A Day in Hell on the DMZ

The Rocket Attack on Firebase Charlie 2 in Vietnam, May 21, 1971

Lou Pepi (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

213 Seiten

2022
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-8839-8 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

At ‘zero dark thirty’ on January 30, 1971, units of the US Fifth Mechanized Division left their firebases along the DMZ heading west along Provincial Route 9. The mission, called Dewey Canyon II, was to reopen the road from Khe Sahn Air Base to the Laotian border. This is their story, told firsthand by Specialist Lou Pepi.

At "zero dark thirty" on January 30, 1971, units of the U.S. Fifth Mechanized Division left their firebases along the DMZ heading west along Provincial Route 9. The mission, called Dewey Canyon II, was to reopen the road from Khe Sahn Air Base to the Laotian border, in support of a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos (doomed from the start) to cut off the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Alpha Company of U.S. 61st Infantry performed commendably in keeping Route 9 open, with just one casualty killed by friendly fire. They returned to Firebase Charlie-2 in April, exhausted but hopeful--the Fifth would be leaving Vietnam in July. They patrolled the "western hills" through May as rocket attacks fell each evening. On the 21st, a direct hit on a bunker killed 30 of the 63 men inside--18 were from Alpha Co. This is their story, as told to Specialist Lou Pepi by members of his unit.

Lou Pepi was drafted into the Army in March of 1968. Returning from Vietnam he worked in the construction field and then in building code and zoning enforcement. He lives in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

deleteThe Universal Soldier—JC Summerlin

deleteA Born Leader of Men—Robert Dean

1 The Fateful Day

2 Sergeant Toler and the Killer Team

3 December 12, 1970—Night Mission at Con Thien

4 Lam Son 719 Overview

5 Red Devil Road

6 Lam Son—The First Rotation

7 March 3, 1971

8 Frank Curry, March 15—The Army Called It Misadventure

9 March 19–25, 1971—Relieving the Cav

10 Other Memories of the Final Days of Lam Son 719

11 April 1971—Captain Robert Dean

12 May 20th—Alpha Company in the Field

13 May 21st—Alpha Company in the Field

14 May 21st—At Charlie 2

15 In Memoriam—The Names

16 The Combatants Who Contributed to This Book

Afterword—Foxhole Humor, by Stephen Wheat

Glossary

Appendix 1—Battalion Communication Logs

Appendix 2—Brigade Communication Logs

Appendix 3—After Action Report

Author’s Service History

Works Cited

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	25.08.2022
Zusatzinfo	105 photos, afterword, notes, glossary, appendices, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	178 x 254 mm
Gewicht	386 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
ISBN-10	1-4766-8839-7 / 1476688397
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-8839-8 / 9781476688398
Zustand	Neuware