Assault on the mountain

HEADNOTE

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At 2 p.m. on May 15,1969, the men of B Company of the U.S. Army's 187th Airborne Infantry, 3rd Battalion,

were just 150 meters from the top of Vietnam's Dong Ap Bia Mountain when the company's command group was hit by friendly aerial rocket artillery rounds. Two men died instantly and 14 others-including the company commander-were wounded as the company faced North Vietnamese sniper, machine-gun, mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

With its objective so close, the company was ordered to fall back. "The magnitude of this mishap could not be truly appreciated at the time," Lt. Col. W.E Honeycutt, the battalion commander, wrote in a formerly confidential report describing the battle. Honeycutt concluded that the retreat allowed the enemy to bring in reinforcements, causing the battle to rage on for another five days.