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BaTo was
65-70 miles (110 KM) inland from Chu Lai
We humped
for 3 days so we could capture the village without being detected. I was
walking point for the company the day we captured the ville. The company
had a NDP (night defensive position) about a mile up the mountain from
where the village was located. I got up about 3 AM to disarm the trip
flares and claymores. It was pitch dark in the jungle. It was very
difficult to get everyone together and keep them together going down the
mountain in the dark. We got to the bottom of the mountain about sun up.
It was about 500 yards from the bottom of the mountain to where the ville
started. I ask if we could get the M-60 and other fire power to move into
position in case I started receiving fire as I ran to the ville. It was
very surprising when I started running toward the village; I never
received any fire so everyone fell in and started toward the ville. We
shot a dink as we entered the ville.
Charlie
Company 4/3, 11th Brigade secured the ville and was waiting on
an intelligents group to chopper in with the interrogators. They did not
arrive that day so they told us to keep the ville secure that night and
they would come the next day. That night as soon as it got dark they
started attacking us every way they could (small arms fire, mortars
rounds, and zappers). We fought all night. Don Taylor was killed in that
fire fight and several others were wounded. We were running out of ammo
about midnight and called for a resupply chopper. The chopper started in
and saw all the fire power and said he couldn’t land in the hot LZ. He
left and we thought we were going to be overrun because we were running
out of ammo. Another chopper heard the first pilot refusing to land and
the second pilot told him to land the chopper and he would fly the ammo
into LZ. He saved our lives. He sat the chopper down in the dark and we
unloaded the ammo and loaded the dead and wounded.
We fought
until early morning hours. The fire fight stopped about daylight. We
surveyed the area the next morning we found several dead dinks around our
NDP. Some were zappers that were just feet away from our fox holes.
Other dinks attacked us form the river. They floated quietly down the
river and came up the river bank.
The
interrogators arrived the next day and interrogated all of the hostages.
The company saddled up and walked out of the ville about noon. It was a
terrible hump because we had been up all night and we got a late start to
try to get far enough away from the ville that we would not get attack
that night. |
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