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11 Colt’s Finest Hour I , ,     tried to explain to the commander of an army medevac helicopter unit, Colonel “Trembley,” that Special Forces had American and CIDG casualties numbering forty dead and one hundred wounded at Duc Co and needed his help. The camp also was running out of ammunition and needed medical supplies. Patch asked Trembley to take in supplies and pick up the wounded. Colonel Trembley told him that there was no way he was sending his men in there—it would be suicide. He reminded Patch that the NVA had nearly wiped out a South Vietnamese paratrooper company Patch had sent in. Patch and Colt were furious when they left Trembley’s quarters, but they knew he was right; they could not blame him. The NVA had Duc Co surrounded with three regiments that were pouring fire in as fast as they could load their weapons. Trembley believed that he would lose at least  percent of any helicopters sent in there, and he had flatly refused—with sound reasoning . They next contacted a combat-operations helicopter unit. But its commanding officer also refused to pick up anyone at Duc Co. He said that his gunships would continue to conduct periodic combat sorties against the NVA in that vicinity, but that it was impossible for his choppers to land there—the NVA would “shoot the shit out of them.” The American operations combined had already lost five choppers before they even attempted to land in that area.1 Patch and Colt requested help from every known unit in the region, and none of them would risk the potential losses. Duc Co was under constant pressure. NVA soldiers crawled up close to the camp at night and lobbed grenades into the compound. The men inside the perimeter were strained to the breaking point from the nightly attacks and constant shelling. Knowing they were surrounded and nearly out of ammunition and medical supplies intensified their stress. The next morning the C-team radio operator told Colt that the XO from Duc Co, Lt. Sario J. Caravalho, was on the radio and wanted to talk with him.2    Colt went down to the radio shack, picked up the mike, and said, “Go ahead.” He heard a tough man in serious straits. Caravalho’s voice, as Colt recalls, was tremulous. “Sir, I don’t know who to turn to but you. You’re the only one that I know who’ll listen.” Trying to calm the lieutenant, Colt responded, “Wait a minute, Tiger, the colonel knows you guys need help.” Caravalho said, “It’s worse than that, sir. If you can’t get us some ammunition today, we won’t be here in another day. It will be knives and hand-tohand and then that’s it.” Colt was angered to think that it might come to that. He said, “Caravalho . I give you my word: I’ll find a way to get out there. Tell the men to hang on and I’ll be there. And when I get there, I want some support.” The lieutenant replied, “Okay, sir. I knew you’d help us.” Without a word to Colonel Patch, Colt drove a jeep to II Corps Headquarters . Nearly despondent because of the rejections he had already experienced , he asked the air force liaison officer, a stocky lieutenant colonel named “Phillips,” for assistance. At first Phillips was cordial, even polite, until Colt told him what he wanted. “Do I understand you correctly, major? You’re asking for an aircraft to fly out to Duc Co with supplies and ammunition?” Phillips asked in an agitated voice. “That’s right, colonel,” Colt replied. Colonel Phillips seemed to come unglued and nearly jumped across his big desk—in his big, comfortable office. “There’s no way in hell you’re going to get a goddamned airplane from us! I know what’s going on out there. I know how Special Forces are getting their asses kicked out there!” he shouted. Colt responded: “That’s true, sir, but there are three NVA regiments surrounding us. That camp wasn’t designed or staffed to hold off three infantry regiments. If we don’t get some ammunition and medical supplies to our men, they’re gonna be killed or taken prisoner. I just talked to the XO a half hour ago. He said they might last one more day.” Phillips just shook his head. What happened next, Colt thought later, was miraculous. At that moment...

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