INDIA & MIKE COMPANIES 3RD BATTALION 26TH MARINE REGIMENT
[USMC emblem] [26th Marines emblem]IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF THE GALLANTRY OF INDIA & MIKE COMPANIES, 3RD BN 26TH MARINE REGIMENT AND THEIR SUPPORTING UNITS, WHO DEFENDED HILL 881 SOUTH DURING THE BATTLE OF KHE SANH IN THE REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM FROM 21 JANUARY TO 14 APRIL 1968, AGAINST NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR ENEMY FORCES.
INDIA & MIKE COMPANIES AND THEIR SUPPORTING UNITS ON HILL 881 SOUTH, WERE COMMANDED BY COLONEL (THEN CAPTAIN) WILLIAM H. DABNEY, WHO WAS AWARDED THE NAVY CROSS FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM. COLONEL DABNEY REPORTED TO "HEAVEN'S GATE" ON 15 FEBRUARY 2012.
INITIALLY HILL 881S MADE FOR CROWDED CONDITIONS WITH APPROXIMATELY 400 MARINES AND CORPSMEN. IN ADDITION TO INDIA AND MIKE COMPANIES, THERE WERE TWO 81 MM MORTARS, TWO 105 MM RECOILESS RIFLES AND THREE 105 MM HOWITZERS FROM CHARLIE BTRY, 1ST BN, 13TH MARINES. AT TIMES, CASUALTIES REDUCED THAT NUMBER TO ABOUT 250 MARINES AND CORPSMEN.
ENEMY SNIPERS, MACHINE GUNS, ARTILLERY, AND 120-MILLIMETER MORTARS RESPONDED TO ANY DAYLIGHT MOVEMENT ON THEIR POSITIONS. IN SPITE OF DEEP ENTRENCHMENTS, THE TOTAL CASUALTIES DURING THE SIEGE WERE CLOSE TO 100 PERCENT. HELICOPTERS WERE THE ONLY SOURCE OF RESUPPLY, AND EACH SUCH MISSION BROUGHT DOWN A CAULDRON OF FIRE ON THE LANDING ZONES. A SPECIAL BOND DEVELOPED BETWEEN THE MARINES ON HILL 881S AND THE AIRCREWS OF HMM-364 AND HMM-262, WHO WERE THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF RESUPPLY AND ONLY LINK WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD. DABNEY SAID HIS MARINES "KNEW THE PURPLE FOXES AND OTHER HELO FOLKS ALSO CARED."
THEY WERE STRONG, TOUGH MEN OF "INDIA" AND "MIKE" COMPANIES, 3/26. SURROUNDED BY THE COMMUNIST NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY (NVA), THEY DAILY RISKED LIFE AND LIMB FOR EACH OTHER. THEY WERE SO TOUGH THEY TOOK THEIR R&R AT KHE SANH COMBAT BASE, AND THEY IMPROVISED NOT ONLY TO SURVIVE, BUT ALSO TO LEAVE AN INDELIBLE MEMORY OF PAIN ON THOSE ENEMIES WHO WOULD BE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO SURVIVE. THE MARINES TOOK AN UNRELENTING AND BRUTAL POUNDING AND WITH COOL EFFICIENCY PROVIDED WHAT HELP THEY COULD TO OTHER MARINES ALSO UNDER SIEGE AT KHE SANH FOUR MILES TO THE EAST. AND IN DOING SO, THEY INSPIRED OTHERS FROM ALL U.S. FORCES PROVIDING SUPPORT IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER TO THE BELEAGUERED GARRISON AT KHE SANH. |