0600 6 July 1968:

The Platoon Sergeant walked down the trench line rousting up the Marines that were not on night watch. “Ok Marines we are leaving this shithole today. Get your gear and ammo ready, because the choppers will be here in a couple of hours.” I remember saying “right Sarge, you have been saying that shit every morning for the last four days.” I was squad leader of 1stsquad, 1st platoon, Bravo Co. 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division.

I arrived in country on 12 November 1967 as a Lance Corporal. The next day I flew from Danang to Dong Ha by C-130. At Dong Ha I was assigned to Bravo Co. 1st platoon and was issued jungle utilities, boots, a flak vest, an M-16 with ammo and humping gear also known as 782 Gear. On 14 November 1st platoon convoyed to Con Thien. Con Thien was a fire base on the DMZ and was one of the hottest places in Vietnam with hundreds of rocket and artillery rounds coming in every day. Welcome to Vietnam!

​

During my time in country, Bravo was always on the move. Con Thien, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Hue, LZ Stud, Khe Sanh, back to Con Thien and then Hoi An. I left country at the end of September, came back to the World and separated from The Corps on 7 October 1968. While we were in Hue City, my father passed away and I was shipped home for the funeral. Upon my return to Bravo, we were assigned to the hills around Khe Sanh. We spent time on Hills 558, 950, 861, 689 and finally Hill 881 around the 1st of June.

​

By June of 1968 Bravo Co. had seen as much action as any Marine Unit had seen in I Corps. We had engaged with the Viet Cong and the Hard Corps well trained NVA, participated in street fighting in Hue City and the ambush on Memorial Day when we lost thirteen Marines and thirty-two wounded. That is a story for another day. Most of my memories are foggy and hard to piece together because we were on the move so much of the time, but the events of 6 July are hard to send off into fantasy land. 

​

When Bravo returned to Hill 881 in early June, we were told we would be there for a while this time. I think we relieved Delta Co. who moved to Hill 689. Hill 881 had been manned by two Companies of 3/26 during the Siege of Khe Sanh, India and Mike Companies. We now manned it with one Company that was just a little over half strength. A topped out (TO) squad was fourteen Marines consisting of three fire teams with four Marines each, a squad leader and a radio man. I believe I had nine Marines in my squad and 1st Platoon was down to two squads instead of three. We were doing squad size daytime patrols and nighttime ambush lines for the first couple of weeks of June. A squad from 2ndPlatoon was assigned to our platoon to cover the entire perimeter of hill 881 Alpha (hill 865).

Right around the last two weeks in June, I was told by our Platoon Leader (LT), we were to start preparing to leave the hill and move all extra ordinance down into a bomb crater about 150 meters outside the perimeter. Then we would blow the ordinance in the crater. Because we had not been resupplied with ammunition and other ordinance, there was not a lot to move. We could hear the explosions coming from the main base at Khe Sanh as they were preparing to leave, so we knew we were moving out of the area. This sent a wave of “WTF” is happening, with comments about why we lost so many Marines holding Khe Sanh if we were only going to leave it to the NVA. It really Sucked the Big One! A huge blow to our morale. 

​

Around the 1st of July we started caving in our bunkers and trench lines. I was told the choppers were coming to take us off the hill to another location TBA in two days. Then we waited. It was hot in July with the temperature hovering around 115 degrees during the day and down to 85 at night. We were rationed two canteens of water per day, and no one had showered or shaved for weeks. Our jungle utilities were red from the clay and our black jungle boots were brown. C-rations were all we ate for at last two months. When the sun went down the rats and mosquitos came out. We had several Marines evacuated because of rat bites, malaria and dysentery. All of us had lost weight from the lack of the right kind of food and the heat. I was down from my normal weight of 165 lbs. to around 135 lbs. We ceased all patrols and just concentrated on destroying the fortifications on the hill. I remember feeling that we were treated like mushrooms (being kept in the dark and fed shit).

0605 6 July 1968:  After the Platoon Sergeant rousted us up, we ate some C-Rations. I made some coffee from the c-rat pack and had canned bread with peanut butter on it. At 0730 the Platoon Commander (LT) called a squad leader meeting to give us the plan for the day. He told us that Delta Company had been in a firefight over on Hill 689. They had a dozen dead Marines just outside the perimeter and were under constant artillery and rocket fire. He said our plans were changed from being airlifted to Quang Tri to landing in a hot LZ on 689 and choppers were coming to fly us there sometime before noon. 

​

So, our orders were to pack up c-rat meals and our personal shit and ammo. We had destroyed all the latrines except for one inside our perimeter. The temperature was already approaching 100 degrees, so I told my squad to pack up, lay low and stay alert until the choppers arrived. Everyone had at least eight full magazines, one ammo bandolier, four grenades and one belt of 30 cal. machine gun rounds along with two canteens of water. My squad had two LAWs (light anti-tank weapons) and one satchel charge (sixteen lbs. of C-4). I carried the det-chord, detonators and fuse chord. 

​

It was another hot day on the hill. Well over 100 degrees. We waited, noon came and went. We had little protection on the hill because all the bunkers were gone, and the trench line was only about two feet deep now. The trenches were around five feet when we first arrived. We had been sleeping under the stars for the last several days. There were explosions going on over at hill 689 and down towards hills 558 and 861. Everyone was getting anxious and wondering if we were leaving or staying another night.

Around 1500 Shit Hit the Fan! I heard a quick burst of automatic gun fire from the Northwest gate area. It was about 150 ft. from my position. About a minute later there was all kinds of chatter on the radio and the LT and the squad leader from 2nd squad were on their way to the gate along with other Marines from 2ndsquad. We were told to hold our position and keep a lookout for NVA. My squad’s position was on the South side of the hill. There was a steep drop off, so we had a good field of vision to spot any enemy that would be approaching on our side of the hill, so we stayed in place.

​

At the gate was a trail that went straight down a slight grade through the wire, turned left and then turned right with concertina wire and barbed wire on both sides. This was supposed to hinder the NVA from coming in on us at night. We always had a Marine guarding our two gates 24/7.  One on the NW end and one on the SE end that opened into a no man’s land between the hills.

Soon it was coming over the radio that a Marine had gone through the NW gate and outside the perimeter. The NVA had set up an ambush for when he came out the lower end of the gate, they opened fire and either killed or wounded him. The Platoon Commander (LT) immediately got several Marines from 2ndsquad and started a rescue operation. Three marines crawled down the trail. As soon as the lead Marine reached the opening, he was wounded. The two unwounded Marines moved back up the trail dragging the wounded Marine to the main trench line. 

The NVA had dragged the downed Marine out into the open area where they had a perfect view of the approaching Marines. They were positioned where they could see us, and we could not see them. The wounded Marine said he could see the body, and he appeared to be dead and laying in a large pool of blood, but he was too far out to reach without getting shot. We had no idea of how many NVA were out there or around the rest of the perimeter. 

Marines Do not Leave Marines Behind

​

By this time, the Company Commander was on the scene. He immediately called for air support and artillery. Because the base at Khe Sanh was not there anymore there was no artillery available that could drop rounds on our location without endangering us. A spotter plane soon showed up and started flying around the area. A Huey Gunship showed up firing rockets on the side of the hill. Later a fighter bomber came in and dropped Napalm. The Napalm was dropped so close, it sucked the oxygen out of me, and the heat was intense. That was all our air support.

​

LT. now asked for a couple of Marines to go out and retrieve the body. There was no shortage of volunteers, so two Marines and the LT. crawled back down the trail to retrieve the Marine lying just outside the gate. Again, the lead Marine came under fire and was wounded in the neck. They moved back up the trail, dragging the wounded Marine back to the main trench line. He said he could see the body, but not the NVA. They were throwing grenades blindly towards the area of gun fire. Now mortar rounds started dropping inside our perimeter and on the landing zone where the choppers would be landing. The NVA was zeroing in on the LZ with mortars and light artillery, and all Hell was breaking loose. 

​

The Battalion Commander told our Company Commander (Skipper) it was time to leave the hill. By this time, I had worked my way down the trench line and reported to the LT. He was going to make another attempt to retrieve the Marine just outside the wire. I said I would go. I followed a Marine with the LT right behind me. We got to the opening and the Marine in front dropped with a round to his neck! We pulled him back up the trail and now the Skipper was telling us we had to leave now! The LT wanted to stay behind with a couple of us and spend the night to retrieve the Marine the next day. His request was denied and then things happened so fast it is hard for me to remember what happened next. I do know we had to go across no man’s land to the secondary LZ.

The choppers were coming in one at a time and we loaded in under machine gun fire and mortar rounds. Several more Marines were wounded and somehow, we got everyone on the choppers and headed to Hill 689. The sun was starting to go down as we were dropped on Hill 689. We gathered around the LT and with our heads down, there was silence. We all felt like we had been kicked in the gut because we had just done something no Marine does. We had left a Marine behind. Little did we know what was coming next, four more days of intense fighting including hand-to-hand combat when the NVA was able to break through our lines. I was wounded on the night of the 8th of July on Hill 689 and medivacked to LZ Stud for a day and then transported to Phu Bia to Battalion Headquarters. I rejoined my Company at Quang Tri a couple of days later.

​

No one knows for sure why the Marine went outside the perimeter that day. One thing we do know is that the NVA had our LZ zeroed in and because their forward observers gave away their position, it foiled their plan to drop mortars and rockets on our secondary LZ during our extraction from the hill. It is very possible a lot of Marines lives were saved that day because of his actions.

​

 The Marine left behind is Lance Corporal Thomas P. Mahoney III. He is still on hill 881. There was no attempt to retrieve his body until 2014 and so far, all attempts have been unsuccessful. That is a story for another time.

​

REST IN PEACE Tom and know we will NEVER FORGET!