Again we were flown back out to the Cam Lo area. We came to an area where there were open fields with very short grass. There were hedge rows around these fields the word came down to dig in within the hedge rows. Late in the afternoon we were hit by mortar fire. The mortars were hitting all around. After they stopped I heard the familiar call for "Corpsman up". I arrived to find Weapons Platoon S/Sgt Eugene CHANCY getting to his feet. Chancy, who normally had things together, was dazed and in shock. I had him sit back down and examined him. Not finding any wounds I ask him what had happened. He babbled something. One of the Marines informed me that Chancy had taken a direct hit from a mortar on his helmet. The Marine then produced Chancy’s helmet with large indentation on the top. Chancy started becoming more coherent and complained of his ears ringing. I checked them and did not see any blood. Finally Chancy was able to speak and said "I knew it was going to hit me, Doc, but I couldn't move fast enough". I informed him that it was a good thing that he couldn't because if he had he would have been killed. He thought about it and then nodded. He then complained of pain in his neck and the ringing in his ears was still present, so we called in a medevac and sent him back to Dong Ha for examination. Several days later Sgt. Chancy returned to us back at Payable.
Photo by Rus Jewett |
Operation Prairie III near Cam Lo. Troops are exiting the rear of the helicopter and disbursing out to the other side. You can see other grunts in the background near the Lt.'s helmet and arching to the left and then back around to the tail of the helicopter. |
We were walking down a path in the foot hills near the Cam Lo area, "Chief" was point man. (Unfortunately I cannot remember this Marines name. He was a Native American and we called all of them "Chief" I don't think it was Leo Whitefoot because he was in 3rd platoon) We had cut twigs from the bushes and camouflaged our helmets as usual when we were working on these brushy trails. The foliage was so dense, and we were so silent, that "Chief" managed to walk into a NVA position , which caught both he and them by surprise. He began firing and they shot back. He was wounded in the hip while hitting the deck to take cover. Again it was close fighting. We were shooting and throwing grenades. As the fire fight progressed, word was passed up the line to pull back. An air strike was being called in on our position. Four Marines and I crawled forward. I grabbed "Chief" by his ankles and dragged him back while the others provided cover. When we were far enough back, we spread out a poncho, placed "Chief" in it, grabbed the sides and carried him out, and back to our platoon's position just before the napalm hit the area we had been in. "Chief" had been wounded twice before, so this 3rd wound put him in a category of "not eligible for combat" which got him out of field. A-4 Skyhawks dropped napalm and high explosive (H.E.) which leveled the foliage along the trail. Afterwards we went back in and found a few bodies and a lot of packs that were left behind.