Wigfall, Herbert, Jr., PFC

FINAL MISSION OF PFC HERBERT WIGFALL JR.: On June 15, 1967, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry was assigned security for a round-trip resupply convoy from Chu Lai Combat Base to Duc Pho Base Camp. Units were placed at critical points along Highway QL-1, and A Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry was placed on alert as a quick response force with lift helicopters on (air)strip alert. The convoy left Chu Lai at 7:30 AM and arrived at Duc Pho at 2:00 PM. The return from Duc Pho began at 3:00 PM when the convoy began moving back north, stopping at Quang Ngai Airfield at 7:00 PM. At this time, 2-35 Infantry was released from the assigned mission. At 6:45 PM, C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 25th Infantry Division was returning to LZ Liz on a dike road above some dry rice paddies with members of Recon 2-35 from the day’s convoy operation when one of their M113A armored personnel carriers (APC) detonated a pressure-release mine estimated at two hundred and fifty pounds. The blast occurred approximately three hundred yards from the gates to LZ Liz.

The explosion killed eleven personnel from 2/35 Infantry and 3/4 Cavalry, and the APC was totally destroyed. The lost personnel included PFC Barry L. Adam, SP4 Paul Bowman Jr., SSG Joe R. DeBault, PFC Juan J. Gonzalez, SP4 Lawrence A. Hurd, PFC Michael R. Ojile, PFC Louis J. Purdy, PFC Floyd H. Russell Jr., SP5 Valentino Tauaese, PFC Herbert Wigfall Jr., and SGT Frederick J. Williams. One survivor was seriously wounded. Personnel were riding inside and atop the APC when the mine was hit. The blast spread the APC over an area estimated at 100 yards in radius. Initially thought to be from a command detonated mine, a later inspection of the blast zone revealed no wires, indicating the mine was pressure detonated. There was early confusion on this issue as another APC had crossed the same area without incident. As darkness fell, flare ships provided illumination over the incident area. All the bodies were extracted by 7:45 PM. Some thirty Vietnamese suspects from a nearby village were taken into custody for interrogation and were flown from the site in three helicopter lifts. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Operational Reports - Lessons Learned (ORLL) for May-June 1967]