Southern Cross information
for 198 BDE 23 INF
5/46 INF 23 INF
For date 700619
198 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
5/46 INF 23 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, Chu Lai
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "ROCKET ATTACK THWARTED BY 198TH INFANTRYMEN" by SP4 Louis Featherman 198th INF BDE. IO.
LZ BAYONET - Quick and decisive action by 198th Infantry Brigade soldiers enabled them to find and capture a large number of enemy rockets and abort a massive rocket attack on Chu Lai. Men of Charlie Company, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry combat-assaulted into the enemy's rocket launching site and found 43 rockets ready to fire. The "Brave and Bold" infantrymen had moved into the site, five miles southwest of Chu Lai in response to an early morning rocket attack on Chu Lai. "After the initial rockets were fired at 6 A.M., we went up in the command and control helicopter and started a visual reconnaissance of the suspected launch site area." said LTC Melvin C. Snyder, Falls Church, Va., commander of the 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry, "At 7 a.m., while we were still reconning the area, they started shooting rockets again." LTC Snyder called for helicopter gunships. "I then called for a platoon of Charlie Company to be combat-assaulted into the launch site," continued the Colonel. The platoon, led by SSG James Goss, Monroe, Mich., met resistance as it attempted to land. "We received AK-47 fire from a woodline as we came into the rocket site," said Sergeant Goss. The helicopters returned fire and landed in a different landing zone nearby." After observing the enemy evading, the assaulting troops then secured the site and found the unfired rockets. "We found 40 or so rockets lined up in a row," said Sergeant Goss. "They were camouflaged with brush and they were all set up on bipods made of sticks, and they were armed and ready to fire. We disarmed them by shorting out the wires connecting them to the firing device." Another element of Charlie Company surprised four enemy troops in the area while patrolling later in the morning. "We were 150 meters from the rocket site when we came to a deep, narrow gully," said 1LT Michael S. Mesich, Milwaukee, Wis., a platoon leader. "My M-79 man (grenadier) opened up and then we called up our machine gun but we didn't get them." The patrol pursued the enemy up the gully, but were unable to apprehend them. In their haste, the VC left behind four packs containing a large supply of batteries used to fire the rockets, a hand generator also used as a firing device, numerous personal items and food.
Photo Captions:
1) These soldiers from the 198th Infantry Brigade load captured enemy rockets onto a helicopter five miles west of Chu Lai. The rockets were part of 43 captured by the infantrymen. (Photo by SP4 Louis D. Feathermman)
2) In she goes as this trooper struggles to load one of the captured rockets into the chopper. The men spotted the site in time to prevent any of these rounds impacting in Chu Lai. Charlie Company, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry was the unit credited with thwarting the enemy's plans. (Photo by SP4 Louis D. Feathermman).
The source for this information was 7006_322_scr supplied by Les Hines 12/17/2000
Additional information is available on CD-ROM.
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Last updated
12/24/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023