caught in the middle but we also knew that they had been aware of the attack and had removed all their goods. Good prior planning!!

About 45 minutes later, we heard the unmistakable sound of .50 calibers and saw a 6-wheel recon vehicle turn in the street about a block away. Behind the car, we could see plenty of foot soldiers. They advanced with all guns going. Several were firing the small one-shot anti-tank rockets into the buildings and everyone had his weapon on rock & roll. The return fire had dropped off to nothing as the NVA realized it was all over for them. They had probably gone out their prearranged bolt holes minutes earlier.

Still the ROK infantry came on, relentless in their effort to clear the street, reducing any obstacle to rubble. As they passed the now very quiet building, the rear guard was busy tossing grenades in the rubble. These were some tough troops. We had all stopped firing and were as spectators watching the show.

A Korean officer came over and casually checked out the bodies of the sappers lying against the wall and in the street. He looked up and said, "Everything OK now." in excellent English, repeated it in Vietnamese and continued to stroll down the wrecked street, now full of empty brass and bodies.

It was all over. When daylight came, we tried to recover the 3/4.

It was shot to shit - radiator and engine shot to pieces, tires blown apart, but it had served it's purpose. It had plugged the breech before any NVA infantry could get into the compound. The buildings upper stories were a wreck - all windows shot out, a few RPG hits, but the VNSF staff was still safe inside.

Sutter remarked, "The dumb shits should have used mortars on the building." I said, "Yes, and if they had, we would not be here, either."

The fight lasted from around 12:00 midnight until just before 4:00 a.m. Short fight, really. It ended when the Korean company entered the fight. We were all trapped in the compound with no where to go and we could only circle the wagons and wait for the Cavalry.

That night, I personally killed 10 - 6 sappers and a MG/RPG crew. Crysel put me in for a DSC and the Viets for a Cross of Gallantry with a Gold Star. I got the Cross, but the U.S. Army in Saigon cut the DSC to a Silver Star, 1st OLC. I guess it didn't look like much in an air conditioned office at MAC-V.

To this day, nobody ever found out if or why the Viet SF guards left their posts - after all, it was a fucked up war.