of dying as a soldier. you never see that in a movie. so that was the end of that day's fighting, the first fight. and as it was written in the division newspaper within a few newspaperrding to the , the american forces lost one man killed, don peterson. i believe they claimed we had killed 125 enemy soldiers. that is probably pretty close to true. so the kill ratio was 125-1. seemed worth it, unless your friend was the one killed, don peterson. and our introduction to the whole thing, endeavored to get a name. -- it never did get a name.

i doubt any other newspaper covered it at all. it was no big event. it was our first. first time we had a man killed in action. it did not mean anything to anybody, unless those that were close with don peterson. us on the, those of ground who fought the battle, are never going to forget that day, may 15, 1967. we all remember it. curiously enough, it is the exact date that we will be in las vegas for the reunion. learn from it. we all were changed after that day. we would fight bigger battles later on and lose a lot more men in the months to come, but

nothing will ever quite replace, 15,ing will be the same as may. i realized i have talked about this in a disjointed way. you can tell i am rusty about it. i have not covered that hitler battle in a class -- that particular battle in a class for many years. i realized it was kind of hopscotching around and it was not particularly coherent, i am aware of that fact. if any of you have any questions ? come on now. yes? >> what was your main goal? just getting into battle? what was the main overall

objective? was to kill enemy soldiers. we did not hold terrain, we were not moving lines on a mpa. ap. the objective >> when you read military orders, it says to destroy the enemy. that is the way that military phrases. from that point forward, how did it affect the men? we had lost men killed already but never in a battle. we had been killed in accidents and men killed in booby traps.

he was the first man shot to death in battle. he just happened to be such a large personality and that made it all much more painful. it made it a little more touching for all of us. minutesdn't spend two without him will bring out a picture to show you of his son. him was a serious loss to all of us. us smiledink any of quite the same as we had before then. it taught us to play for keeps.

this is serious stuff. that tally.e by -two questions. when you caring him on your why would they stop firing? were they aiming for you when they fired again? it was between two and three feet high. they were simply searching in the rice paddy. they knew they were americans out there. you would just fire into the rice. eventually you would hit somebody somewhere.

the fire was not well aimed or we would have all died. they were trying. i know you talk to us. was it easier for them to deal with. is that all the same? it is never easy to become a casualty. i think i understand what you are saying. when someone gets blown up in the air.

the violence comes from nowhere. it is shocking. all of a sudden you have a serious casualty on your hand and nothing is happening. there is nothing you can do with it. there is no target. trapsnds and the booby have caused suffering. when you are under fire and other men around you are being coming casualties with the chance of inflicting light that is a different situation. i'm not can it is more satisfactory. it is something that is part of the rules. those are the territories. you are supposed to be out there getting into firefights.

you're so very excited that you are running on adrenaline. you are shooting at an enemy who is shooting at you. cheap to saynds so, that is exciting. hit.an get platoon, iguys in my watched him get wounded. frank mundelein who had big workmen's fingers and hands, he got a honcho from someone. while he was running towards me, i was watching towards him. one of his hands slapped out from under him.

i said you've been hit. oneooked in his hands and of the bullets has gone through one of the thick fingers and never hit the bone. he did not even know he had been hit. he went back to work after that. you are very excited that you are under fire. it was a kind of overdrive. it is exciting and you do things that you wouldn't otherwise think you could do. to answer the question. another thing on the booby traps, when you are walking in the rice paddies. is there still anxiety. does that fear kind of the -- leave you with pure adrenaline.

>> the only thing you are interested in is under fire. is probably somewhat less because of the nature that you are under fire. timeon't spend much worrying about them. people are shooting bullets that you that is more accurate. >> the enemy's biggest tactics was in the delta. it is specifically to draw you in close. within 25 get you meters, that is where he wanted to you.

we found out a number of times that the enemy might be operating a series of bunkers. hundred yardsfew away. even opened fire on us. they knew we would be too far away. they had the battlefield prepared. there are parts of the delta where it there was lots of firing positions in it. all the commander has to do is to look over at that bunker complex. any americanif units would come that way.