The combination of responsive artillery and aggressive infantry pressure worked. The battalion had spent August and September perfecting these technique and learning how to work as a team. Blooded in a variety of minor engagements and confident in its ability, the battalion was also frustrated. It had spent a month thrashing about in search of an ever elusive enemy. Hoa Hoi represented a chance to land a real punch. Root wanted to get into it, and so did his men.

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Even so, Root still had no idea of what was in the village. When he contacted his B Company commander, Captain Frederick Mayer, who was still in the air reconnoitering his planned objective, Root told him to expect a reinforced enemy platoon.

B Company with two platoons went in at 10 a.m., landing near where the Blues had first arrived. Mayer immediately sent the 12’slicks’ (helicopter troop transports) back to pick up the rest of the company. Then he got oriented. There was firing everywhere–from the village and from two gunships overhead that were covering his landing. Three crippled choppers were seemingly parked on the dunes, and a beat-up Blue Team was crouching nearby. Mayer directed the 1st Platoon, under Lieutenant Joe Anderson, to set up a blocking position at the north end of the village. That seemed to be the most logical escape route for the enemy and one that could be covered in a hurry. Mayer then ordered Sergeant Leslie Wilson’s 2nd Platoon to take a position between the village and the landing zone (LZ). Although the Blues were withdrawing through Wilson’s platoon, little information was passed between the units.

In short order, the 2nd Platoon approached an enemy trench line that opened up on them. Private First Class Roy Salazar charged forward, rifle blazing. He was killed and two others were wounded, but that action carried the platoon to the lip of the trench. There the platoon went to ground within hand-grenade range of enemy soldiers, who could be seen dashing about to their front and still in the trenches on their flanks. In the north, Lieutenant Anderson reported light contact. Mayer, who had originally planned to assault the village with Wilson’s platoon and the Blues, now thought better of it. The Blues had been ordered out, and Wilson was in heavy contact. He ordered everyone to stay put.

When the 3rd and Weapons platoons arrived, they were sent to the south side of the village, the left flank of the 2nd Platoon. As these platoons moved up, what Mayer initially thought was a friendly M-79 shell exploded near his command group. He radioed the 3rd Platoon and yelled for them to reorient themselves. Then he clearly saw an 82mm mortar round spiraling in from the village. It landed 10 feet away in the sand and exploded. Seven men were wounded, including Mayer, who was hit in the face and arm. Dazed at first, the captain soon regained his feet and was coherent enough to convince Root not to evacuate him. Mayer now had troops covering three sides of the village and river to the enemy’s rear. He had done it right, but B Company was spread paper thin.

As Root circled above B Company and listened to the reports over the radio, the situation became more challenging; the NVA had commo (communication) wire, trenches, at least two heavy machine guns and a mortar. Clearly, the enemy force was a hell of a lot bigger than a platoon. It was time to bring in the rest of the battalion.

From his vantage point in the command bird, Root could clearly see the entire area below, and he began to calculate how much it would take to encircle the enemy force. His immediate problem was determining the dimensions of the defense. He thought back to the three-day stand made by the 23rd Regimental Combat Team at Chipyong-ni, Korea, after it was surrounded by three Chinese divisions. He also thought back to the 120th Infantry Regiment’s desperate fight at Mortain, France, against three German divisions during World War II. He knew the lessons learned by both the attackers and defenders, and he intended to apply them at Hoa Hoi. The most critical factor initially was speed.

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