THE WALL OF FACES

On June 30, 1966, two units of the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division were conducting an operation to secure the “Big Red One’s” (1st Infantry Division) forward base at Quan Loi and the Hon Quan airfield. It was part of an operation dubbed El Paso II. The mission was more or less a reconnaissance-in-force along portions of National Highway 13 north of the bridge at Cam Le above An Loc. Because the bridge was largely destroyed, it was necessary to escort engineers to make repairs to the structure. B Troop of the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry—nicknamed the “Quarter horse”—was assigned escort duty. Attached was the 1st Platoon of C Company. Ultimately, the troopers would be supported by three full companies (A, B and C) of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry, known as the “Spartans.” The terrain along Highway 13 was a mix of dense jungle, tree lines, chest-high grass and rice paddies. Near the hamlet of Srok Dong, due north of An Loc, the Viet Cong (VC) had constructed a bulwark of piled logs. It was close to the intersection of Highway 13 and Route 17, an ideal location for an L-shaped ambush. The VC had been ordered to “lay a mobile ambush” of convoys passing by there. That task was taken up by the 271st VC (Main Force) Regiment of the 9th VC Division. At 9:40 AM, B Troop was hit by recoilless-rifle and machine-gun fire while crossing a rice paddy. Within the first 30 minutes, all of its four M48 Patton tanks were disabled. Accompanying armored personnel carriers (APCs) responded with .50-caliber fire. APCs of C Troop carrying infantrymen atop them arrived quickly, only to be greeted by a rain of mortar shells. Its 1st Platoon countered with a mechanical flamethrower. The armored cavalrymen put up a protective shield around the besieged B Troop. Heavy fire support was quick on the scene. B and D batteries of the 8th Battalion, 6th Artillery, based at Hon Quan, fired 825 rounds over the course of combat. Airplanes, UH-1B Huey helicopters and CH-47 Chinooks (“Guns-A-Go-Go”) from the 11th Aviation Battalion provided an aerial arsenal. All told, the aircraft launched 88 close tactical air strikes. By noon, the remainder of A Company was flown in by helicopter. C Company also joined the fray. B Company arrived about the time the VC were leaving the battlefield. By 3:30 p.m., the VC had mostly broken off contact. C Troop moved to Checkpoint One and assisted B Troop in evacuating the wounded and suppressing enemy fire. One armor recon soldier of C Troop, SGT Donald R. Long, carried wounded to the helicopters and provided much-needed supplies under intense fire. Repelling the VC as they attempted to mount his APC, Long helped a severely wounded crew member to safety. When a grenade landed on the carrier deck, “he threw himself over the grenade to absorb the blast and thereby saved the lives of eight of his comrades at the expense of his own life,” according to his Medal of Honor citation. But eight other C troopers were killed along with three from B Troop. C Company lost five men killed and Headquarters Company counted one dead, a cook, PFC Earl Smith. The total tally for June 30 was seventeen GIs KIA and 66 WIA. The lost Americans included SGT Roy D. Baily, SP4 David E. Baun, SSG William R. Buckley, 1LT David K. Hight, SGT Richard P. Holien, SGT Donald R. Long, SSG Charles H. Mills, PFC Bobby L. Morden, SGT John D. Morgan, 1LT Peter E. Odenweller, SP4 Ronald O. Patterson, SP4 Franz G. Prediger, PVT Danny L. Smith, PFC Earl Smith, PFC Eddie K. Williams, and SP4 Harry J. Yost. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Ambushed At Srok Dong” by Richard Fournier, VFW Magazine, June/July 2016]

Dear SP4 Franz Gerhard Prediger, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, Sir

Curt Carter

Franz is buried at Hauptfreidhof,Mannheim,GER. PH

FOREVER REMEMBERED

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you, one of the gentle heroes lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother.

From your Nam-Band-Of-Brothers

Words cannot express the gratitude I have. Thank you, Franz, from the bottom of my heart. God Bless You. Rest in Peace. I will never forget. (Posted as part of the Gridley High School posting project.)