"The Stink Of Rotting Flesh"
23 September 1968  

       We arrived at the site late in the afternoon and remained a safe distance away as 2LT Robert Chavis called Bien Hoa Air Base and requested a light fire team of helicopters and an air strike to assist us. When the light fire team arrived we marked the area with a flare round from the M79 grenade launcher and they peppered the area of the base camp with machine gun fire and watched over it until the jets arrived.

Blue outline is Battalion Tactical Area Of Responsibility, An Xuan Village (red circle), Viet Cong Base Camp (red arrow)

The two jets made a total of three runs over the base camp from west to east and dropped a total of three 500 lb. bombs on it. This was my first encounter of a bombing run from such a close distance. We were situated only about 100 yards from the impact area. The jungle where the base camp had been, now resembled a small lake instead of thick trees and brush. It was getting late in the day and too dark to conduct a thorough search of the area to do a bomb damage assessment, so we set up in ambush positions around the base camp. We were smart enough this time to pick high ground so we wouldn’t be in water when the tide was up.

At the first sign of daylight with the tide still low, we started our search. It certainly wasn’t any easier this time around with all the new debris from the bombs creating an even worse tangle. Yesterdays high ground was turned into today's swamp from the three large bomb craters. Nothing was left of the trees, trench lines, or firing positions. All we were able to find were several pieces of torn black cotton cloth, several sandals, and once again all those damn fire ants. There must have been several VC in the camp when it was hit by the 500 pounders, there was the familiar stench of rotting flesh hanging in the hot, thick, still air.

On the lighter side, once we got back out of the mud and water onto dry land Captain Solominson put on quite a show. He dropped his M-16 and web gear, dropped his pants, and picked several leeches off his ass. I wish I had my camera for that one.

The Journal of CPL Thomas T. Watson, Squad Leader, Ambush Team #76, B Company, 720th MP Battalion, 89th MP Group, 18th MP Brigade, March 1968 to March 1969.