Ronald E. Smith
At Khe Sanh: December 13, 1967 - April 18, 1968
Lance Corporal, Marines, communications platoon, H&S Company, 3/26 (at combat base); India Company, 3/26 (Hill 881S)
On Hill 881S, I was a radio operator for the Forward Air Controller, helping to keep radio contact with airborne air controllers. I also worked in the Combat Operations Center (COC) sending and receiving messages to and from the Combat Base.
When 3/26 first arrived at Khe Sanh, daily life was a routine of settling in: digging bunkers, filling sand bags, extending the perimeter to accommodate the battalion. During the siege, we spent a great deal of time underground during rocket, artillery, and mortar attacks. In between the incoming rounds, there was a frenzy of activity as we scurried about, improving our defenses, patching up damage to the air strip, and collecting our supplies.
Life up on 881S was very similar, except on a smaller scale. I went up to 881S in mid-February, well after India Company had taken control of the Hill. I was lucky enough to join three Marines who had a bunker. Most of the Marines on the Hill lived in what we called "bunny holes," which were carved into the interior wall of the trench that ringed the Hill. Some of the bunny holes, however, were somewhat elaborate, with floors made from ammo boxes, and walls and ceilings covered with parachute silk.
Several days stand out in my memory. One is when the ammo dump was hit. Rounds were cooking off with tremendous explosions and tear gas was drifting across the base. For a while, I thought all of the explosions were part of the NVA barrage that had set the ammo dump off, and I was certain that the big attack we were expecting had begun.
Another memorable day, a night really, was when Kilo Company was nearly overrun on Hill 861. I was on the Battalion radio net when the attack began, and I fielded most of the communication coming off of the Hill. A friend of mine named Gieger (if I ever knew his first name, I cannot recall it; we knew each other by nicknames and last names only) had just gone up to the Hill to serve as the company radio operator. In between requests for air and artillery support, Gieger provided a running commentary (a play by play of the action) on who was wounded, who was dead, and how far the NVA had advanced into the perimeter.
Another day I will never forget is the day I helped put Corporal Terry Smith on a medevac helicopter. I had never seen a person so devoid of color before, and I knew instinctively that he would not survive the short flight to Charlie Med at the Combat Base. I had been on 881 for about a week, and Terry had been training me to help his replacement with the Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) while Terry was on R&R. He was the first KIA I had seen.
When we left Khe Sanh, I had difficulty moving too far from a trench line. After more than two months of life in the trenches of the Combat Base and Hill 881S, I was not used to being above ground for such a long period of time. It was like some macabre version of musical chairs. None of us wanted to be too far from safety when the incoming started. When we arrived at our new location, Dong Ha, field showers had been set up, and we discarded the filthy, rotten clothing we had been wearing. On my way to collect some freshly laundered utilities, I was overcome by the stench drifting off of the pile of discarded clothes. I said to a friend, "God, we stunk!"
He replied, "You think we would have noticed that before now, wouldn't you?"
After Vietnam, Ronald E. Smith attended college on the GI Bill. He has taught college English since 1977.
