Lam Son 719 The 407th RRD participated in Lam Son 719. We sent an APC named the Silencers and crew with the 1st Brigade 5th Infantry to the border of Laos. SPC Meyers and I prepared the APC by installing additional belly armor and making sure the M 2, 50 Cal worked properly. The APC was driven from Quang Tri all the way to the border near Lang Vei and then back to Ham Nghi overlooking Khe Sanh where the 1/5th Inf Bde maintained a TOC (Tactical Operations Center).
Below is photo of Hill 950, the hilltop at the left, and Hill 1015, the hilltop to the right, about a mile north of Khe Sanh.
If I remember correctly Doug Hardy was up on Hill 950 during Lam Son 719 . We used our VRC-12 radios and KY- 8 to communicate with him. The men on Hill 950 (Hickory) were fogged in most of the time. I rode on Helo flights taking water, rats, and mail to Hickory. The following news article from the UPI alludes to what happened to Hickory. The week Hickory was over run in June 71, Chuck Gray an intercept equipment tech was supposed to fly up and run some tests on equipment. Hill 950 was fogged in and Chuck couldn’t get a chopper to take him.
