Recon Team Breaker, Hill Battles of Vietnam
“Scarface, this is Breaker. We're burning. You gotta get us out!”
Introduction
Many people are familiar with the siege of Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) that occurred from January through April 1968.
Few know about the Hill Battles of 1967 in the RVN. That is the story here. It is a painful story. It is painful because the American leadership failed the Marines I am about to honor.
Joni Bour, reviewing the Michael Archer book, A Patch of Ground: Khe Sanh Remembered, wrote,
“There is no greater testimonial to the spirit of a Marine and a man than the battle for Khe Sanh.”
This is not a story about the siege of Khe Sanh, Republic of Vietnam (RVN) of 1968. This is a story about seven men from Reconnaissance Team (RT) Breaker, Alpha Company, 3rd Marine Recon, engaged in a fierce fight on Hill 665 near Khe Sanh, a battle that occurred one year before the siege, in May 1967.
Four were killed. Three severely wounded men were heroically rescued and survived.
Lynne Duke, a Washington Post staff writer and author, wrote a story entitled “The Last Goodbye” published by the newspaper on May 10, 2005. Her article describes RT Breaker's fight on Hill 665. I commend it to you.
Breaker Patrol participated in the Hill Battles of 1967. What were these men doing on Hill 665?
To form meaningful responses to this question, I reconstructed the history that brought these brave six Marines and one Navy medic to these battles, along with all those others who shared the same journey.
But first, I will address what happened to RT Breaker.
James Neil Tycz, 22, had recently been promoted to platoon sergeant with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, assigned to Alpha Company at Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB), Republic of Vietnam (RVN). Second Lieutenant Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr. had just been assigned to this unit.
The night before he was to go on patrol, Sgt. Tycz wrote a letter to "Mom and Pop" which said, in part, the following:
“Our lieutenant passed me the word that we go in at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. None of us want to go, but that’s our job and I pray I will never fail to do it. Your Marine Son, Neil.”
I have read and heard many combat veterans talk in these terms. Among all their worries, one that often rose to the top was their concern that they do their job.
Sgt. Tycz was junior to the lieutenant but had more experience. Since this was the lieutenant’s first patrol, Tycz took on extra responsibility to guide the boss and lead the patrol.
Recon Team (RT) callsign "Breaker," consisting of six Marines and one Navy corpsman, was flown by helicopter to their objective during the late afternoon of May 9, 1967. Their mission was to scout Hill 665 and its nearby surroundings, gather intelligence on enemy infiltration routes, determine if there was any enemy activity in their patrol area, and relay that information back to HQ for action.
Regrettably, neither map identifies Hill 665, where Breaker Patrol conducted its mission. It is, however, located about 5 miles (about 8kms) north of the Hill 881N-881S-861 complex as noted by the red arrow.
Hill 665 was close to the DMZ, as seen on this second map.
Breaker was inserted onto a ridge line of Hill 665 just south of the DMZ, about 10 km northwest of a well-known location to many Americans, Khe Sanh, RVN. They were inserted at 4:50 p.m.
Once on the ground, the Marines noticed a well-constructed position surrounded by four empty enemy bunkers and various enemy gear. They reported their findings and continued their patrol. They then discovered nine more bunkers and additional enemy gear. Overall, they estimated that the facilities could hold about 250 enemy. They were then ordered to leave the area and set up a night defensive position on high ground, which they did.
Later that evening, around midnight, 30-50 enemy returned to their bunkers. Several enemy stumbled into RT Breaker's position. Breaker opened fire, and a 12-hour battle began. "Marine Son Neil" did his duty, as he prayerfully hoped, and paid the ultimate sacrifice. James Neil Tycz was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy’s second-highest medal.
Three others died with him:
Within roughly the first hour or so of fighting, three Marines and one Navy corpsman were dead. This left three Marines to fight off this enemy force.
Pfc Carl Friery was wounded very badly by gunfire to the gut and lost consciousness, though the other two did not know he was down until a bit later in the battle.
This left two Marines to fight through the night on top of Hill 665, supported by as much artillery, helicopter, and aircraft suppressive fire that could be mustered.
Following the initial confrontation, the enemy withdrew but kept probing, trying to close in on the Marines. The two Marines, LCpl Clarence R. Carlson (Silver Star) and Pfc Steven D. Lopez (Navy Cross), repelled them with grenades and small arms fire. They ran low on ammunition and had to retrieve unused ammo from their fallen comrades. They also used the bodies of their teammates, including those of their dead, to shield themselves from the heavy fire. That's when they found Friery was badly wounded, unconscious, but still alive. They moved him to keep him protected.
Carlson was already wounded by shrapnel from the grenade that killed Tycz but kept fighting. When it was over, he had shrapnel wounds and gunshot wounds to his arm and leg.
Lopez, 18, on only his third patrol, operated the radio, calling in fire, close air support, helicopter gunships, and extraction flights. By the time the fight was over, he had gunshot wounds to the chest, leg, and head, and abdominal wounds. In a 1967 interview, Lopez said,
“We kept asking for artillery to come in closer and closer because the enemy was within 10 meters of us, and it seemed as though the artillery batteries wouldn’t cooperate; they wouldn’t bring rounds for us. And we kept calling in for ‘Fire for Effect’ and they wouldn’t fire for effect. And after awhile we just told—we called—actually if they would have shot the rounds where they were supposed to we would have been alright in our position, but they refused to do this.”
An extremely dangerous rescue operation continued to extract the Breaker patrol, even as the hilltop burned with enemy fire. Several helicopters attempted to land but were pushed back by relentless enemy gunfire.
One helicopter took 182 hits, wounding the entire crew, before being forced to turn back.
Capt. Paul "PT" Looney (posthumously awarded the Silver Star), a HMM-164 CH-46A pilot, callsign "Yankee Tango 5," brought his helicopter into a 20-foot hover near Breaker but was hit by enemy fire. Looney was shot through the throat and bled to death on the way back to Khe Sanh. Several of his crew also sustained gunshot wounds—one through the wrist, another through the buttocks—while trying to get in t get Breaker.
At daybreak, more helicopters arrived but still couldn't land. An Air Force Forward Air Controller (FAC) appeared overhead and called in a series of fighter attack aircraft. At one point, the enemy was within 20 meters of Breaker. Lopez called in artillery very close to their position and coordinated with the FAC to drop napalm dangerously near their location. The napalm was effective and pushed the enemy back. Much of the battle scene was engulfed in flames.
As a result, one Huey, callsign "Scarface," commanded and piloted by Major Charles Reynolds (Silver Star), with Lt. David Meyers (Distinguished Flying Cross) as co-pilot, supported by Cpl. Jackie Acosta (Bronze Star) and Cpl. Ronald Zaczek (Bronze Star), swept in under heavy fire.
Lopez got Scarface on the radio. This was the transmission:
“Scarface, this is Breaker. We're burning. You gotta get us out. Scarface, you gotta get us out. We're burning up."
Scarface set down in the zone on his last pass. The crew chief, Cpl. Ron "Zack" Zaczek, jumped out with crewmate Cpl. Acosta to haul the survivors aboard. The Huey struggled to get airborne; she took fire but made it out by the grace of God and one helluva crew.
Due to the extensive fires caused by the napalm attacks, the four Breaker patrol members killed in action (KIA) had to be left behind. Friery remained unconscious but survived. The two Marines who could fight through the night had about 20 rounds of ammo left when Scarface picked them up. If Scarface's mission had failed, all three would likely have been overrun and killed.
The Marines have a long-standing tradition of never leaving their fallen comrades behind. You can find numerous stories of Marines getting wounded or killed while trying to recover their fallen. Ron Zaczek, the crew chief who helped rescue the three Breaker survivors, was interviewed by Bob Skinder of popasmoke.com many years later. In that interview, "Zack" said this:
“We got three Marines out alive. We left the bodies of three Marines and a Corpsman behind. I’ve never forgiven myself for leaving them behind, even in death. Every Marine knows what I mean.”
Zaczek conveyed what he told the family members:
"I told them about the napalm fires, the bunkers and spider holes that had us caught in crossfire, and all the fixed-wing and helicopter crews that flew that day, putting their own lives at risk. I told them about Sam Beamon on his 50-caliber drawing fire away from us, and Dutch Holland burning the barrels out of his M-60, and about Reynolds, Myers and Acosta (Scarface crew) on our three attempts to land in the zone. I wanted them to know how so many men in so many machines tried so very hard to return their son, their brother. I told them about getting Friery, Carlson, and Lopez into the slick with their massive wounds and how helpless I felt. I described how Reynolds had barely been able to lift us off that damned hill, and that if there had been one more survivor, we’d have never gotten into the air unless one of us stayed behind. I told them that I was so very, very sorry that we couldn’t get their loved ones out."
The survivors called their position on Hill 665, "Puff the Magic Dragon" because of the heavy fire they endured.
A list of all helicopter crews who took part in the Breaker action is available on the web.
The remains of the four KIA were recovered in May 2003 by the Joint Task Force (JTF) of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and were repatriated to Hawaii. They were buried in the U.S. in the spring of 2005. I will convey that later.
Click to zoom graphic-photo
Click to zoom graphic-photo
Ed Marek, editor
Marek Enterprise
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