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Operation Prairie III near Cam Lo. Troops are exiting the rear of the helicopter and disbursing out to the other side. You can see other grunts in the background near the Lt.'s helmet and arching to the left and then back around to the tail of the helicopter. Marine in the foreground is 2d Platoon Commander, 2d Lt. Marquis WINGARD.

We were walking down a path in the foot hills near the Cam Lo area, "Chief" was point man. (Unfortunately I cannot remember this Marines name. He was a Native American and we called all of them "Chief" I don't think it was Leo Whitefoot because he was in 3rd platoon) We had cut twigs from the bushes and camouflaged our helmets as usual when we were working on these brushy trails. The foliage was so dense, and we were so silent, that "Chief" managed to walk into a NVA position, which caught both him and them by surprise. He began firing and they shot back. He was wounded in the hip while hitting the deck to take cover. Again it was close fighting. We were shooting and throwing grenades. As the fire fight progressed, word was passed up the line to pull back.

Sgt. Doug Corrie in the Cam Lo area

An air strike was being called in on our position. Four Marines and I crawled forward. I grabbed "Chief" by his ankles and dragged him back while the others provided cover. When we were far enough back, we spread out a poncho, placed "Chief" in it, grabbed the sides and carried him out, and back to our platoon's position just before the napalm hit the area we had been in. "Chief" had been wounded twice before, so this 3rd wound put him in a category of "not eligible for combat" which got him out of field. A pair of A-4 Skyhawks dropped napalm and high explosive (H.E.) which leveled the foliage along the trail. Afterwards we went back in and found a few bodies and a lot of packs that were left behind.

Napalm with secondary explosions of NVA ordanence in the Cam Lo area

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