Outnumbered 20 to 1 by William P. Collier

Author:William P. Collier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Made for Success
Published: 2022-10-31T06:20:31+00:00

NOON–1500 HOURS

During infrequent lulls in small arms and sniper fire, I began burning seven years of sensitive and classified Vietnamese operational and advisory reports detailing all aspects of American support in the district of Mo Duc. These reports in the team filing cabinets included the names of village and hamlet chiefs and many others who cooperated with the Americans. If these files had fallen into NVA possession, numerous South Vietnamese officials would have surely been assassinated. Unfortunately, I burned these files in the open near the flagpole, and it became a popular target for the machine gunner in Dong Cat. This burning effort was time-consuming, and amid numerous interruptions, was successfully completed by nightfall.

Sammy, one of my bodyguards, finally located the machine gunner’s firing position. He seemed to be semi-exposed yet also with some cover. To engage this gunner, Sammy had to position himself behind a very low berm on the east-side perimeter while being pretty much exposed. When the machine gunner opened fire, Sammy seemed to take delight in returning fire. Usually, the machine gunner would remain silent for a while.

While burning the paper files, I noticed approximately eight soldiers in a small group not too far from the flagpole and the main gate. Capt. Nguyen arrived about this time, pointed to the group, and said they were the National Police soldiers who had stopped by the previous day for an overnight visit. They had just told him they were leaving and going out the main gate. They were terrified by the sight of the massing NVA and spoke of desertion and surrender. Other ARVN soldiers were gathering to see if the National Police were allowed to leave. I had no intention of allowing anyone to depart the compound or surrender.

SFC Long, my interpreter, was nearby, as he always was. We walked over to talk with the National Police. I explained in no uncertain terms that anyone who left the compound had valuable information about our strength and casualties. Everyone in the compound was needed at that moment to help with our defense. I stressed that no one would leave the compound alive by firing numerous rounds from my M16 rifle near but to the side of them. They understood my message and returned to their perimeter positions.

I continued burning files. Suddenly, the machine gunner decided that I was his next target. He was becoming an irritation. Sammy came running to engage this gunner. Since I was his target, I decided that it should be my turn to attempt to neutralize this NVA gunner. After emptying a magazine into his location and no longer receiving a response, I returned to burning files.

A short time later, Capt. Nguyen sought me out on the perimeter. He had a big smile on his face. He could hardly wait to tell me some good news. Two 105-mm howitzers of ARVN artillery from Tu Nghia, the district directly north of Mo Duc, had been positioned either on their southern border or just inside the Mo Duc district.

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