From the S&S archives: Just minutes ... but this is war

(Photos at end of story)

A shot rang out from the brush to our left. The bullet kicked up dirt a few yards behind us. The Montagnard rangers in front crouched momentarily then dove headfirst into the grass as several more bullets thudded nearby.

"Move up that trail. Don't just lie there. Get moving.

"Where the hell is that mortar? Get the bazookas up here quick"

The 10 rangers began running forward, firing from the hip as bullets flew around them.

Then the guerrillas disappeared into thick brush over the side of the hill.

The bazooka team came over and tried to fire. Nothing happened.

Special Forces adviser S/Sgt. Howard Stevens looked down the rocket launcher tube. The bazookaman had rammed the shell in too far past the contact points.

Stevens tipped the tube over and gently slid the rocket out the forward end, being careful not to let the arming pin fall.

The mortar team set up their hand-held tube and began dropping 60mm shells across the draw in front as ammo bearers crouched against the dirt embankment. behind.

Then, almost :as suddenly as it began, the incident was over. It lasted less than 10 minutes.

"This is what we call 'on-the-job training' for the strike force," said Stevens. "We came out all right this time — no casualties."

The "training" was a seven-day combat patrol deep into the Viet Cong-held mountains of the Central Vietnam Highlands, The mission: Contact the enemy, make soldiers out of primitive Montagnard tribesmen.

Patrol report: Mission accomplished.


Staff Sgt. Howard Stevens, left, Special Forces adviser, gives a last-minute briefing to Montagnard strike force leaders, reminding them of lessons learned on previous patrols and that a 100-man Viet Cong guerrilla force, armed with mortar and machine guns, is nearby.


Koho strike force rangers trail the Viet Cong, quickly checking bamboo brush on both sides as they try to gain the initiative in contact with the enemy. In the fast, hit-and-run actions of guerrilla warfare, the victor is usually decided in the first few sections of an ambush.


Ammunition bearers crouch against an embankment as mortarmen drop 60mm shells on the fleeing enemy. The Kohos, who have no count system in their language, must hand-hold the mortar tube and sight visually across the muzzle, estimating the range.


Koho tribesmen pause en route to their objective to fill canteens in a cool mountain stream. On the trails and along the water's edge were numerous blood-sucking leeches.


Stevens, center, carefully removes a bazooka shell after the gunner had rammed it in too far into the tube during an engagement with Viet Cong guerrillas. Such incidents amplify the need for experienced advisers accompanying patrols. Smoke in the background is from a bazooka round just fired.