“The First Infantry Division
Headquarters named it the Battle of Bong Trang, but those American soldiers who
made war there will always call it 25 August.
That is the day in 1966 that my unit fought the Phu Loi Battalion. . .” William
J. Mullen III
Captain William Mullen’s Charlie Company of the ½
Infantry was not technically surrounded, although fire was coming from all
directions. But Mullen was not in a
defensive frame of mind. He continued to
press the attack in areas of his line and asked his Battalion Commander, Major
Richard Clark, to hold off on the reinforcements so that close air support and
artillery plaster the enemy. Major
Clark, who could see more of the fight unfolding from a helicopter, declined
Mullen’s suggestion and hurried his A Company and B Company to the rescue. Clark remained in the air where he could see
and control the entire fight. Troop C of
the ¼ Cavalry also linked up with B Company for the race to the sound of the
guns. C Troop of the 1/4 Cav move out on the morning of August 25 From: http://quarterhorsecav.org/pg4g1.htm |
Eventually the C Troop of the ¼ Cavalry broke
through in their tanks and APCs. Captain
Slattery of the Cavalry found dead and wounded littering the ground and that
men had become separated from their platoons and squads. Hank Stewart of the 1/4 Cav recalled, "2 tracks from C Troop had been knocked out by
RPG and 57 recoilless. The crews were all dead. We took up forward positions
and our one tank began firing canister into the base camp. We returned fire
with .50 cal and M60s. The platoon leaders TC, Sammy Larkin was killed. Lt.
Klippen shouted over the radio to "burn the piss out of those
treetops". He was killed right
after that."
The 1/2 Infantry Black Scarf worn by PFC John Johnston in Vietnam |
An Air Force medivac helicopter had already been
shot down in the clearing, blocking the small landing space. Slattery suggested to Mullen that the wounded
be evacuated to a landing zone 400 meters to the east of the clearing. The Cav’s APC were put into service as
ambulances and began shuttling the wounded to the new landing zone. More medivac helicopters, still landing under
sporadic fire, transported them out of the fight to safety.
Five hours into the fight and still a cohesive perimeter had not been carved out of the chaos. The Phu Loi Battalion was tenacious. The smaller American force was just as determined, but the pressure was too great to consolidate their position. COL Sydney Berry, the Brigade Commander was impatient. He ordered Major Clark, the ½ Battalion Commander to take charge on the ground. Clark and Berry’s UH-1s arrived at the landing zone almost at the same time, and they headed on foot to the clearing together. As they huddled together to discuss their plans a blast of machine gun fire sent them sprawling. Berry was unhurt, but Major Clark was dead with a bullet through the skull.
Although it was a battalion level fight at that
time, the Brigade Commander felt he had no other choice but to take command on
the ground. Colonel Berry later recalled
that he “ran around like a crazy man getting things moving.” Because he could no longer see the big picture,
he had his Operations Officer who was orbiting in a helicopter, coordinate fire
support and move reinforcements to the fight.
Five hours into the fight and still a cohesive perimeter had not been carved out of the chaos. The Phu Loi Battalion was tenacious. The smaller American force was just as determined, but the pressure was too great to consolidate their position. COL Sydney Berry, the Brigade Commander was impatient. He ordered Major Clark, the ½ Battalion Commander to take charge on the ground. Clark and Berry’s UH-1s arrived at the landing zone almost at the same time, and they headed on foot to the clearing together. As they huddled together to discuss their plans a blast of machine gun fire sent them sprawling. Berry was unhurt, but Major Clark was dead with a bullet through the skull.
The fight intensified as Berry’s other battalions
arrived on the scene and entered the battle.
The 1/26 overwhelmed enemy positions on the east flank; 1/16 Infantry
attacked from the west and 2/28 Infantry set up a blocking position to the
north of the clearing. As the 1/26 and
the 1/16 made initial gains, Colonel Berry ordered them to shift their axis of
attack to link in with Captain Mullen’s ½ Infantry who were still being “chewed
to pieces.” Mullen recalled “Captain Jim
Madden, commanding B Company of the 26th, one of the first units to
fight its way into our location, received a serious wound almost as soon as he
reached us. He nevertheless broke away
from the medics in order to apologize to me for having to leave the fight.”
From: http://quarterhorsecav.org/pg4g1.htm |
The 1/16 turned north and immediately encountered a well camouflaged bunker system with interlocking fire. Viet Cong Heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, mortars and small arms raked A Company. Within minutes the commander, Captain Peter Knight, was killed and all of his platoon leaders wounded. 1/16’s attack ground to a halt, but as they reorganized the enemy in their immediate front fled from their positions.
As the 1/16 Infantry’s attack wound down, Ltc Paul
Gorman commander of 1/26 Infantry, arrived in the clearing with the last of the
American reinforcements. Berry’s entire
brigade was now in contact with the enemy.
As Gorman made a triumphant entry on a M48 tank, Berry climbed aboard to
shake his hand. “A machine gun opened up
on us, and we unceremoniously scrambled off the tank, dashed across the
clearing, and jumped into a VC trench I was using for my CP,” Berry
recalled. Berry left Gorman in command
on the ground and returned to resume control of his brigade.
Night falls quickly in the jungle. As darkness enveloped the Americans they
hunkered down and allowed artillery and a flare ship to keep the battlefield
illuminated throughout the night. The
Phu Loi Battalion made no further coordinated attacks. They were satisfied to wait for an attack in
their underground bunkers and send sporadic harassing fire into the American
lines.The early morning of August 26th found Colonel Berry back on the ground at the clearing. The enemy was still hunkered down in their bunkers. He wanted them out of the ground where he could kill them, but did not want to send his battered troops in a frontal assault to root them out. Too many good men had been lost the day before. Berry and Ltc Gorman decided to call a napalm strike in the bunker system sandwiched between his 1/16 and 1/26 Infantry battalions. The eleventh canister struck a tree and sent jellied flames across Gorman’s CP, burning a map from the scrambling commander’s hands. "My map and radio were literally burned up," Gorman remembered, "and I got singed a bit. I asked that they keep laying the napalm on, and they did." Gorman watched helplessly as a later canister fell short, into the American lines. Two Americans died and fourteen were injured in the flames.
John Johnston recalled the incident. "Our Air Force dropped napalm on us because
some dumbass threw a red smoke grenade out when we marked our position with
smoke. When they dropped the napalm, the
gooks left." Gorman halted the air
attacks. Despite the horror of the
American casualties, the napalm had done what was intended. The Phu Loi Battalion was retreating and
leaving their base camp to the 1st Brigade.
The 1st Brigade spent the remainder of
the day mopping up VC stragglers as they scoured the jungle north and east of
the clearing. Early in the day, nine men
from the original lost patrol limped into the landing zone. They had survived by hiding deep in VC bunkers
with the enemy all around them.
John Johnston lived through the twenty four hours of
hell that was August 25. Like many of
the men who survived this fight, it is still burned into his psyche. John later became the "RTO" and
carried the platoon sergeant's radio. He
performed the same service for his platoon leader before he was offered a job
in the Brigade mail room for his last month in country. He turned it down ". . .because I was
too proud to quit. I told them about
another guy who needed it worse than I did." John received a Bronze Star for valor for his actions on
August 25th. His citation reads in
part:
Private First Class Johnston noticed a
claymore mine set up in the path of his advancing comrades. Realizing the imminent danger, he courageously
rushed forward into a heavy barrage of mortar and automatic weapons fire and
deftly disarmed the mine. Later in the
same afternoon, PFC Johnston personally led several members of his platoon in a
grenade assault of Viet Cong occupied trenches and bunkers. They were successful in routing the enemy.
John told me many years ago that "deftly
disarmed the mine" meant that he laid the electrical wire across the butt
of his M16 and hacked it with his bayonet!
It worked.
18 year old PFC John Johnston (left) wears his newly won Bronze star with other veterans of Bong Trang. Photo Courtesy of the John Johnston |
Johnston was one of many men who were decorated for
actions at Bong Trang. Captain William
Mullen and Ltc Paul Gorman were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Mullen, Gorman, and Berry all became
general officers later in their careers.
Captain William J. Mullen III receives his Distinguished Service Cross from General William Westmoreland during a ceremony after the battle of Bong Trang. Probably one of the few times were a 1/2 Infantry black scarf was cleaned and pressed! Photo from: http://www.legionofvalor.com/citation_parse.php?uid=994197960 |
Thank you. I have heard of this. My dad was an original Black Scarf. I have that photo. I was born July 1966. And he was gone. His records are lost, but he received also was awarded the distinguished Service Cross from General Westmorland. I asked him about it once. He said he earned nothing. He was saving lives. He stared to tell me. But could not. My husband and son have been deployed. My son was in Opporation Enduring Freedom. Two campaigns. My son was in Operation New Dawn. THANK YOU for researching this. This means the world to us!! My brother came home just shy of the Gulf War. My Husband happened to find this. I have been looking for years.
ReplyDeleteI was the senor Medic for C1/2 sgt Arthur (JIM)Boucher
ReplyDeletemy brother Hank was one of the last 7 of the original patrol
ReplyDeleteThank you for your service. My father fought in this battle, he was wounded and received the Purple Heart as well as the Bronze Star with Valor. He passed when I was young. From the Army archives I received most of his paperwork. I have a DA-20 that shows he was with HHC 1st BN 16th Inf. I have an article that mentions him and several others from that day. I am thankful for the information shared. My mother said he would never speak of the war. I can't imagine what you all went through and I pray for you all. Thank you again
ReplyDelete