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Our Honored Dead: Vietnam
Charlie Company
Tribute for Pfc Tommy Dixon
Age 21Osceola, Arkansas
Kontum Province
Mortar
Tommy Joe Dixon was my best friend in Nam. We served together in the same
squad of the 1st Platoon (the Apaches)
of C, 1/14. The following
personal narrative supplements the Daily Staff Journals for the last few
days of his life.
On 7 March 1969, A 1/14 and C 1/14 commenced BDA operations in Arc Light
areas west of Kontum in the general
vicinity of Polei Kleng. The first three
days of the mission were uneventful for our company, and I believe likewise
for A 1/14. But the situation would change on the fourth day.
According to the journals, On March 10 A 1/14 started to patrol from grid
978914 and we moved out from 976960.
About mid-day on March 10, A Company came under enemy fire. What
initially was reported as sniper fire would
escalate to incoming B-40
rockets and mortar rounds. C 1/14 was sent to reinforce. As I recall, it was about a
two-hour hump
to their location. Enroute we received a little sniper fire but I don't
recall anyone being hit. We linked
up with A 1/14 at grid 992992 about an hour or so before dark.
By the time we got to their location, they had 5 KIAs
and multiple WIAs. Dustoffs had been completed for most of the wounded. We helped load the dead
into an APC
from theA 1/69 Armor element that was on location.
According to the information provided by this web site, the five men from A Company killed in action that day were:
SP4 Jesse Archer
SGT James Cameron
SP4 Leon Coit
Sp4 Arthur George-Pizarro
PFC John Lortz III
Not long after we linked up, Charlie greeted us with incoming mortar
rounds. The journal indicates 10 incoming rounds
with C 1/14 receiving 4
WIA. I recall only one WIA in our platoon, a fellow who received a bad
looking abdominal
wound.
One of the incoming was a dud round; it hit the
rucksack being worn by another fellow in our platoon. I believe it was
an
82mm mortar round. A tremendous amount of artillery and air fire was placed on the suspected
enemy positions
and this continued through the night. According to the
journals, we received artillery support from LZ Mile High,
LZ Bass, and LZ
Bunker Hill.
That night, Tom and I dug one hell of a foxhole. The thing was some deep.
That night we also talked about the possibility
of joining the REMFs by signing up for an additional year of service. We decided that we would
pursue the possibility
with 1-6 the next day. During the night there was movement and lights at several points outside
the perimeter, but no
incoming fire as I recall. The next morning our company was told to move out. As we were policing up
our gear, Charlie
started peppering us again with 82 mm rounds. Despite the previous B-52 strikes during the Arc Light operations and the
tremendous amount of artillery and air fire laid on Charlie the previous day
and night, there he was still out there and
sending us shells. He sure was
one formidable foe!
Several of us were hit in the attack. I don't know the numbers, but
there were quite a few WIA. Tom Dixon took
the worst hit. I didn't see him
but I was told he had severe facial and head wounds.
I was on the last dustoff that morning. When I arrived at the 71st
Evacuation Hospital in Pleiku, I was placed in a preop
room that was
accommodating several other guys from C 1/14. I was told that Tom was the
guy in the bed at the end
of our row of beds, the guy with his head and face
completely wrapped with tubes sticking out. I couldn't understand
why he
wasn't in OR; he arrived a good while before we did. For the hour or so
that I was in that room before
surgery, nothing was being done for Tom other
than being checked occasionally by a nurse, and I couldn't understand
that. I knew nothing about the treatment of Category 4s.
I don't know if Tom eventually had an operation, but I doubt that he
did. His injuries were probably too severe, he was
probably classified as a
4. He died a few days later.
Tommy Joe Dixon was a damn good soldier. I know that because we were side
by side most of our time in Vietnam.
He was alert and careful, much more so
than I ever was. Yet, when it came time for us to leave that country, and we
left at about the same time, possibly the same day, Tom left in a body bag
and I left with a million-dollar wound.
There is something wrong with that.
