DAK TO, Vietnam — Two companies of the 101st Airborne Brigade Saturday fought their way out of an almost complete encirclement by north Vietnamese forces and left behind hundreds of enemy dead.

The savage fighting took place during Operation Hawthorne about 30 miles north-northwest of Kontum City near the Laotian border.

At the scene of the action, Lt. Col. Henry K. Emerson, commander of the 2d Bn., 502d Inf. Regt., said, "We are leaving behind hundreds of dead north Vietnamese and we've destroyed several machine gun nests."

A U.S. spokesman in Saigon reported Saturday that the "Screaming Eagles" have killed 385 Keels, captured four, and have captured 75 individual weapons and nine crew-served weapons. Friendly casualties in the continuing operation remain light, he said.

At his forward command post 9 a.m. Saturday, Emerson reported that Capt. Walter Brown's Able Co. and Capt, Bill Carpenter's Charley Co. were "developing a pretty critical situation."

He also told 1st Lt. Louis Sill, commander of Baker Co., over his field radio that it "looks like we can get a big bag of them (north Vietnamese, soldiers) if they get up out of their holes." He then ordered two Chinook helicopters to lift Sill's men into a better position.

A few minutes later, a report crackled over the field radio that "it appears that whole valley has people (enemy) in it to prevent him (Brown's Able Co.) from getting out."

The American paratroopers were pulling back from the enemy forces so they could bring in air strikes and artillery fire on the welt-entrenched communists.

Emerson said Brown has been recommended for two silver stars. Brown's answer over the field radio was "just give me a razor arid a bath and I'll forego the silver stars and all."

The enemy was using the same bear-hug lactic they tried Thursday when West Point football hero Carpenter was forced to call a napalm strike in on his own position. The enemy would engage the paratroopers at 20-30-yard distances to prevent American airstrikes.

The friendly forces broke "the bear hug," by simple redeployment.

"They're trying to follow us out." Emerson reported to Brig. Gen. Willard Pearson, commander of the 1st Brigade. "I want to draw them out in the open."

Capt. Walter Wesley's provisional company, which was formed by 86 volunteers Thursday when their buddies needed help, had commanding terrain on high ground. Brown's A Co. and Sill's R Co. had enemy forces between them.

Pearson arrived at Emerson's forward command post at 9:15 a.m. Saturday to be briefed on the developing situation. He was told about Carpenter's C Co. having difficulty in moving up the dense jungle on the mountainous plateau because of their many litter cases.

Friendly 105mm and 155mm howitzers blasted the enemy positions throughout the morning as the three paratroop companies made their way up the slopes of the plateau, where medical evacuation helicopters had space to land beside a bomb crater.

Platoon Sgt. Jesse D. Anderson, 44, of Fayetteville, N.C., took 55 reconnaissance troopers up on higher hills to help take the heat off of A and C companies.

About noon Saturday, all three companies had fought their ways up the plateau through thick bamboo while carrying at least 25 litter cases.

Big U.S. Marine CH46-A "Sea Knight" helicopters sat down one at a time on the muddy edge of the bomb crater and began loading wounded and dead paratroopers aboard.

Carpenter, 28, in describing his C Co.'s action, said "we were right in the middle of them, 50s and 30s (machine guns) were on our right and rear.

"Someone on the radio was telling me to 'make a bold change, make a bold change,' said Carpenter, "so I did."

Probably the luckiest man in the "Screaming Eagles" during the five days of action was PFC Jimmy Horton, 22.

Horton had a spent gob of jagged lead protruding from the belt suspender straps covering his heart. He had a bandaged right wrist and when he was asked, "were you wounded?" Horton said with a grin, "No, man. That's just a slight infection. Look at this." And he called attention to the chunk of lead.

Emerson described the battle area as a "big donut."

He said his battalion made the tactical withdrawal, in order to concentrate heavier fire power on the "donut." He said many of his paratroopers were within 50 yards of enemy forces so no heavy fire or air strikes could be made without the pull-back of friendly forces.

Emerson summed up the day's battle as the last load of wounded paratroopers were being lifted out on the helicopters.

"We've been able to relieve A and C companies from a hard-pressed situation. They were fairly well encircled by a larger enemy force. We've gained a commanding piece of terrain and have a commanding piece of ground.

"We're leaving behind hundreds of enemy dead and have destroyed several machine gun nests.

"We feel we have encircled a large NVC (north Vietnamese communist) force. Now we can get into position to strangle off and finish a very large concentration of enemy forces."

Migrated