Southern Cross information
for 198 BDE 23 INF
H/17 CAV
1/6 INF
For date 710122
198 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
H/17 CAV was a US Army unit
1/6 INF was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, LZ DOTTIE
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Rallier pays off" by SGT Louis Miller 198th Inf. Bde. IO.
LZ DOTTIE - Infantrymen from the 23rd Division's 198th Infantry Brigade recently learned that the Government's "Chieu Hoi" program helps decrease enemy forces in two ways. The most obvious way was evidenced when a rallier turned himself over to H Troop, 17th Cavalry, thus giving the Allies in the area one less guerrilla to fight. But the big payoff came with the rallier volunteered to lead another Brigade unit to a Viet Cong resting spot and helped decrease the VC population by two more. After turning himself into H Troop, the rallier was extracted to a nearby firebase where he expressed interest in leading a U.S. patrol to a spot he felt several Viet Cong would be sleeping that night. The offer was taken and the rallier was taken to the field position of Echo Recon, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry. "We didn't know what to expect from him at first," said 1LT Thomas W. Tardy of Winona, Miss., the platoon leader. "He told us he wanted to walk point even though he knew we wouldn't give him a weapon." The Recon platoon moved towards a new laager position and waited for dark to begin their search for the VC resting spot. During the wait, the rallier pointed out possible booby-trapped areas on a map. When it got dark enough, the unit moved out, with the rallier moving at the head of the column. "As he walked, he checked every hedgerow for booty traps," said LT Tardy. "Finally, after about a thousand meters, he halted and motioned towards a spot next to a wooded area." Through the interpreter, the rallier told the lieutenant that this was the enemy resting point. "I had my men drop their packs and move on line," said Tardy. "We had been there only a few minutes when we spotted about three enemy soldiers crossing a rice paddy to our front and moving directly towards us." The enemy soldiers walked right up to the infantrymen's positions and, thinking the members of Recon. were other Viet Cong, began to speak to them. A split second later, the enemy realized they were talking to the wrong people. The infantrymen opened up and killed two in the brief firefight. Captured were one AK-50 rifle, an automatic rifle, and eight Chicom hand grenades. "I'd like to work with that rallier again," said the lieutenant. "He really knew what he was doing."
The source for this information was 7101_404_scr supplied by Les Hines 01/2000
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Last updated
12/14/2000
Date posted on this site:
05/13/2023