1st Division, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry
"It doesn't require any particular bravery to stand on the floor of the Senate and urge our boys in Vietnam to fight harder, and if this war mushrooms into a major conflict and a hundred thousand young Americans are killed, it won't be U. S. Senators who die. It will be American soldiers who are too young to qualify for the senate."
"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win."
The 10th, 11th, and 12th of April, 1966, witnessed the young men of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry “Rangers” exhibiting a “particular bravery” during an engagement near the village of Xa Cam My and the Courtenay Rubber Plantation, approximately 42 miles east of Saigon. A battle raged between this unit of the 1st Infantry Division and a Viet Cong battalion, D800. The battlefield crowded into a compact perimeter of jungle terrain enfolded within a dark world of a rainforest’s towering triple canopy. Soldiers of Charlie Company were outnumbered and cut off from support or relief - and in that nightmare world of isolated death and mayhem the United States’ war in Vietnam came of age because of the “particular bravery” of these Americans.
Easter Sunday services (April 10) were disrupted for the men of Company C when three Viet Cong soldiers were spotted at the far end of a jungle clearing where the chaplain had been offering a respite from the rigors of the Company’s search and destroy activities, activities as part of Operation Abilene. First platoon’s C troopers cut down on the VC, who were probably acting as scouts for a larger enemy contingent. Two of the enemy were brought down quickly, the third slipped a way and possibly reported Charlie Company's position back to the main body of the VC force.
The target of Operation Abilene, D800 was a "crack" battalion made up of approximately 400 soldiers and a contingent of women and children assisting the soldiers and acting as a back up force. Charlie Company was a light weapons rifle company with an authorized strength of 190 men, but on that Easter Sunday only a 134 GI’s were in the field. Casualties, leaves and assorted other reasons had thinned the ranks of Company C, hobbling the unit’s strength. Charlie Company would be outnumbered three to one if they encountered D800. The Americans had no way of knowing they faced such daunting odds as they pressed deep into the jungle.
The next morning, April 11th, Charlie Company encountered the enemy sporadically, but enough to slow the company’s advance. These flare-ups allowed D800 the time necessary to maneuver their men closer to Charlie Company. The VC battalion took positions in preparation for an ambush of Charlie Company. By 2 PM the VC had surrounded Charlie and were tightening the "noose". The combination of sniper fire from the trees, small arms and artillery fire was wreaking havoc in C Company’s perimeter. Casualties mounted from enemy fire as well as from "friendly" artillery fire mistakes directed to Charlie Company's position.
To save themselves and break the VC ambush, Charlie Company formed a circular perimeter with interlocking (overlapping) fire. The rain of death now came from all sides. The men from Charlie Company found themselves cut off from supporting units and from each other. The command structure fractured, and the stand-off descended into a hellish free-for-all for the out-numbered Americans. Casualties piled up as the situation turned from unstable to precarious. The perimeter tightened. American dead and wounded littered the no-man’s land between the D800 and Charlie. Valor was a necessity that stood alongside survival during those nightmare hours.
Murder replaced combat as the Vietnamese women and children infiltrated the original perimeter to carry off their injured and slit the throats of any wounded Americans they could find.
Dusk found the remaining Americans drawn into a tight perimeter. Orders were issued to ring the perimeter with artillery strikes. Weary, frightened men prayed to survive the night. The barrage, five or six rounds per minute, continued from 8:30 that night until about 7:00 am on the 12th.
Scores of Viet Cong were killed in the engagement, but an exact figure was impossible to determine due to the retrieval of the bodies. According to Army reports Charlie Company suffered 106 killed or wounded out of their original 134 men, a casualty rate of 80%. All but 28 Americans were killed or wounded. The after action report listed 38 killed and 71 wounded- several of the wounded subsequently died of their wounds.
Word got back to the USA that the Big Red One had been in one hell of a firefight and casualties were heavy. Families didn't know who had survived, who was dead.
There were many heroes from the Battle of Xa Cam My. First Lieutenant George Steinberg, a platoon leader with Charlie Company, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (posthumous) for his heroic acts and deeds during the battle. The actions of Sergeant James W. Robinson, Jr. received the Medal of Honor (posthumous). Airman 1st Class William Hart Pitsenbarger, better known as Pits, received the Air Force Cross (posthumous), the highest medal the Air Force can bestow, because of his heroism at Xa Cam My. Recently, December 8, 2000, Pitsenberger’s Air Force Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry "Rangers" particular bravery, against such a numerically superior force, was awarded a Valorous Unit Award. The streamer proclaiming Charlie Company's courageous stand is embroidered COURTENAY PLANTATION and was on display at Fort Riley, Kansas until the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry was deactivated.
The Battle of Xa Cam My on April 11th and 12th, 1966 took place during OPERATION ABILENE, a Division level operation that started on March 30, 1966 and concluded on April 15, 1966. George C. Wilson’s book, "MUDSOLDIERS," a book about the modern U.S. Army, describes the “Mudsoldiers” of Charlie Company and their brutal battle in a chapter entitled THE LEGACY.
These brave men, (HEROES to us here at this website) ranged from 18-22 years old. I have developed this website so that others may recognize the valor of these 134 men who GAVE all for our country--AMERICA. Many died. Others came home to a world that had both changed and which did not care to include the American soldier in those changes. These men went above the call of duty and sacrificed so much for our country,this site is dedicated to them, MY HEROES.
WELCOME HOME!!!!! GOD is always with you all.
Those remembered who gave their all on April 11, 66
Sites from the battle, April 66
Abilene Division Battle Summary
Newspaper articles from April 11, 66
pg 2 of Newspaper Articles from April 11, 66
Medal of Honor Recipients from Operation Abilene (Robinson/Pitsenbarger)--MOH ceremony pages
Survivors of Operation Abilene--Today
PJ in Vietnam--Pits Story
HOMEPAGE---Charlie Co. 2/16