Patrol Report

Ice Bound 

March 6th-11th, 1968 #123-68

or photos

Patrol Report #344-68

LCpl Southall 9th Patrol 116 hours with 4 sightings in Antenna Valley.

The Jim Southall Story, Over 100 Patrol Reports.

Click the link at the bottom of this page for the next patrol report.

Members of Lance corporal Jim Southall's 9th patrol were:

Cpl J. A. Mattson, will work with Jim Southall on more time on patrol. Patrol 10

PFC  Whiting  will work with Jim one more time on patrol before he is wounded in action (WIA) on hill 200 and sent home.

PFC Michael J Beck will work with Jim one more time on patrols before being killed on hill 200 on June 3rd, 1968.

PFC Charles F Huff  will appear on one more patrol report with Jim Southall before being killed on hill 200 on June 3rd, 1968.

SSgt Hudson only worked this one time with Jim Southall on patrol.

Corpsman Bracken, this patrol is the only time they worked together on patrol.

Sergeant Herren, only worked this one patrol with Jim.

Sergeant Dahlman, only worked this one patrol with Jim.

Cpl Handy, this is the last time he worked with Jim Southall on patrol.

LCpl  Gwinn, this is the only patrol he worked with Jim on in 1st Recon Bn.

LCpl Clark, this is the only patrol he worked with Jim Southall on in 1st Recon Bn.

On 26 May 1968, Sergeant Jones led Patrol Team "Panama Hat" on a patrol in Quang Nam Province. The team, consisting of eight men, was inserted by CH-46 at YC988437 on the morning of the 26th; their mission was to conduct roving observation and surveillance. The post-patrol report contains the following description of what happened:


"281215H [12:15 PM, 28 May] YC988430: The team was moving west on a ridgeline when they received approx 30 grenades and heavy small arms fire from an unknown number of VC on the top of a cliff above them. The initial action resulted in 1 USMC KIA, 3 USMC WIA, 3 USMC MIA, and 1 USN MIA. The 4 MIA had either jumped or been blown over a cliff, and their casualty status was initially unknown. At 281730H the 3 USMC WIA whose posit was known were extracted.

This included the patrol leader. The KIA was not extracted due to inaccessibility and the tactical situation. On the following day, 291425H, the 4 MIA were located by the patrol leader and 1 other USMC enlisted, who were lowered into the area by hoist. The 4 MIA were discovered to be WIA med-evacs. The 2 man team then attempted to recover the body of the USMC KIA, but the mission was aborted when the CH-46B received heavy automatic weapons fire. A 20 man reaction force inserted on 30 May was unable to locate the USMC KIA, even though led by the patrol leader. Final results of this action were 1 USMC KIA, 5 USMC WIA, and 1 USN WIA."


One should note that Sergeant Jones, although wounded, went in the next day accompanied by a single Marine, located and medevaced the four missing men, and then tried to recover the body of his teammate LCpl Joseph Arnold Hill. When that effort failed, he went in again with the reaction force on the 30th. Sadly, LCpl Hill's body could not be found ... but it certainly wasn't due to any lack of effort on Sergeant Jones's part!

Sergeant Joseph John "JJ" Jones

Lance Corporal

JOSEPH ARNOLD HILL

Lance Corporal Joseph Arnold Hill entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Illinois and was a member of Company B of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division.  On May 28, 1968, LCpl Hill was part of an eight-man foot patrol inserted by helicopter into a hostile area near the Song Buong River, Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam. While his team traversed a narrow ledge near the top of a cliff, they came under heavy fire from an enemy force. During this action, LCpl Hill was hit and killed by enemy fire in the vicinity of grid coordinates YC 988 430. The tactical situation precluded recovery of his remains. Today, Lance Corporal Hill is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

Name: Joseph Arnold Hill
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company B, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 December 1947
Home City of Record: Taylorville IL
Date of Loss: 28 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154700N 1075444E (YC988430)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1195

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 2020.

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On 28 May 1968, LCpl. Joseph A. Hill was on patrol with his unit
near the Song Buong river in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, when the
unit came under enemy attack. Hill suffered fragmentation wounds from a
grenade and was killed. Due to the tactical situation, the unit was forced
to withdraw, leaving Hill behind. The reconnaissance patrol had been
operating some 20 miles southwest of the city of Da Nang.

Hill, according to teammembers, is dead. His name is listed with honor among
the missing because no remains were ever recovered to send home. For others
who are missing, however, resolution is not as simple. Some were known to
have been captured, only to disappear from the prison systems. Others were
alive and well and in radio contact with would-be rescuers, describing an
approaching enemy. Still others simply disappeared.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, the U.S. Government has
reviewed "several million documents" and conducted over 250,000 interviews
related to Americans still missing in Indochina. The weight of this and
privately collected reports has convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans remain alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Although Joseph Hill may not be among those thought to be still alive, one
can imagine his gladly taking part in one more mission to help bring his
comrades to freedom. What are we doing to bring our men home?

The Jim Southall Story, Over 100 Patrol Reports.

Click the link at the bottom of this page for the next patrol report.

Joseph: I had a POW-MIA bracelet with your name. I had lost the bracelet while on active duty years ago, but I have never forgotten you. We are brothers of a sort; both of us being Marines. I am also a journalist; and have written about you, wondering who you were and what you were like. As long as I can keep your name on my lips and in my heart, you will live forever. I love you, my dear brother. May you rest in peace whereever you are. SEMPER FI!!!