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PREFACE
The focus of this manuscript is the Indochina War in the year 1970, most specifically the springtime campaigns of the U.S. Army in South Vietnam along the border with neutral (but communist-dominated) Cambodia, and the dramatic summertime offensive into Cambodia authorized by President Nixon. These were, of course, political times during which the policies of Vietnamization and Withdrawal had taken the headlines away from the battlefield. This manuscript is offered in honor of those soldiers whom history has generally bypassed. Whereas the news accounts of 1970 and the subsequent history books were dominated by the negotiations in Paris and the military withdrawals, Americans were still dying in the dust at places like Fort Defiance and Firebase Illingworth. Whereas the Cambodian Incursion is remembered for the furor over Nixon’s speech and the four dead at Kent State, in Cambodian jungles more forgotten men were dying at Rock Island East, Ph Tnaot, Landing Zone Phillips, Salty’s Cache, and along the banks of the Rach Cai Bac.
This manuscript will, hopefully, fill an historical and an emotional gap for those previously unrecognized men who lost comrades and parts of themselves on fields of fire. That I hope will serve the individual, but the subtheme of this manuscript should address the larger concern of the overall experience of the U.S. Army in Vietnam. A study of the blistering and costly campaigns along the border immediately prior to the offensive into Cambodia should acquaint one with the general tempo of the stagnated war of attrition that dominated the ground war in South Vietnam. Likewise, a study of the sweep into Cambodia reflects the larger, conventional style of operations that were periodically mounted during the war, as well as the political strings usually attached. The commentary on the decline in action and morale after Cambodia foreshadows the state of crisis that the U.S. Army was in when the cease-fire was signed.
This is my fourth book chronicling the campaigns of this misunderstood war, fought the wrong way but for noble goals, but I must make it clear that I am not a veteran. My fire is not fueled by personal experience. Rather it is fueled by a conservative, middle-class upbringing, which taught that one does not cast aside those who have bled for the republic. Nor does one judge the combat behavior and performance of soldiers according to political perceptions of the cause for which they serve. They are separate issues, and it was this deliberate blurring of the line that first sparked a commitment to this subject. When I originally began researching the war—my curiosity driven by my ignorance of the topic—the library bookshelves were dominated by Lieutenant Calley and My Lai, a weak man and a shameful event that common sense told me did not speak for the average soldier. I could find, however, only rare rebuttal to the myth of My Lai typifying the infantryman’s role in the war. At that time, scholars, journalists, and writers seemed mostly interested in spotlighting only the most bestial episodes of American involvement in Vietnam, to make political points regarding the folly or immorality of the war. They gave small thought to what such selective coverage did to the reputation of that majority of soldiers whose tour included no bloody ditch but only the hardships and fears and camaraderie that have always been the infantryman’s companions. My aim is to give voice to those veterans whose experiences, having not included aberrations like My Lai, had been filtered out by the liberal media. During the years that my three books, Battle for Hue, Into Laos, and Death Valley, were published, a healing began at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, and those bookshelves that had previously enraged me began filling with other works by men like Santoli, Webb, Miller, Grant, Del Vecchio, Downs, and Caputo, voices that offered this nation a more compassionate and rounded glimpse into the world of the grunt.
The stereotype of the veteran as baby killer or heroin addict seemed to have faded, and I began the research for this manuscript not for any fiery reasons but almost as a reflex. There seemed less reason to continue the effort, but the old passions were revived by, of all things, the movie Platoon—which supposedly honored the veteran—and more specifically the media’s embracing of a film chock-full of the old stereotypes, with the claim that this slice of Hollywood was history. During the interviews for this manuscript, Platoon was a secondary concern for me and many veterans. Almost all were enthused by the film’s steely glare at the humping, fatigue, heat, language, helmet graffiti, and leeches—the very texture of realism—but they were also gravely concerned by the larger message fed to a generally uninformed public by the film’s subplot of murder, rape, drug abuse, and cowardly leadership, ad nauseam. Platoon was not an apolitical examination of the American infantryman in Vietnam, but a sensationalized compilation of worst-case scenarios. Its very popularity has left many veterans relieved that their hardships have finally been seen by the public, but uneasy that every vet will now be associated with the crimes highlighted by the film. Given the context in which this manuscript developed, it is offered in part in rebuttal to those who automatically believe the worst about the Vietnam veteran, including those academics who have brought Platoon into the classroom and journalists whose insight is so shallow that they could produce headlines like “PLATOON: Vietnam As It Really Was.”
Although this manuscript has been augmented by the statistics of the official record, its heart comes from interviews (mostly by mail and telephone) with those who commanded and those who served in the units committed to the 1970 Cambodian operation. Considering my status as an outsider, a nonveteran, I especially appreciate the assistance I received from these men and will list by their unit those I interviewed in detail as well as those who played a lesser role of reviewing the rough draft.
From the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam; United States Army, Vietnam; and the II Field Force Vietnam: Gen. Michael Davison, Ret.; Lt. Gen. James Sutherland, Ret.; Maj. Gen. Elmer Pendelton, Ret.; Brig. Gen. Douglas Kinnard, Ret.; Col. Tom Magness, Ret.; Lt. Col. Thomas Kerver, Ret.; Maj. George Lovelace, USANG, Ret., and Raymond Mahoy, USANG; M. Sgt. Mike Vining; and ex-Sgt. Drayton Markle.
From the 1st Cavalry Division: Gen. Robert Kingston, Ret.; Lt. Gen. Elvy Roberts, Ret.; Maj. Gen. Morris Brady, Ret., Michael Conrad, Frank Ianni, USANG, and Scott Smith; Col. Clark Burnett, Ret., Bartley Furey, Ret., Anthony Pokorny, Ret., and Harvey Schaffer; Lt. Col. Joseph Anderson, Ret., Gregory Camp, David Neyses, David Rector, Ret., and Walter Wosicki, Ret.; Maj. James Johnson, Ret., and John Munson; ex-Capt. Douglas Cohn and Michael McBride; 1st Lt. James Hudnell, Ret.; Sgt. Maj. Charles Beauchamp; ex-S. Sgt. Mike Ball; ex-Sgt. Peter Lemon and Robert Pullen; and ex-Sp4c. Alan Rappaport and Ken Valldejuli.
From the 4th Infantry Division: Lt. Gen. John Foss and Glenn Walker, Ret.; Maj. Gen. John Wheelock III, Ret.; Col. Dwight Adams, Ret.; Lt. Col. Henry Arnold III, Franklin Hicks, Ret., Richard Rhoades, and Robert Szigethy, USAR; Capt. Ray Jones, USAR, and Rellius Boudreaux, Ret.; and ex-Sp4c. Lloyd Kantor.
From the 25th Infantry Division: Lt. Gen. J. R. Thurman, Ret.; Maj. Gen. Edward Bautz, Ret., and Ennis Whitehead, Ret.; Brig. Gen. Carmen Cavezza, Michael Greene, Ret., and Nathan Vail, Ret.; Col. James Connell, Ret., Richard Goldsmith, John Hazelwood, Ret., Sam Holliday, Ret., Noel Knotts, Ret., Corwin Mitchell, Ret., John Parker, Ret., and Ted Westerman, Ret.; Lt. Col. Robert Adams, William Connor, Richard Giasson, William Greenberg, Ret., Lawson Pride, Arthur Schulcz, Ret., James Swinney, USAR, and William Voth; Maj. Frank Fiore, Ret., and Dale Williams, USAR; Capt. Bill Koch, USANG; ex-Capt. Bill Flowers and Marvin Tieman; ex-1st Lt. Pat Forster and Joe Yarashas; CSM Willie Hickey, Ret., and William Rommal, Ret.; Sfc. Gregory Pybon, USANG; Sgt. Dennis Hiedeman, USANG; ex-Sgt. Mike Daugherty and Bruce Sewall; and ex-Sp4c. Tim Albright, Doug Dunbar, Robert Gunn, Larry Nuckolls, Jim Ross, and Dallas Tinsley.
From the 3d Brigade (Separate), 9th Infantry Division: Maj. Gen. Robert Forman, Ret.; Col. John Claybrook, Ret., F. J. Delamain, Ret., Karl Lowe, Edwin Olsmith, Ret., Tom Weeks, Ret., and Walworth Williams, Ret.; Lt. Col. James Younts; Maj. John Kruger, Ret.; Capt. Randolph Sprinkles, USAR, and Harold Spurgeon, USANG; ex-1st Lt. John Bayer and Ivo Peske; and ex-Sgt. Ted DeFrank, Tom Miller, Dennis Walker, and Dan Wood.
From the 199th Light Infantry Brigade: Col. Glen Blumhardt, Ret., Jack Crancer, Ret., Wood DeLeuil, Ret., and Robert Selton, Ret.; Maj. George Lodoen, Ret., and Forest Ramsey, USANG; Capt. Richard Jones, Ret.; ex-Capt. David Kuter; ex-1st Lt. Stan Hogue; CW3 James Creamer, Ret.; 1st Sgt. Malcolm Smith; and S. Sgt. Steve Wilson.
From the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment: Gen. Donn Starry, Ret.; Maj. Gen. Frederick Franks; Brig. Gen. Grail Brookshire, Ret.; Col. James Abrahamson, Ret., Joe Driskill, Byron Marsh, Ret., James Reed, Ret., Donald Smart, John Speedy, and Stewart Wallace; Lt. Col. Paul Baerman, Lawrence Haworth, Sewall Menzel, and Earl Zerbach, USAR; Capt. Frank Cambria, Ret., Ralph Niles, Ret., and Michael Thompson, USAF; CSM Don Horn, Ret.; 1st Sgt. Robert Rush, USANG; Sfc. Michael Hackbarth, USAR; ex-Sgt. Don Bowman; ex-Sp5c. Wayne West; and ex-Sp4c. Kenny Duge, Charles Gross, Angel Pagan, and Peter Walter.
Also my thanks to Mr. James Sterba, who covered these operations as a newspaper reporter, and to Mr. Michael Greene, whose unique assignment while a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy made him another noncombatant eyewitness. Others who contributed to the research were Mr. Ollie Pickral (11th ACR Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia, Richardson, Texas), Col. George MacGarrigle, USA, Ret. (Historian, Southeast Asia Branch, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C.), Mr. James Baynham (Personnel Center, St. Louis, Missouri), Mrs. Earnestine Johnson (Retiree Locator Service, Retired and Veterans Division, U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center, Alexandria, Virginia), and Col. Morris Herbert, USA, Ret. (Association of Graduates, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York).
