Statement
Of
Staff Sergeant Lawrence H. ALLEN, US Army
[The following is a verbatim
transcription of the statement of one of the men that Stephen Pless and
his flight crew rescued. On August 19, 1967, at Mai Lai beach,
Vietnam, Sergeant Allen was a passenger on a US Army Ch47 helicopter that was
transporting a load of injured American personnel between hospitals. Allen, the
only one of the three rescued men who survived his wounds, made this statement
in the hospital, perhaps only a day or so later. Being severely injured, he may
not yet have been informed of the subsequent deaths of the two soldiers who were
pulled from the beach with him. Allen’s service number has been withheld to
protect his privacy. Americans should note that Lawrence Allen was on of
over 20,000 Canadians who joined the United States Army to fight in the Vietnam
war.…..Editor]
On 19 August 1967, our
aircraft was struck by ground fire and forced down on the beach south of Chu
Lai. The crew chief and myself, along with two other NCO’s climbed out to
check the extent of the damage.
Three of us set up a security guard between
the helicopter and the inland position of the beach. At this time, a grenade
thrown by a Viet Cong exploded near the front of the aircraft. We attempted to
withdraw to the helicopter, but the pilot had already lifted off.
We then ran back to our position behind a
sand dune. We began to receive a barrage of grenades; we returned fire, but
soon ran out of ammo. The Viet Cong then moved in close and threw more
grenades. Everyone was wounded by this time, when one Viet Cong appeared on our
flank with an automatic weapon. His fire struck everyone but me. I crawled
next to the sand dune and tried to pass as dead. I could hear the Viet Cong
move among us, removing our weapons.
At this time, I heard two explosions. I
looked up and saw a Huey gunship making rocket and gun runs on the Viet Cong,
who were returning the fire as they attempted to flee into the brush along the
beach. At this time, several Hueys were orbiting the area, but
Captain PLESS’s aircraft was the only one to come to our aid.
After making several attacks, Captain PLESS
landed by us on the beach. I was moved to the aircraft, and then the
crewmembers of the helicopter moved out to recover my buddies. I could hear
small arms fire all around us. I tried to lay down fire with one of the
aircraft’s internal guns while the crewmembers loaded the others aboard. When
the other survivors were on the aircraft, we lifted out.
If it were not for the actions of
Captain PLESS and his crew, I am sure all of us would have been killed.
L. H. ALLEN
