Night Ambush

[39mto39g]

The most intence thing I ever did in my life was being part of a 5 man team while on NIGHT AMBUSH!!!! DUN-DUN-DAHHHH.
Several times, I could hear my heart beat, for real.
The Jungle has a smell to it at 2:30 in the morning, and every thing starts to move but really don't move then it looks like it moved,
Every muscle acked from being so tence for hours and yet I hadn't even moved.
Couldn't eat, couldn't drink cause the swallowing was to loud.
I don't belive I have felt that censation sence comming home, (nor do I want to)
every once in awhile, while deer hunting it will get very quiet and day break is a few min. away, I can still hear a few beats from the ticker, But the deer don't shoot back so the fear factor is not there, But it sure brings up a few memories.

Ron

[Andy]

My first year we pulled night ambush, on average of twice a month. Ron your right, a drink of water would have been great but in some situations, it would make too much noise. Sometimes breathing seemed a bit risky. Remember cursing the buttons on your shirt because they prevented you from getting a little closer to the ground?

We sprung an ambush with a frag and a claymore. At the time I thought that claymore must have been a semi nuke, so much louder and brighter than any other I?d seen.

We set up one bush that was funny, it?s funny now. We had our $hit wired real tight, all the guys on the bush had been there at least 4 months or so, the area wasn?t that active. We all lay down in a line with a trail in sight, all thinking, ?We ready for anything?. Then one of the guys jumps up starts screaming and is bouncing off the near by trees. The rest of us couldn?t believe what we were seeing or hearing. Then the guy yells ?ANTS?. After the guy returned to the human race, we moved the ambush site.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[ArtySgt]

his happened May be in late November of 67, we sent out an ambush patol of 17 men lead by the youngest E-7 I'd ever seen. This guy was hispanic and a super sharp dude. Any way they set up a thousend meters outside the perimeter. a new guy accidently sets off a claymore so their position is compromised. They call in and decide o change positions, ( this is where I start to disagree with his actions ) it's his call so they saddle up and start to move to a new position at a grave yard about 15 hundred meters out. The V.C. find them and parallel their move, when they reach the grave yard and start to set up again the V.C. hit them with every thing they had. All wounded are shot in the head including the unarmed medic, some how two guys escape into the jungle without their weapons and hide. I get the fire misson to shoot illumination, to keep the V.C. from mutilating the bodies. I shoot all my rounds nd the other guns start bringing me there illumination rounds. This goes on for most of the night when the last illuminations are fired by the section a flair ship is called in about an hour from dawn to take of the last watch for these men.
15 men lost in an area that we'd been getting hit often, some one should have called and ordered that patrol back inside the wire. Just my opinion, had the same opinion that night but it was not up to me. I did keep their bodies lit up for what ever that was worth to those poor guys.

[DMZ-LT]

Never left anyone. Lost people going after the dead. You did the best you could. Be riding up your way pretty soon. Getting warmer . Peace brother.

[39mto39g]

Body recovery is always a bitch, you did your job, that all anyone can ask.

Lt.
we left dead guys, we also never lost anyone going after a dead guy. We would come back with lots of help, and pick up bodies. Most of the time they were naked but that didn't matter to them.

Ron

[frisco-kid]

Like Andy, I did quite afew of these, too. From 5-6 guys to a couple squads. One night [I wasn't on this one, luckly] while on an L-shaped ambush, one side opened up on the other side. Had 2 guys wounded before it got stopped. As if there wasn't enough out there to be scared about.

[exlrrp]

Originally posted by Andy My first year we pulled night ambush, on average of twice a month. Stay healthy,
Andy

Twice a month? In the 101 we used to do ambush patrols at least twice a week--this after humping all day
I used to sit on a sharp rock or kneel to stay awake. It was supposed to be 50% alert but after humping all day people would drop off. I never did I was too scared.
About the 3d or 4th ambush patrol I was on, I was sitting in a MG position on the end. We'd heard firing up the valley that night, probaly the Oh Deuce on night field exercises.
Late on the 2d shift I heard these dogs barking in this little ville about 1/4 mile away. well, I aint no Indian but I can read sign good enough and I thought "Them dogs are sure barking at SOMETHING" I took up the Claymore clicker in my hand.
About 20 minutes or so later the trip flare goes off and I blew the Claymore
KAAAAAAAABBBBOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yr sure right about a Claymore being louder than a grnade.
It was a scene right out of Hell-People flopping around and screaming, going down. it was a medic convoy carrying people from up[ the valley.
I was aweswtruck: I didn't know WHAT to do--this was the first time I'd ever really hurt someone and here it was in spades. I understand now that if I'd opened up with the machine gun,I would have got more--some ran right in front of me. I just sat there open mouthed--I didn't know WHAT the fck to do.
Those other guys sure did tho--they woke up pitching grenades. We pitched grenades untill the screaming stopped.
At first lightwe crept out to see the damage. There were 6 bodies lying there. One of them moved and the squad leader typed him up. The grenade that he'd tried to fling went off. He'd laid there all night trying to get us. I thought: when I die I want to go like that one-and I also thought: This is going to be a long fucking War.
There w blood trails leading off and our squad leader told me and another guy to go into the the bushes and check this out (this was army "leadership")(was that you I was with, Dan?). We went into the bushes aways, hung and smoked a cigarette, then came back and told him they'd gotten away. Sorry if this lost the war.
Later we found another body on the stretcher, theyd benn carrying him, got wounded and dumped him. That made seven. Years later, reading my son the story of the Little Tailor I got the full meaning: Seven with one Blow

James
Happy just to be alive

[Bill Farnie]

We had night ambushes all the time. In the boonies every night a squad would go on one. They would rotate between platoons so I can see an average of two a month possible. We also had stay behind ambushes where a squad would stay at the NDP site after the rest of the company left and catch the enemy coming to scrounge the NDP.
Blew a few during my tour and even had an ambush??...ambushed. We blew an ambush and were moving to setup somewhere else and got ambushed ourselves.

I hated LP's even more then ambushes.

Bill

[Andy]

We had 3 line platoons with 4 squads each. 12 squads and an ambush went out every night. Due to our squads being so small we would often have a guy from 4th platoon and or HQ platoon go with us. We had one guy from mortars (4th platoon) who actually asked to go on bush many times and was amazingly good at calling in fire missions, (Thank you Little Ski).

Anyway a bush a night, 12 squads, that's 24. Now if there's 30 days in a month... ok 2 1/2 walks in the woods at night per month, more or less.

Two a week sounds like to would really reduce the combat effectiveness of an entire company. Totally worn out and over tired. In that state you tend to half step a lot and are more prone to make dumb mistakes. I'm not ragging the 101 but that doesn't sound smart.

James I think you missed my point on the claymore. Middle of the jungle, around 1 AM. It's pretty quiet except for the bugs. We hear and then see Charles. Vision and hearing are straining and the juices are flowing. When the claymore went off it was the loudest thing I've ever heard. Once rode behind a 5 ton carrying 155 ammo, it got hit with an RPG. That explosion didn't seem quite as loud as the first claymore detonated in anger.

Bill, a few times we had APC's that were blown up and/or burned so we didn't get a flying crane out there to pick up what was left. Or if the area was still really hot we might leave them, after blowing them with lots of C-4. Whenever we left a track in the woods we'd leave some people not too far away with either arty, at least 155, or gunships on call. It was usually just a 3 man "LP" team that was left behind. Very rare for someone to offer to pull that duty.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[exlrrp]

Originally posted by Andy
Two a week sounds like to would really reduce the combat effectiveness of an entire company. Totally worn out and over tired. In that state you tend to half step a lot and are more prone to make dumb mistakes. I'm not ragging the 101 but that doesn't sound smart.

James I think you missed my point on the claymore. Middle of the jungle, around 1 AM. It's pretty quiet except for the bugs. We hear and then see Charles. Vision and hearing are straining and the juices are flowing. When the claymore went off it was the loudest thing I've ever heard. Once rode behind a 5 ton carrying 155 ammo, it got hit with an RPG. That explosion didn't seem quite as loud as the first claymore detonated in anger.

Bill, a few times we had APC's that were blown up and/or burned so we didn't get a flying crane out there to pick up what was left. Or if the area was still really hot we might leave them, after blowing them with lots of C-4. Whenever we left a track in the woods we'd leave some people not too far away with either arty, at least 155, or gunships on call. It was usually just a 3 man "LP" team that was left behind. Very rare for someone to offer to pull that duty.

Stay healthy,
Andy

First I was a rifleman, then I was an RTO. We had 2 RTOs per platoon, one went with the "manouvre element" and the senior RTO stayed with the platoon leader (which was an NCO more than half the time). Consequently, the junior RTO ( based on seniority) went on almost every night ambush. I was junior RTO most of my time as RTO
Am I making this up, Tom C? Dan?? any other 101st vets? 2 nights a week ambush on average? It would depend on the area, of course
We only had 2 RTOs per platoon because we usually averaged about 15 too 20 men per platoon, thats about 1 and a half actual infantry squads (out of FOUR thats supposed to be there) usually had 3 squads of 5 or 6, a platoon leader and his RTO
"Totally worn out and over tired. In that state you tend to half step a lot and are more prone to make dumb mistakes. I'm not ragging the 101 but that doesn't sound smart."
That would be the 101st all right, Including the Doesn't Sound Smart part.
It was a real grunt grinder, to cop a phase from our dear departed Gary Holland. Our operations would last usually 4 to 6 weeks, virtually indeterminate. We would getMAYBE one change of clothes, NO hot meals and NO days off during this time.
I only remember one official day off during the not quite 6 months I put in in the 101st and I carried a rifle all that day too. (went to the beach with the rest of the platoon)
Any barracks I saw in that 6 months were someone else's, I slept on the ground every night I was in the 101st (after P training)
Thats EVERY fucking night, rain or shine--did I say there was no tents either? In the monsoon season?? More people fell out fropm exposure, PNEUMONIA than wounds. This was undoubtedly the greatest factor in inducing me to join the lrrps--had been rained on for a week straight, during which time there had been an on againf off again battle AND THERE WAS NO END IN SIGHT!!. ANYTHING was better than that, I thought, and I was not wrong.
Totally worn out and over tired--that should be the 101st motto instead of Rendezvous With Destiny. A better one would be "Pissed Off Homeless People With Guns "

Yr dead right Andy, it was not a good situatiion. When people talk about lwhy we lost the war, its amazing to me we did as good as we did. People were completely dissatisfied. This was the context the Tiger Force thing took place in and I can understand it now--when you know your life is cheap, so is everybody else's
We thought our lives were hella cheap--could be snuffed out in an instant for no reason-- and so did the Army--you could tell by the way they treated us. If you want the troops to think you value their lives, don't treat them like shit. Seems like a simple concept but of course the Army missed it completely. Why should they bother? You don't have to try and get your workers willing cooperation when you can throw them in jail if you don't like them. Or what they say or think.
The 101st had a real morale problem and it started in the field. Lookng around and seeing 10 men where there's supposed to be 40 can be a real morale killer--ask me how I know this.

James