Posted on 06/25/2016 8:23:17 AM PDT by Signalman
Army Capt. Paul “Buddy” Bucha faked out the enemy while leading a motley crew in Vietnam.
The Medal of Honor recipient was hailed as a hero after he made North Vietnamese fighters believe his 187th Infantry Regiment was much bigger than it really was. The combination of bravery and cunning helped him earn the nation's highest military honor, an award bestowed upon him by the president.
In 1967, Bucha — who graduated from West Point and earned an MBA at Stanford — arrived in Vietnam and was given a squad filled “with the rejects of all the other units,” including writers, intellectuals and men who had served time in military prison, he said.
“We were called the 'clerks and the jerks,'" he recalled. "We were a few smart guys and a lot of badasses … considered the losers of all losers.”
But as a company commander new to Vietnam, "I, too, was a loser,” Bucha recalled fondly years later. “So we were sort of meant for each other.”
"They ended up being a very disciplined, proud, and frightening force," he said.
On March 16, 1968, soon after the Tet Offensive, Bucha's 89-man company took part in a counterattack designed to push the North Vietnamese away from Saigon.
A helicopter dropped his team into an enemy stronghold, and for two days they destroyed camps and fortifications.
On March 18, after they found a clearing and resupplied, Bucha directed his troops to push into the jungle, where it was getting dark.
A soldier spotted a group of Vietnamese water carriers and women, which usually indicated an established enemy location. Bucha gave him permission to fire a few rounds to test what was out there.
"The entire mountain returned fire…. I said, 'Oh, my God,'" Bucha recalled.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Bravo Zulu
As a former morse intercept operator, 8th RRFS, Phu Bai, VN 4/66-4/67, let me say:
-... —..
On the small side for a company, isn't it?
Darn, the second “dah” didn’t come out right:
Again.
-... —..
Still didn’t work.
Oh well.
It’s “BZ” in morse code.
The best thing I’ll see all day.
He decided to give every soldier a number, and when he called out a number over the radio, the soldier who’d been assigned that number would throw grenades from his position, giving the illusion of a much bigger force.
in the video he says they were at 1/2 strength
Writers, intellectuals and men who had served time in military prison, led by a West Pointer. Actually, that sounds like a winning combination.
He campaigned for Obama. Still every much a hero though.
That caught my eye too. An honorable man in my books.
I tried it too but for some reason, it runs the two das together when trying to do the letter z. The best I could do was put a space between the two das, but it kind of looks like b t d.
"The entire mountain returned fire…. I said, 'Oh, my God,'" Bucha recalled."
That must have been a pretty good indication. :)
as much as I disagree with him, if anyone has earned the right to be wrong, it is him.
The WWII Ranger D-Company that scaled the cliffs at Pont du Hoc and destroyed the German artillery pieces that had been positioned there, had a total of but 75 men. Likewise E *Easy* company, who hit the beach and worked their way to the gun positions from the rear, a hedge in case D Company didn't make it.
It's *BZ* in international Morse, as used by the military, ham radio operators, and globalists.
But in the original *Vail System* or *Railroader's telegraphy* coding, it would be ** ** . *-*
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
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