SSG Peter Tiroch
At approximately 1800 on 6 February 1968, Camp Lang Vei started to
receive an artillery barrage. At first it was my thought that this was
just a continuation of the harassing fire that we had received during
the last week or so, the 5th being without any incident. I was in the
TOC at the time the rounds started to come in. The initial rounds hit
in 104 company; SFT Fragos went there to aid the wounded (only two WIA).
I linked up with him and we made an attempt together to find the direction
from which the rounds came by analyzing shell holes and using the lensatic
compass. We informed the TOC that the rounds came from VIC XD 760325.
This is the only place we saw flashes, but over the HT-1 we heard other
observers call additional locations. After waiting for a few minutes
in order to adjust artillery I got frustrated, since no friendly artillery
was to be heard or seen, and went to the 4.2 position approximately
30 meters to the West of the TOC. LTC Schungel and 1LT Longgrear were
already in this position. We put the 4.2 in as near a firing position
as possible toward the enemy guns. Then using maximum charge, 1LT Longgrear
passed the H.E. rounds to LTC Schungel, he passed them on to me and
I dropped them in the tube. We got the idea that we may have come pretty
close to the enemy guns because in dropping a total of 6-8 rounds, after
each round a step up of activity was noted from the other side and we'd
get three or four behind and in front of the 4.2. We also heard many
more rounds going over the camp. I assume the majority of the rounds
went to Khe Sanh, but I did notice a number of them exploding VIC XD797379.
This puzzled us, but it also seemed humorous to us because at least,
we could see that every thing wasn't going exactly right with the enemy
guns. I don't know exactly when Khe Sanh started to return fire on the
locations we had given. It seems to me that it was after we had taken
the majority of 40 to 60 rounds. From these anti-artillery barrages
SFC Ashley (on the old camp) reported a secondary explosion VIC XD770320.
About this time the guns from Laos quit firing at Lang Vei, although
rounds were still going into Khe Sanh for some time. At about 1900 or
1930 all the enemy fire ceased.
I went back to the TOC, which was my working and sleeping area and
kept busy until 2300. I was aware of some sort of trouble with SFC Lindewald's
MSF platoon. It seems that the indigenous troops did not want to stay
on the OP because they had seen beaucoup VC. The exact outcome of this
is unknown to me, although I know SFC Lindewald and SFC Hanna were on
the OP with a number of indigenous troops at the time of attack. I went
to sleep at about 2300 and was awakened at about 2400 or some minutes
later. I don't know who awakened me, but the sentence that stuck in
my mind was "there are tanks in the wire." I ran to the 4.2
mortar adjacent to the alternate commo bunker and started to fire illumination
towards the Southeast, where tanks had been reported. Intermittently
we dropped a few rounds of H.E., where tanks had been reported. Intermittently
we dropped a few rounds of H.E., thinking that there was possibly a
ground assault element behind the tanks. At this time SP4 Doons, SSG
Thompson, SFC Burke and myself were in the 4.2 pit. We were joined about
15 minutes later by SFC Craig and SP5 Phillips who had been hit by fragments
in the face and were both almost deaf. It must have been around 0300
that I saw SFC Holt at the direction of the tanks. Since there were
plenty of people in the 4.2 pit at this time and SFC Holt seemed to
be alone, I ran to his position to assist him by loading the projectiles.
This was actually the first time that I had seen the tanks and I noticed
by the illumination that two of them were sitting still and burning
right at the outer perimeter. Another tank was moving around the two
wrecks. The illumination went out at this time and SFC Holt was unable
to see his target through the sight. Seconds later another illumination
was popped and SFC Holt apparently got on target, because he fired the
106 and the [blank] Which was now some distance inside the perimeter
took a hit and went up in flames. At this time I noticed that there
was only one round of ammo lift [sic] at the position. I loaded it into
the chamber and SFC Holt hit the last tank one more time to finish the
kill, if necessary. This must have been at 0100; both of us left the
gun. SFC Holt ran to the ammo bunker to look for LAW's and I ran back
to the 4.2 bunker. This is [sic] the last time I consciously saw SFC
Holt. As I returned to the 4.2 pit a tank was approaching from the East
side heading for the TOC. Somehow I got a LAW into my hand; I don't
know who gave it to me. It was in firing position with exception of
the safety at the front of the rear sight. I pulled the safety forward
and attemped [sic] to fire the LAW, but it failed to fire. At this time
the tank had stopped about 100 meters from the TOC and was firing its
MF. Then the interpreter Tiep called from the top of the team house-messhall
that a tank was moving West towards his position on highway 9. 1Lt Wilkins
had two LAWs and got to the Eastern edge of the top and was preparing
to fire at the tank. At this time there was a lot of confusion because
some unknown Vietnamese started pointing at the tanks saying "CIDG".
We were happy as could be for a moment because we actually believed
that the CIDG had captured the tank. But when it started to move at
us again we decided very quickly that since CIDG had no training in
driving a tank it must be enemy. 1LT Wilkins fired a LAW at it hitting
it in the front end with unknown results. The tank stopped again, apparently
to find out where he was being attacked from [sic]. 1LT Wilkins attempted
to fire the second LAW and it failed to fire. The tank started to move
again and with unnoticeable effects. I throw two or three grenades at
the tanks tracks and rear end with unnoticeable effect. Other people
also threw grenades. SFC Burke came up with a number of LAWs from somewhere.
1LT Wilkins took three of them and fired them at the tank now located
adjacent to the dispensary. Two of the LAWs misfired, one struck the
tank on the rear of the turret. 1LT Wilkins then took two more LAWs
and followed the tank as it moved toward 102 company on the western
side of the camp. One of the LAW warheads detonated in the left tread
of the tank with unnoticeable effect and the other one missed the tank
completely. 1LT Wilkins came back for more LAWs and continued to follow
the tank. At this time an artillery round landed in the POL dump west
of the 4.2 pit and set it on fire. The tanks outline could be seen directly
behind it. SSG Brooks and myself ran to the top of the teamhouse and
got the 50 cal. MG with an enormous belt of armor piercing ammo and
set it up and began firing at the tank and saw some sort of secondary
explosion in or behind the fire, but I couldn't be sure of the results
of the rounds. At this time (it must have been 0200 or 0230) we started
receiving MG fire from the tank that had by now closed with the TOC
and already had blown away the stairwell with its MAJOR caliber. SFC
Crain, SSG Thompson, SSG Brooks, SP4 Dooms, VNSF SGM DAY and some other
indigenous were all crowded I the 4.2 pit now. We were undecided on
what to do for a while, then ran and crawled for the western side of
the team house. Approx 20-30 CIDG were approaching in a single line
from 102 company area another tank or armored personnel carrier had
come out of the 103 company and was heading past the western supply
bunker toward the 4.2 pit. It was also firing its MG. We came to a decision
to E & E through the northern perimeter, since this seemed to be
the only place were [sic] there was no visible activity. As far as I
could see there was SFC Craig, SSG Thompson, SFC Burke, SGM Day, myself
and from 40-50 CIDG & MSF. We had made our way through the inner
wire barrier at once and were in the process of going over the triple
concertina when our group started receiving heavy MG fire from the eastern
portion of the camp. Everybody except SFC Craig, myself and about 10
MSF apparently got over the wire barriers and outside. We stayed since
spooky and artillery illumination was still lighting up the camp and
in turn our escape route. We remained in shallow ditches for about five
minutes until the illumination ceased for a time and then rushed through
the wire and went about 100 meters further into a slump of bamboo. We
stayed there for approximately fifteen minutes to one half an hour until
CBU's were dropping all around us. SFC Craig, myself and one MSF were
hit by some type of fragments. At this time the remainder of the MSF
with us took off and SFC Craig and myself were alone, [sic] We moved
another 100 or 200 meters and found a sort of dry creekbed [sic] or
washout and stayed at the edge of it for the remainder of the night.
We could still hear the tanks engines in the camp to our rear and a
constant sound of explosions and MG fire. At about 0330 an arc light
started in the direction of Laos and apparently was moving towards the
western edge of camp. Not too much later a jet aircraft dropped from
3-5 bombs in our vicinity. One of the bombs threw clumps of dirt and
shrapnel all around our position. It seemed that around 0400 the activity
in camp was slowing down, but small arms and MG fire still persisted
around our hiding place. Presumed by us to be CIDG, MSF, NVA firing
at each other. We heard the firing and some movement around our position
for the rest of the night. At daybreak firing became sporadic, until
firing started up again in the direction of the camp. We then had high
hopes that the camp was still in friendly hands and started to move
back to a position where we could observe the camp. At this time we
saw (what we later found out to be SFC Ashley's assault) a group of
people on the eastern slope of the camp. Somehow we decided that they
were friendly and stepped out into the open waving our hands. Since
we didn't receive any fire we moved to the east to attempt to link up.
Along the way I saw one dead NVA in the wire near a blown away section.
As we came up on highway 0 from the north, I saw a number of people
along the road sitting down and facing toward the camp. At this time
I got the scare of my life because all I could see was NVA caps and
AK-47's. Looking closer I noticed that there were also camouflaged suits
and carbines and BAR's. Then I remembered that the Laoti9ans also wore
hats and had a number AK-47's [sic]. As we stepped out on the road,
we saw SFC Ashley on the radio, SP4 Johnson and SGT Allen. We joined
them in the next assault on 101 company area. There were approximately
one squad of NVA in the bunkers between 101 company and the TOC. They
were throwing grenades and apparently had a MG and some other automatic
weapons. We tried a head on assault the first time, but as soon as we
received a burst of automatic fire the Laotians broke and ran making
it impossible for us to continue the assault. As we withdrew to allow
the FAC to place airstrikes on the area, I saw LTC Schungel limping
down highway 9 inside camp being aided by two CIDG. SGT Allen and myself
went after him and brought him the remaining distance outside the perimeter.
After the completion of the airstrike, we went up again to assault the
NVA's position only to be met by the same amount of firepower. Although
this time SGT Allen had taken an element along the right flank. Of course,
our "fearless" troops ran again. At this point SFC Ashley
decided to get a 57mm RR from the Laotians in the old camp and attempt
to drive the NVA out of their positions; in the meantime, I saw three
CIDG and 1LT Wilkins coming along highway 9 near the CRP I barracks.
I got four or five Laotians to aid the CIDG and I helped 1LT Wilkins
toward the gate and took him back to the old camp in the jeep that had
been brought from the old camp. During this time, SP4 Johnson was shooting
the 57MM at the bunkers and SFC Ashley's crew had made another assault.
When I returned, they were on the bottom of the hill again. SFC Ashley
was calling for more strafing runs and bombs. Then we went up again.
This time I found an abandoned 60mm mortar and with the assistance of
SP4 Johnson dropped three H.E. and one WP on the enemy position about
50 meters away. The next H.E. round misfired so we left the mortar and
continued the assault. SFC Ashley was in the center, SP4 Johnson on
the left flank and SGT Allen and myself on the right flank. We were
making progress in driving the NVA back and had winged a few with automatic
weapons fire and grenades when the Laotians pulled out on us again.
They had seen SFC Ashley get hit and decided to run again. SGT Allen
and myself started to drag SFC Ashley away from the place where he had
been hit, out of the line of fire. During this time the NVA cut loose
with everything they had. The VNSF, who at this time somewhere to our
rear finally got some Laotians together after our begging for help.
They aided SGT Allen in removing SFC Ashley the remainder of the way.
SP4 Johnson, who had joined us from the left flank, and myself covered
the withdrawal of the carrying party.
We got SFC Ashley into the jeep (still alive by mouth to mouth respiration
by SGT Allen) and took him to the old camp for pick up by the MEDEVAC
which I had requested thru LTC Schungel. SFC Ashley was still in the
jeep and SP4 Johnson was giving him Mouth to mouth respiration when
artillery rounds from Laos started to come in to keep the helicopter
from landing. One round landed 10-15 meters from us knocking out SP4
Johnson, killing SFC Ashley, and putting a piece of shrapnel in my wrist.
The time was about 1100 on the 7th. The old camp received continued
artillery and mortar fire. At about 1400 the group from the TOC effected
their break out under aircover. Helicopters started to come in under
mortar and artillery fire at about 1630 and extracted us to Khe Sanh.
/s/ Peter Tiroch
/t/ PETER TIROCH
SSG E6, [Service Number]