NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR JANUARY 29, 2008:
We returned safely from our two weeks in Vietnam last month. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I am currently writing about the journey and hope to have it published, in some form, by early spring. In the meantime, I've put together a series of photos (below) to help provide some basic information to those of you who have been interested in Tom Mahoney's loss and provided encouragement to us in this rather unusual undertaking.
As you may recall, Tom has the sad distinction of being the last U.S. Marine to die on Hill 881S. That legendary mountain outpost was wrested from an entrenched North Vietnamese Army regiment during a bloody four-day battle in April 1967, resulting in hundreds of Marine casualties, and was held at great additional cost until July 6, 1968.
I invite new visitors to this webpage, who might be unfamiliar with the circumstances of Mahoney's death and the subsequent chain of events which led to this recent visit to Vietnam, to scroll down to the Author's Note dated September 9, 2007.
My best wishes to you all,
Mike
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One of two plaques with identical text. One we buried on the western ridge of Hill 881S. The plaque shown here was brought back from the hill and will be presented to Frank Ahearn, platoon commander of 1/B/1/1. |
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The Center for the Investigation of Human Capabilities (CIHC), Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association Office at the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Ha Noi, Vietnam. |
Me and Dr. Dinh Van Toan, renowned geologist, professor and director of the Geophysical Department of the Institute of Geological Sciences at the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology. Toan was assigned to the 24th PAVN (NVA) Regiment as a 40mm antitank gunner and was part of the force that overran the Lang Vei Special Forces camp near Khe Sanh in February 1968. During the subsequent siege of Khe Sanh Combat Base, Toan sustained multiple and serious wounds from a B-52 bombing and was also completely deafened for nearly a year thereafter. |
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The telepath, Nguyen Buu Thuan (in light blue jacket) explaining to Dr. Dinh Van Toan how to translate to us in English a map he just drew. Note Mahoney's baseball glove on table. |
Thuan drawing a second map after connecting with Tom's wandering soul. |
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Montagnard hamlet near Hill 689. |
Me, Doc and a former NVA soldier taking a break on the road up to the base of Hill 881S on December 16, 2007. Thuan was taking him and his family to search for his dead brother who had been killed during the war around A Luoi, near the A Shau Valley, about 20 miles south of Khe Sanh. During the war, this NVA soldier fought against the Americians near Tay Ninh, west of Saigon. |
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Me and Doc Topmiller in the Montagnard hamlet of Lang Ta Tuc just before starting the hike up 881S. |
The NVA soldier and Thuan on the hike up the hill. Note: Unlike most of us American veterans of that war, he can still fit into his uniform!). |
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Steve Orr on the hike up to Hill 881S. |
Getting steeper. |
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Looking southwest from the Hill 881S. In the distance is the hamlet where we began our hike up the hill.
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The group is just outside what was once the western gate into the Marine fortification on the western ridge of Hill 881S (often called Hill 881A and which I will refer to by its geographic name Hill 865 to avoid confusion by readers trying to understand the difference between Hills 881S, 881A and 881N). Tom Mahoney, was mortally wounded on this trail close to the spot where the people in this photo are standing. Two NVA soldiers immediately dragged his body off to the right and about eight meters down the draw. Because of an error in directions on a map drawn in late July 1968 for the USMC investigation of Tom's loss, we ended up holding his memorial service about 10-15 meters down the opposite (left) slope, near the last barren tree at the far left. However, upon later discussion with eyewitnesses to Mahoney's loss, it is clear that the direction of the bombing run which damaged his head and upper torso likely carried fragments across the ridgeline to the south slope -- in line with where Thuan determined his "three small teeth" to be located. Until the site is excavated by the
JPAC, Tom's exact whereabouts will remain a mystery. |
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At site of main Marine postion on Hill 881S looking east. |
Looking in the direction of Hill 881N. Photo taken from the knoll about 100 meters east of the main Marine position on Hill 881S |
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Thuan trying to contact Tom's wandering soul near the site of his death on Hill 865. |
Thuan consulting the map he drew three days before in Hanoi. |
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Me and Doc following Thuan down the hill to the spot where he believes Tom's remains are located. |
Location where Thuan believes some of Tom's remains ("three small teeth") still lie. |
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Steve Orr standing on the SW slope of Hill 865. It was Steve's second visit to this hill; the last being April 14, 1968, the day 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines moved out to attack the NVA stronghold on nearby Hill 881N. |
Plaque at site. |
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Offerings set out to entice Tom's wandering soul to this spot on the southern slope of Hill 865. Note the "fake" paper money in upper right was later burned in a nearby adandoned NVA spider hole. |
Paying our respects. |
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This former NVA, while on a journey to find his brother's remains near A Shau Valley, paid his respects to a another fallen "soldier" here on Hill 865. |
"Fake" paper money (a traditional Buddhist offering) burned in an old NVA spider hole near where we held the memorial service. |
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Doc and I trying to figure out what's going on. |
Hill 689 from the western gate site on Hill 865. |
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Steve and Doc leaving the hill. Note: Doc is now hatless because a gust of wind had blown it off his head and into the very hole we were using to bury the plaque. The Vietnamese all believed it was Tom's soul playing a prank on Doc and so the hat remained where it landed and was subsequently buried along with the plaque. |
Leaving Hill 865 after the ceremony. Per Thuan's instructions, I am carrying 5 burning incense sticks in my right hand. The smoke and aroma of the sticks are intended to help Tom's wandering soul follow us off the hill. Two days later, I would reignite those sticks on his altar at a temple in Hue -- a place of sanctury for his soul until his mortal remains are recovered. |
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Thich Nu Minh Tanh at Mahoney's altar at the temple in Hue. |
Tom Mahoney's altar in Hue temple which the Buddhist nun Thich Nu Minh Tanh set up in May 2007. Later I would reignite the five incense sticks I brought from Hill 865 two days earlier and put them in the maroon and silver holder. |
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Offerings on the table at the temple in Hue placed there by the nuns to lure Tom's wandering soul inside. Mostly sweets and flowers, as if it were the "dessert" phase in this elaborate and protracted ceremony designed to bring him peace. |
Doc Topmiller and Steve Orr at table of offerings prepared by the nuns to entice Tom's wandering soul into the Buddhist temple where it would respose among "friends" until his mortal remains are returned to his family. |
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Entrance to the Khe Sanh Interpretive Center. |
The Khe Sanh Interpretive Center which (I'm guessing) is located just outside what was once the main gate to Khe Sanh Combat Base and maybe a bit east toward the old garbage dump. |
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An exhibit inside the Khe Sanh Interpretive Center. Doc Topmiller, a history professor and world-renowned Vietnam scholar, offered to help correct obvious inaccuracies in their interpretation of some artifacts and events; however the curator (whose name, somewhat amusingly, is Nguyen Viet Minh) politely declined. |
Flag in Khe Sanh Interpretive Center claimed to have been flown over Hill 689 on the evening of July 12, 1968 after the last of the Marine garrsion at the Khe Sanh complex departed. Note: The PAVN (North Vietnamese forces) were even then still trying to maintain a public perception that they were not fighting within the borders of South Vietnam, and so used the southern flag of the Viet Cong (rather than their own flag containing a single gold star on a crimson field) to declare Khe Sanh "liberated." |
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Location of where I believe the entrance to the Huong Hoa District HQ (CAC-O) compound was in early 1968 looking west along Highway 9. |
Location of where I believe the Buddhist temple was located in Khe Sanh village before it was destroyed by bombs in February 1968. |
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Looking east into the gate of the PAVN cemetery near where I believe is the site of the Old French Fort. |
Large PAVN cemetery at site of Old French Fort looking east. Note the actual crest of the hill is behind the monument. Steve Orr and I tried to walk up there but were run off by the police living in a small house just to the right (south) of the mound. |
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Looking west from site of Old French Fort across new Khe Sanh town toward (L-R) Co Roc (in the far distance) and Hills 689, 881S (and perhaps 881N?) and 861. |
From site of Old French Fort looking NW toward Hill 471. |
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PAVN cemetery at site of Old French Fort. |
View from my room in the Morin Hotel, Hue. During the bloody house-to-house fighting here in February 1968, the bridge at this location over the Perfume River was "dropped" by the NVA to slow the Marines in crossing the river and attacking the Citadel. |
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The Citadel. Photo taken from atop the gate into The Forbidden City. |
Our cycle drivers in Saigon. The man on the far left is Doc's usual driver, Hieu, a former ARVN. Hieu's ability to race through the vehicular pandemonium of that city, with vision in only one eye (as the result of being wounded in the war) borders on the miraculous. My driver, in front of me and just to Steve's right, is a former Viet Cong who, because he deserted from his unit late in the war, is now relagated to making a living providing motorscooter rides to tourists. Doc later told Steve and I that they are lucky to make the equivalent of one U.S. dollar per day. These men and their families are still bearing the consequences of choices they made 40 years ago. |
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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2007:
As someone who expressed interest in my book A Patch of Ground: Khe Sanh Remembered, I thought you might want to hear about a rather extraordinary "convergence" of Americans and Vietnamese at the spot on the old Khe Sanh battlefield where Thomas Patrick Mahoney III, a fellow Marine and my childhood friend, met his end. Tom and I enlisted in the USMC together and both fought at Khe Sanh in 1968. As I describe in the book, during the abandonment of the Khe Sanh Combat Base in July 1968, Tom, who the had recently received a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend, inexplicably left the relative safety of the Marine position on Hill 881S and walked into a squad of North Vietnamese soldiers hiding nearby poised to shoot down the helicopter full of Marines departing later that afternoon. Their plan now exposed, the PAVN troops instead shot Tom and positioned his body in front of their fighting holes. When Marines attempted to recover the body, a fierce firefight ensued and lasted all afternoon. Several of Tom's buddies were wounded in the attempt. As dusk fell, the remaining Marines reluctantly obeyed orders and abandoned the hilltop— leaving Tom's body behind.
In subsequent years, the Joint MIA/POW Task Force investigated the site but was unable to locate any evidence of Mahoney's presence.
The release of A Patch of Ground, nearly 40 years after Tom's loss, generated an amazing outpouring of interest in his story from around the U.S. and in Vietnam. Those now involved in helping solve this mystery include American and Vietnamese academics, writers, geographers, geologists and eyewitnesses to the tragic event in 1968.
Several years ago I obtained the translation of PAVN military record which contained a graphic account of the events surrounding Tom's death and the subsequent fight for his body. Amazingly, this report includes the full names of all five members of the North Vietnamese unit involved. We have made some headway in our search for them, thanks, in part, to the voluntary assistance a number of researchers in Hanoi. Although it is a statistical improbability that any of the five survived the war and are still alive, we will continue try and locate these men and see if they recall how and where (if at all) they disposed of Tom's remains. Perhaps they would be willing to join us on the hill.
However, what makes this gathering even more unusual is that a Buddhist nun in Hue is now praying for the return of Tom's soul and has involved a telepath. They will be joining us in December at the site of Tom's death to perform a séance. I think it is difficult for most westerners (myself included) to comprehend how profoundly important it is for the Vietnamese to help every "wandering soul" return to its family. In lieu of a family member, I have been asked to act as a kind of conduit to receive information from Tom's wandering spirit and help bring him home. The telepath, who is renowned throughout Vietnam for her ability to locate lost family tombs, will also try to locate his physical remains. While I am not a believer in such supernatural phenomena, I do respect the ancient customs and history of the Vietnamese people and am fully prepared to approach the more mystical aspects of this event with an open and cooperative mind.
I never desired to return to Vietnam, nor have I ever felt a compelling need to see Tom's remains returned. But, as you can see, the inexorable hand of Destiny seems to be prodding me forward to this eclectic assemblage of American and Vietnamese scholars, nun and spiritualist and, possibly, former adversaries on a remote mountaintop near Khe Sanh next December.
I am currently writing a sequel to A Patch of Ground which will tell the story of this extraordinary assortment of people who have been affected by Tom's loss from the moment he stepped off into the unknown on July 6, 1968 to this final "ceremony" next December — however that turns out.
Below is the nun, Thich Nu Minh Tanh, who will be providing our spiritual assistance. While visiting her home in Hue last May, my friend, Professor Bob Topmiller, handed her a copy of Tom's high school graduation photo. The nun sorrowfully uttered, "So young!" and then began to weep. It is an incredibly poignant snapshot."
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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR NOVEMBER 10, 2007:
Marines & "Docs:"
Happy 232nd Birthday!
I am hustling to have everything ready for the Vietnam trip — now just 4 weeks away (Yikes!).
Tom Mahoney's sister, Claudia, mailed his old baseball glove to me for the Buddhist telepath to use in the séance next month. It arrived this morning and is a sad, sweat-stained relic; "autographed" on the front side by Ted Williams; though more authentically on the back by Tom — whose patient redundancy of blue ink strokes, from a clearly inadequate ballpoint pen, indelibly etched his name in block lettering so large it could have been read from the bleachers. Didn't we all, though? To me, nothing embodies the hope and longing of an American boy from that era more than his own ball glove: the sweet mingling of rawhide, neatsfoot oil and innocence. I tried to slip it on my hand, but it was far too small; suggesting Tom was, perhaps, 12 years old when it was still the stuff of his dreams. And yes, I was pretty "choked up" at that moment.
With regard to documenting the trip on film: I received a very positive email response last week from documentary filmmaker Gail Dolgin. She, and videographer Vicente Franco (both nominated for an Oscar in 2003 for the feature documentary Daughter from Danang), want to accompany us to Vietnam; though working out all the details with only a month left may be problematic. If it is meant to be, it will.
After first visiting Saigon and Hanoi, we will be staying for three days in Hue and making day trips up to the Khe Sanh area. On December 20, we plan to hold ceremonies on Hill 881S at the spot Mahoney's remains were last seen. As mentioned above, it will include Buddhist spiritualists who have asked to attempt to bring Tom's "wandering soul" off the battlefield and "home." Also, Doc Topmiller, Steve Orr and I will hold a memorial service for Tom (I'm not sure if he ever had one, given his KIA-BNR status) which will include hanging a USMC flag on a nearby tree (Doc reconnoitered the spot last May). Tom, as many of you are aware, was the last Marine to die on Hill 881S, the scene of much bloodshed between April 1967 and July 1968. We also intend to bury a inscribed marker/plaque. I say "intend" because we need to first get a sense whether our Montagnard guide will come back later and dig it up (this remark is not intended to disparage the integrity of the Montagnard's [a people, to whom I am personally indebted] but rather to realistically appraise the consequences of their poverty). The text of the plaque wil be as follows:
In memory of
Thomas Patrick Mahoney III
Lance Corporal
United States Marine Corps
Age 20
Killed in action at this spot on of July 6, 1968
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Dedicated this 20th Day of December 2007
by your family, friends and the loyal men of
Company B, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment
who so valiantly struggled to bring you home.
Semper Fidelis
Upon my return to the U.S., I plan to edit a second edition of A Patch of Ground, adding a chapter or two to describe the extraordinary connections that have occurred since I was first contacted by Tom's platoon commander, Frank Ahearn, a few years ago. The new edition will culminate with the events (however they turn out) on Hill 881S next month.
My very best to all of you and Semper Fi,
Mike Archer
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| A foggy morning in February 1968 near the Regimental Combat Operations Center (COC) bunker at Khe Sanh. The 3rd Battalion Reconnaissance huts can be seen in the distance, to the left of the two tall antennas. Many of us believed the Recon area took an inordinately high volume of enemy incoming because the NVA mistook the antennas to be the location of the COC. (Photo courtesy of Cliff Braisted). |
Radio operators Cliff Braisted (left) and Jerry Millikan take a break from digging a new bunker to chow down on some C-Rations. Hacking through the hard clay with only a small entrenching tool was slow, arduous and frustrating. No hole was deep enough to protect us from the big enemy guns hidden on Co Roc Mountain. (Photo courtesy of Cliff Braisted). |
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Steve Orr, radio operator for our Regimental Commander Colonel David E. Lownds, humorously simulates the Colonel, who, when deep in thought, would often twirl one waxed tip of his handlebar mustache. Over Steve's right shoulder is the Khe Sanh Officers Club, the contents of which (including the chair Orr is sitting upon) we frequently "extracted." (Michael Archer) |
Steve "Tiddy" Tidwell, an honest, easy going guy from Alabama, filling sandbags at Khe Sanh Combat Base in early February 1968 during a rare break in the fog cover. Three weeks earlier he and I had been sent as radio operators to Khe Sanh village --shortly before the town was overrun by the NVA. Tiddy's accurate rifle fire during the attack resulted in numerous enemy causalities and helped save the small Marine compound there from being lost.
(Photo courtesy of Steve Orr)
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Me sitting in front of the entrance to the old mortar pit bunker -- my home at Khe Sanh Combat Base. (Michael Archer)
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Minutes after the photo of me by the entrance to my bunker was snapped (photo at left), an enemy artillery shell nearly scored a direct hit on it. Notice the extensive damage to the area, including the ruptured end of the blast wall made of earth-filled, red-colored 55-gallon drums (which are also visible in the other photo -- just behind the bunker). (Michael Archer) |
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Regimental radio operators constructing a bunker in late January 1968. The tower seen in the right background was located near the south entrance to the Regimental Combat Operations Center (COC), and could be seen from miles away. Early in the siege, the COC received several near-misses from large enemy artillery shells. Once it became apparent they were using the tower to assist their aim, we pulled it down. (Photo courtesy of Cliff Braisted)
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Me (left) and Denny "Pig" Smith in front of the old mortar pit bunker. Pig never changed his clothes during the 77 days of siege. Eventually, the combination of stains from sweat, mud, grease, coffee and food from hastily consumed C-rations created a kind of camouflage effect that was, in an odd way, almost stylish. (Michael Archer)
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The hut where our Regimental Commander Colonel David E. Lownds resided prior to the attack on Khe Sanh Combat Base. A prime target, the building was hit by enemy rockets in the initial barrage, leading many of us to believe they had excellent intelligence information about the base. (Michael Archer) |
A Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, with a load of mail and supplies slung beneath it, makes a final approach to the uppermost LZ at the main position on Hill 881S. The helicopter is framed by Hill 881N in the distance. This photo was taken from "the saddle" between Hill 881S and 881S Alpha (Hill 865) just days before the severely depleted platoons of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment were ordered to abandon the position on July 6, 1968. (Photo courtesy of Steve Busby) |
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This photograph was taken on July 6, 1968, on Hill 865 in the midst of a battle between members of Bravo Company and North Vietnemse soldiers over the body of my close friend, and their comrade, Lance Corporal Thomas P. Mahoney III. The Marine in the foreground is Lance Corporal Luis Perez. (Photo courtesy of Luis Perez)
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After suffering numerous casualties, the Marines called in fighter-bombers (see bomb explosion above) which failed to dislodge the entrenched enemy and inadvertanlty did severe damage to Mahoney's body. With darkness descending, the men reluctantly obeyed orders from the battalion commander to abandon the hill. Tom's remains were left behind. The remnants of Bravo Company were airlifted to join beleaguered Alpha and Charlie Companies on nearby Hill 689. The following night, badly outnumbered, they successfully repulsed repeated attacks by hundreds of enemy soldiers determined to realize a propaganda coup long denied them -- annihilation of Marines defending the Khe Sanh Combat Base. This would be the last of many fierce battles fought in its defense. (Photo courtesy of Luis Perez) |
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Me (left), Doc Topmiller and the late Joe "Alphabet" Wojcinowicz at Phu Bai in July 1968, three months after leaving Khe Sanh. Doc would return to the United States the next day. It was during this time that I first learned details of the abandonment of Khe Sanh Combat Base, the desperate battle being fought there by elements of the 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and the tragic loss of my friend Tom Mahoney.(Michael Archer)
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