I arrived in Da Nang, South Vietnam after three weeks on leave in Baltimore, Maryland, one month in the Staging Battalion at Camp Pendleton, California and sitting around for two weeks at the Transient Facility located at Camp Hanson and Camp Swab on Okinawa.

Then in late March , 1968, a group of us were flown by helicopter to 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade Headquarters under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Weise. It was located at Mai Xa Chanh West, South Vietnam. The Battalion Sergeant Major was Sergeant Major John "Big John" M. Malner.

From there I was assigned to Echo Company, under the command of Captain James E. Livingston. My assignment was as the 1st Squad Leader of the 3rd Platoon, commanded by First Lieutenant David R. Jones. Lieutenant Jones was also the Executive Office for Echo Company. Our Platoon Sergeant was Staff Sergeant Downs and Sergeant Cox served as the Platoon Right Guide.

Captain Livingston met with all his new Marines being assigned to Echo Company. When I met with him, I noticed that he had a real close haircut. (It looked like he had shaved his head.) We talked briefly about my Marine Barracks duty in Panama and then he told what he expected of the Marine Non-Commissioned Officers assigned to his company and that he expected more out of them because lives depended on it.

He closed the conversation by saying "This isn't Marine Barracks duty, Sergeant. Welcome to the Grunts." and with that, I was assigned to the 3rd Platoon.

Captain Livingston had Gunnery Sergeant Thomas, the Company Gunny take me over to the 3rd Platoon. Gunny Thomas filled me in about Captain Livingston and the rest of the Company on our way over.

"The Skipper's a hard-core Marine but he's a damn good Officer. His standards are high and he don't take no crap, so don't screw up. He'll lock your heels in a minute if you don't stay squared away. It's best to keep your butt squared away or he will have a piece of it."

"Yes Sir, Gunny."

"Don't call me Sir. I ain't no Officer. Like the Skipper said, This ain't no Marine Barracks duty, this is the grunts, the real thing. This is what the Marine Corps is all about." said Gunny Thomas .

" I can see that, Gunny. I hope I can do a good job." I said

" You ain't got no choice but to do a good job, Sergeant. Cause here if you don't do a good job, Marines go home in a body bag! Dammit! This is combat. Marines die here if you screw up." He replied

" I'll do the best job that I can do, Gunny."

" You better. Consider yourself lucky too, Sergeant Rogers." said Gunny Thomas.

" Why's that, Gunny?" I said.

" Your getting Lieutenant Jones as your Platoon Commander. He's an experienced combat officer and he takes care of his troops. He 's the best damn officer this company's got besides the Skipper. The Lieutenant knows combat tactics and supporting arms. He knows how to handle things here in the bush. You listen to what he says and you might be able to learn something that will keep you alive. If I hear that you are giving him any crap, you'll answer to me, you hear!"

For some reason I felt the Gunny didn't like me but I was to later find out that he gave that same little "welcome aboard" speech to all new personnel joining the Company.

I met Lieutenant Jones and he briefed me on 3rd Platoon. He told me what he expected of the men under his command. He impressed me as a hard charger who led by personal example. Afterwards, the Lieutenant introduced me to Staff Sergeant Downs and Sgt Cox. Both were combat experienced. Staff Sergeant Downs introduced me to the other squad leaders and had Sgt Cox take me to the 1st Squad.

The members of the 1st Squad consisted of three fireteams, one machine gunner and assistant machine gunner and the radio operator. The radio operator also carried the M-79 Grenade Launcher.

Corporal Pickett, whom I found to be Gung Ho and a hard charger, was one of the Fireteam Leaders. He was twenty-two years old and from Chicago. I was to make him the 1st Fireteam Leader and the assistant squad leader even though he wasn't the senior Corporal because of his enthusiasm and fearlessness. In his fireteam were Lance Corporal Frank and Privates First Class Conley and Farmer. Corporal Pickett constantly boasted that he had the best fireteam in the Company.

Corporal Butler, who was the senior Corporal, was one of the other fireteam leaders. I was to make him the 2nd Fireteam Leader. He spent the majority of his time gripping about something; he was always complaining . I didn't feel I could depend on him. He felt that Captain Livingston had it in for the 3rd Platoon. In his fireteam were Lance Corporal Johnson and Privates First Class Scott and Mills.

Corporal Cooper was the 3rd fireteam leader. He was quiet, but a good fireteam leader on whom we could depend. He always insured that his men kept their weapons clean and were ready to move out at a moment's notice. In his fireteam were Lance Corporal Trijullo and Private First Class Edwards and Private Fields.

Private First Class Serino was attached to the squad as the M-60 Machine Gunner. He was cocky, but took a lot of pride in his responsibility. Private First Class Pierce was Serino's assistant gunner and together they made a outstanding team.

Private First Class Lohman was the radio operator and also carried the M-79 Grenade Launcher. He was proud to be the squad radio operator and talked to his M-79 Grenade Launcher like it was his little baby brother.

On May 1, 1968, we moved from a bridge in Dong Ha which Echo Company had been assigned to protect by the 3rd Marine Division Headquarters. We were going to join in the battle going on at An Lac and Dai Do. The rest of the Battalion was already there and had run into some heavy fighting against NVA soldiers. Lieutenant Colonel William Weise, the Battalion Commander, wanted us there to help. Because Echo Company had been assigned the mission of guarding the bridge at Dong Ha by 3rd Marine Division Headquarters, he had to go through them to get us reassigned to the Battalion.

We had to travel about two miles from our position that we had at the bridge to get to a stream along side the village of Dong Lai which we would have to cross to get to An Lac where a lot of the heavy fighting was going on. Captain Livingston assigned 3rd Platoon the point and although Lieutenant Jones assigned my squad as point for the 3rd Platoon, he was right there with us, following close behind.

I assigned Corporal Pickett's fireteam to the point. As we were moving along the side of the stream covered by bushes to get to the Village of An Lac, Corporal Pickett's fireteam suddenly stopped and hit the deck. They had spotted a group of NVA soldiers on the other side of the stream.

"Pass the word to Sergeant Rogers that we have spotted a squad of gooks on the other side of the stream." Corporal Pickett said to Lance Corporal Frank.

Private First Class Lohman and I moved up as fast as we could crawl to where Corporal Pickett had stopped. The NVA Soldiers were moving rapidly through the bushes on the opposite side of the stream and had not spotted us across from them. Lucky for us Corporal Pickett had spotted them first. They were about fifty to sixty meters away from us on the opposite side of the stream. If we didn't fire on them quickly, they would be gone into the bushes.

I took the hand receiver to the radio from Lohman and whispered over it to Lieutenant Jones that we had spotted NVA soldiers. Before I could receive a reply over the radio, he was along side me on the ground. At the same time I signaled the rest of the squad to move up quietly on line and told Lohman to prepare to fire his M-79 Grenade Launcher at them.

"We got them cold. Let's waste them. If we wait much longer, they are going to be gone. They're gonna didi mau (run quickly)." I said to Lieutenant Jones.

"You're right. Waste them." Lieutenant Jones replied.

As soon as the Lieutenant said waste them, Lohman didn't wait for my command, he just fired his M-79 Grenade Launcher. It fired with a bloop and the rest of the squad opened fire with everything that we had. His round hit and exploded, hitting one of them and catching the remaining gooks completely by surprise.

The NVA soldiers just took off running without returning our fire. We wanted to go after them but were immediately stopped by Captain Livingston. He told us to hold our position because we had gotten to far ahead of the rest of the company.

We got word that Sergeant Cox had been hit by NVA sniper fire and killed outside of Dong Lai. Sergeant Cox was twenty-five years old from Chesapeake, Virginia. A lot of the guys in the platoon didn't like Sergeant Cox because he was constantly on everybody's back about the lest little thing. Even though I didn't like the way he treated Marines of lesser grade and rank because of our different styles of leadership, I still felt sadness about his being killed.

As we waited for the rest of the Company to catch up, Lieutenant Jones and I quickly did a visual reconnaissance of the area ahead of us. We saw the portion of the stream that we were going to have to cross to get into the village of An Lac. Once the rest of the Company caught up, we started crossing the stream. The water was over our heads in some places.

My squad crossed the stream first and at once set up a hasty security perimeter on the other side. Lieutenant Jones and I lead the way for the rest of the squad in crossing the stream.

Once we got on the other side, Lieutenant Jones dumped his gear and flak jacket and proceeded back into the water to help other Marines of Echo Company get across. Everyone moved quickly across the stream. NVA soldiers were firing RPG's (Rocket Propelled Grenades) as the last group of Marines crossed the stream.

We got the entire company across and had established security positions around An Lac and joined Lieutenant Colonel Weise with the Battalion Command Group. An Lac was to be the Battalion Command Post and supply point with Echo Company responsible for it's security.

That night and the morning of May 2, 1968, my squad was assigned the mission of establishing an ambush/listening post outside of An Lac and to remain in position until dawn. Lieutenant Jones briefed me on what Captain Livingston wanted and expected to be accomplished.

The Lieutenant and I both did a visual reconnaissance through binoculars of the area from behind hedgerows at the edge of the village. We spotted the best location near a burial mound to set up the ambush/listening post. We both agreed that a 180 degree ambush position would be the best set up.

I had the fireteam leaders get the entire squad together and briefed everyone at once. Corporal Pickett's fireteam was to be the point fireteam and to get us to the burial mound. He and his men had no problems with that assignment.

Corporal Butler wanted to know why we had to establish the post, since we had already been the point squad earlier in the day when we left the bridge at Dong Ha. He argued that our squad had been the point squad in crossing the stream in getting to the village of An Lac. Corporals Pickett and Cooper both told him "Shut up and just to follow orders."

We had to wait until dark to move out. During this time, the squad prepared for the ambush. Once it was dark, we moved out towards the burial mound. We proceeded slowly and cautiously with Corporal Pickett and his fireteam leading the way. We stayed close together because it would have been easy to become separated in the dark.

There were numerous illumination flares being fired, and each time one went off, we had to hit the deck so the enemy would not see us moving out from the Company perimeter. Captain Livingston had wanted us at least 175 to 200 meters in front of the Company's perimeter.

Finding that burial mound that Lieutenant Jones and I had sighted earlier wasn't that easy now that it was dark. There were numerous burial mounds and they all looked alike in the dark. Eventually, though, I believe Corporal Pickett's fireteam got us as close to it as was possible in the dark.

The squad moved into the ambush position quietly and slowly. I put Privates First Class Serino and Pierce in the center of the ambush with the M-60 machine gun along side Corporal Butler's fireteam. Corporal Pickett's fireteam covered the left side of the ambush with Corporal Cooper's fireteam on the right. Private First Class Lohman and I covered the rear.

Once the ambush was set up, I let the Command Post know that we were in position and approximately where we were. We stayed on 100% alert throughout the night and stayed in constant contact with the Command Post. Lieutenant Jones and Captain Livingston both kept in contact with me throughout the night. They knew, or suspected, that something was going to happen. Just knowing that they there in case we got into trouble helped me make it through the night. Something inside me knew that we were going to make contact with the enemy before the night was over.

Just before dawn, there was a lot of noise and movement about 50 to 75 meters in front of us. We heard voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. It sounded like a patrol walking toward us. We did not have a Starlight night vision scope and it was too dark to figure out who was out there in front of us. I did not want to open fire. I was afraid that a friendly patrol from one of the other companies might have lost their way in the dark and accidentally wandered in front of our ambush.

Everyone in the squad was primed and ready to fire. I immediately contacted Lieutenant Jones at the Command Post on the radio to find out if there were any friendly patrols that might have wandered into our ambush by mistake. Then Private First Class Lohman whispered to me that they were speaking Vietnamese. The entire squad wanted to open fire at that moment.

At that time, Captain Livingston came up on the net and verified that it wasn't a friendly patrol. Captain Livingston thought that it might be NVA soldiers attempting to surrender. Word had been passed down from Lieutenant Colonel Weise, the Battalion Commander, about the importance of taking enemy prisoners. Captain Livingston put the interpreter on the radio to tell me what to say in Vietnamese asking if they were surrendering.

After I yelled out in Vietnamese, " Dung Lai, Chieu Hoi? Chieu Hoi? ( Stop, Do you surrender? Do you surrender?)", they answered by firing on us with AK-47's. Private First Class Serino yelled out "Bummer, man. Let's get some gooks!" and began firing with his M-60 machine gun. The rest of the squad immediately opened up simultaneously. Even Private First Class Lohman, my radio operator, got in a shot with his M-79 Grenade Launcher. The firefight didn't last much longer than two minutes and when no return fire was coming back, I ordered a cease fire.

After the squad ceased fire, Captain Livingston wanted us back immediately. We moved quietly out of the ambush position and slowly made our way back to the Company perimeter. While getting back to the Company perimeter, my biggest fear was having some nervous Marine think we were NVA soldiers and open fire on us. I kept in constant contact with the Command Post as we got closer. We made it back safely to the Company perimeter at the first morning light.

After returning to the Company, we barely had time to get our canteens filled and reload up on ammunition before Lieutenant Jones briefed me on the 3rd Platoon's assignment in the assault against Dai Do and my squad's mission. He had us prepare to move out immediately. My squad was hungry, tired and exhausted after being awake for over 24 hours, but were highly motivated after the successful ambush and ready to go.

3rd Platoon was ordered to be the right flank of the assault against Dai Do. My squad had the assignment of providing right flank security and to link up with Captain Vargas' Golf Company, who were already heavily engaged with the NVA soldiers on the outer edge of the village.

To get to the village of Dai Do, we had to travel across approximately 500 meters of open terrain consisting of burial mounds, graves and rice paddies. As we were assaulting the village of Dai Do, we passed the ambush site that we had successfully accomplished earlier in the morning.

At that site was one 12.7 machine gun and three dead NVA soldiers. The word was passed from Captain Livingston and Lieutenant Jones that we had done a good job. If that ambush had not succeeded, that machine gun would have killed a lot of Marines. That immediately picked up the squad's morale.

As we got closer to Dai Do, we began receiving a lot of heavy small arms fire. Enemy rounds were impacting on the burial mounds around us as we maneuvered closer to the village and mortar rounds were dropping all over. The NVA soldiers were in fortified positions, spider holes and bunkers covered by the hedgerows on the edge of the village. They were not moving. There was a lot of machine gun fire as we got closer.

Corporal Pickett and Lance Corporal Frank decided to make use of the Laaw's (Light Anti Assault Weapon) that they were carrying. They fired one Laaw each at one of the bunkers and one of the fortified positions where machine gun fire coming from. Both of them had two direct hits, knocking both positions out.

Marines were firing , maneuvering and securing positions rapidly. My squad had overrun numerous NVA positions and we were trying to link up with Golf Company. NVA soldiers were just getting up out of their spider hole positions and running away. Finally, we reached the outer edge of the village and we were linked up with Golf Company.

2nd Squad had gotten pinned down by enemy fire at the edge of Dai Do and Golf Company had started to move into the village. If 2nd squad did not move and I had my squad move along with Golf Company, our left flank would be exposed to enemy fire. If my squad stayed in position until 2nd squad could move, then Golf Company's left flank would be exposed to enemy fire.

Lieutenant Jones told me to assign two men to help 2nd squad. I told Corporal Pickett to take over the squad and stay linked up with Golf Company while Lance Corporal Frank and I went to help 2nd squad. Lance Corporal Frank and I maneuvered our way around so that we could fire on the positions that the NVA soldiers had 2nd squad pinned down with. As soon as we opened fire on those positions and hit some of the NVA soldiers, they just started running away. 2nd squad could now continue on with the assault into the village.

During the firefight though, Lance Corporal Frank was wounded. He was clutching his side.

"How bad are you hit?" I yelled out to Lance Corporal Frank.

"I'm bleeding badly. I'm losing a lot of blood." Frank yelled back.

I crawled over to his position and help him apply a first-aid battle dressing to the wound while firing at the NVA soldiers. I had to get Frank to a corpsman.

After 2nd squad started moving again, I got Lance Corporal Frank to a corpsman. I covered Frank's withdrawal to the rear, firing both his M16 rifle in my left hand while firing my M16 rifle in my right. Even though he was bleeding badly, he wanted his rifle back for protection. I gave him his rifle back and went to rejoin Lieutenant Jones and find my squad.

In getting back to Lieutenant Jones and my squad, my M-16 rifle got hit by an enemy round and damaged. When I got to Lieutenant Jones and told him what happened, he quickly gave up his rifle to me since he had a pistol and had me rejoined my squad.

When I rejoined my squad, Corporal Pickett had gotten shot in the neck and had been killed along with Private Fields. Private Fields, from Lexington, Kentucky, was nineteen years old. He had caught a head shot and was dead.

Private First Class Serino was wounded in the legs and bleeding badly, but the squad was still linked up with Golf Company. The assault moved rapidly through the village. The NVA were getting over run and began retreating. We finally reached the opposite side of the village.

After reaching the opposite side of the village, Captain Livingston, who had been wounded, quickly reorganized what was left of Echo Company. He ordered us to secure our positions and hold what we had.

Lieutenant Jones and Staff Sergeant Downs had been wounded and had to be evacuated. Sergeant Cox had been shot by sniper fire and killed. I was now the acting Platoon Commander.

Panic was quickly setting. I had two men killed in action. Corporal Pickett was dead because I ordered him take the squad while I went to help 2nd squad. All I could think was that he would still be alive if I had decided differently. Maybe instead of Corporal Pickett being dead, I thought, it could have been me. I was also thinking about Private Fields. How did he get it? Was there anything I could have done to prevent him from being killed? I was tired and losing it real fast. 36 hours without sleep was starting to get to me. Captain Livingston saw what was happening with me.

"You okay, Sergeant?"

"I lost two men, Corporal Pickett and Private Fields, Skipper, I have two more men wounded, Lance Corporal Frank and Private First Class Serino. It's all my fault."

"Get your crap together, Sergeant. They were my men too. I have lost a lot more men than yours. This is combat. Those things happen. I need you to get yourself together. If you don't, Dammit, more men are going to die." the Skipper yelled at me angrily.

I could see in the Skipper's eyes that he was tired too, but he had it together. Anyone could see that it was having an effect on him, but he knew that he had to keep it together or everything would be lost. All I could think about was that I couldn't lose any more men. I couldn't let the Skipper down. His presence of mind and determination gave me what I needed to get my head back together. I had more respect for him at that moment than I have ever had for any living human being. All the discipline and training that he had put us through was going to pay off.

I quickly reorganized 3rd Platoon into three squads of two fireteams each. Corporal Pickett and Private Fields had been killed. Lance Corporal Frank and Private First Class Serino had been wounded and evacuated.

Corporal Butler, my senior Corporal, was nowhere to be found and missing. I was to later found out that from some others Marines that they believed Corporal Butler had latched on to a wounded Marine as an excuse to get back across to An Lac. They thought that he had climbed aboard a Skimmer Boat that was evacuating the wounded and left the battle. I never did see Corporal Butler after that.

We were receiving a lot of machine gun fire and RPG's from Dinh To, the next village over. Lieutenant Colonel Weise, the Battalion Commander, ordered Hotel Company to assault Dinh To. Hotel Company fought it's way into Dinh To, but when the NVA soldiers counterattacked their assault became bogged down.

Captain Livingston decided to help Hotel Company in the assault on Dinh To. We began the assault with 3rd Platoon as the point and the resistance of the NVA soldiers began to ease up.

I could see NVA soldiers throwing Chicom's (Chinese Communist Grenade) and just getting up from their firing positions and running away. At one point I had a NVA soldier run right pass me. I started to open up on him, but before I could, Private First Class Pierce, the Marine who replaced Private First Class Serino as the machine gunner, opened fire first. When he started shooting, about five or six NVA soldiers came up out of spider holes and started running away. He tore them up with his machine gun fire.

The NVA had regrouped and began a counterattack. We were getting a lot of machine gun fire. I was hit by an enemy round and knocked to the ground. I was lucky. The enemy round had hit my cartridge belt and went through one of my canteens. At that same time Private First Class Pierce caught an enemy wound in the stomach. I yelled for a corpsman. I crawled to Pierce and tried to stop the bleeding coming out of his stomach. The shot went clean through and blood was flowing out his back. I felt helpless. Finally a corpsman came up and took over. Private First Class Pierce was to die of that gunshot wound later. Again, all I could think about was that could have been me.

There were NVA soldiers all over the place. As soon as we shot one, another would pop up in his place. They seemed to be coming out of nowhere. Every place we looked, there was an NVA soldier.

Captain Livingston, who was already wounded, seem to be everywhere at once. His coolness and calmness kept us from panicking. Things did not look good for us at all, but Captain Livingston somehow kept our spirits up. He was determined that we were going to beat the NVA soldiers.

Then Captain Livingston got shot. That seemed to panic a lot of Marines. I saw one Marine jump up and start running to the rear while screaming, "Captain Livingston's been shot! Oh God, we're all going to die!" When he jumped up like that, he exposed himself to enemy fire. I'm sorry to say he was hit badly and died before a Corpsman could get to him.

Orders were passed to pull back to Dai Do and evacuate all the dead and wounded. Captain Livingston kept everybody calm and passed the word that no one was going to be left behind. When some of the Marines attempted to carry him out, he refused their help and insisted that he would be the last to be evacuated.

We were still receiving a lot of machine gun fire and the rounds were impacting all around us. As we were carrying wounded Marines out, more Marines would get wounded. Finally we were able to get all the dead and wounded out of Dinh To. Captain Livingston was the last to be carried out. I personally assisted in carrying the Skipper out. There were numerous Marines who volunteered to go back for Captain Livingston.

When we finally got back to the outer edge of Dai Do, Major George "Fritz" Warren, the Battalion Operations Officer, was there. He had brought reinforcements, supplies and a most welcome sight - Water! As the reinforcements moved into position, he allowed us to move back, refill our canteens with water and get supplies.

I really didn't know the strength or the size of the enemy, but as I was filling my canteens, I heard Major Warren talking to someone on the radio. He said that we would hold our position at all costs. The wounded and dead were being evacuated by Skimmer Boat to safety. We were told to reinforce our positions and be prepared for a counterattack by the NVA soldiers.

Normally a Marine Rifle Company has about two hundred men and a Marine Infantry Battalion with supporting components has about a 1,000 men. Echo Company was down to one officer, two Staff Non-Commissioned Officers and only about thirty-nine enlisted men and three corpsmen. I still had most of my men from 1st squad and some of the men from the other two squads. The entire Battalion strength was down to eleven officers, five staff non-commissioned officers, one hundred and sixty-six enlisted men and eighteen corpsmen.

Nightfall came. We were on 100% alert. One could hear the NVA soldiers in the darkness yelling out " You die tonight, Marine." Throughout the night, there were sporadic outbursts of fire along the perimeter. The NVA soldiers were probing our lines but did not attack. I think though, during the night whatever NVA soldiers who were left alive pulled back and had given up on taken Dai Do from us.

The next morning we went back into Dinh To. We met with little resistance. The NVA soldiers that were alive had fled leaving behind their dead and wounded in Dinh To.

Sergeant Elbert E. Cox, Corporal Joseph C. Pickett, Private First Class Joseph R. Pierce and Private Jerry Fields were the real names of four brave Marines, killed in action. They were attached to the 3rd Platoon of Echo Company and sacrificed their lives, as did many other Marines and Navy Corpsmen of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines ("The Magnificent Bastards"), at the Battle of Dai Do.

Captain James E. Livingston, Commanding Officer of Echo Company and Captain "J.R." Vargas, Commanding Officer of Golf Company received the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in actions that were above and beyond the call of duty."

Lieutenant Colonel William Weise, Battalion Commander of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines received the Navy Cross. Major George "Fritz" Warren, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines Battalion Operations Officer, received the Legion of Merit with the Combat "V" for valor. First Lieutenant David R. Jones, Platoon Commander of the 3rd Platoon of Echo Company, received the Silver Star Medal. Sergeant Major John (Big John) M. Malnar received the Silver Star posthumously. I received the Bronze Star Medal with the Combat "V" for Valor.

There were an extensive number of Marines and Navy Corpsmen who received medals for their heroic actions and bravery in defeating a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army Force of over 2,000 men. There are too many to mention by name.

Countless numbers were wounded or made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives at An Lac, Dinh To or the Battle of Dai Do

This is dedicated to the memory of all the heroic actions of the Marines and Navy corpsmen who were at An Lac, Dinh To and the Battle of Dai Do.