When the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) planned to send forty thousand troops to attack the six thousand US Marines at Khe Sanh in 1968, it expected a decisive victory. Certainly, the small US Special Forces camp in the way at Lang Vei would be quickly overcome. The tough, tenacious defenders at Lang Vei had other ideas. The two dozen US Army Green Berets and their four hundred tribesmen at Lang Vei gave the NVA such a monumental headache that they became known as the “Route 9 problem” all the way to the highest levels of the North Vietnamese government. Even the NVA’s tanks—their first use in the war—couldn’t completely defeat the stubborn US fighters. More than an intense, moment-by-moment description of the battle, Route 9 Problem: The Battle for Lang Vei details the personal side—who these men were, how they got there, who was waiting for them back home.

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Contents*

Preface

The Men Who Fought the Battle

Prologue: The Incredible Reunion

1. Lang Vei Special Forces Camp, February 7, 1968 2. The Men of Special Forces A-Team “Alpha One-Oh-One” 3. South Vietnam’s Minutemen of MIKE Force Company 12 4. The Road to the Battle for Lang Vei 5. New Lang Vei Camp Brings New Challenges 6. Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club Supports Land War 7. NVA Study Lang Vei Camp 8. Molon Labe 9. MIKE Force Turns Lang Vei into NVA’s Route 9 Problem 10. Green Berets Turn Tension into Preparation 11. “Bo-coo VC!” 12. Furious Fighting Engulfs the Camp 13. SOG Men, Hatchet Force, and Wile E. Coyote 14. Marines Make the Hardest Decision 15. “Zip” and “Leg” Attack 16. A Tough Battle Gets Complicated 17. The Sounds of Canasta Demons 18. “Make Three Hot Runs on the Camp!” 19. Evacuation Force Launches 20. “There Is an American in the Zone!” 21. The Fate of the POWs and MIAs Epilogue: Roll Call

Acknowledgements

Appendix: Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley Jr.’s Medal of Honor Citation

Notes

Glossary

Sources

Index

*Includes 94 photographs and 9 maps

The Men Who Fought the Battle

US Army

Special Forces Detachment A-101 Captain Frank Cecil Willoughby, commanding officer First Lieutenant Miles Wilkins, executive officer Sergeant First Class William T. “Pappy” Craig, team sergeant Sergeant First Class Kenneth Hanna, senior weapons Sergeant First Class James William Holt, senior medic Staff Sergeant Arthur Brooks, weapons Staff Sergeant Emanuel Eugene Phillips, senior communications Staff Sergeant Peter Tiroch, intelligence Sergeant Nicholas I. Fragos, medic Specialist Five Daniel R. Phillips, engineer Specialist Four Franklin H. Dooms, communications Specialist Four William G. McMurry, communications

Mobile Strike (MIKE) Force Company 12 (Detachment A-113)

First Lieutenant Paul Richard Longgrear, commanding officer Sergeant First Class Harvey Gordon Brande, platoon leader (outgoing) Sergeant First Class Earl Frederick Burke Jr., platoon leader Sergeant First Class Charles Wesley Lindewald Jr., platoon leader Staff Sergeant Dennis Leroy Thompson, platoon leader (incoming) Sergeant John Early, platoon leader (outgoing) Specialist Four James Leslie Moreland, medic

Special Forces C-Team

Lieutenant Colonel Daniel F. Schungel Sr., commanding officer Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley Jr., senior medic Sergeant Richard H. Allen, medic Specialist Four Joel Johnson, medic

Army Engineer

First Lieutenant Thomas E. Todd, engineer officer

Evacuation Force Studies and Observations Group (SOG)

Major George Quamo, special projects commanding officer Command Sergeant Major Richard Epps Pegram Jr., FOB-3 command sergeant major Master Sergeant Charles J. “Skip” Minnicks, special projects non-commissioned officer in charge Sergeant First Class Gilbert Secor, member, Spike Team Pennsylvania Sergeant First Class Robert L. Cavanaugh, leader, Spike Team Oklahoma Staff Sergeant John J. Allen Jr., team leader Staff Sergeant Gary L. Seaburg, team member Sergeant Richard D. Mullowney Jr., team medic Specialist Five William M. Harris, member, Spike Team Oklahoma Specialist Four Thomas S. Earley, team member

SOG Hatchet Force (from FOB-1) First Lieutenant Allan Foster “Chips” Fleming Jr., commanding officer Sergeant First Class Sam Robison, platoon sergeant Sergeant Stephen T. “Tim” Kirk Sr., squad leader Specialist Five Kenneth M. Cryan, squad leader

US Air Force

Airborne Forward Air Controllers

20th Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS) Major John Harold Seats, Covey 007 Captain John Buckles (flew as a Covey Rider with Captain Gerald Harrington) Captain Bruce Goodhue, Covey 226 Captain Gerald Harrington, Covey 273 Captain Charles Percy “Toby” Rushforth III, Covey 252 Captain Tony Sazanowicz, Covey 255

20th Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS), Detachment 12

Captain James E. Biltz Sr., Covey 685 Covey 688 – Individual’s identity remains a mystery

US Navy

Attack Squadron (VA) 25, USS Coral Sea

Commander Cliff Church Jr., Canasta 402, commanding officer and division leader Commander Stuart Arthur Skelton, Canasta 402, executive officer and division leader Lieutenant Commander Ronald Lee Bolt, Canasta 406 and section leader Lieutenant Commander Rosario “Zip” Rausa, Canasta 406 and section leader Lieutenant Commander William Henry “Speed” Ritzmann Jr., Canasta 403 and section leader Lieutenant Commander Ralph W. Smith Jr., Canasta 414 and section leader Lieutenant John A. “Jack” Jordan, Canasta 413 Lieutenant Bruce Marcus, Canasta 411 Lieutenant Jay Stone, Air Intelligence Officer Lieutenant Charles Frederick Thom, Canasta 414 Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Henry Hagen, Canasta 405 Lieutenant Junior Grade Lawrence Edwin “Leg” Gardiner, Canasta 413 Lieutenant Junior Grade Theodore David Hill Jr., Canasta 405 Lieutenant Junior Grade Aubrey Allen Nichols, Canasta 410 Lieutenant Junior Grade Dale Pellot, Canasta 410

US Marine Corps

Evacuation Force Air Assets

VMO-6 (listed by helicopter crew)

Major Curt McRaney, pilot and section leader, Seaworthy 4-21 Captain Edward Kufeldt, pilot, Seaworthy 4-21 dash 2 First Lieutenant George Eric Rosental, co-pilot, Seaworthy 4-21 dash 2 Corporal Robert Crutcher, crew chief, Seaworthy 4-21 dash 2 Private First Class D. J. Verser Jr., door gunner, Seaworthy 4-21 dash 2

HMM-262 (listed by helicopter crew)

Captain Gregory A. “Bull” Rengel, pilot and section leader, Chatterbox 22-1 First Lieutenant Brascal B. “BB” Cole Jr., co-pilot, Chatterbox 22-1 Corporal Kellan “K-Bar” Kyllo, crew chief, Chatterbox 22-1 Captain Robert “Yogi” Yeager, pilot, Chatterbox 22-2 First Lieutenant Charles “Fat Charlie” Crookall (USMC), co-pilot, Chatterbox 22-2 Corporal John “Peachy” Keehn, crew chief, Chatterbox 22-2

North Vietnamese Army (NVA)

Order of Battle for Lang Vei

The NVA Route 9 Front (campaign headquarters in Laos) 4th & 5th Battalions, 24th Regiment, NVA 304th Division 8th Battalion, 66th Regiment, NVA 304th Division 3rd Battalion, NVA 325th Division 3rd & 9th Tank Companies, 198th Tank Battalion, NVA 203rd Armored Regiment 4th & 10th Sapper Companies, NVA 7th Engineer Battalion 122-mm Artillery Battalion, NVA 675th Artillery Regiment (on Co Roc Mountain) NVA 14.5-mm Heavy Machine Gun Company NVA Flamethrower Platoon

Key Individuals in the Battle for Lang Vei

NVA Chief of the General Staff Dai-tuong (Senior General) Van Tien Dung (in Hanoi) NVA Dai-tuong (Senior General) Vo Nguyen Giap (in Hanoi) NVA Route 9 Front Commander Dai-ta (Brigadier General) Tran Quy Hai (in Laos) NVA Route 9 Front Political Officer Dai-ta (Brigadier General) Le Quang Dao (in Laos) Commander NVA 24th Infantry Regiment, Thuong-ta (Colonel) Le Cong Phe Commander NVA 4th Battalion, Trung-ta (Lieutenant Colonel) Le Dac Long Commander NVA 5th Battalion, Trung-ta (Lieutenant Colonel) Dinh Xuan Nguyen NVA 5th Battalion Chief of Staff Thieu-ta (Major) Minh NVA 6th Company Political Officer Dai-uy (Captain) Bui Dinh Cang NVA interrogator Dung Chi Commander NVA 3rd Tank Company, Dai-uy (Captain) Phan Hai Platoon Commander Trung-uy (Lieutenant) Le Xuan Tau Commander NVA 9th Tank Company, Dai-uy (Captain) Ngo Xuan Nghiem (Tank #565) Platoon Commander Trung-uy (Lieutenant) Nguyen Manh Tan (Tank #560) Trung-si (Sergeant) Nguyen Van Ngan, Sapper Squad Leader, NVA 7th Engineer

Battalion Binh-nhi (Private) Nguyen Van Tuan, rifleman, 7th Battalion, NVA 66th Regiment Binh-nhi (Private) Luong Dinh Du, rifleman, 8th Battalion, NVA 66th Regiment

(defector)

Excerpts

Chapter One Lang Vei Special Forces Camp, February 7, 1968

Comrade Van Tien Dung had trouble concealing his frustration. The political directorate

was breathing down his neck. The chief of the NVA General Staff in Hanoi dispatched two trusted subordinates in early

December 1967 to oversee combat operations east along Duong Chin or Route 9. The People’s Army even created a new campaign called the Route 9 Front headquartered in the Laotian village of Sat Lit. The political directorate demanded Dung to get the attack moving.

Dung signed the cable to be sent to his protégés. Dai-ta (Brigadier General) Tran Quy Hai previously served Dung as deputy chief of the NVA General Staff and now commanded the Route 9 Front. Likewise, Dai-ta Le Quang Dao, who was deputy chief of the General Political Department in Hanoi, was now chief political officer of the Route 9 Front. Both postings reflected the high priority from Central Military Party Committee Chief Le Duan to attack down Route 9.

The urgent cable dated February 2, 1968, was unambiguous. Comrade Dung wrote, “The Political Directorate is worried about the ‘Route 9 problem.’ What is the reason and what difficulties have you had that you have not strongly coordinated the attack to force the enemy forces to withdraw from Route 9 [to the east] to Tri-Thien, to create difficulties for Tri-Thien?”

Tri-Thien referred to two northern provinces in South Vietnam, Quang Tri and Thua Thien. The “Route 9 problem” was the Lang Vei Special Forces camp blocking the attack on the six-thousand-strong US Marine combat base at Khe Sanh and success at seizing Tri-Thien. Dung knew from experience how to motivate others. He had served as chief of staff to Dai-tuong (Senior General) Vo Nguyen Giap in 1954 during the masterful defeat of the French Army at Dien Bien Phu that hastened France’s withdrawal from Vietnam. He was sure America also would withdraw with the loss of Khe Sanh.

But first, Lang Vei had to fall. Dai-tas Hai and Dao in their Route 9 Front headquarters in Laos passed along the order to the NVA 304th Division in the strongest terms to “attack the Lang Vei strongpoint as soon as possible.” Tanks aimed at Khe Sanh would now annihilate Lang Vei first.

* * * Grey, overcast daylight slipped into thick blackness over the isolated Lang Vei Special

Forces camp deep in the boonies. US Army Sergeant Nick Fragos shrugged off the damp chill in the small concrete observation platform atop the command bunker and checked his wristwatch. It was after midnight. February 7, 1968, was young.

A trip flare burst into bright light on the southern perimeter, so suddenly the loud pop and hiss grabbed Fragos’s attention. He stared at the sight. Two NVA soldiers were calmly clipping the camp’s defensive wire bathed in the flat, white, trip-flare light. Behind them was an idling tank, its crew waiting patiently for the gap in the wire to be cut. The scene was riveting.

Time slowed for Fragos. The NVA tank commander popped out of his turret and shone a bright spotlight for a half-minute, quickly studying the camp’s defenses. Behind him, Fragos saw another enemy tank waiting for its turn to move forward.

Why don’t they just roll over the wire? Fragos thought. A moment later, they did. The defenders closest to the enemy opened fire at the two fence cutters, killing them in a

hail of bullets. Fragos watched the tank commander button his hatch and order his driver to bull over the perimeter fence. He heard the tank engines gun and saw the tracks lurch forward.

Fragos squeezed the handset of his field telephone and hollered the warning, “We have tanks in the wire!” It was forty-two minutes after midnight.

The battle for Lang Vei had begun.

The Lang Vei Special Forces Camp, February 7, 1968.

Chapter Ten Green Berets Turn Tension into Preparation

Until Longgrear’s MIKE Force caught the enemy battalion off guard during the NVA poc

time on January 31, the plan of attack along the Route 9 Front was working. The 33rd Royal

Laotian Elephant Battalion commander was cooperating by forcing his unit on the Americans

and taking up residence at the old Lang Vei camp.

The rest was straightforward—quickly eliminate the American Special Forces camp at

Lang Vei with tanks and then attack the Khe Sanh combat base. Force the Americans to divert

resources to Khe Sanh and away from the Imperial City of Hue, and the rest of the units would

seize South Vietnam in victory for the North.

* * *

The two NVA tank company commanders completed their exhaustive reconnaissance.

They studied the Lang Vei camp defenses. They studied the terrain, which restricted tank

movement, to discern the best avenues to advance on the American camp. They also selected

assembly areas where their tanks could gather to prepare for the final assault.

Dai-uy (Captain) Phan Hai commanded the 3rd Tank Company. His friend Dai-uy Ngo

Xuan Nghiem commanded the 9th Tank Company. Both were from North Vietnam’s capital city

Hanoi, and their families were connected to the ruling communist party. Both of these tank

companies were on loan to Thuong-ta Phe from the 198th Tank Battalion of the NVA 203rd

Armored Regiment. The company commanders had eight PT-76 tanks apiece. The NVA had no

tanks at Dien Bien Phu, but with the loan of these sixteen, the 304th Division was about to make

history again.

The two tank company commanders briefed Thuong-ta Phe on their detailed plan. It was

not simple. If anything went wrong in any of the steps they were about to undertake, their attack

would fail. The 9th Tank Company drew the hardest part.

Both tank company commanders would lead their freshly camouflaged “moving tree”

tanks east on Route 9 until they hit the Sepone River and then split up.

With the help of infantrymen, Ngo Xuan Nghiem would float his tanks about five

kilometers south down the Sepone River. These swimmable PT-76 tanks could easily power

downstream, but the Lang Vei camp was close enough for engines to be heard. Instead, the

infantry soldiers would help the tank crews construct rafts to float all eight of Ngo Xuan

Nghiem’s tanks some five kilometers down to the abandoned and demolished village of Lang

Troai. Their assembly area—AA Lang Troai—was less than three kilometers south of the Lang

Vei camp. Lang Troai Road led right up to the Lang Vei camp’s southeastern perimeter. Ngo

Xuan Nghiem’s 9th Tank Company was the main effort in attacking Lang Vei.

That left Phan Hai’s 3rd Tank Company as the supporting attack with much simpler

movement. He would assemble his eight tanks at Lao Bao, about eight kilometers from Lang

Vei. From AA Lao Bao, Phan Hai would lead the supporting attack east on Route 9, easily ford

the Sepone River, and head toward the camp precisely where the Americans would expect it. If

Ngo Xuan Nghiem’s tank company could make it to Lang Troai unobserved, his main attack

would achieve the most surprise because it was far less expected from that direction.

Assured of their upcoming place in history, both tank company commanders were

pleased Thuong-ta Phe approved their complex plan.

Chapter Twelve Furious Fighting Engulfs the Camp

When they all moved away to the team house, the tank moved on. They were met by Nick

Fragos with an urgent order from the camp commander. “Captain Willoughby wants everyone in the TOC,” he said passing on the directive.

“We’re gonna fight it out from there.” As Fragos turned to go back to the command bunker, Wilkins joined him. So did Brooks

and Dooms. The others weren’t so sure. “I’m not going,” Dennis Thompson stated. “I’ll take my chances above ground.” It was apparent to Thompson at this point in the battle that NVA soldiers weren’t just

swarming the camp from all directions. It looked to him as though special teams of commandos were going after specific targets inside the camp, indicating thorough planning and reconnaissance on the enemy’s part. The command bunker was definitely a target.

Thompson made it back to what was left of the four-deuce pit where he armed himself with whatever weaponry he could find. He stuffed a .45-caliber pistol in his left pocket and spare rounds for it into his right pocket. He zipped up his field jacket and stuffed M-79 rounds down the front. He carried an M-79 grenade launcher, four LAWs, a K-Bar knife, and a PRC-25 radio, and dragged a wooden ammo box with more M-79 rounds.

While arming himself, Thompson saw Holt take off to his assigned position in the medical bunker where a fire raged in the timber-and-dirt structure from the earlier tank fire that Todd had miraculously escaped. Thompson saw Holt’s silhouette “looking like he was trying to make up his mind which way to go.” Thompson returned to the team house where he met up with a dozen Bru strikers.

Chapter Fifteen “Zip” and “Leg” Attack

The aircraft overhead buzzed like angry bees. The two Canastas were itching to get into

the fight. Canasta 406, US Navy Lieutenant Commander Rosario “Zip” Rausa, was the flight leader.

Zip was a name thrust upon Rausa by a local sportswriter in his hometown of Hamilton, New York, to differentiate him from his father, whom everyone knew as Zing. Born in January 1936 to a family of one brother and two sisters whose parents ran a small newspaper/magazine/coffee shop, Rausa graduated from Hamilton High in 1953. He went on to Middlebury College in Vermont to letter in football, baseball, and basketball and received his diploma in 1957.

But it was images of an F-9 jet taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier in the 1954 film The Bridges of Toko-Ri that hooked him on flying. Rausa earned his aviator’s wings in 1959 and never slowed down. His boyhood nickname, Zip, fit his audacious manner behind the controls of his A-1H Skyraider and became the perfect personal call sign.

Toko-Ri was a real place in Korea, home to heavily defended bridges that US Navy pilots attacked relentlessly during the Korean War. Acclaimed author James Michener wrote the book that became the movie about the lives of the navy pilots and crews who fought a remote war that culminated in a heroic rescue mission.

Lang Vei was Rausa’s Toko-Ri.

Chapter Twenty-One The Fate of POWs and MIAs

In 2008, a heartwarming event occurred that would forever alter the lives of Moreland’s

surviving siblings, Linda, Edna Aleneta, and Donald. A story in the Contra Costa Times newspaper in Walnut Creek (northern California) on the fortieth anniversary of the battle of Lang Vei made its way through the Internet. Donna Elliott, a friend of Linda’s in Arkansas, saw the online story and forwarded it to Linda.

The three siblings were surprised to learn that Kathy Strong—someone they didn’t know—had continuously worn a bracelet engraved with their brother’s name for thirty-five years. Linda called Theresa Harrington, the reporter who wrote the story. Linda passed her telephone number through Theresa who shared it with Kathy. Kathy and Linda spoke for the first time that night for over an hour.

Kathy was twelve years old in 1972 when she asked for a POW/MIA bracelet for Christmas and got one in her stocking. Everyone in her seventh-grade English class had one. The $2.50 bracelet was produced by a nonprofit group called Voices in Vital America, engraved with a missing serviceman’s rank, name, and date he went missing. Some ten to eleven million were sold.

POW/MIA bracelets were exceedingly popular back then. Some who wore them had their serviceman return home alive when North Vietnam released POWs in 1973’s Operation Homecoming. Some wore them until their serviceman’s remains came home. Others eventually took theirs off, consigning their bracelets to the care of a keepsake box in a closet, but others continued to wear their bracelets honoring a friend or family member still missing and, most important, demonstrating their commitment to obtaining answers.

One such person was Kathy Strong. She remained true to her commitment to wear Moreland’s bracelet every second of every day until he came home. Her pledge to a soldier she never knew was as strong as oak, a gesture straight from the heart that few could match and one that endeared her to the Moreland and extended Lang Vei families for life. Her undaunted flame of hope for the family of James Leslie Moreland had turned into a lasting torch of remembrance for all who are still missing.

Kathy flew to Seattle in 2008 to meet Linda, Edna Aleneta, and Lisa Newlander. The next year, she joined the family in attending the 2009 Auburn (Washington) Veterans Day Parade with Lisa’s daughter, Emma, and son, Clinton Casity, who was a member of the Washington Army National Guard.

Epilogue: Roll Call Mobile Strike (MIKE) Force Company 12 (Detachment A-113)

First Lieutenant Paul Richard Longgrear, Commanding Officer. Wounded in action. Received

the Silver Star Medal, Purple Heart, and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star. He

retired from the army reserve with the rank of colonel and is an ordained minister. He was

inducted into the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame, the Arkansas Military Veterans Hall of

Fame, and the Arkansas State University Hall of Heroes. He is the founder and director of

the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Patty, make their home in Pine

Mountain, Georgia.

In this iconic photo, an unidentified marine helps Paul Longgrear at Khe Sanh following the

Lang Vei survivors’ extraction. (AP Images)

Appendix

Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley Jr.’s Medal of Honor Citation

Sergeant First Class Eugene Ashley Jr. distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry

and intrepidity while serving with Detachment A-101, Company C. Sergeant First Class Ashley

was the senior Special Forces adviser of a hastily organized assault force whose mission was to

rescue entrapped U.S. Special Forces advisers at Camp Lang Vei.

During the initial attack on the Special Forces camp by North Vietnamese army forces,

Sergeant First Class Ashley supported the camp with high explosive and illumination mortar

rounds. When communications were lost with the main camp, he assumed the additional

responsibility of directing air strikes and artillery support.

Sergeant First Class Ashley organized and equipped a small assault force composed of

local friendly personnel. During the ensuing battle, Sergeant First Class Ashley led a total of five

(5) vigorous assaults against the enemy, continuously exposing himself to a voluminous hail of

enemy grenades, machine gun and automatic weapons fire.

Throughout these assaults, he was plagued by numerous booby-trapped satchel charges

in all bunkers on his avenue of approach. During his fifth and final assault, he adjusted air

strikes nearly on top of his assault element, forcing the enemy to withdraw and resulting in

friendly control of the summit of the hill.

While exposing himself to intense enemy fire, he was seriously wounded by machine gun

fire but continued his mission without regard for his personal safety. After the fifth assault he

lost consciousness and was carried from the summit by his comrades only to suffer a fatal

wound when an enemy artillery round landed in the area.

Sergeant First Class Ashley displayed extraordinary heroism in risking his life in an

attempt to save the lives of his entrapped comrades and commanding officer. His total disregard

for his personal safety while exposed to enemy observation and automatic weapons fire was an

inspiration to all men committed to the assault.

The resolute valor with which he led five (5) gallant charges placed critical diversionary

pressure on the attacking enemy and his valiant efforts carved a channel in the overpowering

enemy forces and weapons positions through which the survivors of Camp Lang Vei eventually

escaped to freedom.

Sergeant First Class Ashley’s bravery at the cost of his life was in the highest traditions of

the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Units Represented at the Battle for Lang Vei

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