This was the week in which the 2d Brigade would turn LZ Jane over to the First Cav and move to its new operating base at LZ Sally where, along with its ARVN and RF and PF province force teammates, it would in future months see a transformation of the largely enemy-held countryside in its new area of operations to one where the enemy was mostly gone.

Having taken La Chu on February 22, the 2/501 drove on to enter Hue on the 25th as the Marines and ARVN took that city from the south. With Hue secure, the rest of the 101st would soon come north; at end-February, division set up a forward command post at Phu Bai.

The 1/502, with C/1/321 Arty, was the first to move, on 28 Feb to PK 17, an ARVN compound on Highway 1, 10 miles north of Hue. But on the night of the 27th the 1/502 left a memento with the NVA in its area around Jane. B Company, in setting up its night defensive position, had sent out patrols to check the immediate area. One patrol had come under fire and, when a rifle platoon sent to assist it also came under fire, the patrol and platoon returned to the perimeter. The enemy attacked the B Company position after nightfall. Defending, B Company called in artillery and Cav gunships; the enemy broke contact at 2000. B Co suffered 10 wounded, evacuated. The next morning B Co found 25 dead NVA around its position.

On 29 Feb, A/1/501, with A/1/321 Arty, secured Fire Base Hog near My Chanh, on Hwy 1, where it would remain overnight and from which it would be helilifted to LZ Sally two days later. On 1 March D/1501 was helilifted from LZ Jane into LZ Sally to be joined by B, C and E Companies of 1/501 moving there by truck. That afternoon the 2d Brigade closed down its command post at LZ Jane (it had been there since 30 January) and opened it at PK 17.

The next day, March 2, the 2d Brigade resumed command of all three of its battalions, and the brigade task force was together for the first time since late January. 1/502 was operating near the An Lo Bridge from FSB Nola nearby; 2/501 was down near Hue operating out of FSB Pinky, and the 1/501 was at LZ Sally where its first task was to organize an impenetrable defense of the brigade’s future home. And for the first time in weeks, the rain, fog, and drizzle stopped and the sun came out.

LZ Sally was ideal for a brigade base. It was on rising ground with good drainage and firm soil, and a good access road to Hwy 1. There was ample room for each infantry battalion to set up its base, for the batteries of the 1/321 Arty, for the C/326 Engrs, B/326 Med and other DISCOM units of the brigade task force, and for additional artillery and aviation units. It had a short laterite air-strip, which made a fine heliport for medevac and resupply helicopters.

One great advantage of LZ Sally was that the headquarters of the 3d Regiment, 1st ARVN Division, was at PK 17, only half a mile away. On arriving at PK 17 on 1 March, I introduced myself to to the regimental commander, Lt Col Phan Ban Hoa, and to his senior U.S. Advisor, Major Morales. In 1963-4 I had been senior advisor to the 21st ARVN Division deep in Vietnam’s Delta. I knew what faced Vietnamese troops and their advisors. I was determined to do all that I could to use all available US Army assets to assist them, and to see that we operated as part of a common plan that would coordinate our operations, the operations of the 1st ARNV Division, and those of province and district forces, into a single effort. And so we went to work in our new home.