As we all know, the US military has always been known for "leaving no one behind". In Hollywood blockbusters such as "Black Hawk Down", "Saving Private Ryan", "Deep Behind Enemy Lines", Hollywood directors have vividly expressed this fine tradition of the US military - whether you are alive or have long died, we will take you home! And in the Vietnam War, the US military actually sent a "suicide squad" composed of volunteers to carry out recovery tasks behind enemy lines for the sake of the remains of a colleague - however, they only picked up one leg!
The poster of the Hollywood blockbuster "Deep Behind Enemy Lines", which tells the story of the US military's rescue of parachute pilots, vividly highlights the spirit of "never leaving and never abandoning" of the US military through the movie
In February 1968, the Vietnam War was in full swing, and thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers infiltrated south along the famous "Ho Chi Minh Trail" to support the communist guerrilla forces in South Vietnam. One of the strongholds of Viet Cong guerrillas was the Bana Hills, southwest of Da Nang, which the U.S. military called the "Valley of Joy." Due to their unique geographical advantages, guerrillas hiding in the valley often smuggled Soviet-made 122/155mm unguided rockets to a concealed launch position east of the Bana Hills, known as the "rocket belt" by the US military. Here, rockets launched by Viet Cong guerrillas can hit a large number of high-value targets, including the US military's Da Nang Air Base and Yunshi Mountain Army Heliport, easily killing and injuring the US military's living forces.
A 122-mm rocket fired using a bamboo improvised "launch pad"
In order to stop the Viet Cong rocket attacks, the US military sent the 7th Marine Corps Infantry Regiment to carry out sweeping missions in the "rocket belt" to ensure that no rockets were smuggled into the area. At the same time, U.S. warplanes regularly carry out air strikes in the area. During an air raid in early February 1968, U.S. pilots observed a massive secondary explosion after dropping bombs. There are indications that Viet Cong guerrillas are trying to smuggle more rockets into the "rocket belt" in order to launch large-scale rocket attacks.
American infantry on a mopping up mission inside the "rocket belt"
To thwart their attacks, U.S. forces launched a ground combat operation codenamed Operation Pursuit on February 14 to clear the area of Viet Cong forces. At 11 a.m. on the 14th, the "pursuit operation" officially began. Company C of the 1st Battalion of the 7th Marine Infantry Regiment was the first to cross Heights 10 east of the "Rocket Belt", while Company D set off from Heights 40. The two companies met in an area in front of Heights 270 and 310 and then advanced toward their respective operational objectives. Because the jungle in the mountains was very dense, the two companies had to take a column formation, cutting grass and opening the way while advancing.
At 6:30 p.m., Company D had reached Target Area 1 in combat operations, the valley between Heights 270 and 310, while Company C had reached Target Area 2, the peak of Heights 270. On Heights 270, sharp-eyed C Company soldiers spotted a forward observation post abandoned by Viet Cong guerrillas. Lieutenant Mark Whittier, platoon commander of the second platoon of Company C, recorded the details of that time in a letter to his wife: "We found on the top of the hill a guerrilla bunker deployed with communication equipment, which perfectly monitored the entire Da Nang area. In the logs produced by the guerrilla observers, the movements of all our troops were recorded, including where they started from and where they finally arrived. The last paragraph in this log reads 'A group of Marines is leaving Heights 10 and moving towards our observation post'. After this, they hastily evacuated the observation post, forgetting to turn off even the radio in the post. ”
Young Vietnamese involved in the guerrillas
Company C spent the night in this bunker, abandoned by the Viet Cong, and blew it up on the morning of the 15th. Just as Company C was setting fire to the bunker, the regimental headquarters suddenly issued an order asking Company C to immediately move south from Heights 270 to support an ambushed Delta Special Forces squad. Company C quickly opened the way with a second platoon under the command of Lieutenant Whittier and moved south of Heights 270. However, in the process of moving south to support, C Company itself encountered ambush positions of Viet Cong guerrillas. Before the American soldiers could react, the Viet Cong guerrillas suddenly burst out of the hole in the ground and caught the second platoon as the forward by surprise.
Vietnamese guerrillas who set up ambushes in caves were extremely dangerous and often inflicted heavy casualties on U.S. troops
In the rain of bullets, three soldiers from the second platoon fell to the ground and unfortunately died. One of the dead was Private First Class Michael Kelly. The recruit arrived in Vietnam only two months earlier to join the second platoon, but was unfortunately hit by a Vietnamese bullet in his own belt during the battle, and the martyred rifle magazine killed Kelly on the spot and blew off one of his legs.
Unfortunately killed in an ambush, Private First Class Michael Kelly, a recruit who had just arrived in Vietnam
At the same time, in order to cover his comrades and rescue other wounded companions, Corporal Russell Nag, the machine gunner of Company C, quickly began to move. He ran to one of his wounded and fallen companions, and mounted the M60 machine gun on the opponent's ass and fired at the enemy non-stop, covering other comrades to rescue the wounded. In the process, Corporal Nag was hit four times by enemy bullets in succession, but he continued to fight. In the end, Corporal Nag died of his injuries, and in recognition of his bravery, the U.S. Army posthumously awarded him the Silver Star.
Corporal Russell Nag, a machine gunner who controlled machine gun fire to suppress enemy fire, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star after his death
After being ambushed, Company C immediately called American ambulance helicopters by radio to evacuate the wounded. Despite dense jungle and a large number of Viet Cong guerrillas armed with rocket launchers, assault rifles and heavy machine guns setting up ambushes in the mountains, U.S. helicopter units with extensive combat experience were able to fly into the mountains to evacuate wounded soldiers. However, just as the helicopter was preparing to evacuate the last C Company soldiers, the problem arose: there was still the body of a fallen soldier on the ground — the hapless rookie, Private Kelly — but there wasn't enough space on the helicopter to transport the body. By radio, Lieutenant Dana McCormar, acting company of Company C, sent a desperate cry for help to Lieutenant Colonel Bill Davis, commander of the 1st Battalion: "The Viet Cong are coming!" Lieutenant Colonel! I still have a fallen companion here, but the last helicopter doesn't have enough space to carry him! It took us a lot of effort to get him here, and the body bags are all worn out! "In order to avoid more senseless casualties, Lieutenant Colonel Davis issued a death order - leave the rookie's body on the mountain, and immediately put me in a helicopter and leave!"
After the attack, Company C soldiers were moving the wounded to a safe area, waiting for helicopters to evacuate the wounded
In the end, with the exception of Private Kelly's body, all C Company personnel—including the remains of the wounded and killed—were evacuated from the battlefield by helicopter. In this battle, a total of 5 people of Company C were killed in battle, and 27 others were wounded to varying degrees.
On the morning of the 16th, the headquarters of the 1st Battalion, which was still in the "rocket belt", and Company D, tried to recover the remains of Private Kelly. But they ran into a large number of Viet Cong guerrillas. In the rain of bullets, the soldiers of Company D are desperately trying to recover Kelly's body, but they have paid the terrible price of seven people who were shot and wounded. As more and more Viet Cong guerrillas followed, Company D had to place Kelly's body in a crater in the valley and then withdraw from the valley with the other wounded.
Seeing that the recovery operation failed, Lieutenant Colonel Davis, commander of the 1st Battalion, had to inform the commander of the 7th Infantry Regiment, Ross A. Bush, by radio. Colonel R. Miner has news that the remains of friendly troops have been abandoned on the battlefield. However, Colonel Miner told Lieutenant Colonel Davis an even more startling news: B-52 bombers from the Air Force were about to carpet bomb the "Rocket Belt"! He asked Lieutenant Colonel Davis to immediately organize personnel to rescue Private Kelly's body before the carpet bombing was carried out. It was an almost impossible task for Lieutenant Colonel Davis, and although he repeatedly asked Colonel Miner to withdraw the order, which was almost equivalent to killing his siblings, Colonel Miner did not say a word.
After deliberation, Lieutenant Colonel Davis decided to select the candidate in Company C for this task of recovering the remains—because they had just returned from the hellish jungle and were very familiar with the terrain in the area. "It's a 100% suicide mission." C-Link Mark Whittier wrote in his letter. For Company C, this "suicide mission" fits well with their "company tradition" because their company is nicknamed "Charlie Suicide": in the Battle of Henderson Field during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II, Company C, which was holding the defensive line, fought fiercely with 3,000 Japanese troops from the Japanese Sendai Division. Despite a defensive battle with fewer enemies and more suicidal enemies, Company C managed to withstand a large number of Japanese attacks and repel their offensive. The day after the end of the battle, the survivors of Company C raised a skeleton flag made of parachutes at their positions, and the title "Suicide Charlie" was born.
In the TV series "Pacific", the scene of Company C raising the flag of "Suicide Charlie" after a night of hard fighting is reproduced
The flag of "Suicide Charlie" of Company C, which accompanied them through a number of local wars in the second half of the 20th century
When the herald ran into the C Company station with the news of the recruitment of volunteers, the soldiers of Company C were boiling - they all wanted to participate in this "suicide mission". Sergeant John McClellis, one of the squad leaders of Company C, recalled: "When the news of the call for volunteers came, I raised my hand like I was under a spell and said I was going to personally lead the squad to search. Like Sergeant McClairis, Corporal Stephen McCassin also raised his hand at the moment the call was issued: "When I heard they were looking for volunteers to go back to the mountain, I told my friends that the people who went must have gone crazy. I thought it must have been a suicide mission, but since this was my second time applying to come to Vietnam, I must have been crazy, so I decided on the spot to participate in this crazy mission as well. ”
Private Joseph Hamrick, although he was suddenly obsessed with the decision to participate in a suicide mission like the above two veterans, his importance is self-evident: "I am the only person who knows the exact location of Kelly's body, and although I have not been in Vietnam for a month and have not participated in many patrol missions, I still think I can take them to find the remains of my comrades." After calling in five other volunteers, a "suicide squad" was formed to recover Kelly's body.
In order to ensure the reliability of the American infantry armed with M14 rifles, the members of the squad asked their superiors to provide them with more reliable M14 rifles
In order to better carry out this infiltration recovery mission, the members of the "Suicide Squad" not only carefully selected the equipment they carried, but also developed corresponding tactics. Radio operator Alfred Granados recalled: "We tried to pick light gear to take on the road, we didn't wear helmets and body armor, and we didn't carry extra bullet belts. All but one of the others demanded that their M16 assault rifles be replaced with more reliable M14 rifles, and their requests were quickly approved by their superiors. During the mission, we will not actively engage the enemy, but choose to sneak under the cover of the jungle and retreat immediately after recovering the remains. If we encounter a powerful enemy army, the mission will be canceled directly, and the group will immediately disperse and break through. ”
Just as the squad was about to leave the station and set off on a recovery mission, an intelligence sergeant called Sergeant McClelles, who led the squad: "All of you may not be able to come back alive, but I also want to increase your chances of coming back alive." If you are under siege and can't bring the body back intact, just bring his broken leg back. At the same time, in order to cover the squad's recovery mission, the liaison officer at the battalion headquarters promised to provide close air support with a sufficient number of attack aircraft called in by them.
F-4 Phantom fighter-bomber carrying napalm through the mountains of Vietnam
At 2 a.m. on February 17, the "Suicide Squad" left Heights No. 10, where Company C was stationed, under the cover of night. After more than 1 hour of walking, the team came to an abandoned village with the map number "Village No. 5". However, just as the squad entered the village to take a break, Brigadier Corporal Albert Chamberlain spotted a Viet Cong guerrilla who was watching him in the shadows, and without thinking, he took a rifle and shot the enemy in the head - the location of the squad was exposed! At this time, Sergeant McClellis, who led the squad, faced a difficult situation: should he cancel the mission and return to the station, or continue to carry out this murderous mission? He took the radio to explain his situation to headquarters, but was ordered to move on - no one wanted to give Kelly's family an empty coffin, and the soldiers involved in the mission were informed in advance of the dangers of the mission, and they had to take the corresponding risks.
Before moving to the second abandoned village, members of the "suicide squad" encountered another Viet Cong guerrilla patrol team, and they had to hide and wait for the enemy to pass before moving. Next, the members of the squad moved to another abandoned village codenamed "Village 7" and stayed in the village for about an hour to see if they were following them secretly.
The Viet Cong guerrillas hiding in the caves, in order to avoid revealing their whereabouts, the "suicide squad" stopped and walked along the way to observe the surrounding situation
At 8 a.m., the stop-and-go "suicide squad" finally arrived at the mission area, a flat high ground not far from the crater. By looking, they could clearly see Kelly's body lying inside the crater, covered in a camouflage raincoat. At this time, the sun has climbed the hillside, and under the sunlight, the members of the "suicide squad" can be said to have no concealment. In order to suppress the enemy who might be in ambush and cover their recovery of Kelly's body, the team members contacted the O-1 command pilot who was patrolling the sky by radio and asked him to send F-4 "Phantom" fighter-bombers to drop napalm directly in front of the crater.
At the command of the command aircraft, the fighter-bombers hovering over the theater immediately dived down and attacked with napalm. Seeing that the napalm was about to roar, the pilot of the command plane asked the members of the "suicide squad" to immediately lower their heads and cover their faces, take three deep breaths, and then hold their breath. With a roar, the napalm dropped by the Phantom hit 100 yards in front of the crater. The power of napalm was so amazing that radio operator Granados was lifted directly off the ground by the shock wave. He will never forget the tingling sensation of the shock wave mixed with heat and dust sweeping across his face.
Screenshot of the F-4 Phantom fighter using napalm to attack a target in a contemporary video game
After the petrol bombs fell, Viet Cong guerrillas who were ambushed in caves, grass, and dark bunkers ran out of bunkers to try to find out. Realizing that he had stabbed a hornet's nest, Sergeant McClellis, who led the team, yelled at the other team members: "Take his broken leg!" Let's get out of here! The team immediately woke up from the shock of the petrol bomb explosion, and two team members rushed forward to grab the severed leg of Kelly's body and strapped it to Corporal Chamberlain's backpack. In the rain of bullets and bullets of the guerrillas, the members of the "suicide squad" took Sergeant Kelly's broken leg and fled towards the deep forest without looking back. Over their heads, Air Force "ghost" fighter-bombers shuttled back and forth, constantly dropping napalm to cover the squad's retreat.
Viet Cong guerrillas fighting in the jungle
In the end, the members of the "Suicide Squad" safely returned to Heights 10, where Company C was stationed. As if miraculous, none of the 8 team members died in this dangerous recovery mission that seemed like suicide. Amid cheers, Lieutenant Colonel Davis, the battalion commander, gathered the eight brave volunteers and handed them cigars and cold beers as a reward. Despite his success, Sergeant McClellis understood why he was able to come back alive: "The Viet Cong would not have believed that we would have done such a stupid thing, sending eight soldiers behind enemy lines just to recover the body of one fallen soldier." They must have thought that these 8 people were some kind of bait and wanted to seduce them all. ”
Miraculously, none of the members of the "suicide squad" who participated in the recovery mission died in this suicide-like mission
At midnight on the 18th, a group of B-52 bombers sent by the US Air Force flew over the "rocket belt," and hundreds of heavy bombs poured out of the bombers' magazines, blowing up the Vietnamese mountains 10,000 meters below.
At the same time, Private Kelly's severed leg was quickly transported back to the mainland by American troops and handed over to his family for burial. However, just a month later, U.S. soldiers involved in Operation Worth recovered the rest of Kelly's body. Carried by ambulance helicopter, Kelly's body was quickly transported to the morgue in Da Nang, where it was packed and returned to the United States. After learning that the rest of Kelly's body had been recovered, Kelly's family had to dig up the coffin that had been buried and open it to place the rest of the body. In the end, Michael Kelly, who died in the barren mountains of Vietnam, ushered in his sabbath in April 1968.
After the battle, carpet bombing continued by American bomber groups, but the Viet Cong guerrillas hiding in the jungle had no intention of giving up resistance. In the next few years, this deep forest west of Da Nang will continue to claim the lives of more American soldiers...
B-52 bombers carrying out carpet bombing, "carpet bombing" was never the "final solution" for guerrillas lurking deep in the mountains