War Stories -cont'd

AFTER ACTION REPORT 2002 MAY 18.
PVT GATEJEN, 5th SQUAD, RANGERS

The Crusty Whore was hopping late into Friday night. Sometime around 1am, the conversation turned to the battle plan for the next day. Naturally, the planning was ‘lubricated’ with some fine spirits, flown in from The World. The chiefs cleared the card table, spread out a map, and used poker chips and bottle caps to represent the units. (Yes, VC, you were red chips.) There was a particularly heated debate over how to get beyond the chokepoint and where to go from there. The LT jumped in and settled it; Rangers would link up with Delta at the chokepoint; we’d hammer and anvil what was meant to hammer us. That was plan-A. We reviewed our three plans. Plan-B included a Helo-drop near the village to unhinge the chokepoint. Plan-C was FUBAR; we’d regroup the all the Rangers and try to force our way. The bar closed and we were sent to our bunks for the night.

Saturday morning, the Task Force Ranger deployed for their first mission. I was very impressed by the effort everyone put into their uniforms. We looked fairly convincing when marching up the road. When the mission started, it was incredible to see full squads leapfrogging across the first open field. The VC were well entrenched at the chokepoint and on the left flank. We couldn’t start our planned attack until we cleared the left flank. If I remember correctly, Ike had to drive the deuce into the open field so a team could set up the mortars. After a proper arty barrage, a full squad of Rangers made it past the left wing and pushed into the brush near the chokepoint. (At this point, I got killed and cutoff from the main force.) From what I heard, fragplan-A was then in effect and went off without a hitch. The Rangers linked up with Delta. After a couple duels between the ARGO and the Jeep, the chokepoint was cleared, and the platoon rolled to the objective.

I think this was a perfect example of why it’s good to have a plan, even if the situation decays quickly. The squads did a great job staying together. Everyone stayed on their objectives. The second mission showed what happens when you don’t have time to plan. It seemed like a clusterf*ck from the go. The Ranger mission was to hold the ammo dump and deliver an ammo box. We spent most of the time just trying to get rallied so we could do something.

When we moved out, I asked about the mission. Someone told me that we had to 'get the ammo box to the Crusty Whore.' I said, 'what???' They repeated and I asked again. I couldn’t figure out who was the Crusty Whore. ;-) They corrected me; 'it’s the Ranger bar.' Ohhhhh! So we clustered around the ammo dump. One squad split left to hold the road to the beach. The other split right to hold the road we used for our march in. It didn’t take long before the Argo rolled up on the left. We fell apart. We didn’t have any LAW rockets on the FEBA. We didn’t have the mortars manned. The Jeep was covering the right. We panicked. The entire squad broke and ran back towards the ammo dump; naturally, most of us got mowed down. If it weren’t for a Ranger SGT putting together a quick mortar team, the Agro probably would have driven all the way through our lines. This actually happened again before we managed to rally and shift the initiative. (I believe this is also when the Jeep fell victim to friendly fire).

The shift happened after two events. First, our Asst Squad Leader (Ernie) and another trooper managed to get to the tree line that split the left and right approaches. They managed to hold off the relentless VC attack for a long time. I think Ernie has a couple dozen VC ears hanging from his rearview mirror. Second, our Squad SGT (Matt) led us on a flanking mission. We slipped down to the beach and found a cut in the dense brush. It put us right next to the VC rally point. Sarge waited until the pickings were good and poured fire into the infantry. I ran like hell to get help. Unfortunately, the Argo was at the rally point and it raked the brush. I got hit and Sarge took a round. When I rejoined the living, the VC was trying their last push. By then, the mortar teams had found their range and nothing could get through. I took another hit helping the Asst Squad Leader at the tree line. When I rejoined, we were on the offensive.

The Capt and his staff rallied us and formed an assault. We drove the deuce right up the road on the right wing--straight into the VC beast. However, it was a trick. The ammo box was not on the deuce. A small team took the box to the river and gave it to a Delta team. The idea was to let them quietly slip the box in while the main force kept the VC busy. Since I was with the main force, I did not see the results of the Delta mission. We did encounter fierce resistance; the main force could not make it all the way to the objective. Also, we had a lot of problems with snipers. One sniper (I think the one that won the award) held up a full Ranger squad. It took several grenades to clear the way. The delay was instrumental to the VC’s success, as it allowed them to rally a defense. The mission ended with the battle lines drawn at that very spot. I do not know if the mission was successful; I didn’t hear anyone call out 'the package has been delivered to the Crusty Whore.'

At approximately 14:30, Task Force Ranger returned to camp for R&R.

The next mission was the classic staff officer’s nightmare: cover multiple shifting objectives. The first was for TF Ranger and Det B52 to assault the VC stronghold. We made a very rapid advance to the area, but absolutely could not crack the objective. I was attached to a squad led by the Capt that tried to find a way in through the swamp. Poor visibility led to disorganization. Often, we found ourselves to be stalking Delta teams, instead of the enemy. There were two fierce firefights within 25 meters of the objective, but we were repulsed both times. Eventually, we were so strung out, the Six called for a general retreat and reorganization.

We reorganized on our CP. After a rest, we moved up and formed a defensive line at the motor pool. Two squads provided left and right security. The VC used our retreat to organize an attack. They made it as far as the ammo dump before being repulsed. Likewise, the VC retreated to the safety of the tree line that covered the approach to the beach. There were VC sporadic attacks on the right wing, but otherwise the front fell quiet.

We received new orders to attack the beach. The bulk of our forces (Force-Alpha) collected on the left wing, by the Rapids. A small detachment (Team-India) crossed the river to put a fire team opposing the beach. They quietly filtered into position undetected, while the main force moved to main road. The main road curved around the tree line and descended to the beach. There was heavy brush on the other side of the road, opposite the tree line, that gave us cover for our approach. The trick was to filter enough troops into the brush, but that meant running in the open for 30 meters from Rapids to where we could enter the brush. This was under direct fire from the tree line. The ammo dump and deuce were in excellent position to put fire on the tree line. We decided to put a team there. A couple troops made a dash for it but were cut down by a sneaky VC that was hiding in the bed of the truck. A couple more troops ran for the ammo dump instead and made it. While the main force dumped covering fire on the deuce, the team moved within grenade range. They popped a frag and cleared the deuce. We could not find the VC body, so we suspect he ran shortly after dropping our first team. The fire team at the deuce and on the Rapids dumped covering fire into the tree line and we were able to move a squad and a half into the brush.

(This is one of those moments where you almost forget it isn’t real. I remember yelling 'covering fire' and a dozen troops stepped up to fire. Two troops ran out, crouched to avoid our rounds, and ran like rabbits to the brush. I could hear screams. I remember Storm yelling, 'changing magazine!' That kicked everything into slow motion. I looked over and saw him roll over, pop out his magazine. By then our rabbits made it and we stepped back to our cover. I heard someone yell go. The fire started again, but this time I was running. I made it past a Zon right as it went off; I dove into the brush somewhat dazed. I took a couple breaths and snapped back to real time.)

The team in the brush managed to put enough fire on the tree line to route the sentry. The Capt rallied the troops and contacted Team-India. On his command, Team India opened up on the beach while Force-Alpha attacked. Two troopers and I crossed the road and made it to the crest over the beach. We had a commanding position over the beach. We rained fire down on the enemy positions until I ran through all my magazines. I tried to reload, but lost my footing and slid down the crust into the mire. (That is how I tore up my arm.) I was a sitting duck and got picked off. The battle was over for me.

As I understand it, the VC managed to hold the beach -barely. Their success could be attributed to three factors. First, they had a central position that allowed them to pivot and place maximum firepower on trouble spots. Force-Alpha could only get a couple people into position to fire at the VC at any given time. Second, the VC showed themselves to be tenacious defenders. Third, our timing was slightly off. We should have probably started the attack with Force-Alpha before Team-India opened fired. After the VC moved into positions to hold off Force-Alpha, they would have been easy pry.