Just A Little Walk In The Woods

Delta Raiders Overrun Outpost

13 Enemy Slain In Bitter Battle

From The Screaming Eagle, 1968

Complements of Hugh S. Garland

HUE - "Delta Raiders" of the 2^nd Brigade killed 13 enemy and took away their observation post in a bitter two-day battle north of here recently during Operation Carentan II.

The action took place high atop Hill 285 South of the DMZ when the paratroopers of the 2nd Bn. (Abn), 501st Inf., commanded by Lt. Col. Richard J. Tallman, turned into mountaineers to root out the NVA regulars.

In the early morning, the "Raiders" of D Co. climbed the nearby Hill 309 and met no enemy resistance. "But, when we moved along a ridge line to a nearby knoll, which was Hill 285, heavy automatic rifle fire told us we'd just found an enemy observation post," said D Co. Commander, Capt. Cleo C. Hogan.

Artillery support was called in on the enemy-held terrain and, after the strike was lifted, the "Raiders" began attacking the position. Fierce fighting erupted throughout the afternoon while an Air Force spotter plane pilot reported the enemy were dragging the bodies of their dead comrades off the other side of the hill and were replacing them with fresh troops.

"We then called in an air-strike with the help of the FAC pilot," Hogan said. "Later that evening the artillery kept the enemy pinned down so we could plan our early morning attack."

"We moved up the left slope in the morning," said Sgt. Robert E. Washington, "I saw an NVA regular stick his head out of a bunker so I fired at him. As he fell back I crawled in closer to the bunker and saw two more enemy. A grenade killed them too."

Climbing up the front slope of the hill, Pfc. Stanley Riley, used a 90mm recoil-less rifle to destroy another bunker.

"They were generating a lot of firepower on us so we had to strike back with our heavy weapons," Riley said.

The NVA running from the bunker were immediately cut down by paratrooper fire.

Continuing their attack, D Co. paratroopers fired a solid sheet of steel into the remaining Communist positions. When the fighting died down, 13 dead NVA regulars littered the hilltop.

The "Raiders" dug in for the night. "About 3 a.m. they hit us with a counter-attack, but we beat them back with supporting artillery and machine gun fire," Washington said.

Three more enemy bodies were found on the hill the next morning. "Hill 285 is ours now and they're going to pay a very heavy price to try to get it back," Hogan said.

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