I participated in Operation New York and am compeled to furnish you with the following information. I was a Corpsman with F Co. 2-1. On 2-27-66 the entire Battalion was lifted from the base at Phu Bai to Phu Thu Peninsula in what I believe was the first night time battalion size vertical envelopment by helicopter in history. The following morning, we began a sweep down the peninsula and in the afternoon encountered a dug in battalion of Viet Cong. In the ensuing fighting, my company suffered 14 KIA and probably twice that many WIA. I was among the first wounded and among the first evacuated because of the seriousness of my wound. I was told that the helicopter that evacuated me recieved hits from 100 rounds of small arms fire and I owe you guys my life and undying gratitude. F Company had lost quite a few men prior to Operation New York and had so few able bodied men left after the operation that the surviving Marines were assigned to CAC units and a company was transfered in from another battalion to replace the old F Co. Danny Francis wrote a book, "Last Ride Home", which chronicles the operation pretty much as I remember it beginning on page 229. Semper Fi.......
From: Doc Larry Sanderson HMC/USN/RET The source for this information was USMC 1966 P:51+, Rise & Fall P:112
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Last updated
09/26/2010
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023
Comments: LTC House, Charles A.; CO HMM-163; ;
Rise & Fall = The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1963 - 1973 by Shelby Stanton.
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