FOREVER YOUNG NUMBER 19 of a SERIES “OUT OF THE CLOUDS”* PART 3 __________________________ During 1967, the 173rd Airborne Brigade had seen extensive action in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Headquartered at Bien Hoa Air Base, near Saigon, the Brigade was tasked with protecting the Saigon/Bien Hoa complex from Viet Cong forces that controlled the “Iron Triangle” area north of Saigon. In February, as part of “Operation Junction City,” over 800 paratroopers from the 173rd jumped into the rice paddies at Katum, near the Cambodian border. This was the first and only full-sized combat jump by an American unit during the Vietnam War. Throughout mid-1967, the North Vietnamese began to move additional NVA forces into western Kontum Province and stepped up attacks on U.S. installations in the area. The heavy enemy attacks prompted the launch of Operation Greeley. Two battalions of the 173rd AB were moved into the Dak To area and began a sweep of the jungle-covered mountains. This time, however, the paratroopers faced a different kind of foe. Prior to Greeley, they had been in combat operations primarily against the Viet Cong. North Vietnamese regular infantry were better equipped, much better trained, and more highly motivated than their guerilla comrades. On 20 June, Alpha/2/503 was ambushed by the 6th Battalion of the 24th NVA Regiment. Charlie Company was ordered in to support them; however the rugged terrain and heavy jungle made it impossible to move quickly and artillery support was ineffective due to limited visibility. TAC air support was impossible for the same reason. The Alpha troopers fought off attack after attack throughout the day and night, but paid a heavy price. Of the 137 men in the company, 76 were killed and 23 wounded. NVA casualties were minimal. In response, MACV ordered additional forces into the area for a series of search and destroy operations north and northeast of Kontum. Forces were also sent west and southwest of Dak To in an effort to locate the 24th NVA Regiment, but it had disappeared into the rugged mountains. The 404th Radio Research Detachment (Airborne), Army Security Agency, was the direct support unit for the 173rd AB and sent intercept teams with every airborne infantry unit in the field. By late summer, the 404th had operators and equipment scattered throughout the Central Highlands (An Khe, Ban Me Thout, Bien Hoa, Dak To, Kontum, Pleiku, and Tuy Hoa) as they moved from conflict to conflict. In early October, communications intelligence reported the NVA were withdrawing regiments from the Pleiku area and moving them to Kontum Province. That increased the strength of enemy forces in Kontum to that of a full division, and dramatically increased the threat level. In response, MACV launched Operation MacArthur and moved the 3/8 and the 3/12 of the 4th Infantry Division into Dak To. On 29 October, the 4/503 of the 173rd AB was returned to the area to reinforce the 4th Infantry units. On 06 November, two companies from 4/173rd encountered elements of the NVA 66th Regiment south of Ben Het and lost nine men in a fierce firefight. In addition, 28 more were wounded. The NVA left behind 100 bodies. On 11 November, Charlie Company and two platoons from Delta Company, 1/503, were ambushed by two battalions of the 66th NVA. Alpha, Charlie, and the remaining Delta platoon, 1/503, were sent in relief. U.S. losses were 20 killed and 154 wounded; enemy losses were reported to be 80, but were later revised upward. During the battle, Pfc. John Barnes manned a machine gun that had lost its crew to enemy fire and was credited with nine enemy kills. While retrieving more ammunition, Barnes dived on top of an enemy grenade that had landed among American wounded. He saved his wounded buddies, but was killed by the blast. Pfc. Barnes was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. He was 22 years old. By 15 November, the 2/503 Airborne Infantry had pushed units of the 1st and 10th NVA Divisions towards the Cambodian/Laotian borders. To cover their retreat, the elite NVA 174th Infantry Regiment was moved into a complex of fortified bunkers on Hill 875, near Dak To. Their orders were to halt the American advance. This set the stage for a major battle, and on 19 November, the 2/503 was ordered to clear Hill 875. Resistance by the communists was intense and the 4/503 was moved in to support the 2nd battalion. Father (Maj.) Charles Watters was a Catholic chaplain with 2/503 Infantry. As the fighting grew in intensity the medical staff was overwhelmed. Father Watters began to rush onto the battlefield to help collect the dying and wounded and bring them to safety. Completely exposed and unarmed, the chaplain repeatedly administered last rites to the dying men; and each time his unit surged forward, Watters moved ahead with them picking up the wounded and administering the sacraments to those who had fallen. When a wounded paratrooper stood up in shock, amid a hail of bullets, and was unable to move, Father Watters ran forward, grabbed the man, and carried him to safety. During the long hours of intense fighting, with the perimeter of the battlefield in a state of constant flux and confusion, Chaplain Watters maintained his composure. He kept venturing out between friendly and enemy lines to pick up the wounded, providing the exhausted soldiers with food and water, administering the sacraments, and helping medics care for the wounded. Some attempted to restrain him from his heroic efforts because of his vulnerability, but he refused to stop. He could not stand by when “his boys” needed him. Later that day, one of numerous air strikes was called in to bomb the enemy bunkers. As Chaplain Watters continued to assist the wounded, a 500-pound bomb was dropped, hit the top of a tree and flipped back over the 173rd command area. The bomb exploded in mid-air, killing 42 Sky Soldiers and injuring 45 more in one of the worst friendly-fire incidents of the entire war. The dead included the overall on-scene U.S. commander, Capt. Harold Kaufman, and Father Watters. On 20 November, Pfc. Carlos Lozada, A/2/503, was manning a four-man early warning outpost located 30 yards in front of Alpha Company’s lines. The company was dug in within 300 yards of the crest of Hill 875. Lozada spotted an NVA force moving in to attack. He alerted his team mates and opened fire with an M60 machine gun, killing at least twenty of the enemy and disrupting their massed assault. Realizing if they abandoned their position there would be nothing to hold back the enemy onslaught, and the withdrawal of Alpha Company would be jeopardized, the team held their ground, knowing it meant almost certain death. Lozada continued to deliver heavy fire with his M60, until he was mortally wounded. His team mates carried him when they finally retreated up the hill to rejoin their company. Lozada died shortly thereafter, but he and his team had bought the company valuable time and possibly saved the entire battalion. Four days later, on Thanksgiving Day, after some of the bloodiest fighting of the war, the survivors of the 2nd and 4th Battalions reached the summit. Chaplain Charles Watters and Pfc. Carlos Lozada would each receive the Medal of Honor for their heroism on Hill 875. Carlos Lozada was 21 years old and married, with a baby daughter. Father Watters was 40 years old. The NVA were forced to retreat across the Cambodian border, reportedly with over 1,500 dead and some 3,000 wounded. Total American causalities numbered 285 killed and 985 wounded. The 404th RRD (Abn) and other radio research units were acknowledged and praised for accurately pinpointing and assessing the commitment of the 174th NVA Regiment into the fight and for predicting a major flanking maneuver, which could have destroyed the entire U.S. force in the battle. Because of their efforts, the NVA’s plans were not a surprise to senior U.S. commanders. It was monsoon season during the Battle of Dak To and the entire 173rd Airborne Brigade was buried in mud. The 404th RRD’s intercept equipment was submerged – radio intercept operators often sat in knee-deep muck that had oozed inside their S-144 equipment shelters. Unit personnel stacked wooden pallet upon pallet inside their tents to prevent their top-secret equipment from sinking into oblivion. The 173rd had seen nearly non-stop, bloody action for an entire year, and the Battle of Dak To had taken a heavy toll. The Brigade had lost 115 killed and 253 wounded, just on Hill 875. When combined with other substantial losses of dead and wounded during October and November, that represented a sizeable percentage of the 173rd’s total effective strength. A short time later, the unit was moved to An Khe and Bong Son, and would see comparatively little action during 1968 as it sought to recoup and rebuild. We can always tell whos taking it on the chin in Nam by whose patch we see the most,” the senior NCO told Duane Keil and the other new 173rd troopers. And they laughed, nervously… TO BE CONTINUED… Copyright © 2014 Gary B. Blackburn
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 19:39:49 +0000
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