Ambush at Nam Dong

Conceived by Colonel Aaron Bank in 1952, the 10th Special Forces Group or Green Berets was activated at Fort Bragg North Carolina, with an objective of conducting unconventional warfare activities designed to disrupt or overthrow enemy governments or occupying powers, by training and motivating local insurgents. The Green Berets received one of their biggest baptisms by fire in 1964, when 12 Green Beret instructors were tasked with training 60 ethnic Chinese mercenaries and some 300 Vietnamese Special Forces at Camp Nam Dong, which was established 34 miles west of Da Nang as a forward intercept point against enemy combatants flowing down from the communist north.

Ample Forewarning

Signs of an attack had been building for days, leading 30-year-old Captain Roger Donlon to keep his men on high alert, until all hell broke loose around 2:30 AM on July the 5th, when Donlon stopped in the mess for a cup of coffee, before relieving his Australian counterpart and current watch commander, Warrant Officer Kevin Conway. Knocked to the ground by incoming mortar fire, Staff Sergeant Keith Daniels managed to call in an urgent airstrike, moments before the communication shack was leveled to the ground. Managing to pull themselves together, the Green Berets launched a flare into the moonless night sky, exposing some 900 Viet Cong fighters as they attempted a breach of the fort’s outer perimeter guard. Donlon quickly assessed that communist traitors among his ranks had killed some of his allied comrades in their sleep, at the same time pushing his loyal troops to man three motor positions to fend off an overwhelming enemy force.

Valor in Action

The seemingly insurmountable attack fatally wounded Conway, while Donlon stayed at his command after receiving three direct hits, including one to his stomach. Refusing medical attention, Donlon went from cover to cover to inspire his men to concentrate their fire on clusters of Viet Cong fighters, just as the outer perimeter fell to the VC. Despite mounting losses, Donlon pushed his men to hold the inner perimeter, and after three hours of relentless combat and a forth bullet wound to Donlon, shortly after 4:00 AM, the Americans heard the welcome approach of a flare ship, which sent the Viet Cong into retreat in advance of an impending air strike by American F-4 Phantoms and Cobra fast attack helicopters. In the end, over 170 Viet Cong dead lay scattered across the five-acre base, while 60 South Vietnamese fighters, Conway and two Green Berets had lost their lives in the fight. After recovering from his wounds, Donlon was awarded the first Medal of Honor of the Vietnam War, making the ambush at Nam Dong, one of the biggest tests in the Green Beret’s long history of valor.