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Bravo Troops Back To UnitYELLOW BRICK ROAD, Vietnam (AP) — The men of Bravo troop, who last week refused an order to advance down a highway near the Laotian border, are being transferred back to their parent unit “with their heads up and flags flying.1’“They fought just like any American outfit should,” said Lt. Col. Robert B, Osborne,. commander of the 3rd Squad-, ron, 6th Cavalry, who described the armored company’s return to battle the past few days.The 3rd Squadron took over Bravo troop after its 53 mem-, bers refused to move out to retrieve some damaged equipment, claiming they would be . risking an ambush.No disciplinary action was g taken against the men, but the 'troop commander was relieved * for making what was called an “error in tactics.” The troop D was given a new commander ^ and attached to the 3rd squad-1 ron for reorientation. e Osborne said Bravo troop {m would return in a few days to the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry of 3 the Americal Division.|. On Thursday, Bravo troop got s into one of the heaviest groundfights that American forces have faced since the beginning of the westward drive that set up the South Vietnamese campaign into Laos. Six men from Bravo and reinforcing elements of the 3rd Squadron were killed and five were wounded.Osborne said that during the early stages of the fighting, a North Vietnamese soldier threw a hand grenade that landed at the feet of one of his lieutenants. A man from Bravo Company quickly picked it up and hurled it back, but the grenade exploded close by and the Bravo trooper was killed, Osborne said.Bravo troop and its reinfj#fc(. ments reported killing 36 North Vietnamese from what they think was a reinforced sapper, or demolition, company.Osborne said the fighting beJury HearsSeventeen more county residents, including county commissioners, appeared Friday before the fifth session of the grand jury called to investigate alleged irregularities in lastgan when a dozen men from Bravo dismounted from their tanks and armored personnel carriers to sweep a valley ust off the Yellow Brick Road, a trail cut by the cavalry through the jungled mountains from Khe Sanh to Emerald City, the Squadron’s forward support base to the northwest.The Bravo patrol was hit, took casualties and fell back, unable to recover its dead and wounded. Reinforcements were moved up, and the men went back into the draw near a dry stream bed and were thrown back again with two more men killed.THey fought their way in a third time, trying to get the bodies out, and found a missing lieutenant they thought was dead. He was wounded in the leg and unable to walk.SeventeenAppearing in the afternoonwere E. G. Stith, 303 Willow; Dorothy E. Stewart, 3 006 S. Elm; Clarice Dengel, 930 Hanes Drive; Dorothy McCrossen, 1620 Willow; Silvia Trout, 1151 S.
Newspaper Details
Ottawa Herald
Ottawa, Kansas, US
Sat, Mar 27, 1971
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Gerald F.
NA, 20 Apr 2018
Other Publications Near Ottawa, Kansas
Ottawa Campus
Ottawa Daily Republican
Ottawa Herald
