VN: I take it then Quang Tin province was not pacified?

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Bolté: Oh, Lordy, no! You took a chance when you drove across Tam Ky at night. And this was the capital! All the bridges along Route I had PF/RF guard detachments on them. The enemy would sneak in periodically, kill and wound the PFs and RFs, and try to blow the bridges. In fact, on three occasions while I was there, we had serious assaults on Tam Ky itself. During the 1968 Tet Offensive, the VC actually entered the province capital complex. We even killed a couple of them in the province chief’s office! That was only a few weeks after I arrived there.

VN: What a welcome to Vietnam!

Bolté: On the morning of January 2, when I arrived to assume my duties as the senior adviser, the Ly Tin District capital near Chu Lai had just been hit pretty hard. That was a precursor to Tet. Four weeks later, we were attacked.

VN: What happened the night the VC hit Tam Ky?

Bolté: We held. The Seabee detachment’s lines were assaulted because they were located near the province capital complex. The province chief remained in my command bunker throughout the night. I later heard through the grapevine that he was criticized for this. However, it made sense to me to stay there because we were able to maintain good communications throughout the battle. The province chief’s home was located right near the capital complex; if he had stayed there he would have been run out of it for sure.

VN: You mentioned earlier that you had a Chieu Hoi adviser. Did you get many enemy soldiers surrendering?

Bolté: We had a steady stream of them. There was a nearby camp where they were kept and trained. When the Chieu Hoi program director felt that they were “re-educated” enough, he’d release them sometimes to be assigned to military or paramilitary units. We also had a big prison in Tam Ky where the bad guys were incarcerated.

VN: What were some of the success stories of the advisory effort?

Bolté: We made progress in feeding refugees, building schools, improving roads, etc., but providing security was critical. We were able to expand the area under government control and establish defensive positions and, quite often, obtained help from the Americal Division’s 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, in whose area of operation we operated. We conducted cooperative operations, such as placing one of the squadron’s platoons in support of ARVN infantry in a particular area we felt was a high risk. I mentioned earlier that Tam Ky was attacked three times while I was there. Once was, of course, Tet. Another was in the early fall of 1968. I happened to be with the province ARVN cav unit when we ran right into a major NVA force. We engaged them, and I called for assistance from the 1st Squadron, 1st Cav. Later, when I was commanding the 1st Squadron, 1st Cav, we fought another large enemy force. I committed a bunch of ACAVs and tanks, and together with ARVN infantry, we clobbered them. When the battle was over, we counted 110 confirmed kills. This was on the outskirts of Tam Ky. It appeared as if the NVA were preparing to mount an assault on the capital itself.

VN: Luckily you were able to discover it.

Bolté: That’s because we had the 1st Cav operating in our province as well as ARVN, RF, and PF units. The 1st Squadron, 1st Cav, was an overwhelming force. Any enemy infantry battalion that ventured out of the mountains to fight them was crazy. They were extremely mobile. And their firepower was awesome! Just one platoon consisted of seven ACAVs (these ACAVs normally had two M-60 and one .50-caliber machine gun) and three M-48 tanks (equipped with a 90mm main gun, plus an M-60 and a .50-caliber machine gun). The squadron had nine of these platoons in the troops, plus an air cavalry troop of 27 helicopters.

VN: How did you get along with your counterpart, Lt. Col. Tho?

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