Southern Cross information
for 3/21 INF 23 INF
196 BDE 23 INF

For date 681124


3/21 INF 23 INF was a US Army unit
196 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, LZ BALDY
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "'Gimlet' Ends VC's Vacation." LZ BALDY - A VC company commander's R&R came to an end abruptly recently when "Chargers" of the 196th Inf. Bde. came on the scene. D Co., 3rd Bn., 21st Inf., with the help of a Hoi Chanh, found a weapons cache consisting of two K-44 rifles and an M-60 machinegun. The unit then moved out in an attempt to find the owners. SP4 Joseph Cooper had the job of hiding in the brush and watching the trail. "I didn't wait long," the infantryman noted. "After several Vietnamese kids had passed carrying rice an enemy soldier came walking by with his .38 pistol drawn." In a brief exchange of fire, the "Gimlet" soldier ended the VC's vacation plans. "The VC commander was identified by the R&R orders in his shirt pocket sending him to this location to recover from battle wounds," said CPT Seth R. Orell, CO of D Co. "He just picked a bad day to begin R&R."

The source for this information was 6811_112_scr supplied by Les Hines 01/05/2000


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Last updated 12/18/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023