Sometime in March I think, the date eludes me, we were re-fueling at Quang Tri when a single in-bound OH-6A on the tower frequency requested assistance. His wingman was down north of the base. A quick look north revealed a column of black smoke marking the likely location. Charlie Horse Operations directed the team to lend assistance and we proceeded north. The crash site was on the edge of the DMZ and the burned-out LOH revealed two KIA. The numerous bunkers in the near vicinity was the likely source of the ground fire that had brought it down. I inserted the ARP squad directly onto the wreck and did a fast recovery of the remains. We habitually carried body bags and extra fire extinguishers to extinguish burning remains. I believe they were F1/10 Troopers that had been assigned that portion of the DMZ in our absence, but I could be wrong. [NOTE: There was no such Air Cav Troop in Vietnam. The name of the real Troop is unknown at this time.] .
There was a small knoll SW of the HQ Bunker and the Khe Sanh strip, in the direction of Lang Vei, where the Charlie Horse teams landed and awaited missions – staging area was the term we used. We basically camped there and observed the steady stream of helicopters returning from deep in Laos.
By the middle of March, it was painfully evident that things were not going well with the ARVN in Laos. Sharing the refuel and rearm facilities with the units that were supporting the incursion, stories were shared that bordered on the unbelievable. Missions to and around the cross-border LZ Ranger North and LZ Lolo were reducing the air assets of the proud units that had arrived just this past month. The Assault Helicopter units of the 101st Airborne and many others were particularly hard-hit. They routinely faced very heavy anti-aircraft fire never before seen in the Vietnam Conflict. The helicopter war in Vietnam had changed forever. They routinely braved withering anti-aircraft fire while inserting and extracting South Vietnamese troops across the border in Laos. Back at Quang Tri, the mood was somber in the little shack we referred to as the “Watering Hole” or the “Officer’s Club” on better days. Losses were being spoken of in hushed terms, but with the coming of morning, all mounted up and continued to carry on.