. By that time, I felt much better after I had some break time, getting rid of my stuff out of my rucksack. It was much lighter than it was before.
Around 2230 hrs, we were able to see the shadow of the mountain and hoped to reach the foot of the mountain of Nui Cam soon. We climbed up slowly due to steeper slopes ahead of us with the jungle very thick so the lead soldiers had to clear the brush first before we were able to move forward. In that situation, we hardly saw things ahead of us, but we kept pushing ourselves up until we reached about halfway up the mountain, the column halted around 2400 hrs at midnight.
Next, we received an order for us to set up a disposition there to stay overnight so each of the platoons linked up to make a circle for our defensive perimeter lines. It wasn’t easy for us to move around at night in the middle of the night inside a jungle and must search for a spot for us to rest through the night hoping our enemy won’t come to bother us while we tried to rest ourselves in the night. Well, I didn’t know about the fellow
3
soldiers whether they dug their foxholes or not.If they did, they might have a hard time digging the ground because most of the area was covered by rocks as well as they weren’t able to see at night in the jungle.
In that situation, I just tried to find a good spot behind the rocks and put down my rucksack, taking out a poncho with poncho liner to lay on top of falling leaves, broken tree branches on the ground while trying to rest my body until the next morning and didn’t have much time to dig the foxhole either because I thought the enemy might be able to hear our activities in the mid of jungle if we dug the foxholes during the midnight. By that time, I felt much better and realized how difficult it was to climb up the mountain with a full load of gear.
I assumed there would be nothing happening to us that night, and if we must digging the foxholes, I didn’t bring a pick with me to the operation because It might adding some more weight to my body so that I preferred not to bring it and might borrowing from the fellow soldiers if I needed it to dig my own foxhole. However, I was concerned that we might disturb the wild animals which lived in the jungle such as snakes, insects,and deers etc.
For our security in the night, we shared guard duties so that other fellow soldiers were able to rest safely throughout the night. It was my first time that I slept in the middle of a jungle while listening to the sounds of wild animals and insects. I was also amazed to hear those sounds while I sat down leaning against the rock during my guard duty that night. Luckily, we haven't received any contact with the Viet Cong yet since we left the temple so most soldiers slept soundly through the night.
The next morning I was able to see the ground, the tall trees, big rocks, and the sky much better after the sun had risen up in early that morning while I saw fellow soldiers preparing themselves to be ready to move out because we received orders from our commander that we might be moving out again after we ate our breakfast, but I wanted the American people to know that the Vietnamese people had only two meals per day back then as during the war so the indigenous soldiers (Mike Force) might use the packet of instant coffee or instant tea from the (PIR) to drink and to eat some of candy fruits as well as packet of the instant rice for their breakfast. instead of real breakfast like the American soldiers. Fortunately, the indigenous Mike Force soldiers were happy to receive those types of food rations each time when they went out to the operation because the South Vietnamese Army didn’t receive the same types of food rations as we did so we considered ourselves lucky to have those packets of food rations for us to eat.
In the early morning, we really needed water for us to drink, to cook food, to brush teeth, to wash face because we almost ran out of water so that we tried to collect water nearby to fill up our water canteens and must bury all the trash which we used from food ration before we might move out again. Around 8000 hrs in the morning, we started to move out and headed west to climb up to reach one of the top hills. The Recon platoon
4
moved first, and my First Platoon moved out next as well as other platoons followed with our weapons locked and loaded ready for combat. At that time, we didn’t have much problems climbing up because we used small trees to help pull ourselves up even though we met with the steeper slopes, dense jungle ahead of us, we won’t change our minds to stay back. For myself in that situation, my body was soaking with sweat, and my shoulders were aching again, but I tried to keep up with the rest of my fellow soldiers until we reached the top of the mountain around 1530 hrs. The column halted for break time. I was grateful to know the top of the mountain considering it is flat with some hills and high ground. Several minutes later, my platoon leader returned back from a meeting with the commander, he said that we remained overnight in this location until we received a new order for us to move out again.
Immediately, each platoon set up and shared a defensive perimeter line with other platoons so that my First Platoon covered southside areas which we linked up with the Recon Platoon, and the rest of platoons must linked up to make a circle for our defensive perimeter lines to protect us from enemy attacking. Again, from the starting to move up and after reaching the top of the mountain around 1530 hrs, we didn’t make any contact with the Viet Cong and NVA yet. At the same time, most of the soldiers were very busy digging their foxholes and setting up tents before they made their dinner. For myself, due to the rock under the ground, I wasn’t able to dig a foxhole, but I was busy collecting big rocks to build my foxhole by stacking it on top of each other, and if I didn’t have problem with the ground, I might not dig my foxhole at all because I didn’t like to carry a pick with me to the operation as I told you earlier. I must wait to borrow from fellow soldiers after they have done their work etc.
While I was busy collecting rocks, a fellow soldier came to visit and asked me if I knew the situation of Chau Lam or not? I said that I didn’t know anything about him yet. I asked what happened to him? He told me that Chau Lam had trouble walking while we were about to climb up the mountain. At first, I thought he lied to me until he said that he didn’t lie. Therefore, I grasped my rifle and rushed to see Chau Lam because I wanted to know what happened to him? After I was able to find Chau Lam and asked him, he told me he had fever and headache, but he felt much better now after he took the medications which the medic gave to him. He seemed weak when I met him. Chau Lam seemed happy to see me when I met him.
Both of us talked for a while when I visited and knew he got rid of most of his belongings as well as food rations due he had a fever and wasn’t able to carry. He carried only his rifle with one magazine so some fellow soldiers helped him to carry his ammunition belt with an empty rucksack. At that point, I told him about my situation. I did get rid of some of my stuff too so I still had about half food rations left inside my rucksack. However, I told Chau Lam that I gave him half of my food ration for him to eat until we received the next food supply again, and we had to eat less too, or we walked
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around to beg our fellow soldiers to see if they had some extra food rations for us or not? Well, I walked back to my tent and took out some food rations to give to my friend and returned back to finish my shelter around 1730 hrs with heating hot water for instant rice, for soup, or for coffee, my dinner etc. Before the night fell, I helped fellow soldiers to set up the claymore mines and the trip-flares outside of our perimeter lines to protect us from the enemy that might want to come to attack us.
That night, I was the first person assigned on guard duty from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs, and the rest of the night we had other fellow soldiers who took care. My squad leader showed me where I was supposed to sit when I started my guard duty. I cocked my rifle to check to make sure it had a round inside the chamber before I sat down behind a big rock at my guard station. My eyes and ears kept watching the area in front of me while paying attention to the sounds and the noises which came from the insects and wild animals as well as any sign of the enemy who might crawl up under brush coming toward our position to surprise us.
For the above reasons, If the enemy tried to come to attack us, they could meet with the trip-flares and might puff up to alert us first before the enemy was able to come to attack us, but we didn’t have any problems throughout that night so it was calm and very peaceful. Those soldiers were able to sleep soundly throughout the night. That early morning on top of the mountain of Nui Cam, the sky seemed very nice with little clouds covering the hills. Most of the soldiers got up early to make their coffee or to cook their food for breakfast in the morning etc.
I helped fellow soldiers to retreat the claymore-mines and trip-flares which we set up from last night so fellow soldiers could go outside for the morning activities etc. Then, I visited Chau Lam to see how he felt after I came to see him yesterday. I was happy to see him and to know that he felt much better and was able to bring all of his stuff back from the fellow soldiers who helped him to carry it. I somehow returned back to my squad and walked to a nearby stream to fill up the water canteens for me to drink. I put water purification in it to kill the parasites in the water before I could drink the water.
By then, It was around 0930 hrs and we didn't hear any news about whether we might move out again so most of the soldiers played cards under the big tree. It was a little boring to stay inside my tent for me so I held my rifle and walked to see how those soldiers played their cards by standing next to them and watching the games. The card games continued until around 1330 hrs, suddenly, the fire-fights erupted south of us with the small arms, rocket rounds exploding directly south of my platoon, and the bullets passed through our location. I took cover behind a big tree while aiming my rifle toward the southside as the sounds of guns fired while waiting for the order for us to do next. Several seconds later, my platoon leader shouted,” Our patrol got hit!”. after he heard from a radio calling for help. Immediately, he gave orders for us to reinforce for our patrol so we rushed to reinforce them right away by running toward the sounds of those bullets and the explosions from rocket rounds regardless of dangerous situations etc.
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We reached the scene in less than two minutes and joined the fire-fights with the Viet-Cong or North Vietnamese Army. However, the jungle was so thick with palm trees that it had a lot of thorns so we had difficulty moving forward. The gun-battles lasted only about fifteen minutes or so. The enemy fled the scene and retreated back to the south, taking their wounded comrades with them before they retreated back. We didn’t find any wounded or dead bodies of Viet Cong on the scene after we searched, but we did find the blood trails which were left behind at the scene. In the meantime, we rushed to help our wounded soldiers that got hurt during the battle. There were about six wounded soldiers who needed to be medevac to the hospital as soon as possible with three soldiers seriously wounded. We were lucky because we didn’t have anybody killed during the gun-battle. We carried the wounded soldiers back inside our defensive perimeter line and waited for the medevac helicopter coming to pick them up.
At the time, we had problems to find an open spot for medevac helicopter to land so we used plan B that we must used the C-4 explosive to blow out the tall trees down and used the machetes to chop tree branches out to make enough room for medevac helicopter coming to land even though we didn’t want the enemy to hear or to know our location, but we didn’t have any choices by using C-4 explosive to blow down those trees to make space for helicopter to land. Again, we were busy cutting tree branches and moving to make a landing spot. Around 1600 hrs, the two Cobra Gunships and a Huey Helicopter came to evacuate those wounded soldiers. The Cobra Gunships escorted the helicopter in case of enemy fire while the pilots tried to land to evacuate those wounded soldiers, and before the helicopter landed to pick up those wounded soldiers, the ground commander had to puff a smoke grenade on the ground to mark position for the helicopter to land. We saw a medevac helicopter landing to pick up the wounded soldiers and leapt into the air taking our wounded soldiers with them. We felt happy and wished them well on the way to the hospital. Just about a couple minutes later, those Cobra Gunships and Huey Helicopter disappeared from the area without any problems so that we went back to our regular activities as usual as we used to do.
For myself, it was my first fire-fight with the enemy since I joined the Mike Force soldier. I was very shocked to hear the burst of those small arms and rocket rounds which exploded at the same time. Therefore, I emptied about thirty rounds during the battle to reinforce our unit. I guessed the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army might want to attack our position instead, they met with our patrol who returned back from their patrol and tried to enter from the southside. They headed west when they went out early in the morning. It was very close to our defensive perimeter lines so I wanted to share with friends.
7
Somehow, my unit desired not to move so we assumed the enemy might come to attack our position at night and prepared ourselves from any attack by Viet Cong. At this point, we tried to upgrade our foxholes as well as setting up more clay-more mines and trip-flares around our defensive perimeter lines before nightfall. For that night, my squad leader assigned me to be the first person on guard from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs. However, It was the third night that we were in a combat situation, and my squad leaderI assigned me for guard duty from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs for the second time in a row. That night, I sat down next to a rock with my eyes and ears watching and listening in front of the area to make sure nothing was moving toward our position. Therefore, I was able to hear a lot of the sounds which came from the insects and wild animals echoing throughout the jungle at night. My fellow soldiers and I thought the enemy might come to attack our position that night after they hit our patrol earlier in the day. In addition, they knew our position when we blew the trees to make a spot for choppers to land so we weren’t kept secret any more from the enemy. Most of us prepared for the worst thing to come so we always stayed on alert, and after my guard duty ended, I fell to sleep and woke up around 0530 hrs with realizing there weren’t many things which had happened to us last night with the calm situation and nice weather so the fellow soldiers went out to retreat back those clay-more mines and trip-flares which we set up last night before those soldiers were able to go out for their activities as sitting down, getting water etc. Somehow, the enemy didn’t want to bother us for some reason they didn’t come.
Around 0730 hrs, we received an order for us to pack our stuff and ready to move out in a few minutes so that everyone of us packed our stuff with cleaning our area as well as dismantling the foxholes before we left the area. It was around 0800 hrs, the Recon Platoon started to move first in single column formation heading west. Then, my First Platoon moved out next behind as well as the other platoon following. At that moment, we thought that the enemy might want to wait to ambush us outside as soon as we left the area, but there weren’t any happening to us after we marched in the jungle for about two hours later with us still heading west as our objectives, and due to thick jungle ahead, the lead column soldiers needed to cut down small trees or shrubs first before our column formation was able to move forward with checking in front of them to see if we might move forward or not?
By that time, my body was tired and soaking with sweat after we walked over two hours with some brief breaks, and it was around 1145 hrs, we had break time for our lunch so most of the soldiers sat down at their own area, carefully watching for any sign of the enemy who might come to disturb us during our lunch time. From the time we started moving out until we stopped for our lunch break, we hadn’t made any contact with the enemy yet that was good news for us. However, the column started moving out again after we had lunch break, and we had some brief break times before we reached our objective and around 1500 hrs about three or four clicks to the west. I was amazed to
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see the ruins of a temple in the middle of the jungle after my platoon arrived at the location. Somehow, I didn't know how long the temple had been abandoned, and it might have been several years ago. Surrounding a ruined temple, there were several small hills in the area so each platoon occupied a hill for that afternoon.
My platoon moved to occupy a hill and set up our defensive perimeter line before the nightfall as well as busying to dig foxholes after each of us had assigned a spot to stay. Because I was too lazy to carry a pick with me to combat so I had to wait until fellow soldiers had done their work first before I might dig my own foxhole, and most of the time, I didn’t dig it at all. I just stacked rocks in front of my tent to protect myself. Each of us seemed busier to collect water to fill up canteens, heat water to cook food, and set up the clay-more mines and trip-flares outside the perimeter lines before the night fell. For that fourth night, the enemy didn’t come to disturb us so my fellow soldiers and I slept soundly through the night.
At the time, we had problems to find an open spot for medevac helicopter to land so we used plan B that we must used the C-4 explosive to blow out the tall trees down and used the machetes to chop tree branches out to make enough room for medevac helicopter coming to land even though we didn’t want the enemy to hear or to know our location, but we didn’t have any choices by using C-4 explosive to blow down those trees to make space for helicopter to land. Again, we were busy cutting tree branches and moving to make a landing spot. Around 1600 hrs, the two Cobra Gunships and a Huey Helicopter came to evacuate those wounded soldiers. The Cobra Gunships escorted the helicopter in case of enemy fire while the pilots tried to land to evacuate those wounded soldiers, and before the helicopter landed to pick up those wounded soldiers, the ground commander had to puff a smoke grenade on the ground to mark position for the helicopter to land. We saw a medevac helicopter landing to pick up the wounded soldiers and leapt into the air taking our wounded soldiers with them. We felt happy and wished them well on the way to the hospital. Just about a couple minutes later, those Cobra Gunships and Huey Helicopter disappeared from the area without any problems so that we went back to our regular activities as usual as we used to do.
For myself, it was my first fire-fight with the enemy since I joined the Mike Force soldier. I was very shocked to hear the burst of those small arms and rocket rounds which exploded at the same time. Therefore, I emptied about thirty rounds during the battle to reinforce our unit. I guessed the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army might want to attack our position instead, they met with our patrol who returned back from their patrol and tried to enter from the southside. They headed west when they went out early in the morning. It was very close to our defensive perimeter lines so I wanted to share with friends.
7
Somehow, my unit desired not to move so we assumed the enemy might come to attack our position at night and prepared ourselves from any attack by Viet Cong. At this point, we tried to upgrade our foxholes as well as setting up more clay-more mines and trip-flares around our defensive perimeter lines before nightfall. For that night, my squad leader assigned me to be the first person on guard from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs. However, It was the third night that we were in a combat situation, and my squad leaderI assigned me for guard duty from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs for the second time in a row. That night, I sat down next to a rock with my eyes and ears watching and listening in front of the area to make sure nothing was moving toward our position. Therefore, I was able to hear a lot of the sounds which came from the insects and wild animals echoing throughout the jungle at night. My fellow soldiers and I thought the enemy might come to attack our position that night after they hit our patrol earlier in the day. In addition, they knew our position when we blew the trees to make a spot for choppers to land so we weren’t kept secret any more from the enemy. Most of us prepared for the worst thing to come so we always stayed on alert, and after my guard duty ended, I fell to sleep and woke up around 0530 hrs with realizing there weren’t many things which had happened to us last night with the calm situation and nice weather so the fellow soldiers went out to retreat back those clay-more mines and trip-flares which we set up last night before those soldiers were able to go out for their activities as sitting down, getting water etc. Somehow, the enemy didn’t want to bother us for some reason they didn’t come.
Around 0730 hrs, we received an order for us to pack our stuff and ready to move out in a few minutes so that everyone of us packed our stuff with cleaning our area as well as dismantling the foxholes before we left the area. It was around 0800 hrs, the Recon Platoon started to move first in single column formation heading west. Then, my First Platoon moved out next behind as well as the other platoon following. At that moment, we thought that the enemy might want to wait to ambush us outside as soon as we left the area, but there weren’t any happening to us after we marched in the jungle for about two hours later with us still heading west as our objectives, and due to thick jungle ahead, the lead column soldiers needed to cut down small trees or shrubs first before our column formation was able to move forward with checking in front of them to see if we might move forward or not?
By that time, my body was tired and soaking with sweat after we walked over two hours with some brief breaks, and it was around 1145 hrs, we had break time for our lunch so most of the soldiers sat down at their own area, carefully watching for any sign of the enemy who might come to disturb us during our lunch time. From the time we started moving out until we stopped for our lunch break, we hadn’t made any contact with the enemy yet that was good news for us. However, the column started moving out again after we had lunch break, and we had some brief break times before we reached our objective and around 1500 hrs about three or four clicks to the west. I was amazed to
8
see the ruins of a temple in the middle of the jungle after my platoon arrived at the location. Somehow, I didn't know how long the temple had been abandoned, and it might have been several years ago. Surrounding a ruined temple, there were several small hills in the area so each platoon occupied a hill for that afternoon.
My platoon moved to occupy a hill and set up our defensive perimeter line before the nightfall as well as busying to dig foxholes after each of us had assigned a spot to stay. Because I was too lazy to carry a pick with me to combat so I had to wait until fellow soldiers had done their work first before I might dig my own foxhole, and most of the time, I didn’t dig it at all. I just stacked rocks in front of my tent to protect myself. Each of us seemed busier to collect water to fill up canteens, heat water to cook food, and set up the clay-more mines and trip-flares outside the perimeter lines before the night fell. For that fourth night, the enemy didn’t come to disturb us so my fellow soldiers and I slept soundly through the night.
Kampuchea Krom Soldiers preparing for a mission at Camp A-401, IV Corps, SVN
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Kampuchea Krom Soldiers receiving orders form American at Camp A-401
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That next morning around 0800 hrs, we were supposed to receive our food supplies which it sent from the headquarters at the C-4 Can Tho so our commander assigned for my squad to go out and searched for an opening spot for choppers to land to bring the supplies for us, and we moved out to check the surrounding area carefully as well as checking for any signs of the enemy who might waiting to ambush us. However, we found an opening spot which was large enough for choppers to land to bring supplies for us so the American called to report back to his commander that we found an opening spot which wasn't far from our location.
Through an interpreter, they told us to secure the place by making a circle so we rushed to secure and circled to protect us from any attack by the enemy while the American tried to contact the pilots on his radio. At the sametime, some of us were standing up or kneeling behind the big trees with our weapons readying to fire if the enemy fired upon us. About fifteen minutes later while we waited, we heard the sounds of fighter planes which flew above the sky circling above our area. My fellow soldiers and I wondered why the fighter planes came here because we hadn't made any contact with the enemy yet. We assumed the fighter planes escorted the choppers to bring the supplies for us. Therefore, my eyes kept looking up into the sky while those fighter planes circled above the area so I was able to see those fighter planes that seemed to fly very low above us and dived down with dropping bombs.
For that moment, we thought we were going to die after those bombs hit the ground and exploded out until we saw the chutes opening up, we were relieved and knew those bombs were as our supplies which dropped by fighter planes by pretending as bombing run so the enemy might not know why those fighter planes came there for etc. But those canisters might have killed you if it hit you before it hit the ground so we stook behind the big trees while carefully watching. Some of those canisters broke apart after it hit the ground because those chutes didn’t open properly after it dropped out from the fighter
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planes. For the above reasons, we knew why the American who set up a marker panel section which day glowed orange and pink on the ground to give signal to the pilots to see our location and didn’t use smoke grenade to signal to the pilots as well as didn’t want the enemy to know where we were etc. Some supplies were scattered all over the jungle, and we had to collect and bring them back to put them at the right place. Therefore, we got some help from the fellow soldiers who came to help bring those supplies back inside the defensive lines. At the sametime, we also were busy burying all the aluminum canisters and those chutes before we left the area because we didn’t want the Viet Cong using those canisters to make bombs etc.
We were back inside our defensive lines around 1215 hrs the American commander had to check first before we divided among other platoons. The soldiers seemed very happy after they received food rations with two packets of cigarettes for them to smoke because most of the soldiers ran out of cigarettes. For some reasons, we weren’t moving out and stayed at the same location for second nights, and suddenly around 2200 hrs, the sounds of small arms, machine guns, hand grenades, and rocket rounds exploded every directions with the sounds of yelling from the fellow soldiers that told us the enemy has begun their surprising attack on our position so we jumped into our foxholes with immediately firing back to enemy.
Since my platoon occupied a small hill, I took cover behind the rocks to fire back during the enemy attacking our position. Therefore, one of the rocket rounds landed very close to my right, and it exploded with many pieces of the shrapnels as well as debris flying in different directions, It was scarefull situation etc. At the same time, I wasn’t able to hear the automatic rifle firing after the explosion from the rocket round so I assumed he might be getting hit from the rocket round because I wasn’t able to hear his automatic rifle firing anymore, and It was silent so I quickly rushed to check and to see if he was okay or not? Somehow, I found him lying flat on the ground with his automatic rifle dropping down on the ground so I touched his body while shaking to see if he responded back to me? He seemed alerting when I touched and shook his body. He got shell shocked from the rocket round which exploded very close to him. He was lucky because the rocket round hit the rocks in front of him first before it exploded. Then,he got up and held up his automatic rifle and started to fire again. The fellow soldiers and I felt happy to know that he was okay. I immediately dashed back to my position safely and continued to fire back at the enemy.
During the battle, the night sky was lit up with tracer bullets with illumination flares lighting the sky in the middle of the night, but the fire-fights between us and the enemy lasted about thirty minutes or so because most of the sounds from fire-fights, had ceased and just had some sporadic gun fires only. In addition, we were lucky to know that we didn’t receive any casualties so we had some rest until the next morning we went out to search for the enemy to see if they had left any of their wounded or killed behind or not?
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However, we found the blood trails which were left behind for us to see only so the enemy might be able to take their comrades with them.
Around 1430 in the same that afternoon, while some of soldiers rested inside a nylon hammock for a nap time with some soldiers walking to collect water nearby stream to fill their canteen water as well as washing their bodies, the enemy fired the small arms and rocket rounds from above hilltop down on us by surprise so we dashed for cover with immediately returning fires. Then, we received orders for us to counterattack so we charged uphill towards the enemy positions. Therefore, the enemy had fled the area when we reached the up hills and found three RPG’s rounds which they left behind with blood trails. Once again, we didn’t receive any casualties during the enemy firing down on us from the above hilltop for surprising us or harassing us and could be both. My unit stayed at the same location for about four days to search the surrounding area for the enemy while receiving the second food supplies for us, and we didn’t make any contact with them.
Around 0900 hrs of the second week, we packed our stuff and dismantled foxholes before we moved out again in single column formation. The column headed west and moved very slowly due to the very thick jungle ahead of us. However, we had some brief break to relax our bodies after we moved through the thick jungle to search for the enemy and didn’t meet with them yet . We arrived at our new objectives around 1400 hrs and saw another ruin of a temple in the middle of the jungle, but some of the structures of the ruined temple still stood even though it was hit by napalm bombs and bullet holes which it left behind on the scene for us to see. Again, we had no idea how long the temple had been abandoned, and it was built on platted ground near a stream. At that point, we were about five clicks to the west on top of Nui Cam Mountain. Several minutes later, we received the orders for us to set up our defensive line surrounding the ruined temple for that afternoon. Immediately, each platoon shared space to link with each other so most of the soldiers were busy digging their foxholes, making their tents, and collecting water to prepare foods for themselves etc. As our routine, we set up the clay-more mines and strip-flares before nightfall and retreated back early in the morning each day.
That night, there wasn't anything happening to us because the enemy didn’t come to disturb us so we slept soundly through the night. Therefore, my unit stayed at the ruined temple for the next two days. We patrolled the area to search for the enemy while we stayed there, but we didn’t meet with them and had no idea why the enemy didn’t want to interrupt us like they did to us last time. Maybe they avoided engaging with us because they knew that we were the best trained soldiers with the best equipment and considered a tough unit to fight with. By 0730 hrs of the next day, we received the order from our commander for us to prepare to move out again so that we must cover up those foxholes and clean up the mess in the areas before we might move out again. Therefore, around
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0800 hrs the Recon platoon was starting to move out first in single column formation with my first platoon following behind. The other platoons were following next etc. In addition, I took a look at the ruins of the temple for the last time before I marched forward to follow the column that headed to the southeast. After we had walked about an hour later, we stopped for a short break, and most of us were tired and soaked with sweat during the hot summer day in the jungle. For some reason, we changed direction back to south after we started to move again without engaging with the enemy so that our situation was calm. Therefore, the column halted around noon and received the order from our commander that we had our lunch break so everyone of us carefully watched surrounding areas for any sign of the enemy while we ate our lunch or we had other activities before we might move out again.
After we had our lunch break, we started to move out around 1230 hrs. However, I felt much better because it helped me to relieve the weight that I carried on my back. The column kept moving and had some break times along the way for us to have some rest before we moved out again until it was around 1700 hrs, Suddenly, the sounds of small arms, machine guns, and rocket rounds burst out between our lead platoon and enemy when we almost reached to the higher hill. My platoon and other platoons immediately tried to link up with the lead platoon as soon as we could regardless of those bullets and the rocket rounds raining down on us because we knew our fellow soldiers needed our help.
Due to the thick jungle with heavy fire-fights, my platoon had some problems reaching to friendly troops for reinforcements, but we kept pushing up while other platoons engaged with the enemy, and Just a couple minutes later, my platoon was able to join the battle for about fifteen minutes or so the enemy retreated from the areas so that we took over the top hill and controlled the area, And We still heard some sporadic gunfire with the noises from those fellow soldiers that yelled back and forth to each other while they searched the area for Viet Congs who might be wounded or still in the area. At the end of the battle, we didn’t find any Viet Cong after we searched the area, but we found only a trail of blood on the ground which came from the wounded enemy during the battle. However, they were able to evacuate their own wounded comrades with them as well as their family members with them too before they left the area. They might have left the area in panic that we thought because we found children's clothes inside those huts as well as baby clothes still hung on the clothesline to dry so that we knew they had some family members with them. During the searching, we found the huts with some man made caves and seized some cache on the ammunition which the Viet Cong left behind after they fell to the top hill.
Therefore, our soldiers destroyed water storage containers after they got there first so there wasn’t any water left when my platoon got there. We worried the enemy might put some things inside to poison us if we drank the water from those containers so our fellow
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soldiers destroyed it all to prevent other soldiers from drinking the water. At the time, most of us ran out of drinking water and weren’t able to find any stream nearby due to nightfall and had to deal with it. We had to wait until the next morning to find a stream nearby for water as well as an open spot for the medevac helicopters to land to pick up the wounded soldiers, and we tried to take care of our wounded soldiers first. We had about twelve wounded soldiers and didn’t have any kills in action. Most of the wounded soldiers were life threatening so we were able to treat them and took care of them by our medics throughout the night until we were able to medivac them to the hospital at Can Tho. At the same time, we immediately occupied the top hill and set up our defensive line surrounding the hill top for that night. We also thought the Viet Cong might return to attack our position that night after they regrouped so that our commander requested for air support from C-4 Can Tho.
Through an interpreter, they told us to secure the place by making a circle so we rushed to secure and circled to protect us from any attack by the enemy while the American tried to contact the pilots on his radio. At the sametime, some of us were standing up or kneeling behind the big trees with our weapons readying to fire if the enemy fired upon us. About fifteen minutes later while we waited, we heard the sounds of fighter planes which flew above the sky circling above our area. My fellow soldiers and I wondered why the fighter planes came here because we hadn't made any contact with the enemy yet. We assumed the fighter planes escorted the choppers to bring the supplies for us. Therefore, my eyes kept looking up into the sky while those fighter planes circled above the area so I was able to see those fighter planes that seemed to fly very low above us and dived down with dropping bombs.
For that moment, we thought we were going to die after those bombs hit the ground and exploded out until we saw the chutes opening up, we were relieved and knew those bombs were as our supplies which dropped by fighter planes by pretending as bombing run so the enemy might not know why those fighter planes came there for etc. But those canisters might have killed you if it hit you before it hit the ground so we stook behind the big trees while carefully watching. Some of those canisters broke apart after it hit the ground because those chutes didn’t open properly after it dropped out from the fighter
9
planes. For the above reasons, we knew why the American who set up a marker panel section which day glowed orange and pink on the ground to give signal to the pilots to see our location and didn’t use smoke grenade to signal to the pilots as well as didn’t want the enemy to know where we were etc. Some supplies were scattered all over the jungle, and we had to collect and bring them back to put them at the right place. Therefore, we got some help from the fellow soldiers who came to help bring those supplies back inside the defensive lines. At the sametime, we also were busy burying all the aluminum canisters and those chutes before we left the area because we didn’t want the Viet Cong using those canisters to make bombs etc.
We were back inside our defensive lines around 1215 hrs the American commander had to check first before we divided among other platoons. The soldiers seemed very happy after they received food rations with two packets of cigarettes for them to smoke because most of the soldiers ran out of cigarettes. For some reasons, we weren’t moving out and stayed at the same location for second nights, and suddenly around 2200 hrs, the sounds of small arms, machine guns, hand grenades, and rocket rounds exploded every directions with the sounds of yelling from the fellow soldiers that told us the enemy has begun their surprising attack on our position so we jumped into our foxholes with immediately firing back to enemy.
Since my platoon occupied a small hill, I took cover behind the rocks to fire back during the enemy attacking our position. Therefore, one of the rocket rounds landed very close to my right, and it exploded with many pieces of the shrapnels as well as debris flying in different directions, It was scarefull situation etc. At the same time, I wasn’t able to hear the automatic rifle firing after the explosion from the rocket round so I assumed he might be getting hit from the rocket round because I wasn’t able to hear his automatic rifle firing anymore, and It was silent so I quickly rushed to check and to see if he was okay or not? Somehow, I found him lying flat on the ground with his automatic rifle dropping down on the ground so I touched his body while shaking to see if he responded back to me? He seemed alerting when I touched and shook his body. He got shell shocked from the rocket round which exploded very close to him. He was lucky because the rocket round hit the rocks in front of him first before it exploded. Then,he got up and held up his automatic rifle and started to fire again. The fellow soldiers and I felt happy to know that he was okay. I immediately dashed back to my position safely and continued to fire back at the enemy.
During the battle, the night sky was lit up with tracer bullets with illumination flares lighting the sky in the middle of the night, but the fire-fights between us and the enemy lasted about thirty minutes or so because most of the sounds from fire-fights, had ceased and just had some sporadic gun fires only. In addition, we were lucky to know that we didn’t receive any casualties so we had some rest until the next morning we went out to search for the enemy to see if they had left any of their wounded or killed behind or not?
10
However, we found the blood trails which were left behind for us to see only so the enemy might be able to take their comrades with them.
Around 1430 in the same that afternoon, while some of soldiers rested inside a nylon hammock for a nap time with some soldiers walking to collect water nearby stream to fill their canteen water as well as washing their bodies, the enemy fired the small arms and rocket rounds from above hilltop down on us by surprise so we dashed for cover with immediately returning fires. Then, we received orders for us to counterattack so we charged uphill towards the enemy positions. Therefore, the enemy had fled the area when we reached the up hills and found three RPG’s rounds which they left behind with blood trails. Once again, we didn’t receive any casualties during the enemy firing down on us from the above hilltop for surprising us or harassing us and could be both. My unit stayed at the same location for about four days to search the surrounding area for the enemy while receiving the second food supplies for us, and we didn’t make any contact with them.
Around 0900 hrs of the second week, we packed our stuff and dismantled foxholes before we moved out again in single column formation. The column headed west and moved very slowly due to the very thick jungle ahead of us. However, we had some brief break to relax our bodies after we moved through the thick jungle to search for the enemy and didn’t meet with them yet . We arrived at our new objectives around 1400 hrs and saw another ruin of a temple in the middle of the jungle, but some of the structures of the ruined temple still stood even though it was hit by napalm bombs and bullet holes which it left behind on the scene for us to see. Again, we had no idea how long the temple had been abandoned, and it was built on platted ground near a stream. At that point, we were about five clicks to the west on top of Nui Cam Mountain. Several minutes later, we received the orders for us to set up our defensive line surrounding the ruined temple for that afternoon. Immediately, each platoon shared space to link with each other so most of the soldiers were busy digging their foxholes, making their tents, and collecting water to prepare foods for themselves etc. As our routine, we set up the clay-more mines and strip-flares before nightfall and retreated back early in the morning each day.
That night, there wasn't anything happening to us because the enemy didn’t come to disturb us so we slept soundly through the night. Therefore, my unit stayed at the ruined temple for the next two days. We patrolled the area to search for the enemy while we stayed there, but we didn’t meet with them and had no idea why the enemy didn’t want to interrupt us like they did to us last time. Maybe they avoided engaging with us because they knew that we were the best trained soldiers with the best equipment and considered a tough unit to fight with. By 0730 hrs of the next day, we received the order from our commander for us to prepare to move out again so that we must cover up those foxholes and clean up the mess in the areas before we might move out again. Therefore, around
11
0800 hrs the Recon platoon was starting to move out first in single column formation with my first platoon following behind. The other platoons were following next etc. In addition, I took a look at the ruins of the temple for the last time before I marched forward to follow the column that headed to the southeast. After we had walked about an hour later, we stopped for a short break, and most of us were tired and soaked with sweat during the hot summer day in the jungle. For some reason, we changed direction back to south after we started to move again without engaging with the enemy so that our situation was calm. Therefore, the column halted around noon and received the order from our commander that we had our lunch break so everyone of us carefully watched surrounding areas for any sign of the enemy while we ate our lunch or we had other activities before we might move out again.
After we had our lunch break, we started to move out around 1230 hrs. However, I felt much better because it helped me to relieve the weight that I carried on my back. The column kept moving and had some break times along the way for us to have some rest before we moved out again until it was around 1700 hrs, Suddenly, the sounds of small arms, machine guns, and rocket rounds burst out between our lead platoon and enemy when we almost reached to the higher hill. My platoon and other platoons immediately tried to link up with the lead platoon as soon as we could regardless of those bullets and the rocket rounds raining down on us because we knew our fellow soldiers needed our help.
Due to the thick jungle with heavy fire-fights, my platoon had some problems reaching to friendly troops for reinforcements, but we kept pushing up while other platoons engaged with the enemy, and Just a couple minutes later, my platoon was able to join the battle for about fifteen minutes or so the enemy retreated from the areas so that we took over the top hill and controlled the area, And We still heard some sporadic gunfire with the noises from those fellow soldiers that yelled back and forth to each other while they searched the area for Viet Congs who might be wounded or still in the area. At the end of the battle, we didn’t find any Viet Cong after we searched the area, but we found only a trail of blood on the ground which came from the wounded enemy during the battle. However, they were able to evacuate their own wounded comrades with them as well as their family members with them too before they left the area. They might have left the area in panic that we thought because we found children's clothes inside those huts as well as baby clothes still hung on the clothesline to dry so that we knew they had some family members with them. During the searching, we found the huts with some man made caves and seized some cache on the ammunition which the Viet Cong left behind after they fell to the top hill.
Therefore, our soldiers destroyed water storage containers after they got there first so there wasn’t any water left when my platoon got there. We worried the enemy might put some things inside to poison us if we drank the water from those containers so our fellow
12
soldiers destroyed it all to prevent other soldiers from drinking the water. At the time, most of us ran out of drinking water and weren’t able to find any stream nearby due to nightfall and had to deal with it. We had to wait until the next morning to find a stream nearby for water as well as an open spot for the medevac helicopters to land to pick up the wounded soldiers, and we tried to take care of our wounded soldiers first. We had about twelve wounded soldiers and didn’t have any kills in action. Most of the wounded soldiers were life threatening so we were able to treat them and took care of them by our medics throughout the night until we were able to medivac them to the hospital at Can Tho. At the same time, we immediately occupied the top hill and set up our defensive line surrounding the hill top for that night. We also thought the Viet Cong might return to attack our position that night after they regrouped so that our commander requested for air support from C-4 Can Tho.
Kampuchea Krom Radio Operator/Translator w/ unidentified American Soldier
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Kampuchea Krom Soldiers preparing for a mission
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An around 2000 hrs at that night, there was C-47 Spooky the magic dragon came from Can Tho Air Base to support our troops, and we were happy to have Spooky to help us by pounding the suspicious enemy targets with its mini guns and dropping parachute flares for us to see the area in front of us at night, and If we didn’t getting help from the C-47 Spooky the Viet Cong might crawl up to attack our position at that night too so that we really appreciated from the night air support coming to help us on time. We somehow loved to hear the sounds firing out from the C-47 Spooky mini guns which lit the sky with tracer bullets from above down to the ground etc.
For that worry night, we always stayed on alert and sat close to the foxhole in-case the enemy might come to surprise us so that we had been waiting for them to come if they dared to attack us. Even though we had problems to medevac our wounded soldiers, we had C-47 Spooky that took turns to support us all night. We also thought the Viet Cong might be frightened if they still stayed in the area which was blasted by machine guns from the C-47 Spooky the magic dragon that night. Therefore, we hoped the enemy was far away from the area after they fled from the battle. An early next morning around 0700 hrs while we prepared to move downhill to find an opening spot for the choppers to land to pick up the wounded soldiers, we heard the sound of a small airplane approaching above the sky of our position, and when we looked up, It was a spotter plane called L-19/0-1 Bird Dog. The plane circled above of us on the sky for several minutes, suddenly we heard the sound of rocket round which fired out from the L-19/0-1 Bird Dog as marking target round for the jet fighters to strike the targets,and It just several seconds later, the jet fighters hit the targets with several Napalm Bombs which burst hot, flashed brackish orange. However, one of the bombs missed the targets and was hit very close to my platoon. We had to run to cover ourselves to avoid the fire-balls from Napalm Bombs reaching us at our defensive line. Some soldiers got hit from debris and fired bullets, but there wasn't anybody seriously hurt. Immediately, our commander radioded to the spotter plane and reported the incident, asking to change
13
into different targets. We seemed too tired and too thirsty from lacking of water as well as sleeping, but we felt very happy to know that the F-105 Jet fighter planes came to drop Napalm bombs on suspicious enemy targets below the hill so that we thought the enemy might not able to attack us if they tried to wait for us to go downhill to search for them.
Around 0800 hrs, we received orders for us to prepare to move out after the F-105 Jet fighters came and dropped Napalm Bombs on suspicious enemy targets so the Recon Platoon started to move downhill slowly first in single column formation with my first platoon following next etc. We tried to find a stream for water as well as an opening spot for medevac choppers to land to pick up our wounded soldiers with hoping not run into an ambush by the Viet Cong who might waiting for us to come down from the hilltop so that our lead man needed to check the area thoroughly for booby traps on the ground as well as any signs of danger ahead before we moved forward. After the column reached about fifty-meters, we were surprised to see the sugarcane fields, papaya trees, and varieties of vegetable plots which were grown by the Viet Congs in the area for years. We also saw a lot of the traps which used to trap wild animals such as wild pigs, deers, rabbits etc.
Around 0900 hrs, we were still not able to move out again for some reasons after the column halted so that some of our soldiers collected the sugarcanes and chewed it to help for their thirst while we waited for the order to move out again. However, most of the sugarcane fields were gone for about an hour because our soldiers picked and chewed it all regardless of the booby traps in the areas. Since we weren't able to find a stream or water hold yet, the sugarcanes really helped the soldiers to ease their thirst a little bit. By 0945 hrs, we received a radio call from the Recon Platoon saying that they found water holes with an opening spot for medevac choppers to land so we cheered with relief after we received the news, and It wasn’t long after we found an opening spot, a column of wounded soldiers came down from the hilltop with the help of other fellow soldiers while my platoon served as security to make sure those wounded soldiers came down safely for medevac choppers coming to pick them up, and while I watched for the wounded soldiers coming down, I saw my best friend, Chau Thanh Send, who was among the wounded soldiers. Therefore, I didn’t know that he was wounded because I thought he stayed back at the camp. I walked to greet him and handed him a sugarcane for him to chew because I knew that he might be very thirsty for water as well as everybody. I wished him well and wanted to see him when I returned back to the camp. He said that he was fine and wanted to thank me for the sugarcane which I gave to him.
Several minutes later above the sky, we heard the sounds of choppers coming toward our location. We looked up and saw there were two Cobra Gunships which escorted medevac choppers to protect from enemy fire while the pilots tried to land to medevac the wounded soldiers after the American puffed a smoke grenade on the ground to give signal for the medevac chopper to land. The choppers were able to land and leapt into
14
the air with the wounded soldiers without any problems, and we wished them well soon. We knew our wounded soldiers were safe and reached the hospital in about thirty minutes or so. At that time, It was around noon so we took turns to collect water to fill up our water canteens and kept searching for our enemy in the area. We found a lot more huts and man made caves as well as piled up ripe sun dried bananas on the raked outside the huts too. For my opinion, I guessed the family members of Viet Congs might sell sun dried bananas and sugarcane at the local market without people recognizing who they were because they dressed the same as local villagers. In the meantime, we destroyed those huts and burned down most things we might do to destroy it.
At that point, we knew this area was their local base camp for years which the local government might not know about. For the next several days, my unit patrolled the area looking for Viet Cong after we received food supplies for us, and we still didn’t meet with the Viet Cong for several days after we searched for them. Looks like the Viet Cong tried to avoid engaging with us so that my commander changed the new objective which we prepared to move out and needed to take care of our area such as collecting trash and covering up all the foxholes etc. An around 0730 hrs, my unit started to move out in single line formation that we headed to southeast through the thick jungle and marched along the hilltop most of the time so that we didn’t climb up and down hill very much with some brief break for lunch before we moved out and changed our direction to south to search for Viet Cong, but we didn’t engaged with the enemy after we searched through the jungle for several hours or so. Finally, we reached our new objective around 1500 hrs that afternoon, and we received the orders to set up our defensive perimeter line so that we were busy digging our foxholes as well as setting tents before the nightfall. At the same time, we had some problems finding water because we weren’t able to find a stream nearby in the area so that most of us were low on drinking water as well as for cooking food rations too, and we had to deal with its until we might find water somewhere in the area for us to drink etc.
The next morning, most of us ran out of water to drink so we desperately needed the water for us to drink. Our commander tried to find a stream nearby on his map and told us that we might go down hill to search for water holes that he thought the water was located down there. He gave an order for two soldiers from each squad to participate to go down to search for water, and two soldiers needed to help carry other soldiers' water canteens with them to collect water for them because they must stay back to guard the place. However, I myself volunteered to go to search for water holes with the groups that were about twenty or so soldiers. We had two radio Walkie-Talkie models (HT-1) with us to use if we engaged with the enemy, we used radio to call for help etc. We started to march down very slowly due to the steeper slopes on the side of the mountain and needed to use small trees to get down. Luckily, we found the water holes after we marched downhill about one hundred meters. At that moment, we took turns to fill up the
15
water canteens while some of our fellow soldiers kept their eyes on the enemy to make sure for the safety of our fellow soldiers. After we finished, we used ropes to tie those water canteens for carrying back with us to our defensive line and handed them back to fellow soldiers who waited patiently for us to return back from searching for water holes. They felt so happy to know that we were able to find water holes and brought them back for them to drink so that everyone of us got water to cook food or make coffee on that day. For that night, it was a calm and peaceful night because there weren’t any problems so we slept well without Viet Cong who came to bother us.
The next morning for some reason, our commander knew that we had a hard time collecting water, so he ordered for us to prepare to move to a new objective again. For us, we prepared our gear and cleaned up our area before we moved out. The single column formation started to move out around 0830 hrs and headed back toward the north. For several hours of marching through the jungle, we had some brief break and lunch break, but we didn’t meet with the enemy after we reached to our new objective an around 1600 hrs so that we felt happy for not engaging with the Viet Cong, but most of us very tired from long hours of walking through the jungle. The new location was located in the valley, and it was very close to a stream so that we were able to access nearby streams if we needed drinking water.
As soon as our commander had assigned each platoon to set up the defensive perimeter line, all of us tried to find a spot to set up a tent and started to dig the foxholes immediately. For the above reason, we seemed very busy so after they finished digging foxholes at a new location, most of the soldiers enjoyed walking back and forth to visit other fellow soldiers before they returned back to their assigned spot to rest for the night hoping another calming night without disturbing us from the enemy etc. Well, my fellow soldiers and I felt very happy to know that there weren’t any attackings of our position last night, and It was a calm night after we got up around 0530 hrs or so. Again, we didn’t know why the Viet Cong didn’t want to bother us anymore and only the mosquitoes and the ants came to disturb us throughout the night.
At the same time, we had been very low on food rations and were supposed to receive other food supplies by air drop. They assigned my platoon to find an opening spot so we were out on patrol to search for it, and while we searched for an opening spot, we found another ruined temple inside the jungle. The ruined temple still had some trees which bore fruits at the time we were there so we used that location for dropping our supplies because the ruined temple had enough space for dropping food supplies so we used and secured the areas while waiting for the airplanes to come to drop the supplies for us. It wasn’t very long, we heard the planes coming and flew above us in the sky. One of the planes pretended to make a bombing run and released over dozens of canisters which the chutes had to open on time before it hit the ground, but some of the chutes didn’t open on time, those canisters would break apart with the food supplies
16
scattering inside the jungle what we had to search for it and collecting them back with waiting for other platoon of soldiers coming to help us to carry all the supplies back.
We were happy to receive fresh supplies and stayed at the same location for three days searching for our enemy in the areas, we didn’t make any contact with the Viet Cong at all. Well, we had no idea why the Viet Cong tried to avoid meeting us, or they knew we had much more power then them? At that point, there were about twenty fifth days of our operation on top of Nui Cam Mountain already, we moved back to the sugar cane field which we were there before and stayed there for the night without any contact with the enemy either. Therefore, the strikers from the Team A-421 Special Forces Camp at Ba Xoai came to replace our unit. They arrived around 1100 hrs or 1200 hrs. The American advisors and the strikers were greeted by my unit after they linked up with us on top of Nui Cam Mountain etc. We exchanged some information about our operations while we tried to find the enemy before we left the area. For the last minutes before we headed east to go down the mountain to return to Chi Lang, we said goodbye to those strikers and the Americans with shaking hands to each other as well.
In addition, my unit marched down in single column formation through the valley to the east. We were lucky because we didn’t meet any Viet Cong who might engage with us along the trails while we marched down hill, and we were safe at Chi Lang Training Center for the South Vietnamese Army around 1700 hrs. We had to wait there for our transportation planes to come from the Can Tho so we slept at Chi Lang for that night until the transportation planes came the next day. Finally, We were back to our base camp at Don Phuc and were happy to be alive while waiting for our next mission etc.
17
For that worry night, we always stayed on alert and sat close to the foxhole in-case the enemy might come to surprise us so that we had been waiting for them to come if they dared to attack us. Even though we had problems to medevac our wounded soldiers, we had C-47 Spooky that took turns to support us all night. We also thought the Viet Cong might be frightened if they still stayed in the area which was blasted by machine guns from the C-47 Spooky the magic dragon that night. Therefore, we hoped the enemy was far away from the area after they fled from the battle. An early next morning around 0700 hrs while we prepared to move downhill to find an opening spot for the choppers to land to pick up the wounded soldiers, we heard the sound of a small airplane approaching above the sky of our position, and when we looked up, It was a spotter plane called L-19/0-1 Bird Dog. The plane circled above of us on the sky for several minutes, suddenly we heard the sound of rocket round which fired out from the L-19/0-1 Bird Dog as marking target round for the jet fighters to strike the targets,and It just several seconds later, the jet fighters hit the targets with several Napalm Bombs which burst hot, flashed brackish orange. However, one of the bombs missed the targets and was hit very close to my platoon. We had to run to cover ourselves to avoid the fire-balls from Napalm Bombs reaching us at our defensive line. Some soldiers got hit from debris and fired bullets, but there wasn't anybody seriously hurt. Immediately, our commander radioded to the spotter plane and reported the incident, asking to change
13
into different targets. We seemed too tired and too thirsty from lacking of water as well as sleeping, but we felt very happy to know that the F-105 Jet fighter planes came to drop Napalm bombs on suspicious enemy targets below the hill so that we thought the enemy might not able to attack us if they tried to wait for us to go downhill to search for them.
Around 0800 hrs, we received orders for us to prepare to move out after the F-105 Jet fighters came and dropped Napalm Bombs on suspicious enemy targets so the Recon Platoon started to move downhill slowly first in single column formation with my first platoon following next etc. We tried to find a stream for water as well as an opening spot for medevac choppers to land to pick up our wounded soldiers with hoping not run into an ambush by the Viet Cong who might waiting for us to come down from the hilltop so that our lead man needed to check the area thoroughly for booby traps on the ground as well as any signs of danger ahead before we moved forward. After the column reached about fifty-meters, we were surprised to see the sugarcane fields, papaya trees, and varieties of vegetable plots which were grown by the Viet Congs in the area for years. We also saw a lot of the traps which used to trap wild animals such as wild pigs, deers, rabbits etc.
Around 0900 hrs, we were still not able to move out again for some reasons after the column halted so that some of our soldiers collected the sugarcanes and chewed it to help for their thirst while we waited for the order to move out again. However, most of the sugarcane fields were gone for about an hour because our soldiers picked and chewed it all regardless of the booby traps in the areas. Since we weren't able to find a stream or water hold yet, the sugarcanes really helped the soldiers to ease their thirst a little bit. By 0945 hrs, we received a radio call from the Recon Platoon saying that they found water holes with an opening spot for medevac choppers to land so we cheered with relief after we received the news, and It wasn’t long after we found an opening spot, a column of wounded soldiers came down from the hilltop with the help of other fellow soldiers while my platoon served as security to make sure those wounded soldiers came down safely for medevac choppers coming to pick them up, and while I watched for the wounded soldiers coming down, I saw my best friend, Chau Thanh Send, who was among the wounded soldiers. Therefore, I didn’t know that he was wounded because I thought he stayed back at the camp. I walked to greet him and handed him a sugarcane for him to chew because I knew that he might be very thirsty for water as well as everybody. I wished him well and wanted to see him when I returned back to the camp. He said that he was fine and wanted to thank me for the sugarcane which I gave to him.
Several minutes later above the sky, we heard the sounds of choppers coming toward our location. We looked up and saw there were two Cobra Gunships which escorted medevac choppers to protect from enemy fire while the pilots tried to land to medevac the wounded soldiers after the American puffed a smoke grenade on the ground to give signal for the medevac chopper to land. The choppers were able to land and leapt into
14
the air with the wounded soldiers without any problems, and we wished them well soon. We knew our wounded soldiers were safe and reached the hospital in about thirty minutes or so. At that time, It was around noon so we took turns to collect water to fill up our water canteens and kept searching for our enemy in the area. We found a lot more huts and man made caves as well as piled up ripe sun dried bananas on the raked outside the huts too. For my opinion, I guessed the family members of Viet Congs might sell sun dried bananas and sugarcane at the local market without people recognizing who they were because they dressed the same as local villagers. In the meantime, we destroyed those huts and burned down most things we might do to destroy it.
At that point, we knew this area was their local base camp for years which the local government might not know about. For the next several days, my unit patrolled the area looking for Viet Cong after we received food supplies for us, and we still didn’t meet with the Viet Cong for several days after we searched for them. Looks like the Viet Cong tried to avoid engaging with us so that my commander changed the new objective which we prepared to move out and needed to take care of our area such as collecting trash and covering up all the foxholes etc. An around 0730 hrs, my unit started to move out in single line formation that we headed to southeast through the thick jungle and marched along the hilltop most of the time so that we didn’t climb up and down hill very much with some brief break for lunch before we moved out and changed our direction to south to search for Viet Cong, but we didn’t engaged with the enemy after we searched through the jungle for several hours or so. Finally, we reached our new objective around 1500 hrs that afternoon, and we received the orders to set up our defensive perimeter line so that we were busy digging our foxholes as well as setting tents before the nightfall. At the same time, we had some problems finding water because we weren’t able to find a stream nearby in the area so that most of us were low on drinking water as well as for cooking food rations too, and we had to deal with its until we might find water somewhere in the area for us to drink etc.
The next morning, most of us ran out of water to drink so we desperately needed the water for us to drink. Our commander tried to find a stream nearby on his map and told us that we might go down hill to search for water holes that he thought the water was located down there. He gave an order for two soldiers from each squad to participate to go down to search for water, and two soldiers needed to help carry other soldiers' water canteens with them to collect water for them because they must stay back to guard the place. However, I myself volunteered to go to search for water holes with the groups that were about twenty or so soldiers. We had two radio Walkie-Talkie models (HT-1) with us to use if we engaged with the enemy, we used radio to call for help etc. We started to march down very slowly due to the steeper slopes on the side of the mountain and needed to use small trees to get down. Luckily, we found the water holes after we marched downhill about one hundred meters. At that moment, we took turns to fill up the
15
water canteens while some of our fellow soldiers kept their eyes on the enemy to make sure for the safety of our fellow soldiers. After we finished, we used ropes to tie those water canteens for carrying back with us to our defensive line and handed them back to fellow soldiers who waited patiently for us to return back from searching for water holes. They felt so happy to know that we were able to find water holes and brought them back for them to drink so that everyone of us got water to cook food or make coffee on that day. For that night, it was a calm and peaceful night because there weren’t any problems so we slept well without Viet Cong who came to bother us.
The next morning for some reason, our commander knew that we had a hard time collecting water, so he ordered for us to prepare to move to a new objective again. For us, we prepared our gear and cleaned up our area before we moved out. The single column formation started to move out around 0830 hrs and headed back toward the north. For several hours of marching through the jungle, we had some brief break and lunch break, but we didn’t meet with the enemy after we reached to our new objective an around 1600 hrs so that we felt happy for not engaging with the Viet Cong, but most of us very tired from long hours of walking through the jungle. The new location was located in the valley, and it was very close to a stream so that we were able to access nearby streams if we needed drinking water.
As soon as our commander had assigned each platoon to set up the defensive perimeter line, all of us tried to find a spot to set up a tent and started to dig the foxholes immediately. For the above reason, we seemed very busy so after they finished digging foxholes at a new location, most of the soldiers enjoyed walking back and forth to visit other fellow soldiers before they returned back to their assigned spot to rest for the night hoping another calming night without disturbing us from the enemy etc. Well, my fellow soldiers and I felt very happy to know that there weren’t any attackings of our position last night, and It was a calm night after we got up around 0530 hrs or so. Again, we didn’t know why the Viet Cong didn’t want to bother us anymore and only the mosquitoes and the ants came to disturb us throughout the night.
At the same time, we had been very low on food rations and were supposed to receive other food supplies by air drop. They assigned my platoon to find an opening spot so we were out on patrol to search for it, and while we searched for an opening spot, we found another ruined temple inside the jungle. The ruined temple still had some trees which bore fruits at the time we were there so we used that location for dropping our supplies because the ruined temple had enough space for dropping food supplies so we used and secured the areas while waiting for the airplanes to come to drop the supplies for us. It wasn’t very long, we heard the planes coming and flew above us in the sky. One of the planes pretended to make a bombing run and released over dozens of canisters which the chutes had to open on time before it hit the ground, but some of the chutes didn’t open on time, those canisters would break apart with the food supplies
16
scattering inside the jungle what we had to search for it and collecting them back with waiting for other platoon of soldiers coming to help us to carry all the supplies back.
We were happy to receive fresh supplies and stayed at the same location for three days searching for our enemy in the areas, we didn’t make any contact with the Viet Cong at all. Well, we had no idea why the Viet Cong tried to avoid meeting us, or they knew we had much more power then them? At that point, there were about twenty fifth days of our operation on top of Nui Cam Mountain already, we moved back to the sugar cane field which we were there before and stayed there for the night without any contact with the enemy either. Therefore, the strikers from the Team A-421 Special Forces Camp at Ba Xoai came to replace our unit. They arrived around 1100 hrs or 1200 hrs. The American advisors and the strikers were greeted by my unit after they linked up with us on top of Nui Cam Mountain etc. We exchanged some information about our operations while we tried to find the enemy before we left the area. For the last minutes before we headed east to go down the mountain to return to Chi Lang, we said goodbye to those strikers and the Americans with shaking hands to each other as well.
In addition, my unit marched down in single column formation through the valley to the east. We were lucky because we didn’t meet any Viet Cong who might engage with us along the trails while we marched down hill, and we were safe at Chi Lang Training Center for the South Vietnamese Army around 1700 hrs. We had to wait there for our transportation planes to come from the Can Tho so we slept at Chi Lang for that night until the transportation planes came the next day. Finally, We were back to our base camp at Don Phuc and were happy to be alive while waiting for our next mission etc.
17
UH -1 Irioquois "Huey" Helocopter
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Re-supply air drop via a DHC - 4 Caribou
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AH -1 Cobra Gunship - Chi Lang Base
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Part IV - The Battle of Nui Coto Mountain
The battle at Nui Coto Mountain in early September 1967 by Vila Chau.
The 5th Special Forces Camp A-401 Don Phuc in the IV Corps Tactical Zones at Mekong Delta region commanded by Maj. Goerge Marecek who was the commander in the camp with other Americans. The Camp A-401 Don Phuc had two Mike Force companies as the 42nd Company formed by an ethnic Khmer Kampuchia Krom as called,”KKK” and the 44th Company formed by an ethnic Chinese Nungs.
Around September 10, 1967 the 42nd Mike Force Company of an ethnic Khmer received orders to standby for the mission so we packed our gear and came to form the formation while waiting for deployment. However, they issued three days of food rations for indigenous soldiers which it called,”The Packet Indigenous Ration”.as(PIR) it included a bag of instant rice and small packets of dried vegetables, candied fruit pieces, dried hot peppers, small packet of instant tea or coffee and creamer, salt, and one tablet of a vitamin with one sausage or beef jerky that came with different numbers.
Plus, one canned mackerel, and one canned spam. For the Americans, They received C-ration or Meal Ready to Eat etc, but some of the Americans also used the (PIR) during we went out for combat operations In addition, we weren’t done yet because our commander walked around and checked our equipment to make sure we had everythings we were supposed to bring with us to combat as ammunition, hand grenades, smoke grenades, water purification tablets,and insect repellent etc.They also issued to each soldier a gas mask before we deployed out.
However, It was the first time that they issued a gas mask to us since I joined the Mike Force. We thought that we might have a big operation at that time, and most of us didn’t know where we headed to, only our commander knew where we headed to because he gave the orders.
At the same time, other Americans showed us how to use the gas mask properly in case we needed to use it at the battlefield so that each of us must know how to use the gas mask properly by practicing to use it.
Then, it was time for us to march to the dirt airstrip outside the camp and wait for transport planes coming from Can Tho to pick us up to our destination somewhere which nobody knew yet. Except, our commanders. There was about an hour later, the first Caribou Plane came from Can Tho and landed on the dirt airstrip around 0930 hours so our commander ordered for the first group of soldiers that they were supposed
to go first to clear their weapons for safety before they climbed up the airplane from the rear with the rest of soldiers had to wait for next plane to come.
Because I was with the first group, those fellow soldiers and I were very excited and cheered during the Caribou Plane taxied off from a dirt runway and headed to our destination. My fellow soldiers and I tried to relax while the Caribou Plane was still in the air. About forty-five minutes later, the Caribou Plane started to descend down and landed on the airstrip for us to get off from the plane. Therefore, I immediately recognized the place which was called,”Chi Lang”.The Caribou Plane returned back to pick up the rest of those soldiers so we had to wait for them until they arrived to join us. In addition, I wanted to give some details about Chi Lang itself because somebody might want to know what Chi Lang looks like. Chi Lang was a small town in the Seven Mountain Region in IV Corps Tactical Zones at the Mekong Delta as well as the name of the South Vietnamese Training Center called,”Trung Tam Quan Lien Chi Lang”. In Vietnamese language,this region belonged to Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam during the war.
After the Caribou Plane came back with the last troops around 1500 hours, we saw civilian buses coming to park near us so we wondered why those buses were parked here until our commander gave orders for us to climb up those buses. Then, we knew the buses transported us to our last destination somewhere in the area. Most of us weren't happy to travel by civilian buses instead of army trucks, and we had to obey the order from our commander.
Those buses started moving out through the main gate of Chi Lang and turned right toward south along unpaved roads. We still didn’t have any ideas where we would be heading to. Our convoy of buses drove past several villages and local South Vietnamese outposts, and we saw villagers who waved their hands to us after they saw the soldiers riding inside the buses or on the roof so we waved back to them as our appreciation.
The convoy of buses stopped near the local South Vietnamese outpost at a village called,”Chi Ca Eng”.after it traveled on bumping roads about over ten kilometers. There were many villagers who came out to watch the buses or wanted to see the soldiers that just arrived at their location. I thought that they wanted to see both because they wondered why the buses and the soldiers were here? At the same time, we got off of those buses and set up a disposition around the Khmer temple in that village so the monks and villagers came to meet us.
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However, the monks and villagers knew that we were an ethnic Khmer soldiers who spoke the same language as they did, and most of the soldiers were from the areas before they joined Mike Force soldiers. Therefore, I wanted other people to know that Seven Mountain Region had lots of an ethnic Khmer Kampuchia Krom (KKK) so there weren’t many Vietnamese people who lived there before the war and also during the war. For the above reasons, most of the names for the town and villages are still used in Khmer’s names etc.
While we were at the temple, we walked and chatted with the local villagers who guessed we might climb up Nui Coto so they gave us some details about the mountain which served as a fortified bastion for both Viet Cong(VC) and North Vietnamese Army(NVA) near the Cambodian border. The mountain stronghold also had lots of caves which looked like deep wells into the ground. In addition, the soldiers might have broken their legs or arms if they slipped into those caves with difficulty climbing up.
But my fellow soldiers and I just listened to whatever they wanted to tell us about caves or the factories at that mountain as well as large numbers of soldiers from the South Vietnamese 9th Division or South Vietnamese Tank unit etc, and we hardly believed them yet. Plus, there was a rumor that the Viet Cong(VC) and North Vietnamese Army(NVA) would give up Ha Noi if the government troops captured Nui Coto Mountain from them. After we heard about the rumor or about the fact, we had been anticipated to engage with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army as soon as we got there.
Furthermore, I used to hear from old people from my villages who talked about the Coto Mountain while I was a boy, and this story could be true or not true. My fellow soldiers and I had to wait to find out after we got to the mountain. Well, we didn't have much fun talking to villagers anymore because it was time for us to prepare to move out.
It was around 1930 hours at night time, we were ready to move out so we formed the formations by platoon before we started to move out. The Recon platoon started first with the first platoon, second platoon, third platoon, and fourth platoon etc. We moved out in two columns while walking along both unpaved roads and headed to the town of TriTon district which was about three kilometers from the temple. At that time, most villagers stayed inside their homes during the night fall so there weren’t any people walking outside on the road.
The 5th Special Forces Camp A-401 Don Phuc in the IV Corps Tactical Zones at Mekong Delta region commanded by Maj. Goerge Marecek who was the commander in the camp with other Americans. The Camp A-401 Don Phuc had two Mike Force companies as the 42nd Company formed by an ethnic Khmer Kampuchia Krom as called,”KKK” and the 44th Company formed by an ethnic Chinese Nungs.
Around September 10, 1967 the 42nd Mike Force Company of an ethnic Khmer received orders to standby for the mission so we packed our gear and came to form the formation while waiting for deployment. However, they issued three days of food rations for indigenous soldiers which it called,”The Packet Indigenous Ration”.as(PIR) it included a bag of instant rice and small packets of dried vegetables, candied fruit pieces, dried hot peppers, small packet of instant tea or coffee and creamer, salt, and one tablet of a vitamin with one sausage or beef jerky that came with different numbers.
Plus, one canned mackerel, and one canned spam. For the Americans, They received C-ration or Meal Ready to Eat etc, but some of the Americans also used the (PIR) during we went out for combat operations In addition, we weren’t done yet because our commander walked around and checked our equipment to make sure we had everythings we were supposed to bring with us to combat as ammunition, hand grenades, smoke grenades, water purification tablets,and insect repellent etc.They also issued to each soldier a gas mask before we deployed out.
However, It was the first time that they issued a gas mask to us since I joined the Mike Force. We thought that we might have a big operation at that time, and most of us didn’t know where we headed to, only our commander knew where we headed to because he gave the orders.
At the same time, other Americans showed us how to use the gas mask properly in case we needed to use it at the battlefield so that each of us must know how to use the gas mask properly by practicing to use it.
Then, it was time for us to march to the dirt airstrip outside the camp and wait for transport planes coming from Can Tho to pick us up to our destination somewhere which nobody knew yet. Except, our commanders. There was about an hour later, the first Caribou Plane came from Can Tho and landed on the dirt airstrip around 0930 hours so our commander ordered for the first group of soldiers that they were supposed
to go first to clear their weapons for safety before they climbed up the airplane from the rear with the rest of soldiers had to wait for next plane to come.
Because I was with the first group, those fellow soldiers and I were very excited and cheered during the Caribou Plane taxied off from a dirt runway and headed to our destination. My fellow soldiers and I tried to relax while the Caribou Plane was still in the air. About forty-five minutes later, the Caribou Plane started to descend down and landed on the airstrip for us to get off from the plane. Therefore, I immediately recognized the place which was called,”Chi Lang”.The Caribou Plane returned back to pick up the rest of those soldiers so we had to wait for them until they arrived to join us. In addition, I wanted to give some details about Chi Lang itself because somebody might want to know what Chi Lang looks like. Chi Lang was a small town in the Seven Mountain Region in IV Corps Tactical Zones at the Mekong Delta as well as the name of the South Vietnamese Training Center called,”Trung Tam Quan Lien Chi Lang”. In Vietnamese language,this region belonged to Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam during the war.
After the Caribou Plane came back with the last troops around 1500 hours, we saw civilian buses coming to park near us so we wondered why those buses were parked here until our commander gave orders for us to climb up those buses. Then, we knew the buses transported us to our last destination somewhere in the area. Most of us weren't happy to travel by civilian buses instead of army trucks, and we had to obey the order from our commander.
Those buses started moving out through the main gate of Chi Lang and turned right toward south along unpaved roads. We still didn’t have any ideas where we would be heading to. Our convoy of buses drove past several villages and local South Vietnamese outposts, and we saw villagers who waved their hands to us after they saw the soldiers riding inside the buses or on the roof so we waved back to them as our appreciation.
The convoy of buses stopped near the local South Vietnamese outpost at a village called,”Chi Ca Eng”.after it traveled on bumping roads about over ten kilometers. There were many villagers who came out to watch the buses or wanted to see the soldiers that just arrived at their location. I thought that they wanted to see both because they wondered why the buses and the soldiers were here? At the same time, we got off of those buses and set up a disposition around the Khmer temple in that village so the monks and villagers came to meet us.
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However, the monks and villagers knew that we were an ethnic Khmer soldiers who spoke the same language as they did, and most of the soldiers were from the areas before they joined Mike Force soldiers. Therefore, I wanted other people to know that Seven Mountain Region had lots of an ethnic Khmer Kampuchia Krom (KKK) so there weren’t many Vietnamese people who lived there before the war and also during the war. For the above reasons, most of the names for the town and villages are still used in Khmer’s names etc.
While we were at the temple, we walked and chatted with the local villagers who guessed we might climb up Nui Coto so they gave us some details about the mountain which served as a fortified bastion for both Viet Cong(VC) and North Vietnamese Army(NVA) near the Cambodian border. The mountain stronghold also had lots of caves which looked like deep wells into the ground. In addition, the soldiers might have broken their legs or arms if they slipped into those caves with difficulty climbing up.
But my fellow soldiers and I just listened to whatever they wanted to tell us about caves or the factories at that mountain as well as large numbers of soldiers from the South Vietnamese 9th Division or South Vietnamese Tank unit etc, and we hardly believed them yet. Plus, there was a rumor that the Viet Cong(VC) and North Vietnamese Army(NVA) would give up Ha Noi if the government troops captured Nui Coto Mountain from them. After we heard about the rumor or about the fact, we had been anticipated to engage with the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army as soon as we got there.
Furthermore, I used to hear from old people from my villages who talked about the Coto Mountain while I was a boy, and this story could be true or not true. My fellow soldiers and I had to wait to find out after we got to the mountain. Well, we didn't have much fun talking to villagers anymore because it was time for us to prepare to move out.
It was around 1930 hours at night time, we were ready to move out so we formed the formations by platoon before we started to move out. The Recon platoon started first with the first platoon, second platoon, third platoon, and fourth platoon etc. We moved out in two columns while walking along both unpaved roads and headed to the town of TriTon district which was about three kilometers from the temple. At that time, most villagers stayed inside their homes during the night fall so there weren’t any people walking outside on the road.
Special Forces Photos at Camp B-36 Long Hai in III Corps at Long Hai South Vietnam 1972
Mr.Pipsie who was at B-36 Long Hai in 1972
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Mr. Brian Day with his soldiers at Camp B-43 Phuoc Tuy in III Corps at Long Hai.
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Mr. Carl Holzer with me in Vietnam 2017
From right ,Mr. Send T. Chau, Mr. Brian Day, and Mr. Vila Chau.
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During the march, we saw a row of houses alongside the road with dogs barking at us while we walked close to those houses with the people peering through windows to see why those dogs were barking for? The villagers very much knew the soldiers walking by
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their houses because they were able to tell by our foot march. It was around 2100 hours that we reached inside the town of TriTon itself without any problems and kept marching south, but some people in the town hadn’t slept yet with the electric power still on so they saw our activities and knew where we would be headed too..
At the same time, my fellow soldiers and I thought of the Viet Cong sympathizers in the town who saw our column and might report our activities to their comrades. If it happened, we prepared for the worst to happen when we reached our destination. Thereafter, we reached inside the town, it took us about another 30 to 40 minutes to reach outside the town limit.
Thereafter, the column reached outside the town limit, which meant we entered the enemy territory and could engage at any time,and At that moment, the column halted because we needed to change formation into a single column while continuing to march south. It would be another three to four more to reach the foot of Nui Coto Mountain that we guessed. It was dark outside, and we weren't able to see very far in front of us so we moved very slowly.
The column hafted briefly several times for some reasons while starting to move southwest. At that point, we walked zigzagging like snakes along the levee of the rice paddies because we avoided making sounds at night during the raining seasons if we walked inside the rice paddies.
At around 0230 hours, the column halted for several minutes and didn't until we received the order for us to rest so some of the soldiers sat down along the levee leaning on their rucksack, but some of the soldiers were standing with keeping their eyes on the enemy while they rested. In addition, we had been very close to the foot of the mountain and didn’t receive any signs of the enemy yet after we marched out of the temple. Most of us seemed tired because we had already walked for several klicks without sleeping through the night. Well, while we rested to ease our bodies on the levee, the enemy fired several shots from the above hills, and those shots could be to alert their comrades in the areas ,or they wanted to tell us they already knew our presence close to their territory. At that moment, we were surprised to hear those shots and knew they had been waiting for us there. I checked my wristwatch to see what time it was? It was around 0500 hours early in the morning so we had been sitting there for about three hours without moving out yet.
After the enemy gave us their initial fires as warning shots, we alerted ourselves expecting the worst thing might happen soon. Most of us wondered why the Viet Cong knew we were present here? Maybe they scanned our radio frequencies, or the Viet
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Cong sympathizers reported to them after they saw our column marching through the town. At the same time, we didn’t receive orders for us to move out yet. Instead we still sat in the same places for nearly three hours now? Well, nobody knew why we still hadn't moved yet, and only our commander might know why?
It was around 0600 or 0630 hours early morning, the enemy’s sniper started firing down on us while we waited and rested our bodies on the levee so we immediately duck to cover behind the levee because we tried to avoid hitting those shots which fired down from above hills. Those bullets hit so close to us each time that we felt terrified by those bullets too.
At that point, we received orders not to fire back because the enemy targets were up the hills and didn’t want to give up our positions to the enemy if we fired back. At the sametime, we received order for us to start to move out as trying to reach the tree line at the foot of mountain ahead of us so we started to crawl along the levees like the sneaks with zigzagging toward the tree lines while the snappers kept firing down at us.
My fellow soldiers and I wondered why there wasn't air support or artillery fire support coming to help us at all? Somehow we didn’t receive any of the support that we hoped we would so we stuck at the rice paddies with wet, muddy bodies as well as terrified by the sniper bullets. However, I was able to tell that everyone of us prayed for mercy regardless of what their religion was in those situations.
Around 0730 hours, we heard the sound of an airplane called,”L-19/0-1 Bird Dog”. flew on the sky above us while we kept crawling forward. Then, we received orders to wear gas masks so my fellow and I put it on hoping the air planes might come to drop chemical gas soon(CS). The airplane flew above to observe the enemy targets that we guessed, and we hoped we might get help from fighter planes coming soon too. Instead, there wasn’t any dropping chemical gas or airsupport coming to help.
At the same time, we felt so tired of fearing being hit by those sniper shots, but we kept pushing forward to try to reach tree lines to conceal our bodies, and while we put on gas masks, we made fun of each other because we looked like pig heads. After we crawled up to near those tree lines, we stood up dashing to reach tree lines for safety.
The Viet Congs weren’t able to see us anymore and weren’t able to fire their snapper shots after we reached inside tree lines. Each of us had to wait for the last person to reach inside tree lines before we started to move up again so that we had little time for us to rest as well as keeping our eyes on the enemy. While we were inside those tree lines, our situations were calm because we didn’t hear any shots firing from above the hilltop or at the foot of the mountain that we expected we might engage with the enemy. We considered ourselves lucky because there wasn't anybody getting hurt by those bullets.
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their houses because they were able to tell by our foot march. It was around 2100 hours that we reached inside the town of TriTon itself without any problems and kept marching south, but some people in the town hadn’t slept yet with the electric power still on so they saw our activities and knew where we would be headed too..
At the same time, my fellow soldiers and I thought of the Viet Cong sympathizers in the town who saw our column and might report our activities to their comrades. If it happened, we prepared for the worst to happen when we reached our destination. Thereafter, we reached inside the town, it took us about another 30 to 40 minutes to reach outside the town limit.
Thereafter, the column reached outside the town limit, which meant we entered the enemy territory and could engage at any time,and At that moment, the column halted because we needed to change formation into a single column while continuing to march south. It would be another three to four more to reach the foot of Nui Coto Mountain that we guessed. It was dark outside, and we weren't able to see very far in front of us so we moved very slowly.
The column hafted briefly several times for some reasons while starting to move southwest. At that point, we walked zigzagging like snakes along the levee of the rice paddies because we avoided making sounds at night during the raining seasons if we walked inside the rice paddies.
At around 0230 hours, the column halted for several minutes and didn't until we received the order for us to rest so some of the soldiers sat down along the levee leaning on their rucksack, but some of the soldiers were standing with keeping their eyes on the enemy while they rested. In addition, we had been very close to the foot of the mountain and didn’t receive any signs of the enemy yet after we marched out of the temple. Most of us seemed tired because we had already walked for several klicks without sleeping through the night. Well, while we rested to ease our bodies on the levee, the enemy fired several shots from the above hills, and those shots could be to alert their comrades in the areas ,or they wanted to tell us they already knew our presence close to their territory. At that moment, we were surprised to hear those shots and knew they had been waiting for us there. I checked my wristwatch to see what time it was? It was around 0500 hours early in the morning so we had been sitting there for about three hours without moving out yet.
After the enemy gave us their initial fires as warning shots, we alerted ourselves expecting the worst thing might happen soon. Most of us wondered why the Viet Cong knew we were present here? Maybe they scanned our radio frequencies, or the Viet
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Cong sympathizers reported to them after they saw our column marching through the town. At the same time, we didn’t receive orders for us to move out yet. Instead we still sat in the same places for nearly three hours now? Well, nobody knew why we still hadn't moved yet, and only our commander might know why?
It was around 0600 or 0630 hours early morning, the enemy’s sniper started firing down on us while we waited and rested our bodies on the levee so we immediately duck to cover behind the levee because we tried to avoid hitting those shots which fired down from above hills. Those bullets hit so close to us each time that we felt terrified by those bullets too.
At that point, we received orders not to fire back because the enemy targets were up the hills and didn’t want to give up our positions to the enemy if we fired back. At the sametime, we received order for us to start to move out as trying to reach the tree line at the foot of mountain ahead of us so we started to crawl along the levees like the sneaks with zigzagging toward the tree lines while the snappers kept firing down at us.
My fellow soldiers and I wondered why there wasn't air support or artillery fire support coming to help us at all? Somehow we didn’t receive any of the support that we hoped we would so we stuck at the rice paddies with wet, muddy bodies as well as terrified by the sniper bullets. However, I was able to tell that everyone of us prayed for mercy regardless of what their religion was in those situations.
Around 0730 hours, we heard the sound of an airplane called,”L-19/0-1 Bird Dog”. flew on the sky above us while we kept crawling forward. Then, we received orders to wear gas masks so my fellow and I put it on hoping the air planes might come to drop chemical gas soon(CS). The airplane flew above to observe the enemy targets that we guessed, and we hoped we might get help from fighter planes coming soon too. Instead, there wasn’t any dropping chemical gas or airsupport coming to help.
At the same time, we felt so tired of fearing being hit by those sniper shots, but we kept pushing forward to try to reach tree lines to conceal our bodies, and while we put on gas masks, we made fun of each other because we looked like pig heads. After we crawled up to near those tree lines, we stood up dashing to reach tree lines for safety.
The Viet Congs weren’t able to see us anymore and weren’t able to fire their snapper shots after we reached inside tree lines. Each of us had to wait for the last person to reach inside tree lines before we started to move up again so that we had little time for us to rest as well as keeping our eyes on the enemy. While we were inside those tree lines, our situations were calm because we didn’t hear any shots firing from above the hilltop or at the foot of the mountain that we expected we might engage with the enemy. We considered ourselves lucky because there wasn't anybody getting hurt by those bullets.
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Kampuchea Krom Soldier ất unidentified Temple
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George Clark w/ Kampuchea Krom Soldiers at Nui Coto Mountain 1969
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At the sametime, we saw a ruined temple with a high limestone cliff on our right as well as boulder strewn rocks. Those rocks were covered with wines above holes so it looked like deep wells into the ground, and we didn’t have any choices by climbing up along a trail which let us up the mountain. It was around 1030 hours that we started to move up in a single column. The Recon platoon started first with the first platoon following next etc.
While we moved up along a trail, there weren’t any shots firing from our enemy at all so we assumed they weren’t able to see us. I walked not far from my platoon leader who used his Walkie-Talkie HT-1 to communicate with other platoon leaders.
Therefore,I was able to hear him say,” Where were those roosters? I wanted to hear from them again?”. He meant that he wanted to hear from those snappers who fired those shots at us earlier in the morning as well as he felt upset with the snappers. He might want to challenge them. The column kept moving up without any problems until it was around noon, we had our lunch break so each of us sat down along a trail with our eyes for any signs of danger could be happening to us. However, I took off my rucksack and sat behind a big rock for lunch break.
Again, It was around 1230 hrs or so, we received orders for us to prepare to move out, and everyone of us readied moving out. I heard the voices from the radio. My platoon leader said,”There were two trails ahead of us, and which side we must use right or left ?”. I heard they said that we used the right side of a trail.
As soon as the lead platoon started to move, suddenly the sounds of machine guns, rocket rounds, and small arms erupted from above like hell. Immediately, we returned fire and took cover behind the trees or the rocks.
For the initial fire from the enemy, we received some casualties so our commander ordered for the first platoon to move up to serve as reinforcements. Due to heavy machine guns fired from the enemy, we received more casualties each time we attempted to move up. Therefore, we hoped that we had air support coming to help, but there wasn't any air support coming to help us at all. We didn’t know why?
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At the same time, we weren’t able to retreat the dead bodies as well as wounded comrades because those bullets rained down on us. For about three hours in the battle, my commander knew that we might not be able to stay to fight the battle for any longer without the air support coming to help us so he talked with other leaders about his plan on how to retreat back down.
Thereafter a brief meeting by our leaders, my platoon leader came to talk with me during the gun battles. He wanted me to lead the three men team going back down to the foot of the mountain to see if the enemy had been blocking our rear or not? At that point, he ordered for me with two other fellow sodiers going down to secure the area to evacuate the wounded down so three of us started to moved down very slowly with carefully checked ahead of us to make sure there wasn’t any enemy in the bushes before we marched down hill.
We might not be able to escape from the enemy. However, I switched the selector of my rifle to fully automatic fire and readied to pull the trigger if I saw the Viet Congs ahead of us. In addition, we reached down the foot of the mountain safely without firing any shots. Again, my fellow soldiers and I searched the areas to make sure there weren’t any enemy present there.. At the sametime, my fellow soldiers and I were relieved from the fighting situations because we thought that we had to fight with the enemy when we reached down to the foot of the mountain.
Due to no radio to contact our commander after we secured the areas, one of us went back up to report to our platoon leader that we reached down and secured the areas without any problems. Immediately, our commander ordered us to evacuate the wounded soldiers first before the rest of our troops might retreat back down later,and It was around 1630 hrs that wounded soldiers reached down safely to my location at the foot of the mountain. At the same time, we received the orders for us to go ahead to lead the column to nearby villages for safety before the rest of our troops tried to pull back later.
At that point, we weren’t out of danger yet because we were still in enemy territory and didn’t know what might happen next, but we must move out from dangerous areas first. Again, I was the lead person who led the column that marched out from the ruin temple called,”Wat Soay Sor”.(in Khmer language) with hoping the Viet Congs didn't spot us from above the hilltop while our column tried to reach nearby villages which it was about fifteen hundred meters from where we started to move out.
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Unfortunately, the Viet Cong spotted us from above the hilltop and fired down like hell after the column reached the opening rice paddies. For those situations, each of us must move very fast or run if we might be able to, but most of our fellow soldiers weren’t able to move faster because they had body injury from getting help from other fellow soldiers to aid them. Those bullets zipped and hissed around us so I thought that everyone of us needed to pray for mercy. My fellow soldiers and I wished that we got help from the air support coming to deal with the enemy, but there wasn't any air support coming to help throughout the day.
However, I was almost shoot out with the South Vietnamese Army of 9th Division when I reached nearby villages because I didn’t know that their unit was present at that villages during my unit was battle on the mountain so that we almost fired each other because the guard didn’t spott me while I walked toward the villages so that I spotted him first and realized his uniform was from the South Vietnamese Army. Therefore, we pointed our weapons at each other asking who were you and where were you coming from etc. Both of us kept pointing guns at each other for several minutes until one of their officers came to ask what happened? I told them that my unit was as Mike Force soldiers and just came back from the battle at the Coto Mountain. Did you hear the sounds of gunbattle on the mountain or not? The officer from the South Vietnamese Army nodded his head as well as recognized by tiger-stripe camouflage uniforms that we wore on our bodies so he said that we were friendly and ordered us to put guns down as well as allowing me and the wounded soldiers to enter the villages without any problems. My fellow soldiers and I felt relieved after that incident because we thought that we might shoot each other if we didn’t recognize our situations.
Beside the incident with the South Vietnamese Army, my fellow soldiers and I felt very upset with them and wondered why they didn’t go to help us since they weren’t very far from us so we planned to beat them up when more fellow soldiers arrived inside the villages. We didn’t like them because they had a bad attitude toward us and didn’t go to help. The South Vietnamese Army of the 9th Division Unit had about one battalion or one brigade of the soldiers at the time we met them during their disposition in the villages.
Mr. Danh Truong who was at Camp B-43 Phuoc Tuy in III Coprs
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Therefore, we weren’t able to beat the South Vietnamese Army as we had planned to because they had already left the villages before my fellow soldiers retreated back from the mountain to join us. However, we didn’t know where they moved to either so we needed to forget about beating them. Instead, we tried to take care of ourselves. At the same time, we wondered where were they during those snipers firing at us in the early morning? Furthermore, we got help from the local government of TriTon District who
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came to help with the two ambulances which transported the wounded soldiers to treatment at local hospital before the helicopters came to medevac them to hospital at Can Tho.
For those soldiers who were able to walk, marched by themselves back to the temple that we left from last night to the operation yesterday,and On the way back to the temple, It was around 1900 hrs. It was night time and most of us seemed very sad to know that we weren’t able to take those bodies back with us due to receiving heavy fire from the enemy during retreating. They dropped those bodies and left there, but our commander planned to return back to the areas to pick up the dead bodies later in the early morning that he promised to us.
At that point, we felt very tired after we got back inside the temple and around 2030 hrs. Our commander told us to get rest and would be ready to go again in a couple hours or so to recover those bodies of our comrades that we left behind. Most of us felt defeated because we didn’t have any air support as well as artillery fire support too..
Well, our leaders woke us up around 0330 hrs to prepare to move out as soon as we readied so that everyone of us got up to form a formation to be ready to move out. At that time, our commander told us that he just needed about two platoons of soldiers only. He then pulled out the soldiers who carried the M-79 grenade launcher, machine guns, and some small arms to go with him. Some of the soldiers had to stay back to guard the place with some of the equipment which was left behind. We started to march out to our objective which was about several more clicks to reach our objective. It was still dark outside when we almost reached those bodies that we thought we left there and worried the enemy might be waiting there for us to come back for those bodies with setting up the ambush so that we changed into line formation while moving toward the objective slowly. Then, we started to fire our weapons into suspicious enemy targets with M-72 rockets, M-79 grenade launcher rounds, and machine guns as well as small arms while we moved slowly toward our objective.
Luckily, there weren’t any Viet Cong there to welcome us as they did to us yesterday. We didn’t know why the VC wasn’t there. We quickly collected the dead bodies and returned back to our operation base at the temple around 1500 hrs and knew that most of the soldiers didn’t feel happy with our operation. For that reason, some fellow soldiers had been absent from the unit and considered they deserted from our unit after we returned back to the temple.
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Around 1540 hrs, we received the order for us to be ready to move back to Chi Lang airstrip where we arrived by the C-123 cargo plane so we packed and prepared to board the civilian buses that transported us back to Chi Lang. At the time, my fellow soldiers and I felt sad to know that we had missed some of our comrades and weren’t able to see them again. The buses started to move out so we had to say goodbye to the villagers who waved their hands to us for their appreciation. Our convoy of buses arrived inside Chi Lang Training Center around 1630 hrs without any problems.
Due to arriving late at Chi Lang airstrip, we had to stay there overnight until the next day. Hoping we might have the transportation planes coming to pick us up. At the same time, Maj. Marecek didn’t feel happy with the lead operation commander whose name was the First Lieutenant Railey W. Macey III who led the operation up to Nui Coto Mountain so that Maj. Marecek asked the indigenous leaders to help him to spread the words to those deserters to return back to the unit without any punishment to them if they wanted to return back to join.
For the appeal from Maj.George Marecek, some of the soldiers did return back to join with us after they received the words from fellow soldiers who also knew where to find them and asked them to come back as our commander wanted them to return back. However, there weren’t all of the soldiers coming back so Major Marecek recruited some more the indigenous Khmer to fill the company.
In the end, we thought it was a failure due to lack of air support for the troops with poor planning, and why they issued gas masks to us if there wasn't any air support coming to help to drop bombs or chemical gas(CS)? There were about over twenty soldiers (WIA) and about four (KIA) at the battles of Nui Coto as Coto Mountain in around September 1967. Therefore, I was about 17 years old only at the time and was able to speak just a couple words in English which I tried to copy from the Americans. but my fellow soldiers and I had the same questions. If we had a chance to ask our commanders about that operation, what would we ask? We might ask why we didn’t have any air support coming?
Well, about those villagers told us after we arrived at their villages we didn’t want to belief them that what they wanted to tell us, and after we were there and knew it could be true about the caves which looked like deep wells so we weren’t able to walk or to climb up easily as we wanted to do. Plus, we had only one company of soldiers that
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wasn’t able to deal with the enemy who had been controlling the mountain for many years without any units coming close to the foot of the mountain as we did.
As my own opinion, I thought that our commanders considered us to be the toughest soldiers as we assumed we were so that we wanted to test to fight with the enemy without pearing, but we didn’t have enough manpower to deal with them so that we were defeated by the enemy at Nui Coto Mountain with receiving lot of casualties.
For all of those years, I wished that I was able to find my former commanders that I served with during the Vietnam War after I arrived in the United States from the refugee camp in Thailand in 1981. Luckily, I had a chance to talk with former commander Major Marecek about five years ago and wasn’t able to ask him many questions at all because he and I ran out of time. Mr. Marecek and I haven’t talked with each other since we spoke last time. However, he might not want to talk with me anymore because he thought that I knew too much about him.
I also found another former commander through his name on Facebook that he chatted with another fellow friend who was also a former U.S. 5th Special Forces in the same camp during the Vietnam War. Here is how I inserted my questions to him after I guessed he was the person that I wanted to look for.
Sir, were you the person who commanded the operation at Nui Coto Mountain and around September 1967 which we tried to climb up from the north side of the mountain during the rainy season?
From Mr. Railey W. Macey III who answered back to me as follows.
Unfortunately, that was me, then a 1st LT. One of my first & worst (MSF) was Mobile Strike Force operation. A disaster with no prior planning, briefing, coordination or dedicated support. We went because then Maj. Marecek radioed to do so. We encountered the VC .50 cal plus” bad signs” only part way up the trail such as it was.
Vila Chau
I was also there with you when we marched from the pagoda outside of TriTon District that evening across the town with people who saw what we were headed to so that I knew we weren’t able to keep our secret from the enemy. The worst was when we received snapper fire from above hills that early morning.
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came to help with the two ambulances which transported the wounded soldiers to treatment at local hospital before the helicopters came to medevac them to hospital at Can Tho.
For those soldiers who were able to walk, marched by themselves back to the temple that we left from last night to the operation yesterday,and On the way back to the temple, It was around 1900 hrs. It was night time and most of us seemed very sad to know that we weren’t able to take those bodies back with us due to receiving heavy fire from the enemy during retreating. They dropped those bodies and left there, but our commander planned to return back to the areas to pick up the dead bodies later in the early morning that he promised to us.
At that point, we felt very tired after we got back inside the temple and around 2030 hrs. Our commander told us to get rest and would be ready to go again in a couple hours or so to recover those bodies of our comrades that we left behind. Most of us felt defeated because we didn’t have any air support as well as artillery fire support too..
Well, our leaders woke us up around 0330 hrs to prepare to move out as soon as we readied so that everyone of us got up to form a formation to be ready to move out. At that time, our commander told us that he just needed about two platoons of soldiers only. He then pulled out the soldiers who carried the M-79 grenade launcher, machine guns, and some small arms to go with him. Some of the soldiers had to stay back to guard the place with some of the equipment which was left behind. We started to march out to our objective which was about several more clicks to reach our objective. It was still dark outside when we almost reached those bodies that we thought we left there and worried the enemy might be waiting there for us to come back for those bodies with setting up the ambush so that we changed into line formation while moving toward the objective slowly. Then, we started to fire our weapons into suspicious enemy targets with M-72 rockets, M-79 grenade launcher rounds, and machine guns as well as small arms while we moved slowly toward our objective.
Luckily, there weren’t any Viet Cong there to welcome us as they did to us yesterday. We didn’t know why the VC wasn’t there. We quickly collected the dead bodies and returned back to our operation base at the temple around 1500 hrs and knew that most of the soldiers didn’t feel happy with our operation. For that reason, some fellow soldiers had been absent from the unit and considered they deserted from our unit after we returned back to the temple.
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Around 1540 hrs, we received the order for us to be ready to move back to Chi Lang airstrip where we arrived by the C-123 cargo plane so we packed and prepared to board the civilian buses that transported us back to Chi Lang. At the time, my fellow soldiers and I felt sad to know that we had missed some of our comrades and weren’t able to see them again. The buses started to move out so we had to say goodbye to the villagers who waved their hands to us for their appreciation. Our convoy of buses arrived inside Chi Lang Training Center around 1630 hrs without any problems.
Due to arriving late at Chi Lang airstrip, we had to stay there overnight until the next day. Hoping we might have the transportation planes coming to pick us up. At the same time, Maj. Marecek didn’t feel happy with the lead operation commander whose name was the First Lieutenant Railey W. Macey III who led the operation up to Nui Coto Mountain so that Maj. Marecek asked the indigenous leaders to help him to spread the words to those deserters to return back to the unit without any punishment to them if they wanted to return back to join.
For the appeal from Maj.George Marecek, some of the soldiers did return back to join with us after they received the words from fellow soldiers who also knew where to find them and asked them to come back as our commander wanted them to return back. However, there weren’t all of the soldiers coming back so Major Marecek recruited some more the indigenous Khmer to fill the company.
In the end, we thought it was a failure due to lack of air support for the troops with poor planning, and why they issued gas masks to us if there wasn't any air support coming to help to drop bombs or chemical gas(CS)? There were about over twenty soldiers (WIA) and about four (KIA) at the battles of Nui Coto as Coto Mountain in around September 1967. Therefore, I was about 17 years old only at the time and was able to speak just a couple words in English which I tried to copy from the Americans. but my fellow soldiers and I had the same questions. If we had a chance to ask our commanders about that operation, what would we ask? We might ask why we didn’t have any air support coming?
Well, about those villagers told us after we arrived at their villages we didn’t want to belief them that what they wanted to tell us, and after we were there and knew it could be true about the caves which looked like deep wells so we weren’t able to walk or to climb up easily as we wanted to do. Plus, we had only one company of soldiers that
10
wasn’t able to deal with the enemy who had been controlling the mountain for many years without any units coming close to the foot of the mountain as we did.
As my own opinion, I thought that our commanders considered us to be the toughest soldiers as we assumed we were so that we wanted to test to fight with the enemy without pearing, but we didn’t have enough manpower to deal with them so that we were defeated by the enemy at Nui Coto Mountain with receiving lot of casualties.
For all of those years, I wished that I was able to find my former commanders that I served with during the Vietnam War after I arrived in the United States from the refugee camp in Thailand in 1981. Luckily, I had a chance to talk with former commander Major Marecek about five years ago and wasn’t able to ask him many questions at all because he and I ran out of time. Mr. Marecek and I haven’t talked with each other since we spoke last time. However, he might not want to talk with me anymore because he thought that I knew too much about him.
I also found another former commander through his name on Facebook that he chatted with another fellow friend who was also a former U.S. 5th Special Forces in the same camp during the Vietnam War. Here is how I inserted my questions to him after I guessed he was the person that I wanted to look for.
Sir, were you the person who commanded the operation at Nui Coto Mountain and around September 1967 which we tried to climb up from the north side of the mountain during the rainy season?
From Mr. Railey W. Macey III who answered back to me as follows.
Unfortunately, that was me, then a 1st LT. One of my first & worst (MSF) was Mobile Strike Force operation. A disaster with no prior planning, briefing, coordination or dedicated support. We went because then Maj. Marecek radioed to do so. We encountered the VC .50 cal plus” bad signs” only part way up the trail such as it was.
Vila Chau
I was also there with you when we marched from the pagoda outside of TriTon District that evening across the town with people who saw what we were headed to so that I knew we weren’t able to keep our secret from the enemy. The worst was when we received snapper fire from above hills that early morning.
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Below was the photo of Maj. Marecek who was on the right, and the black and white photo was then 1st Lieutenant Railey W. Macey III. Both of them led the operation at the battle of Coto Mountain in 1967 South Vietnam.
1st Lieutenant Railey W. Macey III
Correspondence between Vila Chau and Railey Macey III
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John Nesbitt
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Lt CL Hassinger XO of C4 & Major Maracek Co B40 at Don Phuc SVN
Soc Bane Chau, John Nesbit & Chau Vila reunited 2018
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Part V - In Support of the Khmer Republic
How was my life after I volunteered to join the Cambodian army and arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on January 29, 1973 from Cam Ranh Bay South Vietnam that was before the Khmer Rouge troops took over the government forces in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on April 17, 1975 by Vila Chau.
First of all, I want to share my story to all the readers who might want to know what happened to me after I arrived in Phnom Peng, Cambodia etc. At first, I was doing fine with my duties as a soldier until around September 8, 1973 when I was wounded in the battle of Kampong Cham Province due to no air support from the Americans which was cut off on August 15, 1973.
At the same time, the government wasn’t able to medevac any wounded soldiers because the Huey helicopters weren’t able to land to pick up the wounded soldiers due to heavy fighting so that fellow soldiers and I were stuck there. The badly wounded soldiers won’t survive in that situation so we waited for about a month before they were able to medevac us to hospital in Phnom Penh for treatment etc.
It was a terrible ordeal for me as well as fellow soldiers too because I thought that I wouldn’t survive at all. Luckily, Our troops got supplies by air drops from the Americans every morning so that we were able to hold our position until we received reinforcement troops coming up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh to help us. At that time, I felt relief from fearing death after I arrived at 701 Hospital in Phnom Penh where I was staying there from October 1973 until late March 1975.
At the sametime, there was another fear for me because the Khmer Rouge troops kept up their attack on government troops and launch their rocket rounds to Capital of Phnom Penh most everyday so that I thought if the Khmer Rouge troops won over government troops, they might kill all the government troops that I thought it would be like that so I planned to go back to South Vietnam to escape the fear,but I wasn’t able to do that because I didn’t have enough money to buy plane ticket to fly out. Most roads had been cut off and couldn't be traveled at all as well as by the Mekong River. I just hoped that everything would be normal after the Khmer Rouge took control of the country etc.
Futunately, I got help from my best friend Mr. Send T. Chau. He and I have been friends with each other since we were boys as well as we served with Mike Force soldiers in South Vietnam and volunteered to come to Cambodia together too. He quitted army job and worked for the International Red Cross,”Catholic Relief Service” as (CRS) at Battambong Province. He flew to Phnom Penh with his boss in late March because he
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wanted to meet me and talked with me about the situation in Cambodia where it wasn’t safe to stay here so he wanted me to go with him while we met and talked with each other inside a restaurant in Phnom Penh. On that day, we enjoyed eating good food because my friend knew that I haven’t eaten at a restaurant for a while so he wanted me to eat any fine food which I wanted ,and he was going to pay for me.
Somehow, I felt so happy to know that my friend really wanted to help me, but I refused to go with him to Battambang Province. Eventually, we went to Thailand as refugees and went to the United States if the Khmer Rouge took over government troops. but I still didn’t want to go with him because I felt that I missed my family. Instead, I asked him to buy a plane ticket for me to fly out from Phnom Penh to Kompong Som Province, Cambodia.
From there, I was able to go by boat to reach the city of Ha Tien, South Vietnam. Therefore, my friend agreed with me at that time so we went to visit the Khmer Airline for the price of a one way ticket to see how much it would cost at that time.They told us it would cost around $5,000 Riel in Cambodian money if they would be available for that day etc.
But the ticket agency told us it had been sold out so we felt disappointed for not being able to buy a plane ticket and wanted to talk with different persons in their office to see what they wanted to tell us because we suspicious they might wanted us to pay higher prices for a plane ticket so we went to talk with second person while we were still inside their office.
The second person told us that we might have to pay higher prices if he would have one availble ticket for us so we said that we agreed to pay as long as he was able to get one ticket for us. Therefore, He went inside the office and returned back about ten minutes later with a plane ticket, and he said that it cost you $ 25,000 Riel in Cambodian money, did you want to pay or not?
At that moment, we had to pay because we didn’t have any choices to pay for them, and it cost about five times more than regular prices. At that point, I didn’t know how much money that my friend had with him because I broke myself and hardly had enough money to survive for every month with my salary as disabled veteran etc.
Well, my friend told the ticket agency to bring the plane ticket, and he handed them the money to pay for the ticket and asked them when we would be checked in to fly to the city of Kompong Som? They told us we must check- in at their office tomorrow at 10:30
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am. We said thank you to them and said goodbye. At the sametime, I hadn't forgotten to say thank you to my friend who paid for my plane ticket.
We then went to the market to buy some stuff for me as well as a carry bag to put things inside too before we returned back to our room. Both of us knew that we had to say goodbye to each other tomorrow so we had some small celebration for us that night with eating and drinking good foods before we went to sleep.
The next morning, we woke up and went to eat at the best restaurant for the last time before we went our separate ways. My friend will fly to Battombong Province which is located near the Thailand border, and I will fly to the city of Kompong Som Province so that we have to say goodbye to each other and might not be able to hear or to see each other again if the situation does not improve soon.
In addition, my friend asked me how much more money I wanted from him before the time we were supposed to leave the building to the airport? But I really didn’t know how much money he had yet until he opened his briefcase and showed it to me that he had about two millions Riel in Cambodian money.
At that moment, I knew he had a lot of money so I took one hundred thousand Riel in Cambodian money because I had just enough money to return back to Vietnam and greatly appreciated his help in that situation. It was around 10:00 am that morning, we had to say goodbye, and It was time for me to board the bus to the Pochentong International Airport for departure to Kompong Som Province with hopes of getting back into South Vietnam safely by boat soon.
At the Pochentong International Airport at Phnom Penh,Cambodia. I checked-in and waited for the time for my flight to depart so I had to be patient. However, the situation wasn’t calm because there were several rocket rounds landed inside the airport while I was there so those people who waited inside to board the planes were fearful after the rocket rounds landed and exploded on the ground.
It wasn't a direct hit so we were safe. However, those people asked me why you didn’t lay down on the ground before those rocket rounds landed on the ground? I replied back to them I didn’t want to take cover because those sandbags surrounded us which helped protect us as well as those of you inside this area etc.
Even though you laid down on the ground, you still got hurt if those rocket rounds landed directly from above, you won’t avoid death. They thanked you for my explanation about the situation of their questions. Those group of people and I were disappointed
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after we received the news that our airplane had been delayed that the agency told us so we knew the airplane might not come at all because we had been waiting at the airport for several hours now without the airplanes coming, but we had to wait there with hoping our airplane coming to land soon.
Around 1600 hrs that afternoon, there was a C-47 cargo plane type landing at the airport, and about a couple minutes later, I saw the pilots come inside the building near the location where we sat down and waited at the terminal so I walked to greet those pilots and asked them, ”Sir! Where were you coming from?” They said that they came from the city of Kompong Som Province. I then kept asking them,”When will you return back Sir?. They replied back to my questions. We returned back around thirty minutes or so.I continued to ask them. Can I go with you when you return back, Sir?, I already paid money to Khmer Airlines and the airplane hadn't come yet for several hours now.
Those pilots said that if the Khmer Airlines are willing to pay us for your flight, there would be no problem. You could go with us. So, I immediately walked to the agency desk and talked to the person who was in charge there about my problems, and he agreed to pay the money for my plane ticket to that pilot. I was able to board the C-47 Cargo plane around 1640 hrs or so. It was only myself as the passenger and sat on the floor without a seat for me to sit down.
At that moment before the cargo plane prepared to take off from the runway, there were some incoming rocket rounds which fired from the Khmer Rouge troops landed inside the airport. Those pilots and I felt fearful and were relieved after the cargo plane was in the sky. The cargo plane landed safely at Kompong Som Airport around forty minutes later. I said,''Thank you very much for your help, Sir!”. Goodbye!
I walked out from the airport and catched taxi to the city. At the sametime, I felt hungry so I told the taxi driver to take me to a nearby restaurant for dinner. The taxi driver dropped me off next to the restaurant which I didn’t remember the name because it had been so many years now. As I said, I was a wounded soldier so I was still very weak due to my injuries at the battle of the Kampong Cham Province around September 8, 1973 and walked with the help of two crutches. I was able to carry just one carry bag on my shoulder etc.
I then walked inside the restaurant and was stopped by the waiter before I was able to find a table to sit down on because they thought I was a beggar who came inside to ask for money or food to eat. I told them that I had money and tried to order some food to eat and not come to ask for free food like you thought so I showed them the money, and they allowed me to sit down and ask me what kind of food I wanted to order etc?
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Since I had enough money from my friend who gave it to me before I departed from Phnom Penh, I wanted to order several types of food for me to eat before I headed to the boat dock. Somehow, I never had good food to eat for a while due my salary wasn’t enough to buy expensive food or eat at a fine restaurant etc. It was the second time in around two years that I enjoyed good meals at the restaurants with the help from my friend. In addition, before I finished my meal at the restaurant, there was an old couple who walked toward my table and asked me for my food to eat. Even though I still had some food left over, I wasn’t allowed to eat my food while the waiter tried to chase them out of their restaurant. I told the waiter to allow them to stay and to sit down because I will pay for another order of food for them to eat.
I handed the money to the waiter and ordered the same as my food because I wanted the couple to taste expensive food like me. They might never eat that kind of food before I guessed. The old couple was considered the homeless couple, and they also seemed like my parents so I was happy to help them and told them that I had to go now with wishing them enjoying their meal.
That old couple wished me luck with thank you for the food. In that situation, I didn't know how the waiters felt about my help to the couple because I also was a disabled person. I left the restaurant just a couple minutes later and arrived at the boat dock by paddy cab.
At the boat dock, I learned that we had to wait until the next day which was the time for boats to depart around 8:00 pm so I had plenty of time to stay inside their boat with serving meals included for the trip to the border of South Vietnam etc. While I was inside the boat, I received the news that the Khmer Rouge launched a lot of rocket rounds into Phnom Penh, and there were a lot of people killed and wounded. Somehow, I felt I was lucky to get out of that situation, and It wasn’t over yet until I got back into South Vietnam.
Therefore, I felt happy to return back to South Vietnam safely to unite with my family and to escape the killing field of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, and I considered myself a very, very, lucky person. In addition, I thought the South Vietnamese government was able to deal with the North Vietnamese Army etc, but I was wrong because the Communist of North Vietnamese took over South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
The new government came to arrest me at my house. They confiscated most of my properties after they took over the South Vietnamese government on April 30, 1975.
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They said that those items which I bought were from the blood money and now they needed to be taken away from me because they knew about my background etc.
For my background, I was a former soldier and worked with the Americans during the war. The communist government really hated the people who were involved with the Americans so the new communist government punished them trimble times if they knew about your background that you were involved with the Americans during the war like myself.
The new communist Vietnamese government held me at the local commune for about six months before they came to talk and to ask me for my help to play with the musical band to celebrate for their memorial days that they remembered of their dead comrades who were killed in the battles during the war against the former South Vietnam etc.
I agreed to help play with the band ,and they told me that I must return back to jail after they allowed me out for one week, but I kept staying home and ignored their order for me to return. Therefore, there wasn't anybody coming to say anything about me not returning back to jail so I assumed I was free to stay home.
Again, I considered myself lucky to be free after the six months because many former soldiers were still inside reeducation camps as the new communist government called it. However, I wasn’t able to work at the rice paddy or at the farms due to my injuries during the war that I served with the Cambodian Airborne unit in early 1973.
Even though I wasn’t able to work, I fortunately was happy to be alive out of that situation so I tried to find work for a living to help my family. I began to learn to repair bicycles, motorcycles, sewing machines etc. It helped my family just a little bit from the money as a repairman.
At the sametime, the new communist Vietnamese government controlled the markets so there weren’t any private stores after the new communist government controlled the country. The prices of goods were very high and were hard to find because there weren’t any new supplies from overseas etc.
Each family must register with the government and receive a book to use for buying goods or materials for each member in the household, but they didn’t have enough people who were able to read and to write to fill out the paperworks so they asked for my help again because I knew how to fill out those paperworks to help the villagers to buy some goods from local government with using family member booklet to buy those goods each time,and I had excess to the books and kept some for myself to use it to
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buy with different names. The local government didn’t know about what I had done to cheat them, and if they did, they arrested me for breaking the law. However I might end up in prison for a long, long time etc.
Therefore, I sold the merchandise to the merchants and made extra money that way I was able to help my family to survive until the Khmer Rouge troops and the communist Vietnamese fought with each other around April 1978. My family was forced to go to Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge troops with other families. However, there were several thousands families who were forced by the Khmer Rouge troops to go to live inside Cambodia as well as my own family.
At that moment, I thought that they might kill me if they knew about my background so I planned to escape from the situation and wasn’t able to do so, due to my disability. I wasn’t able to run away from them either and desired to stay with my family even though I knew they might kill me.
The Khmer Rouge troops forced several thousands an ethnic Khmer families who lived in Vietnam to go to live inside Cambodia with them. We didn’t have any idea why. If we resisted and didn’t want to go, they might kill us on the spot so every family followed their orders and walked several hours at night to reach the border line at Tinh Bien on Vinh Te Canal.
Other families and my family crossed the canal to reach the other side, never hoping someday we might be able to return back to our home villages after we put our foot on the other side. On the Cambodia side of the border, I saw several 105mm Howitzer artillery pieces which were set up there by Khmer Rouge troops to fire support for their troops at the frontline so I knew those artillery pieces were sieged from the former republic army after they surrendered on April 17, 1975 etc.
At that time, I was able to see too many people walking on the road with unknown destinations because we didn’t know who controlled the situation so people kept walking toward and stopped for rest one a while until we reached deep inside about twenty kilometers, the Khmer Rouge government told us to stop there.
However, we weren’t able to see the villagers and just some of their government officials who came to instruct us what we were able to do or not to do etc. The next several days, the local government set up for people to work as well as five years old childrens had to work too. They said if you don't work, you won’t receive food ration for that day. They might kill you too if you didn’t follow their orders.
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Each day, they gave you one small can of raw rice for each person, and you had to cook by yourself after you came back from work. I was able to witness there were a lot of people sick and dying because they were lacking medication and food with over working conditions. For myself, I stayed with the Khmer Rouge regime for about ten months. I felt fearful everyday and was worried they might kill me anytime if they knew about my background as I was a former soldier and was wounded by their comrades during the war.
At the beginning, they assigned me to work as a bicycle repair man after they knew I had a skill to repair. Most of the time, the government officials requested for me to go to repair at their locations which was about several kilometers from my village so that I met a lot of them while I worked.
They sometimes asked me a lot of questions, but I answered back to them as much as I could because they might kill me if they knew about my background. I didn't know how much longer I was able to hide my background because all of my former villagers came to Cambodia with me. In addition, those government officials gave me extra food while I did the work for them. A lot of people recognized my name because most of the time I traveled to different villages.
One day, the local village chief wanted to see me so I walked to meet him, and after I saw him and asked him,”Sir, did you look for me?” he said yes! Continuing to say, You were a former soldier and your leg was shot by our comrades so I am going to kill you today and dump your body on the side of the road so that other people might recognize you.
Well, how did you feel when someone said that to you? However, I almost passed out and knew they were going to kill me without being able to tell my family to say Goodbye. Just a quick second on my back, I received a hit from the stick, boom! I was falling down on the bamboo bed which was located under the mango tree.
At the sametime, I heard a voice from a distance shouting,”Why did you beated him?”. At the time after he heard the shouting voice and looked up to see who shouted at him, there were two army commanders that arrived at the location with their bicycles and saw the situation.
The village chief paused his plan to kill me and walked toward to meet with the two Khmer Rouge officers. Somehow, I wasn’t able to hear anything from their conversations and felt very painful from the beat. About five to seven minutes later, the
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village chief came back and told me to go back to my hut. At first, I didn’t believe I heard him say that until he told me the second time,
Then I started to walk out of the area and headed back to my hut. I was able to see the two army officers still sitting on their bicycles so I knew they saved my life I guess. Somehow, I might want to cry very loudly after I met with my family at my hut, but I tried not to because I didn’t want my family to know what was happening to me.
The Khmer Rouge officers came to visit me at my hut later that afternoon and wanted to know why the village chief beated me for what reasons etc. I really didn't tell them about what the village chief knew about my background; instead, I said that I didn’t know what was happening. The two Khmer Rouge officers said that the government had changed their policy not to kill people like they used to do, and if the village chief came back to bother you again, you reported to us okay? I answered,”Yes Sir,”
As everyone might know that the civilians weren’t allowed to wander outside of their villages, how was I able to report to them? I thanked them for their help and worried the village chief might try to kill me later that night so I didn't feel easy to deal with the situation, but I felt like I had a miracle coming to rescue me from the death sentence because the Khmer Rouge regime killed everyone from the former government in Cambodia.
For the next several months, I worked as a blacksmith to make farm tools after I had problems with the village chief until the communist Vietnamese government attacked the Khmer Rouge regime around January 1979 and occupied the Cambodia country so my family was free from the Khmer Rouge regime. We weren’t able to return back to our home village in Vietnam because the government didn’t allow us to return back, and we were considered as illegal people without a country so that my family stayed at the village of Phnom Den near the Vietnamese Cambodian border, inside Cambodia.
Therefore, I started opening my repair shop again with my old tools which I brought with me when my family ran away to escape the advance of Vietnamese troops in 1979. Until late 1980, my family planned to escape to reach the Thailand border for our freedom, and my family was able to enter into the refugee camp in Thailand around February 1981 after we met with the international Red Cross at refugee Camp at Non Chanh, Cambodia,Thailand border.
However, my family stayed at Refugee Camp N.W. 9.for about two months and transferred to Transit Center after I wrote a letter and mailed to United States Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand with giving details about my background so one of the embassy
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Staff Member came from Bangkok to interview me inside the refugee camp and approved my statue that I indeed served with the U.S. 5th Special Forces during the Vietnam War. My family flew from Bangkok, Thailand on September 29, 1981 to the United States and arrived at Oakland International Airport on September 29, 1981. Finally, my family arrived in the United States and got our freedom from the war. We felt very happy and thank you very much to the United States government and the American people that allowed my family to come and to live. We also reunided with my best friend, Mr. Send T. Chau bought a plane ticket for me to get out of Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh etc. Thank you!
Below Mr. Send Chau was on the right and Mr. Vila Chau on the left this photo was taken 1974 at Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
First of all, I want to share my story to all the readers who might want to know what happened to me after I arrived in Phnom Peng, Cambodia etc. At first, I was doing fine with my duties as a soldier until around September 8, 1973 when I was wounded in the battle of Kampong Cham Province due to no air support from the Americans which was cut off on August 15, 1973.
At the same time, the government wasn’t able to medevac any wounded soldiers because the Huey helicopters weren’t able to land to pick up the wounded soldiers due to heavy fighting so that fellow soldiers and I were stuck there. The badly wounded soldiers won’t survive in that situation so we waited for about a month before they were able to medevac us to hospital in Phnom Penh for treatment etc.
It was a terrible ordeal for me as well as fellow soldiers too because I thought that I wouldn’t survive at all. Luckily, Our troops got supplies by air drops from the Americans every morning so that we were able to hold our position until we received reinforcement troops coming up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh to help us. At that time, I felt relief from fearing death after I arrived at 701 Hospital in Phnom Penh where I was staying there from October 1973 until late March 1975.
At the sametime, there was another fear for me because the Khmer Rouge troops kept up their attack on government troops and launch their rocket rounds to Capital of Phnom Penh most everyday so that I thought if the Khmer Rouge troops won over government troops, they might kill all the government troops that I thought it would be like that so I planned to go back to South Vietnam to escape the fear,but I wasn’t able to do that because I didn’t have enough money to buy plane ticket to fly out. Most roads had been cut off and couldn't be traveled at all as well as by the Mekong River. I just hoped that everything would be normal after the Khmer Rouge took control of the country etc.
Futunately, I got help from my best friend Mr. Send T. Chau. He and I have been friends with each other since we were boys as well as we served with Mike Force soldiers in South Vietnam and volunteered to come to Cambodia together too. He quitted army job and worked for the International Red Cross,”Catholic Relief Service” as (CRS) at Battambong Province. He flew to Phnom Penh with his boss in late March because he
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wanted to meet me and talked with me about the situation in Cambodia where it wasn’t safe to stay here so he wanted me to go with him while we met and talked with each other inside a restaurant in Phnom Penh. On that day, we enjoyed eating good food because my friend knew that I haven’t eaten at a restaurant for a while so he wanted me to eat any fine food which I wanted ,and he was going to pay for me.
Somehow, I felt so happy to know that my friend really wanted to help me, but I refused to go with him to Battambang Province. Eventually, we went to Thailand as refugees and went to the United States if the Khmer Rouge took over government troops. but I still didn’t want to go with him because I felt that I missed my family. Instead, I asked him to buy a plane ticket for me to fly out from Phnom Penh to Kompong Som Province, Cambodia.
From there, I was able to go by boat to reach the city of Ha Tien, South Vietnam. Therefore, my friend agreed with me at that time so we went to visit the Khmer Airline for the price of a one way ticket to see how much it would cost at that time.They told us it would cost around $5,000 Riel in Cambodian money if they would be available for that day etc.
But the ticket agency told us it had been sold out so we felt disappointed for not being able to buy a plane ticket and wanted to talk with different persons in their office to see what they wanted to tell us because we suspicious they might wanted us to pay higher prices for a plane ticket so we went to talk with second person while we were still inside their office.
The second person told us that we might have to pay higher prices if he would have one availble ticket for us so we said that we agreed to pay as long as he was able to get one ticket for us. Therefore, He went inside the office and returned back about ten minutes later with a plane ticket, and he said that it cost you $ 25,000 Riel in Cambodian money, did you want to pay or not?
At that moment, we had to pay because we didn’t have any choices to pay for them, and it cost about five times more than regular prices. At that point, I didn’t know how much money that my friend had with him because I broke myself and hardly had enough money to survive for every month with my salary as disabled veteran etc.
Well, my friend told the ticket agency to bring the plane ticket, and he handed them the money to pay for the ticket and asked them when we would be checked in to fly to the city of Kompong Som? They told us we must check- in at their office tomorrow at 10:30
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am. We said thank you to them and said goodbye. At the sametime, I hadn't forgotten to say thank you to my friend who paid for my plane ticket.
We then went to the market to buy some stuff for me as well as a carry bag to put things inside too before we returned back to our room. Both of us knew that we had to say goodbye to each other tomorrow so we had some small celebration for us that night with eating and drinking good foods before we went to sleep.
The next morning, we woke up and went to eat at the best restaurant for the last time before we went our separate ways. My friend will fly to Battombong Province which is located near the Thailand border, and I will fly to the city of Kompong Som Province so that we have to say goodbye to each other and might not be able to hear or to see each other again if the situation does not improve soon.
In addition, my friend asked me how much more money I wanted from him before the time we were supposed to leave the building to the airport? But I really didn’t know how much money he had yet until he opened his briefcase and showed it to me that he had about two millions Riel in Cambodian money.
At that moment, I knew he had a lot of money so I took one hundred thousand Riel in Cambodian money because I had just enough money to return back to Vietnam and greatly appreciated his help in that situation. It was around 10:00 am that morning, we had to say goodbye, and It was time for me to board the bus to the Pochentong International Airport for departure to Kompong Som Province with hopes of getting back into South Vietnam safely by boat soon.
At the Pochentong International Airport at Phnom Penh,Cambodia. I checked-in and waited for the time for my flight to depart so I had to be patient. However, the situation wasn’t calm because there were several rocket rounds landed inside the airport while I was there so those people who waited inside to board the planes were fearful after the rocket rounds landed and exploded on the ground.
It wasn't a direct hit so we were safe. However, those people asked me why you didn’t lay down on the ground before those rocket rounds landed on the ground? I replied back to them I didn’t want to take cover because those sandbags surrounded us which helped protect us as well as those of you inside this area etc.
Even though you laid down on the ground, you still got hurt if those rocket rounds landed directly from above, you won’t avoid death. They thanked you for my explanation about the situation of their questions. Those group of people and I were disappointed
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after we received the news that our airplane had been delayed that the agency told us so we knew the airplane might not come at all because we had been waiting at the airport for several hours now without the airplanes coming, but we had to wait there with hoping our airplane coming to land soon.
Around 1600 hrs that afternoon, there was a C-47 cargo plane type landing at the airport, and about a couple minutes later, I saw the pilots come inside the building near the location where we sat down and waited at the terminal so I walked to greet those pilots and asked them, ”Sir! Where were you coming from?” They said that they came from the city of Kompong Som Province. I then kept asking them,”When will you return back Sir?. They replied back to my questions. We returned back around thirty minutes or so.I continued to ask them. Can I go with you when you return back, Sir?, I already paid money to Khmer Airlines and the airplane hadn't come yet for several hours now.
Those pilots said that if the Khmer Airlines are willing to pay us for your flight, there would be no problem. You could go with us. So, I immediately walked to the agency desk and talked to the person who was in charge there about my problems, and he agreed to pay the money for my plane ticket to that pilot. I was able to board the C-47 Cargo plane around 1640 hrs or so. It was only myself as the passenger and sat on the floor without a seat for me to sit down.
At that moment before the cargo plane prepared to take off from the runway, there were some incoming rocket rounds which fired from the Khmer Rouge troops landed inside the airport. Those pilots and I felt fearful and were relieved after the cargo plane was in the sky. The cargo plane landed safely at Kompong Som Airport around forty minutes later. I said,''Thank you very much for your help, Sir!”. Goodbye!
I walked out from the airport and catched taxi to the city. At the sametime, I felt hungry so I told the taxi driver to take me to a nearby restaurant for dinner. The taxi driver dropped me off next to the restaurant which I didn’t remember the name because it had been so many years now. As I said, I was a wounded soldier so I was still very weak due to my injuries at the battle of the Kampong Cham Province around September 8, 1973 and walked with the help of two crutches. I was able to carry just one carry bag on my shoulder etc.
I then walked inside the restaurant and was stopped by the waiter before I was able to find a table to sit down on because they thought I was a beggar who came inside to ask for money or food to eat. I told them that I had money and tried to order some food to eat and not come to ask for free food like you thought so I showed them the money, and they allowed me to sit down and ask me what kind of food I wanted to order etc?
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Since I had enough money from my friend who gave it to me before I departed from Phnom Penh, I wanted to order several types of food for me to eat before I headed to the boat dock. Somehow, I never had good food to eat for a while due my salary wasn’t enough to buy expensive food or eat at a fine restaurant etc. It was the second time in around two years that I enjoyed good meals at the restaurants with the help from my friend. In addition, before I finished my meal at the restaurant, there was an old couple who walked toward my table and asked me for my food to eat. Even though I still had some food left over, I wasn’t allowed to eat my food while the waiter tried to chase them out of their restaurant. I told the waiter to allow them to stay and to sit down because I will pay for another order of food for them to eat.
I handed the money to the waiter and ordered the same as my food because I wanted the couple to taste expensive food like me. They might never eat that kind of food before I guessed. The old couple was considered the homeless couple, and they also seemed like my parents so I was happy to help them and told them that I had to go now with wishing them enjoying their meal.
That old couple wished me luck with thank you for the food. In that situation, I didn't know how the waiters felt about my help to the couple because I also was a disabled person. I left the restaurant just a couple minutes later and arrived at the boat dock by paddy cab.
At the boat dock, I learned that we had to wait until the next day which was the time for boats to depart around 8:00 pm so I had plenty of time to stay inside their boat with serving meals included for the trip to the border of South Vietnam etc. While I was inside the boat, I received the news that the Khmer Rouge launched a lot of rocket rounds into Phnom Penh, and there were a lot of people killed and wounded. Somehow, I felt I was lucky to get out of that situation, and It wasn’t over yet until I got back into South Vietnam.
Therefore, I felt happy to return back to South Vietnam safely to unite with my family and to escape the killing field of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, and I considered myself a very, very, lucky person. In addition, I thought the South Vietnamese government was able to deal with the North Vietnamese Army etc, but I was wrong because the Communist of North Vietnamese took over South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
The new government came to arrest me at my house. They confiscated most of my properties after they took over the South Vietnamese government on April 30, 1975.
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They said that those items which I bought were from the blood money and now they needed to be taken away from me because they knew about my background etc.
For my background, I was a former soldier and worked with the Americans during the war. The communist government really hated the people who were involved with the Americans so the new communist government punished them trimble times if they knew about your background that you were involved with the Americans during the war like myself.
The new communist Vietnamese government held me at the local commune for about six months before they came to talk and to ask me for my help to play with the musical band to celebrate for their memorial days that they remembered of their dead comrades who were killed in the battles during the war against the former South Vietnam etc.
I agreed to help play with the band ,and they told me that I must return back to jail after they allowed me out for one week, but I kept staying home and ignored their order for me to return. Therefore, there wasn't anybody coming to say anything about me not returning back to jail so I assumed I was free to stay home.
Again, I considered myself lucky to be free after the six months because many former soldiers were still inside reeducation camps as the new communist government called it. However, I wasn’t able to work at the rice paddy or at the farms due to my injuries during the war that I served with the Cambodian Airborne unit in early 1973.
Even though I wasn’t able to work, I fortunately was happy to be alive out of that situation so I tried to find work for a living to help my family. I began to learn to repair bicycles, motorcycles, sewing machines etc. It helped my family just a little bit from the money as a repairman.
At the sametime, the new communist Vietnamese government controlled the markets so there weren’t any private stores after the new communist government controlled the country. The prices of goods were very high and were hard to find because there weren’t any new supplies from overseas etc.
Each family must register with the government and receive a book to use for buying goods or materials for each member in the household, but they didn’t have enough people who were able to read and to write to fill out the paperworks so they asked for my help again because I knew how to fill out those paperworks to help the villagers to buy some goods from local government with using family member booklet to buy those goods each time,and I had excess to the books and kept some for myself to use it to
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buy with different names. The local government didn’t know about what I had done to cheat them, and if they did, they arrested me for breaking the law. However I might end up in prison for a long, long time etc.
Therefore, I sold the merchandise to the merchants and made extra money that way I was able to help my family to survive until the Khmer Rouge troops and the communist Vietnamese fought with each other around April 1978. My family was forced to go to Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge troops with other families. However, there were several thousands families who were forced by the Khmer Rouge troops to go to live inside Cambodia as well as my own family.
At that moment, I thought that they might kill me if they knew about my background so I planned to escape from the situation and wasn’t able to do so, due to my disability. I wasn’t able to run away from them either and desired to stay with my family even though I knew they might kill me.
The Khmer Rouge troops forced several thousands an ethnic Khmer families who lived in Vietnam to go to live inside Cambodia with them. We didn’t have any idea why. If we resisted and didn’t want to go, they might kill us on the spot so every family followed their orders and walked several hours at night to reach the border line at Tinh Bien on Vinh Te Canal.
Other families and my family crossed the canal to reach the other side, never hoping someday we might be able to return back to our home villages after we put our foot on the other side. On the Cambodia side of the border, I saw several 105mm Howitzer artillery pieces which were set up there by Khmer Rouge troops to fire support for their troops at the frontline so I knew those artillery pieces were sieged from the former republic army after they surrendered on April 17, 1975 etc.
At that time, I was able to see too many people walking on the road with unknown destinations because we didn’t know who controlled the situation so people kept walking toward and stopped for rest one a while until we reached deep inside about twenty kilometers, the Khmer Rouge government told us to stop there.
However, we weren’t able to see the villagers and just some of their government officials who came to instruct us what we were able to do or not to do etc. The next several days, the local government set up for people to work as well as five years old childrens had to work too. They said if you don't work, you won’t receive food ration for that day. They might kill you too if you didn’t follow their orders.
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Each day, they gave you one small can of raw rice for each person, and you had to cook by yourself after you came back from work. I was able to witness there were a lot of people sick and dying because they were lacking medication and food with over working conditions. For myself, I stayed with the Khmer Rouge regime for about ten months. I felt fearful everyday and was worried they might kill me anytime if they knew about my background as I was a former soldier and was wounded by their comrades during the war.
At the beginning, they assigned me to work as a bicycle repair man after they knew I had a skill to repair. Most of the time, the government officials requested for me to go to repair at their locations which was about several kilometers from my village so that I met a lot of them while I worked.
They sometimes asked me a lot of questions, but I answered back to them as much as I could because they might kill me if they knew about my background. I didn't know how much longer I was able to hide my background because all of my former villagers came to Cambodia with me. In addition, those government officials gave me extra food while I did the work for them. A lot of people recognized my name because most of the time I traveled to different villages.
One day, the local village chief wanted to see me so I walked to meet him, and after I saw him and asked him,”Sir, did you look for me?” he said yes! Continuing to say, You were a former soldier and your leg was shot by our comrades so I am going to kill you today and dump your body on the side of the road so that other people might recognize you.
Well, how did you feel when someone said that to you? However, I almost passed out and knew they were going to kill me without being able to tell my family to say Goodbye. Just a quick second on my back, I received a hit from the stick, boom! I was falling down on the bamboo bed which was located under the mango tree.
At the sametime, I heard a voice from a distance shouting,”Why did you beated him?”. At the time after he heard the shouting voice and looked up to see who shouted at him, there were two army commanders that arrived at the location with their bicycles and saw the situation.
The village chief paused his plan to kill me and walked toward to meet with the two Khmer Rouge officers. Somehow, I wasn’t able to hear anything from their conversations and felt very painful from the beat. About five to seven minutes later, the
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village chief came back and told me to go back to my hut. At first, I didn’t believe I heard him say that until he told me the second time,
Then I started to walk out of the area and headed back to my hut. I was able to see the two army officers still sitting on their bicycles so I knew they saved my life I guess. Somehow, I might want to cry very loudly after I met with my family at my hut, but I tried not to because I didn’t want my family to know what was happening to me.
The Khmer Rouge officers came to visit me at my hut later that afternoon and wanted to know why the village chief beated me for what reasons etc. I really didn't tell them about what the village chief knew about my background; instead, I said that I didn’t know what was happening. The two Khmer Rouge officers said that the government had changed their policy not to kill people like they used to do, and if the village chief came back to bother you again, you reported to us okay? I answered,”Yes Sir,”
As everyone might know that the civilians weren’t allowed to wander outside of their villages, how was I able to report to them? I thanked them for their help and worried the village chief might try to kill me later that night so I didn't feel easy to deal with the situation, but I felt like I had a miracle coming to rescue me from the death sentence because the Khmer Rouge regime killed everyone from the former government in Cambodia.
For the next several months, I worked as a blacksmith to make farm tools after I had problems with the village chief until the communist Vietnamese government attacked the Khmer Rouge regime around January 1979 and occupied the Cambodia country so my family was free from the Khmer Rouge regime. We weren’t able to return back to our home village in Vietnam because the government didn’t allow us to return back, and we were considered as illegal people without a country so that my family stayed at the village of Phnom Den near the Vietnamese Cambodian border, inside Cambodia.
Therefore, I started opening my repair shop again with my old tools which I brought with me when my family ran away to escape the advance of Vietnamese troops in 1979. Until late 1980, my family planned to escape to reach the Thailand border for our freedom, and my family was able to enter into the refugee camp in Thailand around February 1981 after we met with the international Red Cross at refugee Camp at Non Chanh, Cambodia,Thailand border.
However, my family stayed at Refugee Camp N.W. 9.for about two months and transferred to Transit Center after I wrote a letter and mailed to United States Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand with giving details about my background so one of the embassy
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Staff Member came from Bangkok to interview me inside the refugee camp and approved my statue that I indeed served with the U.S. 5th Special Forces during the Vietnam War. My family flew from Bangkok, Thailand on September 29, 1981 to the United States and arrived at Oakland International Airport on September 29, 1981. Finally, my family arrived in the United States and got our freedom from the war. We felt very happy and thank you very much to the United States government and the American people that allowed my family to come and to live. We also reunided with my best friend, Mr. Send T. Chau bought a plane ticket for me to get out of Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh etc. Thank you!
Below Mr. Send Chau was on the right and Mr. Vila Chau on the left this photo was taken 1974 at Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Send Chau & Vila Chau 1974
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Vila Chau & Send Chau, Phnom Phen, Khmer Republic 1974
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Vila Chau
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Part V - Special Forces Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin in II Corps Tactical Zone 1972 South Vietnam
For this part of my story, I would like to share with all the readers who might want to know what happened to me while I stayed and worked at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin as a combat interpreter etc. I am very happy to do just that, and I hope everybody likes it.
At first, I worked at Camp B-43 Phuoc Tuy in III Corps Tactical Zone at Long Hai. However, this camp closed down around October 1972, and they transferred me to work at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin in II Corps near Cam Ranh Bay Air Base etc. After I arrived at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin around late October, I met with my former American team commander that I worked with at Camp B-43 Chi Lang in 1970-71. His name was Harold Horton who asked me to come back to work with him again, and I agreed.
Mr. Harold Horton was the team leader of Team A-432 at Chi Lang and was First Lieutenant then,but when I met with him at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin, he got promoted to Captain as well as the team leader of Team A-513 too.
At first, I worked at Camp B-43 Phuoc Tuy in III Corps Tactical Zone at Long Hai. However, this camp closed down around October 1972, and they transferred me to work at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin in II Corps near Cam Ranh Bay Air Base etc. After I arrived at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin around late October, I met with my former American team commander that I worked with at Camp B-43 Chi Lang in 1970-71. His name was Harold Horton who asked me to come back to work with him again, and I agreed.
Mr. Harold Horton was the team leader of Team A-432 at Chi Lang and was First Lieutenant then,but when I met with him at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin, he got promoted to Captain as well as the team leader of Team A-513 too.
Special Forces Photos at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin in II Corps South Vietnam 1972
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Camp B-51 Main Gate, Dong Ba Thin in II Corps South Vietnam 1972
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Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin in II Corps South Vietnam 1972
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Special Forces Photos at Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin in II Corps South Vietnam.
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It was around January 18, 1973, we took the Cambodian troops out to the jungle for the real combat maneuver for about two weeks. However, we weren’t able to finish our combat maneuver yet, we had to return back to our base camp due to the Paris Accord on January 27, 1973 so those troops had to return back to the camp by tomorrow morning.
For the Americans, they were happy to receive the good news about the ceasefire on that day and before the ceasefire was going to take effect, we started celebrating by firing our weapons as if it were a real battle. At the sametime, I worried that the enemy might attack us while we walked down from the mountain tomorrow morning. We might not have enough ammunition left to fight back because most of our ammunition had been fired already.
The next morning, we marched down around 0800 hrs to reach the convoy trucks which were waiting for us on Highway 1. We reached down the mountain safely without any problems, and the convoy of trucks took us back to our camp safely. Therefore, We didn’t engage with the enemy at all during our operations so we didn’t have any casualties to report.
For myself and other fellow combat interpreters needed to report to our team leader for an emergency meeting so we walked to our team room and met with our team leader as Captain Harold Horton who gave the information about the Paris Accord on January 27, 1973. He told us that the Americans no longer need us to work because they must leave South Vietnam soon so he wanted to know what we planned to do and needed to make our decisions soon because we didn’t have much time to do paperwork for you guy etc.
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At the sametime, he said that if we desired to go back home, he will issued paperwork for us, and if we wanted to stay inside this camp after it converted to South Vietnamese Border Ranger, we would became Sergeant of the South Vietnamese Border Ranger Army or if we volunteered to go to Cambodia to become the Khmer Republic Army, most of us would become First Lieutenant etc.
For the above reasons, most of us volunteered to go to Cambodia as well as myself. Therefore, they told us to pack our belongings and readied to go to Cambodia on January 29, 1973. At that point, I felt very sad because I didn't have enough time to say goodbye to those friends and really didn’t have many choices.
My fellow friends and I walked back to our barracks trying to visit friends and told them about our situations. The next day was January 28, 1973, the situation outside was calm. They called us to a fun office to get paid so we met each other at that location and had some conversation with each other before we said Goodbye because some of them stayed in the camp and some would go back home with some friends who volunteered to go to Cambodia.
On the morning of January 29, 1973, I was really sad because I had to leave Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin for good and missed all of friends who I just came to know them for very short months as well as my team leader Captain Harold Horton and all the Americans on my Team A-513 as well. There were army trucks waiting for us so we got inside those trucks. About twenty minutes later, we arrived at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base to board the C-130 to fly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Bye bye!
Part VI.I- Cambodia
The flight started from Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, South Vietnam on January 29, 1973 to Phnom Penh, Cambodia By Vila Chau
The C-130 plane landed at Pochentong International Airport around 9:00 pm on January 29, 1973 after it took off at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in South Vietnam. The Cambodian staff members who came to greet us after we arrived there. However, we felt happy that the Cambodian staff waited there to welcome us to their country. They told us to board the army trucks which waited to transport us to the army compound where we could be staying there temporarily until we had our own place to stay etc.
After we arrived there, we saw the compound was too crowded with the new arrival people so I decided to stay at the hotel. I flagged a taxi and asked the taxi driver to take me to Hong Kong Hotel that I stayed there during my two weeks on leave last time, and by the time I arrived at Hong Kong Hotel, it was almost time for the curfew so I got out and paid money to the driver and headed to hotel.
The office worker recognized me because I was there before. I asked her for a room to stay and she said that the hotel still had rooms for vacancies and welcomed me back to her hotel. Therefore, I paid for a room and walked up the stairs where my room is located. At that time, I felt very tired from my journey that day and took a shower before I went to sleep without dinner because I wasn’t hungry.
The next morning, It was on January 30, 1973. I woke up early and went downstairs to the hotel for my breakfast at a restaurant and continued to go to government offices to submit the paperwork as they told me last night before I went to the hotel. At the government offices, I met a group of people who worked there as well as those friends who just came with my flight from Cam Ranh Bay Air Base like me yesterday.
At the government offices, I waited for several hours before my turn to go inside to meet one of the government officials for an interview and submitted paperwork to them. That person told me to wait to hear back from the government officials for a couple months or so, and while I waited, there was no pay because I haven’t officially become part of the Cambodian army yet so I had to take care by myself.
In addition, the person who prepared my paperwork wanted me to give him $30,000 Riel as Cambodian money in exchange for his helping me. At that point, I felt hopeless because I thought I received a better treat for me to volunteer. Instead, they robbed me and other friends who also volunteered to serve with the Cambodian government. Other
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friends and I weren’t happy about that demanding pay. We considered it a corrupted government, but most people said that the government was corrupted from the top to bottom so that if you didn’t pay them, you won’t get what you wanted. Well, I couldn't afford to pay because I didn’t have much money to pay for rent and hardly had enough for buying food. I had to find some way to make money if I wanted to survive in that situation in Cambodia.
Around the middle of February 1973, I visited the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh to see if my unemployment benefit from Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin, South Vietnam came in yet because I really needed money to stay alive. The embassy staff told me there was a list of names for those interpreters from Camp Dong Ba Thin who were supposed to get paid so he asked me for my identification. I handed it to him after he checked the names inside the list.
Unfortunately, my name wasn’t on the list so he wasn’t able to pay me. I was sad to know why my name wasn’t on the list, and somebody else had their names. The U.S. Embassy Statt wrote down my name and told me to come back to check next month because it might arrive late. I thanked him for his help and greatly appreciated his help. I had to say Goodbye and would see him next month.
While I almost broke, I received a letter from Vientiane, Laos, and the person who sent a letter to me was from the American that he worked for (USAID) in Vientiane, Laos. I wished that I remembered his name. He worked with the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam before they transferred him to Vientiane, Laos. I knew him through his Vietnamese girlfriend that I helped her to be reunited with him at Vientiane, Laos so he mailed a letter with some photos and a fifty-dollar as an international money order for me to cash it in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Fortunately, I felt so happy to receive his check because I really needed the money to buy food or pay rent since the government didn’t pay for my salary yet.
I visited many banks in Phnom Penh to cash a check, but those banks refused to cash me because they said that they had no idea how to use it. They seemed to never see the money order before or never knew what it was. In that situation, I felt helpless because I wasn’t able to cash a check.
Plus, I myself, never used a check before, and it was my first time that I saw a check the same as a regular printed paper, but I didn’t give up so I visited an international bank at a different location after I asked other people to help me. At the international bank, I met with the worker and asked them to see if I could cash my check or not? They
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wanted to see it and I handed it to them. One of the workers asked me if he could show this money order to his boss upstairs to see if it could be cash or not? I said okay and waited about ten minutes before he returned. He told me it’s okay to cash! He said that the bank had to give me in Cambodian currency instead of American dollars, and if I didn’t want it, I could take my money order back because the bank didn’t have dollars for me?
Well, I really needed the money so I told them I accepted Cambodian money. For example, If they gave me in U.S. dollars, I was able to get about $500 Riel for one American dollar instead of $365.oo Riel as they offered to me so I got less money and was happy to receive the money from the American who was former Major and worked as the (USAID) in South Vietnam and Vientiane, Laos. For fifty dollars in that situation, It was a lot for people like me, but it wasn’t a lot for the Americans.
It has been about two months already, I wasn’t able to have jobs yet, as well as fellow friends whose they waited like me and wondered how they coped with waiting situations ? I knew about 5% of interpreters who came to work in South Vietnam were from the Cambodian Army, and the rest of interpreters were from South Vietnam as Khmer Kampuchia Krom like myself. I hardly tracked those friends who volunteered to come to Cambodia like me. I met Dara Thach, Soc Thach, Thia Danh, Minh Chau,and Kim Son etc.
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“ The first time I went to combat operation with the Cambodian troops”
It was early in March 1973, I was officially assigned to serve with the 11th Battalion, 2nd Brigade of the Airborne Unit. I immediately reported for my duty at the Airborne Base Camp at Pochentong Boulevard. There, I met with a subordinate battalion commander whose name was Capt. Keo An so I saluted him after I entered his office, and he saluted back and told me to sit down please. He asked me why I came here to see him. I told him that I volunteered to come to Cambodia and to join the Cambodian army after my camp closed down due to the Paris Accord on January 27, 1973 so I came to Cambodia on January 29, 1973 from South Vietnam.
He seemed happy to know that I was a former interpreter in South Vietnam. He said that he searched for people who were able to speak English for a while to communicate with the American Air Support for his unit so he wanted me to be a radio operator for him when we were out to combat operations. I agreed as he requested for me to do.
In the meantime, he told me the troops were out of operation at Neak Leung for some time because those troops needed to reinforce the town from capture by Khmer Rouge troops. The town was about fifty kilometers south of Phnom Penh along the Mekong River and on Highway #1.
The Khmer Rouge troops tried to capture the town after they overran the government outposts around those areas as well as Highway #1 from Neak Leung to near Phnom Penh. In addition, he told me that we will be joining the troops by tomorrow so he told the supply man to issue camouflage uniforms as well as M-16 rifles with ammunition etc. He then told me to report back around 0800 hrs by tomorrow.
By the next morning, I woke up early and prepared myself for the trip to join fellow soldiers at the front-lines so I washed myself, brushed my teeth, and grabbed my M16 rifle while putting on my rucksack. I walked out and stopped at a coffee shop to eat breakfast before I catched taxi to the army base at Pochentong Boulevard.
I arrived there on time for our departure to the airport. I saluted the battalion subordinate commander at his office, and he saluted me back. A couple minutes later, the army truck arrived and waited for us. Our commander told us to board the truck and the driver drove the truck and arrived at the airport a couple minutes later. The military airport shared with the main international airport of the east side for helicopters to park and to land there.
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Everyone of us got off from the army truck and waited for our commander to check with the airport commander to see if they could provide us with a helicopter to Neak Leung. Therefore, we weren’t able to travel there by army truck as well as by boat during the day because the road had been cut off by Khmer Rouge troops about a month ago, and by boats only travel at night time.
I didn’t think the airport commander would offer a helicopter to take us to Neak Leung at all. Most of the time, those helicopters transported only high ranking government officials and not for low ranking officials like my commander who was only as captain. When he came back and told us that we might have helicopter to take us to Neak Leung around ten o’clock today, I really didn’t want to believe him they would provided us a helicopter, but I was wrong because we got a Huey Helicopter came to land to pick us up. Everyone seemed happy and cheered after we were on board the helicopter. Nobody wanted to complain anymore. About 30 minutes later, the helicopter landed on the west side of the Mekong River bank for us to get off.
Finally, we arrived at Neak Leung, and It was our last destination. I walked behind the captain and saw a lot of soldiers who sat in groups from different units on their shoulder paths that I was able to tell. I then asked them before I continued to follow the captain, and they told me they waited for army boats to pick them up and take them back to their army base in Phnom Penh.
Those units retreated back here from the battles outside of this town. The Khmer Rouge troops attacked their positions for about several days with heavy casualties so they didn’t have enough men to fight. At that point, I realized the situation at Neak Leung was very tough. That is why they rushed to bring the airborne units here to save the town from fall into Khmer Rouge troops. The Airborne Units had much more discipline and were willing to fight than the regular army that I thought that way. I said,”Thank you!.” to them for giving me that information and walked directly to the command center that wasn’t far from there.
At the operation command center, I met with the brigade commander whose name was Um Baseth with the rank of colonel. I then saluted him and he also saluted back to me. We shook hands before he told me to sit down. He also wanted to know about my background so I told him I just came from South Vietnam about two months ago by volunteering, and after he heard about my background, he wanted to keep me to work with him as well as told my captain to find someone else to work with him because he kept me here.
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At that point, Capt.Keo An wasn’t able to say anything after his brigade commander said that even though he didn’t feel happy with his commander. So,I stayed and worked with the colonel at the operation command center. We had a late lunch together that day. The colonel told the driver to take the army jeep to transport the captain and some soldiers to front-line troops after we ate lunch. The defensive perimeter line was several kilometers from where the command center was located at the west side of the Mekong River bank.
The next several days on the west side of Mekong River bank, I studied the situation of the town areas as well as the situations with front line troops so I knew how to deal when the Khmer Rouge troops attacked our positions. The main town located on the east side of the Mekong River bank and the west side of Mekong River bank is just a small town for rest stops for government boats and merchant ships traveling down and up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh to the border with South Vietnam.
The Marines Nationales Khmeres was the same as the army of the navy, but the Cambodian government called it,”Marines Nationales Khmeres”. They wore green uniforms and operated the P.T.Boats or landing craft types. Those boats traveled down the Mekong River at night to bring supplies down for soldiers, or escorted the convoy of those merchant ships bringing supplies for the Cambodian government coming up from South Vietnam. Why did those ships travel at night and not travel at day time? At day time, the Khmer Rouge troops would ambush the convoy and had good aim of their weapons to destroy the boats so most of the time, they traveled at night to prevent the Khmer Rouge troops ambushing.
For cars or trucks as well as people that used ferries for crossing before, they weren’t able to do that anymore because those ferries stopped operation. People used wood boats to cross the Mekong River if they needed to cross it. In addition, there were big merchant ships which brought supplies up from South Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and escorted by Marines Nationales Khmeres, got ambushed by Khmer Rouge troops and sank one or two each time they traveled up the Mekong River or down river. The Khmer Marines asked me for help to relay the coordinates to the Forward Air Controllers for dropping bombs on enemy targets because they didn’t have a person who was able to speak American English so they had problems understanding American pilots. I wondered why the American government used big merchant ships to bring supplies up the Mekong River for Khmer Rouge troops used as targets to practice their weapons? It was my opinion only?
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The east side of town was covered by regional forces to protect the town and the west side of the Mekong River bank covered by Cambodian Airborne Units which had about six battalions from two brigades deployed to the areas. Almost all of those villages were empty because the Khmer Rouge troops evacuated them out from their villages and forced them to go deep inside of their controlled territory so you weren’t able to see any people. Except, inside the town and near the army base. Otherwise, it was like a ghost village to me.
For the Cambodian Army, the soldiers still used cooking pots to cook their food with firewood etc. The government didn’t have food rations for combat soldiers the same as the American government did. They issued only food rations to combat soldiers as an emergency only, and the package ration contained two rabbit candies, a small bag of salted fish paste called,( prohok) in Cambodian language. The rice was hard to chew because it wasn’t precooked rice. It was from sun dried rice in a plastic bag. At first, I had difficulty adjusting myself to eating those foods because I used to eat ( PIR) rations or C-rations while I was with the Americans during the time I was in Vietnam, but I had to eat the foods if I wanted to survive.
At the same time, the situations at front lines and surrounding towns were considered calm for several days. Except, there were sporadic gun fires at front lines with some incoming 122 mm rockets landed in the town and inside the Mekong River so I took time to set up the pole antenna for two of my radios PRC-25. I used those radios to contact with the front line commanders and to contact with the American Forward Air Controllers to request for airsupport when the front line troops engaged with the Khmer Rouge troops as well as read the instructions on how to use those code words for communication with the American Forward Air Controllers(FAC) etc.
After setting up my two radios, I was able to test with those commanders at the front lines to see if my radio worked properly or not and asked them to give me their coordinates on the map for me too so that I knew where their locations were on the map. I wasn’t able to test with the air frequencies yet because they won’t allow me to call without permission or disturbing calls so I just kept my radio on and listened to the American Forward Air Controllers who called and talked with other stations from different call signs etc. They also changed their frequencies after they made contact with each other so that I wasn’t able to hear their conversations from the air to ground either.
By the government rules, they didn't allow me to call directly to the American Forward Air Controllers. First, we needed to contact our base camp in Phnom Penh and report
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our situations requesting air support. Next, the base camp in Phnom Penh asked the department of defense about our situation. Then, department of defense forwarded the requests to Americans somewhere in Phnom Penh for the
approval. It could take days to receive air support from the Americans if everyone did like the rule said so most of the time I bypassed the rules by calling the American pilots directly from my radios.
Plus, our radio range wasn’t able to reach the base camp in Phnom Penh because PRC-25 had a range of about 15 kilometers. How It was able to reach Phnom Penh so most everybody didn’t follow the rules and used shortcuts by asking the American pilots to help to relay their messages with asking for more air support etc.
From inside of my communication bunker, I was able to hear Forward Air controllers (FAC) called and talked to other friendly stations after they took off from U-Tapao Air Base, in Thailand. At that time, the Forward Air Controller called to check with the call sign( HotelTakeo) several times without answering back at Hotel Takeo, I inserted my calls to the American pilot to see if he would respond back to my call.
The American pilot warned me not to disturb him because his mission was to help Hotel Takeo so I stopped disturbing him anymore and kept my radio on. The American pilot wasn’t able to contact Hotel Takeo for some reason, he then called my call sign as Hotel Airborne Headquarter,and I immediately picked up the handset and answered back to him quickly after I received a radio call from him.
He then asked me to set up code words with him if I had code words so I said,”Roger, roger,over,” After he read code words to me, and I answered correctly, he said that you were friendly so that he allowed me to exchange the conversations on the radios.
The Forward Air Controllers asked about my situation on the ground so I told him that my situation was calm. He wondered if my situation was calm, why did I call him etc. I told him that I was the new radio operator in the area and tried to contact him to see if I was able to contact him or not. I apologized to the American pilot, and he said that he almost didn’t want to answer my calls because he wasn’t familiar with my voices on the radio before.
However, I told him that I just volunteered to come to Cambodia from South Vietnam on January 29, 1973 after the Paris Accord on January 27, 1973. I continued to tell him about my background that I worked with the U.S. 5th Special Forces in Vietnam. At the sametime, he told me that he was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in South
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Vietnam before he moved his plane to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand. He congratulated me and thanked me for my service with the Americans.
After we talked for about 15 minutes or so, he and I seemed like each other so he advised me how to contact the Forward Air Controllers when I really needed help as well as gave me the American’s frequencies in case I had an emergency during the Khmer Rouge troops attack.
He told me not to tell someone if they wanted to know who gave the frequencies to me or how I got those frequencies from? For his help, I promised him not to tell anybody or to disturb their stations if I didn’t need air support.
Before he returned back to his air base for refueling and rearms, I thanked him for his help and hoped to talk to him again next time on his next mission. Thereafter, I tried to switch back my radio frequencies to see if it worked. Yes, It worked because I was able to hear their communication voices exchanged between each other very briefly so I knew it was good, but I had no idea where the station was located. After I tested, I switched back to my frequencies and kept it on standby 24/7
For the above conversations with the American Forward Air Controllers, I felt so happy to learn how I would handle my duty as a radio operator. That was my first contact with the Forward Air controller (FAC) after I arrived at Neak Leung around the second week In addition, I wished that I still remembered the flight numbers of the Forward Air Controller who gave the frequencies to me, and I wasn’t able to remember because it was so many years ago..
After the second week of my arrival at Neak Leung, I heard someone talking on the radio for too long. I then advised him not to talk on the radio for too long because other stations might want to use their radios too, and if you kept talking too long like this, you'd jammed the radio signals, and other stations couldn’t use their radios to call outside.
Even though I warned him not to talk on the radio for too long, he never stopped talking. Instead, he answered back to me by saying he didn't belong to my units. He was a Khmer Rouge soldier and wanted us to know that his units had been surrounding our positions and ready to attack us if we didn’t surrender to them.
At first, I didn’t believe the person who talked on the radio with me was Khmer Rouge troops because I thought someone tried to be fake as a Khmer Rouge soldier on radio
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or where the radio signal was coming from. I also thought that person just joked with me. The more I talked with him, he sounded like a real Khmer Rouge because he used a higher Khmer language to communicate with me which I had difficulty understanding so I asked another officer to help me to talk with him.
The other side of radios demanded for us to lay down our arms and to surrender without conditions. However, if we don't follow their demands, they will destroy us all. That person told us on the radio. He said that we won't be able to escape from their troops because we wouldn't be able to swim across the Mekong River from west to east so that we would be drawn before we reached the east side of the river bank.
It was almost an hour or so that we exchanged with the person who talked on the radio with us. My friend and I asked our brigade commander to come to listen and give an opinion about the situation. He wanted us to tell the person on the radio that we won’t lay our arms or surrender to Khmer Rouge troops and will fight until we run out of ammunition.
Even though we exchanged the conversations on the radio for an hour or so with the unknown person, we thought it was a hoax because we didn’t know where the call came from. On the other hand, if the person on other radios was real Khmer Rouge troops, how was he able to scan our radio frequencies?
At the same time, the brigade commander asked me to call those commanders at the front line and told them about the situations that we talked on radios so that they must prepare their troops for any attack by Khmer Rouge troops. We also changed our radio frequencies to prevent the Khmer Rouge’s scanning our radio frequencies again.
Everyone of us hoped it wouldn't happen to our troops that night or tomorrow so we went to sleep around 11:00 hours, but my two radios were 24/7 on standby in case I got a call from somebody at the front line. One of my radios had an attachable speaker which I brought with me from South Vietnam and used it at my mission so I was able to hear louder when I received a call and woke me up when I heard it. I was lucky to have that speaker from Vietnam and didn’t think other stations would have one.
Unfortunately, the initial assault by Khmer Rouge troops started around 0430 hours early in the morning so the threat from the person on the radios was real. Therefore, the Khmer Rouge troops attacked all friendly positions in the surrounding areas at the same time so that we weren’t able to help each other. Those commanders at the front lines called me and asked for air support because they got heavy attacks from Khmer Rouge
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troops? I told them to calm down because I already received their messages about the attack by the enemy. I tried to tell them that I will do anything to help them.
The night air support already changed shifts so I wasn’t able to contact them until the day time shift would start around 0800 hours in the morning. At the command center, the brigade commander and I were very busy communicating with front line troops to check their situations as well as other officers involved to help whatever they were able to do to help.
At the same time, our brigade commander ordered our two Howitzer 105mm artillery to fire support for our front line troops until we were able to get help from the American Forward Air Controllers who came to support and told them to be patient because we might have American Forward Air Controllers coming soon.
In the meantime, I remembered the American Forward Air Controllers who gave me the frequencies earlier to call for help If the Khmer Rouge troops attacked the friendly positions. Immediately, I searched for the frequencies in my notebook which I wrote and kept in it. I used my flashlight to search for the frequencies inside my bunker, and as soon as I found it, I switched the frequencies on my radio and called the station as the call sign,”Cricket”.
As I remembered from the American Forward Air Controllers who gave to me. I called ,”Cricket, Cricket, Cricket, this is Hotel Airborne Headquarters calling you, how do you read me? Over”. I kept calling for many times, and there weren’t any answers back from the call sign,”Cricket”. I wondered if they changed their frequencies, but I wasn’t about to give up so I kept calling for several more minutes.
Finally, I heard a voice from the call sign” Cricket “answer my calls,and I answered back as Roger, I read you loud and clear, how am I Sir? Over. Roger, I read you loud and clear too. As I answered back to the American’s station I had no idea where they were, but I felt so happy to hear the call sign,”Cricket” The voice was from the female.
The person on the radio asked me why I called them, and what I needed etc. I said that we had (TIC) as troops in combat and wanted to request for alpha sierra (airshell) as bombs etc. Again, the person on radio asked me to set up code words with them to see I was friendly or not, and after I answered correctly, they said that I was friendly so she wanted to know how I got the frequencies from, and who gave to me because I supposed not to have these frequencies etc.
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I told her that one of the Forward Air Controllers pilots gave it to me, but I forgot his call sign number etc. The reason I called your station, I needed your help to relay messages to your high commander for us because I really needed air support to help my units which the Khmer Rouge troops have been attacking our front line troops since early this morning. We might not be able to hold much longer if we didn’t receive American air support soon.
The American female on the radio asked me to provide the coordinates of the friendly troops in the areas as well as the enemy targets after I told her about our situations. I provided it to her to verify my location. She said that she recognized my location as well as friendly locations.
Now, she wanted the coordinates of enemy targets so I provided it to her too. And after I provided everything that she needed, she told me to return back to my house and waited for the next available Forward Air controller(FAC) ordered from her to help me. I knew what she told me so I switched back to my regular frequencies and waited for the next Forward Air controller (FAC) to come to help.
It was around 0830 hours or so and I heard the voice of the Forward Air Controller pilot calling my call sign on my radio, I quickly responded back by saying, Hotel Airborne Headquarter read you loud and clear, how am I? Over. The pilot said that I read you loud and clear too! Over! The pilot from Forward Air Controllers wanted me to set up code words to see if I was as friendly.
After I answered correctly, he said that you’re friendly so I was able to communicate with him while he was still on the air. He told me his commander ordered his plane to come to help with my situation. I had to wait for about 15 to 20 minutes for his plane to reach my location, and he just wanted to double check the coordinates that I provided to Cricket earlier to see if I still had the same or not. The Forward Air Controllers said that please standby and will call me back after his plane orbited above my location. I said,” Goger, goger, over”.
While I waited for the Forward Air Controllers plane to arrive, I called to inform those commanders at the front lines that I had air support coming soon so they were happy with cheering. I told them to wait a little bit because the plane would arrive here in about 15 minutes or so. On the air, I could hear the sound of an airplane which flew above my location. Then, I heard the FAC pilot called me so I answered back to him.
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He told me that his plane has been circling above my location to observe the areas while checking the enemy targets which I provided to him earlier. The Forward Air Controller called me back and let me know that he was ready to strike the enemy targets and wanted to know which targets I wanted to hit first?
I told him to hit target number one first. The Forward Air Controllers also told me to tell the commander at the front line that he was ready to fire a smoke rocket to mark the target, and let him know if the smoke rocket hit right on target or not. The pilot fired the smoke rocket round and hit right on target so I told him it was good and went ahead.. The pilot gave orders for the F-105 fighter plane to drop Napalm Bombs on enemy targets,and after it hit the ground, the Napalm Bombs burst hot orange.
At the sametime, I asked the pilot to strike different targets in the areas that the front line commanders reported to me and asked for airstrikes to those targets before the plane returned back for refueling and rearms.
About an hour later, the pilot of Forward Air Controllers said that his plane needed to return to base (RTB) due to being too low on fuel and ran out of time. He told me that he will forward my situation to his commander with a request for more air support for me. I told him that I greatly appreciated his help and hoped to work with him again next time. Before he turned off his radio, he said,”Goodbye”. To me and I also said,”Goodbye'' .back to him too.
We received about three different air support on the first day that Khmer Rouge troops attacked our positions on the west side of Mekong River bank. Therefore, we received some casualties as( KIA )and (WIA) etc But the show wasn’t stopped there yet because our enemy kept pressuring our troops and tried to push our troops out from the areas as they said that they were going to do. The situations at the front line have calmed down just a little bit after we got help from those airstrikes that hit the enemy targets.
In addition, the Khmer Rouge leader thought their troops might overrun our positions quickly as they did to other government troops earlier. Those units didn’t have the person who wasn’t capable of calling for air support, but the Cambodian Airborne unit was strong and was capable of calling for American Forward Air Controllers for help with high morale to fight so we won’t surrender to our enemy. The Khmer Rouge troops didn’t know that we had a person who was capable of calling for air support that I assumed they didn’t know.
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Even though we received some casualties while receiving some air support during the daylight, the Khmer Rouge troops didn’t withdraw out from the areas with continual attacks. At nightfall, our soldiers were hard to see far in front of their foxholes because it was darking night and they kept firing their weapons as they thought something was moving in front of them.
While we waited for night air support to come, we used our two Howitzers 105mm artillery which we had to fire to support our front line troops. We thought it would help to ease the tension of those soldiers, and we really didn’t have many artillery rounds to fire so we tried to save as much as we could.
My two radios always seemed busier from incoming calls from those battalion commanders at front lines asking me when the next air support might be coming etc. I wasn’t able to do very much to help them because I relied on American Forward Air Controllers coming to help.
Plus, the wounded soldiers and the body bags hadn't medevac them yet. We had to wait for those landing craft types, brought our supplies coming down from their base camp in Phnom Penh and took wounded soldiers with the body bags back with them to Phnom Penh. The badly wounded soldiers would be dead before they reached the hospital in Phnom Penh.
The photos below of those airplanes were from the Rustics and Nail FACs which flew missions to support the Cambodian troops during the war. And the last photos below, i was on the right, Mr. Brian Day, and Mr. Send T. Chau.
The C-130 plane landed at Pochentong International Airport around 9:00 pm on January 29, 1973 after it took off at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in South Vietnam. The Cambodian staff members who came to greet us after we arrived there. However, we felt happy that the Cambodian staff waited there to welcome us to their country. They told us to board the army trucks which waited to transport us to the army compound where we could be staying there temporarily until we had our own place to stay etc.
After we arrived there, we saw the compound was too crowded with the new arrival people so I decided to stay at the hotel. I flagged a taxi and asked the taxi driver to take me to Hong Kong Hotel that I stayed there during my two weeks on leave last time, and by the time I arrived at Hong Kong Hotel, it was almost time for the curfew so I got out and paid money to the driver and headed to hotel.
The office worker recognized me because I was there before. I asked her for a room to stay and she said that the hotel still had rooms for vacancies and welcomed me back to her hotel. Therefore, I paid for a room and walked up the stairs where my room is located. At that time, I felt very tired from my journey that day and took a shower before I went to sleep without dinner because I wasn’t hungry.
The next morning, It was on January 30, 1973. I woke up early and went downstairs to the hotel for my breakfast at a restaurant and continued to go to government offices to submit the paperwork as they told me last night before I went to the hotel. At the government offices, I met a group of people who worked there as well as those friends who just came with my flight from Cam Ranh Bay Air Base like me yesterday.
At the government offices, I waited for several hours before my turn to go inside to meet one of the government officials for an interview and submitted paperwork to them. That person told me to wait to hear back from the government officials for a couple months or so, and while I waited, there was no pay because I haven’t officially become part of the Cambodian army yet so I had to take care by myself.
In addition, the person who prepared my paperwork wanted me to give him $30,000 Riel as Cambodian money in exchange for his helping me. At that point, I felt hopeless because I thought I received a better treat for me to volunteer. Instead, they robbed me and other friends who also volunteered to serve with the Cambodian government. Other
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friends and I weren’t happy about that demanding pay. We considered it a corrupted government, but most people said that the government was corrupted from the top to bottom so that if you didn’t pay them, you won’t get what you wanted. Well, I couldn't afford to pay because I didn’t have much money to pay for rent and hardly had enough for buying food. I had to find some way to make money if I wanted to survive in that situation in Cambodia.
Around the middle of February 1973, I visited the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh to see if my unemployment benefit from Camp B-51 Dong Ba Thin, South Vietnam came in yet because I really needed money to stay alive. The embassy staff told me there was a list of names for those interpreters from Camp Dong Ba Thin who were supposed to get paid so he asked me for my identification. I handed it to him after he checked the names inside the list.
Unfortunately, my name wasn’t on the list so he wasn’t able to pay me. I was sad to know why my name wasn’t on the list, and somebody else had their names. The U.S. Embassy Statt wrote down my name and told me to come back to check next month because it might arrive late. I thanked him for his help and greatly appreciated his help. I had to say Goodbye and would see him next month.
While I almost broke, I received a letter from Vientiane, Laos, and the person who sent a letter to me was from the American that he worked for (USAID) in Vientiane, Laos. I wished that I remembered his name. He worked with the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam before they transferred him to Vientiane, Laos. I knew him through his Vietnamese girlfriend that I helped her to be reunited with him at Vientiane, Laos so he mailed a letter with some photos and a fifty-dollar as an international money order for me to cash it in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Fortunately, I felt so happy to receive his check because I really needed the money to buy food or pay rent since the government didn’t pay for my salary yet.
I visited many banks in Phnom Penh to cash a check, but those banks refused to cash me because they said that they had no idea how to use it. They seemed to never see the money order before or never knew what it was. In that situation, I felt helpless because I wasn’t able to cash a check.
Plus, I myself, never used a check before, and it was my first time that I saw a check the same as a regular printed paper, but I didn’t give up so I visited an international bank at a different location after I asked other people to help me. At the international bank, I met with the worker and asked them to see if I could cash my check or not? They
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wanted to see it and I handed it to them. One of the workers asked me if he could show this money order to his boss upstairs to see if it could be cash or not? I said okay and waited about ten minutes before he returned. He told me it’s okay to cash! He said that the bank had to give me in Cambodian currency instead of American dollars, and if I didn’t want it, I could take my money order back because the bank didn’t have dollars for me?
Well, I really needed the money so I told them I accepted Cambodian money. For example, If they gave me in U.S. dollars, I was able to get about $500 Riel for one American dollar instead of $365.oo Riel as they offered to me so I got less money and was happy to receive the money from the American who was former Major and worked as the (USAID) in South Vietnam and Vientiane, Laos. For fifty dollars in that situation, It was a lot for people like me, but it wasn’t a lot for the Americans.
It has been about two months already, I wasn’t able to have jobs yet, as well as fellow friends whose they waited like me and wondered how they coped with waiting situations ? I knew about 5% of interpreters who came to work in South Vietnam were from the Cambodian Army, and the rest of interpreters were from South Vietnam as Khmer Kampuchia Krom like myself. I hardly tracked those friends who volunteered to come to Cambodia like me. I met Dara Thach, Soc Thach, Thia Danh, Minh Chau,and Kim Son etc.
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“ The first time I went to combat operation with the Cambodian troops”
It was early in March 1973, I was officially assigned to serve with the 11th Battalion, 2nd Brigade of the Airborne Unit. I immediately reported for my duty at the Airborne Base Camp at Pochentong Boulevard. There, I met with a subordinate battalion commander whose name was Capt. Keo An so I saluted him after I entered his office, and he saluted back and told me to sit down please. He asked me why I came here to see him. I told him that I volunteered to come to Cambodia and to join the Cambodian army after my camp closed down due to the Paris Accord on January 27, 1973 so I came to Cambodia on January 29, 1973 from South Vietnam.
He seemed happy to know that I was a former interpreter in South Vietnam. He said that he searched for people who were able to speak English for a while to communicate with the American Air Support for his unit so he wanted me to be a radio operator for him when we were out to combat operations. I agreed as he requested for me to do.
In the meantime, he told me the troops were out of operation at Neak Leung for some time because those troops needed to reinforce the town from capture by Khmer Rouge troops. The town was about fifty kilometers south of Phnom Penh along the Mekong River and on Highway #1.
The Khmer Rouge troops tried to capture the town after they overran the government outposts around those areas as well as Highway #1 from Neak Leung to near Phnom Penh. In addition, he told me that we will be joining the troops by tomorrow so he told the supply man to issue camouflage uniforms as well as M-16 rifles with ammunition etc. He then told me to report back around 0800 hrs by tomorrow.
By the next morning, I woke up early and prepared myself for the trip to join fellow soldiers at the front-lines so I washed myself, brushed my teeth, and grabbed my M16 rifle while putting on my rucksack. I walked out and stopped at a coffee shop to eat breakfast before I catched taxi to the army base at Pochentong Boulevard.
I arrived there on time for our departure to the airport. I saluted the battalion subordinate commander at his office, and he saluted me back. A couple minutes later, the army truck arrived and waited for us. Our commander told us to board the truck and the driver drove the truck and arrived at the airport a couple minutes later. The military airport shared with the main international airport of the east side for helicopters to park and to land there.
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Everyone of us got off from the army truck and waited for our commander to check with the airport commander to see if they could provide us with a helicopter to Neak Leung. Therefore, we weren’t able to travel there by army truck as well as by boat during the day because the road had been cut off by Khmer Rouge troops about a month ago, and by boats only travel at night time.
I didn’t think the airport commander would offer a helicopter to take us to Neak Leung at all. Most of the time, those helicopters transported only high ranking government officials and not for low ranking officials like my commander who was only as captain. When he came back and told us that we might have helicopter to take us to Neak Leung around ten o’clock today, I really didn’t want to believe him they would provided us a helicopter, but I was wrong because we got a Huey Helicopter came to land to pick us up. Everyone seemed happy and cheered after we were on board the helicopter. Nobody wanted to complain anymore. About 30 minutes later, the helicopter landed on the west side of the Mekong River bank for us to get off.
Finally, we arrived at Neak Leung, and It was our last destination. I walked behind the captain and saw a lot of soldiers who sat in groups from different units on their shoulder paths that I was able to tell. I then asked them before I continued to follow the captain, and they told me they waited for army boats to pick them up and take them back to their army base in Phnom Penh.
Those units retreated back here from the battles outside of this town. The Khmer Rouge troops attacked their positions for about several days with heavy casualties so they didn’t have enough men to fight. At that point, I realized the situation at Neak Leung was very tough. That is why they rushed to bring the airborne units here to save the town from fall into Khmer Rouge troops. The Airborne Units had much more discipline and were willing to fight than the regular army that I thought that way. I said,”Thank you!.” to them for giving me that information and walked directly to the command center that wasn’t far from there.
At the operation command center, I met with the brigade commander whose name was Um Baseth with the rank of colonel. I then saluted him and he also saluted back to me. We shook hands before he told me to sit down. He also wanted to know about my background so I told him I just came from South Vietnam about two months ago by volunteering, and after he heard about my background, he wanted to keep me to work with him as well as told my captain to find someone else to work with him because he kept me here.
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At that point, Capt.Keo An wasn’t able to say anything after his brigade commander said that even though he didn’t feel happy with his commander. So,I stayed and worked with the colonel at the operation command center. We had a late lunch together that day. The colonel told the driver to take the army jeep to transport the captain and some soldiers to front-line troops after we ate lunch. The defensive perimeter line was several kilometers from where the command center was located at the west side of the Mekong River bank.
The next several days on the west side of Mekong River bank, I studied the situation of the town areas as well as the situations with front line troops so I knew how to deal when the Khmer Rouge troops attacked our positions. The main town located on the east side of the Mekong River bank and the west side of Mekong River bank is just a small town for rest stops for government boats and merchant ships traveling down and up the Mekong River from Phnom Penh to the border with South Vietnam.
The Marines Nationales Khmeres was the same as the army of the navy, but the Cambodian government called it,”Marines Nationales Khmeres”. They wore green uniforms and operated the P.T.Boats or landing craft types. Those boats traveled down the Mekong River at night to bring supplies down for soldiers, or escorted the convoy of those merchant ships bringing supplies for the Cambodian government coming up from South Vietnam. Why did those ships travel at night and not travel at day time? At day time, the Khmer Rouge troops would ambush the convoy and had good aim of their weapons to destroy the boats so most of the time, they traveled at night to prevent the Khmer Rouge troops ambushing.
For cars or trucks as well as people that used ferries for crossing before, they weren’t able to do that anymore because those ferries stopped operation. People used wood boats to cross the Mekong River if they needed to cross it. In addition, there were big merchant ships which brought supplies up from South Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia and escorted by Marines Nationales Khmeres, got ambushed by Khmer Rouge troops and sank one or two each time they traveled up the Mekong River or down river. The Khmer Marines asked me for help to relay the coordinates to the Forward Air Controllers for dropping bombs on enemy targets because they didn’t have a person who was able to speak American English so they had problems understanding American pilots. I wondered why the American government used big merchant ships to bring supplies up the Mekong River for Khmer Rouge troops used as targets to practice their weapons? It was my opinion only?
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The east side of town was covered by regional forces to protect the town and the west side of the Mekong River bank covered by Cambodian Airborne Units which had about six battalions from two brigades deployed to the areas. Almost all of those villages were empty because the Khmer Rouge troops evacuated them out from their villages and forced them to go deep inside of their controlled territory so you weren’t able to see any people. Except, inside the town and near the army base. Otherwise, it was like a ghost village to me.
For the Cambodian Army, the soldiers still used cooking pots to cook their food with firewood etc. The government didn’t have food rations for combat soldiers the same as the American government did. They issued only food rations to combat soldiers as an emergency only, and the package ration contained two rabbit candies, a small bag of salted fish paste called,( prohok) in Cambodian language. The rice was hard to chew because it wasn’t precooked rice. It was from sun dried rice in a plastic bag. At first, I had difficulty adjusting myself to eating those foods because I used to eat ( PIR) rations or C-rations while I was with the Americans during the time I was in Vietnam, but I had to eat the foods if I wanted to survive.
At the same time, the situations at front lines and surrounding towns were considered calm for several days. Except, there were sporadic gun fires at front lines with some incoming 122 mm rockets landed in the town and inside the Mekong River so I took time to set up the pole antenna for two of my radios PRC-25. I used those radios to contact with the front line commanders and to contact with the American Forward Air Controllers to request for airsupport when the front line troops engaged with the Khmer Rouge troops as well as read the instructions on how to use those code words for communication with the American Forward Air Controllers(FAC) etc.
After setting up my two radios, I was able to test with those commanders at the front lines to see if my radio worked properly or not and asked them to give me their coordinates on the map for me too so that I knew where their locations were on the map. I wasn’t able to test with the air frequencies yet because they won’t allow me to call without permission or disturbing calls so I just kept my radio on and listened to the American Forward Air Controllers who called and talked with other stations from different call signs etc. They also changed their frequencies after they made contact with each other so that I wasn’t able to hear their conversations from the air to ground either.
By the government rules, they didn't allow me to call directly to the American Forward Air Controllers. First, we needed to contact our base camp in Phnom Penh and report
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our situations requesting air support. Next, the base camp in Phnom Penh asked the department of defense about our situation. Then, department of defense forwarded the requests to Americans somewhere in Phnom Penh for the
approval. It could take days to receive air support from the Americans if everyone did like the rule said so most of the time I bypassed the rules by calling the American pilots directly from my radios.
Plus, our radio range wasn’t able to reach the base camp in Phnom Penh because PRC-25 had a range of about 15 kilometers. How It was able to reach Phnom Penh so most everybody didn’t follow the rules and used shortcuts by asking the American pilots to help to relay their messages with asking for more air support etc.
From inside of my communication bunker, I was able to hear Forward Air controllers (FAC) called and talked to other friendly stations after they took off from U-Tapao Air Base, in Thailand. At that time, the Forward Air Controller called to check with the call sign( HotelTakeo) several times without answering back at Hotel Takeo, I inserted my calls to the American pilot to see if he would respond back to my call.
The American pilot warned me not to disturb him because his mission was to help Hotel Takeo so I stopped disturbing him anymore and kept my radio on. The American pilot wasn’t able to contact Hotel Takeo for some reason, he then called my call sign as Hotel Airborne Headquarter,and I immediately picked up the handset and answered back to him quickly after I received a radio call from him.
He then asked me to set up code words with him if I had code words so I said,”Roger, roger,over,” After he read code words to me, and I answered correctly, he said that you were friendly so that he allowed me to exchange the conversations on the radios.
The Forward Air Controllers asked about my situation on the ground so I told him that my situation was calm. He wondered if my situation was calm, why did I call him etc. I told him that I was the new radio operator in the area and tried to contact him to see if I was able to contact him or not. I apologized to the American pilot, and he said that he almost didn’t want to answer my calls because he wasn’t familiar with my voices on the radio before.
However, I told him that I just volunteered to come to Cambodia from South Vietnam on January 29, 1973 after the Paris Accord on January 27, 1973. I continued to tell him about my background that I worked with the U.S. 5th Special Forces in Vietnam. At the sametime, he told me that he was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in South
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Vietnam before he moved his plane to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand. He congratulated me and thanked me for my service with the Americans.
After we talked for about 15 minutes or so, he and I seemed like each other so he advised me how to contact the Forward Air Controllers when I really needed help as well as gave me the American’s frequencies in case I had an emergency during the Khmer Rouge troops attack.
He told me not to tell someone if they wanted to know who gave the frequencies to me or how I got those frequencies from? For his help, I promised him not to tell anybody or to disturb their stations if I didn’t need air support.
Before he returned back to his air base for refueling and rearms, I thanked him for his help and hoped to talk to him again next time on his next mission. Thereafter, I tried to switch back my radio frequencies to see if it worked. Yes, It worked because I was able to hear their communication voices exchanged between each other very briefly so I knew it was good, but I had no idea where the station was located. After I tested, I switched back to my frequencies and kept it on standby 24/7
For the above conversations with the American Forward Air Controllers, I felt so happy to learn how I would handle my duty as a radio operator. That was my first contact with the Forward Air controller (FAC) after I arrived at Neak Leung around the second week In addition, I wished that I still remembered the flight numbers of the Forward Air Controller who gave the frequencies to me, and I wasn’t able to remember because it was so many years ago..
After the second week of my arrival at Neak Leung, I heard someone talking on the radio for too long. I then advised him not to talk on the radio for too long because other stations might want to use their radios too, and if you kept talking too long like this, you'd jammed the radio signals, and other stations couldn’t use their radios to call outside.
Even though I warned him not to talk on the radio for too long, he never stopped talking. Instead, he answered back to me by saying he didn't belong to my units. He was a Khmer Rouge soldier and wanted us to know that his units had been surrounding our positions and ready to attack us if we didn’t surrender to them.
At first, I didn’t believe the person who talked on the radio with me was Khmer Rouge troops because I thought someone tried to be fake as a Khmer Rouge soldier on radio
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or where the radio signal was coming from. I also thought that person just joked with me. The more I talked with him, he sounded like a real Khmer Rouge because he used a higher Khmer language to communicate with me which I had difficulty understanding so I asked another officer to help me to talk with him.
The other side of radios demanded for us to lay down our arms and to surrender without conditions. However, if we don't follow their demands, they will destroy us all. That person told us on the radio. He said that we won't be able to escape from their troops because we wouldn't be able to swim across the Mekong River from west to east so that we would be drawn before we reached the east side of the river bank.
It was almost an hour or so that we exchanged with the person who talked on the radio with us. My friend and I asked our brigade commander to come to listen and give an opinion about the situation. He wanted us to tell the person on the radio that we won’t lay our arms or surrender to Khmer Rouge troops and will fight until we run out of ammunition.
Even though we exchanged the conversations on the radio for an hour or so with the unknown person, we thought it was a hoax because we didn’t know where the call came from. On the other hand, if the person on other radios was real Khmer Rouge troops, how was he able to scan our radio frequencies?
At the same time, the brigade commander asked me to call those commanders at the front line and told them about the situations that we talked on radios so that they must prepare their troops for any attack by Khmer Rouge troops. We also changed our radio frequencies to prevent the Khmer Rouge’s scanning our radio frequencies again.
Everyone of us hoped it wouldn't happen to our troops that night or tomorrow so we went to sleep around 11:00 hours, but my two radios were 24/7 on standby in case I got a call from somebody at the front line. One of my radios had an attachable speaker which I brought with me from South Vietnam and used it at my mission so I was able to hear louder when I received a call and woke me up when I heard it. I was lucky to have that speaker from Vietnam and didn’t think other stations would have one.
Unfortunately, the initial assault by Khmer Rouge troops started around 0430 hours early in the morning so the threat from the person on the radios was real. Therefore, the Khmer Rouge troops attacked all friendly positions in the surrounding areas at the same time so that we weren’t able to help each other. Those commanders at the front lines called me and asked for air support because they got heavy attacks from Khmer Rouge
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troops? I told them to calm down because I already received their messages about the attack by the enemy. I tried to tell them that I will do anything to help them.
The night air support already changed shifts so I wasn’t able to contact them until the day time shift would start around 0800 hours in the morning. At the command center, the brigade commander and I were very busy communicating with front line troops to check their situations as well as other officers involved to help whatever they were able to do to help.
At the same time, our brigade commander ordered our two Howitzer 105mm artillery to fire support for our front line troops until we were able to get help from the American Forward Air Controllers who came to support and told them to be patient because we might have American Forward Air Controllers coming soon.
In the meantime, I remembered the American Forward Air Controllers who gave me the frequencies earlier to call for help If the Khmer Rouge troops attacked the friendly positions. Immediately, I searched for the frequencies in my notebook which I wrote and kept in it. I used my flashlight to search for the frequencies inside my bunker, and as soon as I found it, I switched the frequencies on my radio and called the station as the call sign,”Cricket”.
As I remembered from the American Forward Air Controllers who gave to me. I called ,”Cricket, Cricket, Cricket, this is Hotel Airborne Headquarters calling you, how do you read me? Over”. I kept calling for many times, and there weren’t any answers back from the call sign,”Cricket”. I wondered if they changed their frequencies, but I wasn’t about to give up so I kept calling for several more minutes.
Finally, I heard a voice from the call sign” Cricket “answer my calls,and I answered back as Roger, I read you loud and clear, how am I Sir? Over. Roger, I read you loud and clear too. As I answered back to the American’s station I had no idea where they were, but I felt so happy to hear the call sign,”Cricket” The voice was from the female.
The person on the radio asked me why I called them, and what I needed etc. I said that we had (TIC) as troops in combat and wanted to request for alpha sierra (airshell) as bombs etc. Again, the person on radio asked me to set up code words with them to see I was friendly or not, and after I answered correctly, they said that I was friendly so she wanted to know how I got the frequencies from, and who gave to me because I supposed not to have these frequencies etc.
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I told her that one of the Forward Air Controllers pilots gave it to me, but I forgot his call sign number etc. The reason I called your station, I needed your help to relay messages to your high commander for us because I really needed air support to help my units which the Khmer Rouge troops have been attacking our front line troops since early this morning. We might not be able to hold much longer if we didn’t receive American air support soon.
The American female on the radio asked me to provide the coordinates of the friendly troops in the areas as well as the enemy targets after I told her about our situations. I provided it to her to verify my location. She said that she recognized my location as well as friendly locations.
Now, she wanted the coordinates of enemy targets so I provided it to her too. And after I provided everything that she needed, she told me to return back to my house and waited for the next available Forward Air controller(FAC) ordered from her to help me. I knew what she told me so I switched back to my regular frequencies and waited for the next Forward Air controller (FAC) to come to help.
It was around 0830 hours or so and I heard the voice of the Forward Air Controller pilot calling my call sign on my radio, I quickly responded back by saying, Hotel Airborne Headquarter read you loud and clear, how am I? Over. The pilot said that I read you loud and clear too! Over! The pilot from Forward Air Controllers wanted me to set up code words to see if I was as friendly.
After I answered correctly, he said that you’re friendly so I was able to communicate with him while he was still on the air. He told me his commander ordered his plane to come to help with my situation. I had to wait for about 15 to 20 minutes for his plane to reach my location, and he just wanted to double check the coordinates that I provided to Cricket earlier to see if I still had the same or not. The Forward Air Controllers said that please standby and will call me back after his plane orbited above my location. I said,” Goger, goger, over”.
While I waited for the Forward Air Controllers plane to arrive, I called to inform those commanders at the front lines that I had air support coming soon so they were happy with cheering. I told them to wait a little bit because the plane would arrive here in about 15 minutes or so. On the air, I could hear the sound of an airplane which flew above my location. Then, I heard the FAC pilot called me so I answered back to him.
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He told me that his plane has been circling above my location to observe the areas while checking the enemy targets which I provided to him earlier. The Forward Air Controller called me back and let me know that he was ready to strike the enemy targets and wanted to know which targets I wanted to hit first?
I told him to hit target number one first. The Forward Air Controllers also told me to tell the commander at the front line that he was ready to fire a smoke rocket to mark the target, and let him know if the smoke rocket hit right on target or not. The pilot fired the smoke rocket round and hit right on target so I told him it was good and went ahead.. The pilot gave orders for the F-105 fighter plane to drop Napalm Bombs on enemy targets,and after it hit the ground, the Napalm Bombs burst hot orange.
At the sametime, I asked the pilot to strike different targets in the areas that the front line commanders reported to me and asked for airstrikes to those targets before the plane returned back for refueling and rearms.
About an hour later, the pilot of Forward Air Controllers said that his plane needed to return to base (RTB) due to being too low on fuel and ran out of time. He told me that he will forward my situation to his commander with a request for more air support for me. I told him that I greatly appreciated his help and hoped to work with him again next time. Before he turned off his radio, he said,”Goodbye”. To me and I also said,”Goodbye'' .back to him too.
We received about three different air support on the first day that Khmer Rouge troops attacked our positions on the west side of Mekong River bank. Therefore, we received some casualties as( KIA )and (WIA) etc But the show wasn’t stopped there yet because our enemy kept pressuring our troops and tried to push our troops out from the areas as they said that they were going to do. The situations at the front line have calmed down just a little bit after we got help from those airstrikes that hit the enemy targets.
In addition, the Khmer Rouge leader thought their troops might overrun our positions quickly as they did to other government troops earlier. Those units didn’t have the person who wasn’t capable of calling for air support, but the Cambodian Airborne unit was strong and was capable of calling for American Forward Air Controllers for help with high morale to fight so we won’t surrender to our enemy. The Khmer Rouge troops didn’t know that we had a person who was capable of calling for air support that I assumed they didn’t know.
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Even though we received some casualties while receiving some air support during the daylight, the Khmer Rouge troops didn’t withdraw out from the areas with continual attacks. At nightfall, our soldiers were hard to see far in front of their foxholes because it was darking night and they kept firing their weapons as they thought something was moving in front of them.
While we waited for night air support to come, we used our two Howitzers 105mm artillery which we had to fire to support our front line troops. We thought it would help to ease the tension of those soldiers, and we really didn’t have many artillery rounds to fire so we tried to save as much as we could.
My two radios always seemed busier from incoming calls from those battalion commanders at front lines asking me when the next air support might be coming etc. I wasn’t able to do very much to help them because I relied on American Forward Air Controllers coming to help.
Plus, the wounded soldiers and the body bags hadn't medevac them yet. We had to wait for those landing craft types, brought our supplies coming down from their base camp in Phnom Penh and took wounded soldiers with the body bags back with them to Phnom Penh. The badly wounded soldiers would be dead before they reached the hospital in Phnom Penh.
The photos below of those airplanes were from the Rustics and Nail FACs which flew missions to support the Cambodian troops during the war. And the last photos below, i was on the right, Mr. Brian Day, and Mr. Send T. Chau.
Mr.Send T. Chau, Mr.Brian Day, & Vila Chau
North American Rockwell OV-10 "Bronco" Aircraft flown by Rustic FAC
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Rustic FAC - Forward Air Controlers
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OV-10 67-14639 restored, Australian War Museum, by Peter Condon
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Part VI.II - Neak Leung, 1973
The round two of the battle at Neak Leung around March 1973
Around 1900 hours, I received a radio call from a call sign(Spectre) coming for help. The Spectre Gunship was the C-130 Hercules cargo plane which served as night air support for front line troops, and everytime, I got a call, I quickly answered back to the American pilots. The pilots always asked me to set up a( cac wheel )or(decoder wheel) with them to see if I was friendly or not? And If I answered correctly, the American Pilots allowed me to report about my situations. Then, we needed to switch the frequencies before I was able to give them the friendly coordinates as well as enemy coordinates while the plane was still on the air and headed to my location.
Therefore, we had to switch our frequencies after we sat up the code because we didn’t want other stations to hear our conversations. At that night, I reported to them about my situation was bad because the Khmer Rouge troops kept attacking us early in the morning and has been continuing into nightfall without retreating back so the sounds of firefights had been going on, and our troops won’t give up either so both sides kept fighting throughout the day and night. That is why we really needed air support for front line troops to deal with our situations.
It wasn’t very long, the sound of Spectre Gunship flew above us and orbited over the ground troops to observe the movements of the enemy troops for several minutes before the pilot called and asked me which targets I wanted them to strike first? However, I answered back to them and told them that I wanted to strike targets number #1 or # 2 first etc. Then, the pilots gave orders to their crews to strike those targets from above to the ground with 20 mm Vulcan Machine Gun, 40 mm grenade launcher rounds, and 105 mm cannon rounds into the enemy targets as my request for the Spectre Gunship to fire.
The pilots wanted to know if those rounds hit right on targets or not, or I wanted to correct any rounds their crew just fired? I said that those rounds were right on targets and asked them to shift to next targets for me because other targets, we received heavy fire from the enemy. The most vicious rattling sounds from six barrels of 20 mm cannon bullets flew out about 100 rounds a second, and the bullets flew in a tight stream that cut like a saw. I also requested the pilots to drop flares for soldiers to see at night.
Those soldiers worried that the enemy might crawl up to surprise them if they weren’t able to see very far from their foxhole. After Spectre Gunship came to support the troops for about an hour, the pilots called and told me that their plane needed to return
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back to the airbase because the plane was low on fuel. I said,”Thank you for your help and Goodbye to the pilots and the crew members asking to relay my messages to their commander that I requested more air support to come because we hadn’t done with the Khmer Rouge troops yet? The pilots promised to forward my messages to their commander. The radios between pilots and I were cut off so I needed to switch back to regular air support frequencies and had to standby for the next plane coming to help.
After the first Spectre Gunship came to support the troops, the front line commanders were happy as well as those soldiers because each time those rounds exploded in the night and the sounds liked beating the drums. However, the Khmer Rouge troops felt terrified by the sounds that hit the ground. Those sounds helped for the morality of those soldiers who wanted to stay to fight. The good news was our enemy has been slowing down their attack after they received an airstrike and might be receiving heavy casualties from the airstrikes too.
Around 0200 hours, I got another call from the Spectre Gunship Pilots coming to help so the pilots and I must exchanged our decoder wheel with each other for each time before we were able to exchange other informations, and after the plane flew above the troops, my second radio rang so I knew it came from the front line commanders who wanted to know about the plane coming to support us or not? I said that the plane came to support us. They felt very happy to know we got another plane coming to help. At the same time, I got call from the pilots who wanted to know which targets I wanted them to strike first so I told them that I wanted them to hit target #4 or #5 as I wanted from the first air support etc. It was the same first air support that came and returned back to base because the plane was low on fuel while it flew on the air to support the front line troops about an hour each time.
In addition, we received about two Spectre Gunship planes coming to support our troops on the first night, and we considered ourselves lucky because other friendly stations might not be able to get help at all. There was the first time that I knew the C-130 Hercules cargo plane served as a Spectre Gunship in Cambodia to support front line troops and not as a cargo plane as in South Vietnam.
For the night air support, the pilots didn’t need to fire smoke rockets to mark targets the same as daylight air support because the pilots used infrared lights to mark targets at night so they fired accurately at night.
By the second day, we hoped those airstrikes would help our front line troops to deal with the Khmer Rouge troops attacking us. Instead, the front line commanders reported
2
to me that Khmer Rouge troops kept up their attacks on our troops and might have some fresh troops coming to re-enforce them too. The front line troops heard the sounds and noises of digging trenches at night so that we knew the Khmer Rouge troops never intended to retreat back to their territory until they had their victory over the government troops.
In the meantime, I told those commanders to wait for the next air support to come, otherwise I wasn’t able to help them. The battlefields between our troops and Khmer Rouge troops continued for three days so one of commanders at the front line requested the brigade commander to allow his troops to pull back to the rear due to casualties and stretched too long? But the brigade commander didn’t give his permission to pull back and ordered them to hold their positions. He also gave orders to shoot those soldiers who tried to run away from their foxholes. They must stay and fight until they run out of ammunition without surrender to Khmer Rouge troops.
I knew those soldiers were very tired and exhausted from the fighting with little sleep at night while they sat inside their foxholes as the same as myself to stay awake trying to communicate between the American Forward Air Controllers or the Spectre Gunships coming to support us. The front line commanders who called and requested for air support all the time. I must stay close to my two PRC-25 radios in case I receive a call. Even though we received several air support during the days and nights, the Khmer Rouge troops didn’t stop attacking our friendly positions.
Therefore, they dug trenches while moving their position closer and closer to our friendly troops every night so the front line commanders told me they might not be able to hold their positions any longer if the brigade commander didn’t allow them to pull back a little bit. Unfortunately, the battle between the Khmer Airborne unit and Khmer Rouge troops continued into the second week. Both sides received some casualties, but the Khmer Rouge were able to receive reinforcements because they controlled a larger land area than government troops. The good news was we still held our positions with the help from the American Air Support which those planes had struck the enemy targets. We also were able to receive our resupply by convoy of boats coming down from the Mekong River and brought back those wounded soldiers and body bags with them.
The battles continued into the second week around day 14 with fiercest firefights between the Khmer Airborne troops and Khmer Rouge troops. The front line commanders called and reported to me about their situations requesting for more air
3
support. They told me that the enemy had been very close to our troops and could be hand to hand combat if we didn’t receive the air support coming to help soon.
After I heard about their situations I received from the front line commanders, I told them to be calm and to be patient because I had tried to request for air support from the Americans. Luckily, I got a call from the American Forward Air Controllers as a call sign(Rustic) coming for help. The pilot called to check with me and exchanged decoder wheels to make sure I was as friendly or not before I gave the coordinates of friendly troops with the enemy targets to him so that he knew how to check on the map.
All of us were able to hear the sound of a small airplane flying on the sky above our locations so we knew that plane came to help us. The front line commanders as well as those soldiers felt happy each time they heard the plane flying above them because they knew that plane came to help them.
The good news was we got air support coming to help us on time so that we hoped we were able to deal with the Khmer Rouge troops. The front line commanders asked me for close air support if I was able to request the American pilot. Therefore, I called and requested close air support for the ground troops to see if the American pilot agreed with me or not? After the pilot orbited above the area several minutes and told me that he didn’t approve of my request to use ( CBU) as cluster bomblet units which spread out hundreds of steel pellets after it hit the ground, and the reasons he didn’t approval to use the (CBU) , might miss the targets and hit friendly troops too, and If that happened, he wouldn't be responsible for the casualties of the troops.
For the above situations, I immediately explained to my brigade commander what the American pilot told me. He wanted me to tell the American pilot that he would be responsible for the problem if the bombs missed the targets and hit friendly troops. However the American pilot wanted me to provide him with the name of my brigade commander as well as rank and army serial numbers etc, and after I provided all the information to the American pilot, he told me to wait for several minutes and will called me back after he checked with the Cambodian Defense Department in Phnom Penh to see if they knew the name and the rank of my commander or not before he approved of my request for him to use cluster bomblet units.Thereafter, I waited for about five minutes or so before the pilot called me back and confirmed to me that he approved of my request. He then wanted me to let the front line commanders know as well as the soldiers about the consequences of the cluster bombs units when it hit the ground. Those bombs might cause chest pain to those soldiers after it exploded on the ground so he wanted the soldiers to bend down their bodies a little bit while keeping their eyes
4
on enemies who might be charging toward their positions by surprise. The American pilot had good reasons to give me his instructions because he wanted to avoid the pressure from those bombs that could hurt those soldiers who stayed inside their foxholes.
After the American pilot and I exchanged communications with each other, he said that he was ready to puff the smoke rockets on the enemy targets so that he wanted me to check with the front line commanders to see if the smoke rocket round hit right on the enemy target or not? I told him that I readied! The American pilot fired a smoke rocket round out from his plane and exploded on the ground with white smoke after it hit the ground. The front line commander reported to me that it was good so I reported to the American pilot as it was good and go ahead! The American pilot instructed the fighter planes to drop bombs on enemy targets. There were incredible sounds from the explosions of those cluster bomblet units which exploded individually covering the area with a deadly rain of large buckshot.
I immediately called to check with the front line commanders to see how their situations at the frontline after the sounds of the explosions stopped several minutes later? They reported back to me that Khmer Rouge troops ceased their attacking on our troops and could be receiving heavy casualties after the fighter planes dropped bombs on their targets. That was the good news for one part of our front line troops.
In the meantime,I received calls from another frontline commander who said that his position also received heavy attacks from the Khmer Rouge troops so he requested for airsupport. I reported to the American pilot about our situation and requested his help at another part of our troops that received heavy attacks by Khmer Rouge troops as well. The pilot told me that his plane was low on fuel and ran out of time too, but I kept appealing to him that those soldiers weren’t able to hold their positions if there weren’t any air support. Finally, the American pilot agreed to my request and wanted to know the coordinates of that target so I gave the coordinates to him and waited for him to check. He called back and told me that he was ready to puff smoke rockets and told me to check to see if it hit the target or not.
The American pilot fired a smoke rocket ,and I heard the sound of firing rockets flying out and hitting the ground with the white smoke puffing up. It was good so I told him to go ahead. Just a couple seconds later, the fighter planes that dropped those bombs exploded all over enemy targets with incredible sounds. The American pilot who used the call sign,”Rustic”, said that his plane needed to return back for refueling and wished me good luck. I said,”Thank you for your help Sir! and please report to your
5
commanders that I still needed more air support because the situations of our troops hadn’t ended yet? He accepted my request and said,”Goodbye”.
At that moment, I called the front line commanders and asked them to report about their situations. Those front line commanders reported back about their situations were calm and didn’t have any attacking from the Khmer Rouge troops so my brigade commander was happy to hear, and he would like to thank to those commanders that we still held our positions without surrender to Khmer Rouge troops as they expecting to kill all of us for first hours after they attacked us.
It was the first night that we didn’t receive any attacks from the Khmer Rouge troops so it was a calming night, but our front line troops always kept their eyes on the enemy. By that time, we assumed the Khmer Rouge might not be able to attack our positions again due to airstrikes.
The Khmer Rouge troops might withdraw their troops out of the areas because we didn't hear any noises in the areas as we used to hear during the night. I also guessed those soldiers at the front lines felt happy because they were able to stay outside of their foxholes that night while walking around without worrying about attacks by Khmer Rouge troops. Therefore, Khmer Rouge leaders thought they weren’t able to beat the Airborne unit that they demanded for us to surrender earlier.
Meanwhile, my brigade commander assumed the Khmer Rouge troops received heavy casualties and weren’t able to keep up their attacks on us so he thought it was a good time for him to plan our counter offensive attack on Khmer Rouge troops by the next morning. He also thought our troops capable to drive Khmer Rouge troops out and wanted to reopen the Highway #1 for the public to travel between Neak Leung to Phnom Penh so he called and gave orders to the frontline commanders to prepare their troops to move out around 0600 hours for a counter offensive attack.
In the meantime, the front line troops will be moving out by early next morning so that everyone was ready with their belongings, packing their stuff ,and waiting in order to move. Meanwhile, my brigade commander called to his high commander in Phnom Penh and reported the situations with requesting to send troops moving down from Highway #1 to the small town of Neak Leung to link up with the Airborne unit.
The high commander received good news and rushed to send the 2nd Army Division troops moving down on Highway #1 as my commander requested. Our troops moved out as our plan at 0600 hours and didn’t meet any major resistant from Khmer Rouge
6
troops .They had already withdraw out from the areas after the F-4 or F-105 dropped bombs on their positions, but they left behind some of dead bodies with some equipments for us to collect it. The scenes in those areas looked terrible because those houses, trees, and palm trees were destroyed by those bombs during the battles between Khmer Rouge troops and our troops nearly two weeks or so ago.
Meanwhile, our troops got cover from the Rustic (FAC) that flew above the areas to support the troops if we engaged with our enemy. The Second Division troops moved down on Highway #1 to link with us. The Khmer Rouge troops tried to harass our troops with the small arm fires, shoulder rocket rounds,and roadblock. They wanted to stop the columns of our troops that marched up the Highway #1 with the Rustic (FAC) supporting above if we needed to clear the enemy targets.
The troops stopped and rested at night with set up defensive perimeter lines. It took about four to five days to link with the Second Division troops without any major engagement with the Khmer Rouge troops. We declared that we had victory over Khmer Rouge troops because we reopened the Highway #1 from Phnom Penh to Neak Leung for people to travel again. The Airborne unit commanders and the Second Division commanders shook hands with each other after we linked up between the two units. The soldiers felt happy and cheered with excitement by making noisy sounds.
The radios and the television stations broadcasted the news about our troops recaptured back the Highway #1. At the command center, every one of us cheered joyfully when we received the news that our troops linked up and didn’t have any major problems. The next morning around 1000 hours, a small group of soldiers with some leaders came to visit the command center by army truck. Those leaders came to visit the brigade commander and also wanted to see me so they stopped to talk with the brigade commander first and walked into my communication bunker to see me.
Those leaders said that without my help to call for air support during the battles with Khmer Rouge troops, they might not survive today to meet me. Why did they say that to me when I asked them? They said that without the air support their troops won't be able to hold the attackers so those leaders wanted to thank you for my help with offering some money to me because they really wanted me to buy some beer to drink or whatever I wanted to do with it. For those soldiers, they asked to meet me, and when I met with them, they hugged and carried me up and down with their words, thank you very much for helping us. For me, I felt great to know that I was able to help them and save a lot of lives.
7
Without the American Forward Air Controllers (Rustic FAC) and call sign (Spectre Gunships) came to help, we were all killed by Khmer Rouge troops, but the battlefields hadn’t been over yet and will be continued. Thank you!
8
Around 1900 hours, I received a radio call from a call sign(Spectre) coming for help. The Spectre Gunship was the C-130 Hercules cargo plane which served as night air support for front line troops, and everytime, I got a call, I quickly answered back to the American pilots. The pilots always asked me to set up a( cac wheel )or(decoder wheel) with them to see if I was friendly or not? And If I answered correctly, the American Pilots allowed me to report about my situations. Then, we needed to switch the frequencies before I was able to give them the friendly coordinates as well as enemy coordinates while the plane was still on the air and headed to my location.
Therefore, we had to switch our frequencies after we sat up the code because we didn’t want other stations to hear our conversations. At that night, I reported to them about my situation was bad because the Khmer Rouge troops kept attacking us early in the morning and has been continuing into nightfall without retreating back so the sounds of firefights had been going on, and our troops won’t give up either so both sides kept fighting throughout the day and night. That is why we really needed air support for front line troops to deal with our situations.
It wasn’t very long, the sound of Spectre Gunship flew above us and orbited over the ground troops to observe the movements of the enemy troops for several minutes before the pilot called and asked me which targets I wanted them to strike first? However, I answered back to them and told them that I wanted to strike targets number #1 or # 2 first etc. Then, the pilots gave orders to their crews to strike those targets from above to the ground with 20 mm Vulcan Machine Gun, 40 mm grenade launcher rounds, and 105 mm cannon rounds into the enemy targets as my request for the Spectre Gunship to fire.
The pilots wanted to know if those rounds hit right on targets or not, or I wanted to correct any rounds their crew just fired? I said that those rounds were right on targets and asked them to shift to next targets for me because other targets, we received heavy fire from the enemy. The most vicious rattling sounds from six barrels of 20 mm cannon bullets flew out about 100 rounds a second, and the bullets flew in a tight stream that cut like a saw. I also requested the pilots to drop flares for soldiers to see at night.
Those soldiers worried that the enemy might crawl up to surprise them if they weren’t able to see very far from their foxhole. After Spectre Gunship came to support the troops for about an hour, the pilots called and told me that their plane needed to return
1
back to the airbase because the plane was low on fuel. I said,”Thank you for your help and Goodbye to the pilots and the crew members asking to relay my messages to their commander that I requested more air support to come because we hadn’t done with the Khmer Rouge troops yet? The pilots promised to forward my messages to their commander. The radios between pilots and I were cut off so I needed to switch back to regular air support frequencies and had to standby for the next plane coming to help.
After the first Spectre Gunship came to support the troops, the front line commanders were happy as well as those soldiers because each time those rounds exploded in the night and the sounds liked beating the drums. However, the Khmer Rouge troops felt terrified by the sounds that hit the ground. Those sounds helped for the morality of those soldiers who wanted to stay to fight. The good news was our enemy has been slowing down their attack after they received an airstrike and might be receiving heavy casualties from the airstrikes too.
Around 0200 hours, I got another call from the Spectre Gunship Pilots coming to help so the pilots and I must exchanged our decoder wheel with each other for each time before we were able to exchange other informations, and after the plane flew above the troops, my second radio rang so I knew it came from the front line commanders who wanted to know about the plane coming to support us or not? I said that the plane came to support us. They felt very happy to know we got another plane coming to help. At the same time, I got call from the pilots who wanted to know which targets I wanted them to strike first so I told them that I wanted them to hit target #4 or #5 as I wanted from the first air support etc. It was the same first air support that came and returned back to base because the plane was low on fuel while it flew on the air to support the front line troops about an hour each time.
In addition, we received about two Spectre Gunship planes coming to support our troops on the first night, and we considered ourselves lucky because other friendly stations might not be able to get help at all. There was the first time that I knew the C-130 Hercules cargo plane served as a Spectre Gunship in Cambodia to support front line troops and not as a cargo plane as in South Vietnam.
For the night air support, the pilots didn’t need to fire smoke rockets to mark targets the same as daylight air support because the pilots used infrared lights to mark targets at night so they fired accurately at night.
By the second day, we hoped those airstrikes would help our front line troops to deal with the Khmer Rouge troops attacking us. Instead, the front line commanders reported
2
to me that Khmer Rouge troops kept up their attacks on our troops and might have some fresh troops coming to re-enforce them too. The front line troops heard the sounds and noises of digging trenches at night so that we knew the Khmer Rouge troops never intended to retreat back to their territory until they had their victory over the government troops.
In the meantime, I told those commanders to wait for the next air support to come, otherwise I wasn’t able to help them. The battlefields between our troops and Khmer Rouge troops continued for three days so one of commanders at the front line requested the brigade commander to allow his troops to pull back to the rear due to casualties and stretched too long? But the brigade commander didn’t give his permission to pull back and ordered them to hold their positions. He also gave orders to shoot those soldiers who tried to run away from their foxholes. They must stay and fight until they run out of ammunition without surrender to Khmer Rouge troops.
I knew those soldiers were very tired and exhausted from the fighting with little sleep at night while they sat inside their foxholes as the same as myself to stay awake trying to communicate between the American Forward Air Controllers or the Spectre Gunships coming to support us. The front line commanders who called and requested for air support all the time. I must stay close to my two PRC-25 radios in case I receive a call. Even though we received several air support during the days and nights, the Khmer Rouge troops didn’t stop attacking our friendly positions.
Therefore, they dug trenches while moving their position closer and closer to our friendly troops every night so the front line commanders told me they might not be able to hold their positions any longer if the brigade commander didn’t allow them to pull back a little bit. Unfortunately, the battle between the Khmer Airborne unit and Khmer Rouge troops continued into the second week. Both sides received some casualties, but the Khmer Rouge were able to receive reinforcements because they controlled a larger land area than government troops. The good news was we still held our positions with the help from the American Air Support which those planes had struck the enemy targets. We also were able to receive our resupply by convoy of boats coming down from the Mekong River and brought back those wounded soldiers and body bags with them.
The battles continued into the second week around day 14 with fiercest firefights between the Khmer Airborne troops and Khmer Rouge troops. The front line commanders called and reported to me about their situations requesting for more air
3
support. They told me that the enemy had been very close to our troops and could be hand to hand combat if we didn’t receive the air support coming to help soon.
After I heard about their situations I received from the front line commanders, I told them to be calm and to be patient because I had tried to request for air support from the Americans. Luckily, I got a call from the American Forward Air Controllers as a call sign(Rustic) coming for help. The pilot called to check with me and exchanged decoder wheels to make sure I was as friendly or not before I gave the coordinates of friendly troops with the enemy targets to him so that he knew how to check on the map.
All of us were able to hear the sound of a small airplane flying on the sky above our locations so we knew that plane came to help us. The front line commanders as well as those soldiers felt happy each time they heard the plane flying above them because they knew that plane came to help them.
The good news was we got air support coming to help us on time so that we hoped we were able to deal with the Khmer Rouge troops. The front line commanders asked me for close air support if I was able to request the American pilot. Therefore, I called and requested close air support for the ground troops to see if the American pilot agreed with me or not? After the pilot orbited above the area several minutes and told me that he didn’t approve of my request to use ( CBU) as cluster bomblet units which spread out hundreds of steel pellets after it hit the ground, and the reasons he didn’t approval to use the (CBU) , might miss the targets and hit friendly troops too, and If that happened, he wouldn't be responsible for the casualties of the troops.
For the above situations, I immediately explained to my brigade commander what the American pilot told me. He wanted me to tell the American pilot that he would be responsible for the problem if the bombs missed the targets and hit friendly troops. However the American pilot wanted me to provide him with the name of my brigade commander as well as rank and army serial numbers etc, and after I provided all the information to the American pilot, he told me to wait for several minutes and will called me back after he checked with the Cambodian Defense Department in Phnom Penh to see if they knew the name and the rank of my commander or not before he approved of my request for him to use cluster bomblet units.Thereafter, I waited for about five minutes or so before the pilot called me back and confirmed to me that he approved of my request. He then wanted me to let the front line commanders know as well as the soldiers about the consequences of the cluster bombs units when it hit the ground. Those bombs might cause chest pain to those soldiers after it exploded on the ground so he wanted the soldiers to bend down their bodies a little bit while keeping their eyes
4
on enemies who might be charging toward their positions by surprise. The American pilot had good reasons to give me his instructions because he wanted to avoid the pressure from those bombs that could hurt those soldiers who stayed inside their foxholes.
After the American pilot and I exchanged communications with each other, he said that he was ready to puff the smoke rockets on the enemy targets so that he wanted me to check with the front line commanders to see if the smoke rocket round hit right on the enemy target or not? I told him that I readied! The American pilot fired a smoke rocket round out from his plane and exploded on the ground with white smoke after it hit the ground. The front line commander reported to me that it was good so I reported to the American pilot as it was good and go ahead! The American pilot instructed the fighter planes to drop bombs on enemy targets. There were incredible sounds from the explosions of those cluster bomblet units which exploded individually covering the area with a deadly rain of large buckshot.
I immediately called to check with the front line commanders to see how their situations at the frontline after the sounds of the explosions stopped several minutes later? They reported back to me that Khmer Rouge troops ceased their attacking on our troops and could be receiving heavy casualties after the fighter planes dropped bombs on their targets. That was the good news for one part of our front line troops.
In the meantime,I received calls from another frontline commander who said that his position also received heavy attacks from the Khmer Rouge troops so he requested for airsupport. I reported to the American pilot about our situation and requested his help at another part of our troops that received heavy attacks by Khmer Rouge troops as well. The pilot told me that his plane was low on fuel and ran out of time too, but I kept appealing to him that those soldiers weren’t able to hold their positions if there weren’t any air support. Finally, the American pilot agreed to my request and wanted to know the coordinates of that target so I gave the coordinates to him and waited for him to check. He called back and told me that he was ready to puff smoke rockets and told me to check to see if it hit the target or not.
The American pilot fired a smoke rocket ,and I heard the sound of firing rockets flying out and hitting the ground with the white smoke puffing up. It was good so I told him to go ahead. Just a couple seconds later, the fighter planes that dropped those bombs exploded all over enemy targets with incredible sounds. The American pilot who used the call sign,”Rustic”, said that his plane needed to return back for refueling and wished me good luck. I said,”Thank you for your help Sir! and please report to your
5
commanders that I still needed more air support because the situations of our troops hadn’t ended yet? He accepted my request and said,”Goodbye”.
At that moment, I called the front line commanders and asked them to report about their situations. Those front line commanders reported back about their situations were calm and didn’t have any attacking from the Khmer Rouge troops so my brigade commander was happy to hear, and he would like to thank to those commanders that we still held our positions without surrender to Khmer Rouge troops as they expecting to kill all of us for first hours after they attacked us.
It was the first night that we didn’t receive any attacks from the Khmer Rouge troops so it was a calming night, but our front line troops always kept their eyes on the enemy. By that time, we assumed the Khmer Rouge might not be able to attack our positions again due to airstrikes.
The Khmer Rouge troops might withdraw their troops out of the areas because we didn't hear any noises in the areas as we used to hear during the night. I also guessed those soldiers at the front lines felt happy because they were able to stay outside of their foxholes that night while walking around without worrying about attacks by Khmer Rouge troops. Therefore, Khmer Rouge leaders thought they weren’t able to beat the Airborne unit that they demanded for us to surrender earlier.
Meanwhile, my brigade commander assumed the Khmer Rouge troops received heavy casualties and weren’t able to keep up their attacks on us so he thought it was a good time for him to plan our counter offensive attack on Khmer Rouge troops by the next morning. He also thought our troops capable to drive Khmer Rouge troops out and wanted to reopen the Highway #1 for the public to travel between Neak Leung to Phnom Penh so he called and gave orders to the frontline commanders to prepare their troops to move out around 0600 hours for a counter offensive attack.
In the meantime, the front line troops will be moving out by early next morning so that everyone was ready with their belongings, packing their stuff ,and waiting in order to move. Meanwhile, my brigade commander called to his high commander in Phnom Penh and reported the situations with requesting to send troops moving down from Highway #1 to the small town of Neak Leung to link up with the Airborne unit.
The high commander received good news and rushed to send the 2nd Army Division troops moving down on Highway #1 as my commander requested. Our troops moved out as our plan at 0600 hours and didn’t meet any major resistant from Khmer Rouge
6
troops .They had already withdraw out from the areas after the F-4 or F-105 dropped bombs on their positions, but they left behind some of dead bodies with some equipments for us to collect it. The scenes in those areas looked terrible because those houses, trees, and palm trees were destroyed by those bombs during the battles between Khmer Rouge troops and our troops nearly two weeks or so ago.
Meanwhile, our troops got cover from the Rustic (FAC) that flew above the areas to support the troops if we engaged with our enemy. The Second Division troops moved down on Highway #1 to link with us. The Khmer Rouge troops tried to harass our troops with the small arm fires, shoulder rocket rounds,and roadblock. They wanted to stop the columns of our troops that marched up the Highway #1 with the Rustic (FAC) supporting above if we needed to clear the enemy targets.
The troops stopped and rested at night with set up defensive perimeter lines. It took about four to five days to link with the Second Division troops without any major engagement with the Khmer Rouge troops. We declared that we had victory over Khmer Rouge troops because we reopened the Highway #1 from Phnom Penh to Neak Leung for people to travel again. The Airborne unit commanders and the Second Division commanders shook hands with each other after we linked up between the two units. The soldiers felt happy and cheered with excitement by making noisy sounds.
The radios and the television stations broadcasted the news about our troops recaptured back the Highway #1. At the command center, every one of us cheered joyfully when we received the news that our troops linked up and didn’t have any major problems. The next morning around 1000 hours, a small group of soldiers with some leaders came to visit the command center by army truck. Those leaders came to visit the brigade commander and also wanted to see me so they stopped to talk with the brigade commander first and walked into my communication bunker to see me.
Those leaders said that without my help to call for air support during the battles with Khmer Rouge troops, they might not survive today to meet me. Why did they say that to me when I asked them? They said that without the air support their troops won't be able to hold the attackers so those leaders wanted to thank you for my help with offering some money to me because they really wanted me to buy some beer to drink or whatever I wanted to do with it. For those soldiers, they asked to meet me, and when I met with them, they hugged and carried me up and down with their words, thank you very much for helping us. For me, I felt great to know that I was able to help them and save a lot of lives.
7
Without the American Forward Air Controllers (Rustic FAC) and call sign (Spectre Gunships) came to help, we were all killed by Khmer Rouge troops, but the battlefields hadn’t been over yet and will be continued. Thank you!
8
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