Chapter 144A2
2/24/2007
Ch 144A2 Battle Details A Simple Twist of Fate
Battle of Dong Ha / Dai Do
2008 Leatherneck Square firebase video
My Perspective
I simply had to recreate this scene of the crime (star). It's obsessive and compulsive, but that's the nature of war. I'm not putting this together as an authority, but as a personal learning experience. Pete had no photos so to bring the story to life I found fitting ones, many right from the actual Dai Do area where he was wounded May 5, 1968 below the DMZ. Pictures with borders are hot linked. There is a "fog of war" and the retelling of it with the integrated coordinated battlefield. It's not a precise thing. I've assembled several versions of the events here, all pretty much in agreement but bear in mind there are different perspectives. For example, Pete went to battle inside an enclosed Amtrack not really knowing where he's going. You are just given orders. You are not privy to a nice description of all that is taking place. I therefore, start with what I found to be the best description of the battle by a 17 yr old Christian Marine enlistee who trained as a mortar man but was assigned as a rifleman. Pete had gone in as a rifleman and was assigned as an ammo humper to the weapons platooon. As replacements it just depended on who was killed prior to your arrival.
"Ammo Box Alter" and Agent Orange defoliant spraying (dioxin) from Ray Smith's web site
*1This descriptive, stirring, and sincere Combat Veteran page was written by Cpl George R. Theiss who went to Dai Do to waste some gooks, found Jesus instead, drank the dioxin tainted water from the bomb craters, and now suffers from polyneuropathy. It appears on his Baptist web site, Tulip Gems. His company lost 75% casualties near the burial mounds where Pete was hit a few days later. The biggest battle did occur prior to May 5 but the war doesn't always fit into nice discrete segments.
Pete France, Grunt's Perspective*
*2This account given 2-12-07 at Firehouse Bar, Catskill, NY
Apr 1967 sign up Marines
Aug 67 orders for OCS (Officers Candidate School)
Oct 17,67 OCS Quantico, VA
Dec 20,67 Quit OCS 2wks prior graduation
Dec 67 immediately shipped to Camp Lejeune, NC Infantry School Offered desk job-no combat, but couldn't type
Jan-Mar 68 Camp Pendleton, CA enjoyed advanced weapons training, MOS 0311 Rifleman
Mar 31,1968 "I shall not seek, nor shall I accept the nomination to the Presidency", LBJ (Mr. Tonkin Resolution)
Apr 68 departure delayed till comrades bailed out of Tijuana Jail after mugging, then Hawaii, Okinawa
Apr 16, 68 Da Nang
Apr 16, 68 Fly C-130 Hercules Spectre to Dong Ha. Airfield covered with smoke from recent rocket attacks like this photo of Camp Kistler down river at Qua Viet at the mouth of So China Sea, Gulf of Tonkin.
Apr 16, 68 Truck to Quang Tri, Third Marine Div HQ, received M-16, assigned to Weapons Platoon, machine gunnery M60 support, ammo humper, Delta Company 1st Battalion/ 3rd Marines (Regiment) replacement troops for Third Division
24hrs in Country- assigned to listening post, night patrol, sleep in foxhole, rocket attacks killed 4 US at command post that day
Apr 17, 68 Truck up Hwy 1 back to Dong Ha, mine blowing out wheel on truck to rear
Apr 17, 68 Amtrack (amphibious tractors) to Combat Operations Base C4 for few weeks, about 3 miles south of DMZ and the North Vietnamese enemy forces, helped support Operation Napoleon to keep open Cua Viet River, sleep in bunkers on cot. C4 sandbagged bunkers. Sand is all that remains of the bunkered positions today. Taken by Capt Lennon, Amtraker who transported Marines to Dai Do. Returned 30 yrs later for tour described as , "In retrospect, the best trip of my life." Here met with Cua Viet Police Chief who was one of the teenagers he put in the resettlement villages.
Apr 17-May 2, 68 Combat and Fire Support Bases C2, C4, A1, A2, A3, A4 (Con Thien) were part (Army 1/61 link to official battalion map cam lo dong ha reference) of the Strong Point Optical System (SPOS) top secret electronic snooper eavesdropping MacNamara Line, to stop NVA traffic down Hwy 1 and Ho Chi Mihn trail thru Laos. Project TRIM (Trails and Roads, Interdiction Multi-sensors), [Edit Find] Jason Committee, LLTV, FLIR, IBM 360, Thai microwave (still awaiting Dale 60's chapter). Successful artillery strikes were limited because the Vietnamese frogs were excessively setting off the sensors.
Apr 17-May 2, 68 Conduct 2 patrols up near DMZ, always night watch, sleeping in fox holes, 4hrs sleep a night, always tired, uncomfortable, in a daze like Charlie Sheen in Platoon, 1 search and destroy mission- burn 3 villes, herd villagers to "civilian resettlement" camps.
May 2,68 on watch C4, watch AC47 Spooky Gunships (Puff Magic Dragon) firing to ground, big fight-highest valor, medals of honor,
May 4, 68 Amtrack took them to the battle at Dai Do, dead all around, both sides, sleep foxhole, incoming mortars at night, pic of village command post
May 4, 68 Quiet, the horrible smell of rotting death everywhere
May 5,68 10am Dai Do -crossed an old rice dry paddy field, ville to right, shooting seems to have ceased. On little bit of higher ground, sarge orders simple mission to check out empty tree line ahead then we'll get in Amtrack and go back to firebase. He hears a bzzzt like a bee go overhead, then the sound of the gunshot. Quiet for a while, then another. Then lots of rifle fire. Then everything opens up, enemy mortars, rockets, artillery, US Jets overhead firing rockets. The rifle fire is not so greatly alarming, it's the thunderous mortars, rockets and artillery that are unnerving. Used an elevated burial mound for protection. Rice paddy dyke further to the right. Lance Cpl Knight was besides him when mortar hit badly messing up Knight, but shielding Pete from the explosion. At this point Pete was heavily laden with munitions. M16, took several grenades in his flak jacket, boxes of 7.62 NATO machine gun ammo, and bandoleers of ammo, M72 LAW light anti tank weapon ,rocket launcher (long tube). Had no water as they had been ready to depart. Getting mid day sun, a sweltering 95 degrees.
After three hours pinned down gets order to check out Knight. He moves over to him. He's hanging in there. Found a Cpl Knight from this same 1/3 unit who died this same day, but it is a different Knight! Pete's grenade tops (detonators) have come unscrewed from the explosive bottoms from the crawling around. Discards. Platoon leader orders to bring Knights weapon forward to the radio operator. Beginning to comply, soon as he pokes head up, takes the shot grazing the temple. This is a large round 7.62mm probably from AK 44 bolt action sniper similar to AK47. Bleeding a bunch. Hearing disoriented. Radio operator runs back, jumps over burial mound and lands right on the wounded Knight. Lazario, another ammo humper joins the group. Sgt crawls over to help. Corpsman called in to bandage head and give shot of morphine. Tall grass and weeds to the right and to the front.
Plan to withdraw further back by Roccio where might be out of gunfire range. Woozie from morphine. Runs back there and as jumping over a log takes shot that goes thru the right arm (triceps) that also graze his leg. Pete has Roccio use his belt for a tourniquet. Buddies help him amble to old WW2 CH46 chopper for med-evac out.
May 5,68 med-evac to Dong Ha, (month earlier Albany native died med-evacing injured Marines to Dong Ha)
May 5,68 chopper from Dong Ha airfield to Phu Bai ("Full Metal Jacket"), sewed up head
May 5,68 chopper to Da Nang Army Hospital
May 13,68 to Cam Ranh Bay 12th Air Force Hospital, letter home excited about the new Mets pitching staff, military procedure was generally to return to combat with one wound. With 2 wounds you are shipped out. Fortuitous for Pete. Doubting this procedure was used by the NVA, perhaps this says something about why we were not a clear victor in the war.
May 18,68 to Yokosuka Japan, a few weeks, arm draining, deciding to let heal by nature. Assigned to guard duty in Marine Barracks for Brig duty (prison). Perhaps site where torpedeos were made for bombing run on Pearl Harbor. Now home to the Yohi Devils high school.
Apr 69 Early Release from service.
Army Infantry Chopper Pilot Perspective
*3This interactive guide to the DMZ lets you guide the chopper and land at different sites to give you a feel of the DMZ area. Army 1st Bn 61 Regiment arrived July 68.
Army 174th Assault Helicopter Company
*4Door Gunner 's humorous but insightful account of providing helo support for Dai Do Battle including shuttle of Third Marine commander who suspects all Army pilots are all queers !
SP4 Wally Nunn- A Participant's View of The Battle of Dai Do April 29 - May 15, 1968
On 29 April 1968, the 2/4 Marine Battalion Landing Team of the 3rd Marine Division, locked horns with an NVA Division (304th) in the 'ville" of Dai Do on the Cua Viet River 'horseshoe' just south of the DMZ (I Corp RVN). Intelligence had tipped our Forces that an entire NVA Division was in the first stage of a major march to seize and destroy the 3rd Marine Division Headquarters at Dong Ha. The Army’s grunt rifle battalion 3/21st Infantry, 196th LIB (out of the Americal) was attached to the 3rd Marine Division on May 1st to help quell the NVA’s intentions.
*5 Newbie PFC Tom Williams fine personal description of transportation support to Dai Do Battle he'd asked to go along on!
1st Amtrackers Battalion - Perspective
*6Good overview of Dai Do Battle: Although battered, the 320th NVA Division was not down. Pursued by 1/3, on 5 May, the NVA stood and fought at Som Soi, one kilo meter north of Thuong Do. The Marines lost fifteen killed and sixty- four wounded before the NVA broke contact. The next day the division recrossed the DMZ into North Vietnam to lick its wounds.
Commanding Marine Officer's Persective
*7Ohio State e-History project: In the meantime, the fighting had shifted westward. After a short hiatus in the Dai Do area, on the morning of 5 May, Lieutenant Colonel Jarman's 1st Battalion, 3d Marines attacked north from Thuong Do towards True Kinh, a distance of 1,200 meters to the northwest. The 2d ARVN regiment was to protect the battalion's western flank. With Companies C and D in the lead and Company B following in trace, the Marine battalion reached its first objective, the hamlet of Som Soi, about 300 meters southeast of True Kinh, encountering only token resistance. Within a short time, however, about 1130, the Marine battalion came under heavy fire from True Kinh and some scattered fire from the southeast. Calling in artillery and fixed-wing airstrikes, especially against True Kinh, the battalion fought its way through Som Soi.56
At this point, about 1250 on the 5th, the North Vietnamese launched a counterattack from True Kinh with Company D on the eastern flank bearing the brunt of the assault. Lieutenant Colonel Jarman then ordered Company C to swing around to the right to contain the enemy attack while Company B screened the movement. This maneuver, however, exposed the battalion's western flank since the 2d ARVN Regiment's attack to the southwest had already stalled and the South Vietnamese were in no position to support the Marines. According to Jarman, an aerial observer radioed him that "500 Charlies were preparing to flank our position."57 Colonel Hull, the 3d Marines commander, upon learning of the situation, immediately requested reinforcements. The 3d Division released Companies I and M, 3d Battalion, 4th Marines to the operational control of the 3d Marines. Marine helicopters brought the two companies into a landing zone near Thuong Do. Despite the loss of one helicopter, the two 4th Marines companies quickly advanced to the northwest to provide protection for Jarman's western flank. After consolidating his positions in a defensive perimeter established by Companies I and M in a tree line, about l ,000 meters to the south of True Kinh, Lieutenant Colonel Jarman described the situation "relatively routine" as Marine air and artillery continued to pound the enemy.58 About 1800, the North Vietnamese broke contact.
One Three Marine's Perspective
*8Click Vietnam link or Company Roster Delta, (Pete active member)
30Apr68 ***** 1/3 for the month April continued participating in Operation "Napoleon/Saline" within the Cua Viet River Area, to deny enemy access to the River area and ensure uninterrupted traffic thereon. Mainly on the south side of river. 1/3 sustained 15 KIA's and 54 WIA's for the month, while inflicting 69 VC/NVA KIA's (CD Rom). ***** 03May68 ***** 1/3 still participating in Operation "Napoleon/Saline" moved NORTH of the Cua Viet River to the villages of DAI DO, THUONG DO, and TRUC KINH. Heavy Enemy contact was encountered at DAI DO. The battle of Dai Do was from May 3rd to May 9th, and units I/3/4 and M/3/4 assisted. The Fierce fighting ended with 1/3 inflicting 338 VC/NVA KIA's on the Enemy and capturing 6 POW's.
Vietnam Helicopter Pilots' Association Perspective
Battle of Dong Ha information
for 3 MAR DIV
2/4 MARINES
1/3 MARINES
2 ARVN REGT
From date 680429 to 680515
3 MAR DIV was a US Marine Corps unit
2/4 MARINES was a US Marine Corps unit
1/3 MARINES was a US Marine Corps unit
2 ARVN REGT was a Vietnamese Army unit
Primary service involved, US Marine Corps
Operation SCOTLAND II
Quang Tri Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Dong Ha
Description: .The name given by the 3d Marine Division to a series of actions above the Bo Dieu and Cua Viet rivers (east of Dong Ha and Route 1) to the DMZ. The majority of the action resulted when about 8,000 from the 320th and the 304th NVA Divisions attempt to take the 3d Marine Division's combat base at Dong Ha. The NVA moved past ALPHA 1 to the rivers to cut the Marine's supply lines. The 3d Marines had responsibility for the Operation NAPOLEON/SALINE TAOR. After BLT (Battalion Landing Team) 2/4 from the SLF, supported by HMM-362, and to a lesser extent the 1/3 Marines sustained heavy casualties in Operation NIGHT OWL and the Battle of Dai Do, 1.5 miles northeast of Dong Ha, III MAF reinforced with the 3/21st Infantry, supported by the 174th AHC, from the 196th LIB, Americal Division which fought the Battle of Nhi Ha. The 1st Cavalry Division also reinforced with two battalions which called their effort Operation CONCORDIA SQUARE. The 2d ARVN Regt had elements at ALPHA 1, CHARLIE 4 and around Dong Ha who seriously disappointed the Marines. The battle, part of SCOTLAND II, ends when the NVA moved north of the DMZ.
The source for this information was Chron P:74; Magnificent Bastards by Nolan P:
2/4 Marine Assault on Dai Do Perspective
Army 1st Cavalry Div 2/5 Perspective
During the first week of May 1968, C Company continues search and clear operations in the area south of the Marines' base at Khe Sanh. The company is then airlifted to Dong Ha Marine Base near the coast as part of Operation Concordia Square helping the Marines combat the 320th NVA Division during the Battle of Nhi Ha. C Company operates near Highway 1 just south of the DMZ and once again experiences serious Communist artillery fire.
DAI DO
Just a spot on the map,
ain't no big deal.
Not even a town,
just a small ville.
You thought it was over,
those years long ago,
but you wage it again,
the fight for Dai Do.
A source of nightmares
to this very day.
The sights, sounds, and smells
that won't go away.
Covered in sweat,
you awake with a start.
You hear no noise,
just the beat of your heart.
You remember your feelings,
your feelings of fear.
You think of your buddies,
your eyes fill with tears.
The best way to honor
the men who fell there,
is to take back your life,
to live it with flair.
Their lives had an impact
on those whom they knew.
Perhaps it is destined
that you have one too.
So here's to the warriors
whose lives we recall.
To those who have fallen,
and those who stand tall.
We say it with gusto,
we shout it out loud.
You Magnificent Bastards,
You did your Corps proud.
~Frank Valdez, Jr. 2/4 Marines
*14Time Magazine : Weekly synopsis; Bloodiest battle of the week erupted at Dai Do.
[to obtained any Archive : eg. enter article: Fighting Pitch and date: May 10, 1968 twice & search]
Vietnam Marine put this moving tribute together.
*15 Video at You Tube if you didn't allow active X when the page first loaded. 1st Bn/ 3rd Marines now in Afghanistan
Books on the Battle-Perspective
*16"The Magnificent Bastards"By Keith William Nolan focus on 2/4 Marines
*17"Semper Fi Vietnam, from DaNang to the DMZ Marine Corps Campaigns, 1965-1975" By Edward F. Murphy focus on
"Born on the Fourth of July" Academy Award winning movie
*18 Author of the book and central character, Ron Kovic (recent video) , was shot and paralyzed about a mile downstream of Dai Do and a few months earlier (described in 1/30/68 battle). He was assigned to the B and H&S Company,1st Amtrac Battalion, 3rd Marines to the base Camp Kistler at the mouth of the Cua Viet river shown near the top of the page.
Additional links
*19Additional information
*1 Pics from this Ray Smith's web site that has extensive Vietnam coverage. My Tour and Photo Collection, etc.
*1 Baptist George Theiss later had to fight the Veterans Administration for benefits and finally won.
*2 MACV Monthly Summary May (page18 5May68 NAPOLEON/SALINE (QuangTri Prov): Elms 3rd Regt, 3rd Mar Div & ARVN 2nd Regt, 1st Inf Div killed 202 NVA soldiers vic of Dong Ha. 1300, 2 mi NNE of Dong Ha bn Mar in psn village of Dai Do recd en atk fr est 200 en. AO on station dir air strikes rept en reinf their elms w/unk no troops fr N during initial engagement. USMC tac air & arty & USN gunfire msns sptd. (ON BACKGROUND) ARVN elms made contact same time appx 2 mi NW of Dai Do w/unk size en force. ARVN troops also recd spt fr Mar arty & tac air & USN msns. ARVN unit rept lt cas & rept killing 51 en. (END BACKGROUND) Contact lost unk time. 151 EK. 10 US KIA, 64 WIA (medevaced). Total 202 EK.
*2 MIA website: Khe Sanh example, click to view, then click on map, three times zooming in.
*2 Misc Maps directory Basic Map Reading
*4 Off shore Cruiser support USS Boston CA69, firing 8inch shells Battleship New Jersey BB62
*7 Index to eHistory's US Marines in Vietnam:1968 The Defining Year Iindex
*7 The mini-Tet offensive reoccurred in May, and was actually more bloody than the first Tet.
*7 Military map of Operation Napoleon/Saline Map with Dai Do barely legible
*7 Ray's Map Room see Eastern DMZ
*18 Combat Wife 3/5 Marines good pictures other Marine units
*18 The Marine I Corps were troops stationed in the 5 northern provinces of South Vietnam. Very historic and savage battles occurred there. The Siege of Khe Sahn 77 straight days of shelling, Hamburger Hill, etc. It can get real tedious reconstructing the scene. Suffice to say that to defend against North Vietnam, Dong Ha had logistic and strategic value as the eastern anchor, a transportation node in the Quang Tri province about 5 miles south of the DMZ. This was the scene of sustained heavy action during the historic turning point Tet Offensive of Jan 31,1968 during which the North lost the battles but later won the war because of the embarrassment, the TV coverage, and the public shift of confidence.
*18 NVA side includes Hanoi Jane!
Jun 69 met up with roomie prior to Ft Gordon assignment Ch 144B.