Firebase Ripcord

In July of 1970 my company was to assault a hill called 805. It was July 12. I remember the day well. It was my 21st birthday. We took the hill without any opposition. Thought we had it made. Not hardly.

That night the North Vietnameese hit us hard. They threw a lot of stuff at us. Rpg's small arms fire and mortors. We had no casualties, but about a dozen of us had light wounds. I was one of them. Just a small piece of shrappnel in my arm. Not bad enough to leave the field.

We got hit every night after that. We had to hold this hilltop. It was vital ground. The enemy wanted this hill so they could use it to mortor Firebase Ripcord. The second night was a very bad night for us. We lost twelve men that night. My side of the hill was hit pretty hard. One of the men killed was my friend and platoon sargent. I carried his radio. His name was Jim Hembree. He was the 2nd platoon Sgt. Our First platoon was in trouble,so Sgt Hembree was taking a few of our men to help out our First platoon. They had lost their platoon leader. He was shot by a sniper. Normally my job was to be with my Sgt. I was his radio man. I started to go with him to help out. He told me to stay in my foxhole. I guess he gave his life to save mine. A few of the men he took with him were also killed.

I guess i am saluting those men who died on that hill in July 1970 . For more information go to our website. It is Delta Raiders

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