Killed in action 45 years ago today on Hill 881S during the siege of Khe Sanh

[devildog34]

This one is quite personal to me as Khe Sanh was a very pivitol event in my family history. My father was a 19 year old Pfc. with Lima Company 3/26 at Khe Sanh and was on watch at 0520 when the first enemy rounds struck the combat base. Red Sector was not hit as bad as the areas in the center of the base but the NVA appeared out in the open late in the morning and were quickly disposed of. Nonetheless it was my father's baptism of fire, a defining moment in his life and has greatly shaped him and in that regard I guess it kind of had shaped me a bit as well.

 

45 years ago today this young Marine gave his life 13,000 miles away from home. On morning of January 20, 1968 members of India Company 3rd Bn 26th Marines under the command of Captain Bill Dabney, a man whose time in Vietnam was perhaps the second most intense life experience given that only a few years before he had to approach Retired Marine legend Lieutenant General Lewis P. Puller and ask for permission to marry his daughter. According to Dabney, The general just eyed me up and down and said, "Well Bill you have all your fingers and all your teeth and a good head on your shoulders and we need a lot of that around here." Dabney moved his company from the crest of Hill 881S in two single file columns. The day began at 0530 when the company 1st Sgt. Willis "Happy" Happlo, stuck his head into each bunker to roust everyone up. Captain Dabney noticed that the valley was covered with heavy fog despite the cresting sun. Only the tops of the hills could be seen according to Dabney. Dabney scribbled a quick final note for his wife and son and left it back with his gear in his bunker in the event he did not return. By 0800 the company was in formation and with 3rd platoon in the lead followed by 1st platoon, with 2nd in reserve, the company departed the company outpost. Although it was a company-size affair each platoon was acting as an individual entity. As the platoons moved downt the crest of 881S, the elephant grass went from waist-high to almost up over their heads. As the platoons went down the slopes the fog got seemingly thicker and despite the mounting sun, the light grew dimmer as they went down into the valley. Contact with platoons much less squads became quite difficult at the appropriate intervals in such thick fog and the progress of the patrol slowed significantly. The platoons finally moved across the valley until they reached the base of Hill 881N, the company objective. Once the platoons accounted for everyone, they began to surmount the slopes of 881N. The fog grew thinner as they worked their way up. After a little ways, the platoons haulted to take a quick breather and let the rest of the columns catch up. Sitting along the trail the men had a seemingly long 15 minute rest. Slowly in a relay from the head of the column, the signal to resume movement passed down to each man as men put helmets back on and got on their feet. The platoons were moving single file in 2 columns. According to Dabney, "The platoon had moved only a few meters when that gut-wrenching sound rang across the silence of my mind. The first shot was fired. The sudden rush of adrenalin made me want to instantlyl vomit. Before I could blink an eye, there were more shots fired. These had the distinctive pop of an AK-47, and I knew that I would be dead before long. From then on, events took place so rapidly that they are difficult to remember." The fire gradually intensified as rounds began to snap back through the grass and even over the heads of men further down the slopes of the hill. The fire seemed to envelope the columns as rounds hissed and rifle shots could be heard from the front and sides. Soon grenades began to land among the ranks of the men in the rear of platoon columns. The platoon on the right was under the command of Lt. Richard Fromm and they held their position fast on favorable ground. The 3rd platoon on the left under Lt. Thomas Brindley however found itself pinned down only 200 meters from the crest of the hill. They were largely exposed and the initial crescendo fire of the NVA had telling effects. Within about the first 30 second about 10 Marines had been wounded mostly leg wounds. Corpsman HM3 Mike Ray was immediately summoned above the roar of gun fire. "I wanted this to end. My god, what was I doing here," asked Ray. "I had been in firefights before but nothing like this. The fire was so intense that I felt I couldn't move, but I did, slowly, holding the earth close to my breast. Fear gripped every fiber of my being. As I move forward, I began finding the wounded." Ray came across one squad leader, a sergeant from KY, who was always playing the guitar and singing and found that his lower jaw had been shot off from the corners of his mouth to about 3/4 of the way to his throat. "He asked me for morphine, but I refused, telling him I didn't want him to be a litter case while he could still walk. I gave him a large battle dressing and told him to hold it to the area where his mouth would have been. The wounded sergeant's name was Powell. I sent him down the trail promising him that when things quieted and when it came time for his evacuation, I would give him morphine," recalled Ray. Another wounded man had been hit in the face with shrapnel which had exited the roof of his mouth and exited under his chin leaving a small hole that bleed profusely. He was quickly dressed and sent down the hill. Rolling from his back to the prone position, Ray looked parallel with the ground in time to see an NVA grendade roll about 12 feet in front of him. "It was like staring a rattle snake in the eyes," recalled Ray. Yelling "grenade" and covering his head and face, the devise failed to explode. Disregarding the danger, Ray ran forward passed the grenade as some marine picked it up and threw it back to it's original owner. Ray eventually reached the wounded point man and dragged him back as elements of the 1st squad were rushing up to join the fire fight. The initial contact had taken place within the NVA perimeter on top of Hill 881N. As 2nd squad rushed forward, Pfc. John Barrett rushed into the NVA perimeter while Pfc. Reece Crittchfield lay down fire from his M-60. "There were no words available to describe this scene. It was panic- pure bedlam," according to Ray. This retreat was completely disorderly. Men were dropping magazines full of ammo and grenades as they got up and ran at a low crouch. These items were kicked accidently by man running by. Lt. Brindley was screaming at the men to pick up these items. At the halfway point between the crest and base of the hill, the men stopped. By then the wounded point man had expired. Ray and the other corpsman with 3rd platoon immediately tried mouth to mouth and ran an IV of serum albumin, a blood volume expander but there was no blood pressure in the veins and it was a futile effort. His lips were blue, skin cold and eyes half open and lifeless. The mortally wounded man's name was Pfc. James A. Collins and this was to be his final day in the field following the conclusion of his second tour in Vietnam.

 

Dabney sent a squad of 2nd platoon down the hill to provide security for a CH-46 medevac just behind the heavily engaged 1st platoon but as the chopper approached it was hit with anti-air craft fire from the crest and caught fire. The pilot realizing he was about to crash a burning craft into an LZ full of wounded, the veered off into a gully and made a controlled crash. The security squad from 2nd platoon rushed over and succeeded in pulling all crewman from the burning chopper. Before the squad reached the crash, to their surprise they ran into 5 NVA soldiers who were even more surpised and ran away from the crash sight.

 

The beliegured patrol called for supporting fire from the 106mm recoilless situated at the top of Hill 881S and for 15 minutes, the weapon pounded the NVA position. After the fire subsided, the call to push forward was passed. While the 106mm pounded the NVA, Lt. Brindely maneuvered him men forward under the cover of fire. HM3 Ray recalled his thoughts when he heard the order, "That was an insane order. Our platoon had suffered 10 casualties, 9 wounded and one dead from our first contact with the enemy." One of M-60's was out of action and the operational one had only 500 rounds left. The men divided their grenades and ammo equally and then the order to fix bayonets came. "At that very moment the rush of adrenaline was sufficient to make me feel as if hot lead had been poured through my veins. My heart started pounding in my ears, my mouth became dry, and I again became sick to my stomach," recalled HM3 Ray. As the 3rd platoon moved forward the fire became intense. Wounded were screaming and one lay just in front of Ray who noticed as this young man was in the prone position, a bullet endered his thigh below the hip passing parallel with his thigh and exited at his knee. As Ray helped him the crack and seeming breeze of a passing round was felt at his left ear. The company remained engaged and as 2nd platoon under the command of Lt. Michael Thomas maneuvered around the back of the company in order to move up in support of 3rd platoon, Lt. Brindley's 3rd platoon was assaulting the NVA positions and partially overran the crest. According to Dabney, who could see Brindley's platoon, Brindley was moving individually among the men encouraging them when he was struck across the shoulder with machine gun fire toppling over down the crest part of the way. According to several men, he screamed and shouted "Keep low, keep going, and stay on line." These were his final words as he expired shortly afterwards. As Lt. Thomas of Pawnee Oklahoma maneuvered up the crest he realized that several of his men became missing in the tall elephant grass and as he exposed himself to enemy fire looking for them he foudn the 5 and eventually 6th men wounded. As he began the rescue efforts in a spot exposed to enemy fire, Lt. Thomas became wounded in the face. He carried several men before fainting from bloodloss and fatigue. His radio operator, seeing his Lieutenant struggling, shed the radio off his back and said, "Sir, I'll go after the next one." Thomas stopped him and said, "No it's my job, I'm a lieutenant." As he snaked forward on this belly, Thomas was struck in the head and killed instantly. As the situation grew more and more intense on the crest of Hill 881N, news from the Khe Sanh combat base revealed that something bigger was brewing and that all elements engaged needed to break contact and get back to their perimeter. Slowly the fire fight died out and the surviving elements of India company began to fade down the slopes into the tall elephant grass of the hill's base assisting the unevacuated wounded and carrying the dead.

 

That night, the NVA initiated the first phase of their bigger plan to take the Khe Sanh combat base. The attack was preluded with a massive ground assault on the Marine positions on Hill 861 see link for that story and connected purple heart. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/133295-private-paul-r-bellamy-kilo-company-3rd-bn-26th-marines/page__hl__%2Bkhe+%2Bsanh

 

This would be followed by a 0500 mass artillery barrage on the Khe Sanh combat base the signaled the beginning of a 77-day siege of the combat base. At the same time the combat base was inundated with artillery fire, the survivors of India Company 3rd Bn 26th Marines, situated in their perimeter on Hill 881S, were subjected to small arms fire from the slopes of the hill. Shortly afterwards RPGs began to hit followed by 120mm mortars. 4men were wounded and as they were being evacuated more artillery fire came in crashing throughout the company perimeter. Captain Dabney was standing next to the company supply clerk, Pfc. Terry M. Johnson just as the rounds began to detonate. "We both jumped into holes, He jumped into the left one and I jumped into the right one, and a round landed in the hole with him. What was left we just wrapped up in a poncho and stuck on a helicopter." Among those on Hill 881S killed that morning in the initial volly of NVA artillery fire was 22 year-old Reece Crittchfield Jr. of Sandusky, OH. He was killed by shell fragments to the head. He is buried in Greenlawn Union Cemetery in Perrysville, OH. He survived the horrendous fire fight from the previous day only to be killed by the initial opening barrage of the siege. He is remembered here today on this 45th anniversary of his tremendous sacrifice. Attached are the images of his officially engraved Type I purple heart.

Semper Fi

[devildog34]

Close up of the engraving

[devildog34]

The casualty file

[firefighter]

RIP Marine.

God Bless.

[devildog34]

Captain Dabney CO of India 3rd Battalion 26th Marines on Hill 881S during the siege. He was Chesty Puller's son in law. Sadly we lost Colonel Dabney last February.

[devildog34]

A view of a B-52 Arclight strike looking from India Company's position on 881S during the siege

[devildog34]

More images of Marines on 881S during the siege

[Kurt Barickman]

_{The irony of it all, we win the Tet Offensive flat out, hands down even according to NVA General Giap and we leave because of Tet. God Bless all those Brave men and women and especially our KIAS! Thanks for posting another stellar USMC grouping.}

 

_Kurt

[kmc1945]

Thanks for posting. God bless him and all the brave man at Khe Sanh (my uncle was there, be still really can't/doesn't talk about it much). Hard to believe it's already been 45 years. We always think of it as so recent compared to WWII but it's coming up on a half century since.

 

Kyle

[katieony]

Kevin,

 

Another outstanding tribute. Thank you for posting.

 

Mike

[devildog34]

Remembering Reece on this 46th anniversary. Semper Fi.

[manayunkman]

Very nice tribute.

 

The graffiti on the one Marines helmet sums it up.

 

Dabney looks like Tom Selleck.

 

Everything about that picture epitomizes the American fighting man.

 

The photographs are outstanding.

[devildog34]

2nd Lt. Michael H. Thomas who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his gallantry on Hill 881S during the intense day-long firefight on January 20, 1968. Thomas was from Pawnee, Oklahoma and knew my grandmother's brother very well, they went to high school together. He was also a graduate of my alma mater the University of Oklahoma.

[Jack's Son]

An excellent and somber tribute to another of our brave heroes. Thank you, Kevin.

[devildog34]

Very nice tribute.

 

The graffiti on the one Marines helmet sums it up.

 

Dabney looks like Tom Selleck.

 

Everything about that picture epitomizes the American fighting man.

 

The photographs are outstanding.

Dabney does! Dabney was no stranger to daunting odds as he was Chesty Puller's son-in-law and I imagine that getting mortared shelled and shot at on 881S was the most terrifying experience of his life but I am sure asking Chesty Puller to marry his daughter had to be second. When asked about it, Dabney said, "The General looked at me with that curled bottom lip, 'Bill, you have all your fingers and teeth and seem to have a good head on your shoulder and we could use a lot of that around here.'" Sadley Colonel Bill Dabney passed away two years ago this February. Many of his India Company Marines who were on 881S attending their old skipper's funeral. Dabney was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on 881S. Semper Fi

[devildog34]

An excellent and somber tribute to another of our brave heroes. Thank you, Kevin.

Thanks Robin you had a part in it with some of the info you were able to secure for me for which I thank you.

[pchepurko]

Semper Fi Marine and rest in peace.

[katieony]

Kevin,

 

An outstanding tribute! Thank you for posting.

 

Michael

[Raidercollector]

Awesome tribute Kevin. RIP Marine,s

 

Nick

[Jarhead8007]

Semper Fi!

Here's a link to the Marine Corps Museum's Hill 881S exhibit: (http://www.virtualusmcmuseum.com/Vietnam_11.asp#)

 

If you click on the "Related Media" tab, there's an interview with Col Dabney.

[Kurt Barickman]

Amazing as always Kevin, God Bless the Corps!

 

Kurt

[17thairborne]

Superb work...thanks for sharing...nothing I can add will trumpet what the men did.

[Brian Dentino]

Kevin, once again your back story to these beautiful/horrible items leaves me in wonder at the sacrifices made by those that these items still, years later, represent. The fact that they are not forgotten, and in fact remembered by many strangers such as myself, is one of the greatest tributes that one could pay to these brave Devil Dogs! Inspiring and humbling all at one time. Thank you for bringing them back to the fore.......

[trenchbuff]

Thanks for telling his story here on the forum. Can't think of a better place to have him remembered.

[manayunkman]

Semper Fi!

 

Here's a link to the Marine Corps Museum's Hill 881S exhibit: (http://www.virtualusmcmuseum.com/Vietnam_11.asp#)

 

If you click on the "Related Media" tab, there's an interview with Col Dabney.

 

 

That was great !!

 

Thanks

 

Peter