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Casualty Info
Home Town Oklahoma City
Last Address 3101 SW 42, Oklahoma City
Casualty Date Mar 16, 1966
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Multiple Fragmentation Wounds
Location Binh Duong (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens Cemetery - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Wall/Plot Coordinates 06E 015/Garden Of The Christus, Lot 89-D2
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Campaign (1965-66)/Operation Silver City
From Month/Year
March / 1966
To Month/Year
March / 1966
Description (9-22 March 1966, Long Khanh Province) The 173D Airborne Brigade (SEP), including elements of the 1st Royal Australian Regiment, conducted a heliborne assault near the Song Be River in War Zone "D" to initiate Operation Silver City. The first few days of the operations consisted of thorough screening of the area, leading to the discovery of vast quantities of food, munitions, bunkers, tunnel systems documents, and several large VC base camps.
The seventh day of Operation Silver City will long be remembered by the troopers of the 173D, for on this day the 2/503rd Infantry Task Force was attacked from all directions by the 501st VC Battalion. The troopers held their perimeter while inflicting heavy losses on the guerrillas. Resupply of needy ammunition was effected during the battle by helicopter at no small risk to equipment and crews. Numerous tactical air strikes were initiated with great effectiveness. The VC had to resort to chaining their machine gunners to the tripods of their weapons, but even these measures could not stop the crack troopers of the 173D.
The 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry was directed to reinforce the 2nd Battalion during the battle. The VC element was nearly annihilated by this time and chose to break contact rather than tackle two battalions of SKY SOLDIERS. Four hours after initial contact, all VC were routed or destroyed.
The after-action mop-up patrols counted a total of 302 VC bodies with only seven US losses, the highest kill ratio to date. Throughout the rest of the operation it was indicated that an estimated 150 additional VC dead had been dragged away.
