When Captain William H. Dabney arrived on the third Marine Division personnel workplace in Vietnam in the summertime of 1967, he checked the listing of obtainable firm instructions. He picked the one as far-off from headquarters and as near the North Vietnamese border as potential.
It was precisely what the son-in-law of Lieutenant Basic Lewis “Chesty” Puller would have completed. Quickly after, the Marine officer was main his males in a determined struggle towards an amazing enemy drive throughout the Siege of Khe Sanh.
Becoming a member of the Marine Corps
William Howard Dabney was born in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, on September 28, 1934. He was raised in Panama and Gloucester County, Virginia, graduating from Christchurch Faculty in 1953. He attended Yale for a 12 months earlier than enlisting within the Marine Corps in 1954.
Dabney skilled at Parris Island, then served with the third Marine Division in Japan, reaching sergeant earlier than being discharged in 1957. That very same 12 months, whereas attending a funeral in uniform, he met Lieutenant Basic Chesty Puller, essentially the most embellished Marine in historical past.
Puller by no means missed a chance to talk with a fellow leatherneck. He requested Dabney to hitch him for lunch the next day. Throughout their dialog, Mrs. Puller noticed that the younger sergeant stood six-foot-four and thought he could be a very good match for his or her daughter, Virginia, who was additionally tall.
Dabney enrolled at VMI in 1957, majored in English, performed soccer, and held his rank all three years. He graduated with the Class of 1961 and was commissioned into the Marine Corps.
In September of that very same 12 months, he married Virginia McCandlish Puller. A pal noticed that “it took a hell of a person even to ask for the hand of Virginia Puller, the daughter of Basic Lewis B. ‘Chesty’ Puller, and a hell of a person to fulfill together with his approval. Invoice was that man.”
Dabney, now an infantry officer, finally bought orders to return to the third Marine Division, this time in Vietnam.
On his first day as headquarters firm commander, his unit got here beneath huge artillery hearth. He spent the day conducting fight triage, designating which Marines may very well be saved and which couldn’t.
He recalled it as a tough first day.
Baptism by Hearth
In December 1967, Dabney took command of India Firm, third Battalion, twenty sixth Marines. On December twenty sixth, he led his males to the highest of Hill 881 South, a treeless mountaintop about 4 miles west of Khe Sanh Fight Base. The realm had been closely contested by Marines and communist troops the 12 months prior.
Dabney later in contrast the terrain to Home Mountain close to VMI, roughly the identical dimensions and elevation. Cliffs dropped sharply on three sides, with just one strategy providing a gentler slope. His place was the farthest west and north of any American command in South Vietnam. Laos was solely eight miles to the west. A battalion of North Vietnamese Army regulars was digging in on Hill 881 North, two kilometers straight throughout from Dabney’s place.
On January 20, 1968, now commanding India Firm, Dabney led his males on a reconnaissance-in-force towards Hill 881 North. They waded by way of elephant grass that towered over their heads and left cuts on any uncovered pores and skin, all whereas navigating pre-dawn darkness and thick fog. They walked straight into an NVA battalion.
The lead platoon took heavy hearth. Dabney moved to the entrance and located his males pinned down with mounting casualties. He despatched the reserve platoon to help. Each platoon leaders had been killed. A medical evacuation helicopter was shot down making an attempt to succeed in the wounded.
Dabney known as in artillery, air assist and napalm hazard shut. He ordered his males to withdraw however stayed behind to supply overlaying hearth. When one platoon turned pinned down after seizing its goal, he superior throughout 500 meters of open terrain to assist them, repeatedly exposing himself to pinpoint NVA computerized weapons positions. His actions destroyed the heavy machine gun that had shot down the medevac plane.
India Firm had stumbled into the opening act of the Tet Offensive.
The following morning, NVA forces launched coordinated assaults throughout the Khe Sanh space. A rocket slammed into the primary ammunition dump on the fight base, detonating 1,500 tons of explosives. The 77-day siege had begun.
Mike Firm joined Dabney on Hill 881 South. As senior officer, he assumed command of each models. His drive numbered roughly 400 males, although casualties and lack of replacements typically dropped that to 250. They’d not depart till April.
Into the Trenches
Dabney ordered his males to dig trenches across the complete perimeter. NVA snipers shot on the males always. Mortars and artillery hit the hill day by day.
The Marines had three 105mm howitzers, two 106mm recoilless rifles, and 60mm and 81mm mortars. That they had razor wire and claymore mines. However the enemy had overwhelming numbers.
Hill 881 South was lower off from floor resupply. Every thing got here by helicopter and every craft drew enemy hearth.
Dabney calculated he had 25 seconds to unload or load a helicopter earlier than NVA mortars landed. His males watched as their commanding officer sprinted to each chopper, directing unloading operations whereas absolutely uncovered, cigar clenched in his tooth. Seven helicopters had been shot down making an attempt to resupply his place.
“There are solely two methods to get off this hill,” the troops mentioned. “Both fly off or get blown off.”
The circumstances had been brutal. Water was so scarce the Marines couldn’t bathe or shave. Dabney refused to request further water for hygiene, he as an alternative targeted on further ammunition and replacements.
“Individuals who write rules have by no means been anyplace like 881S,” he later mentioned.
Large rats infested the place, biting Marines as they slept. Sanitation was primitive. The lads devised a crude system of utilizing empty artillery powder canisters as latrines, and when one was full, the final person would drop in a dwell grenade, seal the lid, and ship it rolling down the hillside towards NVA positions. On some nights, a blast adopted by screams confirmed the improvised weapon had discovered its goal.
One evening, a Marine approached the corporate gunnery sergeant within the trench line. He was nervous, however felt obligated to report what he had detected. He advised the gunny he was reluctant to confess he knew what marijuana smelled like, however he had been smelling pot within the wind blowing towards them from the north, and the odor was getting stronger.
There have been no Marine models to the north. Counting on the Marine’s instincts concerning the location, Dabney ordered greater than 1,000 rounds of mortars and mixed-fuse artillery into the darkness. The NVA made no assaults that evening.
Turnover within the trenches approached 90 %, that means many males had been strangers to their fellow defenders. Recent troops would exit the helicopter and stand immobile, not sure the place to go, making themselves straightforward targets.
Dabney stationed skilled Marines close to the touchdown zone with orders to seize new arrivals and sort out them into the closest combating gap earlier than enemy rounds discovered them. Even a visiting battalion commander obtained the identical tough welcome.
PFC Ernest Webb noticed morale slipping and wrote to his pastor again house describing their scenario. The pastor got here up with “Operation We Care,” as his church and different organizations responded. Care packages poured onto the hill, some containing liquor hid in plastic child bottles, the nipples turned inward so nothing sloshed when mail handlers inspected the packages.
Delis and shops again house despatched snacks and meals. The letters and packages had been typically riddled with shrapnel or soaked in whiskey from damaged bottles in care packages. Chocolate chip cookies soaked in bourbon turned an sudden deal with.
At one level, a helicopter dropped a provide crate however left in a rush because the NVA opened hearth. The Marines waited till dusk to run and open the crates, solely to understand it was stuffed with ice cream that had already melted. Regardless, morale was boosted.
The Marines additionally enforced their very own self-discipline concerning medication. When replacements or Marines coming back from remedy introduced marijuana again to the hill, their fellow Marines responded instantly and violently. Their lives relied on the alertness of their comrades, and they might not tolerate something that compromised it.
One night, Dabney walked the ditch strains to verify on his males. He paused beside a Marine with a transistor radio tuned to Armed Forces Radio. The announcer broke in with a “Particular Announcement.” The Marines anticipated information of a significant victory or a truce.
The announcement knowledgeable listeners that an officer’s tennis event in Saigon had been rescheduled.
The Marine checked out Dabney. “Skipper, are we and people fucking individuals in Saigon combating the identical battle?”
The Tremendous Gaggle
The one-helicopter resupply system was killing Marines and aircrew. Within the first 4 weeks, six helicopters had been shot down on Hill 881 South alone. Dozens of Marines had been killed or wounded throughout resupply.
Dabney contributed some concepts to what turned Operation Sierra, higher referred to as the Tremendous Gaggle. On February 24, 1968, Marine aviators launched the primary coordinated mass resupply.
4 A-4 Skyhawk jets appeared first, two on both aspect of the hill, attacking antiaircraft positions with Zuni rockets. Two extra dropped cluster bombs and 250-pound bombs within the valleys. Two to 4 extra dropped napalm alongside each side of the hill to discourage NVA troopers who would lie on their backs and hearth AK-47s into helicopter bellies. Two ultimate A-4s laid smoke screens.
Dabney’s mortars fired white phosphorus rounds at recognized anti-aircraft websites. Each Marine within the trench line hurled a grenade as far down the hillside as he might throw. Then ten CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters appeared in two strings of 5, swooped in concurrently, dropped cargo nets packed stuffed with provides, then departed earlier than the smoke cleared.
Lieutenant Colonel Al Chancey, a helicopter pilot who flew the missions, later recalled the importance.
“The braveness and willpower of his Marines on 881S was a real inspiration to these of us who flew the Tremendous Gaggle,” Chancey mentioned. “We understood that we had been their lifeline and that we couldn’t fail them.”
Within the seven weeks after Tremendous Gaggle started, no helicopters had been shot down on Hill 881 South. Casualties throughout resupply dropped to about 20 wounded and 0 killed.
Elevating the Colours
In early February, Dabney began a day by day ritual that might grow to be legendary amongst Khe Sanh veterans.
Each morning, three volunteers dashed from their combating holes to a makeshift flagpole customary from a radio antenna. Two hoisted the colours whereas the third performed ‘To the Colours’ on a battered bugle, standing at consideration whilst enemy rounds cracked overhead. Every night, the Marines lowered the flag.
The show enraged the NVA, who dug in on Hill 881 North and fired on the flag occasion nearly day by day. Dabney famous every muzzle flash revealed a place his ahead air controllers might mark for airstrikes.
The Marines by no means lacked volunteers for the element. When a Marine died on the hill, the flag that had flown that day was typically folded and despatched to his household. People throughout the nation mailed replacements, Dabney famous they amassed a stockpile. One World Struggle II widow shipped her late husband’s burial flag, writing that he would have most popular it see service once more relatively than sit forgotten in storage.
On the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, a Black NCO approached Dabney and requested that the flag be flown at half-mast. Dabney understood however defined that it was very important that the flag stay as is to bolster morale and proceed irritating the enemy. The NCO agreed and even volunteered for flag element the subsequent morning.
Corporal Robert Arrotta, a radio operator, turned the hill’s ahead air controller after the unique FAC was wounded on the primary day. Dabney advised the battalion he didn’t want a alternative. Arrotta managed roughly 300 shut air assist missions throughout the siege. The troops known as him “The Mightiest Corporal within the World.”
Lance Corporal Molinau “Mike” Niuatoa served as Arrotta’s spotter. The American Samoan had scored 241 out of 250 together with his M-16 in boot camp and had the endurance to trace enemy positions for hours. After two weeks of cautious statement, he detected the telltale flash of NVA 130mm artillery originating far to the west, seemingly inside Laos.
Niuatoa advised the ahead air controller to regulate from the preliminary bomb’s influence level. Over the subsequent hour, utilizing a number of flights of assault plane and Niuatoa’s corrections, they destroyed 4 enemy weapons. Niuatoa earned a Bronze Star for his actions.
The Value of Holding Hill 881 South
By April 1968, reduction forces, together with the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, reached Khe Sanh, successfully lifting the siege. In line with Dabney, it appeared as if the enemy merely gave up and left the realm after that.
Lt. Col. John C. Studt transferred Dabney to command of a Provisional Weapons Firm and ordered him to carry the hill whereas the third Battalion moved to safe 881 North. Quickly after, Dabney led his remaining males off the hill, the primary break that they had in nearly three months of fight.
Dabney had misplaced greater than 50 % of his command. Forty-two Marines had been killed, and practically 200 had been wounded. His Navy Cross quotation famous that “whole casualties throughout the siege had been near 100%” when counting replacements. Dabney himself weighed 155 kilos when he returned to Quang Tri. His regular combating weight was 205.
Employees Sergeant Karl Taylor, his 1st Platoon sergeant on Hill 881 South, would earn the Medal of Honor later that 12 months throughout Operation Meade River. In {a photograph} from the hill, Taylor and Dabney stand collectively, filthy and unshaven, having simply survived one of many deadliest parts of the Siege of Khe Sanh.
The Delayed Honor
Dabney obtained the Silver Star for the preliminary firefight on January 20. He was additionally nominated for the Medal of Honor for his heroic management on Hill 881 South all through the battle. A senior officer downgraded the advice just because Dabney had not been wounded throughout that point, although he earned a Purple Coronary heart later.
Sadly, the paperwork for his Navy Cross was misplaced in a helicopter crash. He didn’t obtain the award till 2005.
The quotation concluded, “Colonel Dabney contributed decisively to final victory within the Battle of Khe Sanh, and ranks among the many most heroic stands of any American drive in historical past.”
Dabney returned to Vietnam for a second tour from 1970 to 1971 as a senior adviser to a Vietnamese Marine battalion. He later commanded a Marine battalion and a regiment, served on the Pentagon and completed his profession as Commandant of Cadets at VMI from 1989 to 1990. He lastly retired after 36 years of service.
He settled in Lexington, Virginia, close to VMI. He and his males held reunions for many years.
Colonel Tom Ripley, a fellow Marine and Navy Cross recipient, described his pal merely.
“This can be a man who noticed the world in black and white,” Ripley mentioned. “He made no excuses for his absolute strategy to all issues. His supply was direct with out exception. He was the type of individual that you just didn’t ask a query in the event you could not stand the reply.”
When requested about his relationship with Chesty Puller, Dabney was characteristically blunt about whether or not he known as his father-in-law “Dad.”
“Hell no,” Dabney replied. “He was both ‘Basic’ or ‘Sir.'”
Invoice Dabney died on February 15, 2012, at age 77. His son Lewis delivered the eulogy.
“He demanded good effort and absolute integrity,” Lewis mentioned. “Nothing much less was tolerated, however with these excessive expectations, nonetheless, got here deep love and dedication.”
