Aerial view of the airstrip at Loc Ninh, near the Cambodian border. The Special Forces compound is next to the airstrip. The 2/28th perimeter is in the lower right, at the end of the airstrip. Two companies of 2/28th and Alpha Battery of 105mm howitzers from the 6/15th Artillery (call sign: Deadly, which was quite appropriate) repelled a ground attack in the Battle of Loc Ninh Airstrip. The artillerymen fired point-blank down the runway to break up the attack. The VC body count in the morning was 110. US casualties were light. Over the next few weeks numerous battles were fought in the vicinity as US battalions from the 1st and 25th Divisions clashed with the NVA and elements of the 272nd and 273rd VC Regiments. At one point Black Lions went house-to-house in the town of Loc Ninh, driving the enemy out. Our perimeter had additional ground attacks as well as frequent mortar attacks. On another day a small group of us medics were providing medical care for the locals in Loc Ninh when we were suddenly told to pack up and move out. When we got back to our perimeter we were told that an NVA company was entering from the other end of town while we were leaving. I would have moved a lot faster if I had known that up-front. It was a very turbulent time.
In their infinite wisdom, the US Command decided to bulldoze the enemy bodies into the rubber trees in order to clear the runway quickly. For the next 2-3 weeks we lived with the stench of decomposing bodies and passed by them daily on patrol. My strongest memories of Loc Ninh will always be the red clay that we had to dig and live in, which was like concrete, and the sight and smell of death daily for more than two weeks.
I celebrated (?) my 21st birthday at Loc Ninh. The NVA must have known that, because we had fireworks that night (mortar attack)