AMGRUNT MEMORY:

A recollection of the Tet Offensive of 1968
By Former Corporal Ron Barron 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company

19 January 1968 – We had been hearing rumors of increasing reports of enemy activities and sightings in Northern I Corps and especially so in the area north of the Cua Viet River below the southern boundary of the DMZ.

By late afternoon the 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, got the word from the Company CP that the enemy was massing in our northern TAOR. Gunnery Sergeant Buel “Tom” Thompson made his rounds to each of the four 3rd Platoon tropical huts and gave the order to prepare weapons and gear for battle.

The mood was somber and everyone set about cleaning and oiling weapons and rifle magazines. M-14 rifle magazines were reloaded with fresh 7.62mm ammunition from White Pine wood ammo boxes. We drug out more wood boxes from the platoon ammo bunker containing M-26 hand grenades and 40mm M-79 rounds. Each platoon member filed quietly by the boxes and collected as much as he could carry in anticipation of the looming threat of heavy combat.

Around 11:30pm we had a further update from our Platoon Sergeant, “Gunney” Thompson, that the platoon would indeed be part of an early morning Alpha Company sweep up to the southern boundary of the DMZ to engage a North Vietnamese Army (NVA) force of unknown size reported in the area.

I sat on my green sleeping cot facing Warren Henry “Hank” Ralya Jr., who was sitting on the edge of his cot next to mine. We looked at one another with the clear understanding that the situation was not good.

I felt awkward and helpless as I sat there looking at him. I was overwhelmed with a sense of guilt that I was not going to be with him and the platoon tomorrow as they went north to find and engage the enemy (I had been wounded Christmas Day and I was a “Short Timer” as well.)

I said to Hank, “Hand me your rifle...” and he did so. Then I said to him, “Take my rifle so you will have the extra firepower.” I had offered him my M-14 rifle because it had a selector switch on it allowing full automatic firing.

Hank was the designated M-79 Grenadier for the platoon and it would be his primary weapon and his M-14 would be his secondary weapon. But, I wanted Hank to have my weapon in order to give him the added firepower advantage in case he needed it. It was common practice in Viet Nam to overcome an enemy ambush in the initial phase with superior small arms firepower.

At some point in our conversation I said as casually as I could to Hank, “Be careful and don’t do something stupid.”, meaning getting himself wounded or killed. Hank just smiled back at me with that crooked grin of his acknowledging what I had just said to him without saying a word. I did not sleep that night and I cannot say for sure if anyone else slept either - but I doubt it.

20 January 1968 - The 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company arose and mustered in preparation for boarding two Bravo Company Amtracs near the Alpha Company Command Post (CP) and the adjacent “splash point” into the Cua Viet River. Gunnery Sergeant Thompson informed Corporal Harry Crook and myself that we would relieve the two Marines who had the night watch on perimeter bunker #2, which was located very close to the 3rd Platoon billeting area.

Corporal Harry Crook was a “Short Timer” like me and he would soon rotate back to the Continental United States (CONUS) on 8 February 1968 - two days prior to my rotation date. So, Harry would not be going into battle with the platoon either, since it was standard policy to remove personnel from combat duty “In the field” the last 30 days of their tour of duty whenever possible. Harry and I stood there in the early morning pre-dawn darkness and watched as our platoon mates, and our friends, trudged their way through the deep loose white sand towards the Alpha Company CP and to their awaiting fate. We both felt helpless and sick to our stomachs as we watched them leave because we knew it would not be a good day for them.

Camp Kistler and the Cua Viet Port Facility were on high alert status and the sense of foreboding was so thick in the air you could slice it with a dull knife. The three other platoons of Alpha Company joined 3rd Platoon at the Alpha Company CP mustering point. The Alpha Company Platoon billeting area was now eerily silent and had the feel of a ghost town in the gray light of dawn.

I walked over to where my Amtrac (A-34) was parked and I started it up. I then drove it over to perimeter bunker #2 and dropped the troop ramp at the rear entrance to the bunker. I turned on the radio and adjusted the volume on the speaker loud enough so that Harry and I could monitor the Alpha Company Tactical Network (TacNet) radio transmissions.

All the Camp Kistler perimeter bunkers were constructed with a framework of heavy 8x10 inch timbers and heavy metal panels of Marston Matting (used for temporary airfields) were used for the roof support of the sandbags. The combat engineers bulldozed the white sand into a huge pile surrounding and covering most of the bunker on all sides. Then multiple layers of sandbags were stacked on the roof and on all sides of the bunker, as well as exterior fighting positions around the bunker and connecting trench lines.

Bunker #2 was equipped with a Browning 30 Caliber machine gun, a large Starlight Scope (maybe 12 inches in diameter), a landline (wired) hand phone to the Alpha Company Communications shack, M-26 hand grenades, and multiple Claymore Mine trigger detonators.

There were piles of dark green metal ammo boxes for the 30 Caliber machine gun and 7.62mm ammunition crates strewn about inside the bunker. Also, a couple of C-Ration boxes containing individual meals were stacked in one of the corners of the bunker.

The Bunker was located about 50 yards or so from the south bank of the Cua Viet River. To the front of the bunker (West) it faced a small South Vietnamese Navy Junk Fleet Base and a small village adjacent to it. We had a clear view of the Cua Viet River and the north bank of the river if we stood atop the bunker.

Our unaided view was mostly of the Resettlement Village, which was located nearly directly across the river from our position.

We also had a partial view of My Loc Village, which was located further upriver to the northwest of our position. I must assume that Alpha Company swept in battle line up the coastal tree line along the southern boundary of the DMZ (according to 2nd hand accounts I heard afterwards) and that they reached their objective some time close to noon.

At this time radio communications reported enemy engagements in and about the village of My Loc, and along the north bank of the Cua Viet River with elements of 1st Amtrac Battalion Marines, Army Republic Viet Nam (ARVN) soldiers, and Popular Forces (PFs) militiamen.

Harry and I strained to visualize any signs of activity across the river through a pair of Field Glasses and we did not hear anything from 3rd Platoon on the radio for about an hour or so. But, when we finally did hear from them it was Corporal Daniel Reeves, who was an Alpha Company radioman operating with the 3rd Platoon.

Dan Reeves was screaming hysterically into his radio handset, “Alpha 6!” … “Alpha 6!” … “God damn it!” …”They’re killing us!” … “ Help us!” …”They’re killing us!” … “Alpha 6!” … “Alpha 6!” …”Over”

We could hear the sounds of heavy small arms fire and RPG explosions in the background during this radio exchange between Dan Reeves and Alpha Company Commander, Major P.M. Johnson, and it became difficult to make out what was being said at times. But, Major Johnson was directing Reeves to give him adjustments to his coordinates for artillery support fire onto the enemy positions.

Dan Reeves was wounded by shrapnel and suffered a burst eardrum either prior to or during these radio transmissions from a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) explosion somewhere near his position on top of one of the Bravo Company Amtracs.

Initially, Reeves was having trouble talking and hearing on his handset and it may have been that because of a broken eardrum (I learned this 20 years later) from the initial salvo of RPG rounds caused some disability in his hearing. Of course, the din of battle was probably a factor in this as well.

But soon, Reeves began to give artillery adjustments to Major Johnson as each ranging round impacted. All the while, the 3rd Platoon was being devastated by North Vietnamese Army small arms fire, automatic weapons fire, RPG fire, 82mm mortar fire, and heavy artillery fire.

I was told that the two Bravo Company Amtracs had raced across the open sandy terrain we called, “The Desert”, which was located between the coastal tree line and the village of My Loc. The Amtracs entered a large graveyard just outside the north side of My loc village. It was a collection of typical Vietnamese burial mounds made of piled-up sand. Some of the mounds were enclosed by a low circular concrete decorative wall.

The graveyard was surrounded by low sand dunes covered with a thick growth of low-lying scrub bushes roughly in the shape of a horseshoe. The NVA were there in the dunes and bushes as the two Amtracs drove into the graveyard and they opened up on the men of the 3rd Platoon as they sat or crouched low atop the vehicles.

I was told afterwards that the ”New guys”, who had just arrived in recent days as replacements into the platoon, immediately stood up to get off the tops of the Amtracs and were mowed down by the enemy fire converging upon all of them from nearly every direction. So, some of the 3rd Platoon Marines who remained on top of the Amtracs immediately took cover behind the dead bodies of those killed.

Most of the seasoned veterans of the 3rd Platoon usually rode at the rear of the Amtracs and most of them rolled off the tops of the vehicles. They fell to the sand below and sought refuge behind the Amtracs. But, some were stuck out in the open without any protection at all and they fought back in open and exposed positions there on the sand around the Amtracs.

This is when the wounding and killing continued…

I am unclear about the overall nature of the 3rd Platoon’s ability to defend them selves let alone provide an accurate view of what casualties they may have been inflicting upon the NVA surrounding them.

But, I suspect that their defensive fires were nominal and that it was entirely a matter of just trying to survive the withering NVA small arms fire, RPG, and 82mm mortar explosions as they hid behind the dead bodies of their comrades.

By this time Dan Reeves was providing artillery adjustments in a more controlled voice to Major Johnson. Artillery support fires were converging on the area as Harry Crook and I stood atop bunker #2 back at Camp Kistler. We could hear the loud crunching sounds of artillery rounds impacting across the Cua Viet River. Then, we watched in awe as seemingly endless barrages of huge black puffs of artillery airbursts exploded over My Loc and the Resettlement village.

This went on for about an hour or so…

Amazingly, Marine Corps F-4 Phantom Jets were streaking along at tree top level in between these air burst barrages and were dropping 500lb High Explosive (HE) bombs on both of the villages, and probably elsewhere beyond our field of vision too.

I found out afterwards that an US Army UH1E “Huey” helicopter had flown to the area from Dong Ha in support of the ARVN troops and their US Army Advisor. It delivered door gunner M-60 machinegun fire onto the NVA positions surrounding the 3rd Platoon Marines in the graveyard.

This action by the ”Huey” helicopter had been instrumental in staving off the NVA from totally destroying the 3rd Platoon by driving them away from their positions in the dunes surrounding the graveyard.

Corporal Robert “Cookie “ Cook described to me 20 years later of his actions this day. He said it was around this time that he spotted an NVA soldier popping his head up from behind a sand dune covered with brush and he fired a single round at the NVA soldier’s head and Killed the NVA soldier.

This NVA soldier had a Soviet or Chinese made flamethrower on his back, and no doubt about it, was preparing to shoot a stream of jellied gasoline in Corporal Cook’s direction. According to eyewitnesses, the NVA soldier must have pulled the trigger of the flamethrower as he was shot, because he discharged a brief fireball of flame into the air.

Corporal Cook also described the actions of Corporal Warren Henry “Hank” Ralya around this same time frame in the battle. He stated that when Hank Ralya had jumped to the sand from atop the Amtrac he had been riding on, he attempted to return M-79 fire from a standing or kneeling position towards the enemy and was wounded by small arms fire.

Hank Ralya fell to the sand and soon attempted to get on to his feet again to fire his weapon at the enemy and he was ripped from groin to chest by machinegun fire. Corporal Cook stated that he watched in horror as Hank Ralya was lifted into the air by the force of the machinegun bullets impacting his body and that he knew for sure that Hank Ralya was dead before he hit the sand.

All the while there were continuing barrages of US artillery rounds throughout the afternoon and into the early evening from firebases located at Gio Linh, Dong Ha, and from Cua Viet. Air Strikes continued until darkness fell and there may have been naval gunfire support from a US Navy ship positioned off shore.

Enemy artillery had been employed during the course of the battle and rounds of 130mm and 152mm artillery were being expertly directed upon 1st Amtrac Battalion Marines and ARVN Forces by NVA Forward Observers (FOs) right up to the hour of darkness.

About three hours or so after the battle was initiated in the graveyard a couple of Bravo Company Amtracs advanced with the 4th Platoon, Alpha Company, walking behind them as cover from the NVA fire. They finally reached the beleaguered 3rd Platoon in the graveyard and retrieved most of the dead and wounded, and transported them back to the Alpha Company CP for medical triage to the Battalion Aid Station and disposition of the dead.

Harry Crook and I heard the radio transmissions of the vehicles bringing the 3rd Platoon members to the Company CP and Harry told me he had to go there and find out what had happened and who was dead, wounded, and still alive. Well, in about 45 minutes to an hour later he came back to Bunker #2 all ashen-faced and visibly shaken by what he had witnessed back at the Company CP area.

He told me that blood flowed like small rivers from inside the Amtracs and drained down the ramps onto the white sand. One of the 3rd Platoon members had been driven over by accident by one of the Amtracs as it backed up and his head had been totally crushed.

Harry also told me that he saw Hank Ralya’s body and that he still had an M-79 round clutched in one of his hands. When I heard this news I was absolutely devastated and I went into a momentary state of shock - that my best friend was dead.

Harry and I returned to our positions inside Bunker #2 and kept a vigil until we were relieved of duty by two other Marines from H&S Company. We walked back to our billeting area and waited for the survivors of the battle to return just before darkness fell that evening.

I questioned them as best I could about the battle and who was wounded and dead. I began to pack the personal belongings into the Sea Bags of those who had been reported dead and loaded them inside my Amtrac to be transported to the Company CP, when ordered to do so, by whomever would still be alive and capable of taking over the 3rd Platoon the next day.

In summary, eleven (11) Marines of 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, were killed in action (KIA) including the 3rd Platoon Leader - 2ndLt Richard Reynolds. Almost every Marine in the 3rd Platoon was wounded or injured in some fashion. Many of them were med-evaced and never returned to duty. At the end of the day there were only five Marines out of approximately 30-32 Marines of the 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, who returned from the battle.

An unknown number of 3rd Platoon Marines still remained in the field engaged in the battle and they filtered back to the 3rd Platoon billeting area over the next couple of days.

The 3rd Platoon was held out of combat action after January 20, 1968 because there were simply not enough Marines left to perform as a platoon unit. I suspect that Major Johnson may have tagged the platoon as “No duty”, since all of the survivors of the battle were very traumatized by the experience. Hardly anyone noticed the steady flow of replacements “New Guys” into the 3rd Platoon in the next week or two. I certainly never bothered to learn any of their names either.

10 February 1968 – My rotation date had arrived and I departed Cua Viet on a U.S. Navy Landing Ship Tank (LST) for DaNang. I spent three days at sea in Monsoon storm in transit to DaNang. I became so seasick that I was nearly washed off the heaving and pitching deck of the ship as I stood there at the railing puking my guts up into the wind and rain.

12 February 1968 – It was around 9:00pm as I finally boarded the commercial airplane at the DaNang Airbase. The enemy had been rocketing and mortaring the airfield for days now and commercial aircraft were using the dark of night to avoid anti-aircraft fire.

As the airliner taxied from the parking apron to the end of the runway enemy rockets began to impact the other end of the runway. A chorus of groans filled the cabin from all of us tired and worn-out Marines.

We just sat there in the darkened airplane in irritated disbelief, fidgeting, and muttering under our breath until the jet engines powered-up full throttle and the brakes released. We hurtled down the runway for what seemed an eternity until finally the wheels lifted off the concrete airstrip and we were airborne.

As I looked out the window the last view I had of Viet Nam was an artillery flare floating and turning round and round in the air over the landscape below me as the airplane climbed through the clouds and into the darkness of the night….

Ron Barron
Corporal 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion,
3rd Marine Division, FMF.