Into Cambodia - Keith Nolan [57]
As each troop had made it to the hasty laager dubbed FSB South I, they were greeted not with word of why ongoing operations had been cancelled so abruptly, but with blivets of fuel, water, ammunition, spare machine gun barrels, and vehicle parts that had been on back order for weeks. Sergeant Hackbarth of H Company recalled the mood at FSB South I:
When we got there, we didn't know where the hell we were, what we were doing. It was about ten o'clock, pitch black. We're in black-out conditions. All of a sudden we're getting resupplied, and we're humping ammunition, HEAT ammunition–high explosive antitank–we had never had that before. We'd always had cannister rounds or simple high-explosive rounds. All of a sudden we get this big shipment of HEAT rounds, and we're looking at each other: What the hell is going on? There was a bit of rain, too. It's wet and hot, and you had to stumble around in the dark in a brand-new area–and it's all just beaten down bamboo and brush and sticks and all that–and we're humping HEAT ammunition up on the tank. It was rather ominous.
Troop commanders had then been informed by Brookshire and Franks that they would be striking into the Fishhook within the next twenty-four hours, with a probable start time of about 0800 the next morning. Maps were issued in multiples of six copies each, one for each troop's commander, forward observer, and platoon leaders. From the troop commanders, word had been passed to the platoon leaders and platoon ser-geants, and then, Sergeant Hackbarth noted, to the tank commanders like himself:
We had a TCs meeting in Platoon Sergeant King's tank. He informed us of the mission. Everybody was just kind of staring and looking at each other, and it was a combination of emotions run wild. Came back and told the guys and we're all sitting around looking at that new load of ammo, and we didn't really talk too much, not too damn much. We were awake most of the night, dealing with our own inner convictions. Everybody was scared, no doubt about it. There's that fine line when you're scared and being frightened–you can still function when you're scared, but when you're frightened you totally freeze up. We agreed that finally we were doing something positive and we hoped we could knock out a few dinks before they got us. There was a lot of elation, and at the same time there was a definite undercurrent of fear. We were all happy we did not have lead bust.
What preparations 2-11 ACR had made at FSB South I had been duplicated by 3-11 ACR at FSB South II, another hasty laager site right on the border. Shortly after crossing the Pig Path–the trail that roughly defined the border–with 2-11 ACR, Colonel Starry was informed that 3-11 ACR had also entered Cambodia. Advancing in column to the east of their sister squadron, using trails where possible but otherwise knocking down trees with their tank company in a wedge formation, Lt. Col. Bobby F. Griffin, CO, 3-11, and Maj. William Harris, S-3, 3-11, came across with I Troop (Capt. Paul Kern), L Troop (Capt. Thomas L. Hammerstone), and M Company (Capt. Stewart W. Wallace). A quarter mile into Cambodia, L Troop and M Company began receiving sporadic AK47 and RPG fire, which they returned, but Lieutenant Colonel Griffin's command ACAV drew a lot of attention because of its extra radios, and an RPG explosion suddenly knocked out both aerials. The commander of the headquarters troop, Capt. Ralph A. Miles, who loved the colonel and had insisted on coming