As battle for Nui Chom looms, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment senses something bad looming | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

The nearly daily contact with the North Vietnamese Army was becoming more intense for the solders of the 4th Battalion of the 31st Infantry Regiment.

From the air, B-52’s were carpet bombing to the south and the chemical defoliate, known as Agent Orange, was being sprayed. The night of Aug. 23, shortly after the Recon Platoon found a detailed map of the battalion’s position on Landing Zone West, the unit came under attack from the south by the NVA.

As Lt. Col. Sam Wetzel rushed to see what was happening, he was struck in the forehead by a shot. He still wears the scar to this day. The Americans were able to beat back the surprise attack. Once the skirmish was over, Wetzel returned to the Tactical Operations Center, blood running down his face.

“Someone said that I should receive a Purple Heart,” Wetzel said, “I said, ‘No way since some of my soldiers were killed and wounded. There is no way I wanted a Purple Heart for a scratch.”

It did not take long for the unit to acquire an M45 Quad mount machine gun, known as a Quad 50 for the .50 caliber rounds it fired. The big gun was set up to secure the south side of the LZ.

“I showed our guys how to use a quadrant to elevate and depress it for different shots,” Wetzel remembered.

Below the firebase, the Song Thu Bong River was used by the NVA as an infiltration point after walking down the Ho Chi Min Trail out of Laos. The Quad 50 gun was fired on the enemy as they marched through the night. And it worked.

“Prisoners later told us it was like ‘whispering death’ when all of a sudden .50 caliber shells were hitting them without warning,” Wetzel said.

As August gave way to September, Typhoon Beth struck Chu Lai and brought winds in excess of 50 knots. It grounded most air traffic in the Americal Division. But it didn’t stop the fighting. On Sept. 9, Charlie Company, one of four companies under Wetzel’s command, made an interesting discovery.

The lieutenant colonel went to see what was captured at an enemy Nui Chom base camp.

“We found 31 SKS rifles, five AK-47 rifles, seven B-40 rocket rounds, miscellaneous documents and nine portable flamethrowers buried in a cache of Russian Chemical Company items,” Wetzel said. “There were also gas masks, chemical beakers and eight large tanks, later identified as a Soviet TPO-50M.”

That was the first know Russian chemical equipment discovered in South Vietnam.

“The intelligence people from Saigon got very excited and descended on us and took away all the gear,” Wetzel said. Inside of Charlie Company was a squad of soldiers called “Zappers,” led by Sgt. Ernan C. Gutierrez.

“They were a fearless, but crazy bunch,” Wetzel said. “If they discovered a hut and believed it to be occupied, they would take off running and yelling toward the hut. The enemy would be so surprised, they would not react. Many VC and NVA were captured or killed, and many weapons collected by these courageous men.”

On Oct. 12, Charlie Company found a large structure not far from LZ West. In it was a Viet Cong flag and a detailed diagram of the landing zone. There was also a chart showing South Vietnamese and U.S. soldiers killed in action. It was clear the battalion was nearing a bigger fight.

The remainder of October, rice caches totaling more than 5,000 pounds were found. Company B found a Viet Cong base camp that included a cave complex containing more than two dozen 82 mm mortar rounds, 6,000 pounds of rice and TNT.

Early November brought some entertainment and a brief distraction for the troops. Actress Martha Raye made her second visit to the battalion. It was just months before Raye, known for her comedic roles, would be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her volunteer efforts and services to the troops.

“Ahead of time, I explained to the younger soldiers who she was, and they had no clue,” said Wetzel, who let Raye use his bunker to freshen up. “She loved being with the troops and had her own history of many years with the Green Berets.”

Two ballplayers, Baltimore pitcher Pete Richert and “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks, also visited the battalion. They spent the day talking to soldiers. Banks, had just finished his 16th Major League season and was well on his way to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame, was an appropriate visitor. Known for his “Let’s play two,” outlook on life, the 4th Battalion was on the verge of war’s version of a doubleheader.

SOMETHING BAD LOOMING

The men could sense something bad looming — and soon. One of those men was 1st Lt. Lloyd H. Martin, from the Milwaukee suburb of Franklin, Wisc. He ended up in Vietnam February 1968 after washing out of college. He wound up in an artillery unit because of his flat feet and the fact that he was really good at math.

Martin had been a forward observer for Delta Company during the first seven months of his deployment. By November, he was the executive officer for C Battery — the man in charge of the ammo and the big guns. Martin was the crafty kind of officer who found a way to get the supplies and ammunition he needed, even if it was not by the book.

Not long after Wetzel took command, a helicopter dropped a load of wood. It was intended for Wetzel’s bunker, and a sergeant major told Martin.

“I told the sergeant major, ‘You tell the colonel he can have the wood or he can have artillery, whichever one you want. Just let me know,’” Martin remembered.

There was a fear that the Wetzel’s unit could be overrun, so there was a limit on the amount of ammunition that could be kept on hand. The limit was 20 rounds ready to fire and 100 rounds in reserve per gun.

“I thought, if we get into a world of s---, I will shoot this up in no time and I won’t be able to help them,” Martin said.

So, against orders, he began to hoard ammunition.

“I had 100 rounds filled and ready to go for each gun and another 300 rounds or more for backup,” Martin said. About a week before the battle, Martin got caught. A colonel — “full bird,” Martin remembered — got off a helicopter at the landing zone and went straight for the ammo bunkers.

“He saw all of the ammo I had and then he went to each gun,” Martin remembered.

Profanity was flying and disciplinary action was promised as the colonel had caught Martin red-handed calling in false ammo counts. Martin did what any good soldier would do in the situation, he just kept saying, “Yes, sir; yes, sir; yes, sir.”

One of Martin’s enlisted men also got an ass chewing from the colonel that day. It seems the uniforms were dirty and the boots had not been shined.

“I guess I missed the memo on how to keep our uniforms clean and our boots polished when we were up to our asses in mud from the rainy season,” Martin said.

The colonel’s threats proved idle and the ammunition overload remained with Martin and his men.

The Battle of Nui Chom

Part 1: Lt. Col. Sam Wetzel takes command of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Division.

Today/Part 2: Getting ready for the fight

Part 3: The first shots are fire on Nui Chom

Part 4: Making a plan on how to attack Nui Chom

Part 5: “He altered the name on my bullet”

Part 6: Finishing off the climb to the top

Last in a series: Thanksgiving dinner on the top of Nui Chom