Gone But Not Forgotten
Doug Steiner
Company C, 2/12th
Cavalry
Gone but not forgotten, it doesn’t seem like forty years have gone by since that day. I still see them at times. They never got old like me.
It was December 29, 1966 Bong Son. It was a good day as I remember. We had chow flown in the night before. The Cav did that a lot. That probably led to part of our problem that day. Charlie knew right where we were. The second platoon was the point platoon and I was RTO for Lt. Paterson. Lueco Allen was point man. He must have spotted the ambush because he opened up and was hit immediately.
It’s hard to remember exactly the chain of events when the radio starts going crazy. I believe that PSGT John Holstein went forward and was killed. Doc Richard Sipes the Medic went up to see what he could do and was killed. The fire was coming from across the rice paddies. This all happened within minutes. We had ARA choppers on the scene within minutes. We were returning fire across the paddies and I was on the radio. I don’t remember if it was to the captain or the gun ships. We started chewing up the tree line .
That was when I got hit in the shoulder. We also had several wounded who went out on Medevac. I went out on the last ship with my friend Doc Sipes and the other KIAs. It was a terrible thing to see those three men dead and know that I was the lucky one who made it. I later found out that Lt. Paterson was also hit. I spent a month in and out of the hospital and light duty.
That is how I remember that day. It was the last time that I got real close to anyone during my tour.
With respect for those who gave all.