This was regarding the fight 28/29 May 1966 B 2/35, A 1/35 and reinforced by B 1/35 had at LZ 10 Alpha. These paragraphs mention the support and firepower provided by helicopter units and how they risked everything to support the units on the ground.

LZ 10 Alpha

"We came onto 10 Alpha on Huey's in the late afternoon. Probably around 4:00 PM on May 28th, 1966. We came in low and fast. I could see the soldiers from B 2/35 standing alone in their positions. I've never forgotten the look on a particular soldier's face when my chopper flew over him. I could tell he was scared...really scared. He was alone, facing out towards the woods. At the time I didn't think too much about why these guys were in one-man positions. We didn't know they had been hit pretty hard."

"Just before daylight 29 May 1966, Medevacs (Dust Off) were requested to pick up several of our more seriously wounded men. Bn Fwd indicated that a single ship was inbound and that the pilot had volunteered because the LZ was considered too "hot" for other ships to be ordered in. His ship could take out five of the wounded and unit commanders had to select which men would go. This was extremely difficult for them, because in this case they were deciding who might live and who might not if the situation did not improve. We could hear the bird approaching from the east long before we were able to see its running lights. As the "Dust Off" passed over Chu Ba, the pilot called for a flare to locate the clearing in the darkness. The ship came in at treetop level, drew green tracer fire from several NVA automatic weapons en route, and dropped down just as the flare sputtered out. The wounded were placed on board and later the word was relayed that all had survived. However, one of the men not selected died before the next Medevac could get into the LZ. That aircraft came in at 0715 hours and much to our surprise was able to lift our with seven of our wounded on board."

0830 hours 29 May 1966

Sixty percent of the perimeter became actively engaged in the defense and because of constant heavy contact along the line and the danger of ground-to-air fire the resupply ships were diverted to 11 Alpha pending a break in the action. After an hour of continuous effort the NVA broke off and retired into the forest. As was the previous experience there would be breaks in the fighting that might last from ten to up to thirty minutes. To take advantage of any opportunity the lulls might present the resupply ships and Medevac's were placed in orbit nearby and at 0945 hours with the first break in the action three ships flying at treetop level and "hell bent for breakfast" came into the LZ. They off-loaded 107mm and 81 mm mortar ammunition along with small arms and rounds for the M-79 Grenade Launchers. Alerted that the ships were inbound, wounded were moved from the collection points closer to the touch down areas. TF (Task Force) wounded filled those ships to capacity. A second effort was made to resupply at 1015 hours but the aircraft were driven off by heavy ground-to-air fire. Rather than abandon the mission completely the helicopters made one more pass and the door gunners "kicked out" their loads at 20 feet and about 110 knots. That became the final resupply for the morning. Although several attempts were made not more aircraft were able to land at 10 Alpha until late in the afternoon."

"When aircraft would come up on the Cmd Net and report they were inbound, Lt Brothers would lift or shift supporting fires coming from 11 Alpha and Duc Co to keep from hitting our own people. During those respites the TF (Task Force) picked up the firepower of the gunships that were escorting the supply aircraft, in addition to the searching fires from the outboard door gunners and used them to make strafing funs parallel to our positions. Pilots reported engaging the enemy troops as close as twenty meters from the perimeter. They would pass on any information concerning what they observed, roll out, and once they had cleared the area the artillery and mortars would commence their close support missions again."