![](deathtop1.jpg) ![](deathtop2.jpg) |
![](deathtitle2.gif)
![](deathangel1.gif)
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 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |