History of War – October 2019

the stomach wound to slow the bleeding and

moved on, intent on leading the defence against

the communist onslaught.

Sergeant Alamo had been seriously

burned during the ammunition removal effort

but managed to reach a 60mm mortar pit.

Daniels was nearby, and Donlon asked if he

had reached headquarters in Da Nang. When

Daniels confirmed the contact, Donlon was

concerned. “I couldn’t understand where the

reaction forces were,” he wrote years later. “We

had been fighting for almost an hour. It was only

32 miles to Da Nang. Where was the flare ship?

Where was the air strike?” Donlon had no time

to contemplate the absence of air support. He

moved toward the rear of the camp to check on

the mortar and machine-gun positions there.

Encouraging his men, he turned again

toward the forward area of the camp, returning

to the 60mm mortar pit where Sergeant Mike

Disser was feverishly fighting alongside Alamo,

Lieutenant Jay Olejniczak, the team’s executive

officer, and a few Nungs. Just as Donlon and his

hand-held radio operator, ‘Smiley’, passed the

supply room, a tremendous explosion knocked

the officer to his knees. Shrapnel ripped into his

left leg, inflicting another of seven wounds he

suffered during the savage struggle.

The Viet Cong concentrated on the

troublesome mortar pit, tossing grenades

inside as the defenders, every one already

wounded, sought to flip them back over the

edge before they exploded. “A grenade

bounced into the bunker and landed in an

ammunition box alongside Disser,” Donlon

remembered. “Jay and Alamo dove to the right,

Mike to the left. The blast tore into Mike’s foot

and lower leg. He crawled back to his mortar

and started firing it again.”

Donlon realised that the position was too

exposed. A concussion grenade exploded,

stunning the occupants again as they struggled

to maintain fire. Donlon picked up the badly

wounded Alamo and stood just as a mortar

round detonated a few yards away, hurling

him into the air and killing Alamo, one of two

Americans who died in the action. The other

was 22-year-old Sergeant John L. Houston,

who received a posthumous Distinguished

Service Cross for heroism.

Shaking off the pain of a serious shoulder

wound, Donlon made sure the survivors

relocated to a stronger position about 30

metres away, personally carrying the precious

60mm mortar. He tore pieces of his clothing for

bandages and patched up three wounded men,

then dashed into the open again to retrieve

a 57mm recoilless rifle. Once more braving a

hail of enemy fire, he charged out to gather

ammunition for both weapons, barely noticing

the sting of hot shrapnel from an exploding

grenade that ripped into his leg.

Confident that his men could hold their new

position Donlon moved on toward an 81mm

mortar pit 175 metres away. He relayed the

news that Alamo and Houston were dead to

HeRoes of tHeMeDal ofHonoR

Captain Roger Donlon chats with

President Lyndon Johnson after

being awarded the Medal of Honor

for action at Nam Dong

“let any who suggest

that wecannothonour

ourcoMMitMentin

vietnaM find new

strength and new

resolution in the

actionsofthisbrave

ManandhiscoMrades”

Presidentlyndon B. Johnson

Left: Retired Colonel Roger

Donlon displays a Boy Scout

compass he used in Vietnam

while addressing a gathering