Patrol Report

Ice Bound 

February 20th-February 25th, 1968 #94-68

or photos

Patrol Report #467-68

The Jim Southall Story, Over 100 Patrol Reports.

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

Members of PFC Jim Southall's 7th patrol were:

Cpl J.A.Mattson will work with Jim Southall on three more patrols. Patrols 8-10

LCpl Dye will work with Jim Southall on one more patrol. Patrol 10

PFC J. Hernandez worked with Jim on two patrols. Patrols 1 & 7

PFC  Charles F Huff will work with Jim Southall on three more patrols before being killed on hill 200 6/3/68.

PVT  Douglas will work with Jim three more time on patrols. Patrols 11, 19 & 21

PFC Whiting will work with Jim three more times before being WIA on hill 200 6/3/68.

PFC Michael J Beck will work with Jim Southall on three more patrols before being killed on hill 200 6/3/68.

Sgt Mook will only work this one patrol with Jim Southall.

LCpl Fast will only work this one patrol with Jim Southall.

Corpsman Kenny will work one more patrol with Jim Southall in 1968.

PFC  William C Moon worked patrol 4 & 7 with Jim Southall in 1968 before being killed on 7/3/68. Click here

PFC Southall 7th patrol 115 hours in Antenna Valley one sighting of a Rocket Launching site.

LCpl WILLIAM CHARLES "BILL" MOON

LCpl. U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam War-LCpl. Moon was killed in action by small arms fire when his Helicopter crashed on 7-3-1968 while serving as a Rifleman {0311} with the 1st Platoon, Bravo Co., 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division. LCpl. Moon started his tour of Vietnam on December 10, 1967.

He is the son of Mr. Charles F. & Mrs. Rosemary Moon of 511 Aoe Street, Joliet, Illinois, and he enlisted with the Marines on 3-28-1967.

Awards: Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal with One Service Star, Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal.

Wednesday, July 3, 1968
JOHN D DALHOUSE, Capt, Age 27, Montgomery, AL
ALTON HOUSE, Pfc, Age 19, Walstonburg, NC
WILLIAM D JOHNSON JR, Cpl, Age 20, Kokomo, IN
JOSEPH J JONES, Sgt, Age 21, Scotland Neck, NC
WILLIAM C MOON, LCpl, Age 18, Joliet, IL
PAUL SCHECKLER, LCpl, Age 19, Huntingdon Valley, PA
FAY C SIMMONS III, LCpl, Age 19, Cayce, SC
GARY D TISDALL, Cpl, Age 21, Modesto, CA
SHERMAN D VANCE, Cpl, Age 19, West Point, IL

Team Albrook Tribute

KIA

My tour in Bravo Company 


   I arrived in country in April or May and went out on a few dicey patrols. We heard that a big patrol was coming in which the best men of each company would be picked because it was extremely dangerous involving a well built up NVA sight near what I believe was called Yellow Brick road. Anyway it was around the Laotian/Cambodian border. What eventually transpired is that the powers that be decided to send Team Albrook out because they had a lot of experience and unfortunately many of the men were short timers. On that note I really pressed them to take me. I was turned down because I didn't have enough experience. I remember that everyone left their wedding bands or valuables behind and wrote letters to their significant others as they did not expect to return. Sadly they did not return.

   I remember well that when I first came over a few rough things happened and I was in fistfights with some of the crusty old veterans who did not take to me too well. The men solved issues out back with fists. The really touching thing is that one of the men came up to me the night before going out on that fateful mission and pretty much shared his heart with me and how he wanted to come out of this war a better person. He had a desire to be caring and kind with people. He said he saw this in me. It really shook me up and I felt very humble in his presence. He was really a damn good Recon Marine and somebody that I respected. Sometimes when we are being ourselves and people seem to dislike us.it could be different than we imagine. One thing that I got clear about as a Marine and a Recon Marine is to be who you are and be authentic. I wasn't trying to be like everyone else. Some of the leaders or a "few Good Men" encouraged me to stay on my path and not change. Some of those men had mentored me- telling me things that I needed to hear..How to cross open country like Charley Ridge, how to work with my M-60, how to stay grounded and not react in the wrong way in firefights. Sometimes when as a new guy facing exhaustion they had very tough and physical things that they did to teach me. It was okay as it was always a lesson well learned.

   Those men of Team Albrook went out the next day and they were shot down by an RPG rocket. I know they gave their all and I am alive today because they cared. So since I have arrived home in the states in 69.there has not been a day that i do not remember them. Sometimes I go to a quiet VA graveyard and just sit quietly expressing my gratitude for them.sometimes i ask them for advice if i am having a challenge with depression or PTSD. I feel them telling me to enjoy each moment, each breath, and I hear them telling me that they are in a very good place and that they have peace and love in their lives. I have felt a lot of tears down my cheeks over the days, weeks, months and years. I fully understand how much I have to be grateful for and what it means to be a warrior and cover someone’s back. I feel that I did well on my tour it was the coming home where my war started...a lost marriage to the woman that I loved, nightmares, flashbacks, lost jobs. It’s not to be regretted at all. It all builds character and makes us who we are. We will never stop being Marines. or men who care and fight for ones we love and what we love.

   Today I relate to the men on Team Albrook as an example to give what I can to the new generation..The men coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan..Albrook and my Recon brothers have inspired me to be a giver not a taker. We are building a unique slide guitar for a Vietnam vet who has no use of his hands. He lost almost everything physically when he got in a firefight trying to get POWs out with the 101st Screamin Eagles in Cambodia/Laos. He shared his story with us, one that he has kept secret all of these years..It was heart wrenching but what a brave and selfless man he is. 'This man has shared with us his vision that any quadriplegic should be able to play a guitar if it is designed correctly. So we learn from a few good warriors to pass it on.

   My dad landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day as a 101st Screamin Eagle. He never talked about the war to me. I could see his courage in his character. As a boy, I saw how he treated all people, fairly and with respect. I once saw another man in a rage yelling at my father and my dad calmed the man down by not talking it personally and graciously responding to the man.

   Marines are about doing. Need I say more.

Semper Fi

Dan Vanbuskirk Bravo 68/69

FINAL MISSION OF LCPL WILLIAM C. MOON

FINAL MISSION OF LCPL WILLIAM C. MOON

On July 3, 1968, a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter CH-46A (tail number 151911) from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 164 (HMM-164) was shot down with the loss of four crewmen and nine passengers. The aircraft was attempting an insertion in an area known as Elephant Valley. The valley is steep and runs east to west with a stream in the middle of it. The bottom of valley is narrow and the only approach is east or west. Aircraft commander CAPT James L. Littler III went in east to west and landed near the stream. Hueys (UH-1 helicopter gunships) covered both sides of the CH-46 during the insertion. CAPT Littler was only in the zone for seconds when he yelled he was taking fire. The gunships sprayed the side of the ridgeline where he called the fire from. CAPT Littler pulled out of the landing zone and was heading west when he made an inaudible radio transmission to one of the gunship commanders. At the same time he made a hard 180 degree turn to go back into the zone. He was belly up to the ridgeline about 100-200 feet when he took fire, lost control and crashed almost where he initially landed. The aircraft exploded upon impact. One of the gunship pilots later stated that he did not see the entire recon team exit the aircraft upon initial landing, but thinks that only one or two had gotten off. When the crew chief informed CAPT Littler of this during the initial departure, it is believed he decided to go back in to get them. He crashed right on anyone who was in the zone. The lost crew members included CAPT Littler, pilot 1LT Raymond C. Daley, and crewmen CPL Randell B. Little and SSGT John C. Bilenski. The nine passengers were CAPT John D. Dalhouse, SGT Joseph J. Jones, LCPL William C. Moon, LCPL Paul Scheckler, LCPL Fay C. Simmons III, CPL William D. Johnson Jr., CPL Gary D. Tisdall, CPL Sherman D. Vance, and PFC Alton House. [Taken from popasmoke.com]

LCpl William Charles “Bill” Moon
BIRTH 29 Aug 1949
Joliet, Illinois, USA
DEATH 3 Jul 1968 (aged 18)
Tam Kỳ, Quảng Nam, Vietnam


BURIAL

Resurrection Cemetery

Romeoville, Illinois, 60446

Albrook 13 KIA

The Jim Southall Story

Over 100 Patrol Reports.