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On March 2nd, 1968 my father was in base camp at Cu Chi preparing to return stateside after a year in Vietnam. He had served as a platoon leader for 3rd platoon, Company C, 4th Battalion 9th Infantry (Manchus). On that day his company was participating in an action against Vietnamese troops to find and destroy rocket sites that had been used to fire on Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
At about 9AM Company C began to cross the Hoc Mon Bridge and came under heavy fire from a large enemy force concealed in spider holes and bunkers on both sides of the bridge. The initial attack lasted less than 10 minutes. When the attack was over 49 members of Company C were killed and another 24 were wounded. It was one of the worst attacks against American forces during the Vietnam War. One man, SP4 Nicholas J Cutinha was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I learned of this attack last year when I became interested in my father's time in Vietnam. He never talks about his tour of duty and I decided to ask about this attack in particular. It was only the second time in my life that I've seen my dad cry. The first was during his father's funeral. The second time was when he described spending his last few days in Vietnam traveling from one makeshift morgue to another to identify the men he had served with. His first act when he returned to the United States was to write the wife of a close friend that had been killed in the attack and to send her flowers.
During my father's tour of duty he was awarded the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and two Purple Hearts. That is why I took offense at the GOP's mean-spirited attack on John Kerry's service record.
I love my father dearly. If the attack had happened only one week earlier he could have been among them. It scares me to think of the possibility of not having him here these last 37 years. His birthday was last week. Happy birthday, Dad.
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