Southern Cross information
for 196 BDE 23 INF
2/1 INF 23 INF
F/8 CAV

For date 700703


196 BDE 23 INF was a US Army unit
2/1 INF 23 INF was a US Army unit
F/8 CAV was a US Army unit
Primary service involved, US Army
Incident reference: 70051496.BAT This information is available on CD-ROM.
Quang Tin Province, I Corps, South Vietnam
Location, LZ HAWK HILL
Description: The following is an edited version of an article titled "Do unto thyself" by SGT Bob Nordyke 196th INF BDE IO. LZ HAWK HILL - One good turn deserves another so it was recently for an operation near Barrier Island 12 miles north of Tam Ky. A crew from a 196th Infantry Brigade LOH stopped Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry from walking into a VC ambush. The favor was soon returned when the company rescued the three man LOH crew after it had been forced to land with an AK-47 round in the tail rotor. Working the flat sparsely vegetated area, Bravo Company had requested the LOH to fly in front of their sweep. Early in the afternoon, the LOH's M-60 machine gunner spotted a Vietnamese near a rice paddy dike crouched in some tree roots. "I kept watching him but could not fire because there were some Popular Forces working the area," said gunner SGT Leonard Marshall of Mears, Mich. He observed the lonely enemy soldier as Bravo Company neared his position. "I saw him move and he had a string of CHICOM grenades," he continued. "Then he stared to bring his AK-47 up to shoot at the company's point man. I killed him when the point man was only four or five feet away." The ambush the VC had set was ruined, so the enemy opened up on the LOH from a hooch only 10 yards from the would be VC ambusher. "Fire was coming from all over the area," related SP4 Buster Gandy, Ft. Worth, Texas, the LOH crewchief on the left side of the helicopter. "Two VC came to the door of the hooch. I got both of them with my M-16." The LOH took several hits and was forced to return to LZ Hawk Hill. Seventeen holes were counted in the chopper's hull. In a few minutes the entire crew changed LOHs and were back to the fight. "The VC had moved about a 100 yards." said SGT Marshall, "but their fire was still heavy." It was also lucky. One round hit the LOH's tail rotor and forced it to the ground. It was now the infantry's turn to do a good deed. "We went down in a little open area surrounded by a six foot dike," said SP4 Gandy. "B Company got to us in about ten minutes but it seemed like six years." The helicopter crew then got a little taste of ground combat. They stayed with the company for about three hours continuing the sweep under heavy sniper fire. Just before dusk, the infantry company lined up with F Troop, 17th Cavalry. "We finally got out of there about 6:30," explained SGT Marshall. "We caught a helicopter flying for F Troop 8th Cav and got back to Hawk Hill intact."
Comments: SGT Marshall, Leonard; 196 BDE AVN PLAT LOH observer; ; SP4 Gandy, Buster; 196 BDE AVN PLAT LOH observer; ;

The source for this information was 7007_324_scr supplied by Les Hines 12/23/2000


Additional information is available on CD-ROM.

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Last updated 12/23/2000

Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023