Hail and Farewell
submitted by: Alva Leon Matheson
Joe Carr rode with me on a couple of VR missions for area familiarization and orientation, and to give me a look at our other two operating locations, Song Be and Hon Quan. Because of our location, west of Bien Hoa and north of Tan Son Nhut, we were designated back-up FACs for the CMD, which included the city of Saigon, Tan Son Nhut, and the immediate surrounding area. Located at the southern tip of the Iron Triangle, we were in an interesting place to say the least! Names like An Son, Ben Cat, Lai Khe, Michelin, Quan Loi, An Loc, Hon Quan, Song Be, Cau Song Be, Ben Suc, Bu Dop, Dong Xoai and others would soon roll easily off my tongue, but for now they were jumbled up in a confused, but cautiously open mind.
On the evening of 19 October 1966, Lieutenant Colonel Poore informed me that he had arranged for me to ride the next day in the command helicopter and observe a “seal and search” operation to be conducted by the 5th ARVN in the village of Tan Than Dong. TTD was located on the western edge of our Division Tactical Area just east of a large swampy lagoon which provided a natural barrier to anyone trying to escape the area in that direction. A major highway ran directly through the village, and the plan was to seal the road both north and south using helicopter assault troops, converge on the village, ID everyone, then conduct “pacification” via medical support, rations, rice, etc.
The command helicopter was a US Army UH-1 “slick “ – I mean a real slick, no armor or armament of any kind! We were a pilot, co-pilot and crew chief – all US. We were hauling the 5th ARVN CG and his OPSO/Translator along with the Advisory Team Commander and his Sergeant Major and one out-of-place feeling AF pilot – me. I did understand that this mission would be a good opportunity to get a first-hand look at how ground operations were conducted, and since that was what I’d be supporting as a FAC, that I needed to learn as much as possible.
We took off early enough to be in position to observe the goings-on from a relatively safe orbit over the lagoon. Sure enough, right on time we saw the helicopters, about 14 in all, approaching from the southeast. Half of them lined up and landed on the road south of town and the other half swung to the east to go up and make the north end seal. Unfortunately, there was another road running northeast out of TTD to a laterite pit, and that’s where they landed!
The General went ballistic! We could see black pajama clad figures running out of town to the north, so the General made it clear to the Advisory Team Commander, who had on the only headset in the back, to order the pilot to land on the damn road right now! So be it. As we were landing we started taking fire from both sides of the road and the Sergeant Major yelled, “Anybody got an automatic weapon?” I indicated I had my CAR, which turned out to be the only one on board, so he yells an order, “Fall-out and lay down a field of fire!” – all great infantry talk. Thankfully I had been in the National Guard during WWII, had been through infantry basic, and had some inkling of what he meant.
So there I was, close to getting my ass shot off and thinking, “I may not get to put in even one airstrike, which is what I was sent here to do.” After squatting and silencing the fire on our west, I moved around, lay prone, and proceeded to quiet down the east perimeter as well. By now the helicopters were in the process of lifting off the laterite pit road to complete the north seal. Suddenly, from behind us, all hell broke loose! Trees along a ditch bank crossing the road were turning upside down to the accompaniment of explosions, smoke and general chaos! The Sergeant Major calmly stated, “Friendly artillery, no sweat.” I had never heard incoming artillery of any kind before in my life, so I didn’t feel real comfortable with his “No sweat” attitude. Looking toward town, I saw several black-clad figures tripping along the road toward us so I corked off a magazine on full-automatic, and they threw up their hands.
By now the helicopters had landed north of us and disgorged their troops. As the ARVN soldiers went by us toward town, I remembered thinking, “They sure do look small,” but as they started taking the guys with their hands up into custody, I realized they probably would fight big! I was still lying on the ground and starting to relax a little when the Advisory Team Commander came up behind me. Since he was a full colonel, I jumped up and stood at shaky attention. “Well, Major,” he said, “How does it feel to be a Combat Infantryman?”
I answered in all truthfulness, “Sir, if it’s all the same to you, you can have it! I’d a helluva lot rather be up in an O-1!”
He replied, “Well, you made the seal and looking at the body count, you earned your CIB today. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir (I guess).”
I noticed our pilot standing off to one side trying to light a cigarette so I walked over to him and said, “I’m brand new in country, and this is the type of stuff I’ll be supporting on my tour. I suppose it’s old hat to you.”
He finally got his cigarette lit and replied, “If so, good luck to all concerned. Today is the last day of my tour. I’m booked on a flight out tomorrow. This was supposed to be a piece of cake! Welcome to Vietnam, and goodbye!”
That afternoon I put in my first airstrikes, F-100s and F-5s, along that road to the north of TTD. Some of the bad guys were still there, and had been dumb enough to shoot at my little gray airplane.