1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Night Ambush Patrols Page 1

In late October 1970 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry was detached from the 4th Infantry Division and came under direct control
of 1st Field Force Vietnam (IFFV). From November 1970 until January 1971 our Company was shuttled back and forth
between the coast at Tuy Hòa and Phú Hiêp and the Base Camp at Camp Radcliff, in the interior of the country at An Khê.
Also during this time the 4th Infantry Division went home and we guarded the Base Camp at An Khê while watching the Division
go home without us.

Beginning in early January 1971, once the Battalion was permanently stationed at the Base at Tuy Hòa our Company alternated
between guard duty in the bunkers and towers inside the Base and running night ambush patrols in the countryside around the Base.
We continued these duties until the end of March or beginning of April when our Company was tasked with a mission back in the
interior of the country. The Base at Tuy Hòa was on the beach and went right down to the water’s edge of the South China Sea,
so the entire eastern side of the Base’s perimeter was the ocean itself.

The South China Sea is at the bottom. The airfield is on the right. We lived in the barracks in the far lower left of the photo.
In the upper right is the Ðà Rang River. In the hazy distance the mountains can be seen. In the upper left are the beginnings of the rice paddies.
When this photo was taken the paddies were flooded. From January through March 1971 the paddies were mostly dry.

Tuy Hòa Air Base had been built in 1966-67 to house a Wing of F-100 fighter-bombers for the U.S. Air Force. In late 1970
the Wing was redeployed to the continental U.S. and the U.S. Army took over the Base. In January 1971 our entire Infantry
Battalion was permanently stationed at the Base which was now renamed as the U.S. Army Airfield, Tuy Hòa. Compared to most
Army Bases in Vietnam this one was luxurious living for Infantry soldiers. Since it had been built for the Air Force the barracks
had better construction, the roads were asphalt instead of dirt and there were better amenities such as an actual movie theater.
There were even concrete sidewalks connecting the buildings. The barracks had standard stateside Army bunk beds instead of the
folding cots we were accustomed to at our Base Camps and there was running water in the latrines. Army Infantry Base Camps
in Vietnam did not have running water but apparently the Air Force couldn't live without it.
It was a touch of civilization we weren’t used to.

Brown blob at top of above map is the city of Tuy Hòa. Long blue-gray shading below that running from left to right is the Ðà Rang River
(Sông Ðà Rang) flowing into the large blue-gray blob at right which is the South China Sea. This was the eastern coast of the country of South Vietnam.
The country was officially called the Republic of Vietnam (Viêt Nam Công hòa.) Dark line running through the center of the map is Highway 1 (QL 1).
The U.S. Army Base is in the right center outlined in red. Areas with marsh symbols indicate rice paddies with named villages.

Map of Tuy Hòa area is from the 1: 50,000 grid map Sheet 6835 II. This is the same kind of map we used in Vietnam
as our operational maps for patrols and missions. Base outlined in red on map by Michael Belis.

Though the above image was taken in 2017 the basic geography of the area remains much the same as it was in 1971. The city of Tuy Hòa
is marked at the top of the image. The dark blue on the right is the South China Sea. The area of the night ambush patrols was roughly in the
yellow triangle marked on the image with the Tuy Hòa Base to the east, the Ðà Rang River to the northwest and the Bánh Lái River to the south.
The southern mountain range begins immediately to the south of the Bánh Lái River. To the west the western mountain range begins (in the left,
out of the above image.)

The area in the triangle was the delta formed by the two rivers and consisted of flat rice paddy land dotted by small villages that mostly lay
along the highway which paralleled the coast.

Phú Hiêp was a few miles to the south of the Base at Tuy Hòa and was several fishing communities clustered together near the mouth of
the Ðà Nông River (Sông Ðà Nông) where it emptied into the South China Sea. After crossing Highway 1 the Bánh Lái River became the
Bàn Thach River (Sông Bàn Thach) and then merged into the Ðà Nông River. There was a small airfield at Phú Hiêp which housed a squadron
of Grumman OV-1 Mohawk surveillance aircraft.

Google satellite image from the Google Earth application with yellow markings applied by Michael Belis

The Base at Tuy Hòa was right on the flat sandy area of the beach. To the west of the Base was a chain of mountains ranging to
about 1400 feet high and about seven miles away. In between those mountains and our Base were miles of rice paddies with small
villages or clusters of houses sprinkled here and there. The local communist Viet Cong (Viêt Công) organizations carried out operations
both from those mountains and some of the villages.

An entire Infantry Battalion being stationed at the Base at Tuy Hòa gave it more protection than it ever had. One advantage was
the availability of a large number of trained Infantry who could be deployed in an extra ring of security around the Base through
the use of night ambush patrols. By being set up in the countryside around the Base the patrols could prevent enemy attacks against
the Base or at least provide advance warning giving the Base time to bolster its defenses. During the few times when one of our patrols
engaged enemy forces in a fight the result was the loss of surprise by the enemy causing him to cancel his attack on the Base.
Detection by one our patrols could also disrupt other enemy activity and movements in the area.

We had five Companies in our Battalion, Companies A (Alpha), B (Bravo), C (Charlie), D (Delta) and E (Echo) to provide men
for guard duty at the Base and night ambush patrols. Apparently those duties were rotated among the Companies as we would
alternate between pulling guard and conducting patrols with the occasional day/night off. As a non-commissioned officer I was also
sometimes detailed as Sergeant of the Guard or otherwise got a little more time off than the other enlisted men. Our medics were
exempted from going out on these patrols.

Standard operating procedure for the patrols was to go out into the rice paddies and set up an ambush to cover a likely avenue
of approach that the enemy might use when coming down from the mountains to attack the Base or to otherwise move through the area.
That avenue could be one of several dirt roads which ran through the paddies connecting village to village or it could be any of the paddy
dikes which crisscrossed the countryside. There was a curfew in the area after dark so it was assumed that anyone moving through the
countryside at night was the enemy.

I cannot remember if the size and location of each ambush was designated by Battalion Headquarters or if Headquarters assigned
each Company a general area of responsibility and left the size and location of each ambush up to the Company. My Platoon Sergeant
dragged me along to one of the briefings at Battalion Headquarters and the only thing I remember from that briefing were the overall numbers.
At that briefing there were several boards aligned with each other and across those boards were spread a number of adjoining maps of the area
around the Base arranged to form one huge map which encompassed the area all the way into the mountains. On the maps were marked the
estimated locations or areas of operations of known enemy units that had been identified by either intelligence or reconnaissance reports.
Knowing the size of each enemy unit by its designation of either Company, Battalion or Regiment, I was able to make a quick estimate
that there were about 1300-1500 enemy soldiers in the immediate area to face our Battalion which numbered about 800-1000 men,
usually minus one of our Companies on detached duty at any given time. Of course there were South Vietnamese units in the area
as well as South Korean units and both were our Allies so we weren’t as outnumbered as it seems. The area around Tuy Hòa was never
fully pacified during the entire war. A number of villages in the area were considered to be sympathetic to the enemy.
The enemy was always around and from time to time made his presence known.

Above: Enlargement of map showing the Base and Highway 1 - North is to the top.
The Base is outlined in red.

To deploy for night ambush patrol we would leave the Base in trucks exiting through the main gate (on the above map near the top of the Base
where the red lines merge to an inverted “v”) and take that road heading north through the village of Phú Lâm (2), turn west (left on the map)
and move to Highway 1 and then down the highway heading south (yellow line). At intervals the patrols would be dropped off along the highway
to make their way into the rice paddies on either side of the road. Each patrol had its own designated map co-ordinates as to the approximate
location of each ambush, and each location was anywhere from a few hundred yards to a few miles into the countryside. Every patrol had a unique
radio call sign which was linked to its assigned location.

The end of the patrol was at first light. Just before dawn the patrols would dismantle the ambushes and move back to the highway to await pickup
usually by the same truck and driver who dropped them off the night before.

Map of Tuy Hòa area from the 1: 50,000 grid map Sheet 6835 II
Red and yellow markings added by Michael Belis

Members of 3rd Platoon Company C at the Base at Tuy Hòa getting ready to go out on night ambush patrol. On the right is Henry "Ski" Jankowski,
machine gunner. The flash hider and folded bipod of Ski’s M-60 machine gun can be seen in front of him leaning against the table. Second from the right
is John “Goose” Bryce, assistant gunner. Ammunition belts for the M-60 machine gun being carried by everyone.
Note canteens and bandoleers of rifle magazines.

View of section of Highway 1 in the area around Tuy Hòa. Most of the houses in the bottom part of the photo can be seen to have fruit tree orchards
behind them. Note dry rice paddies in upper part of the photo with paddy dikes and a couple of small roads or large pathways going through the paddies.
From January to April 1971 the paddies were mostly dry.

Photo taken aboard a Huey helicopter in a flight from Tuy Hòa to Phú Hiêp either late 1970 or early 1971 by Michael Belis

On some occasions one or more patrols worked together with a unit of the local South Vietnamese Regional Force/Popular Force militia
and set up ambushes to prevent entry into a village. The abbreviation of those militia units’ designation (RF/PF) gave rise to the slang name
we knew them by. We called them “Ruff-Puffs”. At the time I never knew the exact designation of the local militia units that we worked with.
I’ve since learned that the 206th and 217th Regional Force Battalions of the Republic of Vietnam Territorial Forces were stationed in Phú Yên
Province so it was one or both of those units we most likely partnered with.

The size of each patrol varied and after the first week or so that we began conducting them the size settled into being between
a minimum of five men and a maximum of ten or twelve.

Each patrol normally had one M-60 machine gun, usually one of the men in the patrol was a grenadier who carried an M-79 grenade launcher
and the rest carried M-16 rifles. Each patrol also carried at least one M-18 Claymore anti-personnel mine and at least one trip flare. Extra
Claymores and trip flares could be utilized depending upon the individual patrol’s size and specific mission. Every patrol carried a portable
AN/PRC-25 “backpack” radio to keep in contact with Headquarters back at the Base.

Individual loads depended upon each soldier’s personal decision. Ammunition was the first priority. When we first started running these
night ambush patrols many of us carried our rucksacks. After months of operations in the jungle we were accustomed to carrying everything
we needed either inside of or attached to our rucksacks and stuck in our pockets. As time went on most of us dispensed with the rucksacks
on these patrols and found other ways of carrying what we needed.

Most of us carried magazines for our rifles in bandoleers, each of which could hold seven magazines while the standard Army issue load
of two ammo pouches on a pistol belt held a total of eight magazines. Two bandoleers therefore could hold about as much as four ammo
pouches and were much easier to carry. Since the ambush posture demanded we lay on our stomachs the box type ammo pouches would
also be incredibly uncomfortable to lie on for any length of time. Bandoleers could be slung over a shoulder or tied around the waist and
some of us wore a bandoleer jury rigged across our chest. Some carried magazines for their rifles in Claymore bags which could be hung
from the shoulder though the bags were usually used to carry the Claymore anti-personnel mine they were designed for. Ammunition for
the machine gun was carried in loose belts draped around waists or across shoulders, that burden being shared among the members of
the patrol. Hand grenades were not issued.

When available a night vision device was carried. We only had a few of them but those first generation models were low resolution
and only worked efficiently about half the time anyway.

A rubberized Army issue poncho was carried by most men. If the ground was wet a soldier could spread out the poncho to lie on.
The nights could be surprisingly cool down on the coast so the poncho could be used to cover up with. For the same reason
some carried both a poncho and quilted nylon poncho liner. A soldier could lay on the poncho and use the liner as a blanket.
A few men wore an M65 field jacket to ward off the breezes blowing from the ocean. It may be difficult to believe that a soldier
would wear a field jacket in Vietnam. When the temperature dropped from 110-120 degrees in the daytime to the lower 70’s or
even upper 60’s at night, that was a 40 to 60 degree drop in temperature that a body had difficulty in dealing with and with that cool
breeze blowing off the ocean it could actually get chilly laying in those open rice paddies all night long. And of course on those
nights when it drizzled or rained that poncho or jacket could help to keep a soldier from being completely miserable.

A canteen of water was a necessity. For that reason alone many guys wore a canvas pistol belt at their waist. The canteen in its pouch
was made to be attached to the belt and the rolled up poncho could be tucked over the belt or tied to the belt with bootlaces,
usually at the back of the belt. Hand launched parachute flares were carried to light up the battlefield should a patrol get in a fight.
They were normally just stuck in the large cargo pocket on the thigh of our fatigue trousers.

Above: Left to right: Mark Marshall, Rodrigue, Webb, unidentified - Stapleton?, Don Mitchem, Sylvester Bobo, Gene McGray

The above photo shows guys from my platoon (3rd Platoon Charlie Company) stopped with the 2 ½ ton truck which brought them along Highway 1
on deployment of night ambush patrols. These men do not make up a single patrol as there are three grenadiers in the photo and there was normally
only one grenadier per patrol. We could usually pack 3 or 4 patrols into a single truck and since everyone is out of the truck there are more men
that are not in the frame of this photo. The grenadiers, which are Webb, the unidentified (whose name I think might be Stapleton) and
Sylvester Bobo are wearing the ammunition vests for the 40mm grenade rounds. Bobo is wearing a bandoleer of magazines at his waist because
he is carrying both an M-79 grenade launcher and an M-16 rifle. The guy who I think is Stapleton is holding his M-79 grenade launcher
with his right hand. The M-79 was an excellent weapon which operated like a break-open single shot shotgun and fired a 40 millimeter
high explosive round out to an effective range of 400 meters. It also could fire a
“shotgun round” which contained double ought buckshot for close range.

McGray’s rifle has a night vision "Starlight" scope mounted on it. McGray and Bobo are wearing M-65 field jackets. Note the rolled up ponchos
and camo poncho liners suspended from the waist. Webb and McGray have Claymore bags slung at their sides and Webb has parachute flares
stuck in the leg pocket of his trousers. Bobo also has parachute flares in his trouser pocket.

Crane has bandoleers of magazines for his rifle, ammo belts for an M-60 machine gun and a Claymore bag which hangs at his left hip
holding an M-18 Claymore mine. Crane would later be critically injured in a helicopter crash in April 1971 near LZ Action and evacuated
back to the States. McGray’s rifle has a first generation night vision AN/PVS2-A "Starlight" scope mounted on it. McGray has two
Claymore bags, one slung on either side holding his rifle magazines and whatever else he deemed needed on the patrol. McGray is also
wearing an M-65 field jacket to ward off the chill of the night air. Photo taken along the asphalt of Highway 1 during deployment of
night ambush patrol in early 1971.

Left: AN/PRC-25 radio
Weight: 23. 5 pounds

Shortened name for it was the PRC-25. We pronounced that as
“prick twenty-five.”

Whip antenna on the left. Most of the antenna is cut off in this photo.
Handset in front. Button sticking out of the handset – push to talk,
release to listen.

Photo from the 1st Battalion 12th Infantry Regiment website

Right:

Standing along Highway 1
in foreground is Bill Crane
having a last smoke before
going out into the rice paddies
on night ambush patrol.

He has a Claymore bag slung
at his right side containing an
M-18 Claymore anti-personnel
mine with its spool of wire
and firing device.

Above the Claymore bag he
has a water canteen affixed
at his waist.

Also at his waist in back is
his rolled up poncho tied
with boot laces.

Across his shoulder and chest
are ammunition belts for the
patrol’s M-60 machine gun.

Behind Crane is Charles Lewis who is
carrying the patrol’s AN/PRC-25 radio.

Lewis has the handset to the radio
in his left hand and the radio’s
antenna can be seen sticking
up above his head. The top
of the radio can just be seen
behind his back.

Photo by Michael Belis

Left:

Photo of me as we were getting ready to go out
on one of our night ambush patrols.

Base Camp at Tuy Hòa 1971. Beach and South China Sea
in background.

One bandoleer of magazines for my rifle across my chest
and two more bandoleers tied around my waist. The straps
of the chest bandoleer are looped around my shoulders
and the top center of the bandoleer is pinned to my shirt
with a big black safety pin.

21 magazines in the bandoleers plus the loaded magazine
in my rifle came to a total load of 396 rounds of ammunition.

I loaded 18 rounds in each magazine instead of the usual 20
to ensure smooth operation of the magazine spring. I’m holding
my rifle at my right side pointed downward. You can just see the top
of the rifle’s receiver between my forearm and the bandoleers.

My rucksack is strapped to my back. In it I had a poncho,
trip flare, parachute flares, spare battery for the patrol radio
and claymore mine. Also a couple of canteens of water
in their pouches hooked on the outside of the rucksack.

The Army issue boonie hat I’m wearing in the photo and one
of my uniforms are now part of a permanent display at
the U.S. Army Museum on the base at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
The display actually represents me as I appear in this photo.

Photo by Michael Belis

A permanent display at the U.S. Army Museum on the Base at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The khaki uniform on the left is what I looked like upon graduation from Infantry training at Fort Polk in either late August or early
September 1969. The name plate, chest ribbon, marksmanship badge and collar insignia are actual items I wore on my uniform in Germany
1969-1970 before being sent to Vietnam in August 1970.

The green jungle fatigues on the right are an actual set I wore in Vietnam 1970-1971. This mannequin represents me on night ambush patrol
around Tuy Hòa in 1971 although I would have never worn that chest bandoleer so loose and I never carried a Claymore bag. The boonie hat
and boots are also items I wore in Vietnam and brought home along with the fatigues. Photos of me are on the poster board on the left.