1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

February 16-27, 1970

By James Henderson B/1-22, 2nd Platoon

As the morning of the 18th dawns, we are again sent out on patrol. We, Buenzle’s squad, return to the complex of the day before. It is
so large that we have only begun to reconnoiter it. According to the Logs at 1023 we spot one NVA and employ small arms on him with
negative results. We find more and more items and hootches, I would definitely call it a complex on the scale of a small village. We report
10 lbs of blank writing paper, 1 NVA canteen, a poncho, 2 vials of unknown substance, 3 NVA ruck sacks, 10-15 lbs documents, 5 gal
of shelled corn, another pack of blank paper, inside the ruck sacks were 13 pair gray pants, 11 shirts, 2 wrist watches, 11 lbs flour, toothbrushes
and toothpaste, shaving cream, and other items and supplies. Most of the other companies are finding as many hootches and as much stuff as
we are. During the day, while we were on patrol, the stay behind squads and the CP has moved to a new November Lima. As light begins to
wane, we abandon our reconnoitering and move to link back up with the CP. Again thankfully, we have an uneventful night.

On the morning of the 19th, we break camp and call in our night ambushes from the night before. We send out this days S&D patrol as well.
SGT’s James Gillam and Joseph “Cat” Akczinski are leading the patrol. The patrol is composed of Cat’s rifle squad and an M60 machine gun
team that will remain nameless, because I have such utter disrespect for the M60 machine gunner that I will not even mention his name, and Bob
“Tiny” Peterson on the radio as RTO. In total, probably 12-14 men in the patrol, leaving 12 or 14 of us in the perimeter at our new night location.

Left, Joseph Akczinski - right, Albert Brick

Donald Gary, base camp standdown

Photo courtesy of Dave Brown

At 0943 hours our B Company 1st platoon finds a hootch complex with signs that indicate there might have been a woman present.

A short while later, at 1107 hours, the 2nd platoon patrol has heard loud vocal noises and also wood chopping noises. They more or less silently
sneak up on a group of gooks, who are chopping wood and making all sorts of noise, at Grids 483-025, allowing Gillam and Cat to maneuver
fairly close. There is a natural oval shaped gulley or depression in the earth, similar to an amphitheater separating the two groups. Afterwards we
refer to this as the shootout at the amphitheater. Tiny is whispering all this info over the radio to the CP and those of us that remained behind in
the perimeter. We crowd around the RTO in the CP trying to hear what’s going on, of course he has his radio turned down very low also. We’re
holding our breath. They’re seeking permission, or the CO’s blessing, about whether to open up or not. Our CO, Commanding Officer, at this time
was CPT John Derrico, he was traveling with 2nd platoon and was back with the rest of us in the company perimeter. At 1127 he gives the OK and
they open fire. All heck breaks loose. The gooks don’t cut and run like they usually do, rather they begin to furiously return fire. As Cat and his rifle
squad battle it out with them, for whatever reason our unnamed M60 machine gunner jumps up and heads back in the direction they had originally
came from. His assistant gunner is right behind him and is followed by the rest of the gun team. You really can’t fault the assistant gunner and the
rest of the team; they are trained to follow the gun and the gunner. Standard operating procedure is that the assistant gunner and all the gun team
members are fixated on the gun, the M60 machine gun. Wherever it goes, they go. I have such utter disrespect for him that I refuse to even mention
his name. They all more or less abandon the fight and it’s left up to Cat and his squad to hold their own and finish the battle. It was never clear to
me why the gunner wasn’t court marshalled for doing this. I don’t recall if he had some halfway, lame brain reason or not, I never understood.
He was later removed from the gunner position though, and he was very fortunate that Cat didn’t shoot him. Cat was furious, as was everyone else.
From the start, Tiny is on the radio calling in helicopter gunships and artillery.

When the smoke finally settles Cat’s squad finds 14 ruck sacks, three separate blood trails and a wounded VC woman. She is shot in the leg, close
to the knee. The rest of us from the perimeter hurriedly join Cat and the others. The gun team skulks back from wherever they had been. Buenzle’s
squad and I guard the woman POW while we await a Dust-Off chopper with a jungle penetrator. A jungle penetrator was a device that could be
lowered from a helicopter via cable, through thick jungle when there was nowhere for a chopper to land. It somewhat resembled a boat anchor but
had three retractable arms. Our Medic patches her up the best that he can. The others follow the various blood trails, to no avail.

The S-3 Logs list page after page after page of equipment and supplies that all of the platoons and other companies are finding in these various
complexes on this day. None of us have ever seen anything to compare to it. We return to the night location and the night passes uneventfully.

The morning of the 20th begins the same as others. The daily patrols are assigned, and we head out. An interesting side note while reviewing the
S-3 Logs show that at 0845 hours it is decreed that all ambushes will have one claymore mine per man. I do not actually remember this happening,
but it is an excellent idea.

At 1050 we, 2nd Platoon, find one hootch measuring approximately 10x10x10. Inside is a storage bin 10x3x4. It contains 75lbs corn, 30lbs rock
salt, 110lbs rice. The hootch is raised 3ft off the ground. Many of these hootches are raised off the ground while many others are at ground level.
I’m not sure why this is. The 3rd platoon joins with us at noon time, that is somewhat unusual. We then part ways and we head to an entirely new
night location from the night before. While the Logs do not reflect any large finds for B Company, the other companies of the Battalion are
continuing to find huge stores of food and equipment. As we get to our location, we begin to dig in. The night is thankfully, uneventful.

The morning of the 21st once again begins as all the others and continues with our daily S&D patrols. The stay behind squads and the CP move
to a new location for this nights November Lima. There are no Log entries for 2nd platoon and scant for any of the other platoons. It was a low
stress day. Buenzle's squad has ambush on this night but it’s uneventful, thank God.

The morning of the 22nd begins about the same as other mornings. Our November Lima was at Grids 490-016. We, Buenzle’s squad, had been
on ambush the night before. Meaning we were staying in the perimeter that morning while Cat’s squad and Jesse Johnson’s gun team went out
on the days patrol, with both LT Mac and CPT Derrico, our Company Commander leading the patrol.

It’s odd that I don’t remember exactly who from our squad was inside the perimeter, I only remember for certain SGT Buenzle and myself,
but the others all had to be there somewhere. But I do also remember for sure that we had an LP, listening post, out in front of our position.
It’s possible we had two out. The LPs would have had to be John Broussard and Greg Bodell, and this would explain why I don’t remember them
being inside the perimeter.

I also clearly recall James Gillam, Bob “Tiny” Pederson, Ed Bennett an RTO, our medic whose name I don’t recall, the entire worthless M-60
gun team from a few days before, whom I recall some of them but will not name. And of course, Bob Frost and Joe Rocha, were in the perimeter.
Joe was the RTO for our Company First Sgt, Top White. Top was not there that day but was in base camp. Joe preferred humping the boonies
and being in the field with his fellow grunts, rather than being in base camp with Top and the other lifers and rear echelon types.

Above: Two photos of Joe Rocha

Photos courtesy of Joe Rocha

At 1055 we can hear firing in the distance and hear on the radio that the morning patrol is in contact. The patrol winds up with one NVA KIA
and no friendly casualties.

I recall this next part as if it were yesterday, I was knelt down over my C-ration, heat tab stove, preparing my lunch. Buenzle was at the CP,
basically the center of the perimeter, with the others that I have mentioned. All at once all hell breaks loose with AK47’s firing on fully automatic.
The sound is deafening, it’s as if they’re right on top of us. And indeed, they nearly were.

I scatter everything that I’m doing and instinctually dive in my fox hole. My M79 and vest are leaning against a tree right by the hole. The firing
came from directly behind me and where everyone else is located. Scary close. I turn around in my hole to face towards the center of the perimeter
and the direction of the firing. Everyone is scrambling trying to grab weapons and return fire. Someone is screaming “Medic”!!!! Bob and Joe have
both been wounded. Buenzle, Gillam, Tiny and the medic are working feverishly on Bob and Joe. Buenzle shouts for me to get in Jesse’s gun
teams’ hole, it’s right on the trail and facing more towards the direction of the in-coming rifle fire than the hole that I am currently at. I low crawl
from my fox hole over to theirs. At this point, we do not know if the gooks are gone or if they’re just regrouping or reloading or what they are
doing. We are all on max-adrenaline. In hindsight, they are gone.

Tiny is on the radio calling for Dust Offs. A few of us are sent to try and quickly clear an LZ large enough for the dust off to land. It’s immediately
apparent that it’s a lost cause, there is no suitable spot. Tiny advises the Dust Off chopper that the wounded will be jungle penetrator cases. We
come back inside the perimeter from our failed LZ clearing attempt.

The S-3 Logs record the ambush as happening at 1155. They record the Dust Off as being on station at 1220 and both being completed at 1240.
LT Mac, CPT Derrico, Jesse, and Cat’s teams return from their patrol. It is incredibly somber in the perimeter. A pall hung in the air that you
could cut with a knife.

We send a patrol out to see if we could find any enemy blood trails or where they had fired from. We do indeed find their empty shell casings.
It appears there were two of them and they got to within 10 to 15 meters of us before opening up, that’s approximately 30-45 feet. That is crazy
close. I think they both probably emptied their weapons of full magazines, 30 rounds each, and then turned tail and ran. They were probably long
gone before we fired a shot.

The rest of the evening we continually check with Tiny and the other RTO’s for any news of Bob and Joe’s condition. We eventually learn Bob
has died and Joe, though shot to pieces, has somehow managed to survive.

It’s without a doubt and unquestionably, the bleakest, saddest day of my Vietnam tour. It was emotionally crushing and devastating.
Spiritually and emotionally draining.

Bob Frost was a good man, a good soldier, and a good friend. I try to find acceptance that God’s Will had been done. Personally, as a person
of Faith, I find accepting God’s Will under such humanly inconceivable circumstances, incredibly difficult. That, while it’s true, He had called
Bob home, He had seen fit to spare Joe and the rest of us. Thus, we took solace in the fact that Joe had made it. Nonetheless at the time, we were
inconsolable. It was not possible to actually think in such a manner at the time, only later. I pray that my typing these words does not cause
mental nor emotional angst nor trauma to those who were there that day and are reading them. If so, I further pray that they will embrace the
message of Matthew 11: 28-30 and find peace and rest unto their soul.

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