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STEVE MARKLEY, SLEEPING QUARTERS AT DELTA 4, SEPTEMBER 1967

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LAWRENCE OF VIETNAM

2nd CAG HEADQUARTERS

DELTA CACO AT DIEN BAN, THIS IS WHERE WE FOUND OUT WE WERE GOING TO DELTA 4

CAP SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS SEPTEMBER 1967

LAWRENCE OF VIETNAM:

CAP DELTA 4 EXPERIENCES.

By Stephen Markley

PREFACE

&

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I entered the Marine Corps a student of T. E. Lawrence. I was convinced early in my tour of duty in Vietnam that the only way to win the War was to work with the Vietnamese. This is an attempt to recall my experiences while serving with CAP Delta 4 in the Republic of South Vietnam during 1967 and 1968.

After years of talkling about my experiences in the Combined Action Program while serving in Vietnam the time finally came too set at a word processor and put the words down on paper and on a computer screen. In fact, it was the computer and more specially the internet that finally enabled me too pursue this project. I had heard about Tim Duffie's CAP Website for years but wasn't on the internet and didn't have internet access. In May of 2000 that all changed. When I finally went 'On line' I read all the sections of Tim Dufie's CAP website that were relevant to the Delta CAP units and specially Delta 4. I found one Marine, John Nettleton, who had served at Delta 4. In fact, I learned John had replaced me after I was wounded on January 19, 1968. I also made contact with a number of Marines who had served in the other Delta CAP units.

In July 2000 the project really went into high gear. Lt.Col. William R. Corson, the former Commanding Officer of 2nd Combined Action Group passed away. Bill Corson had been encouraging, actually pushing me for years to write about my experiences while serving in the CAP units. Now I was motivated, I felt compelled to write this history as a tribute to Col. Corson.

Tom Harvey started sending me pictures, including one taken from the bridge leading into CAP Delta 5. This was a haunting remembrance of one of the worse days in the field. Alex Ramsay filled in my memory blanks concerning Delta Company Headquarters. Alex had also, been there, when Corporal Tom Walker's

patrol was ambushed. Chuck Ramsey was a wealth of information about Delta 5 and the events surrounding that unit being overrun. Chuck even had a picture of a good 'Mac' McEvoy, taken at Delta 6. Allen Clemons had served at Delta 1 and Delta 4 and knew PFC Bill Edmonds, 'Doc' John Newman and many of the Marines who had served with me. Allen also informed me that Delta 4 had not been overrun in March of 1968. I had been told this by another Marine while I was at Great Lakes Naval Hospital. Greg Hammond sent me all the back issues of the CAP Association Newletters he had. Greg also provided early pictures of the CAP Dlta 4 Personnel and compound. Barry 'Bat' Masterson clarified various CAP units Locations and the events of Tet 1968. Park and Claudia Meyers provided numerous pictures of CAP Delta 4 and Delta CACO Headquarters at Dien Ban taken after I had been wounded. Park also provided the date when the Delta CAP designation was changed to the CAP 2-3 units. Marines like Mike Lawson, Phil Ayres, Rick Yurkic, Mel Aust, Rick Wiegand, Pat Morris, Joe Kafka, Rodger Regnier, 'Doc' Joe Yates and Jim Copeland provided a photograhic history of the Delta CAP units.

While surfing the web trying to find out which unit from 5th Marines had been on TAD at Delta 4, I found Lt. Dennis Dinota, who had been an instructor at CAP School and who I had met once before on Operation Union II.

Tim Duffie's website and other Marine Corps websites made information available that would not have been accessible from any other source. I hope I can take the information gleaned from these Marines and leave the reader with a picture of service in the CAP units that is historically accurate and give long overdue credit to some fine Marines.

I will change names only to protect the quilty. I will in some cases assign them a Nom De Guerre. It is amazing how few of the men who served in the Combined Action Units need the protection of a Nom De Guerre. When I served in the Marine Corps I served with some of the finest Officers and Senior NCO's in the Marine Corps long history. When possible I will attempt to recognize their achievements.

I.

A NEW EXPERIENCE

On Sunday September 3, 1967 I left 1st Anti-Tank Battalion then Headquartered on Hill 34 Southwest of Danang to attend Combined Action School at 2nd Combined Action Group (CAG) Headquarters. I was leaving the relative security of a job as a legal clerk at the Battalion Adjutant's Office for an unknown assignment with a CAC (Combined Action Company) unit that could get me assigned anywhere in I Corps. I had volunteered for this assignment because I didn't feel I was making any contribution to the war as a clerk in the rear helping send other Marines to the Brig.

I had been on combat patrols and one operation earlier and I thought I could make more of a contribution in the field. Plus I hated the legal clerk job and my immediate superior. So, it was off to work and fight with the native population. Our unit had held Medcaps in Yen Bac and the villes around Hill 34. I had even worked with some of the CAC Marines who patrolled the area on the other side of the Song Cau Do bridge north of us. What they were doing, living in the villes with the Vietnamese, appealed to me.

I had travelled around Danang a little and I knew that 2nd CAG Headquarters was near China Beach and I had been there before. When I arrived at the China Beach PX (Post Exchange) a few inquiries with truck drivers and I found one who knew where 2nd CAG was and was willing to drop me off just outside the gate. The trip was a short one only a couple of miles.

When we pulled up the first thing I noticed was a rather untypical bungalow just up from a beautiful stretch of beach just beyond a typical sandbagged gate hut. The bungalow was like something you'd see on the beaches in Hawaii or along the California coast. Across the road from the bungalow was a large asphalt helicopter landing area. It was starting to look very different from the plywood hooches with tin or canvas for a roof I had become used too or the sandbag bunkers which lined every perimeter I had seen in Vietnam.

A few hundred yards from the main gate was the most unusual site I was to see in Vietnam. 2nd CAG Headquarters compound was an old French fortress that looked like something out of 'Beau Geste' or those Saturday Mornings spent watching Buster Crab in the 'Captain Gallant' series. The walls, the towers and most of the buildings were bright white masonary structures. I hadn't seen much of Vietnam or the World for matter but I was impressed.

I quickly found the Headquarters office, but no one was there. Like all Marines at a new duty station I simply wandered around until I found other Marines who were in the same situation. There is of course always one guy who has everything figured out, where to sleep, where to eat, where and when to check in and where a beer might be found. It wasn't long before we were checked in, our gear was stowed and we were looking out at the sun setting over the South China Sea.

II.

CAP SCHOOL: TRAINING FOR THIS WAR

The morning after our arrival at 2nd CAG we fell out for a short formation and were dismissed for a hearty hot breakfast at the mess hall. The Marines who had been out with the infantry battalions, 'the grunts', couldn't get enough cold milk It was the best food I had eaten while I was in Vietnam. Of course one of the Salty Old Grunts said, "They're just fattening us up for the kill".

Our classes were all held in a few long classrooms in one single story building which reminded me of a building one might find at a summer camp. The classes were on Vietnamese customs, language, enemy weapons, mines, patrolling, and map reading.

Our instructor on map reading was a young blond haired Lieutenant who looked really familiar to me. I kept thinking I knew him from somewhere but Lance Corporal's as a rule don't just go up to an officer and start a conversation, that looks to much like 'brown nosing'. Finally after class one day my curiosity got the best of me and I went up to the Lieutenant and asked, "Sir, where do I know you from?" We talked for awhile and it finally came to us.

In June of 1967 during Operation Union II Volunteers had been needed to provide infantry support for an artillery battery down by Tam Ky. A group of us from 1st Anti-Tank Battalion Voluteered. While we were there we had escaped any heavy combat but we could see that the infantry units west of us were engaged in heavy fighting. There were constant air strikes, naval gunfire and our artillery battery was constantly being called on for artillery support.

After we had been out in the field about a week trucks pulled up on the road about 100 yards from our perimeter. A short time later a group of about 20 ragged Marines emerged from a treeline and started up the road toward the trucks. The looked beat, but not beaten. They were so exhausted they could hardly walk and some of them were bandaged from wounds they had received. They were being sheperded along by a very young looking Gunnery Sergeant. That Gunny looked like a cross between Aldo Ray and Tab Hunter in the movie 'Battle Cry' and of course every Marine had seen the movie based on Leon Uris's book.

Those ragged Marines were having great difficulty getting on to the trucks and the young Gunny, weak and exhausted himself, was literally lifting 'his kids' on to the trucks. I had just crawled out of my fighting hole after standing radio watch. I saw what was happening and ran over to help load the guys and their gear on the trucks. The last man on the trucks was the young Gunny. He looked down at me with the most exhausted look I had every seen and managed a "thanks".

I asked him who they were, what unit they were with?

In exhaustion and sadness he replied, "We're what's left of Mike 3/5".

That young Gunny was our instructor at CAP School. Second Lieutenant Dennis Dinota, he had been given a battlefield commission. That is after he had been awarded the Bronze and Silver Stars. We talked for awhile he could hardly remember the incident but considering the condition he and his men were in, that's not surprising.

CAP School continued and we were learning more that seemed to apply to the war in Vietnam than anything we had been exposed to before. Some of the training was fun. We learned to play a Chinese version of chess called 'Co thoung', which many of us would play with local Vietnamese when we got out to our units and later in life. We all stood bunker watch, which was even nice. Standing up in the towers looking out at the waves of the South China Sea breaking on the beach was romantic. However, it would have been much more romantic if I could have found a beautiful blond girl standing there beside me, but there weren't any available.

Sunday September 10th things changed. Rumors started circulating around the compound that one of the Delta CAP units down by Hoi An had been overrun. Of course the rumors included one that had everyone convinced we were not going to finish the last week of CAP School and that we were going to be sent down there. Sunday passed and we returned to classes on Monday morning. For the next week CAP Delta 4 and what had happened there was brought up in nearly every class.

Those in command were busy carrying on a Post Mortems of what had happen to Delta 4. There had always been more brass than usual around CAG Headquarters but I had attributed that to our fine mess hall and the fact that the bungalow on the beach was home for the commanding officer of all the Marines in Vietnam. General Cushman was the commanding officer of III MAF. He came to the School and addressed our class a few days before graduation. He told us how important he thought our mission was to the war effort. I was again impressed and I wrote my Mother the following later.

***

Dear Mom,

Incidentally, I borrowed this paper.

(It was written on very nice Marine Corps Stationary)

Well I'm in C.A.P. school and will be for

the next 10 days, keep sending my mail to

the same address and it will be forewarded

until I get to a regular unit then I'll send

you my new address. Well I went to several

very interesting classes today. General Cushing,

the Commander of all the Marine forces in Vietnam,

a three star general no less came in and talked

to about 50 of us. This C.A.P. thing is going to

be a big thing. It will be the only way we

ever settle this thing and that's why I volunteered.

Ever since Reed got killed I've felt like I was (LCpl. Reed May, KIA)

skating this War, now I feel like I can do my

part. Some day when I feel literary I'll try

to explain. I passed up R & R in Australia

to come here. A song is playing on the radio

now that was popular when I was in I. T. R.

Wow! it seems strange only a year ago I

was in Boot Camp, man have things changed.

It's really nice here at this school, we sleep

on mattresses on bunks and we're only about

50 yards from the South China Sea and can go

swimming everyday and the chow is great. The

only thing bad is the fact that so many General's

are always coming here to inspect. It makes you

feel like your really part of an important program.

(Next night) Well the lights went out last night

befodre I had time to finish this letter. Well I'm

going to sign off and get some sleep pretty soon.

Well I'll write next time I get the chance.

Love

Steve

***

Some of the Marines at CAP School had come from 3rd Marine Division and had served north of Danang. Several of the Marines, including me, had been with the 1st Marine Division serving south of Danang. We knew we would be the Marines sent down to the Delta CAP units. I had made friends with guys from both groups but had buddied up with a guy named 'Mac' McEvoy. Mac was from Milwaukee and had served the first part of his tour in Vietnam with 1st Force Recon.

On graduation day we were told to fall out in two groups, the 1st Marine Division people and the 3rd Marine Division People. Mac was standing next to me as an officer went down the line telling each Marine what Company he was being sent too. As he went down the line a few were assigned to Alpha, then more to Bravo, then a few to Charlies CAP's and then about six of us were told were were being sent out to the Delta CAP units. I heard Mac say under his breath, "We're gonna die!"

III.

DELTA 4 OVERRUN

Through the memories of fellow CAP Marines and the process of elimination what follows is a list of the Marines who were Killed in Action at Delta 4 on September 10, 1967.

A report located by George Lepre while he was doing his graduate thesis read as follows;

"11 September (1967): CAP 3-4 was overrun by approximately 150 VC at 0330H. This action resulted in 7 USMC KIA; 7 USMC WIA; 2 PF (Popular Forces Vietnamese Militiamen) KIA; and 5 PF WIA."

This is the list of those KIA Marines who have been confirmed by Marines who served with them and know they were KIA on September 10, 1967:

Sgt. Donald Ray Pritchard, Cincinnati, Ohio, Single Caucasian, Born Dec. 26, 1941, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 50.

Sgt. Fred David St. George, Hinesburg, Vermont, Single, Caucasian, Born July 20, 1947, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 52.

LCpl. David Theodore Bryant, Trenton, N. J., Married Negro, Born Jan. 29, 1947, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 44.

The names of these Marines who were KIA at Delta 4 on Sept. 10th have been arrived at using the process of elimination. They were the only KIA Marines in Quang Nam from Hostile Fire on that date. Any confirmation would be appreciated:

LCpl. Lester Houx Jr., Ada, Ohio, Single Caucasian, Born July 26, 1948, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 45.

LCpl. Larry Ray Palmer, Elmhurst, Ill., Single Caucasian, Born Feb. 28, 1946, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 49.

LCpl. Timothy N. Smith Jr., Santa Ana, Calif., Single Caucasian, Born Oct. 9, 1947, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 51

LCpl. David Allen Scritchfield, Buffalo, N. Y., Single Caucasian, Born Dec. 13, 1948, CAP Delta 4, Panel 26E, Line 57.

Note: The last name on the list LCpl Scritchfield was listed as KIA on Sept. 11. He was the only Marine to die from Hostile Fire in Quang Nam Provence that day. It is assumed he is the seventh KIA Marine from the attack on CAP Delta 4.

The list of the 7 Marines who were wounded in the attack on September 10th is not available at this time. As it becomes available it will be listed.

IV.

ARRIVAL AT DELTA 4

After our assignments to the various CAP units a truck was waiting to take the Delta CAP Marines down to the Delta CAP Headquarters at Dien Ban. I beleive the truck was actually sent up from Dien Ban to get us but it may have been one of the 2nd CAG vehicles. There was a bunch of us in the back of that truck with all of our gear, which was very much. A seabag, 782 gear and our rifles was about the extent of our worldly possessions. I knew a few of the guys in the back of the truck. There was 'Mac' McEvoy, John Nettleton, Cpl. James Clay and a kid I thought was named Jergeson or Jorgeson. The kid I thought was named Jorgeson was I found out later Rodger 'Reggie' Regnier.

The trip through Danang and the outskirts of the city were familiar to me. As we travelled south the scene was only vaguely familiar. I had travelled this road on the way to Tam Ky during Operation Union II. It was one of those typicall beautiful days in Vietnam, sun shinning except for a brief afternoon shower. The road, Highway One, was packed with Lambrettas, bicyles and pedestrians when ever we appoaches a village or hamlet. Between these areas there only seemed to be buses loaded with people and countless military vehicles, mostly travelling in convoys.

Several miles South of Danang we turned East. A short distance later we entered Dien Ban and pulled into the Delta CAP Company headquarters compound. After 2nd CAG Headquarters this place looked pretty run down. There was one masonary building that was all open in the front and the rest of the place was low hooches and bunkers. Every stucture was faced in sand bags, a bad sign. We were told to get down from the truck and fall in by the Company Gunny, Staff Sgt. Esposito, who preferred to be called Gunny. He went down the line assigning us to the five Delta CAP units.

Rodger Regnier and a few others were assigned to Delta 1, then some to Delta 2, John Nettleton was sent over to Delta 3. Then the Gunny looked at Clay, McEvoy and me and said you boys are going to DELTA 4. In a whisper I heard 'Mac' say, "we're gonna die".

After being assigned our units the Gunny told us to stay in formation the C.O. Captain Joselane wanted to talk to us before we went on out to our units. We stood there for a little while, it was getting to be late afternoon. The Gunny reappeared and said the C.O. was tied up and we were to load up and driven on out to our units. Some of the Marines remained behind to be driven out to other Delta units but those going to Delta 3 and Delta 4 were told to load up. The truck went back to Highway One then proceeded on South. After a few miles we turned west on a dirt road and went a few miles. We approached a funny looking temple like structure surrounded by hooches and bunkers, that was Delta 3.

John and a few other guys unloaded their gear and we waved goodbye. It was getting nearer to sundown and nobody wanted to be on the road after sundown. We drove back out to Highway One and proceeded South for a short distance. The truck then pulled down a narrow rough road and headed east. After travelling a few miles we came to a clearing and there it sat Delta 4.

The main gate with a red gate house was open and we pulled into the barbed wire compound and made a sharp right into the secondary compound. There were two blown out bunkers on the Northside of the compound, one was still smoldering. There was a small ammo bunker off to our left and the command and communications bunker sat right in the middle of the compound. On the Southside of the compound, along the river, were two old and run down bunkers. Tents or rather shelter halves were set up all over the compound.

As we were climbing down from the truck a black sergeant and two other Marines approached us. We handed him our orders and he smiled and said, "Welcome to Delta 4!". I was in a kind of trance, that I often found myself in when experiencing totally new surroundings.

I said, "Sarge where do we stow our gear?"

The sergeant smiled and said, "Do you have a poncho, stow your gear under your ponco, that will be your new home." He then proceeded to tell Clay he would be assigned to the fireteam of the Marines who had walked up with him. He then told Cpl Torres he would get 'Mac' and me.

Torres led us over to an area where we were to set up some kind of shelter using our ponchos. He then asked us how long we had been in Vietnam and what we had been doing. 'Mac' had been with 1st Force Recon and Torres seemed pleased to have a new man with combat experience. He then asked me what I'd been doing. I told him I'd been carrying a PRC 25 on patrols off Hill 34 just outside of Danang.

He said, "Oh, so you've been in the rear!" I nodded and said more or less, but I had called in artillery and medi-evacs. That seemed to please him and he told me I'd be carrying the radio in his fireteam. He started to walk away then turned and said, "We've got a patrol in three hours."

'Mac' had kneeled down and was searching his sea bag for his poncho. He looked up me and groaned, "We're gonna die."

V.

THE FIRST DAYS AT

CAMP GRENADA

I tried to catch some sleep but to much was going on and I was a little anxious about going out on a patrol in an area I wasn't familiar with. 'Mac' and I had tried to settle in as best we could on what was left of a blown out bunker but neither of us could sleep. We just laid back smoking our cigarettes and talking about our previous units, our experiences in Vietnam and of course home.

There were two squads of Marines 'Grunts' from 5th Marine Regiment who had been assigned to Delta 4 for Temporary Additional Duty (TAD) since the unit had been overrun. They had only been there about 5 days and weren't that familiar with the area yet themselves. They had spent the summer months on several Operations in the Que Son Mountain area. They had been on the rough end of Operation Union I and II and had just returned from an Operation that had results in several of their friend KIA and many serious WIA'S. They had taken sand bags and shelter halves and built a lean-to close to where 'Mac' and I had camped out. They stayed to themselves and rarely said much to those of us who were in there unit.

The patrol wasn't scheduled to go out before 10:00 that night but before sundown I thought it might be a good idea to walk around the unit and see how the unit was set up. It was a mess the bunkers, except the Comm (Communications) bunker were either badly damaged or blown up. Wreckage was everywhere. The bunkers weren't connected by land line telephones and there was a serious shortage of automatic weapons. The P.F.'s were gathered in a group of hovels constructed of everything imaginable and all seemed to be in a small area in the southwest corner of the compound near the river. Walking around talking the them and the other CAP Marines I learned that some of them would be going out on Patrol with us and the rest would stand bunker watch with the Marines.

I stopped in the Comm bunker to check out the radio I would be using and much to my surprise and concern found out we only had an old PRC10 radio for patrols. I immediately started trying to calibrate it while I still had some daylight to see the dials. I also tried to set it using the tape antenna. Cpl. Torres walked up behind me and told me that it wouldn't work with that antenna, I would have to use the whip antenna. He then said, "The damn thing doesn't work half the time anyway!"

I looked over my shoulder and said, "Do you have any new batteries?"

He shook his head and said, "We've tried them but these radios are older than we are, hell our Dads probably used them. It usually won't work once we've gotten a few hundred yards out." I did not like the sound of all this. I had been using PRC 25 radios at 1st Anti-Tank Battalion and hadn't used a PRC 10 since ONTOS School at Camp Pendleton. I went ahead and attached the whip antenna. Torres started to walk into the Comm bunker and I stood up and followed him into the bunker.

The Sarge and 'Doc' Newman were eating C-Rations. I must have been hungry because it actually smelled good. The Comm bunker sat had a wood floor and was build higher than most bunkers (I would find out why later). The Sarge's cot and Doc's were in there with a table for the radio and maps. 'Doc' looked up at Torres and said, "There's the overlay map for tonight's patrol." Torres walked over and looked down at the map and shock his head.

"Great the East Ville!" I walked over and looked down at the map trying to get my bearing. Torres pointed at the map, "Here we are and the points marked on the map are our check points for tonight, you call in when we reach each check point."

I nodded and said, "Where's my map?" Torres looked over at me, with a little surprise in his face.

"The radioman has never had a map before, I'll just tell you when we get to the check points"

"What about pre-grids for artillery?" I asked. Torres seemed a little surprised and pleased.

"You really have done his before haven't you"

I nodded and said, "I need a map so I can familiarize myself with the TAOR, set up grids in case we need artillery and figure out the best place to land medi-vacs if we need them." Doc got up and started rummaging around the top of the desk and produced a second map wrapped in plastic. I started marking the same points on my new map that appeared on the one Torres had.

I looked over at Sarge and said, "Who do we call for Pizza delivery?" He grinned and pointed at 'Doc'.

'Doc' tries to keep track of the C-Rats." I noticed there was a big stack of C-ration boxes on the South wall of the bunker.

'Doc' turned around and said, "Just take some out to your position." I grabbed four boxes of C-rations, my map and the radio and headed back to my position. As I approached 'Mac' I tossed him his two of the boxes of C-rations. He immediately reached for his 'John Wayne' can opener on his dog tag chain and started singing.

"Hello Mudder, Hello Fodder, Here I am at Camp Grenada," the Grunts overheard this and joined in, "Camp is very entertaining and they say well have some fun if it starts raining, You remember Leonard Skinner he got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner,.." Some of the Marines knew all the lyrics, after a fashion, and finished the song. Then they started making up the words as they went applying them to our situation in Vietnam with some words that would make the matinee ladies blush. We all had a good laugh. I even managed to get canned apricots, my favorite C-ration treat.

The night fell slowly but very dark with almost no moon, I like that. I fiddled around with the radio trying to get the best possible reception but it didn't seem to help much. Then I remembered I had forgotten to pick up flares when I was in the Comma bunker. I walked back over to the bunker, Torres was in there talking to the Sarge and 'Doc' John. I stepped up into the bunker and said, "I need the flares." Torres reached over on the desk and handed me three flares, a red, green and illumination flare. In the light you could see at the ends what color they were. I asked if they had any kind of tape. 'Doc' reached in this bag and tossed me a roll of tape. I made one wrap one red one, two on the green on and three on the illumination flare. The three of them looked at me wondering what I was doing.

I said, "I once had an embarrassing situation on a dark night when I couldn't tell which color flare was which. If I loose radio contact I'll pop a green flare before we try to re-enter the compound" They grinned and nodded.

Torres said, "Well, lets saddle up and move out." We walked out of the bunker and the other member of the patrol were waiting. 'Mac' had all his gear on and was leaning against the bunker. The patrol was made up of Torres, 'Mac', one of the other CAP Marines, three of the grunts and three P.F.'s. One of the Grunts was going to walk point and Torres started lining the rest of us up. He asked 'Mac' if he'd ever pulled 'tail end Charlie' he nodded and fell in behind the rest of us. We walked out on the East West road and started moving concertina wire and finally reached the main gate and opened it. One of the Marines who was remaining back on bunker watch closed the gate behind us.

I always felt like I was in a daze when I was in new surrounding, day or night. I really hated to make my first patrol in a new area at night before I had a chance to get familiar with an area. We were off now leaving through the gate on the West side of the perimeter wire and circling around it on the North then back East to the road in the East ville. The patrol was like so many I had made in Vietnam. We walked so slowly it was hard to keep your balance and like always I was soaked in sweat in just a few minutes. The road, the ville, the rice paddies and the trails all looked like those I had traveled on patrols before. There was a difference, this was farther out in 'Indian Country' and this was the Delta 4 TAOR. It wasn't hard to remember that only a week before our unit had been overrun.

There was that one other difference in this patrol. The radio I was carrying, the PRC 10, it was an anitquated Korean, maybe World War II, vintage radio with that six foot whip antenna. That antenna made walking through the foliage difficult at times. The biggest problem was keeping the radio calibrated, it didn't have preset channels like the PRC 25 radios I had been accustomed to at 1st Anti-Tank Battalion. I struggled with it all night long, that radio had to go.

We were out for about four hours and when we got back 'Mac' and I were beat. As we were heading back to our position Torres said, "We've got the patrol tomorrow morning, We'll leave about 9:00." We looked at each other and stumbled back to our positions. When we got there we dropped to the ground and fell asleep.

GYSGT. DENNIS DINOTA RECEIVING THE SILVER STAR FROM GENERAL NICKERSON. DENNIS WAS LATER COMMISSIONED 2ndLT. DENNIS DINOTA.