Name: Matthew (Matt) S. Beyeler

Rank: CPT, Infantry

PMOS: 71542G

5th SFGA

Teams/Camps in SE ASIA: CCC (MACSOG), 5th SFG, Kontum, RVN '70-'72

Comments: This is a great website! What an amazing group of men I served with. Most people just have no idea..! I graduated from West Point in '69, went thru the Airborne, Ranger and IOBC at Benning, and then spent some months at Ft. Carson. All the soldiers there were essentailly draftees and most Vietnam returnees just waiting out their 4 to 6 months left in the Army. So pretty poor morale and discipline. But I must say the troops were a great cross-section of Americans, and damn glad to be alive, to a man. Enroute to Vietnam I went thru that abreviated 2 week Jungle Warfare Course in the Canal Zone, where I first met Bob Howard. All new LT's had to go there prior to RNV. Hard to believe Bob had to go thru it too, and although he did not look too pleased, he soldiered on. I met up with him again at the replacement depot at Long Binh, and he, an SF Chaplain and I made our own way to Nha Trang. Bob soon took off for Kontum, and when the S-1 talked to me about my assignment, he essentially said although I was not an SF-qualified officer, I was a "snake-eater," and I had three choices: C&C North, Central, or South." Well, I at least knew one person there, so I chose Central. I arrived in late Oct70, spent almost two months in Security Co., where I was stationed for some weeks across the river at the old Mike Force compound with SSG Franklin Miller and several other US, and then was assigned as Bob Howards XO at Recon Co. As XO I got to go out with several RT's as a "straphanger," most notably with RT Montana. The US were SSG Mike Sheppard (10), SGT Mike Bentley (11) and MSG Behler (12), and nine Yards. I won my CIB with them on an op due west of Dakto, just inside the Vietnam/Laotian border in Mar71. We were extracted under fire after about 8 days. We were looking for a sapper battalion, but their lz/trail-watchers found us first. We were extracted off a grassy ridge overlooking a large valley filled with the smoke columns of many fires, the whole sapper battalion was down there. I guess we kind of felt like Custer looking down on that large Indian camp on the Little Big Horn. But the modern day air calvary came to our rescue! God bless all US Army helicopter pilots and crews. They would never leave you on the ground if they thought you were alive...! On a later mission, with RT Iowa I believe, we were extracted by Stabo rig. The choppers took some blade strikes getting in and out, and were a bit upset. My second tour was ended two months short for some reason, and I left Kontum in late Apr72, just about one week before CCC was leveled by NVA artillery and overrun by NVA tanks. The remaining US from CCC apparently had to fight for their lives with ARVN troops and their US adivsors over at the Kontum airport under John Paul Vann. He called in B-52 strikes around Kontum to halt the assault of several NVA regiments. This was partially conveyed to me by CPT Panoke, 6 monhts later in Wurburg, and in the book "The Bright Shining Lie" by Neil Sheehan. One of these days I would like to take my family back to Kontum and show them the area. I wonder what is left of the camp. To this day I routinely use "Kontum" in any password required for whatever computer system I work with. I will never forget that place and those soldiers... I have quite a few photos I could send... God bless you all... Dai-uy Matt Beyeler

Email: mbeyeler2002@earthlink.net

Home Town: Manhattan Beach, CA

Presently Living in: Irvine, CA

Photos from Matt:

RT Montana 1971
Montana Falls Dac To 1971
122 MM Attack
An RT Home Safe I
An RT Home Safe II