Vo Minh Triet 

 

      Dawn appeared at LZ Rufe on June 17, 1967, through a low-hanging mist penetrated by tiny droplets of drizzling rain. Soon after first light, Triet started receiving reports from his scouts that something unusual was happening with the Americans he was shadowing. As he sat under a wet canopy, listening to more and more of the same reports coming from his wired communications and runners, it became apparent that today was shaping up to become a good day. He would have to continue to hide and continue to keep watching. Just how good things would turn out to be was yet to be determined. However, reports were indicating that this day could be a very, very good day. The messages that he was receiving were certainly encouraging. The Americans at LZ Rufe were filling in their bunkers and emptying sandbags. These actions clearly indicated that they would make a permanent withdrawal from LZ Rufe. What Triet needed to know now was how they would withdraw. Would they withdraw by helicopter or on foot? Where would they go? Would they go home or move to another location? He knew withdrawals deep in the jungle were usually made by helicopters, supported by heavy covering artillery fire and gunships. While troops were loading, air strikes would also blast away at potential troop assembly areas around the extraction point. If this was going to be the case, it wasn’t a good scenario for Triet. It would be better for him to keep hiding and watching for a better day. Shortly after 0700, however, Triet received the news he had dared to dream of but never thought would come true. When Triet received the news, it was almost too good to be true news. American troops were assembling at the northern end of LZ Rufe and marching single file into the jungle. Triet soon had his best trackers on the job, verifying the direction and pace of these troops. Oh, could it be so? Could they indeed be heading for the large clearing 1,500 meters to the north (LZ X-Ray)? If that was true, Triet realized he now had the better part of three hours to position his troops for an assault on that clearing after allowing the Americans to arrive and start digging in. To make matters even better, he had been training his troop for an assault on this very clearing.

     Without realizing it, the 1st and 16th battalion commander had now given Triet all the information he needed to set in motion an attack. Triet began to put his attack plans into high gear, careful not to move his troops in too close or too quickly. He reminded himself that he needed to wait until American air strikes and artillery had finished prepping the area. Then, those oxcart trails would become mighty handy. They were wide enough to move his troops quickly after holding them back at a safer distance until the Americans had finished shelling and bombing the jungle around the perimeter of LZ X-Ray. When the shelling stopped, double columns of his conscripts could be double-timed down these wider trails until they reached marked areas around the perimeter. The markings were shallow foxholes, which had already been dug several days before. They were dug not only to act as markers but also to let the guides know where to halt and start dispersing the troops. They also gave these brown-uniformed conscripts a little protection from rifle fire coming from us Americans, as well as the machine-gun fire coming from Triet’s machine-gun crews located behind those conscripts. This tactic was used repeatedly in practice maneuvers, such as the one they had just finished, which left all those footprints that Point Man Donnie G. would later point out to the 1st and 16th battalion commander. These troops had practiced this maneuver repeatedly. Some carried RPGs and were taught to target American machine gun crews. Today, two of those American machine gunners would be Sergeant Murry’s men, Jose G. and Bob P. Enemy RPG teams would watch and wait for these American machine gunners to start killing conscripts. When the Americans opened up, it would be easy to spot their location because they were required to fire tracers every fifth round. Those tracers said, “Here I am. Hey, I’m over here.” Once the masses of conscripts were spread out from the oxcart trails into these shallow foxhole locations, their lives were reduced to two choices. When the whistles blew, signaling for an assault to be made, they could either rise and make the suicidal assault or be shot dead by their NCOs. At the same time those whistles blew, the alert NVA machine gunners would stop firing, so they wouldn’t shoot these conscripts in the back. Field telephone communications would also notify the mortar crews to stop firing. Simply put, Triet’s dehumanized outfit was designed to perform like a well-oiled Borg machine, devoid of all human feelings for the individual’s well-being. It was only the collective that mattered. There was only one factor now that could delay his attack plans. If the prepping destroyed too much of the area around the clearing, then he would choose to hold off and fight another day.