May 12, 1969 Quan Loi

[1CAVCCO15MED]

This is what I wrote in A Btry, 6/27th Arty history of May 12, 1969, Quan Loi

My name is Fred Deakins. I was a member of Charlie Company 15th Med and I was there May 12, 1969.

Charlie Company was down the airstrip from you guys on the same side. We were near the end of the LZ. We had a treatment bunker and Medevac pad. Our jobs were sick call, casualty stabilization and triage and graves registration. On the night of May 12, 1969 I was one of three medics on call in the treatment bunker. The bunker was set up for rapid treatment of severely wounded. We had places for six litters at a time. Anyway, we were sleeping on the litters late that night when all hell broke loose. We rolled out of the litters onto the floor and realized none of us had brought a weapon from our hootches across the road. So there we were, scared more than we had ever been in our lives and totally unarmed. I don't know about the other two but I got a little nuts, trying to sink through the cracks in the floor as this huge firefight was going on right outside our door. We still had our exterior lights on for landing Medevacs and the bunker was lit up inside too. We could hear voices outside through the noise and I assumed they were Charlie.
We were waiting to get blown away when all of a sudden there was a knocking at the door. I thought that was a little too polite to be Charlie so I crawled over to the door and opened it. A guy from the perimeter had had his bunker blown up by either RPGs or satchel charges and he was the only one left. His clothes had been blown away almost entirely except for his boots. Then the most amazing thing happened. We three totally turned our backs on the battle and the danger that had so terrified us just minutes before and put the guy up on a litter to treat him. I remember his skin was peppered all over with holes from the dirt and grit being blown into it. Not knowing if any penetrated the chest cavity we wrapped his chest in Vaseline gauze and treated him as if he was one giant sucking chest wound. I remember he was from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but do not remember his name.


From that point on it gets a little hazy. I remember the rest of the medics arriving at about the same time a bunch more guys were brought in from outside by our non-medical guys. They had crawled down to the bunkers and dragged or carried the wounded back to us. I wondered why none of the medics went down there but there was nothing more they could have done than the cooks without medic bags, but they could do a hell of a lot for the casualties in the treatment bunker.

Just about all the other LZs around were being hit at the same time so we not only got the ones from Quan Loi but the other LZs too. Our Medevacs were hauling them in to us about as fast as they could, receiving fire when picking them up and also when dropping them off to us. I remember going outside to unload a Medevac and seeing the tracers going all around. I am color blind and told my buddy I couldn't tell ours from theirs. He told me just to worry about the ones coming toward us. Good advice!

The scene inside the treatment bunker got more gruesome than I could ever describe. We got in 147 wounded that night. Many were bleeding profusely and the floor got deep with blood to the point we were sliding in it. I remember it as ankle deep. I have tried to analyze that for years, surely it couldn't have been that bad. Some of those guys got twenty pints of blood, some got as many as ten. I did some math and came up with sixty gallons of blood on the floor. We had to pour cases of quarts of peroxide on it to foam it up and then sweep it out the doors. We were working at a furious rate on those guys. Put litter on sawhorses, cut off clothes and boots, bandage wounds, stop bleeding with tourniquets if necessary, splint fractures, open airway, intubate or tracheotomy, put in as many IV's as possible, give blood using pumps, pain shots, antibiotics, tetanus shots, cut downs, chest tubes, clamping spurting arteries... All these things we did almost all at once with a medic at each limb and one at the head. So much blood in the litter we would just lift one end and pour blood like a bucket on the floor. Take off a boot and the foot falls off. One of the things about war wounds is they usually involve metal passing through someone and as such the head could be clear in spite of the most horrendous wounds. We talked to the guys, so used to our jobs that they became second nature. We became their mothers, chaplains, friends, staying with them all the way to the end then having to put them in a bag and go on to the next one and do it all over again. I had 22 guys die like that on me that night. All the while that battle out there was a faint distant sound.

I don't know if we got any of you or your buddies, but if we did we treated them with respect and love. We didn't lie to them, if they were dying we told them so. I saw guys go through the entire grieving process from denial to acceptance in five minutes. We talked about girlfriends if they had any, cars if they had any, some just talked about their bicycles if they had had one. Never has the word "home" been said with more feeling than it was that night.

One of our jobs was to sort the casualties. Triage divides them into three groups, the ones that are not hurt bad enough to be life threatening, the ones that can be saved if treated immediately and the ones hurt too bad to live. We worked on the second group and sent them on to the 24th and 93rd Evacuation Hospitals in Long Binh. Usually the ones too bad didn't have much head left so we set them aside.


It must have ended. I just remember eating eggs at the mess hall the next morning. I looked down at my hands and I had forgotten to wash them. I was amazed how I did not care.

Do I remember May 12, 1969? I am still there, I never left.
Fred Deakins Then and Now
Charlie Company, 15th Medivac
Oct 68 to Jul 69

[1CAVCCO15MED]

May 12th, 1969

Upon arriving in battery the last week in April I was assigned to Denny Webb’s crew on gun number three. That night I was lying in my bunk asleep when the phone watch guard ran down the steps yelling, “Gooks in the wire”. I rolled out of bed, heart pounding, jammed my boots on, slipped into my flak vest, and rifle in hand, raced up the bunker steps. I was met at the top of the stairs by Lt. Albers who was holding his hand to his face. He had seconds before been nicked by a piece of shrapnel. He told me to man the powder bunker and prevent any attempt to blow the powder at all cost. He said he thought gooks had breached the wire. He pushed me hard in the back and told me to run.

The incoming was so intense I wasn’t sure I could make it to the far side of the gun pad where the bunker was located. Rushing in the door, I saw movement and nearly shot Shockley by mistake. I didn’t know he was already in there.

Lt. Albers showed up a couple of minutes later taking Shockley with him to reinforce a bunker or tower that had been hit. Not long after that Sgt Webb appeared followed by Thompson from our section. He said that the mortar platoon had been hit hard and they needed help carrying those guys. He told Thompson and me to go over to headquarters and get a stretcher. He would remain and guard the powder bunker. As we ran over there, somebody took some shots as us causing me to crouch and keep a lower profile. A makeshift aid station was set up outside, where we grabbed a stretcher and headed for the mortar platoon.

When we got there the first thing we saw was one of the mortar platoon guys bending over one of his fallen comrades. He had a lot of blood on him and was sobbing. He said it was his best friend laying there who was dead. We asked him if he was badly wounded and he said he wasn’t, it was mostly other people’s blood on him. We asked him where the most badly wounded were and he said everyone seriously hurt had already been taken away. He calculated there were only maybe four guys not dead or seriously wounded in the whole platoon.

We told him to lie down on the stretcher and we would carry him over to the aid station. He refused, asking us to take his dead friend instead. As we picked his friend up, he told us that his friend was a brand new father and would never see his child.

He said the platoon never had a chance. The gooks had gotten in and thrown satchel charges in their bunkers while they were still asleep. Most of them hadn’t time to even grab their weapons. A majority of his platoon had been wiped out in about sixty seconds. Thompson and I made about three trips back and forth and by the last trip most of the bodies of the mortar platoon had been loaded in the back of a truck. An officer told us we could go back to our gun section. Our sad duty was over.

Mike Cumiford




May 12, 1969

I still remember going down to Bunker 8 earlier that evening, May 12, 1969, with a guy I called “Big Abe”, from N.Y. We used to visit the bunkers when they were manned by our friends, whether we had guard or not, just to bullshit and see if anyone wanted coffee or anything. We would hang out awhile and then if we didn’t have any duties that night we would make our way to the EM Club. I don’t think anyone was on guard yet because it was still early. We all liked the new location of Bunker 8. It was inside our perimeter whereas Old 8 was by the road. I also remember no one was set to be pulling guard on the Old bunker 8; luckily for us al. as it took direct hits that night. There’s no doubt in my mind that if there had been guards there they wouldn’t have survived.

I believe it was Sgt. Anderson’s, and Lt Wey’s idea to build the New Bunker 8 at that location, and to stop putting guards on Old bunker 8, but not to remove it. I think they did it because of the Intel that was gathered. (See previous story) I always admired the way Sgt. Anderson did things. He was a Soldier to the core. He figured if they targeted Old Bunker 8, they would waste some rounds and give away there position. Sgt. Anderson was always aware of everything that was going on around the perimeter. I believe it was Sgt Anderson that formed the Reaction Force, and he was in charge of the perimeter defense in our Sector .I remember we always reported directly to him and to Lt Wey, who was our Battery Commander, when I was there, if we saw anything unusual on guard duty or in our area. Sgt Anderson was always looking to make improvements to the perimeter defenses. I also had the greatest respect for Lt Wey. He was another no nonsense guy. He was a great Battery Commander. Between him and Sgt. Anderson, whatever it was that needed to be taken care of, got done and it got done right. When your ducking mortars and rockets, or RPG’s and an officer who is Battery Commander is on one side of you and the 1st Sgt is on the other side, that tells you something, about the kind of people they were.

By the way, “Big Abe”, as I called him, was with survey. His real name was Abraham. I’m not sure if it was his first or last name. He was a drummer and a friend of his David Hess aka “Elliot Ness” was a bad ass guitar player from California. Hess was teaching me guitar, and showing me some “Cream” and ”Hendrix” tunes. Stark also played the drums and we would jam when we could. Elliot got a hold of some old beat up acoustics and, with a little work, he made them playable. On a few occasions Stark used cans for drums. Brupbacher was also in Survey, if I’m not mistaken. I met him through Big Abe and Hess. When Survey wasn’t in the field they spent a lot of their time with us in the Motor Pool or building bunkers and sandbagging with us. By the way, “Big Abe” was the drummer for a band called ”The Bob Seiger System”. He had a demo of a song they recorded before he was sent to Nam. It was called “Rambling Man” It turned out to be a top 20 hit. while he was in Nam. The Band later became “Bob Seiger and the Silver Bullet Band”. Talk about Nam ruining your career.

Afterwards we went to the EM Club and drank until the club closed down for the night. We went back to our bunkers and wrote letters, or whatever and shortly afterwards we heard explosions, small arms and incoming. We were still fully dressed so all we did was grab our ammo and weapons and we ran out toward Bunker 8. I was always told to go to Bunker 8, or to report to Sgt. Anderson when there was incoming, or a ground attack. I was also in the Reaction Force. On the way to the bunker we ran into Sgt. Anderson.

Word was that VC had penetrated the wire and they were in the compound. They were spotted to the left of us, in the Mortar Platoon area, and possibly in Alpha Battery’s area. Sgt Anderson said to be very careful, Bunker 8 had been hit and to watch what you shoot at” - There’s friendlies out there too. He said he would be there shortly. He was coordinating things with Lt. Wey. How Sgt Anderson managed to get all that information within a minute or so is beyond me, but that was him. So Abe and I took off towards Bunker 8 and we were getting fired at. I remember running and a flash flies by me. I hit the dirt. It was an RPG. One gunship was so low I thought it was going to take our heads off when it fired its rockets. It was flying low from behind us firing towards the wire. ”Blue Max” was the call sign for the Cobra Gunships, and they were already firing all along our perimeter.

We used the tower to call in Arty from An Loc. It was set up where the first rounds would land about 350 meters from the tower and cover everything from the road by the main gate to the front of HQ and Alpha Battery. I remember the Tower was manned by someone from our unit, and personnel from the 1st Air Cav., and the 11th Armored Cav., or the 1st Infantry Division. When I first had guard there it was all our people, but later it was changed. When we saw anything that looked like it was moving or didn’t seem right, we’d call in the Cobras. If they saw anything, they would spray the area with there mini-guns. I’m not sure if “Blue Max” was always in the air over us at night. It sure seemed like it. If you needed them, they were there in an instant.

So Big Abe made it to the small fighting position that was just to the left of the Officers Bunker. I was crawling along and rounds were going off everywhere. Abe emptied a clip at some VC he saw before I got there. I made sure I saw what I was firing at because I knew there was a bunker to the left across the road and maybe someone from our unit was told to get into the Old Bunker 8 at that time. I didn’t want to shoot any friendlies.

We didn’t fire at anything we couldn’t identify. There were shadows running around in front of us by the road. When we did see it was VC, we opened up. We were right by the VC that was torn apart, to the left of Bunker 8, and we heard movement to our right. We checked it out and it turns out to be another VC just behind Bunker 8 and the Officer’s Bunker. There was someone with a flashlight there shining it on the VC, I forget who it was. We went there and took a look at him. He was all shot up, but still alive, but I doubt he lived very long. An officer came to us and said we’re going into the Mortar Platoon area. I think that’s when Sgt.Anderson and the Reaction Force arrived.

Someone said something about getting the medic to see if he could do something for the wounded VC ,and I don’t exactly remember who replied, but I do remember someone said shoot him, or f..-ck him. It might have been Big Abe. The wire by Bunker 8 had been cut or it was left open so the mortar platoon could walk in and out of our area to go to the Mess Hall etc., I’m not sure which. Some of it looked like the sappers might have put a charge on it. You could see where there was an explosion. It was damaged, but you couldn’t get through it - we couldn’t anyway. Everything happened so fast. It seems like everyone got to the wire within a few minutes.

On the way to Bunker 8 we saw Head our Medic. He told us he was treating a wounded GI. Looking back, I’ll bet anything it was Larry Hutchison and he said he was sure there were casualties in the Mortar Platoon and soon as he was done treating the wounded soldier he would go there.

I read Roger Mallory’s story of May 12th and the reason the MotorPool was locked and chained was because a few days before we had one of our trucks taken for a joy ride and we found it crashed in a ditch. It seems as if some of our Bros went cruising one night. I don’t know if they were from our unit or one of the 1st Cav’s. There was no real damage done. Actually I found it kind of funny. I remember when we used to race the ¾’s down to the Frenchman’s Pool. I think we did more damage to them than the incoming mortars and rockets did but we always fixed them. So anyway, I got the orders to put on the chains and locks. I figured if anyone really needed something they would blow the gate away or just drive through it.

So now we crawl into the Mortar Platoon area. It must have been just moments before every one else. The officer tells me to check the first bunker to the right. I’m hesitant and I ask the officer, “Do the friendlies know we are here? “ I ask because the Mortar Platoon got hit hard and if there’s friendlies taking cover in the bunker, they’ll think I’m VC. This is what I was thinking.

He tells me “It’s alright, they know”. I didn’t think it was a good idea to yell. “We’re friendlies and we’re coming in” either. My thoughts were if a sapper was in the bunker, all he had to do was fire, while I had to see if the were on our side. If it was a VC bunker I would have just grenaded it, but it was one of ours. A lot to think about when the sweats pouring off of you like you were in the rain, and your about to ...hit in your pants. So I crawl along and by the entrance to the bunker to the right is a soldier lying there. I move him slightly so I can see his face. I knew he was dead. He got shot in the side of his head. It must have been point blank. I can’ even describe the look he had on his face - it was horrible.

I don’t remember anyone else in that bunker. We moved to the next bunker and two guys are lying on the ground inside. We tell them we’re friendlies. I remember one saying to his friend, looks like we’re going home. They both had bad wounds. One of them told us to get his boots on the other side of the bunker. He said I think my feet are in them. I never forgot that. They both had terrible leg injuries. Among other things, I’m thinking. The sappers must have got them with grenades.

I forgot to mention when we first went into the wire there was a body of a soldier before we got to the 1st bunker. He was to our left. We didn’t check him as we knew he was gone. I won’t even describe how he looked. I was sweating so badly that night that I took off my helmet and flak jacket. I just carried my rifle and ammo and my 45. It looked like the Mortar Platoon got taken completely by surprise. I guess the sappers got past everyone without being spotted until someone nailed the two by Bunker 8

The next bunker we came upon was directly in front of Alpha Battery. As I looked up toward Alpha Battery someone opened fire on our position .So much for “Yes, they know we are here”. We yell like maniacs that it’s HQ’s and the shooting stopped. They tell us no one said anything about friendlies going in there and they thought everyone in the Mortar Platoon was gone - so of course, they fired. I would have done the same thing. Luckily we were behind a bunker. It wasn’t the best time to be yelling back and forth to each other either as the area wasn’t yet secured.

Before I forget, the next morning after everything was over a soldier from Alpha Battery who fired at us found us and we spoke for a moment. It’s like he was relieved that we were alright. Unfortunately, I can’t even remember what he looked like let alone his name. He said that the 50cal. had broken or jammed just a little while before we got there so he fired his rifle. Now that I look back I realize how fortunate we were. There’s no doubt of what the outcome would have been if the the 50 cal. had not been disabled. That 50 cal. would have turned the bunker into a sand pile, and got all of us.

Now, by this time the area was full of our troops and I believe an officer from the Ist Infantry Division was there. I think the Mortar Platoon were his boys. Sgt Anderson was helping our Medic along with some others. Some of the team were searching for VC, treating the wounded and carrying the dead. I remember our Medic well - his name was Head. He gave me some morphine to give to any wounded I found. I remember going back and finding a soldier half buried in a bunker. His body was twisted where it looked like half of him was facing the opposite way. I remember one of those heavy beams was across his legs and it was buried in what was left of the sandbags. I couldn’t get him out right away so I gave him some morphine.

We went into the area where the mortars were set up and we found more bodies. We had checked the whole area except the mortar position all the way to the right of Alpha Battery. When we reached the last position a soldier, it turns out to be one of the survivors from the Mortar Platoon, sticks his head up from behind the sandbags and I almost killed him. I’m glad I was young and had lightning fast reflexes. I know I put my M-14 on auto when we went into the wire. Sgt. Anderson was working with someone from the 1st Infantry Division and he told us some of the Mortar Platoon weren’t accounted for at that time and that kept me from firing instantly. What had just happened to us by Alpha Battery made me cautious of just firing too. I thank God I didn’t pull the trigger. He had no weapon on him. Neither did the soldier who was shot in the head by the first bunker. I’m not sure about the others we found outside. So sad, those VC caught them totally by surprise. They never had a clue the VC were in the compound until they opened up on them.

For the record, Sgt. Anderson was like a father to me from when we were ducking rockets and mortars during the Tet Offensive until the time I finally left Nam. If there was something going on Sgt. Anderson was there. He always went where the heaviest incoming was or basically the worst place to be at that particular time. You didn’t have to look for him as he was always there to see if everyone was all right, or needed anything. He had a gentle strength about him. I always admired him as he made me feel safe when I was with him. He was one hell of a soldier. I’ll remember him always.

I forgot to mention that while all this was going on we were getting some incoming rockets and mortars and a few RPG’s fired at us. Some of those rounds came damn close. After the Mortar Platoon area was secured and the wounded evacuated, I remember seeing someone loading bodies into the back of a ¾ or 2 ½. . I believe it was Barnett. I looked at him and he at me. We said nothing. I believe at the end of the night there were 7 killed, 3 wounded seriously, and 2 survivors from the Mortar Platoon, not counting the casualties from Alpha and HHB Batteries.

It was still early in the morning and we figured this might not be the last of it and it wasn’t. I believe it was the officer from the 1st Infantry Division suggested we take one of the mortars and set it up and fire some flares to illuminate the valley in front of Alpha Battery. I remember seeing the tower smoldering and I’m not exactly sure where it was we set up the mortar. I do know it was near a bunker. It may have been one of the bunkers in the Mortar Platoon area.

So we popped flares from the mortar .There were flares going off all over the perimeter Someone said “Spooky” was flying over us and dropping the flares. Gunships were flying all over the place. I Loved those “Cobras”. I was standing with Huffman, and the1st Infantry Officer and some of the people from A Btry and HQ were told to man a position just to the right of us. I believe there were three of them. It wasn’t a bunker, just a few sandbags. The sun was just rising when the troops got to that position and incoming mortars landed. It seemed as if they had the area zeroed in. I swear the first round missed us by 3 ft. and the next one almost landed directly on the troops in the fighting position to our right. They fired maybe 3 more rounds and then they stopped. How no one was killed or even wounded is beyond me. It seems the rounds went off deep in the soil and that absorbed the impact .If the ground was hard and the mortars detonated on top we were all gone. I’m glad they weren’t rockets

It was daylight now and it turned out that those mortar rounds were the last of the incoming
We made our way around the perimeter and just looked around. There were some dead VC here and there - a number of them never made it past the wire. I remember seeing a few bunched up and tangled in the last strand of wire just before the bunker that was across the road from and to the left of Old Bunker8. Old Bunker 8 got hit hard. I noticed one bunker in the mortar platoon area had collapsed from the explosives of the sappers, I guess. I’ll never forget seeing the tip of an M16 sticking out of the top of the burned out bunker. We started to dig to see if we could find anyone, but we were told to report back to Sgt Anderson. I wasn’t there when they dug up the bunker. If there was anyone in it, I know they were gone.

The bunker by the Tower - that was overrun. Simon was in it that night. At daybreak I saw him come out. I yelled to him and he came over by us. I was so happy to see him. I think I gave him a hug. We thought everyone in that bunker and the Tower were dead. That bunker took a lot of hits, and I guess the sappers thought they finished it off. A lot of rounds from the VC landed there and at the tower next to it. Simon staying put probably saved his life. We were sending a lot of ordinance that way too. If he ran towards us when the VC first got in, he could easily have got caught with friendly fire, or by the gooks who were still alive. It was one hell of a night for Simon, I think, as he was there alone. A miracle he survived. Now that I think of it, he was probably in the Tower when it got hit and made his way down to the bunker. He probably got pinned down there, that’s why he was alone. As I remember we always had three people in the tower or on the bunkers.

So now we meet up with Sgt. Anderson and the rest of Reaction Force and we start going through everything. We made our way into Alpha Battery and they took some hit’s alright. I remember seeing a lot of fins from RPG’s that had detonated. One was sticking out of a bunker at the very edge where the beams were located. It reminded me of the tail end of a dart. I think an 8” or a 175 took a few rounds from an RPG. or mortars. After that I believe we got some chow. I know we drank some coffee, but I don’t think anyone ate. Someone from another unit, I believe, was checking the body of the VC that was torn up by Bunker 8. I think he was with Intel. While I was there I looked at the new Bunker 8 - it was a mess. The Medics ¾ ton was by the Officer’s Bunker and it had a hole in the rear of it from some shrapnel. The fuel tank was ruptured and it was towed to the Motor Pool for repairs. After that we all went back to our normal duties. I don’t think anyone said a word about what had happened.

So I end my story of May12, 1969 in Quan Loi, Viet Nam. I never forgot it nor will I ever forget. This story isn’t about me or anything I did. I wrote about what I saw and how I felt. This story is about the soldiers I had the honor to serve with. I was a witness that night to an awful tragedy that took place in Quan Loi as it did in so many other parts of Vietnam. I also was there to witness and be so proud of all the soldiers of HHB and Alpha Batteries, and everyone else that was there…Though I never met most of you personally or even spoke with you, I never forgot you. I don’t remember everyone that was there, and I’m sure most of you don’t remember me or even knew I was there, but that doesn’t matter. I mentioned the names of the people I had direct contact with that night but it by no means takes anything away from those I didn’t mention. You are all part of the reason I’m here at home all these years later, writing this. This is Your Story as I saw it that night..

“Peace” Eddie Zak
Edmund F. Zakrzewski

[1CAVCCO15MED]

To clarify where this story takes place I must go back to when I first arrived at Quan Loi. At that time there was a battery of 155's on HHB 6/27th's west perimeter between our fence and the perimeter road. The 155's eventually moved out and the 1st Infantry Division moved a mortar platoon in there spot. It was a good location for them. It had existing bunkers for them to live in and the gun pits made a good place to set up their tubes. There was also a walkway through our fence to allow easy access to our mess hall.

On the evening of May 11th every thing was as every other evening. Those on perimeter guard had their guard mount and were on their bunkers, while those on interior guard were at their posts and those on duty were at their stations. After showers the EM club was in full swing, with people talking about their homes or the day's events. Others were settling down to relax or write letters to loved ones. No one had any idea of what was to happen later that night.

At midnight the first rockets came in, and as usual I was up and moving before the sound of the first rocket faded. When I got outside the bunker I knew something was different because the perimeter was alive with small arms fire. There were explosions I didn't recognize and I could see the guard tower burning. I made my way to the RTT area where I was supposed to go, and waited for instructions.

After a short time the 1st Sgt. came and said he needed someone to go to the motor pool and get some concertina wire to plug a hole in the fence. Myself, SSGT Hinkle and E-5 Kraft grabbed a jeep and headed for the motor pool. Our motor pool was not in the compound so we headed out the gate and around the airstrip to where it was located. I remember the night sky was filled with Huey Gunships and Cobras. Both were firing their mini-guns and rockets. Puff was there, but because they were already inside the wire the only thing he could do is drop flares. When we got to the motor pool we found the gate was chained and padlocked and we had no key. I tried to break the lock with the butt of my M-14 - that didn't work. I don't remember how we got the gate open, I just remember loading the wire into the jeep and heading back.

When we returned to the battery we drove to the officer' s shower near where the hole in the fence was, and that's when I got my first look at the carnage. Where our bunker #8 had stood now was a pile of sand bags. There was a person I had never seen before standing in the middle of them with a mortar tube. On the ground were two NVA, one had his leg blown off and the other was lying on his back over an 8x8 wood beam. Still the rockets kept coming and the rifles kept firing. Next to us on "A" Battery’s side I could hear the .50 caliber barking. The flares gave everything an eerie look that now seemed surreal. As we unloaded the wire someone said "hey, this ones still alive". I looked down at my feet and, sure enough the NVA soldier lying on his back was breathing. I could see the slight rise and fall of his chest. It struck me as odd, though, with as many times as he was shot there should have been a lot more blood than there was. The 1st Sgt ordered two guys to take him to the Medical Aid Bunker with instructions to tell the medics to do what they could for him.

I approached the guy by the tube to see if I could be of some help. He was in bad shape mentally. He kept saying "I had to do it, I had to do it.” After listening to him babble I figured out that he had been outside looking at the stars when the attack started, and a sapper had jumped him from behind and he was forced to kill him with his bare hands. I could see he was in shock and of little use. I also learned that while I was getting the wire several of our guys went through the mortar platoon looking for bodies and survivors. I was told that only three of the platoon made it out alive and two were medavaced along with a couple of our boy's.

At some point the 1st Sgt told me to go to the aid bunker for something, I don't remember what, but I do remember I didn't want to go because of what I might see. As I walked to the aid bunker I saw a soldier lying on a litter outside the entrance. I knew he was dead but part of me wanted to say "come on man wake up". I remember going down the steps - the air was warm and thick. I remember coming back out, but I remember nothing in between.

I thought that night would never end, but like all night's do, it finally did end with a sunrise. In the morning, when all was done and secure, and we had time to reflect, our morbid curiosity took over and we walked to the green line to see the enemy we had beaten. When I got there what I saw were mostly young boys, but you know back then we were all mostly young boys. I found they didn't wear black pajamas, they wore only boxer shorts. I remember thinking how much like wax figures they looked due to their skin color and lack of blood. I still see the faces of both our boys and the enemy, and if it weren't for the photos I have of the time I spent in that country I would think it was all a very bad dream. Sometimes I wish that were so.

Roger Mallory Then and Now