Saber Article Index
2018 May-Jun
I received an e-mail from Mike Ingram who was
in 2nd Platoon C 2-7 Cav ‘69-’70. Mike said that Raymond Ligons, whom I
wrote about in the last Saber, was one of the first people Mike met when he
was new to the company. Mike said that Raymond Ligons took an interest in
Mike welcoming him because Mike was from Charlotte, N.C., and from what he
said, so was Raymond.
Mike said Raymond Ligons was moved to 3rd
Platoon by the night of the attack because they were short. Mike had to go
over and join 3rd Platoon because they were now short again with all the
wounded, and one dead. Seeing what was left of his friend was not good.
Mike eventually returned to 2nd Platoon where
he ended up carrying the M-60. Mike also then knew well Bill Walsh who came
in as Medic. Bill later followed me into MEDEVAC. Mike Ingram was the only
name Bill mentioned from C 2-7 Cav when I knew Bill stateside. I had only
met him once when he came in for the MEDEVAC interview with the Platoon
Leader, Captain Hagerty.
I also got a phone call from Howard Anderson
who was the RTO I had mentioned telling us Ligons was killed. Howard said he
just started getting the Saber again, so I knew he had read what I wrote
about the sapper attack on LZ Jamie,
15 August 69. Howard thought that
Raymond Ligons was in 2nd Platoon, which is now clarified. Howard read to me
what he had written in his diary. Howard was meticulous and thorough with
every detail. I didn’t remember none of it-or not like he wrote. He got
everything down for all his time in Vietnam-and most of mine. Glad he wrote
it down. It was mind boggling to hear it all.
Howard
said when I asked that he wrote on just the stationery they gave us in the
sundry packs. While the rest of us were writing letters to home, Howard was
documenting his grunt Vietnam, to a T. When I asked he said that a girl he
knew preserved these papers in a binding for him. Howard confirmed LZ Jamie
got incoming later on the 15th, which was what killed the artillerymen from
1st of the 30th. Howard also mentioned that E 2-7 Cav combat assaulted into
LZ Becky on August 12th as a reactionary force because 2-8 Cav there had
five killed and thirty-two wounded. That was a contributing factor why A Co.
15th MED and MEDEVAC got put in for the Valorous Unit Award doing their job
with all those casualties.
Howard was the main reason why I extended to
fly on MEDEVAC. He was so impressed with the way the MEDEVAC pilots came in
for our wounded on 20 Jun 69, with nowhere to land but on a giant tree
felled between giant bomb craters, he couldn’t stop talking about it. Two
days earlier on 18 Jun 69 we had combat assaulted into a large field which I
have marked on the map. That was four clicks from where they put LZ Becky,
just south of Bo Tuc on then Route 246 which Route 244 ran perpendicular to
with LZ Jamie ten clicks south. We had received 120 mm incoming on the 18th
when we landed and a burst in the tree line wounded our then RTO Joel Smith.
When I got to him his spleen was sticking out, so I had to put it back in as
best I could. Our battalion surgeon was on the Command and Control
helicopter with the battalion commander, so he jumped off to take over and
also earned his Combat Medical Badge. The NVA also had anti-aircraft pits
dug like reverse donuts using an ant hill in the center for their gun, just
on the other side of the wood line. One of our machine gunners yelled they
were firing at the Cobras- but, not for long. We didn’t even wait on MEDEVAC
and sent Joel out with the battalion surgeon on a slick ship, under good
care. MEDEVAC apparently picked him up at Jamie. Only a click from that
location was where our Alpha Company had worked over an NVA hospital complex
with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment during Operation Montana Raider when
we built LZ Jamie. We relieved our A Co. as the 11th ACR were moving out. We
were badly mortared that night on May 1st. Throughout May and June 1969, we
worked that area. I have all notable locations marked on the map from the
2-7 Cav Daily Staff Journals. Looking on Google Earth now I see that jungle
hell and roads are lined with houses (shacks) and shopping malls called out.
They look like endless farming fields squared off, with irrigation coming
from if not the monsoons, Lake Dau Tieng which was created damming off the
Song Saigon. War zones made habitable. When my DEROS time came I had a year
and a half left in the Army, so I extended six months to fly on MEDEVAC. The
1st Cav had gotten things under control where we were in War Zone C, so
MEDEVAC seemed like a good outlet for my MOS. 2-7 and 2-8 Cav didn’t stay
quiet and both moved west of Tay Ninh.
2-8 Cav built FSB Ilingworth (shown on the
1st Cav Assn April 2018 calendar) and 2-7 Cav built FSB Jay (later named
Hannas after the BC killed on Jay). I remember flying out to Hannas one
night on MEDEVAC. Those firebases were ringed by dirt berms. After being
poised on fixed vulnerable firebases which the NVA could attack from
sanctuaries, President Nixon allowed the 1st Cav to spearhead an incursion
into Cambodia in May 1970. The vulnerability was decreased when the attacked
became the attacker.
I also received an e-mail from Dick Niesen of
Madison WI, who wrote: “HHC 2-7, 1st Air Cav Great job with the last article
in the Saber. Hard to believe it’s fifty years. Your article brought back
some memories from my time in Nam. Some good and some not so good. Raymond
Ligons looked very familiar but then, can’t be sure if I knew him or not. I
was over there in the last part of ‘68 (Camp Evans) all of ‘69 and first
part of ‘70 (I extended six months to get out early). For the first year or
so I was a cook then ended up doing the baking at night. I got out to LZ
Jamie and some of the other LZ’s a few times when we brought chow out in the
containers (whatever they were called). Most of the time I got to fly back
to Tay Ninh or wherever at night.
Don’t
know if you knew Jim Spurley, C 2-7. Died on Jamie 5-12-69. We lived about a
mile apart and went to the same schools. One of my good memories was the
first time we saw each other in Nam. He came through the chow line. Can’t
even explain what it was like to see him. When he got killed on Jamie I
think there were five others killed that night (D Co. and Arty). I don’t
think the rest of Charlie Company was there. He got a rear job a couple of
weeks earlier and was damn glad to get out of the field. That’s life.
The pic is Spurley, Me, Brad (Bruce) Hartman
C 2-7 KIA 1-9-69. Always had a beer or three waiting for these guys. Wasn’t
always cold but it was always good. Back then Schlitz was hard to get. Most
of the time it was Carling Black Label. That’s it for now. Thanks for what
you did and do for the Cav. Dick
Another submission is: “MEDEVAC MISSION-28
June 1971. On 28 June 1971, Scout Dog Handler, Carter ‘Curley’ Bowman and
his Scout Dog, Cap, of the 34th Scout Dog Platoon were attached to C
Company, 2nd Bn, 8th Cavalry which was on patrol near LZ Fanning,
East-Southeast of LZ Mace. The patrol unexpectedly encountered a
well-defended resupply point, manned by both NVA and VC. In the ensuing
firefight, Curley was shot seven times over a three-hour period, including a
sucking chest wound. His Scout Dog, Cap, was killed by enemy fire. Three
members of C 2-8 were KIA: SSG Willie James, Mobile, Alabama; SGT Gerald
Dowjotas, Hillside, Illinois; and CPL Bernard F Brzezinski, Clearwater,
Florida.
The eighteen wounded were taken by MEDEVAC to
the 15th Medical Bn. clearing station at LZ Mace, after a rigorous series of
events! LTC (then CPT) David Sheets, aircraft commander; Mark Holiday, SP5
crew chief; and Kevin Raftery, SP5 Medic, were there and remember much about
the events and the persons involved.
According to their recollections, there were
three aircraft involved in this incident. No. 1 was attempting to pick up
the wounded when it was hit by four RPG’s and destroyed. No. 2 picked up and
evacuated all five of the crew of No. 1. No. 3 was a hastily assembled crew
who picked up the wounded infantrymen and transported them to the 15th MED
Bn. clearing station at LZ Mace.
After stabilizing medical treatment, Curley
was transported from LZ Mace to the 24th Evac Hospital in Long Binh for
about a week, then to the Philippines for about a month, and then back to
the U.S. He has been on a quest for as much information as possible on the
incident, hoping to be able to express his appreciation to as many of the
persons involved in saving his life as can be found.
This amazing story will be written up in
detail and published as a ‘War Story’ on the 15th Medical Bn. Association
website, and in a future 15th Medical Bn. column of Saber once some
additional information about the persons involved can be gathered.
Below is a summary of the personnel involved.
‘In contact’ means that we are in communication with that person:
Aircraft No. 1:
Aircraft Commander: CPT David Sheets (In contact)
Copilot: 1LT William Cooley (Looking for)
Crew Chief: SP5 Ray Flynn
(Looking for)
Medic: SP5 Larry Lund (Looking for)
Door Gunner: SP4
Richard Dubray (Looking for)
Aircraft No. 2:
Aircraft Commander: CW2
Warren G. Jackson (Deceased)
Copilot: 1LT Jack Powell (In contact)
Crew Chief: Unknown
Medic: Unknown
Door Gunner: Unknown
Aircraft
No. 3:
Aircraft Commander: Unknown
Copilot: Unknown
Crew Chief: SP5
Harry Halle (In contact)
Medic: SP5 Kevin Raftery (In contact)
Door
Gunner: SP5 Mark ‘Doc’ Holiday (In contact)
Additional Aircraft?
We suspect that there might have been
additional aircraft also involved that day, due to the number of wounded
that had to be taken to LZ Mace. Does anyone know? Medical Treatment
Personnel at 15th MED Bn. clearing station at LZ Mace: Unknown.
If anyone was in or knows anyone that was in
any of these three aircraft, or additional aircraft involved that day, or in
the clearing station at LZ Mace when eighteen wounded were brought in on 28
June 1971, or knows who the unknowns were, or has any contact information
for the people we are looking for, please send an e-mail to:
historian@15thmedbnassociation.org or call (402)457-9807. Of course, if
you believe any of the information presented above is incorrect, please let
me know! Thank you!”
From MEDEVAC CE Randell J. Brewer
randelljbrewer@bellsouth.net
“Fifty years ago (at least) two people got shot. I was one of them,
MLK was the other, but he didn’t have (door gunner) Jim Calibro watching his
back. Jim saved all five of us. Three of those have gone to the great
landing zone in the sky. Sky 6 left Jim and I around to tell the tale.”
Always remembering our 1st Cav Troops on duty
around the world; over and out.
FIRST TEAM!
Garryowen,
Mike
Bodnar C 2\7 '69
MEDEVAC 1-7\70
SO THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE