TASK FORCE KILO - Black Knights

March 30 1968 – First phase of “TASK FORCE KILO” begins. - Gio Linh, Quang Tri Province, I Corps -  

Task Force KILO launches diversionary attack along Gio Linh coastal plain to divert attention away from Ca Lu where 1st Cavalry Division and 1st Marines are staging for Operation PEGASUS. Task Force Kilo, made up of the 2nd Battalion, 1st ARVN Regiment pushes north from Kong Ha on a search and destroy sweep through the Gio Lenh Coastal Plain between the Cua Viet River and the DMZ. Task Force Kilo confirms 150 NVA KIAs the first day of the operation.              

30 March - C Troop, 3rd/5th Cavalry finds entrenched NVA. 10 US KIA.

KIAs include: Patrick Kevin Burke, 1st Lt. Peter Joseph Gallo,  Capt. Roy Lee Griffin, Jr. (USMC), George Edward Grubbs, Bert Austin Keeler, James Earl Morse, Dennis Michael Poteat, Charles E. Shaw, Stephen Max Wiggins, and Wilbur Leo Williams, Jr.

31 March - “Task Force Kilo” continues. C-troop commander Peter F. Scott relinquished command to Captain Miller. Scott released due to impending promotion to Major.

Robert Eugene  Floyd  Was KIA. ( died from wounds received 30 March).

LBJ speaks to the nation.

1 April - “OPERATION PEGASUS” begins to relieve Khe Sanh. “Task Force Kilo” continues.

2 April  - “Task Force Kilo” (Phase I) ends.

3 April - “Task Force Kilo” (Phase II) begins. Candido Cabrera-Rodriquez and Major Roger Allan Quinn are KIA.

4 April - “Task Force Kilo” (Phase II) continues.

5 April -  Memorial service held for men killed in “Task Force Kilo”.

6 April -  Capt. Ralph E. Garretson, Jr. relieved as CO, A-Troop; assigned as Squadron S-3.

7 April -  Squadron role in “Task Force Kilo” ends.

Documents added

Link to AD 392633