Raindrops and tracking the NVA during Operation Crazy Horse

Raindrops and tracking the NVA during Operation Crazy Horse, May 22-23, 1966 by RANGER Jerry Conners, Chinese Bandit 13 and War Eagle 13

The patrol moved north to the location where we encountered abandoned NVA bunkers that contained the body of one NVA soldier that was discovered in one of the deeper excavations. While evaluating the bunker complex, an American rifle squad consisting of 8 men approached from the north “team carrying” one of their men (believed to be a SP/4 Parks) in a poncho litter. The man was semi-conscious and the poncho was filled to his armpits in a mixture of his blood and rain. I called for medivac and had some of the patrol members bring in the UH-1. The man was evacuated to the sound of rifle and machine gun fire from the surrounding hills when the aircraft was on approach and during departure. The UH-1 was not damaged and I was informed many years later that Parks had survived.
We resumed our search of the bunkers and located another trail having fresh barefoot and non-American boot marks leading to the west up the hill in the direction that we had been directed to recon.
We had been in contact with NVA forces for two days. The eight-man patrol, including myself, had little or no sleep for three days and we had experienced near continuous movement in the steep and heavily treed mountainous terrain in the area we call ‘Happy Valley’. We had been mistakenly attacked by two UH-1 gunships earlier in the afternoon and although no one was injured, our sole PRC radio was damaged and unable to transmit when the RTO sought cover from the four 2.75 FFAR that were launched in our direction. I had made the decision to proceed in our mission to complete the planned patrol route without reliable radio communications.
The patrol was moving downhill along the trail approaching the stream located in the valley below which marked the limit of the authorized area of operation. Anticipating contact with the NVA at any moment, we were not spread out long distances as was the norm when searching for the NVA but remained in line of sight of each other. The point man, Combat Jones, stopped near the stream and signaled enemy contact ahead. I advanced to join him after signaling the others of the situation.
As I approached Jones, he pointed toward the stream near the trail crossing where the trail led up the hill on the far side of the stream. The bloated bodies of two NVA troops were lying in the water still clad in their uniforms and web gear. I waded into the water and examined the bodies. They had no weapons and their wounds appeared to have been from irregular shaped fragments, not bullets. The surrounding area showed evidence of 2.75 FFAR impacts.
Jones and I scouted both sides of the stream and did not locate trails running parallel to the waterway. I returned to my position in the patrol and signaled Jones to proceed. He entered the water and we followed him for less than two hours to where a game trail intersection was anticipated. Jones stopped when he saw the large abandoned but overgrown slash and burn clearing on his right. We halted in the stream and I advanced ahead of Jones searching for the trail that was quickly located less than 100 meters in front of where we had halted. The trail had recently been actively used by the NVA. As I returned to Jones, he pointed vigorously over my left shoulder in the direction of the upper edge of the slash and burn clearing. I turned to see more than 30 NVA troops filing down the edge of the clearing towards the stream. I was concerned that any movement in the stream would dislodge silt, sands or debris that might mark the water further downstream; however, I carefully moved back along the patrol positioned and briefed each man to not move and what was occurring out front. Returning to Jones who had been left to observe, he informed me that he had counted more than 200 NVA who continued to file out of the tree line at the top of the clearing. We remained in position for another thirty minutes until the last NVA was observed. Jones’ total count had reached 423 men that wore khaki uniforms and were carrying only individual weapons. No crew-served weapons were observed. At about the time we lost sight of the last NVA trailing the others, we heard NVA crossing the stream ahead of us. Their crossing made no detectable noise but their distinctive sing song language could be heard for more than 100 meters.
While the NVA filed unseen but heard ahead of us, artillery fire began to impact several thousand meters further down the valley and was advancing in our direction. It was later learned that this was an impromptu H&I fire mission. The artillery fire continued for about five minutes and the closest rounds fell only about 1000 meters from our position. The NVA could be heard to be advancing uphill in the direction of friendly forces. They shouted often during the artillery barrage.
I looked at my stainless steel Omega SeaMaster watch when the last of the NVA crossing the steam was heard. We remained in position for another 10 minutes and then began our movement downstream towards the trail. I kept looking back at the patrol but could only see Jones wearing his in-country made scroll patch and red scarf grinning back at me. I remained in the point position as was common for NCOs to do when closing with the enemy. Nightfall was approaching and I intended to move around the NVA if they stopped during the night. I came to the trail and quickly searched for NVA stragglers along the route they had used on the lower edge of the slash and burn clearing while Jones held the patrol in the water.
Not locating any remaining NVA near the stream, I rejoined the patrol and briefed Cpl Matsuoka, my team leader, of my concerns of further NVA approaching from our rear as we followed the sighted NVA up the hill.
We had about thirty minutes of adequate light remaining under overcast skies before EENT and as we began to follow the 400+ NVA uphill. A light rain began to fall as the sound of an approach H-13 observation helicopter was heard overhead. On point, I stopped the patrol and located the helicopter flying along the stream at about 2000 feet AGL. I waited until the noise of the helicopter was no longer a factor and continued up the hill as the rain continued to fall. I had only advanced about 75 meters up the hill from the stream where a small tree opening in the trail allowed the rainfall to impact the trail. I watched the droplets land in one set of NVA tracks. I studied the track that consisted of a flat smoothly worn ‘tennis shoe’ like print. There were many droplet impacts in the track and I examined several more as I moved slowly leaning over the trail. A fresh imprint with no water droplet markings lay before me. I watched as raindrops fell into the fresh track. I had not intended to become that close. I turned and gave the ‘freeze’ signal that was passed along the patrol filing behind me. I gave a second signal using two fingers racked across my upper arm that was also passed down the line. I waited facing the enemy’s position until Cpl Matsuoka joined me. I pointed to the prints near me and the raindrop markings that indicated the closeness of the NVA. I instructed him to observe from beside a tree along the trail located about 10 meters from where we were kneeling and to remain in place as I held the men in position while I considered the merits of withdrawing or at least getting some distance between the NVA and ourselves.
A few minutes later the sound of the returning H-13 was heard and I again waited until the helicopter was clear of the area. As the sounds of the H-13 disappeared two M-16 shots rang out in quick succession. Again, I signaled to hold and began moving uphill towards Matsuoka who I met coming down the trail. He explained that one NVA had come within 10 feet of him before he fired. As he spoke we could hear the singsong speech of NVA coming down the hill towards us. I ran towards the patrol and with Matsuoka’s assistance quickly put the men on line with myself adjacent to the trail on the left and Jones on the other side of the trail.
Going on line was an ignorant decision and I knew it immediately. I yelled to Matsuoka to take the men down the trail and follow the stream back along our route and then take the first major stream drainage uphill that led in the direction of the friendly forces and keep moving until darkness, then wait for me. I ordered Jones to remain with me. As the men ran past us and down the trail I knew that Jones and I would die in the next few minutes. I pulled the pin from my only fragmentation grenade and waited for the NVA to overrun us. The NVA kept yelling amongst one another and fanned out along either side of the trail for a distance of about 50 meters but they did not advance. Jones and I remained in position as more of the NVA filed down the hill to join their comrades that were less than 30 meters in front of where we were laying. I looked at my watch and the grenade I held in my left hand. It was getting dark and the patrol had been gone about 10 minutes. I turned towards Jones and said “Run and join the patrol.” He responded, “No, I am staying with you.” I reached across the trail and pulled him towards me. “Get out of here and I will be right behind you. Now.” Jones spun around on his stomach and alligator crawled down the trail as fast as he could move. I followed him with the grenade still in my hand and the pin left behind. I dropped my ranger patrol cap with its ‘merit’ badges along the trail but could not pick it up without stopping. The cap was left behind. The trail was steeper as we neared the stream and Jones jumped to his feet and ran and then jumped into the stream. I followed him and we both ran up the stream from the direction we had come earlier.
It was now dark enough to make our being followed difficult and we did not hear the NVA in pursuit. After about five minutes we came to the junction of the stream drainage that I had intended Matsuoka to follow uphill. I was concerned that he may have taken another route but continued to run up the shallow stream for about five minutes where we found the other members of the patrol forming a line perpendicular to the stream flow. I spoke as loud as appropriate, “Follow me!” and continued up the stream for another half an hour. We were exhausted from days without sleep, walking the long patrol distance, running from the NVA and the anxiety of the recent contact with the enemy. We had approached a steep section of the stream where numerous small waterfalls had formed. The rain was still falling lightly.
Still holding the grenade, I directed the men to form a line in the deep-water pockets amongst the rocks. As the men filed by I told them we would rest and “Sleep if you want to.” Once we were secure in what seemed to be a safe hiding place, I intended to dedicate my best thoughts to getting the patrol out of harms way and quickly decided to rest a few hours and then move up hill during darkness to link up with the friendly forces at first light. I wanted to sleep but could not with the grenade in my hand. I loosened some C-ration wire from my LBE harness and fashioned a pin that I twisted into the pin holes of the grenade. I snapped my LBE to Jones’s who was bobbing in the water next to me and fell asleep. I awoke some time later to the sounds of the NVA searching for us. Their voices and the beams of their flashlights came near enough to be heard and seen but they did not approach the stream in which we were hiding but continued downhill. I fell back asleep thinking that we could only rest a few more minutes before resuming our movement up the hill. The sky was lighting when I awoke again.
I briefed the men who formed a circle around me near the stream where we had been resting and warned them of the dangers of approaching an American combat unit that was not expecting our arrival.
Jones led us up the mountain. When we neared the ridgeline and where I expected our troops to be located. I yelled, “American troops approaching, hold your fire.” Before I could make another request SSG Grimes yelled back, “This is Chinese Bandit 11, stay put and I will be down to lead you through.” In a few minutes, I saw him approaching. He said, “They believe you were missing in action and had ‘bought the farm. I told them ‘no way’.” I shoved him and said, “Never.” The rain had stopped. As we walked up the hill and down into the valley to join the rest of the unit I watched the sun come up over the other hill and I told Grimes, “I thought I would never see the sun again.” He just stared at me.
I watched as the men filed by in their jungle fatigues and patrol caps. They were full of ‘piss and vinegar’ and the tired faces that I had seen the night before were gone. They were celebrating being alive.

Note: This article was originally posted on the Jumping Mustang home page by Col Mertel, USA Retired in 2000.

RANGER Jerry Conners, Captain (jconners_98@yahoo.com) 775-847-0214 (Ranger Class 502), Master Parachutist (Honor Graduate of 101st ABN Jumpmaster Class), Special Forces Weapons Expert (1964-65 SF MOI, Weapons & Branch), 101st RECONDO (Brand Number 1919), Army Aviator, AMOC, NRAS-PAL, Military Intelligence Officer Advance Course, Task Force Gramas [Special Operations] ... "Loose Nukes" Recovery Team Greece/Turkey 1974, Sensitive Weapons Theft (RAF Anti-Terrorist Operation) Interdiction Team Misseau, Fort Campbell Sport Parachute Club 1963-64, Distinguished Military Graduate University of Nevada.

"Coureur des Bois"
Chinese Bandit 13
Chinese Bandit Recon LRRP Team 1st Bn (ABN) 8th Cav