Capt. William Albracht received the Silver Star Medal for actions in Vietnam 43 years after the war. Some are pushing for him to receive the Medal of Honor. (William Albracht)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Montagnard infantry company that had been \u201cpatrolling\u201d the area and at least knew the terrain from their hunting expeditions was replaced with a fresh, but unfamiliar unit on Oct. 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That same day, Albracht boarded a Huey helicopter at Bu Prang to fly fewer than 10 minutes to his new posting \u2014 Firebase Kate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No more volleyball\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he approached Kate, Albracht got his first glimpse of his new temporary home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy in God\u2019s name did they put a firebase here?\u201d he thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A higher, forested ridge with cover to the southeast gave the enemy a perfect position to aim direct fire at the base, anything from small arms to rockets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He got a quick tour of the base, noting the two 155mm howitzers and the 105mm artillery piece at his disposal. Cambodia lay in every direction but south. And Kate was within range of enemy weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new captain\u2019s sleeping quarters would be a tiny hooch he was to share with an artillery sergeant. The hooch consisted of a single row of sandbags with plastic sheeting. That wouldn\u2019t even stop a bullet, let alone the indirect fire that was sure to come if there was an attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albracht investigated the perimeter, surrounding areas and fortification \u2014 and found all lacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shocked by the lack of preparation, Albracht gathered his thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kate had never been attacked, he reasoned, and these were artillery, not infantry, soldiers. They thought they were safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a similar lack of activity at the other two firebases nearby, most of the soldiers seemed convinced that any enemy attack would be on the more valuable target, the main base of Bu Prang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Albracht was reluctant to come to the firebase, fearing a boring posting, once he got a look at its position and vulnerabilities on the ground, he knew an attack would come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He set the men to clearing out the area within the wire and prepped the Montagnard for a morning patrol to reconnoiter the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo more volleyball. No more cards,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom here on out, we must prepare to be attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was on the afternoon of Oct. 28, 1969. The next five days would put the artillerymen and Montagnard soldiers through some of the most trying moments of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Guns gone, air support saves them all<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortly after midnight, most of the soldiers were awoken by the popping of small arms fire. Gun crews starting firing illumination rounds from their artillery pieces. Men from the Montagnard militia came rushing through a small gap in the concertina wire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeaucoup VC, beaucoup VC!\u201d they yelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, a follow-on attack didn\u2019t come, leading the men to believe the artillery had scared off any intruders. But the initial skirmish was just a probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, at around first light, the real fight began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The whole world came down on us,\u201d Albracht later wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout 7 a.m., I awoke to this KAWOOMP! \u2014 which, it turned out, was a HEAT round going through the sandbags to get the first gun,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A barrage followed. Albracht got on the radio to call for air support. But the guns stopped, so he reported a damage assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Albracht reconfigured his men for a counterattack outside the wire, a pilot above hovered over the treetops, scouting the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGet out of there, man! I see you, I see where you\u2019re going, and they\u2019re mounting a force to flank you, a whole shitload of guys coming \u2014 a lot more than you\u2019ve got!\u201d the pilot said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albracht\u2019s point man was hit with small arms fire and went down in the tall grass. Albracht ran into the melee to recover the downed comrade and haul him back to the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, back at Kate, the men were pummeled with B-40 rockets, 82mm mortars, recoilless rifles, small arms and machine gun fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack knocked out the tires of one of their 105mm guns. The crew managed to budge it into place to fire at the ridge. The damaged gun was hit again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The choppers weren\u2019t alone in warding off danger. F-4 Phantom jets streaked across the sky as alternating AC-47 Spooky gunships, nicknamed \u201cPuff, the Magic Dragon,\u201d laid down heavy fire to keep enemy soldiers away. Albracht watched as silver teardrops of napalm canisters tumbled into the ravines below his position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early on, one of the fire control communicators mistook Albracht\u2019s radio call sign for \u201cChicken Hawk.\u201d It was actually \u201cChicken Wolf.\u201d But names didn\u2019t matter, suppressive fire did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can call me Chicken Hawk, Chicken Wolf or Chicken Shit,\u201d he told the pilot. \u201cJust get me some air support in here now!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly all day and night that support would pour onto all sides of the lonely hilltop, eventually reaching danger close distances as the enemy grew bolder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mid-morning he called for a medevac to get critically wounded men off of Kate. Just seconds before the chopper landed a B-40 rocket came streaking at Albracht as he was directing the aircraft. Red-hot pain seared his left arm shortly after the rocket struck. Shrapnel had hit the underside of the helo and sprayed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy arm was on fire, the worst pain I\u2019d ever felt. Dark blood soaked my fatigue jacket as I ran to Kate\u2019s makeshift aid station,\u201d Albracht said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medic cleaned him up, the shrapnel made a clean entry and exit. He asked Albracht if he wanted to hop on the medevac chopper coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t even thought about leaving. I shook my head,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No support, a man dies<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they were being surrounded, Albracht called not only to the air but back to headquarters, requesting back up from South Vietnamese units to the south that should have been supporting them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The area bases were technically under South Vietnamese military control, the Americans were only there to support and advise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lacking the sophisticated guidance systems of today. Albracht would hop from spot to spot on the roughly 100-yard-long firebase, finding cover and firing tracer rounds from his CAR-15 to mark where he wanted pilots to strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a few more enemy strikes, the rest of Kate\u2019s artillery pieces were out of commission. Their only tools were air support and their mortars, crew-served machine guns, M16s and hand grenades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Late that night, in between mortar barrages from enemy troops, Albracht and the men could hear North Vietnamese soldiers digging into their positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a rare lull in shooting, he was hunkered down with 1st Lt. Ronald Ross. Albracht noticed he was wearing a wedding band. He asked about his family and learned that Ross was due for R&R to finally see his newborn son John for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they talked, shooting picked back up. They were pinned down in a corner of the base and needed to get to the main bunker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was maybe 50 or 60 feet away. They ran. Albracht had nearly reached the bunker when he heard the distinctive scream of the B-40 rocket behind him. It was slow enough he could see it flying through the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The explosion threw Albracht into the doorway of the bunker, he turned to see Rosson the ground, bleeding, just behind him. He wasn\u2019t breathing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An hour later, Albracht zipped Ross into a body bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Dead men walking\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men were low on ammo, hadn\u2019t slept and were low on water. A rescue force had attempted a helicopter landing a short distance away but was repulsed by far more enemy soldiers than they could take on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There wasn\u2019t any help coming. It had been five days since he landed on Kate. But time seemed endless when sleep never came and rounds kept coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As danger mounted and the circumstances became more and more strained, the Montagnard soldiers let it be known that they were going to leave, with or without the Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not wanting to abandon the post without orders to do so, but fully aware how desperate the situation had become, Albracht negotiated with the Montagnard commander to wait until nightfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He took stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The enemy had zeroed in on every position on their small outpost. Fifteen of the 27 artillerymen he\u2019d started this mission with days ago were wounded. Ross was dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He sent a message to headquarters asking to leave the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPermission to abandon denied,\u201d came the reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albracht sent another message, essentially telling the command they were leaving. This time he wasn\u2019t asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This time, he got the approval of headquarters, which instructed him to link up that night with supporting ground forces deep under the triple canopy jungle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albracht didn\u2019t let it show, but the prospect of moving more than 180 men safely through the jungle to friendly lines when as many as 5,000 to 6,000 enemy soldiers were crawling around their position seemed unlikely to turn out well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believed we were merely dead men walking,\u201d Albracht later recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he reassured the men and prepared to step off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A terrifying escape<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The entire time, as evidenced by recorded radio traffic Army Times reviewed, Albracht whispers into his handset, talking with fire control and air support. He calls in spraying fire from the Spooky gunships just 100 meters in front of his own advancing patrol to clear the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He tells the ground link-up force to meet them just left of \u201cambush hill,\u201d a prominent feature near Kate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the lead element took a wrong turn. Somewhat lost in the dark, Albracht peered through dim red flashlight onto his map, straining to get the men to their rendezvous point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Off-track with a sky full of aircraft, one of the pilots started firing on what he thought was enemy forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026 he\u2019s firing at me, he\u2019s firing at me, what other aircraft is up there?\u201d Albracht said, his whisper rising to a quasi-yell on the handset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOk, all aircraft, attention all aircraft, cease fire, cease-fire, you\u2019re firing on Chicken Hawk\u2019s position,\u201d Spooky 41 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three hours into the movement, the moon came out, bright enough for the men to distinguish terrain features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, they reached what looked like the rendezvous point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two companies of friendly soldiers should be beyond that clearing, waiting to guide them home, Albracht thought, but he couldn\u2019t be certain. That dense brush and jungle could be hiding as many or more enemy soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He called up Mike Force, the ground support companies on the radio, asking them to send someone to the clearing so they would know they were in the right spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike Force told him to send someone. A deadly game of red rover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before he left the tree line, Albracht radioed to tell them he was coming out. He was in the open, alone, and unsure if he was in the right spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am an American. Are you the Mike Force?\u201d he called out as he walked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sgt. 1st Class Lowell Stevens grabbed his arm at the opposite tree line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGo back and get the rest of your men,\u201d Stevens whispered. \u201cAnd keep your voice down. There\u2019s all kinds of pith helmets and AKs around here. Get your guys, and let\u2019s get the hell out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He retrieved the men and marched with the Mike Force companies back to safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the Montagnards and one missing artilleryman had been separated but made it back to base camp safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Pfc. Michael R. Norton, a gunner, disappeared before the link-up. Norton remains listed on the Department of Defense POW\/MIA unaccounted for list. He has been declared dead by the agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCapt. William Albracht received the Silver Star Medal for actions in Vietnam 43 years after the war. Some are pushing for him to receive the Medal of Honor. (William Albracht)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter the fight<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albracht served on in Vietnam, earning two more Silver Stars. He later joined the Secret Service, protecting six U.S. presidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But those days on Kate remain with him still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s been more than 50 years since the events of those days at the firebase. Albracht said he often reflects on them. He can almost hear the flying rockets and mortars, and smell the blood and death when he does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI never felt more needed than I was on Kate, nor have I ever felt more fear,\u201d he wrote in his book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Editor\u2019s Note: Dialogue, accounts and retelling of events during the Vietnam combat action were reported through declassified Vietnam reports, recorded radio traffic transmissions, Army field manuals, interviews with William Albracht and co-author Marvin J. Wolf, along with excerpts from their book \u201cAbandoned in Hell: The Fight for Vietnam\u2019s Firebase Kate\u201d and the subsequent documentary film \u201cEscape From Firebase Kate.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n