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FLEMING, HORACE HIGLEY III

Name: Horace Higley Fleming III
Rank/Branch: O2/US Marine Corps
Unit: HMM 256, Marine Air Group 16
Date of Birth: 13 May 1941
Home City of Record: Pensacola FL
Date of Loss: 10 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152200N 1074500E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: CH46A
Refno: 1168

SOURCE

Compiled from one or more of the following:
raw data from U.S. Government agency sources,
correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the
P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H.
Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman; Joseph F. Cook;
Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry
L. Hempel; Raymond T. Heyne;
Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D.
McGonigle; Donald W. Mitchell; James R.
Sergeant (members of USMC search team
- all missing); Glenn E. Miller; Thomas H.
Perry (USSF team members -missing); Kham Duc:
Richard E. Sands (missing from CH47);
Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M. Hepler; George W.
Long; John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland
(USAF crew of C130 - all missing);
Warren R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing);
Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M.
Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H.
Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William E.
Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S.
Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C. Williams
(all missing); Julius W. Long (released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp
(A-105), was located on the western fringes
of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South
Vietnam. In the spring of 1968, it was the
only remaining border camp in Military
Region I. Backup responsibility for the camp
fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (American),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the
province.

The camp had originally been built for
President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in the
area. The 1st Special Forces detachment
(A-727B) arrived in September 1963 and found
the outpost to be an ideal border
surveillance site with an existing airfield.
The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain
surrounded by rugged, virtually uninhabited
jungle. The only village in the area,
located ,across the airstrip, was occupied by
post dependents, camp followers and
merchants. The camp and airstrip were bordered
by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and
Ngok Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to
the east. Steep banked streams full of rapids
and waterfalls cut through the tropical
wilderness. The Dak Mi River flowed past the
camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of
the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward
operating base of Ngok Tavak, defended by the
113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with
its 8 Special Forces and 3 Australian
advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside
friendly artillery range, 33 Marine
artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion,
13th Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were
located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of
Detachment A-105 helicoptered into Ngok Tavak
on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of
NVA presence in the area. Foul weather
prevented his scheduled evening departure. A
Kham Duc CIDG platoon fleeing a local ambush
also arrived and was posted to the outer
perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG
force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry
battalion at 0315 hours on May 10. The base
was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire.
As the frontal assault began, the Kham Duc
CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the
fort yelling, "Don't shoot, don't shoot!
Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they lobbed
grenades into the Marine howitzer positions
and ran into the fort, where they shot
several Marines with carbines and sliced
claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but
stopped the main assault and killed the
infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill
slopes and grenaded the trenches where the
mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by
machine gun and rocket fire. An NVA
flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze,
banishing the murky flare- lighted darkness
for the rest of the night. SFC Harold M.
Swicegood and the USMC platoon leader, Lt.
Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the
command bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren
reported that the CIDG mortar crews had
abandoned their weapons. Silva tried to
operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was
wounded. At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn
Miller, an A-105 communications specialist,
was shot through the head as he ran over to
join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of
Ngok Tavak and brought forward more automatic
weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
In desperation, the defenders called on USAF
AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the
perimeter and the howitzers, despite the
possible presence of friendly wounded in the
gun pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but
the wind kept drifting the gas over their own
lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A
grenade fight between the two forces lasted
until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers
Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren, led a
CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese
pulled back under covering fire, and the
howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the
last nine shells and spiked the tubes. Later
that morning medical evacuation helicopters
supported by covering airstrikes took out the
seriously wounded, including Silva and
Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45
replacements from the 12th Mobile Strike Force
Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski
(who related much of this account to Shelby
Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but
one helicopter was hit in the fuel line and
forced down. Another helicopter was hit by a
rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the
small helipad. The remaining wounded were
placed aboard a hovering helicopter. As it
lifted off, two Mike Force soldiers and 1Lt.
Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation
crewmen, grabbed the helicopter skids. All
three fell to their deaths after the
helicopter had reached an altitude of over one
hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were
exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and water
were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was
still being pounded by sporadic mortar fire.
They asked permission to evacuate their ,
positions, but were told to "hold on"
as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon
the defenders decided that aerial ,
reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly
unlikely, and night would bring certain
destruction. An hour later, they abandoned
Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived
at the camp at 0530 hours the morning of the
10th. He cared for the wounded and was
assisting in an attempt to establish a
defensive perimeter when the decision was
made to evacuate the camp. As survivors were
leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J.
Matheney, Jr., standing 20 feet away, as
Australian Army Capt. John White formed the
withdrawal column at the outer perimeter
wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak hillside. It
was believed that Perry was going to join the
end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that
could not be carried were hastily piled into
the command bunker and set afire. The
helicopter that had been grounded by a
ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW.
Sgt. Miller's body was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it
was discovered that Perry was missing. Efforts
were conducted to locate both Perry and
Miller, including a search by a group from
Battery D. They were searching along the
perimeter when they were hit by enemy grenades
and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor
Perry was ever found. Included in this team
were PFC Thomas Blackman; LCpl. Joseph Cook;
PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC
Barry Hempel; LCpl. Raymond Heyne;
Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC
William McGonigle; LCpl. Donald Mitchell; and
LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors
evaded through dense jungle to a helicopter
pickup point midway to Kham Duc. Their
extraction was completed shortly before 1900
hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the
Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy mortar and
recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that ,
same morning. Periodic mortar barrages ripped
into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the
day, while the Americal Division airmobiled a
reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry
Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces
command party also landed, but the situation
deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to
have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc
resumed on the morning of May 11. The
bombardment caused heavy losses among the
frightened CIDG soldiers, who fled from their
trenches across open ground, seeking shelter
in the bunkers. The LLDB commander remained
hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check
the rear of the camp for possible North
Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th
and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were
airlifted to Da Nang, and half of the 137th
CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded
in exchange.

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began
closing the ring around Kham Duc during the
early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415
to 0430 hours, the camp and outlying positions
came under heavy enemy attack. Outpost #7 was
assaulted and fell within a few minutes.
Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been reinforced by
Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese
hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew
Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and SP4 Julius
Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry.
At about 0415 hours, when OP1 came under
heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were
seen trying to man a 106 millimeter
recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in
the initial enemy fire, they were knocked off
their bunker. Both men again tried to man the
gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed
the OP at 0830 hours on May 12. They moved out
50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last
position. At about 1100 hours, as they were
withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they
encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was
the pointman and opened fire. The enemy
fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with
multiple chest wounds. The other two men were
unable to recover him, and hastily departed
the area. PFC Craven was last seen lying
on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick
Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy
Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William
Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5 John
Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when
it came under attack. Informal questioning of
survivors of this position indicated that PFC
Widdison and SP5 Stuller may have been killed
in action. However, the questioning was not
sufficiently thorough to produce enough
evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt.
Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd and PFC
Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly
radioed PFC Widner and PFC Williams, who were
in the third bunker, and told them that he was
shooting at the enemy as they entered his
bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to
Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry, was
occupying a defensive position when he was
severely wounded in the back by enemy mortar
fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the
Battalion Surgeon in the early morning hours
of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad
for evacuation. However, due to the situation,
space was available in the helicopter for
only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were
left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched
against the main compound. The charge was
stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb
units and 750 pound bombs into the final wire
barriers. The decision was made by the
Americal Division officers to call for
immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times,
on the verge of complete panic. One of the
first extraction helicopters to land was
exploded by enemy fire, blocking the airstrip.
Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer
Battalion, frantically reassembled one of
their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent
capture) to clear the runway. Eight more
aircraft were blown out of the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company
A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, 198th Light
Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47
helicopter (serial #67-18475). The helicopter
was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire
at an altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after
takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner,
was hit in the head by an incoming rounds. The
helicopter made a controlled landing and caught
fire. During the evacuation from the burning
helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked
PFC Sands and indicated that he had been killed
instantly. Because of the danger of incoming
mortar rounds and the fire, personnel
attempting to remove PFC Sands from the
helicopter were ordered to abandon their
attempt. The remaining personnel were evacuated
from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured
outposts caused grave problems. Control over
the indigenous forces was difficult. One group
of CIDG soldiers had to be held in trenches at
gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the
runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of
Company A, 1/46, who insisted on boarding the
aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents
out of the way. As more Americal infantry
tried to clamber into the outbound planes,
the outraged Special Forces staff convinced
the Air Force to start loading civilians
onboard a C130, then watched as the civilians
pushed children and weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft
(serial #60-0297) consisted of Maj. Bernard
Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight
engineer; Maj. John McElroy, navigator; 1Lt.
Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load
master; Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an
undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on
takeoff. The Forward Air Control (FAC) in the
area reported that the aircraft exploded in
mid-air and crashed in a fire ball about one
mile from camp. All crew and passengers were
believed dead, as the plane burned quickly and
was completely destroyed except for the tail
boom. No remains were recovered from the
aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by
U.S. personnel as being aboard the aircraft.
He was last seen near the aircraft helping the
civilians to board. However, a Vietnamese
stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the
aircraft and later positively identified him
from a photograph. Rescue efforts were
impossible because of the hostile threat
in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and
evade, SP4 Julius Long was with Coen and
Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were
trying to make their way back to the airfield
about 350 yards away. As they reached the
airfield, they saw the last C130 departing.
PFC Coen, who was shot in the stomach,
panicked and started running and shooting his
weapon at random. SP4 Long tried to catch him,
but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again.
Long then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby
hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and
bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4 Long was hit
twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt.
Simpson died during the night. SP4 Long left
him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield
and started his escape and evasion toward Chu
Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was captured and
was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last
organized group out of the camp. As their
helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc
was abandoned to advancing NVA infantry at
4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special
Forces camp on the northwestern frontier of
South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were
conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and OP2 and
the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and
August 17, 1970. In these operations, remains
of personnel previously reported missing from
this incident were recovered and subsequently
identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd, Sgt.
Sisk, PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter).
However, extensive search and excavation could
not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the
tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham
Duc were killed in action until about 1983,
when the father of one of the men missing
discovered a Marine Corps document which
indicated that four of the men had been taken
prisoner. The document listed the four by
name. Until then, the families had not been
advised of the possibility there were any
American prisoners taken other than Julius
Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the
photograph of Roy C. Williams as positively
having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the
men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham Duc are dead,
their families will always wonder if they are
among those said to still be alive in
Southeast Asia.




As I complete this page, I thought about the
reason I adopted this POW/MIA. I did in memory
of my dad, Dwayne L. Bishop Sr. He was a Marine
in the Korea War. So if you have a vet in your
family, deceased or alive, adopt a POW/MIA for
them. I am sure they would want to see all of
our Vets home. Let's bring them home.
 

 

Some Gave All
Sung By Billy Ray Cyrus





 
As I completed these pages, I thought about the
reason I adopted this POW/MIA. I did in memory
of my dad, Dwayne L. Bishop Sr. He was a Marine
in the Korea War. So if you have a vet in your
family, deceased or alive, adopt a POW/MIA for
them. I am sure they would want to see all of
our Vets home. Let's bring them home.

ojcring.jpg

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