SUMMARY
SGT Haines died
in Hua Nghia, South Vietnam
on 3/6/1968
during the Vietnam War
as a member of HQ-HHC
.
The soldier's injury type or status was recorded as 'Multiple Fragmentation Wounds'.
Haines
originated from Vandalia, Michigan
.
DETAILS
On March 06, 1968, Companies A and B along with the Recon Platoon(-) and Company A, 2/34th Armor conducted a sweep in the area of XT 7605, northeast of Hoc Mon. At 1604 hours, units made heavy contact at XT 769045. At 1615 hours Company A 2/34th Armor reported one killed and one wounded.
A Bobcat from Company B was moving along a tree line when he got shot in the head. Two men from Company B went to check him out to see if they could help him. One of them got shot in the chest and killed, the other was shot and wounded in the leg and hip. The Bobcat shot in the chest only had a few weeks to go before he was to get out of the Army. He had plans to get married as soon as he got out. At 1629 hours, Company B requested a dust-off for 8 Bobcats.
Company A was moving with men walking in front of the APCs. They received some sniper fire and turned on line to advance toward the sniper fire. The 3rd Platoon was in the middle and got hit first. An M-60 gunner got shot in the stomach and called out for help. The man next to him turned and got shot in the head. People called for a medic and as the medic advanced he was shot and killed. The soldiers were ordered to pull back, “but the M-60 gunner was still alive.” Air strikes with napalm were called in during the night.
At 0755 hours, on March 07, 1968, the body of the dead medic was recovered. At 0821 hours, the bodies of the other two were located. The M-60 gunner was found “with a rosary wrapped around his hands, he probably was praying up to the time he died.”
During the contact on March 6th, Company A suffered 8 wounded and 3 killed. Company B suffered 5 wounded and 2 killed. One of the Bobcats killed had only been in Viet Nam for 20 days. One APC had been destroyed and one tank and one APC were damaged. At 1720 hours, all personnel were accounted for and the units closed back to the battalion forward base.
Company C continued providing security for Rome Plow operations.