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From the 1/14th Daily Journal for 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 NOVEMBER 1966.
14 NOVEMBER
1966 During the morning, plans were made to extract
Company A back to LZ Lane. The 38 strikers who had been in LZ Lane were
extracted to Duc Co. The "Mike" CIDG force, which had been in contact on the
10th, walked into the LZ Lane, and Lt. Col. Parmalee, CO, SF "C"
Team at Pleiku came in to coordinate their activities. At 0940 Col. Shanahan
visited with Col. Procter at LZ Lane. Company B moved out at 0834, heading
west to link with Company C. Co A was extracted starting at 1200 hours, and
they closed into LZ Lane at 1237. At 1310, Co C left their LZ at hill 283
(YA584515) and at 1555, Co B and Co C linked up at YA594510. They moved to a
clearing and prepared an LZ at YA593510, where they were resupplied and
spent the night with no contact.
15 NOVEMBER
1966 This was a long day of beating the bushed for Co B, Co C
and the Recon Platoon and their CIDG reinforcements. At 0735 Co B moved out
of their LZ at YA539510 to the southeast toward hill 271 (YA622517). The
Recon Platoon, with a CIDG element attached, moved south from LZ Lane,
intending to link up with Co B, and work the area south of LZ Lane. At 0803
Co C left the LZ and headed south. At 1030 they struck a huge enemy complex
in the vicinity of YA606502. It was in a crescent shaped along the south
side of the hill. It contained 208 bunkers with 3-foot overhead cover, 19
uncovered positions, 3 latrines, 3 mortar or Anti-aircraft positions 6 feet
had tunnels leading away from them. The graves had one occupant each, and
were less than a week old. The complex also contained a hospital with an
operating table and 50 beds. A major trail led South out of the area, but
other trails led in all directions. This was pretty obviously a regimental
area. Since it was too large to be destroyed on the spot, an "Arc Light" was
planned for it later. Co B and the Recon-CIDG Force were in position just
before noon, and a ten-minute artillery preparation was fired in to their
area. At 1208, the artillery was lifted and Co B (located at YA616514) moved
south into the area. No contact was made. This was an extremely thick
jungle, and the units had to cut their way in. At about 1420 Co B and the
Recon-CIDG Force linked up at YA620507, where they spent the night with
contact. Co C moved back to LZ Lane, closing at 1633. At 1915 we received a
report that the 88th PAVN Regiment was located at YA564550, and
that their 8th Battalion was located at YA583535. After the
action of the past week, no one doubted it. At 2005, a defective 81mm HE
Heavy Mortar round exploded in the tube in Co A, located in LZ Lane. Two men
were injured and Dust Off came in at 2040 to pick them up. Neither was
serious. 16 NOVEMBER 1966 Most of the battalion rested today at LZ Lane. The only patrolling conducted was by Co B and the Plei Me CIDG company with the Recon Platoon. These two companies working on two axes searched the southeast corner of the battalion's AO. There was no enemy contact, but the CIDG company and Recon Platoon did find a few well-used trails. One trail was lined with 20-30 bunkers set up in an ambush configuration. There was also evidence indicating that 2 or 3 individuals had moved north on the trail sometime this morning. Both companies went into a perimeter near our western boundary for the night and planned to search out the northeast corner on their return to "Lane" tomorrow. There was a little excitement tonight when C company's OP on the west reported movement. Another OP also thought they saw or heard someone and opened fire. Within 5 seconds there wasn't a soul stirring in LZ Lane. Mortars and Arty were fired but there were no results. 17 NOVEMBER
1966 Today was another relatively quite day for the
"Golden Dragons". Co B and the CIDG with the Recon Platoon closed back into
LZ Lane in the afternoon. They patrolled the northeast portion of out AO and
found nothing of significance. The remainder of the Bn remained at LZ Lane
and rested. Fields of fire were extended and bunkers were built with good
overhead cover. The Engineers continued to use bangalore torpedoes and C-4
to blow the bamboo and clear out a two or three-ship LZ. Also started was a
hospital bunker. Under "Doc" Bowman's direction, the bunker plans were laid
out and the sandbags filled. This will give "Doc" the ability to treat our
wounded in relative safety even if we are under a mortar or small arms
attack. 18 NOVEMBER 1966 Co C moved out today back toward the area in which they found the regimental-size bunker complex about 4 days ago. They did not move all the way down to this area since Lt. Col. Procter felt that 2 companies at a minimum should be sent into the area. Co C did check out the area of the CIDG contact on the 10th and found a great deal of equipment, both NVA and US. An important discovery was a AN/PRC 74 radio that was picked up right near LZ "Rio" (designation given to the old contact area). After this radio was returned to the Bn CP, however, it proved to be one that the USSF had destroyed and abandoned during the November 10th contact. Co C remained at LZ "Rio" for the night. Back at the BC CP at LZ Lane, work continued to progress on the hospital bunker as well at the LZ. Just about all positions had overhead cover and the personnel were all set for the mortar attack we have been anticipating since the Bn moved into the area. |
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