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Talked to Albert recently about being at the battle site where an artillery man by the name of Davis won the MOH. Couldn't remember the date when it happened but fairly recently was reading the awards write up for Sgt Davis and realized that this was the battle that I had been at.

To start with I need to lay a little background concerning the battle that will relate to the situation.

Was with a mobile Intelligence team that was at the general location of our infantry units when we first started operating in 1967. Before the battle I was in a small town called Can Giuoc SW of Saigon. Don't remember how it happened but while training in the states I was trained as a clerk but like most clerks in HHC 2^nd Bde I still carried a 11B MOS. Most of the time while I was on the team I was an RTO who occasionally did other things like driving etc.

Was in the field most of the time so wasn't aware that most of the clerks (or so I had heard) back in Dong Tam had received the CIB, since they all carried 11b MOSs. Think this was sometime in May so the being under fire part of qualifying for CIB wasn't a problem. Anyway one day my boss a Capt by the name of Johnnie Corns came to my field location to advise me that I had been awarded a CIB, since most of the other clerks with 11Bs already had been awarded CIBs. I had mixed emotions about receiving the award but went with my gut feeling and turned down the award.

Not long after this (maybe a week or so) I was back in Dong Tam and I got word that I was going to a field location where our infantry was operating somewhere near the Plain of Reeds near Hwy 4. Initially I heard that I was going to ride a track to our field location but at the last moment it was changed to make me the driver for the assistant S2, a man by the name of Capt Robert Reaves. Don't remember too much about the convoy except Capt Reaves was reminding me that I needed to keep my spacing pretty regular, gunships were our constant companions and someone turned over their jeep along the way.

First location was in the small town called Cai Be and don't remember where the TOC was set up here but I ended up having to dig my foxhole in a graveyard. Nothing happened here and then we moved on to the next location in the area a couple of days later.

Next location was in the same general area except I got an up close and personal experience about how to build a large bunker for the TOC. Only guy I remember who was working with me was a big black man by the name of Billy Butler(think he hailed from Alabama). We rotated with a pick on filling sandbags for about 14 hours. When we got through we were worn out and needed to get some sleep but were told that we couldn't go to sleep until we built our own bunkers. Built a small lean to bunker before I went to sleep and used my mosquito netting as well as my air mattress to sleep on. Woke up about 2 am and the mattress had been punctured by a rock and I felt ants and spiders crawling all over me. Too tired, went back to sleep.

Third location I remember a little more about. Was amazed that someone figured out that a dozer would proably provide security quicker, which it did by cutting a berm around the TOC where I was supposed to work. We even had tracks around us as I remember two about 50 ft in front of me as as lay on the berm in the back of the TOC. Remember how fortunate I felt not having to fill sandbags and having someone else providing the security for me and not the other way around.

About one or so Arty opened up firing at coordinates given to them by our ambush patrols. Since I was an rto I kept getting info about Charlie carrying bodies back across a stream nearby. Heard that Arty broke some kind of record by firing 1K rounds in an hour.

Mentioned earlier that this most likely was the same battle that Sgt Davis received his MOH in. I was looking in the opposite direction that the Artillery was firing. Noticed early on that there was someone firing at us from about 2K yards away. Our S3 called a Spooky and he laid some pretty heavy fire on the location where the flashes were coming from.Only problem was that Charlie started firing back as soon as the gunship stopped firing(for a little while)

Was so engrossed in watching spooky that I wasn't paying attention to a sniper firing at me from between the tracks(I finally got down after about three rounds missed me). Seems like I remember a dustoff to evacuate the wounded. Only saw one tube firing at us but there were probably more.

Next morning was all normal, Charlie had policed their bodies and the same kids who were playing in front of the tracks before dark were out playing in front of their huts again.