Ground Pounder: A Marine’s Journey through South Vietnam, 1968-1969

Chapter Two: The Hill of Angels

21 Chapter Two The Hill of Angels “The glorification of sports is a nation’s first step towards preparing its youth for war.” AsasergeantinQuangTriexplainedittome,ConThienwasthenorthernmost American outpost in South Vietnam. Situated a little over six thousandmetersbelowtheBenHaiRiver,itoverlookedtheDemilitarizedZone (DMZ)andthesouthernpanhandleofNorthVietnam.By theendofFebruaryof1967,theMarineshadtakenoverresponsibility of the hill from an Army Special Forces detachment. With Con Thien being the centerpiece, the idea behind our deployment there was to establish a string of outposts just below the 17th Parallel. Commonly knownasMcNamara’sWall,theformerSecretaryofDefensehadenvisionedthiswallasasortoftechnologicalMaginotLine .DuringWorld WarII,theMaginotLinewassupposedtopreventtheGermanarmies frominvadingFrance,whichendedupbecomingacompleteandcostly failure. Of course, McNamara’s wall didn’t work either. Consisting of a collection of seismic and acoustic sensors for identifying troop movements, particle detectors for tracing carbon trails 22 Ground Pounder (campfires), heliborne “people” sniffers for testing the air for urine and sweat molecules, radio-intercept equipment, and aerial photography , it was set up to detect any and all enemy movements coming intoSouthVietnam.Predictably,theNorthVietnameseArmy(NVA) would respond to this electronic marvel by shifting their major infiltration routes through the Ho Chi Minh Trail, situated just inside of Laos. As one of their responsibilities in I Corps, the Marines would regularlyrotateoneofourbattalionsinandoutofConThienasamatterofsecurity .Withinnotimeatall,thegruntswouldbegincallingthe DMZ the “Dead Marine Zone.” Due to the chaos brought about by the Tet Offensive, my battalion (2/1) would serve there longer than any other Marine unit. Con Thien was actually made up of three small, interconnected hills, the highest one being almost five hundred feet high. Compared to the soaring mountains in Vietnam, they weren’t all that impressive . Yet due to the surrounding flat terrain, it was a great place for observation.Lookingtothesouth,theartillerybasesatCampCarroll and Cam Lo were situated along Route 9. To the east, the combat bases at Gio Linh and Cua Viet were strategically located near the glittering South China Sea. Then off to the southwest was the towering mountain range overlooking the Khe Sanh Combat Base. While gazing far to the north, I always got an eerie feeling peering into the sinister-looking DMZ and beyond into North Vietnam. Militarily,thepurposeforoccupyingConThienwastwofold.First, it was used as a first line of defense against the likelihood of an enemy invasion. Of course, the position itself could not have stopped a serious invasion, because there was only one Marine battalion stationed there at a time. However, it was in a good place for a unit to sound the alarm. Secondly, it was also used as a forward observation post to help interdict the northern infiltration routes. On any given day, we could call in an assortment of naval gunfire, air strikes, and artillery fire upon any suspected enemy positions or movements. The Hill of Angels 23 Unfortunately though, the North Vietnamese could also call on an assortment of weapons to be fired upon us. Knowing the importance of the position, the enemy constantly used the place as target practice while moving their troops into I Corps. Throughout its brief history as an American outpost, the Hill of Angels and the surrounding area wouldbecomeinfamousforchewingupandspittingoutbothMarine and NVA battalions. Among the Marines who were lucky enough to survive their time in the barrel, the DMZ would forever remain in their memories. Inthebeginning,lifeforthegruntsatConThienwasaseriesofdailypatrolsandnightlyambushes .Therehadn’tbeenaneedtoconstruct anydeepbunkers,interlockingtrenchlines,orhugeminefields.Much like Khe Sanh and the other northern bases, everyone lived above ground and free of the constant artillery and mortar. The routine was such that we had assumed the North Vietnamese were incapable of seriously taking on the United States military establishment. With a population about as large as the state of Ohio, North Vietnam was a poor agrarian country with next to nothing in terms of industrial might and technology. We thought how in the world could they have even dreamed of challenging us? During1965and1966,therehadn’tbeenverymanymajorengagements with the North Vietnamese Army. While occasionally operating with the local Viet Cong (VC), the NVA units didn’t possess the fire support or the logistics to engage our larger units on a full-time basis. Up to this point in the war, our primary problem had been with the local Viet Cong living in and around the populated areas. These warrior civilians, who were politically represented by the National Liberation Front (NLF), were constantly sniping, laying mines, or ambushing our patrols. Unexpectedly though, all of this was about to change. After taking severalyearstobuilduptheirforceswiththe helpoftheSovietUnion and the People’s Republic of China, the NVA were finally ready to 24 Ground Pounder make their presence felt. Beginning in April of 1967 with the “Hill...