Strike force Widow Maker: The true story of fire base ripcord

by James King

July 23, 1970; 1145 hoursMortar rounds rained down on us continuously, starting at sunrise. We hadn’t slept the previous nightbecause the business of life and death were upon us. Now those mortar rounds were erupting like littlevolcanoes. But instead of hot lava rocks, they were hot pieces of shrapnel that whizzed by us in everydirection. RPG’s, 75mm recoilless rounds joined in the endless phalanx. Rounds from the NVA’s 51caliber heavy machine guns and small arms fire from AK-47s were as constant as a swarm of bees flyingpast our heads, and eating up the hill around us. It was if the Gates of Hell had opened to advertise that wewere now open for business.Sappers and a large number of enemy troops had penetrated our perimeter and had overrun the CPlike a colony of angry, red army ants. Colonel Lucas was killed instantly.The last of our platoon fought valiantly, firing continuously in a rearward action, leapfrogging towardthe LZ to get on one of the last choppers off of Ripcord. We fought hard making our way through the thickhaze of cordite smoke that was tearing up my eyes and burning my throat.Then word came down that we were giving up the firebase.THIS IS A STORY OF FIRE–BASE RIPCORD IN THE A SHAU VALLEY OF VIETNAM. THISSTORY MUST BE TOLD!

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 27, 2019

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