OP Birmingham: The Beginning
They always talked about the heat. No one told me it would rain so much. We'd arrived at the FOB (Forward Operating Base) ahead of the rest of the platoon. We were supposed to get things "set up", our unit was going to be the main effort of the operation and we needed to get our ducks in a row. We setup some mines on our exposed side and got radio communication setup with higher. By the time our platoon got there - we had everything setup. Light rain came on and off from 0800 until 1100 when the platoon started to arrive.
We did some IA (immediate action) drills and went over our basic movement formations once we had everyone at the FOB. Then the XO called in Lt. Selig (the platoon leader), Sgt. Scott (the platoon sgt) and the squad leaders. Lt. Selig was a young guy and likable although you didn't want to screw up when he was around. He expected everyone to give 110 percent because he gave 120. Sgt. Scott was a new guy, been in country less then a week. Most of the guys didn't much care for the FNGs, even if they were Sergeants. The previous Platoon Sgt. Johnston had been killed in a ambush about 20 clicks out of Da Nang - the platoon had taken it hard.
Lt. Warren pitched the opord with the help of a terrain model that Spc Olson had created. Olson was 2nd squad leader. he had faked paperwork to get him in basic when he was just 16 and shipped out on his 17th birthday after excelling at Basic and AIT. He'd been here longer then just about anyone and it showed.
The operation was fairly simple; our platoon was the main effort on a Sweep and Clear mission. We had 2nd and 3rd platoons on our left and right flanks. Apparently the area had a high amount of VC activity and a LRRP team had been tracking a large NVA unit into the zone. Our mission was simply to find any enemy activity, recover any supplies or weapons caches and bring the items back to the FOB. Lt. Selig got 30 minutes of planning time at 1203, mission would begin at 1233.
1st squad was put in charge of securing the North road leading in and out of the FOB. Spc. Butler tasked his squad to cover the road and the adjacent areas while Spc. Olson secured the eastern road. The sky was cloudy and threatened more rain (it had drizzled on us earlier during our IA drills). Each squad watched their sectors carefully but it was 1st squad that saw the VC first.
“CONTACT!!! Nine o’clock!! 2-3 VC!”, screamed the team leader. Several of his team had already been hit and were down. “Return fire! Return fire!” barked Lt. Selig. Most of the guys were pretty green and this was their first real fire fight. Within seconds they were back in the groove but there was something disconcerting about being shot at by the VC the first time that made a lot of guys “freeze up”.
Bugles blared as NVA units charged into battle against us. Seeing them attacking with their AK47s and pith helmets carefully camouflaged without regard was to say the least, frightening. We just kept mowing them down as the waves came at us. Lt. Warren grabbed a few men and charged through the trench line straight at the enemy! Their flanking movement was fast enough to catch the NVA off guard and finally the attack stopped. Those we had not killed disappeared back into the thickness of the jungle, carrying their wounded with them. We found 5 KIA and searched their bodies and cleared their weapons before we went back to planning.
It was decided that 3rd squad would remain at the FOB and 1st and 2nd squads would move up the main road toward a suspected cache area. Earlier LRRP teams had reported they had seen several NVA regulars bringing in crates to the spot. Sgt. Scott called for the platoon to fall in and we marched out in a platoon column with squads in wedges.
The area had been defoliated with Agent Orange roughly a month or so before and so there was a very large area of dead fall with the jungle peaking back through. Movement was difficult at best and it was decided to use the road to speed the movement to the objective. This of course was a mistake.
The road curved westward and we could see the edge of the jungle just a few hundred meters to our north. As the platoon moved down the road we heard the mortars fire from the tree line.
“INCOMING!” Everyone got prone and waited for the impact. BOOM! The first round hit 1st squad right in the center. A huge smoke cloud went up and then more: Boom! Boom! Boom! Rounds landed and smoke and debris flew everywhere as 1st and 2nd Squads got up and ran 100 meters east and west, respectively. 1st squad got around a corner on the bend of the road and immediately began pushing toward the tree line where we could see NVA regulars with a mortar position. 2nd squad got up and online and began pushing into the deadfall toward the mortar position.
1st squad lost several of their men and set up an HLZ to get them medivac’d out of the fight and to get reinforcements from 3rd squad sent up to the line. The rest of 1st squad moved aggressively forward while 2nd squad ran into several NVA units while pushing through the dead fall. 2nd squad took several causalities as they pushed forward. Quickly realizing this was a baited ambush and there were no more mortar rounds firing on us, the PL called everyone back to secure the HLZ while we waited for reinforcements. The enemy units disappeared back into the jungle, yet again.
That’s when the rain really started coming down. It wasn’t the sideways rain, just a straight down pour. Those who had brought their ponchos got them on as we moved out toward the suspected cache site. Those who didn’t; they got wet, real wet, the kind of wet that soaks your bones . It wasn’t too bad as long as you kept moving but we had to pull a perimeter while Spc. Olson went out with a couple of guys and located the cache area. It was right where the LRRPs had said and was full of weapons which we destroyed in place, after calling it up to higher.
That’s when the LRRP team started screaming on the radio.