All,
1930 Local Time
16 July 1966
Ngan Valley, Quang Tri Province, RVN
Operation Hastings
The boys are with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment (K/3/4), on their first trip up to the DMZ. Yesterday they were helo'ed into the area, then found themselves in a sharp firefight trying to cross the Ngan River which saw them repulsed with two Marines badly wounded. The Company tried twice more to cross the river, but the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) regulars of the 90th Regiment threw them back both times. Kilo Company then fell back approximately 200 meters to the north and dug in, but the NVA pursued them, harassing with mortars and snipers, and by 1930 Kilo's commander reported to battalion that the company was entirely surrounded. At approximately 2015 the NVA launched a full-scale assault on Kilo Company's hilltop, which the Marines threw back owing to some brutal close-in fighting buttressed by supporting fires, with both sides suffering significant casualties.
This morning the Marines of Kilo Company pried themselves out of their holes with the sunrise, and were greeted with an NVA mortar barrage for their efforts. It didn't last long and there were few casualties, so the rifle company got itself in order and not long after was back on the move, proving south towards the Ngan River. There was good news in that 2/4 had been told to hustle up and move west with all practical speed in order to effect a linkup with 3/4, owing to the tough resistance the Marines were running into, and radio traffic reported that 2/4 arrived at LZ Crowe* at approximately 1400. So there was a strong base behind Kilo Company, to the north, but it kind of left Kilo as the lone, dangling appendage to the south, still under orders to find and force a crossing to the south side of the Ngan River.
Needless to say the Marines were none too happy to be flung out so far to the south, without support, to an area they'd already gotten a good bloodying in, but order are orders, and so Kilo Company again attempted a crossing of the Ngan River, and again they were repulsed with casualties, by NVA on both sides of the river! The beleaguered company beat feet back to the hill they spent the previous night on and dug in, and it wasn't long before the NVA were making their presence felt…
*With three helos already grounded there from damage caused by collisions, then the NVA shot down a Marine CH-46 yesterday evening, the LZ Crowe area was now being referred to as "Helicopter Valley."
Overview, north is up. Another night-time hilltop defense battle by the Marines, where they are dug into the top of the hill at bottom left, a bend of the Ngan River visible to the northeast (top right). As usual, this is the DMZ, so lots of grass, some scrub, and pockets of trees in places the wind couldn't blow them out of.
You can see the Marines dug into three bunkers atop the hill (bottom left), while the NVA are infiltrating the hill in an arc from the northwest (top left) to the southeast (bottom right, with their MG team in the northeast (right top).
Once again the boys (bottom right) find themselves in the thick of it, firing down slope on advancing NVA (far left, top center left)…
But their bunker takes a rocket, putting Correa out of the fight…
The NVA push relentlessly forward, close assaulting the bunker…
Which is enough for Danny and Nik to decide to get out of Dodge! They each grab Correa under an arm and fall back, behind a nearby hedge (bottom left, from center), as the nearby NVA (top right) toss grenades into the recently vacated bunker.
To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
link
Next fight coming soon.
V/R,
Jack
