There are certainly enough interesting events from every LRRP/LRP/Ranger unit at all time intervals. I know quite a few since I was the Unit Director for N Rangers and its antecedents for 7 years; basically ombudsman, collator of articles for Patrolling Magazine, and writer of the commendations for Ranger Hall of Fame.
For example. Team 3 shared the same hootch with Team 4 and we have kept in contact. Their original TL was Sgt Guill, whom I wrote of earlier being basically busted from E9 to E5: jumped with 11th in PI, both jumps with 187th and second Korean tour with 2ID, and was on 4th tour in RVN. He is on the left of Rivers "Mule" Evans. Beware of fat old men with 7 combat tours, they just might know what they are doing. The entire team had gone to Recondo Class 00 at Nha Trang in September 1966 and all had six months or more of LRRP patrolling. They were inserted along with Team 6 (Williams) onto the DZ at Katum two days before the drop. Their orders were to get into hides and not move and monitor any movement. Any major movement would have cancelled the drop. LRRP almost made the combat jump but one of the reasons that we did not was because it was felt that it would be most unkind to have 6 teams get combat wings while the guys inserted before hand got a nice pat on the back.
In March 1967, LT Robert Stowell had finished 6 months with 4/503rd (and had the reputation of the best platoon leader in the Bn - and was Bde Adjutant at West Point). Guill had retired and hired by Air America. Stowell was our new XO and went out with Team 3, now under Gary "Wolf" Lotze. They had probably been compromised and when they ambushed two guys carrying AK-47s, it turned out that they had probably been sent down the trail to "flush" the team by getting killed. As soon as they went out to collect weapons and documents, they were attaked from forward and down both flanks on the trail. Stowell took 3 rounds to body in first exchange but no one knew about it for half an hour when he collapsed in the rescue bird. He still has a round in his liver. They were 7.62 x 25 mm subgun rounds. He told me two or three years ago he is just happy they were not 7.62 x 39 mm AK-47/SKS rounds. Dave Liebersbach was on right security (he was later Director of Alaska Emergency Management and the Director of Alaska Homeland Security under both Democrat and Republican Governors). They called for him to come in but he saw 10 NVAs running towards him on the trail led by an RPD. He waited until they were coming straight at him and took them all down. The ones in back didn't know the ones in front were going down and each round probably went through two or three NVA. They got to an LZ after 200 m or so of close combat.
Wolf twice saw assault lines firing assault fire as they came through the smoke (team was throwing smoke to direct gunships). He told me (he died in Dec 1967 in a plane wrec in Alaska that was not discovered until 1992) that he emptied a magazine each time and they all dropped - has no idea if he it anyone. Got tangled up in his Claymore wire after setting it down, said screw it and cranked it off, blew him on his face. A MG had them pinned down and Roy Gilmore (point) crawled up and took it out with two grenades. Gilmore was signaling the gunships with his cerise panel and had two rounds go through it.
We met them at the choppers and BS'ed with them (mainly team 4). Everyone but one had a round through weapon, gear or clothing. I was talking with Forest Kendall as he was taking his PRC-25 out of his pack. He was saying that he thought he had been hit since his butt and legs had been covered with flowing warm water. He pulled a canteen out of one of the back pockets of the RVN Airborne pack and there were two bullet holes through it. Then he saw that there was a round through the metal frame of the PRC-25, an inch lower it would have destroyed the radio and an inch lower it would have taken out the battery (or was it the other way around) - and an inch further forwrd, it would have taken it out his spine. They were cocky as hell for a day or two and then it set in that statistically
Elaine and I visited Gilmore several times in Maryland and got to spend a week with Dave and family on Kodiak six years ago when we were RV'ing through Alaska. The friendships remain through the years. Sid was at the September reunion.
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For some reason the photo in the The photanthologies was reversed and it looks as if all of u are left handedView attachment 12133 View attachment 12134
