Special Operations.Com

Tales From SOG

Merry F...kin' Christmas SOG and the USMC Aviation

by Major William "Bill" Shelton,
Commander, FOB-1, Phu Bai

On 24 DEC 68, to the best of my recollection, this is what happened. About 2 weeks preceding the mission, Chief SOG instructed FOB-1 to prepare a team for insert deep into the AO. The team was to move only at night (to avoid detection by the NVA ???). The mission was road watch. The team selected was led by 1LT Bob Leong, an American of Chinese extraction. One super young officer! The team was in NVA uniform, armed with AKs. The insert went well, and the team was having good success in avoiding detection, providing some good info on road movements in the AO. Apparently, someone found out we were in the AO, and that the Christmas "bombing halt" was being "violated."

Chief SOG called me on the (High Frequency) HF radio and told me to "get that team out of there now!" It was early afternoon, and the assets were on the helipad. Kingbees, and the gunships at the Phu Bai airstrip. Not sure who Covey rider was, but most likely Bob Parks, (Spider). The FAC was launched, and Leong was told to move to an extraction LZ. His reply was something to the effect that this move would cause the team to be discovered, and bring contact with the NVA. I understood that, but the order stood. As Bob had predicted, they did come under fire.

Dick Robinson, 367th HML, USMC, flew lead, and because the Kingbees, (bless them all) had little or no avionics on board, Dick guided them into the extraction site. The site was hot, but HML 367 guns were able, with some TAC air, to get the Kingbees in to extract the team. As I recall, there was one casualty, Bob Leong. En route back to Phu Bai, one of the Kingbees was separated from the rest of the flight. It was the Kingbee carrying the team. Dick Robinson led the others to where they were able to get back to Phu Bai, then flew back toward where he had last seen the remaining Kingbee. He did find him and herded him back to Phu Bai, landing on the helipad at about 2100 hrs. As the team unloaded, I checked on Leong. He had taken a flesh wound in the lower abdomen, from an AK, just above his pubic area. His words to me were "Merry Fuckin' Christmas!" All in all I took it as a really Merry Christmas.

Thank God that Dick Robinson and his Marines from HML 367 were on that mission. The weather and darkness dictated that IFR would be in order. The Marine pilots were all IFR qualified, and because of that, they were able to get in, get out and back to Phu Bai.

This is furnished for information, and to not let the memories of any of our superb fighting men vanish. And to let others know that SOG and the Corps did indeed have great working relationships at the work level.

Back