JAN EDWARD BOBOWSKI JR SGT - E4 - Army - Selective Service 9th Infantry Division 20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male DOB Jul 05, 1947 From BUFFALO, NEW YORK Length of service 1 year. In country on Feb 08, 1968 KIA on Apr 07, 1968 in KIEN HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE Body was recovered Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC

RICHARD STEVEN BROWN PFC - E3 - Army - Selective Service 9th Infantry Division 20 year old Single, Caucasian, Male DOB Jul 27, 1947 From LARAMIE, WYOMING In country on Mar 10, 1968 KIA on Apr 07, 1968 in KIEN HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY MULTIPLE FRAGMENTATION WOUNDS Body was recovered Religion PRESBYTERIAN

LEONARD DANIEL ERICKSON PFC - E3 - Army - Regular 9th Infantry Division 18 year old Married, Caucasian, Male DOB Jul 01, 1949 From LIVERMORE, CALIFORNIA In country on Mar 07, 1968 KIA on Apr 07, 1968 in DINH TUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE Body was recovered Religion LATTER DAY SAINTS, MORMON Click on link below for Leonards high school memorial page. http://memorials.livermoreclasspics.org/lhs/1967/erickson/leonard/in_memory.htm

JOSEPH MAURICE REES PFC - E3 - Army - Regular 9th Infantry Division 19 year old Single, Caucasian, Male DOB Mar 18, 1949 From COLUMBUS, OHIO In country on Feb 20, 1968 KIA on Apr 07, 1968 in KIEN HOA, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE Body was recovered Religion ROMAN CATHOLIC

ROBERT LEE TATE CPL - E3 - Army - Selective Service 9th Infantry Division 20 year old Single, Negro, Male DOB Aug 20, 1947 From GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA In country on Oct 29, 1967 KIA on Apr 07, 1968 in DINH TUONG, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE Body was recovered Religion BAPTIST

APRIL 7, 1968                 VINH KIM On April 7,1968 after being re-supplied late in the morning, Echo Company continued on their sweep of the Vinh Kim area. Sergeant Crosby, an E-7 with little or no experience in the field was the platoon sergeant. He ordered the first and second squad to follow the road out of Vinh Kim, with Fook (Tiger Scout) walking point. When they went around a bend in the road they hit an ambush. The VC blew claymores and because of the angle in the road and the lack of vision the VC had enough time to shoot each man in the head, take their weapons and a PRC- 25 which was carried by Bobowski. There were five men killed , Jan Bobowski, Richard Brown, Leonard Erickson, Joseph Rees and Robert Tate. Later, around dusk Eddie Greene and Chameleon were seriously wounded when Chameleon set off a booby trap by placing his web gear against the side of a hootch. I can still remember visiting Chameleon at the 3rd Surgical hospital in Dong Tam. Eddie Greene was sent to Japan, if my memory serves Greene was pretty short at the time. Joseph Rees and I went through Basic & AIT together at Fort Jackson. We were pretty much inseparable. Earl Jeffries helped me write a letter to Joe's mother after he was killed. Mrs. Rees sent me a few goody packages and she also corresponded with my mother. Bob Stumpf

From:  John Adame Subject: April 7th I just had gotten rid of my radio. I was walking to the point element (because I belonged with these guys),but the Lt. told he would rather have Me with him. I kind of argued the point but lost. We set out with the point (BOBO and the rest were around 50 meters ahead) and then the rest of the platoon. When the mine went off we all hit the ground, but we were unable to   to do much. It was all over fast. I can still to this day hear their cries for help. We lost some great guys that day and I will never forget them as long as I live. I also recall that Sgt Crosby called them meat. I could have made Him a KIA that day. I never got over the anger I had for that SOB and I never will!

Yes, indeed, I recall this operation. I was walking point for 1st Platoon (Romeo), and had been in country since March 4th, 1968, and with the company since March 14th (the night before the mess in Dinh Tuong). As I remember it, my platoon had gone into a night ambush position when we were advised over the radio that 3rd Platoon had been hit. As I recall, we were southwest of Cai Lai, whereas the ambush took place on a road that went slightly southeast of Cai Lai (back in the direction of Dong Tam). We humped overland I the dark to link up with the main element of the 3rd Platoon (which was almost back at the outskirts of Cai Lai). I got partway down to the ambush site, but the dead guys had already been moved back. You (and the others) will probably recall that the following night in that stupid little EM club/mess hall in the company area there was a disturbance involving Phouc (the tiger scout with the 3rd) and members of the 3rd platoon. The issue was, of course, whether Phouc had foreknowledge of the ambush, since he had fallen back from the normal position in the column just before the ambush. I do not think that the issue was ever resolved. Just to update what happened to me (in case there's someone interested), I walked point for the 1st platoon until I became Echo-6-Oscar. I was the battalion RTO until around September, when I wormed my way into the company office. I most vividly remember the 15th of March, the 17th and 18th of March (Snoopy's Nose), the 15th and 16th of July, June in Can Tho, and all the miserable operations near the Crossroads. Timothy S. Goins

We were on a mission in Vinh Kim, west of DongTam, walking down a road out of the ville. It happened just after passing an ARVN post on the left. Looking back, we should have known something was wrong. The ARVN`s had their steel pots on and stayed close to their bunker. A little way down the road `BA BOOM`. A huge explosion (Chinese claymore, or maybe one of ours) blew across the road just a few meters ahead of me. I must have dove to the right side of the road. When the smoke and dust cleared and the small arms fire stopped which seemed like an eternity, our worst fears were realized. The first five guys lay dead in the road and the ditch beside the road. The worst part was they were shot and stripped of their weapons and ammo. Most must have died in the initial blast and were probably shot to make sure they were dead. I think we all felt sick as we carried the bodies back down the road. I still have tears swell up thinking about it. Bobo, Richard, Leonard, Joe, and Robert, may you rest in peace. I believe Mang Leung was shot in the chest by a sniper a day or so before on this same operation. We were crossing rice paddies southeast of Vinh Kim, I believe. The sniper was in the treeline we were approaching. Leung had a sucking chest wound and was on a dustoff pretty quickly as I recall. It was either just before or after this that a bunch of kids were selling us coke in these same paddies. Ron McClain

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I think myself and maybe Roland were preparing to take a 3 day R&R to Hong Kong after being hit in an ambush on the Tango boats on 6 April. Earl Jeffries located us in Saigon just before we loaded on the plane an told us about Bobo and Tate. I think I had been walking point prior to that and if not for being on R&R i would have been one of those five who died that day. I have had to live with that guilt for 34 yrs now. I remember how hard it was for us to be away for a few days and then return back into that hell. Jan Bobowski was one of the finest young men i ever had the opportunity to know and i will never forget his smile and his innocence. John McManus