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On August 21st we were going
about our normal routine. Late morning around 1100 we got the word to go on
full alert. We could hear small arms fire from the south out on Highway 9.
We all headed for our bunkers and expected to get hit by mortars and
rockets.
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A-4 Skyhawks
came in and dropped both HE and Napalm on the Hillside.
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The convoy to Ca
Lu, which had just left Payable, was ambushed by the NVA just 2 miles down the
road from our position. Lima Company, who had recently been relocated from
Ca Lu back to Payable, had immediately responded to the ambush site. When
they got there, they determined that the NVA unit was larger than had been
expected. Kilo Company also headed for the ambush site. We started
preparing to receive casualties.
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Artillery shells hitting on
hillside near the ambush site on Highway 9
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We could see artillery from
both Payable and Camp Carroll pounding the position. Later on aircraft
started dropping napalm and high explosives on the area. We waited for an
hour or so and still no casualties arrived. The word came that for some
reason there were no helicopters available for medevac and that we would be
receiving the casualties directly to our position. One helicopter loaded
with litters came in and we unloaded it. It was the last one we saw that
day.
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Corpsmen and Marines out of their
bunkers watching the battle on the hillside. Corpsmen are HM3 Brown, HM1
Parrish, HM3 Pitler
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