Despite the loss of surprise, the terrain around Hill 63 favored the defender, in this case, the 5th and 7th companies, 2nd Battalion, 3rd NVA Regiment, which had slipped into the area sometime earlier. Two hills dominated the surrounding paddies. Hill 63, the most prominent of the two, was a pile of boulders and brush squatting between the Ly Ly River and National Route 534. Hill X was a knobby thicket about 500 meters to the west of Hill 63. The scrub-covered slopes of both hills provided the NVA excellent observation and a green curtain of natural camouflage beneath which they had placed a string of mutually supporting bunkers and fighting positions. A strip of paddies and wooded islands lay between the two hills. The islands were a sinuous maze of straw houses and small gardens crisscrossed with impenetrable hedgerows that channeled foot and vehicle movement to only a few trails. Visibility was limited to 15 meters in any direction. The island’s hedgerows, like the rocky mounds above, were a network of nearly-invisible bunkers designed to exact a high price from an attacker. It was a defender’s paradise.

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By dusk, Dorland had established his command post in a wooded area 1,500 meters southeast of Hill 63 and pulled his units closer to the objective. One platoon of cavalry and the four tanks established a night defensive position several kilometers to the east. The other task force units prepared night defensive positions within a kilometer of the objective area.

Dorland’s plan for Thanksgiving was straightforward. The infantry companies, backed by a platoon of tracks (APCs), would search Hill 63. Company B would take the southern flank, and Company D would be on the right. The 2nd Platoon, 17th Cavalry, would follow behind Company D. The 3rd platoon, 17th Cavalry, and the four tanks were designated as reserve and scheduled to occupy positions near Hill 63 early the next morning. Dorland and his two-man command group would colocate with the reserve. After Dorland had briefed his commanders on the next day’s plans, the task force settled in for an uneventful night.

Thanksgiving dawned colorless and wet. November is the advent of the northeast monsoon in that part of Vietnam. The weather is marked by a period of seemingly unending fog and rain, and temperatures that often slip into the low 60s. The low-hanging, pewter-colored skies and chill temperatures on Thanksgiving morning were representative of the season.

The men in Task Force Dorland warmed a C-ration breakfast, shrugged off the damp chill and prepared to move. Leaders, up long before the first ashy rays of light, made checks of their men and equipment and waited for the word to move out. As the men strapped on their bulging rucksacks, there were probably some who thought the sweep would turn into another meaningless drill of searching for the enemy. Dorland recalls that he really did not know what to expect.

The units departed their night defensive positions in the dirty morning light and started a cautious advance toward Hill 63. Company B crossed the dirt road and closed on the southern end of the irregular hunk of granite from the southwest. Company D approached the hill from the east. The 2nd Platoon, F Troop, followed some distance behind. At 0630 hours, F Troop’s 3rd Platoon, accompanied by the four tanks, clanked into blocking positions southwest of the objective. The enemy had not shown themselves.

D Company’s Captain Dan Mellon’s recollections of the terrain and the events of that morning are vivid. Hill 63 is bean-shaped. A saddle is formed by the highest elevation on the south, and an oblong-shaped structure of boulders, running generally northwest to southeast, located on the north. The elevation of the boulders is not much lower than the hill’s highest point. Dorland couldn’t see this formation. By radio, we agreed that I would pass to the left of it while maintaining close contact with his right flank and visual contact with the APCs on my right flank. I ordered my fourth platoon, which was my right flank, to sweep up and along the boulders.

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