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17 The SA-7 Missile Arrives with a Bang Following a series of ferocious ground attacks during the last week of April, the enemy’s pressure against the paratroopers defending the southern outskirts of the town began to slacken. Although the intensity of the ground battle was tapering off, and mortar and artillery attacks had become more sporadic, rounds continued to slam into our position day and night and enemy patrols repeatedly probed our defenses. Their intentions might have been to ensure we were still alert. More likely they were new troops replacing others who had been killed, attempting to confirm the location of our trench line and fighting positions. Being out and about during the day was not recommended, but it was extremely dangerous to move around after dark because then no one was your friend. In a number of instances enemy snipers climbed into trees during the night so they could see into our perimeter once the sun came up. Cat-andmouse games became popular with some paratroopers who took on the task of slipping outside the wire to locate and kill them. Mortar and artillery rounds arrived in the position with little or no warning . The mortar rounds made very little noise before they hit, but the artillery shells usually screamed and moaned on their way in. Even though they often announced their pending arrival, they came in very fast with a terrific explosion that promised serious wounds for soldiers caught out in the open. When mortar or artillery rounds hit trees, steel shrapnel and wood splinters were thrown in all directions. The shrapnel traveled with a terrible velocity. While the wounds from big pieces of shrapnel were dramatic, a very small sliver of steel through the head,heart,or lungs was often less visible but could be equally fatal. We appreciated the relative respite in the battle’s tempo, but we were also sure it was a temporary lull allowing the enemy to reinforce and prepare his 82 Chapter 17 next attack. The troops used the time to improve their fighting positions, and they also added more wire entanglements to the rolls of concertina already staked down outside the trench line. Lengths of barbed wire were stretched tight between the stakes and convenient rubber trees, about six inches above the ground. It was crisscrossed back and forth in a maze in front of the rolls of concertina. Hard to see, difficult to crawl under, and almost impossible to run through, tanglefoot was aptly named.We continued sending patrols into the rubber plantation, and every one of them came under fire. The enemy remained directly in front of us, wide awake, and in considerable strength. Then over a period of several days the intensity of the incoming mortar and artillery fire began to increase, and the enemy kicked off a major ground attack at 4:00 a.m. on 11 May.1 Under cover of darkness hundreds of North Vietnamese infantry had moved up closer to our trench line. Then, in the midst of a very heavy and very accurate mortar barrage, they rushed us in a full-blown effort to overrun our position. The enemy’s infantry assault was full of sound and fury and there was a tremendous amount of small-arms fire. Green tracers seemed to crisscross the position from every direction, some rounds skipping across the ground and others zipping through the trees. Dozens of rocket-propelled grenades flew across the position, smacking into trees with blasts of fire and showers of sparks. There was a constant crash and bang of hand grenades going off inside the position as well as out in the rubber trees. Men were shouting and screaming everywhere. The enemy knew exactly where we were and had orchestrated a major effort to destroy us. The troops had been preparing for just that eventuality by taking hundreds of grenades out of their individual boxes and stockpiling them ready for immediate use in convenient locations. They had also opened and connected cans of linked machine-gun ammunition in the gun positions, and there were piles of loaded rifle magazines in every fighting position and throughout the length of the trench line. Every man knew his fields of fire and sheets of red tracers cut down enemy infantry while further trimming the rubber trees outside the perimeter. That was the first time I actually heard the enemy use bugles and whistles to control his attack. Hearing those musical signals coming out of...

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