Army Reporter information
for 23 INF DIV

For date 680120


23 INF DIV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Operation WHEELER/WALLOWA
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Tam Ky
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Americal Stops Training" dated 20 Jan 1968. An Americal Division LRRP disrupted an NVA training session recently resulting in at least 12 enemy soldiers killed. The action began when the team leader, SP4 David Ohm, spotted approximately 30 enemy moving into a clearing west of Tam Ky during the Americal Div.'s Operation Wheeler/Wallowa. The six-man LRRP team had been on patrol only one day and had set up an observation post on top of a hill overlooking a valley. According to Ohm. "The NVA soldiers had moved into a clearing and seemed to be having a class. By the time I had plotted their position and notified a FAC, they had raised an NVA flag." The Air Force jets arrived on target minutes later and began their bombing and strafing runs. "On the fourth pass," said Ohm, "A huge billowing cloud of black smoke rose skyward, followed by three smaller secondary explosions. The enemy were splitting up and some were moving in our direction." Ohm radioed for an extraction helicopter and the small team raced for the PZ. WO Boa, a Vietnamese soldier working with the LRRP, suddenly spotted three enemy soldiers moving down a ridgeline int their direction. Reacting quickly, Boa fired his M79 grenade launcher, killing one enemy. Upon returning to their rear base Ohm was told that the FAC had counted 11 enemy bodies killed by the air strikes.

The source for this information was 6801AR.AVN supplied by Les Hines


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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023