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 Plei Me W                         , Colonel Patch told him that an attack had occurred while he was away. The colonel had received an intelligence report that the NVA had moved into and taken over the district town of Le Thanh. Not believing that the enemy could have advanced that far, Patch wanted to know whether the report was true. He ordered Colt to fly out to the town for confirmation. The major flew out with a pilot nicknamed “Red Baron” who was as “loose” as Colt when it came to dangerous missions. Le Thanh, as they found it, was just a wide spot in the road with a few dozen razed buildings. As the report had stated, NVA soldiers were all over the town. Bivouacked in straight lines on both sides of the main street, they were squatting around small fires and cooking their morning rice. Their rifles were stacked. Colt and Red Baron flew down the main drag to take a close look. The Vietnamese were caught so off guard that not one shot was fired at them. Red Baron suggested making another pass. Colt agreed, and the pilot pulled the plane right down on the deck, swerving from side to side to avoid hitting poles and buildings. They were so close to the ground that they could see the soldiers’ pith helmets, epaulets, camouflage, uniform insignias, and even the kinds of weapons they carried. On this pass the bullets whizzed by. In a plane full of bullet holes, they landed safely at Pleiku. Colt never saw Red Baron again. He reported to Colonel Patch that NVA units were in Le Thanh and that they had taken a few shots at the plane. Patch asked once again, “What’s it going to take to get you killed, major?” and then laughed, though in a strange way, Colt thought. The colonel called for an air strike. Within minutes a sortie of jet fighters ran the NVA out of that town with bombs and guns and pretty much wiped out what was left of the town in the process. Colt’s attention then turned again to Duc Co, the Special Forces position that was under constant attack.    S      , and Duc Co was still one of the most hazardous. The VC and the NVA were putting a lot of pressure on the A-team camps along the Cambodian border. Colonel Patch had transferred Capt. Richard B. Johnson, Colt’s former XO at Dong Ba Thin, to Duc Co because it was a major hot spot. Johnson had already served a lot of time in dangerous action, even though he was only about twenty-five years old, and Colt felt that he deserved a safer location. But the colonel insisted. After three months at Duc Co, Johnson returned to the C-team compound by chopper specifically to see Colt. When he asked Johnson how it was going out there, the captain confided that it was “rougher than a cob” and asked to speak with Colt in private. They went over to the little mess hall for a cup of coffee. The establishment was not much, but it was better than the mess halls in most other camps. When they were alone, as Colt recalls, Johnson told him, “Sir, you’ve known me a long time.” Colt confirmed this, “Yep. You were a good XO for me. As far as I’m concerned , you’ve been doing a damn fine job out at Duc Co as well.” Johnson confided, “That may be true sir, but I wanna transfer out.” Colt was shocked. “What?” Johnson, who had to be worn down and tired, said, “I want to get the hell out of Special Forces and out of that camp.” Colt replied: “Why? You’re gonna make it. You’re gonna break out of there.” Johnson felt differently. “No, no way. The jungle is right up to our front door. The VC and NVA are sneaking right up to our barbed wire and shooting my men right through the wire.” Colt asked, “What are ya doing about it?” The captain explained, “I’m sending out patrols, trying to drive the enemy away, but the jungle is so thick around there that they’re right on top of us and we can’t see ’em.” Colt sat there and thought out loud, “We can’t spray herbicides out there, it would be too close to the camp.” Then he had...

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