On The 15th of October a large force of Viet Cong irregulars attacked air and ground units of the 1st Cavalry Division , resulting in heavy losses. It is reported that on the morning of the 15th of October a recon unit of the 1/7 found a large cache of Rice and weapons in a tunnel complex near Plieku. They called in an aero rifle platoon to destroy the supplies and pacify the area. The unit was inserted with no problem and moved to the village encountering no enemy units. Once there they relived the recon element that left to continue their mission. The platoon under the command of 2Lt Alan Gaiser of Tennessee took pictures of the area and destroyed the supplies in place. After making sure that all weapons and rice were destroyed they burned down the deserted village and prepared to move out back to the Landing Zone for Extraction. SGT. S. Bishop of New York led the point element. Soon came into contact with a unit of Viet Cong that had moved in between the unit and their LZ. It was at this moment that the Americans knew they were in for a fight. As Sgt. Bishop maneuvered his element to engage the enemy Lt. Gaiser tried to reach the gunships that were supporting him for assistance, but was unable to establish contact with them. He then ordered his second, and third squads forward led by SFC Glen Little of Maryland, and SSg Jones of Iowa, to proceed forward and attack the enemy breaking the ambush. As SFC: Little moved forward the rest of the estimated VC battalion engaged him. At this point Lt. Gaiser was able to contact his support and call in a gun run on the initial unit resulting in an estimated 50 VC casualties. At this moment, the VC sprung their trap Appearing from previously unknown tunnels they surrounded and attacked the platoon. Lt. Gaiser called in repeated gun runs but to no avail, there were too many of the enemy. SFC Little was seen on one of the trails, being hit by enemy fire. SGT Bishop was surrounded and captured by Comrade Sha Ka him self. At this time Lt. Gaiser tried to rally his men and move back to the village for an emergency extraction but was unable to make it back and was surround and was either killed or captured. The Air units were unable to establish contact with Lt. Gaiser at this point and had to break off due to increasing enemy fire. Chris Edmonson using his own rules ran the game. Figures by Quality Cast, SHQ, and Platoon 20. Back to Dispatch March 2002 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com