Replies

Fewer than 20 men survived the night of April 11-12, 1966. As the enemy pulled back from the surrounded remainder of Charlie Company, in the total darkness of the jungle, civilian women and children under Viet Cong control slipped through the underbrush to recover the VC dead and wounded. As they went about their grim task they also looked for American wounded, quietly slitting the throats of helpless young men from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

The only real defense the American survivors had in the dark rain forrest came from American artillery. Every fifteen seconds from 8:30 Monday evening until 7:00 A.M. Tuesday morning, five or six rounds of artillery fell within 25 meters of the small perimeter to keep the enemy at bay.

Meanwhile, Alpha and Bravo Companies poised themselves for a rescue attempt at daylight. In the darkness of the early morning, Army Engineers slipped into the jungle to clear a landing place for the helicopters that would come with the dawn to extract the survivors and the bodies of the dead.

Arriving with the Army's CH47 helicopters on Tuesday morning was the only operable Huskie from Detachment 6. The PJ on board was one of Pits' closest friends, Harry O'Berne. The Huskie was the first chopper to land and O'Berne moved among the dead to find and load three wounded infantrymen. Then, as the Huskie lifted off, O'Berne remained on the ground to treat wounded and load them on the Army Chinook. As he moved among the bodies that littered the jungle floor, an Army captain approached and asked if he was a medic. O'Berne replied that he was. "I'm sorry but one of your buddies was killed last night," he informed the PJ, then pointed towards a poncho covered bundle in the distance.

Slowly O'Berne approached to gently lift the poncho. Beneath was the body of his friend, Pararescue medic William Pitsenbarger...shot four times. In one lifeless hand Pits still held his M-16 rifle. In the other he still clutched his medical kit.

A Particular Bravery

The 10th, 11th, and 12th of April, 1966, witnessed the young men of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry “Rangers” exhibiting a “particular bravery” during an engagement near the village of Xa Cam My and the Courtenay Rubber Plantation, approximately 42 miles east of Saigon. A battle raged between this unit of the 1st Infantry Division and a Viet Cong battalion, D800. The battlefield crowded into a compact perimeter of jungle terrain enfolded within a dark world of a rainforest’s towering triple canopy. Soldiers of Charlie Company were outnumbered and cut off from support or relief - and in that nightmare world of isolated death and mayhem the United States’ war in Vietnam came of age because of the “particular bravery” of these Americans.

Easter Sunday services (April 10) were disrupted for the men of Company C when three Viet Cong soldiers were spotted at the far end of a jungle clearing where the chaplain had been offering a respite from the rigors of the Company’s search and destroy activities, activities as part of Operation Abilene. First platoon’s C troopers cut down on the VC, who were probably acting as scouts for a larger enemy contingent. Two of the enemy were brought down quickly, the third slipped a way and possibly reported Charlie Company's position back to the main body of the VC force.

The target of Operation Abilene, D800 was a "crack" battalion made up of approximately 400 soldiers and a contingent of women and children assisting the soldiers and acting as a back up force. Charlie Company was a light weapons rifle company with an authorized strength of 190 men, but on that Easter Sunday only a 134 GI’s were in the field. Casualties, leaves and assorted other reasons had thinned the ranks of Company C, hobbling the unit’s strength. Charlie Company would be outnumbered three to one if they encountered D800. The Americans had no way of knowing they faced such daunting odds as they pressed deep into the jungle.

The next morning, April 11th, Charlie Company encountered the enemy sporadically, but enough to slow the company’s advance. These flare-ups allowed D800 the time necessary to maneuver their men closer to Charlie Company. The VC battalion took positions in preparation for an ambush of Charlie Company. By 2 PM the VC had surrounded Charlie and were tightening the "noose". The combination of sniper fire from the trees, small arms and artillery fire was wreaking havoc in C Company’s perimeter. Casualties mounted from enemy fire as well as from "friendly" artillery fire mistakes directed to Charlie Company's position.

To save themselves and break the VC ambush, Charlie Company formed a circular perimeter with interlocking (overlapping) fire. The rain of death now came from all sides. The men from Charlie Company found themselves cut off from supporting units and from each other. The command structure fractured, and the stand-off descended into a hellish free-for-all for the out-numbered Americans. Casualties piled up as the situation turned from unstable to precarious. The perimeter tightened. American dead and wounded littered the no-man’s land between the D800 and Charlie. Valor was a necessity that stood alongside survival during those nightmare hours.

Murder replaced combat as the Vietnamese women and children infiltrated the original perimeter to carry off their injured and slit the throats of any wounded Americans they could find.

Dusk found the remaining Americans drawn into a tight perimeter. Orders were issued to ring the perimeter with artillery strikes. Weary, frightened men prayed to survive the night. The barrage, five or six rounds per minute, continued from 8:30 that night until about 7:00 am on the 12th.

Scores of Viet Cong were killed in the engagement, but an exact figure was impossible to determine due to the retrieval of the bodies. According to Army reports Charlie Company suffered 106 killed or wounded out of their original 134 men, a casualty rate of 80%. All but 28 Americans were killed or wounded. The after action report listed 38 killed and 71 wounded- several of the wounded subsequently died of their wounds.

Word got back to the USA that the Big Red One had been in one hell of a firefight and casualties were heavy. Families didn't know who had survived, who was dead.

There were many heroes from the Battle of Xa Cam My. First Lieutenant George Steinberg, a platoon leader with Charlie Company, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (posthumous) for his heroic acts and deeds during the battle. The actions of Sergeant James W. Robinson, Jr. received the Medal of Honor (posthumous). Airman 1st Class William Hart Pitsenbarger, better known as Pits, received the Air Force Cross (posthumous), the highest medal the Air Force can bestow, because of his heroism at Xa Cam My. Recently, December 8, 2000, Pitsenberger’s Air Force Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry "Rangers" particular bravery, against such a numerically superior force, was awarded a Valorous Unit Award. The streamer proclaiming Charlie Company's courageous stand is embroidered COURTENAY PLANTATION and was on display at Fort Riley, Kansas until the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry was deactivated.

Additional Sources:

www.angelfire.com/mo/Blondie
www.pieceuniquegallery.com
www.temple.edu
history.searchbeat.com/vietnamwar
www.altmeyer.com
www.grunts.net

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on September 24:
1501 Gerolamo Cardano, mathematician, author of Games of Chance, the first systematic computation of probabilities.
1717 Horace Walpole England, writer (The Castle of Otranto)
1755 John Marshall Va, 4th Supreme Court Chief Justice (1801-35)
1825 Frances E.W. Harper famous African
1870 Georges Claude inventor (neon light)
1890 Sir Alan Herbert England, journalist/writer (Punch, Helen)
1896 F Scott Fitzgerald St Paul Minn, author (Great Gatsby)
1898 Baron Florey Aust, pathologist; purified penicillin (Nobel '45)
1902 Cheryl Crawford producer (Touch of Venus, Brigadoon)
1912 Don Porter Miami Okla, actor (Russ Lawrence-Gidget, Ann Sothern Show)
1914 Andrzej Panufnik Warsaw Poland, composer (Tragic Overture)
1914 Herb Jeffries Detroit Mich, actor (Where's Huddles)
1915 Larry Gates St Paul Minn, actor (Guiding Light)
1917 William Putnam Bundy London, editor (Lvaggerier & Vagaries)
1919 Dayton Allen NYC, comedian (Steve Allen Show)
1919 Vaclav Nelhybel Polanka Czechoslovakia, composer (Everyman)
1921 Jim McKay Phila Pa, sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports)
1922 Theresa Merritt Newport News Va, actress (Mama-That's My Mama)
1924 Sheila MacRae London England, actress (Jackie Gleason Show)
1924 Walter Fufido Bronx NY, Iwo Jima casualty (WW II)
1930 John W Young SF Calif, astronaut (Gem 3 10, Apol 10 16, STS 1 9)
1931 Anthony Newley actor/song writer/singer (Dr Doolittle)
1934 John Brunner Britain, sci-fi author (Sheep Look Up)
1936 Jim Henson Greenville Miss, muppeteer (Sesame Street, Muppet Show)
1939 Manfred W”rner Secretary General of NATO
1941 Linda Eastman McCartney NYC, Mrs Paul McCartney, rocker (Wings-Ram)
1943 Lee Aaker LA Calif, actor (Rusty-Rin Tin Tin)
1946 "Mean" Joe Greene NFL tackle (Pitts Steelers), Coke spokesman
1946 Jacqueline Courtney NJ, actress (Another World, One Life to Live)
1948 Phil Hartman (comedian, actor
1951 Terry Metcalf Seattle, NFL, CFL running back (St Louis, Toronto)
1956 Ilona Slupianek German DR, shot-putter (Olympic-gold-1980)
1962 Joseph Kennedy II (Rep-D-Mass)
1964 Gene Watkins Waco Tx, actor (James Walsh-As the World Turns)
1969 Gene Hunt entertainer
1969 Lisa Matthews Peoria Ill, playmate (Apr, 1990)
1971 Shane Conrad actress (Cody-High Mountain Rangers)

Deaths which occurred on September 24:
0768 Pippin III, the short, King of France, dies at 53
0786 Al-Hadi, Arabic kalief of Islam (185-86), dies
996 Hugo Capet, king of France (987-96), dies
1180 Manuel I Comnenus Byzantine emperor (1143-80), dies
1601 Tycho Brahe, astronomer, dies in Prague at 54
1815 John Sevier indian fighter, dies at 70
1951 Phillippus Paracelsus physician/alchemist, dies at 48
1975 Ian Hunter actor (Sir Richard-Robin Hood), dies at 75
1981 Patsy Kelly actress (Brigid Murphy-Cop & the Kid), dies at 71
1982 Sarah Churchill actress, dies at 67
1984 Neil Hamilton actor (Com Gordon-Batman), dies of asthma at 85
1991 Theodore Geisel (Dr Seuss), dies at 87

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 FLYNN GEORGE EDWARD III NEW ORLEANS LA.
[06/09/74 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1965 OSBORN GEOFFREY H. WINTER PARK FL.
1966 WHITTLE JUNIOR L. INDIANAPOLIS IN.
[SWIMMING SOUTH CHINA SEA DROWN]
1968 BREINER STEPHEN E. DECATUR IN.
1968 DRABIC PETER E. UNION BRIDGE MD.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE IN 98]
1968 MC CONNELL JERRY JAMICA NY.
1972 BORAH DANIEL V. JR. OLNEY IL.
["ALIVE IN CHUTE, NO MORE CONTACT", REMAINS IDENTIFIED 18 APRIL 1997 - DISPUTED]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
312 Start of Imperial Indication
366 Liberius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0622 Mohammed's Hegira("flight" from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution.)
673 Synod of Hertford opens; canons made for English Church
787 2nd Council of Nicaea (7th ecumenical council) opens in Asia Minor
1493 Columbus' 2nd expedition to the New World
1625 Dutch attack San Juan, Puerto Rico
1683 Jews are expelled from all French possessions in America
1742 Faneuil Hall opens to the public
1789 Congress creates the Post Office
1789 Congress' 1st Judiciary Act, Attorney General & Supreme Court
1829 Russia & Ottoman Empire sign Peace Treaty of Adrianople
1838 Anti-Corn-Law League forms to repeal English Corn Law
1841 Sarawak obtained by Britain from Sultan of Brunei
1845 1st baseball team is organized
1852 A new invention, the dirigible, is demonstrated
1853 1st round-the-world trip by yacht (Cornelius Vanderbilt)
1862 President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus against anyone suspected of being a Southern sympathizer
1862 Confederate Congress adopts confederacy seal
1864 Battle of Pilot Knob (Fort Davidson), Missouri
1865 James Cooke walks tightrope from Cliff House to Seal Rocks, SF
1869 Black Friday; Wall St panic after Gould & Fisk attempt to corner gold
1883 National black convention meets in Louisville, Kentucky
1890 Wilford Woodruff, Pres of Mormon Church in Salt Lake City issues a manifesto advising members that teaching & practice of polygamy should be abandoned.
1895 1st round-the-world trip by a woman on a bicycle (took 15 months)
1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of The Red Circle" (BG)
1906 St Louis Card Stony McGlynn no-hits Dodgers, 1-1 in 7 inning game
1919 Babe Ruth sets season homer mark at 28 off of Yankee Bob Shawkey
1922 Roger Hornsby sets the NL HR mark at 42
1927 NHL's Toronto St Patricks become the Maple Leafs
1927 Yanks set record of 106 victories
1929 Lt James H Doolittle guides a Consolidated N-Y-2 Biplane over Mitchell Field in NY in the 1st all-instrument flight
1930 Portsmouth beats Brooklyn in 1st NFL game played under floodlights
1934 2500 fans see Babe Ruth's farewell Yankee appearance at Yankee Stadium
1938 Don Budge becomes 1st tennis player to grand slam
1940 Jimmy Foxx hits his 500th career HR
1941 9 Allied govts pledged adherence to Atlantic Charter
1948 Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally) pleads innocent in Wash DC
1950 "Operation Magic Carpet"-All Jews from Yemen move to Israel
1952 Underwater volcano explodes under research vessel Kaiyo-maru-5
1953 "Take a Giant Step," opens on Broadway
1954 Tonight Show premiers on NBC (Johnny takes over 8 years later)
1954 Yanks tie a record, 3 of their pinch hitters strike out in 1 inning
1955 Pres Eisenhower suffers a heart attack on vacation in Denver
1957 Bkln Dodgers play last game at Ebbets Field, defeat Pirates 2-0
1957 Eisenhower orders US troops to desegregate Little Rock schools
1958 1st welded aluminum girder highway bridge completed, Urbandale, Ia
1960 1st nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, launches (USS Enterprise)
1960 Internationl Development Assn (UN agency) comes into existence
1962 The University of Mississippi agrees to admit James Meredith as the first black university student, sparking more rioting.
1963 Senate ratifies treaty with Britain & USSR limit nuclear testing
1964 "The Munsters" premiers
1964 Ringo forms Brikley Building Company Ltd
1967 Cards Jim Bakken kicks 7 field goals vs Steelers
1968 "60 Minutes" premiers
1968 "That's Life" premiers-A Broadway musical type TV show
1968 NY Met manager Gil Hodges suffers a heart attack
1969 Trial of "Chicago 8" (protesters at Dem Natl Conv) begins
1970 1st Automated return of lunar sample by Luna 16
1971 Houston Astros beat SD Padres, 2-1, in 21 innings
1972 Antique F86 Sabrejet fails to takeoff at air show, kills 22
1972 Jack Tatum, Oakland, returns a fumble 104 yds vs Green Bay (rec)
1972 NY Jet Joe Namath passes for 6 touchdowns vs Balt Colt (44-34)
1973 Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau) declares independence
1973 St Louis Cards Jim Bakken sets NFL record kicking 7 field goals
1974 Al Kaline gets his 3,000th career hit
1976 Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst sentenced to 7 years for her part in a 1974 bank robbery. Released after 22 months by Pres Carter
1977 Ken Hinton of CFL British Columbia Lions returns a punt 130 yards
1978 Ron Guidry beats Cleveland 4-0, raising his record to 23-3 ERA 1.74
1979 CompuServe system started
1981 Four Armenian gunmen seized the Turkish consulate in Paris, holding 60 hostages for 15 hours before surrendering.
1982 Tennis great Bj”rn B”rg retires at 26
1982 US, Italian & French peacekeeping troops begin arriving in Lebanon
1984 Paul McCartney releases "No More Lonely Nights"
1985 Apollo Computer Inc. lays off 300 employees
1985 Fastest English Channel crossing by a relay team set (15h 30m)
1985 Montreal Expo Andre Dawson is 9th to get 6 RBIs in an inning (5th)
1988 Barbara C Harris of Mass, elected 1st woman Episcopal bishop
1988 Canada's Ben Johnson runs drug-assisted 100 m in 9.79 sec
1988 Jackie Joyner-Kersee of USA sets the heptathlon woman's record (7,291)
1990 South African president F.W. de Klerk meets Pres Bush in Wash DC
1990 Supreme Soviet gives approval to switch to free market
1991 "Good & Evil" & "Sibs" premiers on ABC TV
1991 Doogie Howser loses his virginity
1991 Robin Yount is 37th to hit 2,000 singles
1996 The United States, represented by President Clinton, and the world's other major nuclear powers signed a treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.
1996 Israel opened a second entrance to a tunnel used by archeologists at the Temple Mount, sacred to Muslims as well as Jews. The action sparked deadly rioting.
1996 Stephen King releases two books at once
1998 Iran's foreign minister announced that Iran had dropped its 1989 call for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses" which many Muslims found blasphemous.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Pennsylvania Dutch : Schwenkenfelder Thanksgiving Day (1734)
US : Gold Star Mother's Day (Last Sunday in September) (Sunday)
US : Good Neighbor Day (4th Sunday in September) (Sunday)
US : Press Sunday (Sunday)
US : American Indian Day (4th Friday in September) (1916) (Friday)
Safety Awareness Week (Day 4)
National Ballroom Dance Week (Day 6)
National Mind Mapping for Problem Solving Week (Day 4)
Thanksgiving Day for the Pennsylvania Dutch
Potato Bread Month

Religious Observances
Succoth.
RC-Dominican Republic : Commemoration of Our Lady of Ransom

Religious History
787 The Second Nicene Council opened under Pope Hadrian I. Numbered by some as the 7th of the church's 21 ecumenical councils, Nicea II condemned iconoclasm (belief that the veneration of Christian images and relics is idolatry).
1889 In Holland, the Declaration of Utrecht was signed and became the doctrinal basis of the Old Catholic Church. ("Old Catholics" reject clerical celibacy, papal authority and the Council of Trent decisions.) Today in Europe, Old Catholics are active in Holland, Germany and Switzerland.
1956 In Minneapolis-St. Paul, a congregation of worshipers was organized into the first Southern Baptist church to be established in Minnesota.
1977 Rev. John T. Walker was installed as the sixth -- and first African American -- bishop of the Episcopal diocese in Washington, D.C.
1988 The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts elected Barbara C. Harris, 58, as a suffragen (assistant) bishop, making her the first woman to be so ordained in the Anglican communion.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
~William Blake

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK IF...
Anyone in your family ever died right after
saying, "Hey, y'all watch this!"

Murphys Law of the day...(Law of Triviality)
The time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.

It's a little known fact that...
Canada is an Indian word meaning 'Big Village'.

If that isn't Hell on Earth, I don't know what is.

I understand that Pits is a revered figure anong modern day PJ's. If anybody deserved the Medal Pits did.

The best men of my generation answered our Country's call and went to war in Viet Nam.