2T NUI BA DEN FIRE MISSION

On Nui Ba Den, when I was not working on the various radio systems I would try to strengthen our defenses. One day I devised a plan to utilize an experimental Starlight scope to spot enemy movement on the flatlands and then direct artillery fire on the targets. I did the scanning nightly from midnight to around 3:00 a.m., and it usually averaged around 4-5 days a week, or whenever the weather permitted. Since we were above the clouds, cloud interference often prevented me from acquiring good targets. I would usually spot a single stationary light such as from a fire but no real movement. A moving light could mean an enemy patrol with 10-15 troops following the lead soldier with the light. I called several fire missions on the single lights, but no real results were obtained (such as secondary explosions). I changed my strategy after a few weeks and started plotting the lights on a map, then rechecking the lights 30 minutes later. Any lights that had moved were followed and plotted on another map. Over several months, there was one light that came on around 1:00 a.m. every night and followed the same route through the jungle until around 3:00 a.m., when the clouds and atmosphere distorted it. I called this information to brigade intelligence, but they wanted me to follow the lights for a few more weeks to see if I could get more information on the light before calling in a fire mission. (Did the light stop or did other lights join the convoy?) Our best guess was a troop movement or resupply route. The brigade decided to not take any chances and assigned three fire bases to triangulate the target with 155mm and 8-inch guns. When I did get permission to call in the fire mission, it was an unbelievable sight when the first spotting round exploded. The white phosphorous round landed about one hundred yards short and fifty yards to the left of the light. When that round exploded the one light immediately turned into twenty lights and the men behind those lights were running as fast as they could to try to escape the kill zone. It reminded me of a wagon wheel with the spokes leading away from the hub. I called in my adjustment and added troops in the open, a code meaning an air burst would cause the most casualties. Within a few minutes the sky lit up with around twenty air bursts right over the targets.
There was a large secondary explosion, and all the lights instantly went out. The Brigade would not reconnoiter the area, so we never really knew what the target was that night. Since the light originated a few miles north of my position and headed into Cambodia, I would like to believe that it was an enemy supply route, bringing weapons and men to attack our positions on Nui Ba Den.