Michael Do

My battalion had just finished the supplementary training at Huynh Van Luong Training Center. Then, it was ordered to get ready for a sudden operation at Dau Tieng, Tri Tam District. We were attached to the Armored Cavalry Regiment of the US 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One). From the training center, we were transported to Ben Tranh village, next to the famous Michelin rubber plantation. The American regiment had been at the gate of the training center with dozens of heavy tanks and APCs[1].

As an XO[2] of the company, I had to go with the 3rd Platoon of Aspirant Phuong. We mounted on the APCs, one squad each. The M-113 APC was designed to carry infantrymen in its hull. However, the wall and floor made of aluminum alloy could not stand the explosion of the enemy’s B-41 RPG[3]. The heat caused by the first RPG explosion could melt the wall to make way for the warhead to penetrate, and boom! Nothing would survive!