29 MAY 1966: 1400 HOURS

Bn Fwd passed the word from Gen Walker that LTC Kingston and the relief force had completed marshaling and would be arriving at the LZ around 1500. At the time the information reached the TF, the NVA effort was once again increasing, and as had been the case throughout the attack, was concentrating against the 3^rd Plts of Alfa and Bravo. The danger of ground to air fire against the incoming flights was acute, and suppression of that fire was critical to the success of the relief. Bn Fwd was requested to report when the first in bound lift was five minutes out. At that time, the majority of the troops on the ground would be moved from the portion of the line least committed to the area of heaviest contact. Maximum suppressive fires would be laid down in order to prevent the enemy from directing his fire against the ships as they were on short final and landing. It was requested that once the soldiers exited the aircraft, they move to the northern portion of the perimeter and take up positions there, because by that time the defenders would be down to their last rounds of ammunition. Once the TF was committed to the suppressive course of action, the first two lifts had to come in, regardless of fire, in order to keep the TF situation from becoming disastrous. Ammunition was redistributed and wounded were replaced by filling in with men from the opposite side of the perimeter as much as practical. The two Company Commanders were briefed, and when the first lift was four minutes out, men were moved across the perimeter and joined the Plts in contact. The troop lifts, escorted by gunships providing covering fire from their rocket pods and off side door gunners, came in under fire, but without loss. LTC Robert Kingston and Major Fred Delisle, Battalion S-3, Opns Officer, arrived with the second lift, and the command of the TF was turned over at that time.

*C 1/35^th Infantry arrived by helicopter. The companies on the ground assisted by moving to the northern edge of the LZ and laying down a base of fire to the N and NE. B 2/35^th Infantry and A 1/35^th Infantry then secured the northern portion of the LZ and C 1/35^th Infantry secured the southern portion. This reinforcement caused the snipers to withdraw.* (Annual Historical Supplement, 2^nd Bn, 35^th Infantry, 1966)

*As the battle progressed, more choppers arrived carrying reinforcements, which included 1^st/35^th Battalion Recon Platoon and Company "C", of the 1^st/35^th., plus more artillery and supplies. It was now about 3 or 4 p.m. on the 29^th of May, 1966. All but intermittent sniper fire had stopped. The LZ had 3 rifle companies, plus a reinforced Recon Platoon: however, "A" Company 1^st/35^th and B"B company 2^nd/35^th, together, didn’t quite make up a full rifle company.* (Richard Hunter, 3:A/1/35)

29 MAY 1966: 1600 HOURS

ENEMY SITUATION

Any hope of success in overrunning and destroying the American defense was preempted when the remainder of the 1/35th joined the battle. Considering the losses he had already sustained, the only course of action still open to the NVA was to block with a delaying force while the remainder of his regiment retreated back into sanctuaries west of the Cambodian border.

29 MAY 1996: 1600 HOURS

*In the interim, resupply was effected. Sweeps began again. The goal was to push the perimeter out 150 meters in order to provide more adequate LZ security. Again snipers were encountered, with B 2/35th taking the remainder of its casualties. During the perimeter expansion and the resupply activity, enemy 82mm mortar fire was received in and around the LZ. Light casualties resulted (WIA only); however, one of the resupply ships was damaged. Organic mortars returned fire 360 degrees around the LZ with constant shooting and traversing. This proved successful quieting enemy mortar fire.

With the additional strength on the ground, the LZ was expanded outward. The NVA reacted to the reinforcement with renewed efforts for another thirty or so minutes, but within an hour and a half, all that was being received was occasional sniper fire. The situation went quiet for the next hour or so, and the TF consolidated its enlarged holdings and policed the battlefield. At 1700, there was a heavy mortar attack in which about 50 rounds impacted within the LZ. One of the initial rounds landed directly in front of a supply ship that was just lifting off, and the pilot reacted by banking sharply to his right. In so doing, he caught his main rotor in a tree and crashed on the LZ. Aside from minor injuries, all aboard survived and were extracted on a later aircraft. Damage from the mortars was minimal in that most of the troops were no longer on the treeline, but were fifty to 100 meters farther out into the forest on the new perimeter. The remainder of the night passed with an occasional exchange of fire, but mainly without incident. The following morning, units of the 2/35^th were detached and were flown back to the Brigade base at Oasis.

*By 1100 hrs, it appeared the enemy had given up trying to overrun the perimeter. He had not withdrawn from the battlefield however, as any careless movement along the line attracted enemy fire. The decision was made to commence reinforcement with the rest of the 1^st Bn, 35^th Infantry, which had been standing by at the airstrip at DUO CO. The first lift arrived about noon bringing in the Battalion CO, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Kingston, the S-3, Major Frederick C. Delisle, and C Company commanded by Captain Alvino Cortez. As each lift of aircraft made its approach into the LZ, the entire east side of the perimeter opened up with full automatic fire, paying particular attention to the trees from which the helicopter crewman had reported receiving fire. This tactic was evidently successful as no further aircraft were downed by small arms fire.* (Capt Bisantz, A/1/35)

*Approaching my nineteenth birthday, I found myself carrying a radio for a Forward Observer for the 4.2 inch Mortar platoon. His name was Kreil and he was from Wisconsin or Minnesota or some other upper Midwest state. We were both attached to Charlie Company, 1^st Battalion, 35^th Infantry which was conducting "search and destroy" missions somewhere in, or near, the Ia Drang Valley. We had been happily finding very little in the way of enemy activity in the area in which we were operating for the previous week or so and were content to patrol and search under these conditions interminably. Of course, this was not to be the case.

*During a patrol on the May 28, the headquarters element was called together and told to be ready for immediate extraction by helicopter. At the same time, we were told that Bravo Company was heavily engaged with an enemy force. The transport Huey’s arrived soon thereafter, and we scrambled onto them, knowing that we were going into a fight somewhere. We flew into Duc Co, a Special Forces CIDG camp somewhere west of Pleiku and near the Cambodian border. On the ground was an assembly of helicopters such I had not yet seen during my tour of duty in country. I didn’t count them but there must have been almost a hundred "choppers" sitting in a huge field adjacent to the SF camp. Some had their rotors spinning, some did not. There were transports, gunships and light observation helicopters (loaches).

*Charlie Company was formed up into "sticks" or seven man groups and assigned to waiting helicopters. The one on which I was placed was not on, and it felt peculiar to be sitting in a Huey, in full battle dress, which was not even turned on. While we waited I tuned my AN/PRC25 backpack radio onto Bravo Company’s command frequency. There was much anxious chatter and the sounds of small arms and explosions could be heard in the background. I let anyone who wanted to listen do so in turn and then tuned the radio to Alfa Company’s frequency, only to discover that Alfa had already joined the fight. Again, there was a charge of anxiety in the transmissions and the sound of many weapons in the background. We began to wonder aloud why we were just sitting there in that field. We wanted to go in and help our Battalion. Eventually, the knots of pilots surrounding the field broke up and, at a trot, they made their way to the ships. We watched our pilots strap in and prepare for flight with a little anxiety of our own.

*Once airborne, I was awed by the sight of so many helicopters filling the sky all around me. They flew in formations of from three to six ships, and the formations were in every direction I looked. Far below us Huey Gun ships (hogs) weaved just above the triple canopied jungle. In every ship I could see groups of soldiers in full combat gear, their weapons at the ready and their legs dangling from the cargo holds in anticipation of a quick exit. In the distance I saw plumes of thick gray and black smoke rising from the earth. I knew that was our destination, Landing Zone 10 ALFA. We were ten minutes out.

*As we approached the battle, I could see the orange flashes of explosions occurring in the forest surrounding the LZ. It seemed mostly on the south and west perimeters. We watched as several A1E Skyraider propeller driven attack planes swooped low over the wood line and dropped tumbling canisters of napalm, which boiled explosively through the forest. Someone nudged me and pointed. Far below and to our left a Huey Hog was making a run on an enemy position. But something was wrong. Enemy ground fire had evidently caught right side rocket pods on fire and the crew chief, a very tiny figure from our viewpoint, was leaning out of the burning chopper with an even tinier fire extinguisher trying to put out the rapidly growing blaze. We watched in horror as the alloyed metals in the skin of the chopper itself became engulfed in flame. It was almost comical to watch that hapless crew chief and his valiant but futile effort to extinguish that blazing inferno with his completely ineffectual little fire extinguisher. The blazing helicopter continued to lose altitude and flared for a landing in 10 ALFA. We watched as three crew members raced from the brightly burning ship. One hesitated and returned to the ship. Apparently one of the pilot’s doors was jammed. The heroic crew member was able to free the jam and soon we saw all four crew members scrambling for safety.

*We were on final approach, just meters above the barren treetops on the east end of the LZ. Hearts in our throats; we could feel the occasional "tug" of a bullet hitting the aircraft. The explosions on the ground were audible as well as the staccato rhythm of various automatic weapons. We edged closer to the doors to make a hasty exit when, all of a sudden, the pilots poured on the coal streaking across the LZ at sixty feet and climbing. The concern was the violently burning gunship in the LZ. Her fuel tanks had not yet exploded, and no one wanted to risk more choppers on the ground in close proximity. We circled and approached twice more, each time feeling "hits" on our birds. The third time we came in hot and low, the helicopters hovering three feet off the ground for the few seconds that it took to disgorge the passengers, then dropped their noses and took off like bats out of hell.

*I found myself lying in muck about twenty meters from the burning chopper. The M-60 machine guns abandoned by the burning chopper’s door gunners were so hot that rounds were being "cooked" off, and I could see tracers hitting the ground and bouncing over my head. I had to wait a few moments for all the helicopters to clear the LZ before I could retreat from the burning one. Once the choppers were clear, I began to make my way across the LZ toward the sound of the fighting. The LZ was a virtual swamp. I hunkered low because there was much small arms fire from the east and occasionally a spray of water erupted where a bullet hit. It was very tough going, my boots were sucked in by the mud over my ankles, and it required quite an effort to pull each step free. Ahead of me was a hole from which two guys were looking out, and I scrambled into the position with them. I was immediately immersed in muddy water to my waist. I didn’t recognize either guy. They must have been from either Bravo or Alfa Company. I thought they might have been part of the downed chopper crew, but they had rifles and were wearing steel pots, not flight helmets. I still don’t know what they were doing in that hole in the middle of the LZ.

*I knew I had to rejoin Charlie Company, so I left the hole and half ran, half crawled to the tree line beyond which all the heavy fighting was taking place. I saw a stack of crates and hunkered behind them to catch my breath and prepare to enter the fighting. I glanced over my shoulder at the burning helicopter. Inexplicably, it still had not blown, even though it was thoroughly embroiled in flames. I turned my head and the stenciling on the side of the crates caught my attention. Grenades! I knew I couldn’t stay here, so I moved into the tree line looking for someone familiar. I wasn’t twenty feet from the grenade cache when the downed helicopter finally blew. It exploded in a tremendous ball of fire that rose hundreds of feet in the air. Someone came running by yelling that Charlie Company was to assemble on the opposite side of the LZ. Soon droves of infantry began making their way across the open LZ, slogging through the mud as quickly as they could. Sniper bullets whined through the air as we went. Near the opposite wood line the new battalion commander was directing traffic, inserting units where he wanted them inside the tree line. I thought it remarkable that he would expose himself to enemy sniper fire in such a manner. We went into the tree line and found abandoned enemy fortifications, which we occupied facing outward against a possible attack. We were shifted right and left a few times to ensure maximum perimeter coverage. During this time an occasional sniper bullet would come snapping through the tree branches reminding us that the area was extremely dangerous.

*On the other side of the LZ, perhaps three hundred meters distant, the battle still raged. Artillery and aircraft continued to bombard suspected enemy positions and through the sound of explosions we could hear great volumes of automatic weapons fire, both U.S. and North Vietnamese. It seemed only a matter of time before we were involved on this side of the LZ. It was getting toward dusk, and we had to hurriedly prepare our positions to withstand any assaults that might be made by the enemy during the coming darkness. The rifle squads worked out their intricate networks of fields of fire and communications were established among the line of positions.* (Michael Kellermeyer, HHC/1/35)

*The build-up continued rapidly with little enemy opposition until about 1400hrs. when the LZ was hit with a mortar attack. Four helicopters were unloading at the time and immediately took off. One of the helicopters flew directly over one of the exploding mortar rounds and settled directly back into the LZ. The other three escaped. Before the last enemy round had detonated, the mortars in the LZ began firing counter battery fire. A radio telephone operator on the east aide of the perimeter had heard the enemy mortar fire and quickly adjusted Alfa Co.’s mortars into the area. Following this incident the remaining resupply was done on the fly with individual aircraft touching down for only a few seconds at a time.

*At 1300hrs. Bravo Co, 1^st Bn, 35^th Infantry commanded by Captain Timothy J Crotty had been lifted into LZ 10B, about 2.5 kilometers northwest of LZ 10A. Their landing was unopposed, and the company patrolled southeast, joining the battalion in LZ 10A. about 1600hrs. As they moved into their sector of the perimeter, the enemy launched his last and most damaging mortar attack. This attack of approximately 18 to 20 rounds was not directed against the LZ, but against the perimeter, which, due to the increased forces in the LZ, was now located about 50 meters into the wood line from the edge of the LZ. The mortars impacted directly on the battered 3^rd Platoon of Alfa Co. causing some 15 casualties, six of which were serious enough to warrant immediate evacuation.* (Capt Bisantz, A/1/35)

*When darkness fell, the sounds of the battle across the LZ died down except for the occasional staccato bark of an enemy AK-47 or the heavier ripping sound of a friendly M-60 machine gun’s reply. We heard voices calling out ,but at that distance we couldn’t tell what was being yelled or who was doing the yelling. The entire night was a series of ghostly shadows cast by overhead flares and bursts of automatic weapons fire where NVA troops were probing the perimeter. No enemy activity took place on our side of the LZ that I can remember.

*When dawn broke the battle seemed to be over. On the far side of the LZ Alfa and Bravo companies were running sweeps outside the perimeter to ascertain enemy intentions and casualties. My FO and I were assigned to a five man squad that was going to patrol out to the opposite side of the LZ. We thought seven guys was a bit few in light of the obvious numerical strength of the NVA on the previous day but orders were orders so off we trudged, cautious and alert. About two hundred meters north of the LZ the forest gave way to an large field of elephant grass about as high as our eyes. We began moving through the field to enter more forest on the other side. About fifty meters into the grass we encountered a huge swath of trampled grass. It measured about ten meters wide and wound away around the woods that surrounded 10 ALFA. The grass had been trampled by a large number of NVA troops moving through the area in great haste. The grass had been only recently trampled, perhaps during the night, but we couldn’t tell if it was a retreat from the battle or reinforcements arriving. We continued our designated patrol route without further incident until we had nearly arrived back at the LZ. As we entered the woods that surrounded the north side of 10 ALFA, we paused in a thicket in order to communicate with the perimeter that we were about to return through our lines. One of the rifleman spotted movement to our left and we hunkered down into the thicket to observe. Walking toward our concealed position was a solitary NVA soldier, AK-47 at the ready. Although he was exhibiting stealth in his movements, his concentration was obviously on the activities taking place several hundred meters away within the LZ. (Helicopters were coming and going). We watched to see if he was the scout for a larger force, but saw no other movement in the forest. He crept to within five meters of our position when several riflemen in the squad opened fire, killing him instantly. We hastily called in our location and situation lest the perimeter force get trigger happy and begin reconning by fire. No fire came our way, and we made our way back into 10 ALFA.* (Michael Kellermeyer, HHC,1/35)

*What was left of 3^rd Platoon was assigned to do the "body count" because we had no NCO’s and/or leadership. Out of a 42-man platoon that arrived at 10 ALFA on the evening of May 28^th, we were left with 11 men on the evening of the 29^th, and our ranking soldier was an E-4. We had no M-60’s, no grenade launchers, no radio, and some of us were still holding onto AK’s. Because of our weakened strength, and the total lack of platoon leadership, 3^rd platoon didn’t have to be on the perimeter the night of the 29^th. The next day the replacements arrived along with new weapons. Eleven days later, we walked away from 10 ALFA.* (Richard Hunter, 3:A/1/35)

*After the fighting ceased, tales were told and re-told - some grew in the telling. Five that I recall were:

A company of the 14^th Infantry walked into the LZ prior to the battle and saw nothing. They were then extracted by helicopter prior to B Co., 2/35^th’s arrival.

Only one chopper was able to initially land B company troops within the LZ, the remainder being driven off by at least five enemy anti-aircraft guns.

The seven soldiers of B Company stranded on the ground valiantly knocked out enough of the anti-aircraft positions to allow further insertions of troops.

The errant napalm bomb dropped by the A1E Skyraider killed or wounded over 40 B Company troops, mostly the headquarters element.

When Alfa company arrived to reinforce a beleaguered Bravo company, the enemy was getting an upper hand until Alfa’s Company Commander, Captain "Mad" Anthony Bisantz stood in front of his troops, cigar clenched in his mouth and blazing M-16s in either hand, rallied and inspired his men to counter attack effectively. In a recent exchange with Captain Bisantz, he pooh-poohed the incident and gave credit to his NCOs and "fine’ troops. I don’t care what he says, I like to think of him standing defiantly in the face of the enemy, guns blazing from the hips, cigar stub clenched tightly in his teeth.

The sweeps along the south perimeter of 10 ALFA conducted on May 29^th produced an enemy body count nearing 600.* (Michael Kellermeyer, HHC. 1/35)

*I was the Recon Platoon Sergeant for HHC/1-35. Recon was choppered in the morning of the 2^nd day. Right after we got into the LZ, the NVA fired a RPG at a "Dustoff" that was coming in to pick up wounded. It crashed right in the middle of the LZ killing everyone on board. One of my machine gunners began firing at a NVA running back into the treeline with a RPG launcher in his hand. He cut the NVA to ribbons with the M-60. Recon then got ready to make a perimeter sweep and eliminate the snipers. Two squads from A 1/35 went with us. After leaving the perimeter, we sent 2 squads forward and 1 squad on each flank to prevent a surprise ambush. As we moved thru the trees, the point man came under fire from a sniper. He wasn't hit but the sniper only missed by an inch. I immediately brought my sniper up and we tried to locate the sniper. My Lt. was using the spotter scope and finally located him in a tall tree about 50 meters in front of us. Our sniper was using a .308 Winchester bolt action sniper rifle, and he began firing where the Lt. had pointed to. We heard a muffled scream and the NVA sniper suddenly dropped down out of the tree and began trying to run. His upper torso was covered in blood, and he kept falling while he was trying to run. One squad took him under fire and he went down and tried to get up on his knees. Someone fired an M-79 at him and it landed right in front of him. End of sniper.

*We began moving again and about 15 minutes later I got a call on the radio from the squad on the right flank. They had seen movement and heard NVA talking to their front. I told them to sit tight until we could get there as there was only 4 or 5 them out there. When we got to their location the squad leader said they had heard sounds like the NVA were setting up mortars. Myself and one squad moved forward and located the NVA by a big bunch of boulders. There was about 25 or 30 of them, and they were setting up 2 heavy mortars and bringing mortar ammo down a small trail from the East. I called for the Lt. to come up to my position. When he got there we both agreed that we should call for helicopter gunships before we engaged them. Recon was famous for calling for gunships to avoid casualties.

*Battalion headquarters told us to hold tight, they would get some gunships to us. After about 10 minutes we could hear the choppers coming, and Bn called me and asked if we could pop smoke where we wanted the gunships to unload. I told them we were not close enough to throw a smoke grenade that far. As you know, every platoon has a clown and Recon was no exception. My clown was a machine gunner in the 2nd squad. He said: "Sarge, ain't no problem getting close enough to throw the smoke grenade. I'll go throw it." Before I could say no, he grabbed a smoke grenade off my web gear and headed off at a low crawl towards the NVA position. I couldn't yell at him because the NVA would hear me. We all just laid there and prayed for him. All of a sudden the NVA began shouting and hollering and here comes the clown running 90 miles an hour towards us. He got back to us, and the Lt. got on the radio and told the chopper pilots to unload on the smoke. Did they ever unload on them. 2.8 inch rockets were coming in like rain on the NVA. Door gunners were firing from all 4 choppers, and bullets were landing everywhere where the NVA were.

*We kept hearing secondary explosions after the choppers fired the rockets, and we knew that was the mortar rounds going off. After the choppers left we moved in and assaulted the position. There were only about 7 or 8 NVA that weren't killed or wounded in the chopper assault. They didn't put up much a fight, and we eliminated them in about 10 minutes. After it was over we made a search of the area and found over 200 rounds of mortar ammunition stacked very neatly in a little clearing in the trees about 50 meters from the mortar positions. There were about 20 NVA killed and numerous blood trails. We followed several of the blood trails but never found the ones who left them.

*When we returned to the LZ the NVA had stopped their assault and Battalion said they had turned tail and ran. We took a demolition man back out to where the mortar ammo was and he rigged it with C-4. When it went off the whole sky lit up, and everyone started cheering in the LZ. Bn said that was the heavy mortars the NVA had been moving to different locations around the perimeter the day before and giving our guys hell.

*Recon wasn't in the LZ the first day of the assault on the LZ but we were glad we were there the 2^nd day to help those brave guys from 2/35 and A/1/35. They really gave an account of themselves. I later heard the body count was over 400 NVA killed and estimated 200 wounded by the troops and combined air strikes. Gave "Charlie" some second thoughts about messing with the "Cacti".

*They used the battle of 10 ALFA as a training aid at the Ranger School in Ft. Benning to show Ranger candidates how a small force of infantrymen can defend a small landing zone against a much superior enemy force with minimum casualties. I went back to Ft. Benning in ‘68 as an instructor at the Ranger School and helped set up the mock landing zone for training troops.* (Recon Platoon Sgt Charles "Chuck" Norris, HHC,1/35)

*Thus ended the Battle of 10 ALFA which "drew the strategic gaze increasingly toward the possibilities of the troubled zone short of the Cambodian border." (S.L.A. Marshall, Battles in the Monsoon).