Echo Among Warriors: Close Combat in the Jungle of Vietnam

1

1st Platoon, Lima Company, Combat Patrol, 0630, 12 September 1967, 7 Klicks Northwest KSCB—The impenetrable triple-canopy jungle formed a green screen, blocking the sun’s warmth and trapping the early morning coolness between the steep banks of the concealed stream. The soothing murmur of the shallow water flowing over its bed of mud and pebbles added an air of tranquility to the jungle stillness, a silence so complete that even the drone of an insect disturbed the serenity. Dense undergrowth and stands of bamboo thickets hugged the steep banks, restricting movement to the streambed. Wild boar and deer prints abounded in the soft mud, marking the stream as a pathway for the jungle’s larger inhabitants. The imprints recorded their passage, providing visual proof of their existence long after they had passed through.

Near the branch of a long-dead tree, a half-concealed imprint, unlike the others, had attracted the attention of a heavily armed party of men who crouched in the shadows. Barely visible, they scanned the foliage looking for the tell-tale signs of recent activity. Contrasting shades of green vegetation formed patterns of camouflage that played havoc with their surveillance in the soft light. One man emerged from the shadows in a hunter’s crouch, rifle at the ready. He squatted near the downed tree limb, stared intently at the streambed. Just behind and to his right another man shifted into position to cover him with his rifle, an unconscious but carefully choreographed move. Rising slowly, the scout cautiously moved back into cover and made a series of gestures with his hands, which were relayed along the dispersed column. His movements telegraphed a signal of danger while silently requesting the leader of the patrol to come forward.

Second Lieutenant John Littleton and his radio operator, Lance Corporal Ken Sanders, stepped out of the shadows and moved forward along the column of men. Neither was distinguishable from the other 25 Marines of the platoon, except that Littleton’s uniform was recently issued, the mark of a new man. Both wore helmets with a cloth leaf-patterned camouflage cover, gray-green tropical uniforms, protective flak jackets, and rubber-soled canvas and leather jungle boots. They carried similar green packs, except that Sanders’s bulged with a PRC-25 radio, only the handset and cord visible. An old salt, he concealed the radio to keep from being identified as a radio operator. He had even gone so far as to bend its light metal antenna down through loops in his shoulder harness to keep from being singled out by North Vietnamese snipers, who viewed radiomen and officers as special targets. Neither man wore rank insignia for the same reason, particularly the officer, who didn’t want his shiny gold bars to attract the eye of the sniper. Littleton also carried a rifle, rationalizing that a pistol was an obvious leader’s weapon. For him the rifle was a lifeline; he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with the standard Model 1911A-1 .45-caliber service automatic. Its heavy recoil caused him to shoot high and to the right on a pistol target and, much to his dismay, he barely qualified with the damn thing.

As they reached the front of the column, Littleton squatted next to the lead man, trying to place his face with a name. It came to him: Kelly, a tough Irish street kid from the projects of south Boston, who was reported to be the best point and bush man in the company. Go figure it. Leaning forward, his helmet almost touching that of the point man, Littleton whispered, Kelly, what’s going on?

Lieutenant, the rifleman responded, pointing to the tree limb, there’s a print in the mud on the other side, and it looks fresh. Kelly waited for his new platoon commander to absorb the information. At this point Littleton was an unknown to Kelly and the men of the 3rd Platoon. They agreed he had more positives than negatives: he could shoulder his load, didn’t pull rank, and was easy to talk to within the bounds of military decorum. Nevertheless, the big question remained: how would he react in combat?

Do you see anything else?

Kelly hesitated. No sir, but it’s damn creepy. The hairs on my neck are standing straight up. I can feel gooks out there!

Littleton made up his mind. He told Kelly and Sanders to cover him as he went out to look. Easing out into the middle of the stream, he bent down, feeling totally exposed. Jesus Christ, he thought, what the hell am I doing here? I’m going to get my ass blown away. With that encouraging thought in mind, he quickly examined the mud and spotted a fresh print. The damn thing looked like a tire track, puzzling him until he remembered the North Vietnamese often wore sandals made from cut-up car tires, using inner tube strips to hold them on their feet, creating a poor man’s Birkenstock-type flip-flops. The troops called them Ho Chi Minh Sandals and drolly claimed they were good for 100,000 miles. As the realization hit him that a North Vietnamese rifleman might be aiming in at this very moment, his muscles involuntarily tightened and adrenalin surged through his blood. His head snapped up, eyes wide, trying to pierce the uncertain visibility. Get the hell out of here, you dumb shit! his brain screamed. It was all he could do to keep from jumping into the shadows, but he forced himself to slowly pull back into cover.

Christ Kelly, you’re right, he whispered. That’s a tire track, and there’s no damn car in the middle of this jungle.

Staff Sergeant Brown, the platoon sergeant, suddenly grabbed the officer by the shoulder and heatedly whispered, Christ, Lieutenant, what the hell are ya doing? You shouldn’t be out here, you’ll … and left the rest of the sentence unspoken. But there was little doubt in Littleton’s mind that he was going to say, fuck it up.

Littleton felt a flush of anger—it wasn’t the first time the impertinent SNCO had tried to undermine him—but kept it in check. Littleton suspected Brown resented him because he had been the platoon’s temporary commander until he arrived. A pre-war Regular with more than 20 years’ service, Brown didn’t want to give it up to some snot-nosed second lieutenant. The word among the officers was that the man must have screwed up big time to remain a staff sergeant at a time of rapid promotion. Still, Littleton had tried hard to establish a professional relationship, but Brown had rebuffed his attempts. He sensed the men were scared of Brown and welcomed the change of commanders.

What’s a footprint doing in the stream? Littleton asked, ignoring Brown’s insubordination because he needed the veteran’s input. Misreading his intent, Brown thought the young officer slow to grasp the importance of the discovery. Instead of offering advice, he replied cuttingly, Lieutenant, you better notify the skipper, implying that Littleton didn’t know what to do and should ask the company commander for help. With a sigh, Littleton realized he wasn’t getting through to Brown, yet he had to admit the man had a good point. Sanders, get the skipper on the horn, he instructed his radio man.

Looking Brown in the eye, in no uncertain terms he directed him to move a machine gun team up behind the lead fire team, in case they needed more fire power.

Brown glared at him for a moment and then grudgingly nodded, adding, Lieutenant, I don’t like this place one damn bit. A Girl Scout troop with a BB gun could knock the hell out of us. In a final act of insolence, he spit out a stream of tobacco juice, and stalked off to bring the M-60 machine gun team forward.

Lieutenant, I’ve got the skipper on the horn. Littleton took the handset. Lima Six, this is Lima One Actual. Over. Immediately the company commander’s voice filled the earpiece: Roger, One, I’ve got you loud and clear. What’ve you got? As usual, Captain Anderson was direct, without all the military formality of some of the other officers in the battalion.

Lima Six, we’ve found a fresh footprint in a streambed heading northwest. Over.

Roger. Understand. What’s your position? With a start, Littleton realized that he didn’t have the coordinates and had violated one of the skipper’s key tactical principles: know where you are at all times.

Almost by reflex, he reached into the cargo pocket of his utility trousers and took out the acetate-covered 1:50,000 tactical map. Hastily he traced the patrol route from the company’s night defensive perimeter, out along the ridgeline, down its slope to the streambed. The hump down had been a ball buster. More than once, men had slipped on the steep slope, crashing through the vegetation, making a hell of a racket.

Estimating the patrol had humped about a thousand meters, Littleton located where he thought they were on the map. But what if he was wrong? Panic set in as the skipper prodded him for his location. Calm down, he cautioned himself. You can do this. As he studied the map, the brown contour lines gradually sharpened into focus, and he could see how they related to the actual ground the platoon had traversed. His confidence rising, he realized instinctively that he was right.

Using the company’s simple code, a four-digit coordinate designated by a car model, he keyed the handset: Lima Six. From Ford, right four, up six. Over.

Captain Anderson repeated the coordinates and said, Wait. Out.

Littleton relaxed for a moment, picturing the captain hunched over his map as he translated the code into a location. It was a simple but effective method for encrypting coordinates, for without the four-digit base it was impossible to decipher a location. As a further safeguard, any model car could be used. The platoon commanders had derived great pleasure from using obscure manufacturers until Captain Anderson clamped down after a radio operator misspelled Dusenburg and almost called in artillery on the jokester. The company usually had three or four base coordinates, and Lord help the radio operator who sent them in the clear. Anderson believed the NVA monitored the Americans’ radio traffic for just such a screw-up.

Littleton’s reverie was interrupted by the muffled sounds of movement. Looking up, he spotted the machine gun team approaching. The man in front was a hulk, well over six feet, with a huge chest that was barely protected by the extra-large flak jacket. His biceps were so large he had to cut the sleeves out of his blouse. Two fifty-round belts of linked 7.62mm ammunition were wrapped around his chest, Pancho Villa-style, and he carried the 23-pound M-60 machine gun like it was a toy. Several tubes of gun lubricant were stuck under a piece of rubber inner tube wrapped around his helmet. Struggling to keep up, his sweat-soaked assistant gunner, a much smaller man, carried only a rifle and two boxes of ammunition. His newly issued utilities gave him away as a new man, not yet acclimated to the heat and humidity. Littleton told them to stay behind the first fire team and be ready to support if the riflemen ran into trouble.

The big man nodded and, in a low, confident voice, replied, Don’t worry, Lieutenant. We’ll be there when you need us.

There was something about the big machine gunner that impressed Littleton. What’s your name, Marine?

Petrovitch, sir, he responded, looking directly at his assistant. I’m Irish, he said, the hint of a smile on his broad Polish face. With that, he moved to his position.

Shaking his head and smiling despite himself, Littleton marveled at the chutzpa of the man.

Sanders passed him the handset. Lieutenant, it’s the Six, he said. Littleton keyed it and said, Lima Six, Lima One. Over.

Roger, One, I’ve got your position. Go ahead and follow that track, but be careful. The gooks might be using the area as a base camp. I’m moving off the ridge now to support you, but it’s going to take time to get there, so watch yourself. Out.

Littleton flipped the handset back to Sanders, looked over at Kelly, caught his eye, and gave him a head nod.

Kelly rose from a crouch and slowly moved forward along the left fork of the steam. Here and there, others rose from the shadows and moved out, maintaining a five-meter spread along both sides of the streambed. As the last man of the first fire team came past, Littleton and Sanders stepped in behind, only three men back from Kelly. He knew Staff Sergeant Brown would disapprove of this exposed position, but, what the hell, he needed to see what was going on. In the back of his mind he could hear his tactics instructor stressing that a platoon commander should be where he could best control his unit. The instructor, an old Korean War veteran, had cautioned the class that a lieutenant’s job was to lead, not fight as a rifleman. That lesson, Littleton remembered, had been taught in an air-conditioned classroom—a far cry from the damn hot jungle. And, besides, he had no intention of getting his ass shot off.

Littleton watched Kelly creep slowly along the streambed. The point man seemed to glide along, noiselessly, his head and eyes constantly moving, searching for man-made signs that disturbed the pattern of the jungle. His partner, on the opposite side of the stream, acted in concert, ready to cover Kelly with protective fire. Both men had their M-16s on full automatic, safeties off.

Kelly stopped, squatted down, and closely examined something at his feet. Standing, he glanced toward the left, looked ahead, and then did a double take. His eyes grew wide, a look of horror on his face. He threw himself against the opposite stream bank, M-16 spitting fire, shouting, Gooks! Gooks! Bunkers! Bunkers!

Suddenly, he collapsed in a heap as a high-velocity 7.62mm round tore through the front panel of his flak jacket and shattered a bone in his right shoulder. The explosive power of the steel-jacketed bullet shredded flesh and muscle, and propelled the misshapen slug through the back panel, spraying blood as it exited. The terrific force of the blow lifted Kelly off his feet and knocked him unconscious, face down in the streambed, with tendrils of blood staining the water.

The next man in the column, Lance Corporal Tommy Ward, quickly recovered from the shock of the sudden violence and emptied his magazine into the undergrowth. With the last round, he threw himself against the bank and frantically clawed at his ammunition pouch for another magazine. A loud crashing in the underbrush jolted him to attention, as a North Vietnamese soldier rolled off the bank and fell at his feet. In a blind panic, Ward swung his rifle and clubbed the NVA in the head, again and again, before he realized that he was beating the shit out of a cadaver.

Ward fell back against the bank, his whole body shaking from fear and adrenaline. As he lay there, he heard the distinctive snap of AK-47 rounds breaking the sound barrier as they passed close overhead. The third man, Private First Class Steve Rito, dove into cover without firing a shot, his survival instinct overriding his training.

Registering the shouts and gunfire, Littleton stepped into the middle of the stream, hoping to see what was happening. He eyes focused on Kelly just at the moment of the bullet’s impact, the ghastly sight indelibly etched in his mind. He clearly saw the strike of the bullet. A puff of dust erupted from the flak jacket and the blood sprayed as it exited. He would always remember the way Kelly’s face grimaced with the shock and pain of the wound.

For long seconds, Littleton stood glued to the spot, oblivious to his own safety and totally focused on his wounded Marine, lying helpless a few yards away, still under fire. Stop shooting at him; he’s hit, out of the fight! his mind screamed. A rage filled him and, without conscious thought, he ran to the wounded man and straddled him while firing his M-16 on full automatic. Rounds thudded into the bank and snapped through the air around him, but he wasn’t hit.

Suddenly, off to his left, the M-60 machine gun opened up and 7.62mm rounds scythed the undergrowth in front of him. Petrovitch!

The big gunner was an awesome sight as he charged down the streambed, machine gun spitting fire, every fifth round a red tracer. He swung the muzzle back and forth, firing controlled bursts into the NVA position. The stream of bullets tore at the vegetation, raking the ground and hitting several log-reinforced bunkers. By chance, one round entered an embrasure, striking an NVA rifleman in the face, blowing his head into the faces of his two comrades. Hiding in a spider trap overlooking the two Americans in the stream, another soldier winced at their cries of terror, cradling his head in his hands and ducking down. With the two positions out of the fight, there was a noticeable drop in fire. At the same time, Petrovitch ran out of ammunition and took cover against the streambed. He quickly fed another belt into the gun and opened fire into several bunkers that he could see beneath the trees. His assistant gunner joined in with his M-16.

Overcoming his fear, Rito started firing while Ward crawled up the bank to try to spot other bunkers.

Brown ran forward just behind Petrovitch, gesturing and shouting to the men around him, getting them into position to return fire. Littleton spotted him and, in that split second, realized that that’s what he should have been doing. Christ, he thought, I’m that rifleman the old vet warned us about, and now I’m gonna get my ass shot off. The thought became a prophecy as a stick-like object sailed out of the undergrowth and landed with a splash at his feet. For a moment he stood, stunned, wondering what it was. Then, as Brown yelled Grenade! it came to him: it was a Chicom grenade. Paralyzed, like a deer in a headlight, he waited for it to explode. Nothing happened; the damn thing just lay there. A dud.

The next thing Littleton knew, Brown grabbed him by his flak jacket and roughly pulled him to cover against the bank, alongside Petrovitch. Jesus Christ, Lieutenant, you’re the luckiest son of a bitch alive, Brown growled. And then he crawled over to Kelly and started to pull him to safety. A torrent of emotions swirled in Littleton as he stared at the wounded man. He forced himself to grab Kelly’s flak jacket, the cloth covered with congealing blood. Repulsed by the sticky blood on his hand, he fought to maintain composure.

Doc Zimmer, the platoon corpsman, shoved between the two men. He cut through the shirt to expose a mass of torn flesh. Working quickly, the corpsman covered the wound with large battle dressings wrapped tightly to staunch the flow of blood. After tying off the compresses, he readied a bottle of Serum Albumin for injection into Kelly’s arm, hoping the blood expander would stabilize the wounded man until he could be evacuated, which had better be pretty damn quick. There was no doubt in his mind that Kelly was an emergency medevac.

Mesmerized by this drama, Littleton was oblivious to the shouting and gunfire around him. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the jumbled image of pain and suffering. Things were happening too fast. He was at a loss for what to do. The expression on his face reflected a mixture of shock and disbelief.

Brown saw the look and shouted, Lieutenant, if you don’t get off your ass, we’re going to be in big trouble.

Petrovitch joined in, I’m running out of ammo. We better do something quick.

Snap out of it, Littleton chided himself. They’re depending on you. As he looked at the men waiting for him to make a decision, the realization hit him: he was the man. This wasn’t a training exercise, it was live, and in living color. His indecision could cost lives, including his own.

He forced himself to raise his head above the bank to get a better idea of what faced them. For the first time, he noticed the trail leading from the stream up the slope. How had he missed it? The well-worn brown path clearly stood out against the green undergrowth. Just to the left, about five meters away, he saw the bunker, a mound of dirt three feet high with a rectangular firing slit cut into its face. It was so well camouflaged that he would have missed it if the body lying in front of the position had not drawn his attention. Half hidden by foliage, a dead NVA soldier lay face down, a faded green pith helmet still on his head. Kelly probably killed him in the opening exchange of gunfire, Littleton thought.

A burst of automatic weapons fire cracked over his head, forcing him down, but not before he spotted several other suspicious-looking mounds scattered beneath the trees. Turning to Brown, he exclaimed, I saw at least six bunkers, and there’s probably more further up the slope. It looks like we’re in the middle of a big complex.

Brown nodded his head in agreement and added, The gooks’ll shoot the shit out of us if we try to take them head-on. And if we stay here much longer, they’ll try to get behind us. Littleton realized that the platoon sergeant had stated the obvious without helping to find a solution.

Littleton looked over at Doc Zimmer, who butted in, We’ll never be able to carry Kelly out. He needs to be evacuated as soon as possible.

As he struggled for an answer, Littleton saw Ward working his way up the column, hunched over, staying out of the line of fire. His uniform was soaked with sweat and he was breathing hard. Obviously keyed up, he squatted down and tried to catch his breath. Lieutenant, I found the flank of the NVA position, and it wasn’t defended, he panted. I worked my way through the jungle almost to the top of the ridge and didn’t see a soul. Littleton listened intently, evaluating the information against what he knew of their situation. His face was a study in anxious concentration as he spoke to Brown. If we put a squad along this streambed and set up a base of fire, the other two squads might be able to envelope their flank. What do you think?

Brown nodded, clearly recognizing that it would be the officer’s ass on the line, not his, if something went wrong. It’s a good plan, Lieutenant. It’ll split the platoon, but I think it’s the only thing we can do right now. He hesitated, leaving the obvious question hanging in the air. Who would lead the highly vulnerable flankers? They both knew that Corps doctrine held that the officer would lead the two squads.

Littleton settled it. You take the 1st Squad and the machine gun team, and I’ll go with the other two.

Brown showed the barest trace of a smile as he sarcastically replied, Roger, Lieutenant, we’ll keep ’em busy, but you better watch your ass. Then he turned and shouted for the 1st Squad to come up.

2

Lima Company, Night Defense Position, 0700, 12 September, 6 Klicks Northwest KSCB—Jesus, Gunny, how the hell can you eat cold ham and muthers this early in the morning? a smiling Captain Andy Anderson asked the older man, who was casually munching on the remains of a C-ration breakfast.

"It’s easy Skipper. I just add Tabasco sauce, a slice of raw onion, throw in a couple of hot peppers, and—voilá—a meal fit for a Marine," replied Gunnery Sergeant Mike Smith.

Anderson just shook his head. The easy banter between the two underlay a close relationship stretching back over the past several months. A relationship based on mutual professional respect and trust forged during combat operations along the DMZ in the spring and early summer of 1967. Neither man could quite understand how they had survived when most of the other officers and staff noncommissioned officers were lost, but they took comfort in knowing they could absolutely depend on one another in any crisis. There was one other link between the two: Anderson was a former enlisted Marine with 12 years’ service who had been commissioned a temporary officer during the Corps’ rapid expansion. This was his second Vietnam tour; he had volunteered to return to the war early in the wake of a failed marriage. Smith was a bachelor whose entire life revolved around the Corps.

The company had been ordered to the Khe Sanh plateau for rest and refit after a particularly brutal engagement in the lowlands, which left it whittled down to barely one full-strength platoon. Replacements flooded in, a mixture of Marines right out of boot camp, returning wounded, and men transferred from other units, all of whom swelled the roster to five officers and one hundred fifty enlisted men—still seventy short of the official Marine Corps table-of-organization strength. Moreover, excluding sick, lame, and those on R&R, the company’s actual field strength mustered between 120 and 130 Marines at any one time. Each of Anderson’s three rifle platoons had a foxhole strength of 30 to 35 men, even after they had been beefed up with men from the weapons platoon. The remainder of the company served in the small headquarters section as radio operators, clerks, and supplymen.

Following two weeks of manning foxholes along the base perimeter, the company was helo-lifted to the hilltop landing zone it now occupied. The mission was to search the jungle for a reported NVA build-up in the area. Due to of a shortage of helicopters, the lift had not gone well. By the time the last of the company arrived, it was almost dusk. Rather than move off the hill in the dark, Anderson elected to dig in and establish a night defensive position. At first light, he sent Littleton’s 1st Platoon down the ridge on a patrol route approximately one klick through the jungle. The remainder of the company was in the process of finishing its morning ritual—chow, cleaning weapons, and undertaking personal hygiene—and was preparing to move out. Anderson was anxious to get off the hill; the NVA had a nasty habit of mortaring the hell out of anyone who stayed in one place too long.

Anderson had just finished shaving, an ingrained habit even in the field, when his radio operator, Corporal Eric Johnson, announced that Lieutenant Littleton was on the horn. Dispensing with the usual formal radio procedure, Anderson quickly learned the patrol had found fresh footprints in a streambed, but it took some time for Littleton to report his location. That was understandable, Anderson thought, as it was the young officer’s first time in the jungle, and even experienced patrol leaders get lost. By this time, the command group had gathered around him: Gunny Smith; the company executive officer, 1st Lieutenant Gary Miller; and the forward observer, 2nd Lieutenant Tom Napoline. Anderson located the patrol’s position on his map, pointing out the rough terrain, which not only made foot movement extremely difficult but was easy for the NVA to hide in. I don’t like him out there all by himself, he observed as he scanned the faces of his command group. If the intelligence reports are true, the damn gooks could be there in force.

You’re right, Skipper, Miller interjected, and if they’re in bunkers, Littleton could be in real trouble.

Anderson thought for a moment and reached a decision, Gunny, pass the word: we’ll move out in ten minutes.

Aye aye, sir, Smith answered and broke away from the group, shouting for the platoon sergeants.

Next, Anderson turned to Miller and Napoline. Gunny, get the platoon commanders up here, I want to talk with them, and, Tom, start thinking how we can get artillery support in that mess down there.

Next, taking the handset from Johnson, Anderson told Littleton that the company was moving out in support, but wouldn’t be there for some time. He cautioned the rookie platoon commander to be careful, which they both knew was futile under the circumstances.

Anderson thought about Littleton, remembering the young officer’s enthusiasm as he prepared to move out earlier that morning on his first independent patrol. The youngster had taken quite a few notes at the patrol briefing, making sure he got all the details that would be needed to give instructions to his squad leaders. It was almost comical to see the look of concentration on his face as he tried to organize the information into his own patrol order. Although he had only been with the company two weeks, the tall, good-looking youngster showed a lot of promise. Anderson had kept a watchful eye on him during the company’s stint on the lines and noted that Littleton showed maturity beyond his years and experience. He seemed to have a natural ability to lead Marines—one that might be severely tested in the next few hours.

Lieutenant Dick Frazier, a tall, well-proportioned officer, strode over to the CP from the 2nd Platoon area. The most experienced of the lieutenants, he had been with the company three months and had proven to be a good troop leader, although he had not seen any heavy combat. He was well liked and respected by the men for his plain talk and down-to-earth leadership style. It didn’t hurt that he was a former All-American football player, who, at six foot three and a muscular 215 pounds, liked to physically mix it up with the troops. In one memorable football game at Khe Sanh, he had knocked hell out of half the platoon, and they loved him for it. A slow talking Southerner, he was an aggressive, competitive officer who hid these traits behind a studied languid manner. His dry sense of humor and keen intellect livened up the infrequent command group bull sessions.

Lieutenant Gary Larson, Frazier’s nemesis from the 3rd Platoon, a Midwest farm boy, arrived a few seconds