best if you put him in that open field just south of An Thach."

"This is Cougar six. Roger, out."

The battalion S3 air had already alerted the lift ships and reported that A Company could be lifted in two complete lifts. Since the gunships were already on station over the contact area, no further request for Sharks would be necessary.

"Five-zero-yankee, this is Cougar six. What’s your situation now?"

"This is five-zero-yankee. We’re right in the center of them now. We’ve been killing them left and right. I don’t know how many. They’re everywhere. Wait, out!"

Hocker and Krout attacked due west into the center of An Thach achieving the classic armor penetration which split the enemy into two forces, one on the north side of the penetration and the other on the south. Aggressively exploiting their success, they pursued the enemy until he subdivided into even smaller units attempting to flee from the fire-belching ironclads and their sweaty soldier protectors. This head-long drive pitted tank against man. Time after time a tank literally ran a desperate dink into a hole where a determined dogface grenaded him into oblivion. Realizing the western escape route was sealed by the low flying helicopters, the enemy tried suicidal tactics. Following the lead of their dead BAR man, several charged directly at the command track. Burger zapped ‘em and reported.

"Cougar six, this is yankee. Two of ‘em just jumped on my track. They’re KIA. We’re still moving west. I can see the rice paddy ahead. I think they’ve broken up now."

"Five-zero-yankee. this is Cougar six. Good. Keep rolling. The paddy on the west is covered by Aloha and the Sharks. They won’t slip out there."

"This is Thunderball six. Roger that. When we reach the paddy, request permission to reverse course and cover the hamlet again. We didn’t get several

dinks that darted into holes. Over?"

"This is Cougar six. Permission granted. We’ll put Alpha down to the southeast and have them block that corner. Bravo is working south along the paddies and can cover the northern escape route. We’ve got all exits blocked."

The scheme of maneuver directed by the battalion commander in effect boxed in any enemy that may have been bypassed in Thunderball’s first attack. When Captain Hocker reached the western edge of An Thach and turned his tanks around to retrace their tracks, he had killed 26 enemy and captured nine weapons including a 60mm mortar. At the same time Company A completed the air assault on a landing zone south of An Thach and immediately began a systematic search of the village. The move back over smoldering An Thach was slow and deliberate. No "hell-bent for leather" march this time. The tanks were motionless, fifty ton pillboxes that secured each house while Krout’s killers took it apart piece by piece. The din of battle was dead. Only the occasional burst of fire and the thump of a grenade bursting underground was heard.

"Thunderball six, this is Cougar six. Do you have an LZ where I can land and talk?"

"This is Thunderball six, Rog. We’ll secure one next to our personnel carrier. Standby for smoke."

"This is Cougar six. Roger. I have your violet smoke. On the way in."

That day, tiny innocuous-looking An Thach yielded 53 enemy dead and 18 weapons. Colonel Tiller’s official report of the action states:

"Captain Hocker repeatedly concentrated his forces in overwhelming strength at the enemy’s location as reported by the aerial observers. This outstanding employment of tanks and infantry together, the firepower and maneuver of the tanks with the close-in fighting of the infantry, resulted in the virtual annihilation of the 2d Company, 97th Battalion, 2d VC Regiment."