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enemy. Part of the lead element walked on the right flank of the trail and found Chinese (Chicom) grenades. It was apparent they had interrupted  the enemy’s work at preparing booby traps.

       Charlie Company’s 1st platoon was sent from the abandoned NVA hospital, less than one-half mile to the east, to assist the recon platoon. Lt. Harold Aldrich, new to the field, led the 1st platoon. By 4:00PM they moved in behind the recon grunts. Lee Gunton, an experienced rifleman who came over with the company from Fort Hood, told his buddy next to him, “We are either going to find nothing or every gook in the world is around the next corner.” With those words spoken, heavy enemy fire broke out and three members of the first platoon immediately went down with wounds. Three soldiers from recon were also wounded, including Care and his RTO. Automatic weapons fire poured from a tree line thirty to forty feet to their front. Gunton’s squad, led by Russ “Pappy” Welder, took cover behind a small mound of dirt. Lt. Aldrich yelled, “Prepare to assault!” Gunton, only three men away from Aldrich told another grunt, “Tell him only the Marines do that.” They assaulted none-the-less and luck was with Gunton, whose rifle jammed after firing only two rounds. When they reached the tree line the firing stopped and the enemy pulled back. It was apparent the force firing on them was a small, harassing force, but they were well-positioned north, west, and south of the beleaguered soldiers at very close range with good camouflage and excellent fields of fire.

Harassing fire broke out time and time again at very close range, making every grunt a hero just by his participation in the event. Sergeant Larry Thomas, a squad leader with the recon platoon was at the point of the file when the fire fight first began. He insured a strong base of fire was placed on the insurgents as he crawled from man to man. With their ammunition getting low, he made it back to LT. Alrich’s platoon, which was also under fire, to obtain extra ammo and bring it back to his troops. When his platoon leader, Lt. Care, was wounded, he moved to take command of the platoon and keep the unit in check. Thomas was awarded the Bronze Star for valor for his leadership.

The enemy fire steadily rose in intensity and Lyon lost no time in requesting air strikes before the situation worsened. Napalm and five hundred pound bombs were requested, especially for the northern side of their position, on the steep ridgelines rising up from the river. At 5:00PM an Air Force Forward Air Controller (FAC “23”) flew overhead and radioed help was on the way. The process took time to develop from

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the air, but the grunts knew that with the FAC above, control of the fire fight would shift to them. By 5:45PM jet aircraft were dropping their ordnance, with helicopter gunships firing machine gun and cannon fire in-between the sortie’s made by the jets. The FAC orchestrated the air support while the grunts sought cover. The heavy gun support from the air, both jets and gunships, were fired at “Danger Close” range. One canister of napalm was dropped behind Gunton and his squad, hitting the ground and skipping over them, before exploding. Both the aircraft and helicopters took enemy fire as they made their strikes. At 6:30PM FAC 23, low on fuel, checked out and FAC 19 continued coordinating the strike for twenty more minutes.

Charlie Company’s commander, Larry Johnson, arrived with more troops to take control of the ground operation. A dustoff was called for the wounded. LT Care was placed on the Dustoff’s crowded floor, his head hanging below one of the door gunners and his M-60, who was returning machine gun fire on an enemy gun position that was attempting to destroy the Dustoff. The M-60, just inches above the platoon leaders head, caused excruciating pain in his ears. As the bird pulled pitch to gain altitude, the enemy obliged Care by placing an AK-47 round through the door-gunners wrist, which stopped the firing. The remaining grunts on the ground searched the area while jets patiently circled above. The enemy fire ceased. Various positions were found with overhead cover, revealing well-established observations posts to thwart the advance of an approaching force.

During a break the next day, Charlie’s newest platoon leader, Lt Aldrich, asked his squad leader “Pappy” Welder, how he had done the previous day. Pappy took a long puff on his cigarette and said, “Well sir, you fucked up.” Aldrich asked “How?” “We don’t assault over here. That’s what we have artillery and aircraft for.” The platoon never assaulted a treeline again and Aldrich, in the words of his men, “Became a hell of a leader once he got the swing of things.” Aldrich lost a leg two months later, when his RTO stepped on a mine. Amidst all the heavy fighting in the valley, the battalion took an unexpected casualty on August 17 when PFC Paul Meaux, 23 and single, from Kaplan, Louisiana died of natural causes at the 2nd Surgical Hospital in Chu Lai.

The morning of August 18 found Charlie Company and the recon platoon west of the NVA hospital and east of the Thanh River, the distance between the two points being not more than one mile. East of the hospital were Delta’s third platoon with some Special Forces CIDG

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