13 May 1969

At 0656, the forward air controller (FAC), arrived on station and directed ten air strikes against the known enemy fortifications. The Phantom jets used delayed-action ordnance to penetrate the canopy and explode in depth in the bunkers, trenches, and spider holes. The Rakkasans were well aware that the enemy troops ducked into the tunnels and bunkers at the sound of the jets and came out as soon as they left the area.

After the early-morning air strikes, B and C Companies resumed their treacherous climb up the ridge toward the enemy's dug-in positions and suffered a withering attack from a nest of snipers and small arms, RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenade) and hand grenades. More and more wounded 3/187th soldiers from B and C Companies made their way back down the trails. Other Rakkasans, carrying cans of ammo and grenades, passed them on the way up. In the C Company CP area, two men were killed and five wounded by an NVA attack into their security perimeter. The artillery Forward Observer called for fire and broke up the attack.

D Company was having an equally difficult time about six hundred meters from the battalion command post, wading through a river, climbing up the side of a ravine, and then attacking toward the top of Ap Bia. The NVA hit them with rocket-propelled grenades, badly wounding three men. Across the river, another RPG hit the 3d Platoon, wounding five men, and blowing Lieutenant Mattioli off the ridge and into the river.

"Delta Company, with platoons on both banks of the ravine, returned the fire with every available weapon and called for gunships," wrote Fred Waterhouse. "They also called for a MedEvac helicopter, which arrived on the scene at 1510 hours. As the Rakkasans were hoisting the wounded into the hovering helicopter, an RPG slammed into it. It crashed down on Pfc. George Pickel, killing him instantly. One of its whirling blades killed Sp4 William Springfield and wounded Miguel Moreno. Captain Luther Sanders watched in agony. He now had seven wounded and seven dead. His company would have to carry all of them out by litter. Delta Company started back up the mountain through the river bottom. At places, they climbed sheer cliffs and took one hour to move a hundred yards."

By late afternoon, the 3d Platoon of A Company reached the beleaguered D Company and the column started moving again, struggling up the steep cliffs at about thirty feet in half an hour. Then the rain came in torrents. Sanders halted his column and set up an NDP and called in artillery to surround his perimeter with close-in, constant shelling throughout the night. Just after midnight, the NVA, from the shelter of Laos, hit the Rakkasan positions with mortars. Honeycutt called in the "Spooky" gunship, a C-47 equipped with rapid-fire Gatling guns, to spray the area. The NVA did not attack that night. Meanwhile, Colonel Conmy ordered the 1/506th to change its mission and reinforce the 3/187th attack on the mountain.

14 May 1969

At 0646, the FAC reported in to Honeycutt's CP and directed thirteen air strikes - napalm, thousand-pound bombs - on the mountain throughout the day. The artillery from the nearby firebases blasted the area constantly. The first concentrated attack on the summit began at 0756," wrote an Army historian. "C Company moved east from its NDP location up a small finger (Finger 1). B Company moved to the east from its NDP location up a small finger about 150 meters north of C Company (Finger 2). Both companies came into contact immediately but pressed on, with C Company reaching the military crest of the hill at 0843. Mutually supporting bunkers were encountered. Claymores were set up in the trees. Heavy mortar, RPG, and small-arms fire continued to harass the Rakkasans."

On ridge finger 2, C Company found itself in a ferocious fight when the NVA pummeled them with small-arms fire, RPGs, and grenades, rolled down the sides of hills. In Lt. James Goff's 3d Platoon, six men were badly wounded. The troops kept moving forward, but the NVA came out of their holes, firing AK-47s. Goff's men were hit from all sides. Two were killed and fifteen wounded. The other platoons of C Company were nailed against the side of the mountain.

Sfc. Louis Garza led a platoon from B Company in three unsuccessful assaults up the hill to help B Company, and had seven men wounded. On his fourth attempt, Garza moved through the NVA bunker line and found NVA bodies throughout the area. The enemy in a second row of bunkers opened fire and wounded six more troopers. The lead platoons of B and C Companies began to fall back under heavy NVA fire. Sp4 John Comerford crawled up with an M60 machine gun and sprayed the bunkers. But it was not enough. Honeycutt sent a platoon from A Company to cover the withdrawal. Unfortunately, as it moved up, it was hit by helicopter gunships firing rockets that killed Sp4 Edward Brooks and badly wounded three other men. Lieutenant Donald Sullivan and his 2d Platoon of C Company tried to help the fallback but was hit with RPGs that wiped out a four-man litter team, blew his radio operator, Sp4 Ron Swanson, down the hill, and killed Rakkasan Willie Chapman. C Company now had a total of fifty-two men killed and wounded.

By 1700, the Rakkasans were in NDPs and Honeycutt asked for a sit rep [situation report]. He learned that he had lost twelve KIA and eighty badly wounded men. By 1920, though, he had medevaced all his dead and wounded out of the area. At 2000, a Spooky arrived on station and throughout the night, laced the area west of the Rakkasan position toward the Laotian border.

15 May 1969 -->