Actions around An Loc

2/2 (Mech) May 22, 1969–July 10, 1969

May 23, 1969

For the three days of May 23, 24, and 25, 1969, the 2/2 (Mech) was engaged in a huge battle with the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) at An Loc, a town sixty miles north of Saigon. After the final day, the 2/2 (Mech) had killed an estimated 350 North Vietnamese and had destroyed the fighting effectiveness of the entire North Vietnamese 141st Regiment. The battle resulted in numerous awards for the men and the battalion, including a Valorous Unit Citation for the battalion, a Medal of Honor for S. Sgt. James Bondsteel, two Distinguished Service Crosses, fourteen Silver Stars, numerous Bronze Stars, an ACMs with V. This action was part of an overall successful operation stopping an NVA offensive involving two divisions whose mission was to cut off forward elements of allied forces around Tay Ninh, Dau Tieng, An Loc, and Quan Loi.

In early June of 1969, the men of the 2/2 (Mech) participated in a four-day battle against North Vietnamese regulars and again defeated them soundly, leaving 160 dead North Vietnamese in the field.

The men of the battalion had come to look upon themselves as pretty bad characters who could and did beat the NVA and the Viet Cong (VC) at every turn. These battles caused a number of casualties, and many of the men who were decorated were also wounded. However, due to the tremendous turnover in personnel, by the time the battalion got to the Black Virgin, only four of the men who had won the Silver Stars were still with Alpha.

June 23, 1969

On June 23, 1969, the battalion moved to Dau Tieng (see map), a base camp in the Tay Ninh province, along with the rest of the First Brigade of the First Infantry Division. During the evenings, the NVA would rocket and mortar the compound.

The battalion was commanded by Lt. Col. Newell E. Vinson, who was born in Pennsylvania to a Navy family but grew up in California and on the East Coast. He called Alexandria, Virginia, home. He had been instructing social studies classes at West Point prior to coming to Vietnam. He had been scheduled to take over the battalion on the sixth of June, but the battalion was then in a battle and the ceremony didn't take place until three days later.

The battalion command sergeant major was James E Knox. The forty-five-year-old Knox was an extremely able soldier and NCO. We felt we were very lucky to have him as our go-to guy. 2/6 remembers Command Sgt. Maj. Knox in this way: "It is often a truism to say that someone is a 'soldier's soldier,' but this is the least I could say about Command Sgt. Maj. Knox. He was a veteran of WWII and Korea and was on his second tour of Vietnam. With the scar that ran down his cheek to the corner of his mouth, he looked like he may have also been one of the three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae." 2/6 remembers that Command Sgt. Maj. Knox loved his soldiers and took great care of them. He would also often counsel junior officers if they requested him to do so. Joe states, "In 1979 Mike Mulhern and I attended a First Infantry Division reunion at Fort Riley. As soon as we arrived at the reception, Command Sgt. Maj. Knox recognized us and briskly walked over and carried on a long conversation about our serving together. It meant a lot to the both of us. He was a class act."

On June 26, Lt. Col. Vinson sent out a company minus two platoons to find the enemy who had been firing mortars on Dau Tieng. The force killed one mortar team and captured a mortar and some small arms. The perimeter was quiet for days afterward, and the battalion concentrated on improving the perimeter of Dau Tieng that had been neglected by the soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth Infantry Division, who previously held the base camp

Battalion Leadership

July 1 at 12:00 p.m.

The following people took command of various units at this time:

• Lt. Col. Newell Vinson, commander of 2/2 (Mech) June 9, 1969

• Capt. Richard Buckles, commander of A 2/2 (Mech) June 25, 1969

• Capt. Carrol Howard, commander of C 2/2 (Mech) July 7, 1969

• Maj. George Forrest, S-3 of 2/2 (Mech) July 9, 1969 (Had been XO)

Joe Ladensack, or 2/6, has vivid memories of Maj. George Forrest. "After my in-country training at Di An, Headquarters of the First Infantry, I boarded a C-7 caribou aircraft and flew to Lai Khe. The first person I met was the 2/2 (Mech) XO Major George Forrest, who was waiting for me in his jeep. After welcoming me to the battalion, he drove me over to the Tactical Operations Center and sat me down for a briefing. I remember his soft voice and the attention he paid to me. He told me the battalion was up on Route 13 and in the town of An Loc. Thunder IV was their base. 'In the morning,' he said, 'you will take the convoy to Thunder IV, and Lt. Col. James (Jacques) Michienzi, battalion commander, will assign you to either Alpha or Charlie Company.' Maj. Forrest went on to say that both Capt. Combs, Alpha Company CO, and Capt. Kelly, Charlie Company CO, were excellent teachers for young lieutenants. 'If you listen and learn you'll be okay. However,' said Forrest, 'they have very different teaching methods.'"

It was some twenty-three years later that 2/6 read We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young, by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway and learned that Capt. George Forrest, as company commander of Alpha 1/5 Cavalry, had participated in the Ia Drang Valley Battle of LZ X-Ray. He was also deeply involved in the Battle of LZ Albany. "He was without a doubt the best officer that I served under in my brief army career," 2/6 stated unequivocally.

New people to the battalion HHC were Capt. Tom Kelly, S-2 of 2/2 (Mech) as of July 7, 1969, who had been C 2/2 CO; and Maj. Jay McDivitt, XO of 2/2 (Mech) July 9, 1969, who graduated from the Citadel and was on his second tour in Vietnam. The first was also with the First Infantry Division.

It was quite unusual to see this many new people in charge of a battalion, but with officers changing command on a six-month basis, which was common practice during an officer's twelve-month tour, there were always new people coming and going. Many...