Barnum: Yes. We were heading out of the mountains in a battalion march column. My company was the rear element. Now a battalion march column is strung out quite a distance. In fact, the whole purpose is for rapid movement. The lead companies had already entered the village of Ky Phu, and we were about 200 yards back from the western limits of the village.

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Vietnam: Ky Phu wasn’t a very big village?

Barnum: No. It wasn’t very big at all. We heard shooting toward the front of the column, and we heard RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) going off. My company commander, Captain Paul Gormley, was just coming out into an exposed position followed by his radio operator. The enemy zeroed in on them. I’m sure they saw the radio antenna and his .45-caliber pistol and thought that they were part of the command element. And they were exactly right. The initial round hit the skipper and his radio operator. The enemy soldiers were popping up out of spider holes and seemed to be everywhere.

Vietnam: The VC were really dug in.

Barnum: Absolutely. They were good at it. So, in essence, we had a battalion strung out over 500 yards, and everyone was engaged in a firefight. I remember, after hitting the deck and scanning the area, I heard someone holler that the skipper and his radio operator had been hit. They were about 50 or 60 yards ahead of me. I saw the corpsman, Doc West, get hit two or three times trying to reach Captain Gormley. Hotel Company had just come around a hill mass and were in the open when they hit us. When I saw Doc West get wounded the third time, I just got up and ran out to get him. Then I returned, picked up Captain Gormley, and carried him back to cover. When I went back out to grab Doc West, I saw that the radio operator was dead. It was then I realized that I was the highest-ranking officer present. Everybody was looking at me, and I could see in their eyes they were saying, Hey, lieutenant, what do we do now?

Vietnam: What a position to be in.

Barnum: The first thing I did was run out to where the radio operator was lying, take the radio off his back, strap it on mine, and hurry back to our defensive position. I assumed command of the company, analyzed the situation, and started giving orders.

Vietnam: Did you also continue as the FO?

Barnum: Yes. My FO team and I started calling in artillery on the enemy’s positions. The fire was real close. The enemy was right on top of us. The artillery came in right over our heads. It was touch and go. We were right on the gun target line. The artillery fire helped reduce the odds, stunned the enemy and gave me an opportunity to regroup and settle folks down.

Vietnam: Sounds like you were in a real fix.

Barnum: We were. I radioed battalion headquarters and told them that Captain Gormley was dead and I was the FO and was assuming command of the company. The battalion commander asked lots of questions. I guess I convinced him I knew what the situation was and was taking appropriate action. He told me to make sure everyone knew I was now in command.

Vietnam: And you had been in-country only 14 days.

Barnum: Well, I was the boss, 14 days or not. Getting back to the radio, everybody was on the same net. The battalion commander, each company commander, the S-3 (operations officer), even air support. So I could listen in to all transmissions, and I soon realized everyone was in a bad way. If you were worse off than somebody else who was transmitting, you cut in and then everyone backed off and listened.

Vietnam: I would think that everyone being on the same net would lead to confusion.

Barnum: No, it worked well. I think that’s the reason we were saved. We worked together as a team and overcame a numerically superior force. Also, Brig. Gen. Jonas M. Platt, the task force commander, was in a helicopter overhead. Being on the same net meant that I could make my decisions based on what was happening somewhere else.

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