George, during the latter part of April '70, there were something like 3 Regiments of NVA sieging Dak Seang, and that whole neighborhood. Pretty much all of the 52nd CAB's assets were up there. That particular day is one of several that stands out in my memory. We CA'd a large number of ARVN SF guys onto a hill just north of the Dak Seang SF camp, amid a curtain of green and red fireworks. Gladiators and Alligators. We also had a bunch of the Ghost Riders working Ben Het and Dak To that day. That is the day Kenny Bottom was CE'ing for WO's Wes Peyton and Pat Walthall when he got hit in the leg. Seems like the 92nd had to come up from Nha Trang for a few days about then to pull some of our regular runs around Pleiku to free us up for the Kontum area needs. While it was not particulary unusual for 57th, 119th, and 189th to work together, we didn't work too often with the Blackjacks and Ruthless Riders of 7/17th Cav; but we did occasionally get cover from their Gambler Guns.

After Dak Seang, we were looking forward to Cambodia as a respite.

Pickett