FOREVER YOUNG NUMBER 18 of a SERIES This is a tale many Marines have heard, but most outside the Corps have not – a testament to unsurpassed bravery and the sheer determination of a band of young Americans who refused to die. They fought to stay alive and they fought to save each other, despite overwhelming odds. _________________________________ THE BOYS OF NUI VU _________________________________ Early in June 1966, intelligence from radio intercept and radio direction-finding, gathered by the 1st Radio Battalion (USMC) and other intelligence sources, indicated a combined force of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops were gathering by the thousands in the Hiep Duc Valley northwest of the Marine base at Chu Lai. Hidden by rugged mountains and areas of dense jungle, the communist units were massing and preparing for attacks against the heavily populated coastal towns and government bases in I Corps, south of Da Nang. For security and defensive reasons, the enemy commanders kept their units spread out over a large area, moving mainly in squads and platoons. Lt. Gen. Lewis W. Walt ordered the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the 1st Marine Division to covertly scout the mountains, determine enemy strength, and locate the main enemy units. The recon Marines were to move in small teams of eight to twenty men. If they located a large unit, Marine infantry would air-assault into the area. However, if the recon teams saw only small groups of VC and NVA, they would remain concealed and call in air strikes and artillery to destroy them. The recon battalion was an elite unit. Lt. Col. Arthur J. Sullivan, the commander, had set the highest standards for his Marines and had full confidence in their abilities. Every man had received schooling in forward observer techniques and recon patrol procedures, and many had additional specialized training. In response to Walts orders, Sullivan sent eight teams into the highlands surrounding the valley in a major reconnaissance operation titled Operation Kansas. Staff Sgt. Jimmie Howard, from Burlington, Iowa, was the acting platoon leader of 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Recon. A tall, athletic man in his mid-thirties, he had been a star football player and later coached at the San Diego Recruit Depot. He looked like he could still play. He was a born leader, and his men loved him. He had earned a Silver Star in Korea, at age 21, along with three Purple Hearts. As darkness settled across the verdant slopes twenty-five miles west of Chu Lai, a flight of three Marine H-34 helicopters descended slowly toward the side of a grassy mountain. They were escorted by two Huey gunships. The troop-carriers hovered low, and Jimmie Howard and his team jumped out, quickly climbing the steep incline toward the top. The choppers lifted up out of small-arms range, and disappeared over the horizon. The date was Monday, 13 June 1966. Howards seventeen-man team, code-named Carnival-Time, consisted of: Cpl. Jerrald R. Thompson, First Squad Leader, 24, from Columbus, Ohio; Lance Cpl. Ricardo C. Binns, Second Squad Leader, 20, The Bronx, New York; Lance Cpl. Robert Martinez, radioman, 20, from Garden City, Kansas; Lance Cpl. Daniel Mulvihill, radioman,19, Chicago, Illinois; Lance Cpl. John T. Adams, 22, Covington, Oklahoma; Lance Cpl. Alcadio N. Mascarenas, 22, of Sapello, New Mexico; Lance Cpl. Joseph Kosoglow, 20, of Greensburgh, Pennsylvania; Lance Cpl. Thomas G. Powles, 20, from Vacaville, California; Lance Cpl. Raymond S. Hildreth, 19, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lance Cpl. William C. Norman, 19, Sedona, Arizona; Lance Cpl. Ralph G. Victor, 18, Ogden, Utah; Pfc. Ignatius Carlisi, 20, New York, New York; Pfc. Charles W. Bosley, 19, Greencastle, Indiana; Pfc. James O. McKinney, 18, from Monroe, Louisiana; Pfc. Thomas D. Glawe, 18, of Rockford, Illinois; and two Navy corpsmen: Hospitalman 1st Class Richard J. Fitzpatrick, Senior Corpsman, 35, Vacaville, California, and Hospitalman 3rd Class Billy D. Holmes, 23, from Madison, Tennessee. Howard referred to the team as his Indians. The small mountain, called Nui Vu (Hill 488), was nearly 1,500 feet high and dominated the terrain for miles. At the top of the peak, narrow strips of level ground extended out in three directions for several hundred yards before falling steeply away. The three strips of ground roughly resembled the prongs of an inverted letter Y, with the main prong pointing north, and the other two prongs pointing southwest and southeast. Sgt. Howard established a command post below a huge boulder that sat at the base of the north prong and posted a four-man fire team at observation points on each prong. It was an ideal vantage point for the teams to survey the surrounding area. Enemy troops had used the hilltop previously, and had dug foxholes across the top of the peak. Designed for the smaller Vietnamese, one hole was barely large enough for two of the huskier American Marines to squeeze into. Each hole had a small cave scooped out at one end that was about two feet under the surface. Howards men took turns using the one-man caves during the day to stay out of the hot sun and avoid enemy detection. There were no trees to conceal their position. Their only cover was knee-high grass and low scrub brush that thinned to rocks and boulders surrounding the huge boulder at the crest. Mascarenas was the fire team leader on the southwest prong, and shared a fighting hole with Hildreth; Adams and McKinney shared the other hole. Ric Binns was team leader on the north with Powles, Norman, and Kosoglow. Victor was the southeast team leader with Bosley, Glawe, and Carlisi. The two corpsmen, two radiomen, Cpl. Jerry Thompson, and Sgt. Howard manned the command post on the crest of Nui Vu. The surrounding valleys and villages were full of enemy troops. For the next two days, Howards team saw small enemy units almost every hour, and constantly called for fire missions. Most of the attacks on targets located by the platoon took place when there was an observation aircraft in the area so the enemy commanders would think the plane was responsible. Headquarters at Chu Lai was considering pulling the team out after two days. The risk increased greatly with each day the men remained on the hill, but the observation post was in an ideal location and had encountered no difficulties. It was believed the team had a reasonably safe escape route along a ridge to the east, if they were spotted, so it was decided to leave the platoon on Nui Vu for one additional day. Unfortunately, the North Vietnamese commanders were well aware of the recon platoons presence and were quietly moving small units of troops into place to eliminate it. By late afternoon on 15 June, a battalion-size force had been secretly massed at the base of the mountain, and several hundred well-trained North Vietnamese regular infantry began to climb up the three prongs. The enemy commanders hoped to wipe out the small contingent of Americans in one overwhelming attack. They suspected there were other American observer teams in the area and they intended to make an example of the interlopers on top of Nui Vu. TO BE CONTINUED... Copyright © 2014 Gary B. Blackburn [Sources: vvmf.org; virtualwall.org; homeofheroes; hill488; Hill 488 © 2003 by Ray Hildreth and Charles W. Sasser - Simon & Schuster; 1streconbnassociation.org; “Small Unit Action in Vietnam Summer 1966: Howard’s Hill” by Captain Francis J. West, Jr., USMCR; leatherneck; projects.militarytimes]
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 01:00:01 +0000
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