 The members of Romeo and Juliet Reconnaissance Platoons, Echo
Company, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, woke to a bright
sunny day in Vietnam. The date was 5 September 1967. We were at Camp Martin
Cox better known as Bearcat. None of us had any idea what was to come to
pass that day. It was supposed to be as close to a cake walk as the recon
platoons could get. We didn't know how dark the sky was going get, even with
the sun beating down on our heads, at a 100 degrees. This is an account of
the events of that day … a day that will never be forgotten … at
least while there's blood pumping through my veins.
The 1st Brigade, 9th
Infantry Division, maintained a minimum force of one infantry company presence,
from a rotated Battalion, at the Ap Binh Son rubber plantation at all times.
There was an established Command Post (CP) that each Company used as its
base of operations during its rotation. The unit would surround the plantation
house common grounds and man it at all times. They would also run patrols
around the plantation on a daily basis. The plantation itself and the surrounding
area had once been a VC stronghold before the 9th Division arrived a year
earlier and successfully pushed them out. Someone thought a show of force
at the plantation was strategic and effective. Bearcat was only a few thousand
meters from the plantation off Highway 15.
The plantation owner,
a Frenchman and his two daughters, lived in the plantation house. They were
suspected of being VC sympathizers. There was no relationship between the
Frenchman and the occupying units. He and his daughters ignored us as best
they could and we observed their daily routine. We knew they were paying
the VC tax collectors regularly in order to be operating the plantation as
if the war didn't exist. The VC tax collectors were rumored to come right
up to the edge of the rubber at night, where the Frenchman would meet them,
and pay up. The VC were also rumored to be accompanied by one or two "Caucasian
mercenaries." We really wanted to capture or bring one of them in …
dead or alive. We suspected they were also French by nationality.
On 5 September 1967,
the remnants of Romeo and Juliet reconnaissance platoons were trucked to
the Ap Binh Son rubber plantation. This was supposed to be a break for us.
An opportunity to pull a patrol close to what we considered to be home. A
chance to afterwards to have a few minutes to ourselves… to write letters
home and to heal up. Most of us were ravaged with bamboo poisoning. Our forearms
were raw and swollen masses of scabs and puss from beating our way through
the bush. It was one of those rare times we looked forward too. Hot food
and a safe place to sleep at night… with both eyes closed.
This particular morning
our mission was simple enough… a quick and dirty cloverleaf patrol of
the plantation and surrounding area. It was nothing exciting… just three
separate loops around the plantation to see what was going on. It was nothing
that I hadn't done a number of times before when I was assigned to B Company.
The difference this day was that Romeo and Juliet platoons were down to 20
men (or less). To complete this mission we would have to combine into one
platoon and split up into 3 squads. It was a simple process that didn't take
long. It was like picking players for a sand lot baseball game.
I was attached to 1st
squad with a sergeant from Romeo Platoon being in charge as Squad Leader.
At the time, I also was a buck sergeant in Juliet platoon. I was not in charge
of the squad on that day because it was predominately a Romeo platoon squad.
My function was another set of eyes… and another loaded M16. Our squad
had the first leaf of the patrol. We had some rubber and bush to beat around
and then back to the CP.
SGT Bravie Soto, a Squad
Leader, Romeo platoon, led the 2nd squad. I remember Soto as a hard figure
to forget. Soto was of Native American decent. A looming figure… but
quiet. He was older than most of us at 26-27. His leaf involved patrolling
the perimeter of a major portion of the rubber in the plantation then into
the bush and back into the CP. The rubber itself had an access road that
ran straight through the middle of the plantation. It came to a "T" at the
far end or backside of the rubber. That's where the rubber trees gave way
to the bush. The 3rd squad was to skirt the edge of the rubber and come back
around to the right through the bush and back into the CP.
The three squads split
up about 1030 hours and proceeded to execute the patrol. My squad took the
short route through the rubber before entering the bush. I estimate that
we weren't more than 20 minutes into the patrol when we heard all hell break
loose to our right flank.
The chatter of the small
arms fire couldn't have been more than 200-300 meters from us. The firefight
couldn't have lasted more than 3-5 minutes at most. I remember hearing much
small arms fire and the sounds of hand grenades or maybe M79 rounds going
off. We froze in our footsteps. Our radio had been clear up to that point.
We heard the 3rd squad call the CP wanting to know what was going on. We
did the same.
The firefight was a
short but intense exchange. Both my squad and 3rd squad were told to ignore
the gunfire (we were waved off) and advised that racket was coming from the
direction of A Company 2/39th that was also operating in the AO that day.
Someone either at Battalion or at the CP surmised that it was A Company out
there blowing off some steam. We couldn't confirm that. We were instructed
to complete our leg of the patrol as planned. There was little or no radio
contact with anyone from that point until the patrol ended.
By 1145 hours, 1st and
3rd squads had reported back to the CP. We sat around and talked about what
we had heard. It was more than evident to us that something was very wrong
and we were all more than concerned about SGT Soto and his men. After what
seemed like hours we were told to saddle up and cover Soto's leaf of the
patrol to see if could find them. We immediately took off into the rubber.
It was about 1430 hours.
I can't remember how
long we had searched the area for sure but I remember being on the back road
of the plantation. The rubber trees were to my right and the bush to my left.
The sun was bearing down on us. It was scorching hot. There was also something
in the air… it wasn't just the unforgettable stench of raw latex…
it was fear!
))))))))))))))))
We had come across a
group of plantation workers. They were sitting in a group along side the
road. I didn't remember ever seeing that many of them working there before
at the same time. They were physically shaking, like they were all having
drug withdrawal, at the same time. They were chewing beetle nuts, which itself
is a narcotic, and smoking their dope too It was evident they were all scared
shitless about something. There was real fear in their eyes. The Romeo squad
leader was trying to get some information out of the workers as best he could.
We didn't have an interpreter with us so we had no way of interrogating them.
We knew the workers were terribly afraid, and that something was wrong, we
just didn't have any way of finding out of what.
Long after the fact,
having rolled the events of that day around in my mind a hundred times or
more, I have come to the conclusion, that the fear we saw in the eyes of
the plantation workers was due to their having witnessed what had happened
to the 2nd squad. I also believe they knew that we were in the sites of the
VC force responsible. They were probably afraid of being caught in the crossfire
if the shit hit the fan. The thought also crossed my mind that they could
very well have been part of the VC force themselves. Most of them were old
men that looked like they wanted to live to be a little older. They appeared
harmless enough.
The road we were standing
on showed signs of VC traffic. There were directions signs scratched in the
dirt … limbs and branches laid out in patterns that could not be mistaken
for anything other than movement signals. It made the hair, what little of
it I had, stand up and tingle on the back of my neck. Personally, I just
wanted to get the hell out of there … and fast … something wasn't
right. I swear we were being watched and possibly within seconds of also
becoming among those missing that day.
I surmised that the
VC would not have left the signs on the road for a small force. The Romeo
squad leader either wasn't sure about the signs or what they meant. Either
way, he came to the same conclusion I did, and we left the area unceremoniously
and headed back to the CP. We had searched the area in vain. Little did we
know that we were within 20-30 yards of the ambush site and the bodies before
turning back.
At the CP we sat around
waiting for something to happen. We could hear a lot of radio chatter from
the squawk boxes in the CP area. Until now we were the only ones to have
done anything at all. In late evening several 2 1/2 ton trucks rolled up
loaded with troops. The regular daily supply run for the CP was with them.
A couple of cooks jumped off the trucks and began to set up the chow line
to serve a hot evening meal. There was still no sign of the 2nd squad.
Shortly after the arrival
of the trucks, we (the remnants Romeo and Juliet) less the 8 men of Soto's
squad, were loaded on to one of them and brought back to the battalion area
at Bearcat. We were there just long enough for a shit, shower, shave, and
a hot meal. At dusk were loaded back up and trucked out somewhere to the
south to do another ambush patrol along VC lane. It was evident that something
had gone seriously wrong with SGT Soto's patrol and someone at the Company
and Battalion didn't want us around and under foot. We didn't understand
why at the time. Would all know soon enough.
I don't remember when
exactly it was that we heard that they had found the squad. I want to say
2-3 days but it may have been late the next day. It seemed like forever.
Time was a "warp" in Vietnam. I just don't recall. I do remember feeling
sick to my stomach and then a fit of rage when I heard the circumstances
under which the bodies had been found.
It appeared that the
VC had ambushed the 2nd squad midway through the rubber on the back road
of the plantation. They were taken totally by surprise. Their bodies had
been found riddled with bullets, stripped nude, and it was apparent that
their bodies had been brutalized, even after they were dead. The VC had then
placed some of the bodies in water filled APC emplacements or ditches, tied
together and weighted down with rocks and or pinned down to the bottom of
the water filled ditches with stakes. Due to the 1st and 3rd squads being
waved off, when the initial firefight was heard, the VC had plenty of time
to have their way with SGT Soto and his men. There were signs that a couple
of the men had been shot execution style after they were dead.
On September 21st 1967,
I was wounded in another action, and put on light duty. I was sent to the
9th Division Reliable Leadership Academy as a student. I was thankful for
the opportunity. A few weeks rest. It would prove to be the move that got
me off the line for good. I went through the two-week course. It was a piece
of cake for me after all the training I had received on my previous tour
in Korea. I graduated as co- Honor Graduate and was retained as an Instructor.
Shortly after being
assigned to Reliable Academy, I read a newspaper or magazine article, about
that patrol at Ap Binh Son. The article told it like it happened. Unfortunately
I can't find the copy I had sent home for safekeeping. Nor can I find anyone
else that was on the patrol with me that day. Fortunately, I have been contacted
by several men that were detailed to the recovery team that went into the
plantation to recover the bodies. Their accounts of the condition of the
bodies of our fallen brothers was grizzly to say the least. The memory of
the patrol and the sight of "The "Wall" further engrave the events of that
day in my mind.
As time passes I often
wonder why there wasn't any intelligence passed on to us prior to our doing
the patrol. Particularly about the possible presence of a significant VC
force capable of doing what they did. We didn't have a clue. I understand
that Mushrooms are grown much the same way … by being kept in the dark
and fed on shit. We knew the feeling that day.
Sometimes I wonder who
was in charge of the CP at plantation that day. I'd like to be able to ask
him (them) them what was going through their minds when they waved us off
while listening to the firefight. There are times I try to rationalize, whether
we could have made a difference that day, had we "cut and run" to help, when
we first heard the firefight. I think things might have gone down differently
if the squads had consisted of all men of Romeo platoon or all of Juliet
platoon. We probably wouldn't have radioed the CP at all … we would
have been on our way while the shooting was still going on. Had we been
forewarned of VC activity in the area … we would have known there was
trouble and done all we could without hesitation. Some decent intelligence
perhaps would have made all of us, particularly Soto and his men, a little
more cautious and alert in the execution of the patrol.
In all honesty, I have
come to the conclusion that we couldn't have saved the men of 2nd squad that
day. They were surely dead by the time the shooting stopped. The best we
could have done was made contact with the VC forcing them to leave the bodies
where they were. We could have seen to it that Soto and his men had their
dignity in death! The VC wouldn't have had the time or opportunity to do
anything else to the bodies as they did. I often wondered how the Army explained
the condition of the bodies, and the circumstances under which these men
died, to the families. For years I could only imagine … The fact of
the matter is that the next of kin were informed that the men had been killed
in action. They explained away the condition of the bodies by saying that
they the squad had been in the jungle for several days before being found
and that they had been ravaged by animals during that time … The only
animals that could have inflicted the damage found on those men were armed
with guns, bayonets, knives, and machetes …
This was written in
memory of SGT Bravie Soto, SP4 Edwin P. Prentice, SP4 William T. McDaniel,
SP4 Kenneth J. Krause, SP4 Arnold Benson Jr., SP4 Elmer D. Byrd, SP4 Willie
L. Jones Jr., and PFC William R. Brennan …
The Lost Squad of Ap Binh Son |
