When day broke, we ventured just outside the bunker. When we looked around, we saw that things were in bad shape. The compound had taken many rounds from mortars and rockets. Sniper fire continued to erupt all around us. We were told to go back to our hooches in shifts and prepare for the day. In my case, I had to return to get dressed in my uniform. There was constant sniper fire while I ran back to the bunker and dressed. I heard the bullets ricocheting off the roof as I hurriedly got into my full combat gear. We were not attacked again, but we did spend the rest of the day in our bunker, on alert.

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During the rest of that day, January 31, we discussed what we would do in case of a ground attack. We reviewed grenade procedures and the best place to throw them in case of an all-out assault. We had a radio on in the bunker and were listening to Armed Forces Network reports telling us that the entire country had come under attack, but that things were not that bad. We yelled at the radio announcer because at our base things did look pretty bad.

We learned that the Marines from Phu Bai, eight kilometers south of Hue, were on their way north to reinforce our position. I got the feeling that the situation was worse than anyone knew. Even though things were in bad shape, we were all glad to be alive. We remained on guard duty, looked for the snipers and ate our C rations. That afternoon, as I was talking to a sergeant outside the bunker, a piece of shrapnel about the size of a closed fist came crashing to the ground just three feet away from me. I picked it up from the ground and still have it today.

On February 1, a sergeant informed a group of us that there were some civilians trapped a couple houses away from the MACV compound. He was volunteering us to accompany a few Marines who were going in on a tank to save those people. I was scared. I had never done anything like that before. But I did remember my basic training drill sergeant's telling us that we were being trained to be soldiers first. The sergeant had told us that the enemy would shoot at anything brightly colored, so we took the time to rip off our shoulder patches and stripes. I loaded up my uniform with extra carbine ammunition, .45 clips and grenades. We then helped the Marines load the tank with as much ammunition as it could carry.

We left the compound through the main gate. I was afraid of being shot and going home in a body bag, but I concentrated on the job at hand. I knew the other guys were depending on me. And I was depending on them!

Staying close to the tank, we moved out onto Route 1 (which ran right next to the compound) and crouched down against the walls of the house across the street. Suddenly I came under fire from a sniper in the house facing the compound. The fire was coming from a slatted window in the attic area. I did not return fire because I had to ask the sergeant for permission to shoot. So I said, 'Sarge, there's someone up there shooting at me.' He asked, 'Where?' I pointed and said, 'There.' He said, 'Well, they're not shooting at you now.' 'Well, no,' I said. 'Do I have permission to shoot back?' He said, 'If he starts shooting again, call me and then shoot.' I thought how crazy this war was–a soldier needed permission to defend himself!

The tank turned right onto Tran Cao Van Street and inched down the road. Small-arms fire erupted, and a Marine who was in front of the tank went down wounded. We were behind the tank so we couldn't see much and could only hear what was going on. Somebody yelled, 'Corpsman!' and we stopped. The heavy sniper fire was coming from the church steeple on the left, down Tran Cao Van Street. The other Marines advanced closer, and we remained by the wall. The tank commander aimed the tank cannon at the steeple. Then there was a thunderous boom and the steeple came tumbling down onto the street. Needless to say, we didn't get any more sniper fire from the church.

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