Tape Transcript of the Xa Cat Ambush

The following transcript consists of vehicle communications of the third Platoon, Alpha Troop, 1/4 Cav during a firefight in the Xa Cat rubber plantation, SW of An Loc, RVN on Oct 6 1968. The tape transcript is the property of Ron Halicki who was the driver of the 39er vehicle in the transcript - it is not for reproduction or resale. My thanks to Ron Halicki for granting his permission to reproduce the transcript and my particular thanks to John Sandri for not only drawing it to my attention, but also for the many hours of work that he put in to preparing it for inclusion on Grunt!

The following identifications are necessary:

• 36 is the Platoon leader, a Lieutenant
• 35 is the Platoon Sergeant
• 35 Tango is the commander of the Platoon Sergeant’s vehicle
• Deltas are drivers, Limas are tank loaders and 32 Mike is the Platoon medic.
• The Platoon consists of three M48A3 tanks (34, 35, 37) and seven ACAVs (30, 31, 32, 33, 36, 38 and 39).

Vehicle commanders call, or respond, as their vehicle number, i.e. 3zero(30) is the vehicle commander on that numbered vehicle.

Note, that for most of the transcript 35 Tango (John Sandri) is on vehicle 37 as commander, but continues to use his old call sign of 35 Tango (this results in some confusion, but see John's explanation following the transcript - MikeR)

Most calls start with who you want to contact, followed by who you are, so a call of ‘35…36’, means the Platoon leader (36) is trying to reach 35, the Platoon sergeant.

A response call starts with who you are as in '36… are you receiving fire’ - this is 36 calling to a unit he has already made contact with.

The tape covers about 55mins of the fight as the third Platoon penetrates two of three NVA bunker lines in the rubber plantation. It begins at a point in which the Platoon has entered the rubber from a road while in column formation and the lead tank, 37, has taken an RPG at the commander’s cupola that kills him. It ends after the second bunker line is neutralized and artillery is called in prior to a final assault.

I have placed brackets ‘[ ]’ to indicate who I believe is speaking in order to avoid ambiguity.

Real time is noted by T +0, T +5 etc. in approximately 5-minute intervals.

1. "35…36" (Platoon leader, 36, calling 35, the Platoon Sergeant) T +0
2. "35…36"
3. "I think Williams has been hit" [37 Delta] (Williams was the tank commander on 37)
4. "ah, affirmative ….(garbled)" [35]
5. "35…36"
6. "get a hold of that Tango, can you hear me" [36]
7. "this is 35 Tango…(garbled)" (note that 35 Tango is now on vehicle 37 acting as the vehicle commander)
8. "35…36"

(lots of firing .50-cal M60, canister etc.)

9. "all right check fire, check fire" [36]

(firing continues)

10. "35…36"
11. "35 Delta…36"
12. "35 Delta…36" (Note that 36 is 6 vehicles back in the column and is desperately trying to contact the busily engaged lead vehicles)
13. "37 Delta….36"
14. "37 Delta…36"
15. "check fire…check fire" [36]
16. "39er…35"
17. "your Delta is firing right in my goddamn face" [35 Tango] "…screw yourself…" (unknown break in) "…. someone is firing at 16" (a 1^st Platoon vehicle on our right flank)
18. "check fire check fire…35…36" [36]
19. "check fire, check fire 39er"
20. "ah 36…35 over"
21. "36…are you receiving any fire"
22. "ah this is 35, a little small arms"
23. "roger, what’s the sit rep on 37, do I need a dustoff?" [36] ('sit rep' = situation report)
24. "this is 35, affirmative, ah, didn’t you get the word 37 was hit"
25. "roger that, how bad was he hit" [36] T +5
26. "35…36, get a hold of 32 Mike and see how bad he is and if we need a dustoff in here"
27. "ah, this is 35, 37 Mike is up there now (note that 35 is mistakenly calling 32 Mike as 37 Mike)
28. "roger, let me know if you need a dustoff" [36]
29. "this is 35, roger, he ain’t going to need a dustoff, I already told you that" (note that 35 is now talking about his Tango that took over 37, whereas 36 is asking about the original commander, Williams)
30. "35..36"
31. "35…36"
32. "35" [answering]
33. "36, get 37 on a stretcher, move him back down this row of vehicles, have him, ah, get down to 39er. 39 I want you to get turned around back towards the road, they have a dustoff, ah, set up in that area"
34. "ah, 35 I want you to, ah, get 37, ah, Delta to back on back and I want you to pull on in front of him to cover him" [36] T +6
35. "do you roger…35" [36]
36. "this is 35 roger"
37. "go on and pull up thru that rubber there" [36]
38. "35…36, did you see what happened"
39. "35…36"
40. "ah, this is 35 over"
41. "roger, did you see what happened, did he take an RPG?" [36]
42. "ah, this is 35, what side of us is k?? coming up on"
43. "on your right flank, ah, correction, should be coming up on our right flank" [36]
44. "break, ah" [36]
45. "go ahead, move up on that road and get in front of 37 because 37 doesn’t have a Tango up there, you got to cover him"[36]
46. "move on up thru the trees" [36]
47. "3zero move on up so you can cover 35 while he’s moving up, ah" [36]
48. "36 go"
49.  ….tape blank where 39er is talking to 36…this is where the recorder is, almost anything 39er says is not recorded….
50. "right on that road there, you’ll see them" [36 to 39 about the dustoff site]
51. "36…3zero what did you say?"
52. "this is 36, I said lets lay down a base of fire for 35 so he can pull on up and get in front of 37, have 37 back back down this way"

.50-cal, M-60,and tank main gun canister fire has continued all this time...

53. "35…36, go ahead and move around to get 37 back off that line"
54. "ah, 3…ah 36…35, we’re trying to get him off there now" [35]
55. "ah, roger, you’re going to have to move around in front of him to back down this row" [36 to 35]
56. "we’re trying to move the tank out of there now" [35]
57. "roger that, back him up" [36] (note that at this time 37 cannot back up; there is a tree wedged in the sprocket, 35 is still right behind him and 16 (kilo) tank is on his right rear.)
58. "this is 36 go" [36 responding to 39er]
59. "39er this is 36, get a hold of that element, get him on your ACAV and get him to the dustoff pad" (39er picks up another casualty)
60. "35 I want you to move up on the front side of 37, now you got to back that bigboy back, just,break, and move forward as best you can and 34 (garbled section) so that you can back 37 out of there" [36]
61. "ah, this is 35, roger, we’re backing 37 up now, we’re trying to get him off the line"
62. "roger, we’re going to need your bigboy up in front of him now because he can’t be up there in front" [36]
63. "ah this is 35, he’s….." 36 breaks in
64. "go ahead and move on up there now before he’s taking more fire" [36 to 35] T +10
65. "ah, 37 this is 35 over"
66. "this is 35 Tango, go"
67. "ah this is 35, are you operational now?"
68. "all except for a 50 caliber, we got everything I guess. I need a loader" [35 Tango on 37]
69. "ah, this is 35, roger"
70. "alright, we’ll get you a man up there. You got 4 men on your vehicle right 35? Send him a loader, break, ah, back him down off the line. Send your vehicle up in front of him" [36 to 35 and 35 Tango on 37]
71. "my Tango has taken over that vehicle" (35 to 36 explaining why he has no extra men to send as a loader to 37)
72. "36 go"
73. "ah, roger, I don’t care as long as we get him out of here quickly" [36 response to 39 and dustoffs]
74. "35 are they moving that vehicle back?" [36]
75. "ah, this is 35, we get one man up there, we should be able to keep operating that vehicle, ah, my Tango is on it right now"
76. "ah, roger, what happened to their Delta and their lima?" [36]
77. "35, 36 their lima is back here on 32" [32]
78. "32 send a gunner up there right away for a loader, I want to get him……" [36]
79. "ah, 37…35 over"
80. "ah, this is 37 Delta" 
81. "ah, this is 37, ah, correction 35, how many people you got on that vehicle now?"
82. "ah, myself and the Tango on 35, ah, Sandri, that I know of" [37 Delta]
83. "break, break, you don’t need anybody to back it off, I want that vehicle backed off the line 37. 32 I want you to pull up in front of him now"
84. "36…32"
85. "36 come on up there" [36 to 32]
86. "this is 32, if I pull on up there I don’t have but one man on the gun, now it’s just me"
87. "go to your left, get around him…." [36]
88. "come on, we got a vehicle moving up on our right flank, let’s check fire, let’s keep it down" [36]
89. "OK 35, move thru that rubber, you’re going to have to push a tree down to get around him so you can back him straight back" [36]
90. "35…36 do you hear me move thru that rubber"
91. " …moving, do you want me to go on that road or not" [35 to 36]
92. "roger, push right on up to your left so you can get on in front of him and cover him while we back him out of there" [36 to 35]
93. "this is 35, roger"
94. "ah, 37 did you monitor" [35]
95. "35, just start moving thru the rubber" [36]
96. "…get this 16 tank to pull up" (35 Tango on 37)
97. "32, your man went to the wrong damn vehicle" [36 ]
98. "32, pull up, check, I mean 3zero pull up thru the rubber so you can…..37" [36]
99. "36…37"
100. "36 go"
101. "ah, roger, hold him there" [36]
102. "37, back your vehicle straight on back now" [36]
103. "OK, now hold it up now, you’re going to hit…….16 tank" [36 to 37]

Intense .50-cal firing.....

104. "35, this is 35 Tango, say think you can get me a loader up here?"
105. "35 Tango this is 36, your loader jumped on the wrong damn tank, he jumped on 16’s element instead of your vehicle" T +17
106. "check fire, check fire" [36]
107. "35 Tango this is 36, your loader jumped on the 16 element vehicle to your right. Get his attention to get him back over there"
108. "35 Tango wilco"
109. "36 go"
110. "roger that"
111. "ah, check fire, check fire unless you’re fired upon, check fire" [36]
112. "36…34"
113. "36 go"
114. "this is 34…..fire hotel…….."
115. "…go ahead, make sure there’s nobody off to your left front there, just go" [36 permitting 34 to fire main gun HE]
116. "35…36, you taking any fire up there at all, 35…36, are you taking any fire there?"
117. "ah, 35, negative, not at this time, just a little small arms came in about zero 5 ago"
118. "roger, don’t pump anymore canister out there then" [36] T +20
119. "37…30, we have a machine gun for you"
120. "36….32 Mike"
121. "36 go"
122. "do you know if anyone in this tank over here is…." [32 Mike]
123. "26 element" [unknown caller]
124. "that’s 16, negative knowledge on that" [36]
125. "OK, let’s get these hot 50s elevated so we don’t get any cookoffs and nobody gets hurt, break, 39er….36" [36]
126. "36 give me a sit rep over there, you got some bunkers with people over there" [36]
127. unintelligible response by 39er
128. "roger that" [36]
129. "37…36"
130. "roger, did you take an RPG" [36 to 37]
131. "did you take an RPG, just raise your hand" [36]
132. "did he take an RPG?" [36]
133. "36…37 Delta"
134. "36 go"
135. "any knowledge yet on the TC, how bad he’s hurt or anything?" [37 Delta]
136. "no, I haven’t heard anything on your Tango Charlie" [36]
137. "roger that" [37 Delta]
138. "OK, now I want you to take your gunner and send him back over to 32 and we’ll move Shorey over there to serve as your loader, break, 39er send Shorey back over to 37 as a loader" [36]
139. "OK, let’s keep these people looking to the front, especially the left flank over there where those bunkers were, every once in a while you can recon ‘em with fire" [36]
140. "ah, 36 ….35 over" T +25
141. "36 go"
142. "ah, this is 35, any word on, ah, the extent of injury to 37"
143. "36 negative, as soon as I find out I’ll let you know" [36]
144. "ah, this is 35, appreciate it"
145. "37…36 Tango"
146. "37" (35 Tango is now responding as 37)
147. "36 Tango…you need any 7-point-62?" [36 Tango]
148. "ah, this is 37, negative, ah, 36 if you can get someone over here might be able to get that coax working. It hasn’t been working"
149. " roger that" [36]
150. "36 go"
151. "roger" [36]
152. "36….34"
153. "36….34"
154. "36…34"
155. "36 go"
156. "we see more movement to my front. Looks like they may have gotten up out of their holes about I’d say approximately 100 meters to the front of us. They stood on the hill just a little bit when they got up" [34]
157. "roger that do you see those bodies still moving" [36]
158. "ah, this is 34 negative, its…downhill and there’s just a little bit of grass covering down there, it’s just about a foot high. I don’t ah, see any bodies right now, but I did see about three of them fall….put some fire down there"
159. "roger" [36]
160. "break 36 …32 Mike…I don’t think Shorey is going to be able to function because he lost his glasses and he hurt his back. All he is going to be able to see is a blur"
161. "ah, roger would he be able to load the main gun, 37 ask…if he can load the maingun?" [36]
162. "36…37, Shorey says he can work that"
163. "Shorey says he can load the maingun" [39er]
164. "36..38"
165. "36 go"
166. "did they blow that E8 personally, er, purposely?" [38] (note that E8 is 40mm teargas)
167. "ah, this is 36, ah, I don’t know, I’ll find out"
168. "36…34"

Intense weapons firing again......

169. "6 romeo this is 36, I have a M60 I can loan you if you can send somebody over here to get it. See my hand, I’m off to your left"
170. "36…5zero on your push, pop smoke on your left flank quickly" (note that push = radio frequency, 5 zero is a Colonel in overhead chopper)
171. "pop smoke on the left flank" [36]
172. "pop smoke on the left" [36]
173. "37, 37 and 32, I want you to move over one row to your right" [36] T +31
174. "I want you to pull up one row to your left 39er" [36]
175. "36…this is 35 Tango, say again" (remember that 35 Tango and 37 are the same person, John Sandri)
176. "roger, I want you to pull up and move over one row to your right" [36]
177. "all right, I got fire, keep your right flank down, 32 we got something now move it up, move around 37" [36]

Super intense weapons firing.....

178. "32, 32" [36]
179. "37…got some…." [36]
180. "look to your right flank 37, move over to your right flank 37" [36]
181. "37 you got anybody hurt over there" [36]
182. "37 negative" [37]
183. "now watch those bunkers when you move up" [36]
184. "hold it up 37, I just spotted ah, there’s a bunker on your right, I don’t know if this guy is dead or not" [32]
185. "well can you blow, can you drive right over it" [36]
186. "36…. 5 zero your push can you come up on ours"
187. "…long burst you’ll burn the barrel out" [36]
188. "37 did you get him" [36]
189. "this is 37 say again"
190. "did you get him" [36] T +35
191. "this is 37, negative knowledge, he should be dead"
192. "roger, was …he.. still in the bunker or was he laying outside the bunker?" [36]
193. "he was still in the bunker" [37]
194. "36, 36 this is 37, tell the elements on our right to keep their fucking heads down, I’m going to blow a can on it"
195. "roger, wait one" [36]
196. "hey 37 you’re too close to blow canister" [35]
197. "37…36 you can’t fire that can because you got those vehicles out to your front, Bravo’s out to your front" [36]
198. "37 roger"
199. "32 can you drop a thumper on him?" [36] (thumper = M79 grenade launcher)
200. "OK back it back some 37. Let him drop a thumper on him" [36]
201. "come straight back" [37 to his Delta on open Platoon frq.]
202. "hold it up 32, they’re dragging a man out of a bunker" [36]
203. "hey, I got a better idea, we got some ARVNs here" [36]
204. "32…36, hold your fire 3__ send some ARVNS up there to check the bunkers" [36]
205. "36 elements don’t start putting oil all over these hot barrels, if you do they’re going to warp, you’ll be without a 50, just a couple of drops on the bolt" [36]
206. "34…39er"

More .50-cal firing......

207. "OK 37 I want you to move over one more row to your right, now" [36]
208. "37 monitor" [37]
209. "37 OK you can move one row to your right" [36] T +40
210. "ah, this is 7 one moment"
211. "38 slide a little bit to your right, 35 you’ll slide a little bit to your right" [36]
212. "36 this is 34"
213. "36"
214. "ah, this is 34, I got to flank this rubber all the way thru this darn stuff, it ain’t wide enough for an ACAV to get thru (34 gets to a patch of bamboo thickets)
215. "ah, roger, just take it slow and easy" [36]
216. "OK lets go, move forward, move forward on line" [36]
217. "ah, 36 I…."
218. "let’s go 38, move it forward" [36]
219. "35 move it on up" [36]
220. "move to your right 38" [36]
221. "37 move it up on line, lets go, move it forward" [36]
222. "let’s go, move it forward" [36]
223. "keep them up goddamn it" [37] (line is not moving evenly, 37 is worried about being out in front again)
224. "37, move that thing out"[36]
225. "34, I don’t want to be alone out there" [37 to 34] T +45
226. "34, I want you to move to the right so you don’t lose contact with 35" [36]
227. "37, watch more to your left" [36]
228. "lets go, let’s move it forward on the left flank" [36]
229. "OK, anybody get hurt over there" [36]
230. "OH!!!!" [36]
231. "36…..(probably 5 zero) …wants you to pull up"
232. "hold it up, hold it up, hold it up on line, hold it up on line, hold it up, hold it up, hold it up on line" [36]
233. (garbled) "….up on your push" [probably 5 zero]
234. "back it up, back it up, back it up" [36]
235. "back it up on line, lets go, back it up" [36]
236. "goddamn, back it up" [36]
237. "back it up 37" [36]
238. "OK 37 back her up easy, back her up" [36]
239. "back it up slow, back it up" [36]
240. "OK 39er, 3zero you know anything about that 50?" [3zero] (3zero sees the .50-cal shot off 37 at the start of the fight by the RPG that killed Williams, lying on the ground)
241. "36 this is 5 zero on your push that arty is…. Your position"
242. "roger" [36] T +52

Tape ends as a 105mm artillery barrage begins in front of third platoon.

Commentary by John Sandri:

It is somewhat embarrassing to hear how f--ked up we handled this one. For the previous 8 days we were in and out of ambushes and night probes on our laagers without such screw-ups. Major difference was that 35, the Platoon Sergeant, had not been with us for two weeks and this was his first day back in the field after some in-country training program. He was also a notorious drunk.

I wish I had the computer power to send this to you to hear but that might not be helpful. I spent 9 hours with headphones on to 'hear' what is on the transcript, due to squelch, weapons, and everyone breaking in on each other, it is difficult to follow in many sections.

There are only three men mentioned by name;

1. SSG Williams, the Tango Charlie on 37 that was killed (line 3 of the transcript)

2. Sandri, the Tango of 35 tank who went and replaced 37 Williams even before the tape begins (mentioned in line  82)

3. Shorey, the loader on 37 who helped take Williams body to 39er, had lost his glasses and hurt his back when the first RPG hit and killed Williams (mentioned in lines 138,160-163)

The 35 Tango/37 confusion;

On the Platoon Sergeant’s tank and Platoon leaders ACAV, the senior man on the vehicle was designated as the Tango. He was responsible for the running of that crew and vehicle so the Platoon Sergeant and leader did not have to deal with routines like who pulls guard, fixes things, what resupply is needed for that vehicle etc. He was also both 'appointments secretary', taking messages for the leadership, and in the absence of the Platoon Sergeant or leader, took over some of their Platoon level functions. On the 36 ACAV, 36 Tango sat in the commander’s position behind the .50 cal (lines 145 and 147 of the transcript)

On 35 tank the Tango picked his job. He may have been the Delta or Lima as well as the Tango. I was 35 Tango on Oct 6^th (line 82).

When the RPG slammed into Williams’ tank (37), I ran to it from 35 and took over. This happened before the tape starts. I continued to use my call sign of 35 Tango thru most of the tape even though I am on 37 all the time. At lines 146 and 162 I start using the 37 call sign and revert to 35 Tango at line 175 then back to 37 at line 182 on to the end of the tape.

Most of the tape deals with two things; getting Williams to dustoff and most by far trying to get 35, the Platoon Sergeant, to move his tank forward. To this day I regret not having eliminated him in those first 20 mins of the fight (my threats to him were not audible on the tape, thank god). He was 'removed' from the Platoon about 5 days later and shipped to a headquarters desk job.

Contrary to my 'recollections', this was not a purely Alpha Troop operation, Bravo was there too (line 196). It was not unusual to have a Colonel or Major overhead during a 'difficult' or multi-unit operation calling major moves. A C&C chopper (command and control) was often dispatched as soon as possible once contact was made.

This tape is an excellent example of what happens when everything goes wrong and is not typical of all our other ambushes and firefights.

Dedication

Major point really and why I dedicated my pages to SSG Williams; by being killed right off, the Platoon was really leaderless without Williams. I know the Platoon leaders and Platoon Sergeants in 'Nam will take strong exception to this but here is reality...

Williams was the ‘real’ leader of 3rd Platoon while he was alive. There was always, for us, some lower ranking (usually tank) Sergeant in real practical command. This was a man who had most time in country, had survived or experienced practically every type of mission or encounter. His tank would always be the lead vehicle (like being pointman in the infantry), or responsible for any split-off elements if the Platoon did two separate jobs - like taking out the RIFing group the second day of Rome Plowing. This person was never the lifer Platoon Sergeant 35.

I think the movie PLATOON kind of addresses this (I only saw that movie once years ago...so I may be wrong).

This was my position after Williams died, so from Oct ‘68 thru March ‘69, I was the nominal, practical leader. I again picked up the responsibility from Sept ‘69 thru April ‘70.

Part of this comes from the short term the Lieutenants spent in the field. Even the 6-month rotation didn't happen. If they stayed 3 months with us, that was unusual. The other part comes from a nasty habit in the third Platoon of 'getting rid' of Platoon Sergeants that developed around April ’68 This was not by fragging. We were just extremely non-cooperative with them if we thought they were 'lemons'. Most didn't last a month under these circumstances. Those that did, usually became the 'Platoon leader' and rode on 36 because we didn't have a Lieutenant.

So the loss of Williams kind of left the Platoon as a headless body - all his leadership devolved on 36 and 35 who were not good at it or used to it, obviously.

This is my perception, which has some bitterness/bias, after all I was 35 Tango out on 37, in front, and alone with only a driver, no .50-cal, a malfuctioning coax, a second RPG had hit the turret just as I was climbing aboard 37 at the right rear sprocket, a rubber tree was wedged in the sprocket that prevented a lot of backup maneuvering - we had to actually pull forward to back up and this didn't happen until 20 mins after the start of the tape.

Anyway, I was 35 Tango and usually the Delta, but since 35 hadn't been with us for two weeks (he just returned the night before), I was breaking in a new man as driver. 35 was drunk most of the time. I was desperate to get off that vehicle and he wouldn't let me go. Breaking in the new driver was my way off. So I chose that day to ride the bussel rack and let the new guy drive.

A number of points to be made;

• The Platoon Sergeant is probably drunk and his driver is inexperienced

The failure of 35 to move is the major contributing factor to the mess we were in.

• The Platoon leader spends far too much time trying to;
  • find out details of what has happened to his lead elements
  • getting the dustoff
  • getting 35 to move forward
  • getting 37 to back up

His failure to move the remainder of the Platoon left most of it useless.

• 35 Tango, with only a maingun and M16, is firing left, right and forward with cannister, and a sporadically functioning coax. I literally loaded, traversed and fired the maingun as rapidly as possible at first. My massive outpouring in practically all directions only adds to the confusion. Note the exchange at line 16 where I (35 Tango) and 39er are yelling at each other about putting fire in each others faces. I have to say here on a personal note that my move to 37 and lack of fire control were automatic type reflex actions, no real thought process went on. I gave 39er Delta (Halicki) a kind of sunburn on the face with maingun side blast.
• 35 Tango is using a shotup CVC helmet, can't hear some stuff, cuts off others, or just deadens the Platoon push
• Third Platoon rarely worked with the Troop. We, and especially 36, were not used to getting directions from Alpha 6, or anyone else for that matter. You might call this a lack of cohesive unit experience. I know that a lot of 36’s stuff was actually coming from Alpha 6 (the Troop CO) wanting to know what was going on, ordering him to do things etc. Both 36 and Alpha 6 were issuing orders, requesting info etc when out of touch with the point of contact and wanting too much, too fast, from the contact area.

Anyway, things kind of settled. Notice how smoothly the second bunker line was taken when I'm ordered to move one row to the right (line 176), and 34’s handling of the left flank bunkers. By now the Platoon is on line and 35 has nothing much to do with the operation - 36 cuts him out of the loop.

Right now my mind is thinking out the leadership sequence for 3rd Platoon, at least for some brief periods, to give an idea of how it was really led. I'm thinking that our Platoon wasn’t an exception in not having a Platoon leader or Platoon Sergeant much of the time, neither at times, and having the more experienced man as the actual leader regardless of rank.

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