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Another bad day in the jungle
Description of the incident:
Late afternoon Apr. 30th.
Because we had lost several of our men and there was lots of enemy movement in our area they choppered in a line company (appox 110 men).
Command ordered us to move out down into the valley from which we came earlier (which I thought was stupid because it was a valley with lots of trees and brush and it was getting dark). Just as the sun was going down we got hit. And hit hard.
Machine gun fire, AK47 fire and grenades were going off all around us. Men were going down. We setup a defensive position and began return fire immediately. I cut down 2 or 3 NVA just 30 feet away from me.
Men were dead, men were wounded, men were screaming, and even some were crying.
The NVA let up their attack. An hour or two passed. I moved my position knowing that I would be a target (M60). Command choppered in more M60 ammo and a new barrel plus lots of other needed stuff plus they took out some of the wounded. No gun ships could be used because of the closeness of the enemy and the darkness.
We were hit again only this time even harder. I had to stand up at times to fire my M60 from the hip to get effective with it. A chicom grenade kill the guy five feet from me and a piece of scrapple metal hit me in the lower left back. The concussion left me dazed for several minutes. It also blew off one of the tripod legs on my M60 barrel. I then crawled a hundred feet or so and got another barrel and more ammo. I was mad. I started firing more and more.
The attacks lasted all night. I went through two barrels and more then 3,000 rounds of ammo. Dust offs all night, when they could be done (in between fire fights).
I was mad. I started firing more and more. The attacks lasted all night. I went through two barrels and more than 3,000 rounds of ammo.
When the sun came up the sight was unbelievable. Bodies every where. We started with around 120 men. We walked out of there with only half of us between the dead and wounded.
That morning we were ordered to move out. We had to burn and destroy all these rack sacks with personnel possessions of the wounded and dead. We even had to hump out several bodies with make shift stretchers. It was bad, real bad. To me at times it did even seem as if it was real.
My little piece of scrapple metal in the lower back was nothing compared to what happen to several of my fellow men. I was in the field for two more days before they flew me back to the rear to have it removed. And that was a terrible sight to see also with all those men with bodies shot up, bleeding, dying.
I thought God what are we doing here?
Medals I received because of this incident:
Bronze Star, Army Commendation Metal with “V” for Heroism, Purple Heart
Biographical Details
Submitted From: Albert Lea, MN
Primary Location During Vietnam: Tam Ky, Hiep Duc Valley, Vietnam 
Story Subject: Military Service
Military Branch: U.S. Army
Dates of Service: 1969 - 1971
Veteran Organization: Army
Specialty: 11 B
Story Themes: Bronze Star, Combat, Commendation, Death and Loss, Firefight, Hiep Duc Valley, Medals of Honor, Physical Wounds, Purple Heart, Tam Ky
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