When I was in Viet Nam I was platoon commander of C-Company 1st Platoon. We had been airlifted to a hill close to the North Demilitarized Zone in South Viet Nam to help four reconnaissance marines who were pinned down and surrounded by North Vietnamese troops on a hill about one quarter of a mile away.
Before sundown we set up to monitor that hill to look for the four marines. We never could see anyone but North Vietnamese soldiers between about 1 PM and 5 PM. The decision was made by the rear area for us to take the hill to find the four marines dead or alive.
I had been on that hill about a year earlier and knew the hill layout very well so I decided to take just 3/4th of the hill and give the North Vietnamese soldiers a way out. We were outnumbered and the enemies had the dug in position above us. It was a very steep hill on the side that we had to go up and the enemy had the easy way out.
I felt they would leave and leave the four marines behind. But after going up the hill about 25 to 30 feet I looked up and there were about 50 hand grenades or chicoms coming down on us. I yelled to pull back. I looked back up the hill just in time to see a chicom land just to my right up the hill about five to eight feet.
It went off and knocked me down the hill to the tree line. I got behind a tree to shield me from the gunfire that started and stood as close to the tree as I could. I always prayed for God to tell me what to do. I was only 20 or 21 and had never been to Officers’ Candidates School and I didn’t want to lose even one marine.
So I always prayed to God for direction. I looked up and closed my eyes to pray what to do. When I opened my eyes I could see what looked like a mirror very far away flashing at me. I could not hear anything. There were so many guns going off and bullets flying by both sides of the tree by which I was standing.
My radio man was about five feet from me behind another tree. So I yelled at him to see if it was a jet with any armament on it. He called on the Air Channel. It was a jet with two 500 pound bombs. We gave him the hill cordinance to drop one bomb, but to come in North-East to South West and not to drop it long or he would kill 48 of the best marines the Marine Corps had.
It worked! One bomb and all the shooting stopped. I told the radio man to tell him thanks. The radio man told me he said he had one more bomb. I told the radio man I did not want to take that chance in case of a long bomb or a skip bomb. There are so many things that can go wrong. But the jet pilot said he had a computer that would drop it back in the same spot. I could see there was no stopping him. We all got down. It worked again.
We got to the top of the hill and were digging down to spend the night. My radio man and I were at the top of the hill directing where everyone was to dig in when the radio man tapped me on the shoulder. I looked at him. He just pointed in the air and the jet was coming right at us at what looked to be full speed as he went over us.
First thing I thought was that he had gone crazy. He started doing rolls with the plane. I asked the radio man to ask him what he was doing. He had just scared the hell out of me. The radio man said the pilot said it was a victory roll to whoever had the guts to call in a jet strike on a hill that close to them.
God blesses America and those willing to fight and die for the freedom of the world. I was in the jungle nearly 20 months and always relied on God to see me through all my decisions I had to make and got four combat promotions and I give all the credit to my Heavenly Father for all my blessings and the love He showed me through my mistakes .