Keith Nightingale - Just Another Day in Vietnam

COL (RET) KEITH M. NIGHTINGALE

Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2019 by

CASEMATE PUBLISHERS

1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA

and

The Old Music Hall, 106108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK

Copyright 2019 Keith M. Nightingale

Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-785-4

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-786-1

Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-786-1

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

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Dedicated to my wife Vicki,

who served a much longer tour than I .

This book is the residue of a very long day and night spent in the darker parts of War Zone D, III Corps, South Vietnam. The core of the book is in regard to the people that served in that spot on that day: Captain Al Shine, Senior Advisor to the 52nd Ranger Battalion, SFC Swyers, and Elephantour radio operator. Most of all I would wish to thank Major Nguyen Hiep, Commander 52nd Ranger Battalion, whose example, competence, and sheer will allowed us to return. Hiep was later killed in a re-education camp due to his intransigence. All of us and his nation are sorrier for the loss.

I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the people that did all the heavy lifting in making this book possible. My editors, Sharon Gaul, Claudia Leufkens, and Forrest Smith; and my agent at Princeton International, Gayle Wurst, who refused to accept rejections and fixed her bayonets to the throats of publishers and like all good soldiers, took the hill.

Most of all, I wish to acknowledge my wife Victoria, who soldiered through much more than I can describe to make these words live.

A compilation of fact and conjecture, this book tells a plausible story of what happened on that day. The book is not a personal author narrative, but is the combined stories of all who served that day. In a formal sense, it is fiction based on factmuch like Michael Shaaras Killer Angels and other similar works with its foundation in facts extended for narrative purposes.

It is the story of an action that took place in June 1967 in the III Corps sector of South Vietnam between the 52nd Vietnamese Ranger Battalion and a main force Viet Cong (VC) regiment. Other participants included the spotter aircraft element based at Xuan Loc, South Vietnam; Vietnamese 18th Division, Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN); the Vietnamese 5th Mechanized Regiment; the 42nd Vietnamese Infantry Regiment; the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR); innumerable USAF tactical aircraft, and a U.S. heavy artillery battery (8-inch and 175mm guns). The battle was real as described.

The conjectural aspects were developed by me based on debriefings of our returned Ranger POWs during December of 1967. In the debriefs, conducted by the 52nd Battalion Commander, a story emerged independently consistent from each returnee. I saw the larger narrative in my mind very soon after my own exposure and wrote this based on my impressions as to what likely occurred. The key points indicated were as follows:

The action was planned at the highest level of the North Vietnamese governmentthe Politburo.

Its objective was to isolate an elite South Vietnamese unit and annihilate it in order to destroy southern morale. The beginning of a new strategic direction, this strategy would be the first of many similar efforts.

The 18th ARVN Division was targeted due to its proximity to Main Force VC elements, its proven battle ineptitude, and the belief that the commanding general would force the engagement of the 52nd Rangers rather than commit his own forces. Conjecture proved truth.

A VC soldier, who was a voluntary POW (Chieu Hoi), was a key part of the larger plan to dupe the 52nd to move to an unsupportable location in War Zone D. (I have named this voluntary POW Mr. Hu, as I do not recall his actual name. All descriptions of him and his thought process are conjecture).

This story is based on some degree of interpolation as to actions of the North Vietnamese, specifically the meeting at the Politburo to confirm the larger strategy by General Nguyen Chi Thanh, as well as the meticulous planning by the subordinate elements to make the battle unfold as it did. The interpolation follows the narrative described by the returned prisoners as was related to them by their guards and senior officers in the prison area.

The description of the effects of the B-52 strike, the death of General Thanh, and his transport to the North were as described independently by the returnees.

It is important to understand how the 52nd Ranger Battalion operated during this action. I have consolidated the actions of the then Senior U.S. Advisor (Captain Al Shine) and me (Lieutenant Keith Nightingale) into a single entityThe Lieutenantfor ease of continuity and flow. In fact, Captain Shine did virtually all of the heavy lifting associated with the action. I did adjust the artillery, the initial gunship run, and the elimination of the VC mortar position. Captain Shine was the principle conduit with the forward air control (FAC) bird overhead as well as the key support to Major Nguyen Hiep during the action.

In normal course, and in this action, the battalion was divided into two columns of two companies each as we traversed the ground. Captain Shine and Major Hiep went on the left column, and I went with the executive officer, Captain Tot, on the right. Captain Shine had Specialist Fourth Class Garrett as his radio operator, and I had Sergeant First Class Swyers as mine. We moved and fought in this configuration during this engagement.

The actions of the 11th ACR at the ambush site are as related by members of the 11th ACR in several After Action Reports and personal narratives. The thought process of the Commanding General, 18th ARVN Division, is conjecture based on a variety of sourcing.

The depiction of the USAF management of the tactical air strikes, as well as the actions on board the B-52 bomber are a combination of personal observation, in addition to a narrative from a senior USAF officer to me.

The real story is about the members of the 52nd Ranger Battalion and how they conducted themselves at a very high level under the fiercest personal odds and conditions. This conclusion is not conjecture.

This is an informal glossary designed to explain certain terms used as well as to explain some specific military acronyms within the context of the story.

. Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle. A vehicle with modified gun mounts. Usually, it was a standard M113 tracked carrier with two side-facing 7.62mm M-60 machine guns mounted on the rear deck and a pintle-mounted .50 cal machine gun operated by the vehicle commander. It usually had a crew of five: a driver, track commander, two M-60 gunners and a fifth man usually oriented to the rear with an M-79 grenade launcher. Some had more and some less. The floor was usually filled with sandbags to shield against mines and covered with plywood for flooring. The plywood was usually stacked with ammunition cans, grenades, food, water, batteries and individual living gear.