I am Bob Nichols
and I was the Charley Company Gunny, from August 1968 until September
1969. During my tour the company
commanders were: Capt Moore, Capt
Romero, Lt Coe and Lt Hord, the Company 1st Sgt was Dan Crowley
[retired as SgtMaj]. My tour took me
from Hill 22 near Da Nang to LZ Baldy which was located approximately mid way
between Hoi An and Tam Ky near Highway 1.
My men and I participated in some of the following Operations: Taylor
Common, Linn River, Meade River, Oklahoma Hills, and numerous unnamed
company/battalion sized operations.
Charley Co. suffered many casualties in 68-69, due to
boobytraps and small unit engagements.
We lost 16 men from a command-detonated mine on the road to Hill
22. A 6x6 with troops, and a load of
supplies was destroyed. Our primary
mission on Hill 22 was mostly small unit patrols/ambush. For those of you that were never assigned to
Hill 22, it was a company hill, several clicks away from the Battalion CP [on
Hill 10]. The troops were either on
patrol or repairing the trench/bunkers.
Or, map reading/compass classes for the newbys, they were the future
fireteam/squad leaders.
The move to Hill 37, in late Nov 68, was a wake up for the
troops. Contact with the VC/NVA was
constant. More boobytraps, contact with
larger enemy units, we stressed unit dispersal and fire discipline, we were
getting in firefights with well-equipped and highly trained enemy troops .On Dec 8th, 1968 we lost several
KIA and WIA, they included SSgt Jim Brewer (KIA), and the arty FO (KIA). Third platoon was on a daytime patrol
southeast of Hill 37, SSgt Brewer got hit in an open area, and no one could get
to him. 1stSgt Crowley and I sat in the
hooch on 37, monitoring the co/plt radios.
Over a period of about one hour Brewer was shot whenever he tried to
move, some time during that interval he died.
The platoon finally maneuvered, silenced the enemy and recovered his
body. Regardless of casualties, the men of Charley Company never complained,
they simply did their job. They
ambushed, they killed.
Hill 55 was a repeat of Hill 37, road sweeps, platoon patrols,
contact with well organized VC/NVA, and of course casualties from booby traps
and ambush. Operation Oklahoma Hills
was, without a doubt, one hell of an opWe were in the bush for about 50 days.
Charley Company moved down route 4 and made constant contact, while the other
units moved into the mountains to the west.
And in the process kicked some ass.
Some time during or after Oklahoma Hills, we caught a very
large NVA unit crossing the river, at night.
Bravo Co. came in also, together we slaughtered them. That night we used up all the arty ammo on
hill 65 and damn near all they had at An Hoa.
It was a bad night for the bad guys. The wildest display of artillery I
have ever seen!
It was during my tour that the battalion lost a magnificent
commanding officer, LtCol John A Dowd who was KIA. LtCol Dowd spent a great amount of time talking to his officers,
SNCO's, and junior NCO's, regarding the best way to pursue, engage and kill the
enemy. He firmly believed in leadership
at all levels of command and it showed in the outcome of our engagements. .He never expected his Marines to do
anything that he would not do, that included closing with the enemy. He died
with his troops on 13 August 1969.
August 11th, 1969, the battalion made contact with the 8th
& 9th Battalions of the 90th NVA Regt, and units of
the 368th Rocket Regiment. The cost to
1/7: LtCol. John Dowd was killed as
were 21 enlisted, many were wounded.
On Aug 17th a memorial service was held on Hill 55 and a few
days later we moved to LZ Baldy and set in with the Americal Division.
The army had a strange way of running patrols. From what I observed, they used choppers
almost exclusively and the problem was that a good portion of the area was not
patrolled. The Army troops would lift
off Baldy & proceed to their patrol areas; there was some "dead" space
between the LZ and the patrol areas. At
Baldy I was acting as 1stSgt & Co. Gunny, A 1stSgt joined us a few days
prior to me rotating stateside.
SEMPER FI
Robert Nichols 1st Sgt USMC Ret.
