Comanche Home     History Main     Reunions     Guest Book     Stories     Search

1965     1966     1967     1968     1969     1970     1971     1972

January 1966     March 1966     April 1966     May 1966     June 1966
July 1966     August 1966     September 1966     October 1966     November 1966     December 1966

Summary - February 1966

To be written.

February 2-3

Along with the rest of the battalion, C 2/5 is flown from Camp Radcliff to LZ Dog  (what was later to become LZ English) on twin-engine CV2 Caribou.  (Map)  (Source:  "Annual Historical Report Calendar Year 1966 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry Operations in the Republic of Vietnam")

February 7

The 1st Cav (though not C 2/5 Cav in particular) make the front page of the Stars & Stripes as Operation Masher/White Wing gets bigger.  The operation, in and around the Bong Son plain in Binh Dinh Province, was the scene of many operations for C 2/5 Cav, until the division left the northern part of the Republic of Vietnam in the fall of 1968.

Comanche_Stars_Stripes_Feb_66.jpg (219878 bytes)
Click on photo to see larger version.  Caution:  it may take over a minute to download.

Courtesy Doug Young

February 16-22

In the mountains west of the Bong Son plains was the Kim Son Valley - sometimes called the Crow's Foot because of the shape of the surrounding hills looked like a bird's foot..  This was some of the worst terrain imaginable:  the hills were very steep, the jungle and underbrush very thick, and there were copious snakes and leaches.  To make matters worse, February was a rainy season month, often making flying impossible for helicopters, and life miserable for grunts on the ground.  The enemy Quyet Chien or 18th NVA Regiment moved into the area after getting beat up badly elsewhere in Bong Son by other 1st Cav units.

Return to Top of Page

February 16 (Wednesday)

During the morning of February 16, the entire battalion was picked up at Pickup Zone Duck (It is not known if this was the same LZ Duck on the Bong Son plains just east of the mountains.  It may not have been built yet.  Anyone with the information, please contact the webmaster.)  All companies were to CA into LZ Mike.  (In those days, all landing zones were named, even it was just a field and there was no intention of staying there.)  Charlie Company was the last to come in.  The plan was for B Company to move to an area called LZ Pete and act as a blocking force, while A Company and C Company swept enemy forces into those blocking positions.  (D Company was the Combat Support company at that time - this was before the addition of E Company.)  B Company was unable to reach its objective that day, and spent the night in a defensive position.

 

Return to Top of Page

February 17 (Thursday)

B Company  reached LZ Pete in the morning, and at 9:40  came under very heavy attack.  (Note: One of B Company's Platoon Leaders was 2LT Don O'Keefe, who had been transferred from C 2/5 in January.  He was very seriously wounded in the fight.)  The firefight continued throughout the day, resulting in heavy casualties to B Company.  (See CPT Robert McMahon's monograph for more on Company B.)

At 10:45 AM, Charlie Company made contact with a small VC force, and was stalled in its  move towards assisting B Company.  At 3:45 in the afternoon, C Company found some commo wire running along a trail leading to B Company's contact, and a 15 minutes later, beganComanche_News_Clipping_Medic_Bey_Feb_66_from_Irizarry.jpg (105395 bytes) receiving sniper fire. They observed a lot of movement to the east, and returned fire.  At 4:35, C 2/5 Cav reported they had counted 50 VC dead.  Jim Mullen was a Platoon Leader, and recalls Charlie Company approached LZ Pete from the north, and took fire from an enemy gun position to the east of LZ Pete, and took casualties when attempting to cross a small creek.  Edgar Irizarry was a Squad Leader at the time and remembers PFC Alexander Bey (of Glendale, California) was a medic who took a round to the shoulder trying to protect two young troopers.  (See news clipping at right)

Click on Clipping to See Larger Version
Courtesy Edgar Irizarry

Paul Nunn recalls the creek was at the base of a very steep hill - steep enough that he slipped all the way to the top.  He remembered  " . . . . (we)  got our butts hammered.  We did take that hill  but only when Charlie got tired of playing with us." 

Jim Mullen recalled in an email:  We were crawling up a hill just before we got to LZ Pete trying to take out a machine gun, as I remember, and I guess they zeroed in on me and put a number of rounds it seemed the full length of my body about a foot away from me.  I thought it was the guy behind me misfiring his weapon, so I yelled at him - but he said it wasn't him so we moved out quickly. Just lucky I guess.

The company closed on LZ Pete, along with the rest of battalion, and spent the night there.  (Sources: Operations of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), in the Attack Upon a Main Force Viet Cong Heavy Weapons Battalion, in the Vicinity of Bong Son, Republic of Vietnam, 16-17 February, 1966 by CPT Robert McMahon, and  Daily G3 Duty Officer's Log, HQ, 1st Cav Div TOC Forward, dated February 17, 66, and personal recollections of Jim Mullen, Paul Nunn, and Edgar Irizarry from emails sent Dec , 02)  (Webmaster note:  The Division logs give very little detail about C 2/5 Cav on Feb 17, yet we suffered three KIA and four WIA.  No Battalion S3 logs are available for that period.  Anyone with additional information please contact the Webmaster.)

Killed in action that day were:

Wounded were:

Return to Top of Page

February 18 (Friday)

The morning found the company patrolling their area, then began moving towards Objective Joe at noon.  At 3:50 PM, they found eight dead Viet Cong, one rocket, and two metal containers of small arms ammunition.  By night fall, the company had completed its sweep and joined B 2/5 Cav and B 2/12 Cav at LZ Pete.  (Source: Daily G3 Duty Officer's Log, HQ, 1st Cav Div TOC Forward, dated February 18, 66) 

 

Return to Top of Page

February 19 (Saturday)

The company was on the move at 8 AM.  But, at 9:10 AM, it  made contact with an estimated company sized enemy force and took rocket and machinegun fire.  They were soon joined by B 2/12 Cav, and were still in contact at 11 AM.  They were using both artillery and tactical air strikes.  By 11:45, direct engagement had broken, but there was still some sniper fire.  They had captured one American Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and a Russian made 7.62 mm machinegun. By 12:45, they also reported having found 7 VC KIA, and are still co-located with B 2/12 Cav.  (Source: Daily G3 Duty Officer's Log, HQ, 1st Cav Div TOC Forward, dated February 19, 66) 

Killed in that fire fight were SSG Robert Lilly and PFC Douglas Wade.  Parnell Bethune remembers SSG Lilly dying of a sucking chest wound, sustained while the company was attacking up a wooded hill.

Wounded were:

Return to Top of Page

February 20 (Sunday)

The enemy tried to mortar C 2/5 Cav and B 2/12 Cav during the night, but the three rounds feel well short of the two companies' position. No action was reported, and it is assumed the company patrolled the area.  (Source: Daily G3 Duty Officer's Log, HQ, 1st Cav Div TOC Forward, dated February 20, 66) 

Return to Top of Page

February 21 (Monday)

C 2/5 Cav finally left LZ Pete at 1:20 PM, and was heli-lifted to a new blocking position along with B 2/5 Cav and B 2/12 Cav, but at 5 PM, the company was flown right back to LZ Pete.  Within an hour, the company was joined by B and C 2/12 Cav.    Anthony Japuntich  was with B 2/12th Cav, and adds this in an email:

I can confirm that we all pulled out of the valley and waited on top of the hills/mountains and watched while the B-52's dropped their loads onto the valley.  Afterwards we walked back through it and saw what was left.  An awesome sight.

(Source: Daily G3 Duty Officer's Log, HQ, 1st Cav Div TOC Forward, dated February 21, 66, and Anthony Japuntich)

Return to Top of Page

February 22 (Tuesday)

The company was part of a larger blocking force at LZ Pete, but set out on patrols around 8 AM.  An hour and a half later, the company found three dead Viet Cong, along with an American-made Browning automatic rifle and ammunition.  Troopers also found 12 freshly dug bunkers, along with racks of cooking pots and some papers.  The bunkers were destroyed.

Sometime during the day, the entire battalion was extracted, with Charlie Company going to LZ Duck.  No mention is made in the 1st Cav Div G3 logs of any contact, but the Morning Report of February 22nd indicates we had one KIA and one WIA on that date.

PFC Lindsey F. Fonger lost his life that day, and PFC Richard Edgerton was wounded. (shrapnel wounds, back)

The company was engaged in sharp combat during this time in the Kim Son Valley.  During these fights, C 2/5 Cavalry lost some fine men:  (All casualties are confirmed by the Morning Report of the appropriate date.)  Jim Mullen was a Platoon Leader at that time, and remembers that many of the KIA and WIA happened when Charlie Company tried to get across a small creek to get into LZ Pete, and that one of the KIAs was a medic trying to protect a wounded trooper. If true, that medic would not be on the C Company Morning Report.   Most likely, Jim's recollection would apply to February 17.  CPT McMahon (B 2/5 Cav Commanding Officer) stated in his monograph that the entire battalion closed on LZ Pete that night.

Return to Top of Page

Comanche Home     History Main     Reunions     Guest Book     Stories     Search

1965     1966     1967     1968     1969     1970     1971     1972

January 1966     March 1966     April 1966     May 1966     June 1966
July 1966     August 1966     September 1966     October 1966     November 1966     December 1966

Updated September 10, 2006